Russia Insider
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Recent activity an hour ago
The first spring flowers are blooming in Moscow!
Moscow State University's Pharmaceutical Garden invites everyone to admire the first March flowers Culture 3 hours ago | 301 Snowdrops: A symbol of spring in Moscow The Pharmaceutical…
Recent activity 2 hours ago
The Washington Post Needs a Reality Check
The Washington Post's latest editorial on Ukraine (Helping Ukraine in its time of need ), deserves some attention. In an ideal world, it would - being so totally useless - be disregarded as waffle. Bu…
Recent activity 5 hours ago
Russia Launches Tactical Sniper Drills in Armenia
This article originally appeared at Sputnik Russian reconnaissance units based in Armenia have begun tactical sniper exercises in the remote areas of this South Caucasian country, according to…
Recent activity 11 hours ago
US Training of Ukrainian National Guard Starts End of April
US instructors will begin training the Ukrainian national guard in Lvov region as early as this April, according to the Pentagon Press secretary, Steve Warren. According to Warren, the 'training exerc…
Recent activity 11 hours ago
Top Expert on Russia Stephen Cohen - This is the worst international crises since the Cub…
Round Table on "Defining a new security architecture for Europe that brings Russia in from the cold" was held in Brussels on March 2. The organizer of the event was the American committee fo…
Recent activity 12 hours ago
Italy: Renzi wants to sidestep EU-sanctions against Russia
Italian exports to Russia decreased by $1.2 bn between 2013 and 2014. Prime Minister Matteo Renzi wants to stop this trend and sidestep Russian sanctions. Because the country is in an economic c…
Recent activity 15 hours ago
Former Ukrainian President Yushchenko: Ukraine Needs Lend-Lease
This article originally appeared at Arguments and Facts. Translated for RI by Johanna Ganyukova Former Ukrainian President, Viktor Yushchenko, has stated that Western assistance given to Ukrai…
Recent activity 15 hours ago
Putin to Attend WWII Victory Celebrations in China
MOSCOW, March 19 / TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin will visit Beijing in September to take part in the celebrations of Victory in World War Two, Kremlin Administration Chief Sergey Ivanov t…
Recent activity 16 hours ago
12 top Russian inventions that changed the world
Caterpillar tracks, track assembly In 1837, Russian army captain Dmitry Zagryazhsky came up with drawings of a caterpillar drive and applied to the Ministry of Finance for a patent for his invention…
Recent activity 16 hours ago
We Are Drifting Towards WW3
The Economist argues that there are ominous parallels between the conditions which led to the first world war and today: The United States is Britain, the superpower on the wane, unable to gu…
Recent activity 16 hours ago
Washington's Empire is Cracking...
The author of this article, Dr. Paul Craig Roberts, was Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Economic Policy, associate of the Wall Street Journal and columnist for Business Week
Recent activity 16 hours ago
Anti-Government Protestors in Serbia Carry Putin's Portraits, DPR Flags
Thousands participated in a protest march in Belgrade against the Serbian government headed by the Premier Aleksandar Vucic. Protestors voiced their discontent with the Serbian government an…
Recent activity 17 hours ago
Clinton Foundation Received $10 Million from Ukrainian Oligarch
Between 2009 and 2013, including when Mrs. Clinton was secretary of state, the Clinton Foundation received at least $8.6 million from the Victor Pinchuk Foundation, according to that foundation,…
Recent activity a day ago
US Taxpayers to Fund Ukraine Bailout with Bond Guarantee
Last week we reported that as part of the latest "check kiting" bailout scheme, Greek pensioners (and now utility companies) are being raided by the Greek government so that it can repay its de…
Recent activity a day ago
Perverted Humanitarianism: The Neocon Case for Arming Ukraine
Despite the coordinated efforts of Russia, Germany, and France to deescalate the crisis in Ukraine, the United States has remained steadfast in its opposing policy objectives as it fans the flames of…
Recent activity a day ago
Lavrov: Kiev Might Stage "Provocations" to Receive Lethal Weapons from US
( Reuters) - Russia appealed to Germany and France on Saturday to ensure Kiev does not try to incite violence in east Ukraine to encourage the United States to send Ukrainian forces lethal wea…
Recent activity a day ago
French President: Russia Is A "Friendly Country"
PARIS, March 20. / TASS/. Russia is a "friendly country" for France, French President Francois Hollande told the Society magazine in an interview published on Friday. "For me, Vladimir Putin i…
Recent activity a day ago
