NCSEJ WEEKLY NEWS BRIEF
Washington, D.C. March 26, 2015
1. Chechnya Speaker Vows To Arm Mexico If U.S. Gives Weapons To Ukraine; Pro-Ukraine Demonstrators in
Belarus Assail Russian Policy; Russian Parliamentarians Warns U.S. Not To Arm Ukraine; Nazarbaev,
Little-Known Candidates to Run For Kazakh President; Russian Lawmaker Who Opposed Crimea Seizure
May Lose Immunity
News Briefs, March 24-26, 2015
2. Vandals Paint Swastika on Jewish WWII Monument in Volgograd
Moscow Times, March 24, 2015
3. Members of the US House of Representatives form task force to combat anti-Semitism worldwide
EJC, March 24, 2015
4. Powerful Ukrainian Governor Kolomoyskiy Resigns
RFE/RL, March 25, 2015
5. Reznychenko, Kolomoisky's successor in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, seen as close to Poroshenko
Kyiv Post, March 26, 2015
6. News Analysis: Ukraine Risks 'Feudalization' As Conflict with Oligarchs Boils Over
By Robert Coalson
RFE/RL, March 25, 2015
7. Ukraine Arrests 2 Officials as Nation Watches on TV
By David Herszenhorn
New York Times, March 25, 2015
8. Right-Wing Groups Find a Haven, for a Day, in Russia
By Neil MacFarquhar
New York Times, March 22, 2015
9. No One Sees Easy Way Out on Ukraine
By Steven Erlanger
New York Times, March 26, 2015
10. Putin Accuses West Of Anti-Russian Plots
RFE/RL, March 26, 2015
11. West holds off on Ukraine aid pledges, seeking reforms
Reuters, March 26, 2015
12. EU Criticizes Azerbaijan, Notes Ukraine's Challenges
By Rikard Jozwiak
RFE/RL, March 25, 2015
13. Russia's Propaganda War
Forbes, March 25, 2015
#1a
Chechnya Speaker Vows To Arm Mexico If U.S. Gives Weapons To Ukraine
By RFE/RL, March 26, 2015
The head of the legislature in Russia's Chechnya region says that Russia will provide arms to Mexico if Washington
supplies weapons to Ukraine.
Chechen Parliament Speaker Dukvakha Abdurakhmanov said the arms would be aimed at reigniting U.S.-Mexican
disputes over “territories annexed by the United States in the American states of California, New Mexico, Arizona,
Nevada, Utah, Colorado, and part of Wyoming.”
“We will perceive arms shipments to Ukraine as a signal to respond in kind,” Abdurakhmanov said in a March 24
statement posted on the Chechen parliament’s website.
Abdurakhmanov is a close associate of Ramzan Kadyrov, the Kremlin-backed strongman who rules Chechnya.
Prominent U.S. lawmakers have called on U.S. President Barack Obama to supply Ukraine with weapons they say
will allow Kyiv to protect its territory against Russian-backed separatists.
The Obama administration has resisted the calls, saying the move could result in greater bloodshed between
Ukrainian forces and the separatists in a conflict that has killed more than 6,000 people since April 2014.
#1b
Pro-Ukraine Demonstrators in Belarus Assail Russian Policy
AP, March 25, 2015
About 2,000 opposition activists marched Wednesday through the Belarusian capital to condemn Russia's policy
and express solidarity with Ukraine.
Demonstrators carried a placard reading "Russia is War," a reference to Moscow's support for a separatist
insurgency in eastern Ukraine. The rally in Minsk was approved by the authorities and police didn't intervene.
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has forged close economic, political and military ties with Russia,
which has supported the ally with cheap energy and other subsidies. Lukashenko has ruled the nation of 10 million
with an iron hand for more than 20 years, drawing Western criticism for his relentless crackdown on dissent and
independent media.
But Belarus' ties with the West have improved recently as Minsk hosted crucial Ukraine peace talks, and
Lukashenko has openly criticized some of Moscow's moves.
The Belarusian leader recently accused Moscow of violating the rules of the Eurasian Economic Union, a newly
created alliance of Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan. He warned that Belarus could leave the
union if the agreements on forming the alliance aren't observed.
Opposition leader Alexander Milinkevich, who unsuccessfully challenged Lukashenko in 2006, said that the rally
reflected fears of Russia's intentions. "We are seriously worried and are seeing our historic chance only with the
European Union," he said.
Inga Shakhnovich, a 19-year old student waving Ukrainian flag, said she fears that Belarus could become Russia's
next victim. "Ukraine is fighting for our independence too," she said.
#1c
Russian Parliamentarians Warns U.S. Not To Arm Ukraine
RFE/RL, March 24, 2015
Pro-Kremlin lawmakers say the Russian parliament should reinstate President Vladimir Putin's formal authority to
send troops into Ukraine if the United States provides Kyiv with lethal weapons.
The lawmakers spoke on March 24, a day after the U.S. House of Representatives approved a resolution urging
President Barack Obama to provide Ukraine with lethal weapons to defend itself against Russian "aggression."
A Just Russia party lawmaker Mikhail Yemelyanov told the State Duma, the lower parliament house, that if the "the
United States actually starts to deliver lethal weapons to Ukraine we should openly back militias...with weapons,
and reinstate the president's right to send troops to Ukrainian territory."
He was referring to Russian-backed separatists whose war with government forces has killed more than 6,000
people in eastern Ukraine since April 2014.
Frants Klintsevich, a ruling United Russia party lawmaker, said U.S. supplies of lethal weapons would "in a second"
destroy the fragile cease-fire deal now in place.
Parliament gave Putin the formal authority to send troops to Ukraine in March 2014 , a move that sent a warning
signal to the West following the ouster of Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych.
The authority was later withdrawn, and Russia denies sending troops into eastern Ukraine despite what Kyiv and
NATO say is overwhelming evidence.
#1d
Nazarbaev, Little-Known Candidates To Run For Kazakh President
RFE/RL, March 25, 2015
Kazakhstan's Central Elections Commission says incumbent President Nursultan Nazarbaev and two other others
have been officially registered as candidates for the April 26 presidential election.
The commission said in a March 25 statement that official registration is over and Nazarbaev, who was nominated
by the ruling Nur Otan party, will take part in the election along with Turghyn Syzydyqov of the Kazakh Communist
People's Party and Abdelghazy Husainov, the head of the Federation of Kazakh Unions.
Neither of Nazarbaev's opponents are well-known in Kazakhstan.
The three are eligible to campaign between March 26 and April 24.
The next Kazakh presidential election was scheduled for 2016, but an assembly chaired by Nazarbaev proposed
that it be held earlier and parliament -- which is dominated by Nazarbaev's Nur Otan party -- confirmed the change
last month.
