“We had advanced socialism,” said Boris Dekhteryenko. “It was a happy childhood. Ice cream cost 20 kopeks, and a miner could earn enough in a month to buy a Lada.”
Russia
Putin the Predictable
For Vladimir Putin, mimicking opponents is a key to power. At home he oversees a sham democracy. His foreign policy is best described as “condemn and copy.”
Putin’s Must-See TV
If the Kremlin can’t control all of Ukraine anymore, it will do everything it can to turn the country’s political and economic life upside-down.
Putin’s Phony War
Convinced that the new authorities in Kiev will finally pull Ukraine out of Russia’s orbit, Vladimir Putin is hacking off as much of the country as he can get away with.
Why Putin Took Crimea
Russia’s seizure of Crimea wasn’t an act of an expanding empire but of an archaic regime throwing up a last line of defense against Westernization.
Obama’s Response to Invasion of Crimea Is ‘Pathetic’
“The Sixth Fleet should be here,” said Ali Hamzin. “Today only the U.S. can preserve the territorial integrity and independence of Ukraine.”
Relief and Fear in a Divided Crimea
“I thought I was working for freedom and human rights,” said Serhiy Kovalsky. “But now I have the feeling that in reality I was working for Putin.”
At Night in Crimea, Residents Await Move from Russia
“They’re occupying us,” said Ruslan Temirkayayev, as an unmarked military truck trundled by. “We don’t need weapons. We’ll use our fists to defend ourselves.”
Does Russia Really Want Crimea — And Does Crimea Want Russia?
The phantom of Crimean separatism has spooked Ukraine since the country’s independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.
Putin’s Moscow is Anxious, Gilded and Hollow
Moscow is always a surprising kind of place. I expected Putin’s us-against-them nationalism to be more strident than ever. But I find the city uncharacteristically subdued and anxious about the future.
