Urge Russia to release Nadiya Savchenko Please sign and share this petition to PACE(Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe) in support of NadiyaSavchenko, a Ukrainian pilot and member of parliament, who was kidnapped and isbeing held illegally in a Russian prison. Time is of the essence, as she hasbeen on a hunger strike for some weeks, and her health is deteriorating. (PACEis an Assembly which brings together 318 parliamentarians from 47 Europeancountries, representing 820 million people.    SIGN PETITION

InterpolPuts Yanukovych On International Wanted List Interpol has put Viktor Yanukovych, Ukraine's formerpresident, on its list of internationally wanted persons. An online version ofInterpol red notice list says Yanukovych is wanted for "misappropriation,embezzlement or conversion of property by malversation" committed in an"especially gross amount, or by an organizedgroup."  RFE/RL.   Read More

Ukrainestruggles on brink of economic crisis At the warehouse of Modnakasta, one of Ukraine'slargest online retailers, the air hums with the lively chatter of workers andsound of hundreds of boxes being packed and sealed. It sounds like success:clothing, footwear, household goods and bathroom items are all being loaded andthen shipped throughout the country. And indeed the company's owner, AndriyLogvin, says business has rocketed since it began four years ago. But becauseof Ukraine's deteriorating economy, he says that right now the company is justmanaging to keep its head above water. Business has doubled in the past year,but because of the drop in value of the national currency, the hryvnia, he isbarely breaking even.   BBC News.   Read More

OnHolodomor denial, and fisking a denialist Russian professor of HistorySoviet propaganda continues to shape the beliefsof Russians about the Russian and Soviet past and continues to infect publicconsciousness in the West.  The Kremlin’s ongoing denial that Ukrainianswere subject to a genocidal famine in 1932-33 under Stalin is a clear example. Russian historiography on the subject contorts the truth to promote thegoals of the state, fueled by the legacy of the USSR and its state-decreed“truth.”  Unlike post WWII Germany which went through a de-nazificationprogram, Russia has not gone through a de-Sovietization process since thecollapse of the USSR.    Euromaidan Press.   Read More

UkrainianPilot Savchenko Vows To Die In Prison If Not Freed January 13 marks one month since Nadia Savchenko, theUkrainian military pilot held in Russia, began her hunger strike. Savchenkosays she is determined to starve to death in pretrial detention if Russianauthorities do not release her.   RFE/RL.   Read More

ANew Policy to Rescue Ukraine Thesanctions imposed on Russia by the US and Europe for its interventions inUkraine have worked much faster and inflicted much more damage on the Russianeconomy than anybody could have expected. The sanctions sought to deny Russianbanks and companies access to the international capital markets. The increaseddamage is largely due to a sharp decline in the price of oil, without which thesanctions would have been much less effective. Russia needs oil prices to bearound $100 a barrel in order to balance its budget. (It is now around $55 abarrel.) The combination of lower oil prices and sanctions has pushed Russiainto a financial crisis that is by some measures already comparable to the onein 1998.   The New York Review of Books.   Read More

ResearchingZhirinovskii’s World War III: The German Left, the NATO Label, and the Analysisof Post-Soviet Russia (1) Observersoutside Germany may be surprised to learn that a frequent condemnation inGerman political debates is that a certain action, person or organization islinked to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. This reproving label ispopular among startlingly many Germans although West Germany has been amember of NATO since 1955 while East Germany joined NATO in 1990via German reunification.   Geopolitika.   Read More

Astanapeace summit postponed as both sides mobilize in east UkraineAfter more than four hours of discussion inBerlin late last night, the foreign affairs ministers of Ukraine, Russia,France and Germany decided to postpone a key peace summit planned for Jan. 15in Astana, Kazakhstan. The diplomats had aimed to prepare a comprehensive peaceplan for resolving the conflict in Donbas for their respective heads of stateto agree at the summit.   Kyivpost.  Read More

Ukrainerecovers Hr 3.7 billion ($234 million) blocked by Russia in CrimeaUkraine reached an agreement to recover Hr 3.7billion, or $234 million, of National Bank's cash kept in Russia-annexedCrimea, said President Petro Poroshenko on Jan. 16.  Kyivpost.  Read More

Ukraineseals off roads to Donbas as fighting intensifies Fighting around Donetsk intensified over the weekendwith heavy shelling on both sides as a series of peace talks planned for Berlinand Astana this week were overshadowed by increasingly combative rhetoric. Agas pipeline caught fire after it was hit by a shell and Ukraine sealed off anumber roads into separatist-held areas in response to the fiercefighting.   Kyivpost.   Read More

EUMembers Urge 'Alternative' To Russian Propaganda The countries of Britain, Denmark, Estonia, andLithuania have called on the European Union to create information alternativesto Russian propaganda. In a letter to EU foreign policy chief FedericaMogherini, foreign ministers from the four countries said Moscow wassuppressing independent media and increasing "disinformation" tocounter Western criticism over the war in Ukraine.   RFE/RL.  Read More

NewsAnalysis: Bombing Campaign Opens New Front In Battle For UkraineHardly a day goes by in Ukraine these dayswithout headlines about some terrorist incident or about the country's securityforces breaking up a would-be plot or capturing a cache of weapons orexplosives. In recent weeks there have been dozens of small bombings across thecountry, with the epicenters being Kharkiv, Odesa, Mariupol, and Kyiv. Therewere at least six bombings in Odesa in December alone.  RFE/RL.  Read More

TheGood, Bad, and Ugly of Plunging Oil Prices Crude oil pricesplunged to a six-year low Tuesday in a potentially painful threat tooil-exporting nations that rely on crude to power their economies. The dropbrings some welcome relief to countries that have been struggling with economicheadwinds, but brings a mixed bag for others, like the United States, that areboth big producers and consumers of oil.   ForeignPolicy.   Read More

Порошенковетував закон, що забороняє забирати житло у боржників  Президент Петро Порошенко ветував закон провведення мораторію на примусове відчуження заставного майна. Документ,нагадаємо, нардепи ухвалили після численних мітингів під стінами ВР 28 грудня.З різкою критикою вступу закону в силу виступили в МВФ. Місія, яка зараз працюєв Україні, переконала президента не підписувати документ. В АП пояснили:вирішення проблем позичальників не може ставити під загрозу інтересивкладників, які мають однакові права.   Gazeta.UA.   Читайте Більше

Щонайменше13 країнах долучилися до сьогоднішньої української акції Щонайменше 13 країн світу долучаютьсясьогодні до київського Маршу миру, щоб висловити українському народу солідарністьу боротьбі з тероризмом. "Одночасно з мирним маршем у Києві ми закликаємодо маршу єдності та солідарності з Україною, де вже вбито терористами тисячімирних жителів. 13 січня ще 12 цивільних загинули внаслідок обстрілу з бокутерористів у Волновасі", – зазначено у Facebook насторінці маршу в німецькому місті Гамбург, пише Радіо Свобода.   Gazeta.UA.   Читайте Більше

Кіхтенко:Люди, які перебували під "владою" "ДНР", більше туди нехочуть  Те населенняміст і районів, яке встигло пожити під контролем так званої "Донецькоїнародної республіки", не хоче повернення самопроголошених правителів. Проце в неділю, 18 січня, сказав голова Донецької облдержадміністрації ОлександрКіхтенко в ефірі Першого каналу Українського радіо.   Gazeta UA.  Читайте Більше