A worthwhile read from correspondent Robert Coalson in Prague:
Is Putin 'Rebuilding Russia' According To Solzhenitsyn's Design?
...Putin stressed Kazakhstan's importance as an ally and lavishly praised Nazarbaev as a wise leader dedicated to the welfare of his country. He said Nazarbaev is perhaps the most capable of all the leaders of post-Soviet countries.
However, part of his answer raised alarm bells in the Central Asian country.
"[Nazarbaev] accomplished a completely unique thing," Putin said. "He created a state on a territory where no state had ever been. The Kazakhs never had their own state. He created it. In this sense he is, in the post-Soviet space, a unique person."
Putin went on to praise the philosophy of the "Eurasian idea" and to assert that Kazakhs endorse it and see benefits to "remaining in the space of the larger Russian world."
It was a particularly sensitive moment because Kazakhstan is a key Russian ally and a member of the Russia-led Customs Union. More than 20 percent of the country's population is ethnic Russian, and they make up a majority or significant plurality in many of the country's northern regions. MORE
Interesting Twitter exchange over the past two hours between @keithgessen, @arothnyt, @oliverbullough, and @olliecarroll:
Ukrainian negotiator General Volodymyr Ruban is quoted by Interfax, citing Ukraina television, as saying that "[t]o date, we have managed to free up to 30 people, including 16 whose release was facilitated by female singer Ruslana."
Ruban's prisoner-release efforts aim to free Ukrainian servicemen and are undertaken in cooperation with the Defense Ministry and National Security Service.
He suggested there are still around 680 abductees in the Donetsk area, Interfax reported.
The Russian Foreign Ministry says Foreign Minister Lavrov spoke by telephone today about the "crisis in Ukraine" with Italian Foreign Minister Federica Mogherini, who will succeed Catherine Ashton as high representative for foreign affairs and security policy for the European Union.
In Chisinau today, Mogherini praised Moldova, which has a breakaway autonomous region in Transdniester in which Russia has a military presence, for choosing "the path of going toward the West."
Chisinau continues to pay the price, politically and economically in the form of import bans by Moscow, for its pro-EU policies of the past several years.
Earlier today, Mogherini was blunt in her criticism of Russian President Vladimir Putin's policies, accusing "the Kremlin" of "acting against the interests of its people."
"Putin has never respected the commitments he made in several situations, in Geneva, in Normandy, in Berlin," she also said, according to Reuters. "He wasted the chance to turn things around by influencing the separatists after the shooting down of the Malaysian airplane. The distance between commitments and concrete action has been enormous."
Our story based on an RFE/RL Russian Service interview with Irina Dovgan, the Ukrainian beautician who was abducted and accused of spying for Kyiv, humiliated, and tortured by pro-Russian forces (and fellow residents) before her release late last month.
Here's an excerpt:
Dovgan recalls a "woman who took her time to take tomatoes from the trunk of her car" in order to hurl them at her. The woman then squashed two tomatoes onto her face, causing tomato juice to run into her eyes.
"But the most horrible part was when people would come to just watch. Nicely-dressed young men would stop their cars and pose for photos with me in the background."
And you can read the whole thing here:
Ukrainian Woman Tells Of Public Abuse At Hands Of Pro-Moscow Separatists