Nazarbaev, 74, has run the energy rich Central Asian nation since 1989.
He has clamped down on dissent, free speech and media in Kazakhstan and the country has never held an
election judged to be free or fair by the West.
#1e
Russian Lawmaker Who Opposed Crimea Seizure May Lose Immunity
RFE/RL, March 26, 2015
Russia's lower house of parliament may pave the way for the prosecution of the only member who voted against
the annexation of Crimea from Ukraine last year.
Authorities say Ilya Ponomaryov, one of a very few opposition lawmakers in the State Duma, is suspected of
embezzling money earmarked for Skolkovo, an innovation hub project outside Moscow that aims to create a
Russian rival to the U.S. tech hotbed region the Silicon Valley.
Duma spokesman Yury Shuvalov told reporters on March 26 that the chamber's speaker, Sergei Naryshkin,
received an official request from the Prosecutor General's Office to strip Ponomaryov of his parliamentary immunity
from prosecution.
The Duma is to consider the issue on April 6.
The March 2014 takeover of Crimea, which sparked a deep crisis in relations between Moscow and the West, was
portrayed by the Kremlin as a patriotic mission to restore control over what President Vladimir Putin calls historically
Russian land and was highly popular with the public.
Living In The U.S.
In addition to opposing the annexation, the 39-year-old Ponomaryov was also a prominent organizer and speaker
at mass rallies against Putin's return to the presidency in 2012 after four years as prime minister.
Ponomaryov has been living in the United States since last year, saying he was forced to leave after being accused
in a civil suit for 2.7 million rubles ($47,000 at the current rate) for failing to deliver the agreed number of lectures at
Skolkovo, a high-tech hub promoted in 2009 by then-President Dmitry Medvedev, who is now prime minister.
Following futile attempts to appeal the ruling, Ponomaryov began to pay down the debt.
Ponomaryov says he has to stay in the United States as he is unable to return because his accounts and assets
have been frozen over the Skolkovo Foundation case and he was barred from crossing back into Russia.
He says the embezzlement allegations are politically motivated.
Ekho Moskvy radio quoted him as saying he does not plan to return to Russia while under threat of prosecution.
"What's the point of just voluntarily going to prison?" he was quoted as saying.
#2
Vandals Paint Swastika on Jewish WWII Monument in Volgograd
Moscow Times, March 24, 2015
Vandals have painted a swastika on a memorial to Holocaust victims killed during World War II in Volgograd, in an
attack that one Jewish organization said was inspired by a congress of far-right parties held in the country this
week.
The swastika, accompanied by crude text, has been removed, and police are searching for the vandals, the Interior
Ministry said Monday, according to Russian media reports.
Leaders of Russian Jewish organizations denounced the vandalism.
"When living people are insulted, that can be explained away by a lack of upbringing. But when the dead are
insulted — words fail me," Volgograd rabbi Zalman Ioffe was quoted as saying Monday by the Kavkazsky Uzel
news site. "The memory of people who died a horribly death has been insulted. This is sacrilege that cannot be
forgiven or excused."
The memorial in question was installed in 2007 to commemorate hundreds of Jews killed in the Volgograd area
by the Nazis during World War II. A larger monument is expected to be built at a later date, and the current
structure consists of a marble plaque reading: "On this spot, a monument will be erected to honor the memory
of peaceful citizens — Jews who were shot by fascist invaders in the fall of 1942."
The monument has been vandalized a number of times in the past few years, Kavkazsky Uzel reported.
Vandals tried to scrape the word "Jews" off the memorial plaque just two months after it was installed, the head
of the Volgograd Jewish Community Center, Yael Ioffe, was saying at the time. The perpetrators were not caught,
Ioffe told Kavkazsky Uzel, and another attack against the monument followed the year.
The Russian Jewish Congress has linked the latest attack to a high-level conference of ultranationalist leaders held
last Sunday in St. Petersburg — a city which, like Volgograd, is seen in Russia as a symbol of the suffering
and heroism in resisting the Nazis during the war.
St. Petersburg, where hundreds of thousands of people died during a Nazi siege, saw leaders of far-right parties
from Europe and Russia gather this weekend for an International Russian Conservative Forum, praising Russia as
a haven for the world's marginalized parties.
"The history of our country shows that all outbreaks of anti-Semitism in Russia happened only during the times
when the ruling powers permitted Judeophobes to openly show their hatred of Jews," the Russian Jewish Congress
said in an online statement. "Impunity has been interpreted as a call to action."
"This is what is happening now, when during this anniversary year of the victory [in World War II], in a city that lost
900,000 of its inhabitants during the siege, a congress is held of the most odious neo-Nazis and ultra-right radicals
of Europe," the group said. "Around the regions of our country, echoes of that forum are already being heard. AntiSemites are once again testing the authorities to see how much is permitted."
Neighborhoods in and around Volgograd — the site of major battles during World War II — in the past few years
have also seen swastikas painted on houses, posters praising Hitler pasted on bus stops, and young men wearing
swastikas marching during an Easter-time procession, state-run Rossiiskaya Gazeta reported.
Alexander Boroda, the president of the Federation of Jewish Communities of Russia, said the vandalism would not
end unless the authorities ensure "real criminal punishment" for perpetrators, the Interfax news agency reported.
"It is time to understand that those beings who are allowing themselves to scorn at the memory of the massacred
will not stop this outrage simply because they are being reproached," Boroda was quoted as saying.
#3
Members of the US House of Representatives form task force to combat anti-Semitism worldwide
EJC, March 24, 2015
Eight members of the US House of Representatives announced the formation of a task-force aimed at combating
anti-Semitism.
"Around the world, we are witnessing an alarming rise of anti-Semitism that is dangerous and complex. Over the
past few years, Jewish schools, synagogues, and even homes and property have been targets of anti-Semitic
violence. Jewish populations are facing increased levels of hatred, frequently under the guise of political differences
or other alibis, but in reality it is solely because of their faith," the members said in a statement.
The ‘’Bipartisan Taskforce for Combating anti-Semitism," will work to educate Congress members on this particular
form of prejudice and will seek to share solutions that could minimize the phenomenon with the executive branch of
the government, foreign leaders and civil society organizations.
The force will work to minimize the proliferation of anti-Semitic acts across the globe. The task-force hopes to
integrate Congress into the fight against anti-Semitism and promote tolerance on an international level.
"It is the responsibility of everyone who believes in basic universal liberties and freedoms to condemn this trend and
work together to root out the hatred which underlies anti-Semitism. We look forward to working with our colleagues
in Congress to find innovative solutions that match the 21st century face of this age-old bigotry," their statement
read.
The leadership of the World Jewish Congress (WJC) met in Washington in the framework of its annual Executive
Committee meeting to discuss the growing threats to Jewish communities and the surge in anti-Semitism.