Detained by the SBU: French Businessman Retells Bizarre Interrogation by Ukraine's Se…
In an exclusive interview, French entrepreneur and long-time resident of Ukraine Thierry Laurent-Pellet describes his run-in with the SBU and Right Sector - and explains why he has little faith in P…
Recent activity 2 days ago
Putin Calls for Currency Union between Russia and Ex-Soviet States
( Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin proposed on Friday creating a regional currency union with Belarus and Kazakhstan, Russia's partners in a political and economic union made up of former S…
Recent activity 2 days ago
Ruble Tops Global Currency Rally as Oil Bounce Adds to Taxes
Russia's ruble headed for the best weekly gain against the dollar globally on demand from companies rushing to meet a tax deadline and as oil prices rebounded. The ruble is poised for a 4.…
Recent activity 2 days ago
Turkey Offers Ukraine $50 Million Loan
(Reuters) - Turkey has offered a $50 million loan to Ukraine to help cover its budget deficit, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said in a joint press conference with Turkish counterpart T…
Recent activity 2 days ago
Russia Rebounds, Despite Sanctions
Sanctions meant to punish Russia for snatching Crimea from Ukraine one year ago were supposed to hurt Russian business. And they did. Russian stocks, bonds and commodities had the worst pe…
Recent activity 2 days ago
The Victory of National Democracy in Ukraine
What is democracy? It is a political, economic and social arrangement of a territorial unity of people in which the majority rules but minority rights are protected and there is a robust political opposi…
Recent activity 2 days ago
Kiev Finally Sits Down with Moscow - But Only to Negotiate Gas Prices
( Reuters) - Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said Ukraine's gas prices could rise to $348 per 1,000 cubic meters (tcm) in the second quarter as he arrived for gas supply talks with Kiev broker…
Recent activity 2 days ago
Ukrainian Oligarch under Fire after Night Raid on State Oil Firm
( Reuters) - A raid by a group of armed men in combat fatigues on a state-owned oil company in the Ukrainian capital Kiev caused uproar in parliament on Friday and thrust banking billionaire Ihor…
Recent activity 2 days ago
Russia Says Sanctions 'Destructive', Will Act in Own Interests
( Reuters) - Russia described "sanctions rhetoric" as destructive on Friday and said it would do what is in its national interests after European Union leaders kept economic sanctions in place over the…
Recent activity 2 days ago
Russia Expands Military Exercises to 80,000 Troops
( AFP) MOSCOW - Russia said Thursday it had doubled the number of troops taking part in mass drills ordered by President Vladimir Putin this week to 80,000 in a major show of strength amid te…
Recent activity 2 days ago
Russia-Led Military Bloc Ready to Send Peacekeepers to Ukrainian Regions
The head of the CSTO military bloc says the organization is ready to send peacekeepers to Donbass once such a move is sanctioned by the United Nations. " The Collective Security Treaty Organizati…
Recent activity 2 days ago
MACRO ADVISOR: A March Blip or Was the Russia Rally Premature?
Russian equities bounded out of the starting gate after the January holidays and by end-February the main indices were the best performing in the world, having appreciated by greater than 20%.…
Recent activity 2 days ago
Beyond Left and Right, Beyond Red and White: How the Liberation War in Donbass Populari…
"There are no separate Russia or Ukraine, but one Holy Rus" - Elder Iona of Odessa The year 2014 saw an unprecedented surge of patriotism in contemporary Russia, which resulted in popularizin…
Recent activity 2 days ago
US Diplomats Call for Victory over Nazism to Be Marked in Kiev, Not Moscow
Steven Pifer is a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. John Herbst is the director of the Dinu Patriciu Eurasia Center at the Atlantic Council. Bill Taylor is the acting executive vice president at…
Recent activity 2 days ago
Ukraine Founds a 'Center for Russian Studies'
KIEV, March 19 ( Interfax-Ukraine) - An analytical organization, the Center for Russian Studies (CRF), has been created with the participation of state figures and experts. The center will research even…
Recent activity 2 days ago
Shock-Therapy Will Not Save the Ukrainian Economy
National Bank of Ukraine decided to raise the refinancing rate to 30%. Raising interest rates, the financial authorities followed the same path as the Bank of Russia. The consequences will be the…
Recent activity 2 days ago
McDonald's Fights for Right to Serve Coca-Cola in Russia
This article originally appeared at The Moscow Times McDonald's has gone to a local Russian court to defend its right to mix and serve Coca-Cola and Sprite, a news report said Thursday.
