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☆ Opinion: What Putin must be dreading
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-24 | by ( Peter Bergen | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Russian President Vladimir Putin made a speech Saturday condemning the mutiny by the Wagner group, comparing the uprising to the events sparked by Russia’s 1917 revolution. Putin claimed that the Russians were stabbed “in the back” by nameless enemies towards the end of World War I, which he said is why the Russians lost that war and that in turn led to “a civil war” in Russia, Putin said. The Russians were not stabbed in the back during World War I, as Putin suggested during his remarks on Saturday. During the 1917 revolution, a Marxist party known as the Bolsheviks seized power. A year later, Nicholas II and other members of the ruling Romanov family ended up on the wrong end of a firing squad.

Persons: Peter Bergen, Peter Bergen ”, Vladimir Putin, Wagner, Putin, “, Nicholas II, Romanov, Josef Stalin’s, Mark Twain, Putin doesn’t Organizations: CNN, New, Arizona State University, Apple, Spotify, Peter Bergen CNN, Communist, Russo, Marxist, Communist Party, KGB, Soviet, Twitter, Facebook Military, Romanovs Locations: New America, Russian, Russia, Ukraine, Europe, Soviet Union, Dresden, East Germany, Afghanistan, Japanese, Soviet

The target was Aleksandr Poteyev, a former Russian intelligence officer who disclosed information that led to a yearslong F.B.I. investigation that in 2010 ensnared 11 spies living under deep cover in suburbs and cities along the East Coast. In keeping with an Obama administration effort to reset relations, a deal was reached that sought to ease tensions: Ten of the 11 spies were arrested and expelled to Russia. According to Mr. Walton’s book, a Kremlin official asserted that a hit man, or a Mercader, would almost certainly hunt down Mr. Poteyev. Based on interviews with two American intelligence officials, Mr. Walton concluded the operation was the beginning of “a modern-day Mercader” sent to assassinate Mr. Poteyev.

Persons: Aleksandr Poteyev, Obama, Sergei V, Mr, Poteyev, Brown, Calder Walton, Walton’s, Ramón, Joseph Stalin’s, Leon Trotsky’s, Walton, Mercader ”, Grigory Mairanovsky Organizations: Intelligence, Harvard, The New York Times, Kremlin Locations: Russian, East Coast, Russia, Moscow, Britain, Mexico City, S.V.R

Traditional dishes are served for lunch at a Crimean Tatar restaurant in Kyiv. The Crimean Tatars were accused of collaborating with the Nazis and were taken off in cattle trucks to the Ural Mountains and to Uzbekistan, thousands of kilometers away. I see now how stupid it is to hold back on making new friends and acquaintances.”Crimean Tatar history books -- Viktor Shevchenko's reading during frontline deployments. According to Shevchenko, Crimean Tatars are grateful Ukraine allowed them to return in the 1990s. Ukraine’s politicians, too, were too often guilty of making empty pledges, Shevchenko said, promising greater freedoms for Crimean Tatars that never materialized.

Persons: Viktor Shevchenko, Volodymyr Zelensky, Shevchenko, ” Zelensky, Zelensky, ”, Andrew Carey, Catherine the Great, Joseph Stalin, –, Vladimir Putin’s, I’ve, “, ” Viktor Shevchenko, Viktor Shevchenko's, Ukraine’s, Ukraine Zelensky, Victor, Berkut Organizations: CNN, Crimean Tatars, Hitler’s Wehrmacht, Crimean, Tatars, United Nations General Assembly, Rights Watch, European Union Locations: Kyiv, Crimean Tatar, Crimea, Russian, Crimean, Hitler’s, Uzbekistan, Soviet Union, Ukraine, Crimean Tatars, Russia, Poland, Bilohorivka, Tatars, Moscow

☆ Opinion: The Ukraine dam disaster demands accountability
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-08 | by ( Opinion Frida Ghitis | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Meanwhile, Kyiv and Moscow engaged in an intense round of finger pointing over responsibility for the unfolding environmental disaster. The dam’s collapse is not just devastating for those who reside in the immediate environs — it is a nationwide disaster for Ukraine that could reverberate across the globe. Stalin’s goal in the midst of World War II was to prevent Nazi armies from sweeping across Ukraine, which at the time was part of the Soviet Union. The dam collapsed as Ukraine stepped up operations in anticipation of a much-awaited counter-offensive. The broken walls of the Nova Kakhovka dam, and its destructive rushing waters, should strengthen the resolve of Ukraine’s backers.