US Vice President Joe Biden commended the WJC’s tireless efforts to combat anti-Semitism in Europe and
worldwide.
Commenting on the rise of world anti-Semitism, Biden said: “I spent a lot of time in Austria, Munich, and France
talking about anti-Semitism in Europe and other places around the world and let me tell you that your work really
matters. If you don't constantly speak out every time it raises its ugly head -- if you let it sit for a minute -- it's like a
boil that festers. I want to thank you all for your constant, unrelenting oversight and for making sure that wherever it
rears its head, you speak.”
On a visit to the city of Malmo, Sweden, on Monday, U.S. special envoy to combat anti-Semitism, Ira Forman, said
there is a threat of violence against Jewish groups in Sweden and other parts of Europe.
"I have reason to believe that there is a threat of violence against Jewish groups in Europe, and those threats
definitely exist in Malmo too," she said at a meeting with Jewish community leaders.
In Stockholm, he questioned the viability of small Jewish communities in Europe.
"If current trends continue, and they're not good… we have to worry about small Jewish communities in Europe and
their very viability," Forman said.
After a Jewish volunteer standing guard outside a bat mitzvah in neighboring Denmark was shot to death in an
attack on a Copenhagen synagogue last month, Sweden issued directives requiring police officers guarding Jewish
buildings to carry machine guns.
Forman told Swedish news agency TT that "security will not solve the underlying problems of anti-Semitism.
#4
Powerful Ukrainian Governor Kolomoyskiy Resigns
RFE/RL, March 25, 2015
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has signed a decree dismissing powerful tycoon Ihor Kolomoyskiy as
governor of Dnipropetrovsk, a region near separatist-held territory in the southeast.
Kolomoyskiy's departure follows a public dispute over control of state oil companies and accusations that the
prominent former ally of Poroshenko was using private armed forces to protect and promote his interests.
The showdown deepened concerns about the stability and security of Ukraine, which is struggling with a Russianbacked rebellion in the eastern provinces of Donetsk and Luhansk and severe economic troubles.
According to a statement posted on his website at 1:45 a.m. on March 25, Poroshenko signed the decree after
Kolomoyskiy submitted his resignation as governor of Dnipropetrovsk, which lies southeast of Kyiv and borders the
Donetsk province to its east.
It said Poroshenko signed the dismissal decree during a meeting with Kolomoyskiy and showed a photo of the two
at a table, with only the back of the tycoon's head visible.
The statement said Poroshenko told Kolomyoysky that Dnipropetrovsk "must remain a bastion of Ukraine in the
east and protect the peace and calm of our citizens."
The wording reflected persistent concerns in Kyiv that the Russian-backed rebels may seek to push further west
despite a European-brokered deal on a cease-fire and political settlement of the conflict, which has killed more than
6,000 people since April 2014.
Kolomoyskiy, 52, billionaire co-founder of the banking chain Privatbank, has financed battalions of pro-Kyiv forces
fighting the separatists, which Kyiv and Western governments accuse the Kremlin of supporting with weapons and
personnel.
He was one of several tycoons, considered too rich to bribe, who were appointed to leadership positions in a bid to
ensure stability after the ouster of Russian-backed President Viktor Yanukovych in February 2014 following months
of protests iover his decision to scrap plans for closer ties with the EU.
But an uneasy alliance with Poroshenko appeared to disintegrate in recent weeks as the tycoon clashed with the
government over control of two state-owned energy companies, Ukrnafta and Ukrtransnafta.
Last week, Ukraine's parliament passed a law reducing Kolomoyskiy's power as minority shareholder in the
companies and permitted a management change that he had previously blocked.
On March 22, armed men occupied the Kyiv headquarters of Ukrnafta, and lawmaker Serhiy Leshchenko said they
were linked to Kolomoyskiy.
Another lawmaker, Mustafa Nayyem, said the armed men attacked and beat him when he tried to enter the building
to inquire about the occupation.
The occupation came days after armed men also suspected of acting on orders Kolomoyskiy's orders briefly
occupied the headquarters of Ukrnafta's pipeline management subsidiary, Ukrtransnafta.
On March 19, Kolomoyskiy went to the office of Ukrtransnafta after the company's supervisory board replaced its
chief, Oleksandr Lazorko, a Kolomoyskiy associate.
At one point, Kolomoyskiy told reporters he was protecting the building from "Russian saboteurs."
The government said there was no attempted sabotage.
Poroshenko has ordered all private battalions to be integrated with the official armed forces.
In a pointed warning to Kolomoyskiy, Poroshenko told a meeting of military commanders on March 23 that "none of
the governors will have their private armed forces."
Kolomoyskiy has interests in energy, media, aviation and metals.
Lawmaker Borys Fliatov said on Facebook that a deputy governor of Dnipropetrovsk, Hennadiy Korban, resigned
after Kolomoyskiy's dismissal.
Poroshenko named Valentin Reznichenko as acting governor of Dnipropetrovsk, the statement on his website said.
#5
Reznychenko, Kolomoisky's successor in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, seen as close to Poroshenko
Kyiv Post, March 26, 2015
The newly appointed acting governor of Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, Vitaliy Reznychenko, has yet to prove himself and
has virtually no track record in Zaporizhya, where he served as governor since Feb. 21.
Reznychenko’s appointment came after President Petro Poroshenko fired billionaire Igor Kolomoisky as
Dnipropetrovsk Oblast governor on March 25. Kolomoisky had drawn the public's wrath when he eployed armed
guards in a failed attempt assert control two state-owned energy companies where he had a minority stakes.
A former top manager of a media company with more than two decades of experience, Reznychenko only recently
entered government service.
The 42-year-old worked for Ukrainian Media Holding between 1996 and 2014, a company set up by Poroshenko's
chief of staff, Borys Lozhkin. Poroshenko also owned a minority share in that company. His debut in government
was at the Ukrainian State Center of Radio Frequencies, an agency that distributes air frequencies.
Residents of Zaporizhya Oblast struggle to name any of his achievements in the past month.
“You see, if he failed or made some fatal mistakes, I would be able to comment. And likewise, if he started a
renaissance in Zaporizhya after his arrival,” says Roman Pyatigorets, the chairman of Ukrainian Voters Committee
in Zaporizhyzhya. “There is nothing to evaluate.”
Reznychenko was not available for comment for this story.
Others were also unimpressed with his work.
“Everyone was waiting for a strong and bright personality, but instead some clerk arrived,” says political analyst
from Zaporizhzhya Ihor Hromov. “The local elite took him as a temporary worker. He came – okay, he came, he’ll
leave – okay, he’ll leave.”
One complaint, according to Hromov, was that the former governor broke a longstanding tradition. Newly appointed
governors of Zaporizhya usually gather local regional government council members to discuss the oblast’s
problems.
