<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://api.kyivindependent.com/storage/2022/02/dutch-1024x682.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-8842"/><figcaption>Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte meets his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv on Feb. 2 as tensions rise on Ukraine's border amid a Russian military buildup. </figcaption></figure>



On Monday, as Ukraine <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2022/02/11/politics/blinken-ukraine-russia-quad-melbourne/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">was bracing</a> for a possible Russian invasion and another punishing<a href="https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-ukraine-covis-record-infections/31686412.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"> Covid-19 wave</a>, President Volodymyr Zelensky held an event on digital transformation which resembled something out of Apple founder Steve Jobs' playbook. Flashy graphics and cool suits framed a presentation which <a href="https://urldefense.com/v3/__https:/en.interfax.com.ua/news/general/796822.html__%3B!!AQdq3sQhfUj4q8uUguY!zaZkCQ7qKpNSt0q7uD9gUR876i8WWpd3TjlcjLUqEjlGE1yRUHlK1VNgSvlIN1HET_SjCQM$" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">included a pledge</a> to gift heavily discounted smartphones and a preferential tariff for the internet to every senior in Ukraine who is fully vaccinated.



The event might have been timed to distract attention away from the current crisis, or maybe quite simply as a follow-up on a&nbsp;<a href="https://urldefense.com/v3/__https:/www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/ukrainealert/ukraine-in-a-smartphone-zelenskyys-digital-dream/__%3B!!AQdq3sQhfUj4q8uUguY!zB4gXLKjjT_5k5byOZJcRQv3A0yQmLaYwWZveIGqB1rrsiLB-smc2ERY2z7WpvZgXdAV2E4$" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Zelensky election pledge</a>&nbsp;to transform Ukraine into a "country in a smartphone." Whatever the reasoning, the smartphone announcement didn't give the impression Zelensky was keeping his eye on the most important ball right now, namely the largest military threat to Ukraine in modern history.



Continue reading&nbsp;<a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2022/02/11/opinions/ukraine-president-zelensky-comedian-russia-bociurkiw/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">on CNN</a>.



Editor’s Note: This op-ed was published by&nbsp;CNN. The Kyiv Independent is aggregating it as a recommendation to our readers.

On Monday, as Ukraine was bracing for a possible Russian invasion and another punishing Covid-19 wave, President Volodymyr Zelensky held an event on digital transformation which resembled something...

Michael Bociurkiw: Ukrainians are wondering if their comedian-turned-president can handle the world stage

<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img src="https://api.kyivindependent.com/storage/2022/01/photo_2022-01-05_07-44-31.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-6237"/><figcaption>About 1,000 activists take part in a rally on Jan. 5, 2021 in front of the administrative building in Aktobe, Western Kazakhstan. (orda_kz)</figcaption></figure>



As a series of high-level talks between the United States, European allies and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnn.com/specials/europe/russia" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Russia</a>&nbsp;wind down this week, an&nbsp;<a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2022/01/12/europe/nato-russia-council-summit-ukraine-intl/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">uptick</a>&nbsp;in Moscow's military muscle on its borders will remain a preoccupation of western diplomats long after they return to their duty stations. The roughly 100,000 Russian troops&nbsp;<a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2022/01/10/politics/us-russia-ukraine-meetings-geneva-intl/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">stationed</a>&nbsp;near&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnn.com/specials/europe/ukraine" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Ukraine</a>&nbsp;constitutes the biggest security crisis in years for Europe and its allies, including the US. While in Kazakhstan, Russian President Vladimir Putin took this month's brutal crackdown from the regime's President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev as an opportunity to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-59900738" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">remind protesters</a>&nbsp;revolutions will never be allowed to spread in the region and by deploying Moscow-led security alliance troops to help quell the unrest, the central Asian country remains firmly in his sphere of influence. The tone of Putin's rhetoric and the trajectory of military deployment leave little doubt over his intentions: to regain control over a wide swath of the former Soviet Union -- even to the point of rolling back the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnn.com/2021/12/21/europe/russia-europe-us-nato-ukraine-intl/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">footprint</a>&nbsp;of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) to the Cold War years. Indeed, during high-stakes NATO-Russia talks in Brussels last week, the chief US negotiator, Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/12/europe/nato-russia-council-summit-ukraine-intl/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">told CNN</a>&nbsp;Moscow had made no commitments to deescalate on the Ukrainian border. <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2022/01/17/opinions/putin-kazakhstan-russia-unrest-bociurkiw/index.html?fbclid=IwAR1Dz5VkjRz2lMlHQkSKDuKVZuXmxqMj0odfKDYrQ_jfNK4QpKagUDxsgrg">Continue reading on CNN website</a> Editor’s Note: This op-ed was published by CNN. The Kyiv Independent is aggregating it as a recommendation to our readers.

As a series of high-level talks between the United States, European allies and&nbsp;Russia&nbsp;wind down this week, an&nbsp;uptick&nbsp;in Moscow's military muscle on its borders will remain a preoccupation of...

Michael Bociurkiw: For Putin, Kazakhstan is a domino too big to fall

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://api.kyivindependent.com/storage/2021/12/202524396_233139188754932_2128731993335870355_n-1024x683.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-3606"/><figcaption>U.S. President Joe Biden meets Russian President Vladimir Putin for a bilateral meeting in Geneva on June 17, 2021. (The White House/Facebook)</figcaption></figure>



As 2022 nears, the West is trying to figure out Russian President Vladimir Putin's next move on a complex geopolitical chessboard -- and preparing an "aggressive package" of sanctions, should he decide to make another land grab in Ukraine.



Tensions are now at their highest since 2014, when Russia illegally annexed Crimea and dispatched "little green men" into Ukraine's Donbas region. An all-out land invasion of Ukraine is now a real possibility.



But let's face it. Putin could care less about the West's threats, sitting as he does in the enviable position of being able to call the shots.



<a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2021/12/21/opinions/putin-russia-europe-chessboard-michael-bociurkiw/index.html">Continue reading on CNN website</a>



Editor's Note: This op-ed was published by CNN. The Kyiv Independent is aggregating it as a recommendation to our readers.

As 2022 nears, the West is trying to figure out Russian President Vladimir Putin's next move on a complex geopolitical chessboard -- and preparing an "aggressive package" of...

Michael Bociurkiw: Checkmate. Putin has the West cornered

Michael Bociurkiw is a Canadian writer, global affairs analyst and speaker who has worked on emergencies on several continents, including as a spokesman for the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe. <a href="https://www.michaelbociurkiw.com">See his website</a>.

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Michael Bociurkiw