Posts Tagged ‘Putin’
Posted on February 14, 2011 - by Venik
Putin’s Palace
Ahead of the presidential election in Russia, the opposition is pooling resources for an early smear campaign. The usual targets are other opposition leaders, the Communists, and the Kremlin. But the all-time favorite is, of course, Vladimir Putin. Will he run for president? Nobody knows. Gorbachev doesn’t think Putin will run. Nemtsov is certain that [...]
Posted on December 11, 2010 - by Venik
Nothing Odd
A couple of days ago Claes Borgström (thank God I am not Swedish), the lawyer representing Anna Ardin and Sofia Wilén in the sex case against Julian Assange, decided to explain some of the more obvious discrepancies in his clients’ version of events. Normally, this is what a good lawyer would be expected to do [...]
Posted on December 9, 2010 - by Venik
WikiDefendors
Today Wikileaks and Julian Assange gained two new influential supporters: the UN human rights commissioner Navi Pillay and her nemesis the Batman (aka Russia’s prime minister Vladimir Putin). Putin’s vocal support of Julian Assange comes a day after a member of Medvedev’s administration suggested Assange should be nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. “When asked [...]
Posted on June 15, 2009 - by Venik
Cantor Compares Obama to Putin Pravda Turns Paleocon Against Bailout USA
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin (left) and U.S. President Barack Obama (right) Last week Congressman Eric Cantor (R-VA), the number two Republican in the U.S. House of Representatives, compared President Barack Obama to Russian leader Vladimir Putin in an interview with the Associated Press. Cantor did not mean the comparison in a flattering way. While [...]
Posted on June 15, 2009 - by Venik
Follow-up on the Former Moldavian SSR Commentary
Michael Averko addressing the guests of the World Russia Forum in Washington D.C. Last month’s parliamentary election and political demonstration in Moldova led to greater attention focused on that country. A few relatively high placed articles on the subject have been followed up on. Appearing shortly before the vote and protest, Vlad Spanu’s March 20 [...]
Posted on June 3, 2009 - by Venik
Medvedev vs. Putin
A small scandal erupted in Russia’s Karelia region over the decision by a local newspaper to reprint the article from The Vancouver Sun critical of Medvedev. Editors of the Iskra – a small entertainment paper named after Lenin’s famed underground revolutionary newsletter and a relative newcomer to the Russian newspaper market – in a desperate [...]
Posted on March 15, 2009 - by Venik
Russian Military Reform
Putin and his cabinet have embarked on the most dangerous journey of their political careers: the 2009-2012 military reform. And by “dangerous” I don’t mean just unpopular but life-threatening. The decision to cut nearly 200,000 senior officers, special forces, and intelligence operatives will have serious consequences for Russia’s internal stability. Essentially, over a relatively short [...]
Posted on November 7, 2008 - by Venik
Saakashvili’s Endgame
As waning wartime patriotism in Georgia gives way to realistic assessments of the facts, Saakashvili can now see the end of his political career rapidly approaching. As predicted, the situation in Tbilisi is developing rapidly and Saakashvili may be expected to make his endgame early next year, probably soon after Obama’s inaugural speech in Washington. [...]
Posted on September 6, 2008 - by Venik
Pentagon-Hired Contractor Trained Georgian Army
In the late 1800s, one American poet wrote: “When I see a bird that walks like a duck and swims like a duck and quacks like a duck, I call that bird a duck.” Since the first day of the war in the Caucasus, people familiar with history started noticing peculiar similarities between Georgia’s attack [...]
Posted on September 1, 2008 - by Venik
The EU Gets the Pipe
As expected, the EU resolution on Russia was all gasconade and bravado. Russia’s unspoken threat to restrict energy supplies to the European Union did the trick. Gordon Brown found out that a “root-and-branch” review of relations with Russia may be difficult when you are covered head to toe in Russian oil. Today Russia is supplying [...]
Posted on August 28, 2008 - by Venik
The War in Georgia
For the past two weeks I’ve been trying to collect as much information as possible about the situation in Georgia. I talked to more than a dozen Russian and US military experts, got in touch with my contacts in Tbilisi and North Ossetia, and exchanged information with dozens of journalists in Moscow and here in [...]
Posted on August 25, 2008 - by Venik
Saakashvili Finally Loses It
Ever since Georgia launched its military operation against South Ossetia, killing Russian peacekeepers and hundreds of its own civilians, many have been asking the same question: has Saakashvili gone stark raving mad? It’s now official: yes. In his latest interview to Financial Times, Saakashvili revealed dark depths of madness that made even Putin shudder: “The [...]
Posted on August 19, 2008 - by Venik
Latest Developments in Georgia
The Independent just published the most ridiculous timeline of Russia’s operation in Georgia. It is not surprising since the article relies on analysis by Pavel Felgenhauer – Russia’s leading quack in the field of military pseudo-analysis distilled for amateur foreign journalists who can’t read. The problem with “A new world order: The week Russia flexed [...]
Posted on August 15, 2008 - by Venik
Georgia’s Attack on South Ossetia: Washington’s Role
Elusive NATO Membership At the NATO Summit in Bucharest in April 2008 Georgia was denied Membership Action Plan. Aside from Russia’s vehement opposition, the key issues outlined in the NATO Individual Partnership Action Plan, accepted by Georgia in October 2004, remain unresolved. These issues are: Georgia’s antiquated military equipment, insufficient training and deployability of its [...]