Pyatigorets says even his news conferences were given to a select few and behind closed doors.
Some think that Reznychenko's low profile is a good thing. Volodymyr Fesenko of the Penta think tank says that
high-profile appointments are typically followed by scandals later.
“He isn’t a famous person,” Fesenko told the Kyiv Post. “But there is a huge shortage of leaders because of the
ongoing renewal (of power). Only time and real actions will show how effective he will be as a governor.”
Fesenko described Reznychenko as an honest person who knows Dnipropetrovsk because he was born there, and
a representative of the president’s team. If Poroshenko's introduction is anything to go by, it certainly seems to be
the case.
“I can say that I have known this man for 15 years. A strong-willed, effective leader, who understands the problems
of the economy,” said Poroshenko after appointing Reznychenko as governor in February.
Reznychenko's 2014 income declaration showed that he made more than Hr 5.7 million that year. He also owns
four properties and five cars, including a luxurious Land Rover Ranger Rover purchased last year.
Reznychenko for now will serve as a caretaker for Dnipropetrovsk Oblast. The legal procedure for his official
appointment first requires a Cabinet nomination, which is then sealed by the president's decree.
Reznychenko's former colleagues from the radio frequency distributor describe him differently.
Volodymyr Korsun, who heads the center now, says Reznychenko made the agency more transparent. He was
brave and decisive, as well. “He always managed to push the matter through,” Korsun said.
Former vice president of UMH Grigoriy Shverk, who worked with Reznychenko for over 15 years, describes him
similarly.
“Everything that he has dealt with was effective, in terms of both profit and management,” says Shverk, who now
serves as the deputy chairman of the National Council of Ukraine on Television and Radio Broadcasting. “He was
also effective as a crisis manager.”
#6
News Analysis: Ukraine Risks 'Feudalization' As Conflict With Oligarchs Boils Over
By Robert Coalson
RFE/RL, March 25, 2015
The unfolding conflict between Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and oligarch Ihor Kolomoyskiy is a
symptomatic and dangerous moment in Ukraine's post-Soviet history. And the danger has not passed simply
because Kolomoyskiy stepped down as governor of Dnipropetrovsk Oblast.
Ukraine is a fathomless tangle of geopolitical, political, and economic interests, as well as a country struggling to
break out of the oligarch-state model.
That struggle is being played out against the background of the upheavals within the oligarchy caused by the
essentially antioligarchic Maidan protest movement and of the ongoing conflict with Russia.
So what is happening now? Is Kyiv making a serious effort at breaking the oligarchs' grip over Ukraine? Or is the
country in for another round of self-destructive infighting that could produce political and economic disaster?
"Maidan initiated a process of oligarchic restructuring," says analyst Andriy Zolotaryov of Kyiv's Third Sector think
tank. "Some oligarchs lost influence and a significant part of their wealth. Other oligarchs, on the other hand,
despite losses, became stronger, more secure. Ihor Kolomoyskiy was one of the latter. It was a redistribution."
He adds that it is too early to tell whether Poroshenko is truly committed to "the necessity of the de-oligarchization
of Ukraine's economy and the removal of the oligarchs from political power."
Kolomoyskiy resigned as Dnipropetrovsk governor on March 24 following a showdown with Poroshenko over
control of state oil companies. Poroshenko accused Kolomoyskiy of using "private militias" to promote his business
interests after armed men occupied the Kyiv headquarters of the Ukrnafta oil company on March 22. Days earlier,
other armed men briefly occupied offices of Ukrnafta's pipeline subsidiary, Ukrtransnafta.
Ukraine's government was badly weakened by the Maidan protests, which drove President Viktor Yanukovych from
power and forced a reshuffling throughout the ruling elites. But Maidan didn't break the oligarchic system, as
evidenced by the fact that Poroshenko himself is a card-carrying member of the oligarchic club.
As Russian journalist Leonid Bershidsky wrote recently for Bloomberg, "Ukraine remains an oligarch-run country
plundered for years by a small group of ruthless men."
"So far, the Ukrainian people have been unable to bring them down," Bershidsky added.
Kolomoyskiy backed the Maidan movement and used his wealth to create several units of volunteer fighters to
secure his eastern Dnipropetrovsk region and fight against the separatists in Donetsk and Luhansk. This,
Zolotaryov says, gives him the conviction that "the government owes him something."
In addition, Kolomoyskiy controls Ukraine's most successful bank, PrivatBank, one that is widely considered too big
to fail. "That is why he takes risks," Kyiv-based journalist and political analyst Vitaliy Portnikov says. "Because he
thinks there are red lines" his competitors will never cross.
Portnikov, however, doubts whether such red lines really exist.
"All these people -- the oligarch club, the current government -- have shown many times that they don't have red
lines because they only think 24 hours in advance."
And Kolomoyskiy is only one piece of this puzzle. Others, like Rinat Akhmetov, Dmytro Firtash, and Viktor Pinchuk
continue to control large swathes of the Ukrainian economy.
"The oligarchy is still in control," says Oleksandr Bondar, the former head of Ukraine's State Property Fund.
"Akhmetov controls the energy sector, the metals industry, and telecoms as well. Firtash controls the chemicals
sector. They continue to wield power and they will continue to blackmail the government. Kolomoyskiy is not the
only one doing this."
Portnikov agrees that Ukraine's "club of oligarchs" is "trying to do everything they can to preserve the oligarchic
state, including by using their political power and media resources."
Meanwhile, any rift that divides Ukraine and weakens the central government plays into Russia's hands in the
ongoing conflict between the two countries. The flashpoint conflict between Poroshenko and Kolomoyskiy centered
around two state oil companies. But Russia's LUKoil, controlled by oligarch Vagit Alekperov, also has an important
interest in those firms.
Paradoxically, Poroshenko must take into account Russian interests in such conflicts, Portnikov says. "He is in
constant peace negotiations with Russia's political leadership and he knows that whenever matters touch on the
business interests of [Russian President] Vladimir Putin and those oligarchs that support him, the position of the
Russian president becomes uncompromising."
Moscow has been pushing for "federalization" in Ukraine -- a weaker central government and broad autonomy for
the regions, especially the ones with large ethnic Russian and Russian-speaking populations. The current struggle
among the oligarchs and between the oligarchs and the government, Portnikov says, could result in something
even worse.
"Instead of the federalization that we have all been so afraid of, we are getting the feudalization of Ukraine," he
says.
It was never realistic to imagine that ending the oligarchic model in Ukraine would be a simple, consensus-based
process, analysts say. Particularly if it is played out at a time of a crippling economic crisis and an open conflict with
Russia.
