Silicon Curtain

Last week, a law being pushed through the Georgian Parliament modelled on Russian legislation designed to curtail freedom of speech and stifle dissent was prevented through the pressure of public protest. The so-called 'foreign agents' law would require some organisations to list themselves as receiving funds from abroad, essentially flagging them as a threat to the state and society. Russia should pay attention – public protest can force change, if carried out on an appropriate scale and pursued with vigour. But the struggle against creeping authoritarianism and Russification has not been won, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, and Central Asia are all a focus of Moscow’s desire to influence and control the political narrative in its near-abroad (ex-colonial space). But what happens when power in Moscow centre weakens? When people no longer fear the power and threat of Muscovy? ~~~~~ Aleksandar Djokic has a PhD in political science from RUDN Moscow. He is former assistant professor at RUDN Moscow, as well as being a Political analyst. In his journalistic career he writes as a Columnist at Bloomberg Adria and has also written for Novaya Gazeta Europe. Aleksandar has also acted as an Election Observer at Transparency International Serbia. ~~~~~ Links: https://twitter.com/polidemitolog https://rs.bloombergadria.com/a/39/aleksandar-dokic-politikolog-i-naucni-istrazivac/ ~~~~~

The Ukrainian language is a crucial aspect of Ukraine's struggle to  remain independent of Russia. Preserving the Ukrainian language is  essential for maintaining Ukraine's distinct cultural and national  identity, and in the current context, to resisting efforts by Russia to  control and dominate it politically. During Ukraine's history, there have been efforts to suppress the use of  the Ukrainian language, particularly during the Soviet era when Russian  was promoted as the primary language of communication. However, since  Ukraine gained independence in 1991, there has been a renewed emphasis  on the Ukrainian language and its role in shaping the country's national  identity. The Ukrainian government has taken steps to strengthen the status of the  Ukrainian language, including passing laws to promote its use in public  life, education, and government institutions. It has also sought to  counter Russian propaganda efforts by promoting Ukrainian-language media  and cultural events. Russian propaganda has labelled this process as  persecution and Russophobia.  The ongoing conflict between Ukraine and Russia has further highlighted  the importance of the Ukrainian language as a symbol of Ukraine's  sovereignty and independence. The Russian government and pro-Russian  separatists have attempted to promote the use of Russian in eastern  Ukraine, leading to tensions between Ukrainian and Russian speakers in  the region. In conclusion, the Ukrainian language is a crucial element of Ukraine's  struggle to remain independent of Russia. Its preservation and promotion  are essential for maintaining Ukraine's national identity and  sovereignty.    Inna Sopronchuk is creator and host of the popular YouTube channel —  “Speak Ukrainian” and has made it her mission to be a guide to the  language and culture of her Ukrainian ancestors. She created the online  school “Speak Ukrainian”. As well as the free course, she has created  Textbooks, Flashcards, and structured Online Classes to help her  audience reach their language goals. The course is intended both for  interested foreigners, but also for Ukrainians to help connect with  their ancestral roots. Inna regularly posts video lessons about  Ukrainian grammar, vocabulary, and phonetics.   Links:  https://www.youtube.com/@SpeakUkrainian

Hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians have had to evacuate through Russia  or were forcibly deported there. They have experienced terrible things  like the “filtration” camps on the borders, separation from families,  cruel interrogations by Russians, and being forced to live in another  country (the enemy country) without money or documents in many cases.  Left stranded and struggling to leave Russia by themselves. Some, like  children do not even have the option to try to return home or go to  Europe. Ukraine been able to find and return a few hundred children –  but for victory to be achieved, must locate, and return many thousands.  Even when the fighting ends, victory will not be achieved until all the  children return home to Ukraine.    Kateryna Pavlevych is a PR Specialist by day and writer by night. She is  a Ukrainian native that lives in New York. Kateryna’s skills are  independent PR, Comms & Advocacy. She is a contributor to the PR  Army of Ukraine, a Volunteer at RAZOM for Ukraine, and a strong speaker  and advocate in the campaign ‘Where Are Our People’, and recently spoke  at the UN in New York on this issue.    ~~~~~   Links:   WhereAreOurPeople  https://deportation.org.ua/    Razom for UKraine  https://razomforukraine.org/    Helping to leave (evacuation from Russia)  https://helpingtoleave.org/en    Human rights:  https://zmina.ua/en/   https://ccl.org.ua/en/(human rights)  https://www.thereckoningproject.com/   Missing children:  https://childrenofwar.gov.ua/   The podcast at NYT mentioned in the video:  https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/03/podcasts/the-daily/russia-ukrainian-children-adoption.html  ~~~~~   https://twitter.com/Kpavlevych  https://twitter.com/WAOPUA  https://twitter.com/prarmyua   https://twitter.com/razomforukraine   https://twitter.com/search?q=%23WhereAreOurPeople&src=hashtag_click  https://twitter.com/i/spaces/1lPKqBRbkqmGb?s=20   https://ukrainer.net/russia-russified/  https://medium.com/the-ukrainian-view/11-tips-for-journalists-covering-russian-war-against-ukraine-a70bc51d684a   Where Are Our People? @WAOPUA - A campaign by @prarmyua aimed at  returning Ukrainians who were illegally deported to Russia during the  Russian-Ukrainian war #WhereAreOurPeople deportation.org.ua   ~~~~~

Comprehensive interview with retired Lt. General Ben Hodges. Life is  becoming harder in Ukrainian cities as winter sets in and the supply of  power and heat become uncertain. Winters are harsh in this part of the  world, and people in big cities cannot survive for long periods without  heat. Russia’s campaign to cripple Ukraine’s power infrastructure could  therefore trigger a new wave of emigration to Europe. As Russia’s  position on the battlefield becomes more precarious, Putin may resort to  terroristic threats, against nuclear facilities, or other irresponsible  actions. Ukraine is on a path to victory, but how long will it take,  and what will be the eventual cost? Lt. General Ben Hodges is the Former Commanding General, US Army Europe  from 2014-2017. Ben Hodges is now Senior Advisor at Human Rights First,  and until recently was the Pershing Chair in Strategic Studies, at the  Centre for European Policy Analysis, specialising in NATO, the  Transatlantic relationship and international security.

Life is becoming harder in Ukrainian cities as winter sets in and the  supply of power and heat become uncertain. People in big cities cannot  survive for long periods without heat. Russia’s campaign to cripple  Ukraine’s power infrastructure could therefore trigger a new wave of  emigration to Europe. Putin is resorting to terroristic threats, against  nuclear facilities, as his army loses on the frontlines.    Anastasiya Shapochkina is Founder and president of Eastern Circles, she  has 11 years of experience in consulting and energy industry, where she  worked on companies, technologies and market analysis in the renewable  energy, utilities, nuclear energy, and e-mobility. She led development  of international cross-industry partnership research projects on these  subjects and represented business in European industrial and research  associations. Anastasiya is a lecturer on geopolitics in Sciences Po  Paris since 2012, focusing on the role of business in the EU-Russia  relations. Anastasiya is author of articles on the geopolitics and  geoeconomics in the Former Soviet Union, she has regular TV and radio  appearances. Anastasiya graduated from Georgetown University School of  Foreign Service, German, and European Studies Program.

In the 2000s, London became home to the Russian super-rich. Vast wealth  was stripped from Russia by the Oligarchs, and flaunted in London  through grandiose properties, ferocious legal disputes, private jets,  mega-yachts, and ubiquitous bodyguards. Russian oligarchs made colossal  fortunes after the collapse of communism, and London was the destination  of choice to spend and protect their wealth. But the shocking killing  of ex-KGB man Alexander Litvinenko in London with a radio-active element  Polonium, and of Stephen Curtis, the lawyer to many of Britain’s  richest Russians, sent shockwaves through the Russian community in  London. Today I’m speaking with Mark Hollingsworth about how Russia’s  wealth was harvested and brought to London, and how the UK’s  institutions and legal infrastructure facilitated the laundering of  these vast fortunes, many of dubious provenance.    Mark Hollingsworth is an investigative journalist and author of 10  books, notably ‘Londongrad – From Russia with Cash, the Inside Story of  the Oligarchs’ – published in 2010. He has also written biographies of  Mark Thatcher and Tim Bell and acclaimed studies on MI5 and the Saudi  Royal Family. He started his career working for Granada TV’s  award-winning ‘World in Action’ programme and now contributes regularly  to ‘The Times’, ‘Mail on Sunday’, ‘The Guardian’ and ‘The Sunday Times’.   His most recent articles about Russia are published in the Spectator.  He is currently writing a history of the KGB.