Recent activity 2 days ago
Ukraine's Oligarchs Are at War (Again)
Ending the destructive power that billionaires exercised over Ukrainian politics was an important goal of last year's "revolution of dignity" in Kiev, yet some of the more civic-minded of these busi…
Recent activity 2 days ago
The House That Stalin Built
ANYONE UNFAMILIAR with the quality of Stephen Kotkin's four earlier books on the Soviet Union might well question whether we need a new, voluminous tome about the first fifty years of Josep…
Recent activity 2 days ago
Dictator Style: Poroshenko Threatens Sacked Airport Workers with Arrest...for Shouting!
The president first made an emotion-filled attempt to explain to those gathered why government services were being reduced and government workers were being laid off, noting that he would n…
Recent activity 2 days ago
US frightened about Russia's Arctic Militarization
Several U.S. lawmakers are warning U.S. military leaders about the pace and scope of Russia's Arctic militarization, including the addition new brigades, ships and airfields to the fast-changing…
Recent activity 2 days ago
Increased Chinese Investment in Russia Despite Economic Slowdown
MOSCOW ( Sputnik) - Chinese companies are not leaving the Russian market despite economic difficulties in the country, Cai Guiru, the president of the Association of Chinese Entrepreneurs in…
Recent activity 2 days ago
Germany Should Get Out of the Euro, not Greece
In the media there is frequent talk about "Grexit", meaning Greece leaving the Eurozone. All just eyewash...? ‚The anchor that is dragging down the European Economy is Berlin, not Athens', the…
Recent activity 2 days ago
Boycotting Moscow Victory Day Parade
For the last 14 months the world has witnessed an international relations debacle the likes of which no history book has yet recorded. The latest relations ruination tale unveils three more US ambas…
Recent activity 2 days ago
Ukraine’s Poison Pill for Peace Talks
By adding a poison pill to legislation implementing the latest Minsk agreement, the Ukrainian government has effectively guaranteed a resumption of the civil war, which U.S. hardliners and th…
Recent activity 2 days ago
US Threatened Germany Over Snowden, Vice Chancellor Says
German Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel (above) said this week in Homburg that the U.S. government threatened to cease sharing intelligence with Germany if Berlin offered asylum to NS…
Recent activity 2 days ago
East Ukrainian War Refugees Seek Solace in Crimea
As Sergei Gabuyev, a kiosk owner in rebel-held Donetsk, watched a street fight between two groups of insurgents devolve into a sea of AK-47 fire in front of the city's central bus station one evening,…
Recent activity 2 days ago
German government increases defence budget by €8 billion
Germany will increase and massively upgrade defence spending through 2019 according to key points in the 2016 budget and fiscal plan adopted Tuesday by the German cabinet. The military w…
Recent activity 2 days ago
EU Leaders Approve Propaganda War With Russia
European Union leaders today announced they have agreed to launch what is being called a "propaganda war" against Russia, with officials trying to develop an "EU narrative" to disseminat…
Recent activity 2 days ago
US to Train SWAT like Teams in Ukraine
Last week, Arsen Avakov, head of the Ukrainian Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVD) announced that Kiev is working with Washington to create a unified special police force analogous to American S…
Recent activity 3 days ago
Putin Says Foreign Countries Blocking Return of Offshore Capital
Putin in December aimed to give Russia's struggling economy a shot in the arm by promising that those bringing assets back to Russia would face no taxes, questions or hounding from law enforc…
Recent activity 3 days ago
If the EU Is Worried about Crimea, Shouldn't It Drop Sanctions against It?
