Few Western observers took notice when Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko signed a package of laws last Friday. They should have. The laws, which were rushed through parliament without public debate, strive to provide the country with a “correct” and binding historical memory. Those holding alternative views of Ukraine’s past risk prison terms of up to ten years. Vedomosti, a liberal Russian newspaper generally …
Poroshenko says Ukraine is at war with Russia – Alex Lantier
In an inflammatory statement to the BBC yesterday, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko declared that his regime, which enjoys political and military support from Washington and the European Union (EU), is at war with Russia. “Can I be absolutely clear with you, this is not a fight with Russian-backed separatists, this is a real war with Russia,” Poroshenko said. He added …
Keeping Democracy Alive – 05.24.15
WHAT YOU’RE NOT SUPPOSED TO KNOW ABOUT UKRAINE
Did you know the US has some 300 troops on the ground there? That makes Moscow very nervous. Did you know about waves of political assassinations by the government we support? And that the European Union is not happy with our policy there either? Veteran international reporter Patrick L. Smith reveals what is behind the official, and of course misleading, narrative.
No, you can’t go back to the USSR! – Dmitry Orlov
One of the fake stories kept alive by certain American politicians, with the help of western media, is that Vladimir Putin (who, they vacuously claim, is a dictator and a tyrant) wants to reconstitute the USSR, with the annexation of Crimea as the first step. Instead of listening to their gossip, let’s lay out the facts. The USSR was officially …
McCain Appointed to Ukraine “Reform Advisory Team” Headed by Fugitive Georgian Leader Saakashvili
Georgia’s fugitive ex-president Mikhail Saakashvili and hawkish US Senator John McCain have been approved as members of the newly-formed International Advisory Group that will help Ukraine’s president in “conducting reforms.” Saakashvili has been appointed as head of the new advisory group, says the statement on Ukraine’s presidential website. The list of members included in the advisory group mostly includes current and former …
Vladimir Putin calls Ukraine fascist and country’s new law helps make his case – Josh Cohen
As Ukraine continues its battle against separatists, corruption and a collapsing economy, it has taken a dangerous step that could further tear the country apart: Ukraine’s parliament, the Supreme Rada, passed a draft law last month honoring organizations involved in mass ethnic cleansing during World War Two. The draft law — which is now on President Petro Poroshenko’s desk awaiting …
Battlefield: Black Sea. US-NATO “Swimming in Troubled Waters” – Eric Draiser
While the war in Ukraine has raged on for more than a year, the growing conflict between the US-NATO and Russia has taken on new dimensions. From economic warfare waged by the West in the form of sanctions, to the diplomatic rows over the commemoration of Victory Day in Moscow, more and more it seems that relations between East and …
Global Research News Hour – The End of Journalism in Ukraine. A Feature interview with Anatoly Sharij – 05.11.15
Continuing with coverage of Ukraine on the anniversary of the May 2, 2014 Odessa massacre, we hear an interview with Anatoly Sharij, a high profile Ukrainian journalist forced to flee the country in 2012 and now based in Lithuania. He has found himself targetted for his success in posting critical videos of the Ukrainian government line, and exposing the lies put out by the Ukrainian media.
In this exclusive interview, conducted with the assistance of Winnipeg-based Russian-Canadian Konstantin Goulich, we hear about the extent to which true journalism in Ukraine has been suppressed and replaced by pure propaganda, the reasons why skepticism, even of some critical voices of the Kiev regime is needed, and echoes of a past repressive period in history of the region.
Forget Tanks. Russia’s Ruble Is Conquering Eastern Ukraine – Yulia Surkova and Daryna Krasnolutska
As a wobbly cease-fire keeps eastern Ukraine’s warring factions apart, Russia’s ruble is conquering new territory across the breakaway republics. In Donetsk, the conflict zone’s biggest city, supermarkets have opened ruble-only checkout counters to serve the fighters in camouflage lining up along pensioners. Bus and tram tickets come with a conversion from Ukraine’s hryvnia to the Russian currency. Gas-station workers …
The Whisper of the Shutoff Valve – John Michael Greer
Last week’s post on the impending decline and fall of the internet fielded a great many responses. That was no surprise, to be sure; nor was I startled in the least to find that many of them rejected the thesis of the post with some heat. Contemporary pop culture’s strident insistence that technological progress is a clock that never runs …