"We are losing the chance to reform," former official Bondar says. "We are being distracted from what is really
happening in the economy. Everyone has forgotten about the banks, about the exchange rate, and everything else
that is going on. Instead of focusing on the needs of investors, we have lost their confidence."
"The hryvnya is being destroyed," he adds. "I have already said -- Putin can relax because our government and our
oligarchs will do everything for him."
#7
Ukraine Arrests 2 Officials as Nation Watches on TV
By David Herszenhorn
New York Times, March 25, 2015
In a carefully orchestrated spectacle calculated to dramatize a newly aggressive anticorruption campaign, the
Ukrainian authorities on Wednesday arrested two senior government officials during a televised cabinet meeting in
Kiev. Prime Minister Arseniy P. Yatsenyuk, who was in the room, declared it a warning to public officials about
abusing their offices or stealing from taxpayers.
With the cameras rolling and top government officials sitting around a huge wooden conference table, police
officers in thick bulletproof vests and knit caps handcuffed the director of Ukraine’s emergency services ministry,
Sergiy Bochkovsky, and his deputy, Vasyl Stoyetsky, and led them from the room. Both Mr. Bochkovsky and Mr.
Stoyetsky were wearing dark uniforms covered in medals.
“This will happen to everyone who breaks the law and sneers at the Ukrainian state,” Mr. Yatsenyuk told journalists
who watched the arrests.
The Interior Ministry later said that Mr. Bochkovsky and Mr. Stoyetsky would be charged with crimes including
embezzlement and abuse of power.
The Ukrainian government has long been hobbled by deep-rooted corruption and mismanagement, a source of
angry, public frustration that was a factor in the street protests in Kiev last year that ousted President Viktor F.
Yanukovych.
But the efforts to fight corruption and hold former public officials accountable have proved to be frustratingly slow
and largely ineffective, as the new government has been forced to deal first with Russia’s invasion and annexation
of Crimea, and then with a war waged by Russian-backed separatists in the eastern regions of Donetsk and
Luhansk.
With Ukraine’s economy collapsing, officials appealed desperately for international assistance. Western allies of the
Kiev government have been eager to help, but have stepped up pressure for a more aggressive approach on
corruption, making it a condition for assistance. Even so, a new anticorruption bureau formed partly at the behest of
the International Monetary Fund still does not have a director.
In recent weeks, however, a number of steps have been taken in the government and in Parliament, including the
dismissal of the country’s top prosecutor.
Last month, the authorities arrested a former leader of Mr. Yanukovych’s Party of Regions, Oleksandr Yefremov, on
charges of abuse of power in connection with another embezzlement scheme, this one involving overpayment by
the government for coal. Mr. Yefremov was released on bail. And a deputy head of the Party of Regions, Mykhailo
Chechetov, who had been charged with abuse of authority, committed suicide on the night of Feb. 27 by leaping
from a window of his 17th-floor apartment in Kiev. Mr. Chechetov had been under house arrest and wore an
electronic monitoring bracelet.
This month, the authorities in Spain arrested a former Ukrainian finance minister, Yuri Kolobov, who is accused
along with other senior officials in Mr. Yanukovych’s government of misappropriating millions of dollars. So far, he is
the only former minister to be detained, though others are being sought, including several who fled to Russia.
The arrests of the two emergency services officials came hours after President Petro O. Poroshenko dismissed the
billionaire governor of Dnipropetrovsk, Igor V. Kolomoisky, in a dispute that critics said reflected other murky
dealings between the government and the country’s richest businessmen.
Mr. Kolomoisky was angry over legislation that curtailed his power over two state-controlled energy companies in
which he owned a minority stake.
The battle with Mr. Kolomoisky, who had been one of the government’s staunchest allies, raised questions about
other disputes that may unfold involving the country’s so-called oligarchs, who have long found ways to benefit from
the mismanagement and malfeasance in the Ukrainian government.
Private militias financed by Mr. Kolomoisky had helped prevent Russian-backed separatists from advancing from
Donetsk and Luhansk into the heart of Ukraine.
Some prominent members of Parliament had called for Mr. Kolomoisky’s removal and on Wednesday said it should
be just the start of a campaign to reduce the influence of the oligarchs.
The government in the meantime seemed intent on making an example of the emergency services officials, who it
said had overseen a wide-scale corruption scheme in which fuel for government vehicles was purchased at inflated
prices.
Anton Gerashchenko, a member of Parliament who serves on a board overseeing the Interior Ministry, said that up
to 20 percent of the amount spent on fuel was diverted to bank accounts of Mr. Bochkovsky and Mr. Stoyetsky in
Cyprus and in Jersey, part of the Channel Islands off the coast of Normandy.
“Search operations conducted by the Ministry of Internal Affairs over the last six months helped detect and
document in detail the whole vertical of corruption led by the top leadership” of the emergency services ministry, Mr.
Gerashchenko said in a statement.
#8
Right-Wing Groups Find a Haven, for a Day, in Russia
By Neil MacFarquhar
New York Times, March 22, 2015
A motley crew of representatives of fringe right-wing political organizations in Europe and the United States used a
conference here on Sunday to denounce what they called the degradation of white, Christian traditions in the West.
Their hosts used the conference to advance Russia’s effort to lure political allies of any stripe.
Railing against same-sex marriage, immigration, New York financiers, radical Islam and globalization, among other
targets, one speaker after another lauded Russia and President Vladimir V. Putin as a pillar of robust, conservative,
even manly values.
Mr. Putin has for some time sought international influence by casting Russia as the global guardian of traditional
mores. Yet the effort has acquired new urgency, as Moscow seeks to undermine support in Europe for economic
sanctions and other policies meant to isolate Moscow over its aggressive actions against Ukraine.
“Putin’s calculation is that Europe should change its attitude toward Ukraine, and it can easily happen when and if
internal European problems outweigh Ukrainian events,” said Nikolai Petrov, a political scientist in Moscow.
“They can make friends with everybody who poses a threat to the ruling parties, including radical forces,” he said. “If
the radical nationalists are increasing their weight in Europe, they can serve as good allies for the Kremlin.”
Organizers said the one-day conference, officially billed as the International Russian Conservative Forum, was just
the first such outreach effort. Russia is ready to make common cause with leftists, centrists, greens and any other
potential allies critical of American domination and other social ills, they said.
If the forum was the first step, however, it proved rather anemic. Representatives of the more effective right-wing
European political parties — notably the National Front in France, Jobbik in Hungary and Austria’s Freedom Party
— stayed away. Two members of the European Parliament from Golden Dawn, the Greek neo-fascist party, spoke,
but one used his time to pitch increased economic cooperation between Russia and Greece.
Russia’s nationalistic Rodina, or Motherland, party was the main organizer of the conference. The party’s deputy
leader for ideological issues, Fyodor V. Biryukov, described the central goal as building new organizational bodies
for “the traditionalists.” The National Front and others had been invited but were “too busy,” he said.