Recently the EU expressed concern about the human rights situation in Crimea. Russia Insider in turn express skepticism about EU's sincerity since the EU has failed to express the same concern f…
Recent activity 3 days ago
Infamous Ukrainian Oligarch Uses Paramilitaries to Seize Oil Transit Company…
The background here is basically that Kolomoisky's pal was replaced (by new legislation) as the head of Ukrtransnafta. Kolomoisky didn't like this so he did what any self-respecting oligarch wo…
Recent activity 3 days ago
Berlin, Poroshenko, Russia
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko used his visit to Berlin on Monday to intensify the confrontation with Russia. Chancellor Angela Merkel (Christian Democratic Union/CDU) used a joi…
Recent activity 3 days ago
Gorbachev: West's Attempts to Isolate Russia Are Doomed to Fail
MOSCOW ( Sputnik) - The West cannot afford to ignore Russia's potential contribution to the settlement of the "global crisis," and all its attempts to shut Russia off from the rest of the world…
Recent activity 3 days ago
EU Approves Propaganda Campaign Aimed at Russia
( Reuters) - The European Union is set to launch a first operation in a new propaganda war with Russia within days of EU leaders giving formal approval to the campaign at a summit on Thursda…
Recent activity 3 days ago
Russia Overcomes the Worst, Sees Stabilization – Finance Minister
The Russian economy has begun to stabilize, climbing from its lowest point, according to Finance Minister Anton Siluanov. He says the ruble is becoming a stronger currency as it has sustainably g…
Recent activity 3 days ago
A Pragmatic Proposal for a Settlement of the Ukrainian Conflict
In this article in Business New Europe, Ben Aris looks at the Ukrainian problem very much in the way that a hard-headed businessman might do. By doing so Ben Aris shows both how it might be…
Recent activity 3 days ago
Could It Be That We Are Losing?
Michael McFaul wants you to know that he is hurt. The Russian outlook has not been so anti-American (and anti-EU) since before 1990 - perhaps since never (thanks for the graphic, Kirill). Th…
Recent activity 3 days ago
The High Mysteries of Ukrainian Mobilization and Demobilization
Ukraine is experiencing its first demobilization in 18 months. Initially it was planned to release more than 50 thousand troops, to be replaced by 52 thousand of the fourth wave of mobilization. Many…
Recent activity 3 days ago
Russia Ready to Drop WTO Lawsuits if European Union Does Same
MOSCOW, March 19, ( Sputnik) - Russia is prepared to drop lawsuits filed against the European Union with the World Trade Organization (WTO) if the European Union does the same, an official f…
Recent activity 3 days ago
The Azeri-Russian Gas Gambit In Greece
Russia is actively moving towards resurrecting the cancelled South Stream project, understanding that the European and Balkan need for gas didn't disappear in the months since the original pipe…
Recent activity 3 days ago
Russia’s Air Corps Is a Powerful But Fading Force
( Reuters) - On March 3, seven Russian attack planes took off from Novofederovka airbase in Crimea. They flew out over the Black Sea, right toward two North Atlantic Treaty Organization warships, t…
Recent activity 3 days ago
US and EU Rule out Russia's Cutoff from SWIFT
March 20 ./ TASS/. The United States and European Union don't consider it possible to bar Russia from the SWIFT international banking-payment system as it can cause serious damage to wester…
Recent activity 3 days ago
Lithuania Reintroduces Military Conscription amid Fears of Russian World Conquest
Lithuanian parliamentarians overwhelmingly voted in favor of returning compulsory military service to the country in light of current geopolitical tensions over the Ukraine crisis, the Baltic st…
Recent activity 3 days ago
The IMF: Ukraine's Loan Shark
( Reuters) - In eight International Monetary Fund programs since independence in 1991, Ukraine has completed just one successfully. A year on from Russia's seizure of Crimea, it looks unlikely it will…
Recent activity 3 days ago
EU to Keep Russia Sanctions until 'Ukraine Peace Terms' Met
( Reuters) - European Union leaders agreed on Thursday that economic sanctions imposed on Russia will stay in place until a Ukraine peace deal is fully implemented, effectively extending the…
Recent activity 3 days ago
IMF's Leash Is Too Short for Ukraine
As Ukrainian Finance Minister Natalie Jaresko travels to Washington, New York and London to try to persuade her country's creditors to take a haircut, she comes with a math problem. The restructu…
Recent activity 3 days ago
Deadlock over Greek Debt Crisis Could Play into Russia's Hands
Greece's battle to stay solvent and in the eurozone is becoming a game of dangerous brinkmanship. Beyond the war of words between Athens and Berlin, the dark arts of diplomacy are also being pl…
Recent activity 3 days ago
British military begin training Ukrainian army – media
This article originally appeared at BBC British military personnel have started training members of the Ukrainian army fighting pro-Russian rebels, the BBC has learned. The 35 trainers are working…
Recent activity 3 days ago
This is how Russia builds drones
This article originally appeared at Defense Update
Recent activity 3 days ago
Sevastopol. A year later.
