Days after launching a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Russian dictator Vladimir Putin ordered to put his country's nuclear deterrent forces on alert, effectively threatening the world with a nuclear war. With the ongoing military invasion proving to be extremely costly for Russia, the key question now is whether Putin is
The Russian invasion of Ukraine and the ensuing economic crisis caused by Western sanctions have already transformed Russia. The country's economy is expected to shrink by 20% in the second quarter and by around 3.5% for the full year following intensified sanctions, JPMorgan said on Feb. 28. However, analysts
Russian dictator Vladimir Putin’s bellicose speech on Feb. 21 was full of false narratives and half-truths that he used to justify his aggression against Ukraine. The speech was ostensibly his rationale for his recognition of the Kremlin’s proxies in Ukraine’s Russian-occupied areas in the Donbas as independent
Russian dictator Vladimir Putin’s current saber-rattling over Ukraine has its roots both in his worldview and his regime’s authoritarian evolution. First, Putin is obsessed with the megalomaniac idea of having a grand historic mission, including the resurrection of the Russian Empire or the Soviet Union and projecting its
More information has been published about the two Ukrainian soldiers killed by Russian proxies in the Donbas on Feb. 19. Denys Kononenko, a 34-year old driver at a motorized infantry company, is from the town of Tulchyn in Vinnytsia Oblast, the Tulchyn city council said on Feb. 19. He was
Vadym Prystaiko, Ukraine’s ambassador to the U.K., said on Feb. 13 that Ukraine might contemplate the possibility of not joining NATO if this averts a further Russian invasion. The statement triggered a controversy in Ukraine. The statement comes amid the U.S. warnings that Russia might attack Ukraine
According to experts, the resignation will allow tainted members of the High Council of Justice to evade responsibility for wrongdoings.
As Russia continues to escalate its aggression against Ukraine, military experts disagree on the possible scenarios of a further Russian invasion if it does happen. Russia has amassed around 135,000 troops around Ukraine and in its occupied areas in recent weeks and stepped up its aggressive rhetoric. The Kremlin
A selection panel on Feb. 3 failed to nominate a chief anti-corruption prosecutor for the third time. The panel that chooses the anti-corruption prosecutor consists of four international experts and six members delegated by parliament. Three of the pro-government members failed to attend a panel meeting on Feb. 3, and
U.S. President Joe Biden is planning to nominate Bridget Brink as the ambassador to Ukraine, Bloomberg and CNN reported on Jan. 31, citing their sources. The Department of State has not yet confirmed the reports. Brink currently heads the U.S. embassy in Bratislava. She has been appointed to
The U.S. has not caved in to Russia’s demands to halt potential NATO expansion eastward, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said at a news briefing on Jan. 26. “We will uphold the principle of NATO’s open-door policy,” he said. NATO followed suit, saying that it
The treason case against ex-President Petro Poroshenko has polarized Ukrainian society. Some see it as the realization of the public demand for justice and for holding politicians accountable. President Volodymyr Zelensky was elected in 2019 due to a backlash to the alleged corruption and abuses committed under Poroshenko. But Zelensky’
Kyrgyz investigative journalist Bolot Temirov was arrested on Jan. 22, days after publishing exposes on allies of President Sadyr Zhaparov. He is facing drug charges, which he says are falsified. The move is an alarming development for Kyrgyzstan, which has fared well in terms of free speech until recently, compared
A selection panel on Jan. 21 effectively launched Ukraine’s long-awaited judicial reform process, starting a contest for jobs at the High Qualification Commission, a judicial governing body. The panel was created in September, but its work has been delayed due to obstruction by Ukraine’s judiciary and uncertainty over
The U.S. Embassy in Kyiv has asked the State Department to authorize the departure of all non-essential staff and their families, CNN reported on Jan. 22, citing multiple sources familiar with the matter. The move comes amid an escalation of Russia’s aggressive rhetoric against Ukraine. The Kremlin is
The Russian parliament will consider a motion to recognize two Kremlin proxy groups in the Russian-occupied areas in Ukraine’s Donbas as independent states. The move comes amid an escalation of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine. The Kremlin is stepping up its bellicose rhetoric and amassing troops around Ukraine’s