Experts said, however, that the more mainstream parties were apparently leery of being lumped with groups seen
as neo-Nazis in their home countries. Two leaders of Rodina who had been listed as speakers also did not show
up. Rodina exists as a kind of nationalistic branch of Mr. Putin’s ruling United Russia party.
The National Front was contesting local elections across France on Sunday. But Ludovic de Danne, an adviser on
European affairs to the party’s leader, Marine Le Pen, said he had known nothing about the St. Petersburg meeting.
Of course, Ms. Le Pen has no need to sit in a cramped conference room at the St. Petersburg Holiday Inn with 300
other delegates. On Friday, in an interview on state-run Rossiya 24, a national cable news channel, she said both
Europe and Russia were hurt by sanctions and thus needed to work together to dismantle them. Last year, the
National Front secured a multimillion-dollar loan from a Russian bank. But beyond plane tickets and hotel rooms, it
is unclear that marginal organizations can expect much, particularly given Russia’s financial problems.
In her absence, Ms. Le Pen was criticized by various participants. One French speaker said she had gay friends,
while Roberto Fiore, a longtime war horse of right-wing politics in Italy, sniffed that the French party had started to
take a “slightly more politically correct line.”
Mr. Fiore praised Russia as the vanguard of Europe’s future, a common theme among both Russian and foreign
speakers. “We are the avant-garde of a new Europe that will very soon emerge,” he said. “It will be a Christian
Europe, a patriotic Europe, and Russia will not just be a part but a leading force.”
Others were even more effusive. Jim Dowson, a British nationalist, flashed a picture on an overhead screen of Mr.
Putin shirtless riding a bear. “Obama and America, they are like females. They are feminized men,” he said. “But
you have been blessed by a man who is a man, and we envy that.”
Conference participants repeatedly endorsed the efforts of the separatists in Ukraine, where, Russia says, a
“fascist” coup overthrew the legitimately elected government in February 2014.
The United States, as the main adversary, attracted the most hostility, but a couple of American speakers received
warm applause by painting Washington as an aggressor trying to export its misguided new values.
Jared Taylor, who runs a website called American Renaissance, said the descendants of white Europeans risked
being swept away by a wave of Africans, Central Americans and Asians. The United States, which he said
worshiped diversity rather than Christianity, “is the greatest enemy of tradition everywhere.”
Anton Shekhovtsov, an expert on European extremist groups, said the tradition of Russia’s currying favor with even
the fringes of European political groups was an old one. Lenin, he noted, used to call leftist agitators “useful
Western idiots” who helped block attempts to isolate Russia after the Bolshevik Revolution.
The gathering drew about 40 protesters outside the hotel, carrying signs saying things like “We don’t want foreign
Nazis in St. Petersburg, we have more than enough of them here.” The police detained eight of them.
#9
No One Sees Easy Way Out on Ukraine
By Steven Erlanger
New York Times, March 26, 2015
Hardly anyone expects Ukraine to get better before it gets worse, or for the latest set of commitments in last
month’s cease-fire agreement to be kept.
Instead, senior Western diplomats and analysts are predicting a further escalation of tensions, including the placing
of Russian nuclear weapons in newly annexed Crimea; more unrest in cities like Mariupol and even Odessa; more
advances by Russian-supported rebels against an under-gunned and dispirited Ukrainian Army; and attempts to
destabilize the Western-leaning government in Kiev, beginning with President Petro O. Poroshenko.
Mr. Poroshenko, weakened by the loss of Crimea and a large, contiguous chunk of eastern Ukraine, faces Western
demands for economic overhauls, increased energy prices and a crackdown on corruption to justify billions in loans
and aid. He also confronts new challenges from oligarchs like Igor V. Kolomoisky over control of energy companies
and private militias with flexible loyalties to the state, or what’s left of it.
The West, which claims to be united, is actually divided over Russia’s actions in Ukraine and how to respond.
Having hailed the revolution in Kiev as a defeat for President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, the United States and
Europe are indeed united in one matter: refusing to defend Ukraine militarily.
But they disagree on much else: whether to provide Kiev with arms; whether to give Kiev massive economic aid
and for what benchmarks; whether the cease-fire agreement reached in Minsk, Belarus, last month is being
implemented.
The disputes were clear this week at the German Marshall Fund’s Brussels Forum.
Europeans, led by Germany and France, oppose supplying even defensive arms to Kiev, believing it would prompt
Russian escalation.
Washington is not convinced. Nor is the NATO supreme commander, Gen. Philip M. Breedlove, who said that the
West must respond to Russia’s continuing supply of troops and arms to the rebels. The West “should consider all
our tools in reply,” he said. “Could it be destabilizing? The answer is yes. Also inaction could be destabilizing. Is
inaction an appropriate action?”
General Breedlove’s outspokenness and readiness to publicize evidence of Russian intervention have not
endeared him to European officials or some in Washington who do not want to be pushed into difficult decisions.
Europeans say that key elements of the Minsk agreement, like the withdrawal of heavy weapons, are proceeding;
American officials disagree. “We continue to see disturbing evidence of air defense, command and control, resupply
equipments coming across a completely porous border, so there are concerns whether Minsk is being followed or
not,” General Breedlove said.
Victoria Nuland, assistant secretary of state for European affairs, said the pro-Russian separatists possessed more
sophisticated weapons than the Ukrainian Army. “We’ve seen, month on month, more lethal weaponry of a higher
caliber” brought into Ukraine, she said.
“The No. 1 thing,” she added, “is for Russia to stop sending arms over the border so we can have real politics.”
The European Union has rolled over financial sanctions against Moscow, but its foreign policy chief, Federica
Mogherini, wants to lift sanctions, though subject to “the situation on the ground.”
Russia faces large loan payments by year’s end that exceed its foreign-currency reserves, making some officials
wonder whether Moscow will escalate or try to accommodate, hoping to get European Union sanctions lifted.
Zbigniew Brzezinski, the former American national security adviser, is not sanguine. Predicting Russian nuclear
weapons in Crimea, he said, “I’m not sure that at this stage we have succeeded in convincing the Russians that we
are prepared to deter the kind of steps they are adopting.”
He wants to balance deterrence and accommodation, but he suggests instead that “the Russians may pursue an
assertive policy towards Ukraine just far enough to avoid a military confrontation but produce the result of the total
collapse of the Ukrainian economy, the wasting of billions of dollars.” Despite sanctions, Russia “remains a major
power and therefore achieves a major change in the geopolitical situation in Europe.”
