Crimea
Member of Duma: Russia shall never let down Transnistria
April 27, 2010Russia shall never let down Transnistria, Victor Malashenko, a member of the Russian State Duma [parliament] standing committee for CIS affairs and links with compatriots, stated over the local television. The Russian parliamentarian said that because...
Yanukovych defends Russian naval base extension
April 22, 2010Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych has defended his decision to grant a 25-year lease extension to Russia's Black Sea Fleet base in Crimea. In return for the extension, Moscow reduced the price Ukraine pays for Russian natural gas by 30 percent in...
Russia triumphs in dispute over Sevastopol, but the price is high
April 22, 2010By Pavel Felgenhauer Jubilant Medvedev praises Yanukovych and threatens Lukashenka Yesterday, Moscow achieved one of its most important long-term strategic goals –to secure a continued military presence in Ukraine by keeping its base in Sevastopol...
Russia grants Ukraine gas discount in return for fleet lease extension
April 22, 2010Ukraine has agreed to a lengthy extension for the Russian Black Sea Fleet's base in Crimea in exchange for a major discount on Kyiv's imports of Russian gas. The lease on the base will be extended for another 25 years beyond the current term, which was...
Crimean Tatar leader: Crimea’s stability under threat
March 18, 2010By Paul Goble Mustafa Cemilev, the leader of the Crimean Tatar national movement, warned the European Parliament that the situation in his homeland is increasingly fragile in the wake of the Russian invasion of Georgia in August 2008 and the recent...
Yanukovych downplays Russian intelligence operations in Ukraine
March 12, 2010By Taras Kuzio Yanukovych will ignore Russian espionage against Ukraine The election of the Party of Regions leader Viktor Yanukovych as Ukraine’s president presents a fundamental shift in the country’s national security culture as outlined...
Ukraine: New Crimean Tatar women’s journal highlights revival of reformist Islam
March 07, 2010By Paul Goble A Crimean Tatar journal for women launched this week represents the latest development in a trend that has attracted relatively little attention: the revival especially among the Tatars and other Muslim groups in Russia of the principles...
Yanukovych’s election opens up Crimean separatist threat
March 02, 2010By Taras Kuzio Viktor Yanukovych’s inauguration as Ukrainian president on February 25 forced him to face the fact that the Party of Regions that he leads, has re-opened the Pandora’s Box of Crimean separatism. National Institute of Strategic...
Russia makes new demands on Ukraine after Yanukovich’s victory
February 22, 2010By Paul Goble Moscow has demanded that incoming Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovich among other things end Kyiv’s contacts with the CIA and allow the FSB to return to Crimea, part of a more general effort by Russia to exploit the election outcome...
French-Russian warship deal making waves among NATO allies
February 10, 2010By Ahto Lobjakas The French daily "Le Monde" broke the news on February 9: Paris had "agreed in principle" to negotiate the sale of one or more "Mistral"-class ships to Russia. If the sale goes through, it will be the...