Edition No5 |  25-02-2023  12 months of resilience and horror   ~~~~~   FEATURED ARTICLES:   How Putin's fate is tied to Russia's war in Ukraine https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-64744197  By Steve Rosenberg, Russia Editor, Moscow | 24 February 2023  ~~~~~

Russia’s war is fought on many fronts, but one of the key ones is  information. It could be said that between 2014 and 2022 Russia was  ahead in the information war, but Ukraine has caught up and overtaken  since the full-scale war began in February 2022. Today I am speaking  with DATTALION: UKRAINE’S DATA BATTALION. DATTALION is home to the  largest free, independent, open-source database of Ukraine war footage.  In addition to compiling footage from across Ukrainian and  Russian-occupied territories, Dattalion hosts a database of verified  eyewitness accounts of Russian aggression, war crimes and acts of  genocide in Ukraine. DATTALION's database of Ukraine war photos and  videos has been active since February 27, 2022, and includes war footage  from February 24 - the first day of Russia’s full-scale military  invasion onwards.   Links:  https://dattalion.com/   Nataliya Mykolska is Chief Executive Officer of DATTALION. Nataliia is a  technology visionary and expert in strategic transformation, building  bridges between Ukraine and the world. She is a non-executive member of  the board Ukrhydroenergo, PJSC. Nataliia is also co-founder of women’s  empowerment platform SheExports. She was co-founder of the Trade+ Centre  at Kyiv School of Economics and is a member of the Supervisory Board at  TechUkraine. Between 2015 and 2018 Nataliia was The Trade  Representative of Ukraine, and Deputy Minister of Economic Development  and Trade. She helped found DATTALION to help Ukraine to win this war.  She knows that data is power, and it is her chosen weapon in this war  for her country, for the future of her children’s and for global  democracy.

Ukraine is fighting for its very existence, against an enemy that  repeatedly claims it is not a real country, that it has no identity and  culture as distinct from Russian culture, and that Ukrainian is not an  independent language. Equally on the far left and extreme right in the  West, there are some who see Ukraine as a tool of Western foreign  policy. But Ukrainians have agency, and the right to determine their  future, the evolution of their political system and which alliances they  want to entertain. Today we are exploring the cultural aspects of this David and Goliath struggle of a young democracy versus an old autocracy.   Tetyana Denford is a Ukrainian-American fiction author, translator for  Frontline PBS, freelance writer as well as YouTube channel host with a  20+ year history of working in the writing and editing world. Her first  novel, self-published in 2020 as 'Motherland' has been re-published in  July 2022 with the team at Hachette/Bookouture as 'The Child of  Ukraine'. It reached #1 on the Amazon New Release list. Tetyana used to  write freelance for Elle and Vogue, and has been featured in The New  York Times, The Telegraph, The Paris Review, Flock Magazine, and Medium.

When Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24,  2022, some territories faced Moscow’s aggression for the first time,  while others had been illegally annexed or fought over since 2014. When  Russia’s full-scale invasion began, seven regions felt the full force of  Russian aggression. Of these, Crimea had been illegally annexed by  Russia the longest, for eight years. And it’s this territory that holds  the key for victory both for Ukraine, but also for Russia.    Elina Beketova is a Democracy Fellow at the Centre for European Policy  Analysis (CEPA). She has experience of working as a journalist, editor,  and TV-anchor for news stations in Kharkiv and Kyiv. Elina is originally  from Crimea. At CEPA, Elina Authored – Behind the Lines – a project  about the latest developments in the temporarily occupied and recently  liberated territories of Ukraine. For that study, she interviewed a wide  range of Ukrainian voices – policymakers, activists, and officials.   https://cepa.org/article/behind-the-lines-ukraine-after-russias-invasion/ https://cepa.org/author/elina-beketova/