#10
Putin Accuses West Of Anti-Russian Plots
RFE/RL, March 26, 2015
President Vladimir Putin has accused Western nations of plotting to influence or disrupt Russian elections over the
next few years, including a 2018 vote in which he could seek a fourth term.
The accusation was one of several that Putin leveled against the West during a March 26 meeting with senior
officers of the Federal Security Service (FSB), the domestic successor of the Soviet KGB.
Putin said that Western intelligence services are "planning series of actions during the election period in 20162018."
He said Western nations are seeking to "contain" Russia with an arsenal of measures ranging from attempts at
"political isolation and economic pressure to a large-scale information war" and espionage.
Putin said efforts to "frighten" Russia "will never succeed."
Relations between Russia and the West have been driven to post-Cold War lows by Moscow's annexation of
Crimea in March 2014 and its support for separatists fighting government forces in a war that has killed more than
6,000 people in eastern Ukraine since April.
During 15 years in power as president or prime minister, Putin has repeatedly accused the West, and the United
States in particular, of seeking to undermine Russia's security and restrain its development following the 1991
Soviet collapse.
He stepped up such accusations upon his return to the Kremlin in 2012, accusing foreign governments of seeking
to push him from power.
The United States and EU deny such claims, stressing that they want Russia to thrive, and Putin's critics at home
accuse him of using the specter of Western aggression to rally support and maintain a firm grip on power.
Putin said efforts to "frighten" Russia "will never succeed."
He portrayed the country as beset by spies but successful in countering espionage, saying that "special operations
stopped the activity of 52 staff officers and 290 agents of foreign security services."
Putin, who is accused of clamping down on NGOs with restrictive laws during his third term, repeated his accuation
that Western secret services use nongovernmental organizations to "destabilize Russia."
"The attempts by the Western secret services to use public, nongovernmental organizations, and nonpolitical
bodies to discredit the authorities and destabilize Russia's internal situation continue," he said.
Putin has not ruled out running for reelection in March 2018.
Russia's economy has been damaged by low prices for oil, a key export, and sanctions imposed by the West over
its interference in Ukraine.
Putin said that the overall situation for Russia will not remain the same but "will change -- and hopefully for the
better."
"The situation will change for the better not because we will always be stepping back, bending, or talking baby talk
with anyone. It will change for the better only if we get stronger," Putin said.
#11
West holds off on Ukraine aid pledges, seeking reforms
Reuters, March 26, 2015
International lenders are delaying plans to offer Ukraine billions of dollars on concerns Kiev cannot yet prove the
cash will not vanish into a corrupt economy which EU officials fear could remain a "bottomless pit".
Ukrainian authorities are still preparing a much-anticipated donor conference for April 28 but EU officials told
Reuters that Western governments and agencies are now expected to meet in Kiev only late in the year, giving
Ukraine longer to draw up more detailed proposals for how it would spend the money efficiently.
The European Commission said on Thursday that its president, Jean-Claude Juncker, would visit Kiev on Monday
ahead of a newly announced EU-Ukraine summit there on April 27.
EU officials said leaders hoped the summit would help agree an agenda for economic and other reforms as the bloc
tries to bolster its ally President Petro Poroshenko, who was elected in May last year, in the face of hostility from
Russia.
"Major economies, Germany, the United States, are going to pledge billions of dollars in long-term loans and they
want to know what their money is to be spent on," one EU official said.
Another said that while Ukraine was still hoping to host a donor conference from April 28, the day after the EU
meeting, there was little prospect of major institutions attending.
Western powers see the aid package to rebuild near-bankrupt Ukraine as their most effective tool against Moscow
in a tug-of-war for influence in the country. But they are wary of investing in one of the world's most corrupt states.
Last month, European Commissioner Johannes Hahn, who is responsible for the EU's neighborhood policy, told
Reuters: "We have to avoid a bottomless pit. We want to have a precise plan.
A Ukrainian government source said authorities were still preparing for a conference in April: "But we also know
some people in the EU want to postpone it to the end of this year."
Despite the delay, officials say the conference will go ahead at some point because Kiev's $17.5-billion bailout by
the International Monetary Fund sets the stage for donors, such as the European Union, Norway, Switzerland and
Canada, to come in.
The European Parliament this week approved 1.8 billion euros in EU loans to Ukraine over the next two years.
In all, the IMF money, a $15.3 billion debt restructuring, previous pledges and an international donors' conference
could mean some $65 billion going into Ukraine, in one of the world's biggest aid programs in recent times.
As agreed with the European Union, Ukraine has submitted a reform plan by a March deadline, officials told
Reuters. There are still doubts about how many roads, power plants, schools and hospitals Ukraine needs and how
far judicial reforms will go to avoid money being siphoned off by corrupt bureaucrats.
At the EU-Ukraine summit next month, Commission president Juncker, European Council President Donald Tusk
and Poroshenko, will seek a "comprehensive road map for reform", according to EU officials briefed on the
preparations.
Hahn said in February the West was also looking for funds to deal with the humanitarian crisis in the country
stemming from the country's conflict with Russian-backed separatists.
Aid efforts are linked to preparing Ukraine for a trade agreement with the European Union, a deal that lies at the
center of the stand-off with Russia because Moscow wanted Kiev to join its Eurasian customs union.
#12
EU Criticizes Azerbaijan, Notes Ukraine's Challenges
By Rikard Jozwiak
RFE/RL, March 25, 2015
The European Commission has approved its 2014 European Neighborhood reports, highlighting progress and
shortcomings made last year in the countries to the east and south of the European Union -- several of them on
Russia's fringes.
The report, issued on March 25, includes assessments of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine.
Belarus, which is also a member of the EU's European Neighborhood group, is not included in the report because
Minsk and Brussels have not yet agreed to a European Neighborhood Policy Action Plan.
ARMENIA
Armenia backed out of signing a landmark agreement with the EU in 2013 and has since joined the Russiandominated Eurasian Economic Union.
But the report says that negotiations soon will be launched on "a new EU-Armenia overarching agreement once the
respective negotiating mandates have been approved."
The EU says Armenia continued its democratic transition in 2014, but adds that "certain human rights issues,
fundamental freedoms, and rule of law issues remained to be dealt with."
The document says "the lack of trust in the judicial system persisted" and that "the fight against corruption remained
a key issue."
The EU also recommends more diversification in the country’s economy.
AZERBAIJAN
The EU sharply criticized Azerbaijan's government for the political situation in the country.
The paper says there was a "regression in the democratic transition process and with regard to human rights and
fundamental freedoms, e.g., the freedom of religion or belief, freedom of expression, and freedom of assembly."
It says the situation of civil society organizations deteriorated considerably due to the introduction of a more
restrictive legal framework and that "a number of prominent human right defenders were detained, travel bans were
issued, and bank accounts of civil society organizations were frozen."