Persons: Frida Ghitis, Joseph Stalin, Dmitry Peskov, Volodymyr Zelensky, Zelensky’s, Andriy Yermak, Ursula Von der Leyen, “, Antonio Guterres Organizations: CNN, Washington Post, Politics, Frida Ghitis CNN, Soviet Union, EU, ”, UN, UN Security Council, United Nations General Assembly, Human Rights, Twitter, NATO, Kyiv Locations: Ukraine’s, Dnipro, Ukraine, Kyiv, Moscow, Soviet, Russia, “ Russia, Geneva, Ukrainian, Vilnius, Lithuania, Baltic, Nova

☆ Nova Kakhovka: Ukraine dam collapse serves neither side well as war enters next crucial phase
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-08 | by ( Sam Kiley | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

They were to blow up the Zaporizhzhia hydroelectric dam that bisected the eponymous industrial city, which stands 200 kilometers (125 miles) upriver from today’s Nova Kakhovka barricade). Local residents stand on the Dnipro embankment after the Nova Kakhovka dam breach on June 6. Rescue workers evacuate an elderly woman and her husband from a flooded neighborhood in Kherson, Ukraine, on Wednesday, June 7. Vladyslav Musiienko/Reuters Flooded streets are seen in Kherson on June 7 following the collapse of the Nova Kakhovka dam. Alina Smutko/Reuters In pictures: The collapse of Ukraine's Nova Kakhovka dam Prev NextUkraine’s armed forces have insisted that their counter-offensive included contingency planning for a disaster at the dam.

Persons: Ukraine CNN — Fish, ecocide ”, unawares, Ivan Antypenko, Volodymyr Zelensky, Zelensky, General’s, ”, Ukraine’s, It’s, who’ve, Vladimir Putin, Andrei Pidlisnyi, –, Evgeniy, Angelina Kopayeva, Alex Babenko, Vladyslav Musiienko, Muhammed Enes Yildirim, Tetiana, Alexey Konovalov, Felipe Dana, Musiienko, Nina Lyashonok, Oleksandra, Alina Smutko Organizations: Ukraine CNN —, Nazi, NKVD, Reuters, International, Criminal, Kherson City, Ukrainian, CNN, AP, Anadolu Agency, Planet Labs PBC, Reuters Red Cross, AP Local, Culture, Reuters Local Locations: Kyiv, Ukraine, Nova, Dnipro, Russia, Moscow, Russian, today’s, Reuters Ukrainian, Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk City, Kharkiv, Kherson . Roman, Vladyslav, Nova Kakhovka, Libkos, Crimean, Crimea, Russia’s

[1/3] A view shows the Nova Kakhovka dam that was breached in the course of Russia-Ukraine conflict, in the Kherson Region, Russian-controlled Ukraine, June 6, 2023. What is the dam, what happened - and what do we not know? THE KAKHOVKA DAMThe dam, part of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant, is 30 metres (98 feet) tall and 3.2 km (2 miles) long. The dam bridged the Dnipro River, which forms the front line between Russian and Ukrainian forces in the south of Ukraine. Creation of the 2,155 sq km (832 sq mile) Kakhovka reservoir in Soviet times forced around 37,000 people to be moved from their homes.

Persons: Alexey Konovalov, Josef Stalin, Nikita Khrushchev, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Zelenskiy, Peskov, Vladimir Rogov, Maxar, Rafael Grossi, Grossi, Guy Faulconbridge, Michael Perry, Peter Graff, Jon Boyle Organizations: REUTERS, TASS, Nova, International Atomic Energy Agency, Thomson Locations: Russia, Ukraine, Kherson Region, Russian, Soviet, Dnipro, Ukrainian, Crimea, Salt, U.S ., Utah, Zaporizhzhia, Nova Kakhovka, Kherson, CRIMEA, Crimean

☆ Opinion | The Eyes of the World Are Upon Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-05 | by ( Paul Krugman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

If Ukraine wins this war, some of its supporters abroad will no doubt be disillusioned to discover the nation’s darker side. Before the war, Ukraine ranked high on measures of perceived corruption — better than Russia, but that’s not saying much. Yet like the flaws of the Allies in World War II, these shadows don’t create any equivalence between the two sides in this war. In reality, while most Americans support aid to Ukraine, only a minority are willing to sustain that aid for as long as it takes. Some of those who oppose Western aid just don’t see the moral equivalence with World War II.

