Infrastructure, Soviet and Post-Soviet, Falling Apart, Threatening Russia’s...
Paul Goble Staunton, July 8 – Carelessness, corruption, and neglect are “penetrating the most important branches of the Russian economy, a development which entails enormous...
View ArticleMore than Half of All Books Published in Russia Now Issued in Fewer than...
Paul Goble Staunton, July 8 – Fifty-three percent of all books published in Russia last year were issued in print runs of under 1,000 copies, with the average tirage of the 112,100 books...
View ArticleAbsence of Elections in Regions Means Coming Collapse of Russian Empire Could...
Paul Goble Staunton, July 9 – Many continue to be amazed that the USSR came apart in 1991 so easily and so non-violently, but that is because they forget that “in every union republic there...
View ArticleRussians Partake of Putin’s Conservatism as Passive Spectators, Goncharov Says
Paul Goble Staunton, July 9 – Russians who want to rise through the political system now must support Vladimir Putin’s conservative platform, but those in the broader population are not...
View ArticleIs Another Bi-National Republic About to Come Apart in the North Caucasus?
Paul Goble Staunton, July 9 – One of the most cynical methods the Soviet government employed to divide and rule non-Russian nations was the establishment of republics with two titular...
View ArticleSakha Farmers Demand Ouster of Republic Head
Paul Goble Staunton, July 9 – A group of farmers in Sakha (Yakutia) have accused Yegor Borisov, the head of the republic, of destroying agriculture there, engaging in massive corruption, and...
View ArticleWhat a REAL Russian Propaganda Ministry Would Do
Paul Goble Staunton, July 9 – Most people assume that Vladimir Putin’s Russia has become a genuine propaganda state, but two Moscow military commentators say there is much more to be done...
View ArticleMoscow Forces One Rights Group to Shut Down Only to Be Confronted by Four New...
Paul Goble Staunton, July 10 – The Russian authorities must feel themselves to be in the position of the sorcerer’s apprentice: they have used the foreign agents law to force the Committee...
View ArticleWestern Toughness Causing Putin to Pursue De Facto Annexation of Donbas...
Paul Goble Staunton, July 10 – Because the Western powers have made it clear that they will react harshly to any further Russian advance into Ukraine, Vladimir Putin has shifted his focus...
View ArticleIs Hosting the World Cup More Important than Keeping Libraries Open? Russians...
Paul Goble Staunton, July 10 – With all the other problems Russia faces from demographic collapse to the economic crisis, it may seem that the accelerating closure of libraries for children...
View ArticleUnlike in Ukraine, a Russian Maidan Would Likely Be Violent and Destructive,...
Paul Goble Staunton, July 10 – “Unfortunately, Russia is different from present-day Ukraine in many ways,” Lilya Shevtsova says; and consequently, if a Maidan does occur there, it is likely...
View ArticleRussian Official in Far East Says Moscow Needn’t Be Involved in Rental of...
Paul Goble Staunton, July 10 – Given both Vladimir Putin’s moves to centralize almost all decisions and the sensitivity of many Russians to the possibility that the eastern portions of the...
View ArticleRussian Soldiers Increasingly Deserting Their Units to Avoid Being Sent to...
Paul Goble Staunton, July 11 – Several dozen contract soldiers in a Russian motorized rifle brigade based in Maikop have deserted in order to avoid being sent to fight in Ukraine. They now...
View ArticleYoung Russians Less Fearful of Nuclear War than Their Elders who are Building...
Paul Goble Staunton, July 11 – The share of Russians who fear a nuclear war has risen over the last two years as international tensions over Ukraine have increased, according to a variety of...
View ArticleMoscow's Mistreatment of Ukrainians in Russian Prisons Prompting Kyiv to Act
Paul Goble Staunton, July 11 – No one caught up in the Russian justice system is likely to be treated well, but Ukrainians caught in its traps are suffering in particular, according to...
View ArticleMinsk 2 Documents Undermine Ukrainian Sovereignty, Illarionov Says
Paul Goble Staunton, July 11 – Speaking in Kremenchug this week, Andrey Illarionov said that Ukraine should continue to negotiate in its quest for peace but that it should reject the...
View ArticleEnvironmental Activists Cautiously Optimistic Vitishko Will Soon Be Released
Paul Goble Staunton, July 11 – A Russian court announced yesterday that it would decide on July 31 about the possible release of Yevgeny Vitishko from prison camp, an announcement that has...
View ArticlePolitical Persecutions Continue Unabated in Russian-Occupied Crimea
Paul Goble Staunton, July 12 – When any situation no matter how horrific continues for a long time, there is a great danger that it will become for many a kind of new normal, something...
View ArticleThere is No ‘Hybrid War’ in Ukraine, Only a Real One, Felshtinsky Says
Paul Goble Staunton, July 12 – One of Moscow’s greatest propaganda successes has been its ability to convince even its opponents in Kyiv and Western capitals to speak of what Russia is doing...
View ArticleWest Now Resolved to Confront Moscow on Ukraine and Moscow is Frightened,...
Paul Goble Staunton, July 12 – After 15 months of uncertainty, the West has resolved to stand up to Moscow on Ukraine and demand a return to the status quo ante before relations between the...
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