The EU urges Baku to improve the situation regarding democracy and human rights in the country and to create a
more conducive political and legal environment for civil society.
The document notes that the security situation in Azerbaijan’s breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh territory "remained a
matter of serious concern amid unprecedented incidents and casualties since 1994, as well as rise in
confrontational rhetoric and a continued arms race."
Baku and Yerevan have been locked in a conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh for nearly 25 years. Armenia-backed
separatists seized the mainly ethnic Armenian-populated region during a war in the early 1990s that killed some
30,000 people.
GEORGIA
The EU says Georgia continued its democratic transition.
According to the report, last year’s local elections were "generally in compliance with international standards, even
though freedom of association and assembly were not fully ensured during the campaign."
The text also says judicial independence remains fragile and that "the rights of minorities remained to be improved
further" despite the adoption of an antidiscrimination law.
It also criticizes the treaties that Russia has signed with the breakaway regions Abkhazia and South Ossetia, noting
that it violates Georgia's territorial integrity.
The EU says it hopes that Tbilisi increases "the accountability and democratic oversight of law enforcement
agencies" and encourages trade, education, travel, and investment across the administrative boundary line with
Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
MOLDOVA
The EU generally praises Moldova, saying the country "advanced on human rights issues and fundamental
freedoms."
It also says last year's general elections offered the country’s citizens "a wide choice of political alternatives."
The report also states that "the media enjoyed a good level of freedom in regional comparison" but that questions
remain over the concentration and transparency of media ownership.
It deplores that the reform of the Public Prosecutor's Office stalled and that corruption remains a major issue.
The investment climate in the country also remains difficult, the report said.
The EU urges Moldova to improve corporate governance and oversight in the financial sector and to intensify the
fight against corruption.
UKRAINE
The European Commission says reforms in Ukraine were carried out in "a very difficult political, economic, social
and military/security context of armed conflicts."
The paper notes that civil society in the country has been developing quickly and that the decentralization process
has been launched.
It also points out that the human rights situation both in the annexed Crimea and in eastern Ukraine has "worsened
drastically."
Russia annexed the Crimean Peninsula in March 2014 and a conflict between Ukrainian government forces and
pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine has killed more than 6,000 people since April.
Brussels suggests the implementation of a comprehensive anticorruption package in Ukraine, harmonization of all
electoral legislation, comprehensive reform of the public administration, and ensuring that the lustration processes
in the executive and the judiciary are in line with relevant international standards.
#13
Russia's Propaganda War
Forbes, March 25, 2015
In February, Slovak activist and high-school teacher Juraj Smatana published a list of 42 websites that are helping
to spread pro-Kremlin propaganda in Slovakia and the Czech Republic causing an uproar in local media. “Even
though the majority of these servers are anonymous, their content is very professionally-made,” Smatana explained
in an interview for Slovak daily Dennik N. He alongside other activists spent the last few months mapping this
phenomenon and found very similar systems of pro-Russian websites in Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Hungary
and Bulgaria.
In the past few months, the number of websites supporting the Kremlin information war in Czech language has
been steadily increasing. Soon after the annexation of Crimea, the news portal Aeronet.cz launched an aggressive
campaign against the new government in Kiev. In 2014, the Czech counterintelligence agency designated it as
“source of dangerous pro-Russian propaganda.” Nevertheless, Aeronet.cz appears to be only the tip of the iceberg,
as similar online platforms have since been established or recently increased their activity.
Russia is portrayed as a force for moral good and traditional values
Topics differ, but many articles, online comments and websites have several things in common. While Western
countries are suffering here from political and moral decline, Russia is portrayed as a force for moral good and
traditional values. In many cases, founders of platforms are unknown, hard to track, or provide insufficient
information about their origin. In a like manner, authors of many articles and comments are unknown or publish
under various pseudonyms.
“Americans wanted too much from Syria, Russia’s demands were more reasonable” is a vague description of a
stalemate in Syria that was written on one such server. In many instances, articles capitalize on current problems
that European countries are experiencing, such as the EU’s economic crisis. The author of an article on another
pro-Russian server compared the ECB’s quantitative easing to “the slaughtering of printed money.”
In addition to contemporary issues, they tout fabricated claims from history, which they present as new sensational
discoveries. One post twisted the ruling of the European Court of Human Rights and denied the Soviet Secret
Police’s responsibility for the 1940 Katyn massacre of Polish officers.
Internet trolls glut online discussions
Simultaneously, Internet trolls on traditional and social media have been glutting online discussions in increasing
frequency. Czech-speaking contributors often talk about alternatives to “mainstream opinion that are forced upon
citizens by state propaganda.” Another commentator compared state propaganda to methods used by fascists and
bolsheviks, a narrative frequently used against the government in Kiev. While depicting traditional media as
unreliable and manipulated by the West, they call for the nation to wake up, open its eyes and finally find the real
truth.
In addition, these online activities are backed-up by pseudo-NGOs that the Kremlin has long been using as
instruments in foreign policy. British Chatham House estimated that the pro-Russian NGO sector alone is worth
$100 million a year. In November 2013, a new Czech think tank, the Institute of Slavic Strategic Studies (ISSS),
was established in Prague. One of its founders, Radka Zemanova-Kopecka, is among the most active Czech
journalists whose articles often appear on the pro-Russian websites mentioned earlier and is a frequent contributor
to many online discussions.
Susceptibility to Russia’s propaganda is especially topical in former Communist bloc states
ISSS’s goal, as stated on the website available in both Russian and Czech, is to strengthen Slavic integration (most
Slavic countries are former Communist bloc countries). According to ISSS, this historic alliance provides an
alternative to today’s “feuding world.” In February 2014, ISSS organized a seminar in the Czech parliament entitled
“Myths about Russia.” As the name indicates, its objective was to demystify Russia and provide the public, as well
as Czech politicians, with facts. Speakers included Oskar Krejci, a former secret agent of the StB (the secret police
force used by communists as an instrument of oppression) and an advisor to the last Communist Prime Minister
Ladislav Adamec, and Alexandr Klein, the Deputy Director General of the Russian government-owned ITAR-TASS
news agency (transformed into TASS news agency last September).
Susceptibility to the Russia’s propaganda is especially topical in former Communist bloc states with strong business
and historic ties with its former occupier. According to a 2014 opinion poll, the post-Communist developments
since1989 have not met the expectations of 54% of Czechs and 70% of Slovaks, and such propaganda is drawing
on this sentiment. On the other hand, the new upswing in pro-Russian propaganda activities is increasingly being
discussed in the region. In the last few weeks, a number of articles in leading Czech and Slovak media have been
written on the topic while local activists and “anti-propaganda” groups on social media are gaining more and more
followers. But is this enough to counter a well-organized, billion-dollar propaganda push from Moscow?