Forget Tanks. Russia’s Ruble Is Conquering Eastern Ukraine – Yulia Surkova and Daryna Krasnolutska

As a wobbly cease-fire keeps eastern Ukraine’s warring factions apart, Russia’s ruble is conquering new territory across the breakaway republics. In Donetsk, the conflict zone’s biggest city, supermarkets have opened ruble-only checkout counters to serve the fighters in camouflage lining up along pensioners. Bus and tram tickets come with a conversion from Ukraine’s hryvnia to the Russian currency. Gas-station workers …

Ukraine: The Truth – GARY LEUPP

Reuters headline, April 9: “Ukraine sets sights on joining NATO.” Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty headline, April 9: “Far-Right Leader Names Ukrainian Military Adviser.” Moscow’s official line on Ukraine—and it should not be dismissed just because that’s what it is—is that the U.S. has spent about $ 5 billion backing “regime change” in that sad, bankrupt country, ultimately resulting in a …

Why Putin Doesn’t Need To Pander To The West

It’s quiet on the eastern front – as quiet as a conflict between world superpowers can be. Since February’s cease-fire agreement, relative calm has prevailed in Ukraine and world events elsewhere – Iran and Yemen – have shifted the global focus. Still, the West’s frigid relationship with Russia is no less chilly and antagonism, not cooperation, remains the modus operandi. …

Yemen, Ukraine, and the Hypocrisy of ‘Aggression’

The military intervention in Yemen by a US-backed coalition of Arab states will undoubtedly inflame the conflict both in Yemen, and throughout the region. It is likely to be a protracted war involving many actors, each of which is interested in furthering its own political and geopolitical agenda. However, it is the international reaction to this new regional war which …