Persons: that’s, Stalin, Vladimir Putin’s, it’s, vociferously Organizations: Ukraine, Allies Locations: Russia, Ukraine, Vladimir Putin’s Russia, America, Britain

☆ Transfer of holy icon shows Russian Orthodoxy's new sway under Putin
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Emphasising its importance to the faithful, Putin last month ordered Andrei Rublev's "Trinity" be transferred to the Russian Orthodox Church from Moscow's Tretyakov Gallery for a year. For some, though, there is unease at the sway of the Church - and concern about possible damage to the fragile icon. She quipped that Russian leaders over the centuries have turned to icons in tough situations with the hope of victory. "Masterpieces of Russian icon painting and national shrines should not be exposed to unjustified risk," members of a cultural council within the Russian Academy of Sciences wrote in an open letter to Russian Minister of Culture Olga Lyubimova. "The only space suitable for placing the icon 'Trinity' by Andrei Rublev is in the halls of the Tretyakov Gallery, which is confirmed by almost a century of practice."

Persons: Vladimir Putin's, Putin, Andrei Rublev's, Moscow's Tretyakov, the, Josef Stalin, Abraham, Regina Elsner, Sergius –, Bolsheviks, Kirill of Moscow, Kirill, Putin's, Ksenia, Leonardo da Vinci's, Mona Lisa, Tretyakov, Korobeynikova, Olga Lyubimova, Andrei Rublev, Lucy Papachristou, Guy Faulconbridge, Mark Potter Organizations: Trinity Sunday, Soviet Union, Church, Eastern European, International Studies, Kremlin, Putin, Reuters, Russian Academy of Sciences, Thomson Locations: MOSCOW, Moscow, Ukraine, Moscow's, Soviet, Mamre, Russian, Berlin, Russia, Trinity, St, Moscow –, Gdansk

☆ Ilya Kabakov, 89, Dies; Soviet-Born Artist Depicted Grimness With Wit
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-02 | by ( Penelope Green | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

He had been struggling with a heart condition, his stepdaughter Viola Kanevsky said. For decades in Soviet Russia Mr. Kabakov was, by day, a well-known children’s book illustrator, a state-sponsored artist with his own studio and art supplies (which he shared with his underground artist friends). He created some 150 children’s books before 1988, when he left the country for good. Yet he was also leading a double life as a conceptual artist. His albums had titles and scenarios that recalled the work of novelists like Mikhail Bulgakov, the author of “The Master and Margarita,” a dark 1967 satire of life under Stalin.

Persons: Ilya Kabakov, Viola Kanevsky, Kabakov, Mikhail Bulgakov, Margarita, ”, Stalin Organizations: Soviet Union Locations: Mattituck, Long, Soviet Russia, Soviet

☆ Russia's reaction to the drone attacks on Moscow
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

He received direct information both via the Defence Ministry and via the relevant departments." He also received "information from the Mayor of Moscow, the governor of the Moscow region, the Ministry of Emergency Situations". RUSSIA'S DEFENCE MINISTRY:"This morning, the Kyiv regime launched a terrorist attack with unmanned aerial vehicles on premises in the city of Moscow. Five more unmanned aerial vehicles were shot down by the Pantsir-S anti-aircraft missile and cannon complex in the Moscow region." RUSSIAN LAWMAKER ANDREI GURULYOV (UNITED RUSSIA)"I would not give in to panic about the drone attack on Moscow and the Moscow region.

☆ Russia has lost two-thirds of its tanks since it invaded Ukraine as its military struggles with obsolete Soviet-era weapons, analyst says
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-30 | by ( Tom Porter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Russia has lost two-thirds of its tanks amid the stalled Ukraine invasion, a blog said. Jakub Janovsky, a military analyst who contributes to the website, told Insider that Russia had started the war with around 3,000 operational tanks. He said though that despite the high losses, Russia was "reactivating" tanks from the 4,000 it has in reserve to be deployed to the front line. "The ratio of equipment losses is still very favorable to Ukraine, but less so than it was in autumn last year," said Janovsky. Despite the equipment shortages suffered by the Russian military on the front line, Russia continues to showcase advanced military technology at global arms fairs, the UK's military intelligence said.