The last year changed many things in my life, so it will be appropriate to summarize certain intermediate results associated with the changes in Sevastopol borne of the Crimean spring. I de…
Recent activity 3 days ago
The Cross and the Sword The Making of a Christian Taliban in Ukraine
THE RECRUITMENT POINT for volunteers in Dmytro Korchynsky's holy war is located in the basement of a building in central Kiev, on Chapaev Street, in what used to be a billiard club. Anyo…
Recent activity 3 days ago
Minsk 2.0 is Falling Apart
As predicted by everyone (but as the Western media has barely noticed) Minsk 2.0 is falling apart. The reason this is happening is the same reason that caused the collapse of Minsk 1.0. Minsk 1.0 a…
Recent activity 3 days ago
Chechnya's Leader Really, Really Likes Instagram
Via MK.ru. Translation by RI's Alina Belyanina:
Recent activity 3 days ago
Monitoring Group Looks to Publish Photographs of Cease-Fire Violations in Ukr…
In a conflict replete with propaganda from competing sides, a picture can say a thousand words. And finally, those pictures may become available to the general public. On Tuesday, the head of t…
Recent activity 3 days ago
Ukraine Starts First Demobilization Wave Since Start of War
This year's January-February draft in Ukraine was supposed to bring in 50,000 men, but just 35,000 serving soldiers are said to be eligible for demobilization, of whom it is not necessary all will be re…
Recent activity 3 days ago
Former Chancellor Helmut Schmidt asks for more understanding for Russia
The article originally appeared at Spiegel Online. Translated for RI by Roman Kut Hamburg - Ex Chancellor Helmut Schmidt argued for more understanding for Russia and president Wladimir Pu…
Recent activity 3 days ago
Orange isn't our colour
The "Anti-Maidan" movement in Russia was created so that law enforcement agencies do not feel alone and abandoned, said co-leader, the writer Nikolai Starikov. Along with "Anti-Maidan" collea…
Recent activity 3 days ago
Morales: "Boliva ready for war with the USA"
In the event of a US invasion of Venezuela, Bolivia would side with Venezuela.So said Bolvia's president Morales during an emergency session of ALBA, andcalled on other Latin American head…
Recent activity 3 days ago
Moscow Launches Ruble-Renminbi Futures To "Facilitate Trade Between China And Russia"
While the west huffs and puffs, and threatens to unleash even more "costs" on Russia in the form of additional sanctions which will assure that Europe's latest deflationary recession is even more ac…
Recent activity 3 days ago
The IMF is posturepedic, so Igor Kolomoisky can sleep well at night
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has decided to give the Ukrainian banks R&R&R - that's rest from regulation and refinancing. Inspection of the foreign exchange book, unwinding related-par…
Recent activity 3 days ago
Russian Arms Sales Top $15.5 Billion for 2014 Despite Sanctions' Impact
(Sputnik) March 19 - Russian weapons exports for 2014 stood at more than $15.5 billion and current orders for weapons deliveries stand at $48 billion, the director of the Russian Federal Service for…
Recent activity 3 days ago
Europe's financial ship sails away to China?
When president elect Barack Obama said he and vice president Joe Biden would "renew America's security and standing in the world through a new era of American leadership," most Americans b…
Recent activity 3 days ago
Ukraine Declares Resumption of War Against Donbass
On Wednesday, March 18th, Arseniy Yatsenyuk, the Prime Minister of Ukraine - who was selected for that post by Victoria Nuland of the U.S. State Department on 4 February 2014, 18 days before the…
Recent activity 3 days ago
EU 'Deeply Concerned' About Human Rights Situation in Crimea
You'd think it's Crimea where people are being starved, blockaded and shelled BRUSSELS, March 16 ( Reuters) - The European Union said on Monday it would stick to its policy of not recognizing Rus…
Recent activity 3 days ago
The Rage of the Cultural Elites
A certain unhappy incident happened to my aunt in the summer of 1966. The Cultural Revolution-a political movement initiated by Mao Zedong-was beginning to engulf the country. That same yea…
Recent activity 3 days ago
Less Than Half of Ukrainians Support EU Integration
The stated support for Russia integration has decreased by a great margin, but the main beneficiary has been independent course rather than EU integration.
Recent activity 3 days ago
Expanding NATO and the Paths to War and Peace
U.S. leaders think that peace comes through strength of forces as a deterrent. Strength of forces includes a wide range of techniques nowadays that go well beyond tanks, planes and ships to inc…
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