Latest articles from Vladimir Socor
Ukraine’s Kherson and Zaporizhzhia Regions Under the Russian State of War (Part Two)
*Click here to read Part One. The Ukrainian army’s liberation campaign in Kherson region has ground to a halt. This should not be surprising as the army is insufficiently equipped with heavy long-range artillery, tanks and helicopters. Hopes that the Ukrainian army would advance and... MORE
Ukraine’s Kherson and Zaporizhzhia Regions Under the Russian State of War (Part One)
Russia designates its all-out aggression in Ukraine as a “special military operation,” avoiding the term “war.” Nevertheless, the Kremlin has imposed a “state of war” (voyennoye polozhenie) in the Russian-occupied Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions of Ukraine. This decision caps the declaration of a... MORE
Moldova’s Russophile Left: A Complicated Picture
Spearheading regime-change attempts in Moldova is the Shor Party of businessman Ilan Shor, a presumed billionaire currently operating from Israel. The party has developed its social base through Shor‘s lavish spending on philanthropic projects (see EDM, October 20). His philanthropies notwithstanding, Shor’s image in Moldova... MORE
Regime-Change Attempts in Moldova: Russophile, Leftist and Oligarchic
Moldova is experiencing an attempt at regime change through social protests mobilized by parties of the Russophile left. They are calling for the resignation of President Maia Sandu and her Western-oriented government and for pre-term parliamentary and presidential elections. All public opinion polls show the... MORE
Russia ‘Normalizing’ Occupation Regime in Southern Ukraine (Part Two)
*To read Part One, please click here. The front lines cutting across the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions do not coincide with the Russian-declared “borders” vis-à-vis Ukraine. Under the treaties on the two regions’ incorporation as Russian oblasts (September 30) and the corresponding additions to Russia’s... MORE
Russia ‘Normalizing’ Occupation Regime in Southern Ukraine (Part One)
Russia is winding down its military-civil administrations in the occupied Ukrainian regions of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia. The Kremlin has decided to transition these regions to Russia’s internal administrative system, the “power vertical.” In this sense, Russia is normalizing its occupation of these Ukrainian territories, and... MORE
Zelenskyy Bans Negotiations With Putin
On October 4, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy released a decree effectively ruling out negotiations with Russia’s incumbent president. Technically, Zelenskyy’s decree confers legal force on the Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council’s (NSDC, or in Ukrainian, RNBO) September 30 decision, which “determin[ed] that holding negotiations... MORE
Russia Keeps ‘Gathering’ Non-Russian Lands in Ukraine and Beyond
The Muscovite Tsardom portrayed its relentless territorial expansion as “gathering Russian lands.” In many cases, the lands in question were not even Russian, but once conquered, they were subjected to Russification in due course. The tsars and Russian emperors added the informal but glowing title... MORE
Russia Consummates Annexation ‘Referendums’ in Occupied Ukrainian Territories
The Russian State Duma and Federation Council are set to enact the annexation of Ukraine’s Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions and the Donetsk and Luhansk “people’s republics” (“DPR”, “LPR”) to the Russian Federation, following the September 23–27 annexation “referendums” in those areas. The Duma’s chair, Vyacheslav... MORE
Russia Staging Blitz ‘Referendums’ to Annex Four Ukrainian Territories
Moscow has abruptly reversed its decision, made as recently as July 2022, to postpone annexation “referendums” in the Russian-occupied Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions of Ukraine. The Kremlin had concluded that the prerequisites to minimally credible referendums, even by Russian standards, were not in place in... MORE