Author: M Barbu

Ukraine’s Azov Battalion: Neo-Nazis or Russian Propaganda?

The infamous Ukrainian right-wing extremist Azov Battalion – Полк Азов – was founded on the 5th of May 2014, in the port city of Berdyansk, in the Zaporizhzhia Oblast province in South-eastern Ukraine near the Sea of Azov. Hence, its name. Initially was set up as a voluntary militia in the turmoil of the Euromaidan protests and the subsequent political instability of the country, Asov rose to prominence. Asov-men operated against the illegal armed intrusion by Russia into Donbass and Crimea. The co-founder and the first leader of the Azov Battalion is Ukrainian Andriy Biletsky.

Europe Struggles With Energy Crisis

Europe is struggling with energy crisis.

Reports by media including AP and ABC News said:

Europe is struggling to contain an energy crisis that could lead to rolling blackouts, shuttered factories and a deep recession.

Insiders reveal how Erdogan tamed Turkey’s newsrooms

From an office tower in Ankara, Turkish officials shape the nation’s news, media insiders say – always to President Tayyip Erdogan’s advantage.

When President Tayyip Erdogan’s son-in-law suddenly quit as finance minister in late 2020, four staff in Turkey’s leading newsrooms said they received a clear direction from their managers: don’t report this until the government says so.

Best Practices for Staying Safe While Investigating Human Trafficking

“What we’re doing when investigating human trafficking is investigating crime,” according to the Guardian’s Annie Kelly, editor of a reporting series on modern slavery, trafficking, and labor exploitation. “You are dealing with a criminal industry, which presents risks to yourself and your local sources, or anyone you partner with.”

Explainer: Will capping Russian oil prices actually work?

For the plan to be effective, other countries will have to take part -particularly large nations – such as India and China, some of Russia’s most important clients.

Capping the price of Russian oil, an approach G7 members said they want to pursue “urgently,” would be an unprecedented move and one which some analysts say could backfire.

Is Ukraine’s counteroffensive progressing?

Ukraine’s troops say some southern areas have been retaken, but Russia has reportedly slowed their advance.

Ukraine’s armed forces claim to have launched a long-awaited ground operation to take back territories in the Kherson region in the 27th week of the war, striking in eight directions simultaneously.

Strategic Challenges and Opportunities for the United States in the Black Sea Region: Ukraine, Georgia, and Romania

When

September 15, 2022
9:00 am – 10:00 am

Where

Zoom Webinar

Register

Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine has highlighted the Black Sea region as a linchpin in Moscow’s broader aggression against the West. U.S. diplomacy and its investments in the region are now being focused and reshaped into a strategic policy to strengthen the West and its Black Sea allies and partners. But success will depend on addressing significant regional vulnerabilities that have become all the more apparent since February.