☆ Polish president to sign Russian influence bill despite opposition protests
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WARSAW, May 29 (Reuters) - Poland's president said on Monday he would sign off on a bill authorising a panel to investigate Russian influence despite opposition criticism it is witch hunt against government opponents in an election year. Opposition figures call a bill to set up an investigative commission the "Lex Tusk", using the Latin term for "law". PO lawmaker Marcin Kierwinski condemned Duda's decision to sign the bill. "In a normal democratic country, somebody who is president of that country would never sign such a Stalin-esque law," he told private broadcaster TVN 24. Reporting by Alan Charlish, Anna Wlodarczak-Semczuk, Anna Koper; editing by Robert BirselOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Polish president signs 'Tusk Law' on undue Russian influence
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Opposition figures have nicknamed it Lex Tusk, using the Latin word for law. "In a normal democratic country, somebody who is president of that country would never sign such a Stalin-esque law," PO lawmaker Marcin Kierwinski told private broadcaster TVN 24. CONCERNSThe Polish Judges' Association Iustitia said the law breached European Union values and could prompt more punitive EU measures over democratic backsliding in Poland. Poland's dependence on Russian energy has progressively declined, even before Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. The construction of a liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal, allowing the import of non-Russian gas, started when Tusk was in power.

☆ Opinion: A cerebral rock star is dead
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-21 | by ( Opinion John Avlon | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

He is the author of “Lincoln and the Fight for Peace.” The views expressed in this essay are his own. These celebrated writers were the subject of long-form profiles and occasional tabloid scandals, treated as cerebral rock stars and voices of their generation. They were a post-punk crew that migrated from the UK to the US, including Hitchens, Tina Brown and Salman Rushdie. In his final book, “Inside Story,” part memoir and part novel, Amis returned to his friendship with Hitchens in the 1970s, prior to their becoming famous. It chronicles a doomed affair, flashing forward at times to the decline of their friend Saul Bellows from dementia, as well as Hitchens’ death.

☆ Karakorum: Mongolia’s ancient capital is a cultural delight
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( Breanna Wilson | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

Karakorum, Mongolia CNN —Karakorum is known by many names and even more reputations. Where to Stay in KarakorumThe new Silver Tree Guest House offers a variety of sleeping options including traditional yurts. Silver Tree Guest HouseWhile Karakorum is often considered a stop along the route to somewhere else, this culturally rich city deserves closer attention. The hotel is within walking distance to Erdene Zuu Monastery, Karakorum Museum, and the Erdenesiin Khuree Calligraphy Center. While Silver Tree Guest House is still in its opening phases, staying here feels like you’ve been invited into someone’s home.

☆ Putin's 'one-tank' military parade was an embarrassment for Russia, analysts say
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( Holly Ellyatt | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

A Soviet T-34 tank, the only tank on display in Russia's Victory Day parade on May 9, 2023, rolls through Red Square. Russia's scaled-down Victory Day military parade showed not only Moscow's insecurities over possible Ukrainian attacks but also highlighted the country's depleted military resources due to the conflict, political analysts said. May 9 is a public holiday in Russia when it commemorates the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany in World War II. The fact that only one Stalin-era tank was on display in the military parade through Red Square was particularly eye-catching, analysts noted. This year, however, the only tank on display was a T-34 model dating back to World War II."

☆ Factbox: Why does Russia celebrate Victory Day on May 9, and what does it mean for Putin?
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Victory Day is one of Russia's most important public holidays. WHEN WAS THE FIRST VICTORY DAY? In Moscow it was already May 9, which became the Soviet Union's "Victory Day". The Soviet Union celebrated the 20th and 40th anniversaries of Victory Day with Red Square parades in 1965 and 1985. Under Putin, Victory Day increasingly became a muscular display not only of marching battalions but also of Russia's latest weaponry, including warplanes, tanks, and nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missiles.

☆ Joined-up G7 is best China deterrent
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-08 | by ( Hugo Dixon | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

The best chance of steering between these twin evils is for the G7 to agree on a strong deterrence strategy. This would make it harder for China to hold G7 countries to ransom if they came to Taiwan’s aid. The United States is also leaning on its allies to stop China from acquiring militarily useful technology such as advanced semiconductors. CONTINGENCY PLANSThe other plank of a G7 deterrence strategy is contingency planning for what the allies would do if China invaded Taiwan. This would ideally involve building consensus about how the United States would respond to escalating tensions.

☆ Is Putin’s Russia Worse Than the Soviet State? - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-08 | by ( Serge Schmemann | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

That, in fact, may be one major reason many decent Russians feel that Mr. Putin’s Russia — their Russia — is worse than the Soviet state whose demise he laments. They had thought their nation free of the horrible tyranny of its past, and Mr. Putin is not only reviving that but also bringing shame and alienation to their nation. The Soviet Union that these Russians hark back to is the one in its final years, not Stalin’s hell. In their time, the 1970s and early 1980s, the Soviet Union was still a repressive police state that maintained a jealous and iron control on information, art, enterprise and just about every other human endeavor. No old Soviet dissident would deny that the physical quality of life in Russia is far higher than it was in those Spartan times.