The High Council of Justice, the judiciary’s highest governing body, accepted the resignation of two of the council’s most controversial members on Jan. 20. The resignation of Oleksiy Malovatsky, acting head of the council, and Pavlo Grechkivsky will take effect on Jan. 26. They face numerous accusations of
Ukraine’s reform record has been bleak over the past month. Pro-government members of a selection panel have refused to appoint the winner of the contest for the chief anti-corruption prosecutor. Another contest – for the State Investigation Bureau’s head – was seen by civil society as rigged. Ukraine’s two
Russia is preparing a pretext for invading Ukraine, U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said at a news briefing on Jan. 13, citing intelligence information. “Russia is laying the groundwork to have the option of fabricating a pretext for an invasion, including through sabotage activities and information operations, by
Kyiv’s Shevchenkivsky District Court has ordered prosecutors to close a bribery case against President Volodymyr Zelensky’s Deputy Chief of Staff Oleh Tatarov, according to a ruling published in the official register of court decisions. The ruling was issued on Dec. 14 but was published by the Anti-Corruption Action
Kyiv’s Pechersk District Court on Jan. 10 extended pro-Kremlin lawmaker Viktor Medvedchuk’s house arrest in a treason case for two months. In October Medvedchuk, a co-leader of the pro-Kremlin Opposition Platform-For Life party (44 seats in parliament), was charged with treason and financing terrorism and placed under house
The Kazakh authorities on Jan. 8 arrested an influential ally of ex-President Nursultan Nazarbayev as an uprising continued in the country. The National Security Committee said that Karim Masimov, the committee’s now-dismissed head, had been arrested on treason charges amid violent protests, one of the aims of which is
Human rights activists have accused the State Security Service (SBU) of launching a crackdown on Kazakh opposition activists in Ukraine. Lyudmyla Kozlovska, a human rights activist at the Open Dialogue Foundation, wrote on Facebook that several men in plainclothes and claiming to be SBU agents visited and beat up Zamanbek
Kazakh government forces appear to have gained the upper hand in their standoff with protesters, but the uprising in the country continued on Jan. 7. According to Kazakhstan’s Interior Ministry, 26 armed protesters and 18 government troops had been killed during clashes nationwide since the beginning of the uprising.
Kyiv’s Pechersk Court issued a ruling on Jan. 6 to seize ex-President Petro Poroshenko’s assets. Poroshenko was charged with treason on Dec. 20. He is accused of being involved in supplying coal to Ukrainian state-owned enterprises from Russian-occupied areas in the Donbas in 2014-2015. Poroshenko has denied wrongdoing
President Volodymyr Zelensky on Dec. 31 appointed Oleksiy Sukhachov as the head of the State Investigation Bureau, one of the main law enforcement agencies, for five years. The decision is highly controversial. Sukhachov, a loyalist of the Zelensky administration, was appointed by the president as the acting chief of the
This year has seen a lot of political strife and corruption scandals even by low Ukrainian standards. The Kyiv Independent lists the 10 most prominent events that defined the turbulent politics of 2021: Zelensky’s standoff with oligarchs In November President Volodymyr Zelensky signed into law an “anti-oligarch” bill that
The U.S. government has agreed to give $20 million to strengthen Ukraine’s border with Russia and Belarus, Ukraine’s State Border Guard Service said on Dec. 28. The news comes against a backdrop of looming Russian aggression. Since November, Ukrainian and Western intelligence have warned of a drastic
A selection panel failed to nominate a new chief anti-corruption prosecutor for the second time on Dec. 24, triggering indignation among civil society. Kateryna Koval, head of the panel, demanded that the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) and other state agencies conduct a second background check on Oleksandr Klymenko, who
Prosecutors are seeking to arrest ex-President Petro Poroshenko who's been charged with high treason. They've asked for a bail of Hr 1 billion ($37 million), according to several media reports published on Dec. 24, citing the Prosecutor General’s Office. Ukrinform, Ukrainska Pravda and other Ukrainian media also reported, citing
The Supreme Court threw out a Hr 150,000 ($5,500) libel lawsuit filed by Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova against online newspaper Ukrainska Pravda and the Anti-Corruption Action Center, Ukrainska Pravda reported on Dec. 21, citing the ruling. Kyiv’s Pechersk District Court and the Kyiv Court of Appeal had
A selection panel failed to appoint a new chief anti-corruption prosecutor at what was supposed to be its final meeting on Dec. 21. Panel members blamed a recent decision by a tainted court led by a judge suspected of corruption. What anti-corruption activists see as the latest act of sabotage