☆ An ominous policy change is a sign Russia is preparing for a long, bloody war in Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-08 | by ( Michael Peck | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Recent changes to Russian conscription law indicate Moscow is preparing for a long war in Ukraine. Beyond a need for manpower, the changes may reflect the Kremlin's embrace of more heavy-handed rule. But Russian leaders appear to preparing for a long and bloody fight, judging by a series of new measures related to military conscription. The Russian government is "methodically stepping through a process to go over to a higher readiness and protracted war," Massicot added. Michael Peck is a defense writer whose work has appeared in Forbes, Defense News, Foreign Policy magazine, and other publications.

Just days before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, with Moscow’s forces massing on the border, officials in the medieval town of Lützen, Germany, afforded landmark status to a Soviet-era World War II memorial standing outside a kindergarten in the town center. “Glory to the great Russian people — the nation of victors,” reads an inscription that was repainted by local officials in June on one side of the 10-foot, pyramidal monument. Inscribed on another side in bright red is a quote from Joseph Stalin commemorating 12 Soviet prisoners of war who died at German hands while working at the local sugar factory. A bright red star with gold-colored hammer and sickle adorns the pyramid’s peak. Scattered across Germany, but primarily in what was once the Soviet-dominated German Democratic Republic in the east, are more than 4,000 protected monuments commemorating the sacrifices of Soviet soldiers in the struggle against Nazism.

☆ Russia-Ukraine War News: Pope Francis Discusses Peace Efforts
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( Gaia Pianigiani | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +4 min

A photo provided by the Vatican shows Pope Francis, center left, with the prime minister of Ukraine, Denys Shmyhal, center right, during a private audience in the Vatican on Thursday. Pope Francis discussed peace efforts in Ukraine with the country’s prime minister, Denys Shmyhal, during a private audience at the Vatican on Thursday, their first known meeting since Russia launched its full-scale invasion. The relationship between Ukraine and Francis, who has long called for peace and decried what he called barbaric acts of war, was troubled in the early months of the conflict. Mr. Shmyhal also asked the pope for help in “returning home Ukrainian children” who have been deported to Russia. Early in the war Ukrainian officials criticized the pope’s decision not to name Russia or its president, Vladimir V. Putin, as the aggressor in the conflict.

☆ Opinion | I Wrote a Book About the End of Dictatorships, and It Became a Best Seller in Russia
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Alexander Baunov | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Those who remain in Russia have lost the opportunity to engage in an open dialogue on the country’s future. in Moscow, placed copies of “The End of the Regime” right next to “Putin’s Path,” a hagiography devoted to the Russian leader, and a book on Stalin. Most important, the book gives readers a new, more accurate perspective on the country they live in. It is difficult to imagine a defeat along the lines of that suffered by Germany being experienced by a nuclear power such as Russia. Similarly, the collapse of the Soviet regime came about first and foremost because of its sclerotic economic system, which left the population behind the Iron Curtain without food and consumer goods.

☆ How Putin spent 20 years rebuilding Russia's military 'and then just simply destroyed it' in Ukraine, according to an expert who watched it happen
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-25 | by ( Christopher Woody | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +17 min

Vladimir Putin has spent his two decades in power rebuilding and reforming Russia's military. Below, Galeotti describes those reforms, what they achieved, and how, in a devastating war in Ukraine, Putin has squandered the military he built. IGOR SAREMBO/AFP via Getty ImagesWhen Putin came to power at the end of the 1990s, what was the state of the Russian military? How did the Russian military underperform in that conflict in Georgia? What did those conflicts show about the capabilities of the Russian military and about the impact of those reforms?

☆ GOP senators defend Clarence Thomas' billionaire benefactor's Nazi memorabilia collection: 'Harlan Crow's a terrific person'
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( Bryan Metzger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

The GOP megadonor also keeps Nazi artifacts at his Dallas home, where he's hosted fundraisers. In interviews with Insider at the Capitol on Tuesday, several of them defended the Republican megadonor amid broad scrutiny of his taste in historical artifacts. The Texas senator argued that the media is "deliberately" mischaracterizing the nature of Crow's collection in order to tarnish Justice Thomas' reputation. 'He's not a drug dealer or cocaine trafficker'Crow also collects other historical artifacts, including thousands of documents, books, and historical artifacts pertaining to American history. But when asked about Crow's Nazi memorabilia and dictator sculptures, Ernst said she had "no idea" about it.

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