Dear CCI Friends and Colleagues,

From posters and banners and videos of commemorative events emanating from Ukraine in the last three years we have all become familiar with the face of Stepan Bandera.  He is portrayed by some as a passionate nationalist and heroic martyr for the cause of Ukrainian independence from the oppressive  Soviet system.

Others suggest that if we look behind today’s stirring patriotic posters we will find a calculating Nazi collaborator, a cold blooded murderer who was complicit in the deaths of 1.5 million Ukrainian Jews, plus a few hundred thousand Poles and other ‘untermenschen.’

On close inspection it appears the man was both – hero to some, brutal butcher to many more – but we have to ask, how have so many been persuaded to turn their eyes away from the blood drenched killer and to focus instead on the fervid patriot?  

It’s simple, apparently; just describe him as, “…a bandit type if you like, with a burning patriotism which provides an ethical background and a justification for his banditry,”  and there you have it, a mass murderer transformed into a romantic “ethical bandit” in one short line of propagandistic whitewash.  

The next question is, who would do such a thing … and why??

Kit Klarenberg tackles the ‘who and why’ with a deep investigation into the relationship between Bandera and the UK and US intelligence agencies.  It is a fascinating historical tale. 

https://www.kitklarenberg.com/p/stepan-banderas-sinister-mi6-alliance?

If you are wondering why this history matters, we suggest it is because the story has a clincher:  it is being played out in technicolor in Ukraine as you read this. 

“Despite their mutual wish Bandera not be “martyred” by Soviet intelligence, it is likely the CIA and MI6 breathed a collective sigh of relief upon news of his death. The OUN-B and UPA founder’s destabilising, disruptive influence within the Ukrainian anti-Communist underground was a significant impediment to Anglo-American spying agencies implementing a far grander plan than any they had hitherto tried. Namely, fomenting all-out war against the Soviet Union, using Ukrainians as footsoldiers.” 

Please let us know your thoughts.

Sincerely,
The Directors
Center for Citizen Initiatives

A few more easily accessible sources on Bandera:

https://www.wilsoncenter.org/blog-post/operation-anyface-how-us-army-shielded-ukrainian-nationalist-soviet-intelligence

https://www.historynewsnetwork.org/article/who-was-stepan-bandera

https://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2014/05/20/312719066/hero-or-villain-historical-ukrainian-figure-symbolizes-todays-feud

Dear CCI Friends,

The recent New York Times article on the previously opaque nature of direct US involvement in the Russia/Ukraine war was a revelation to some, an acknowledgement of the truth of the reporting on the subject that has been coming from alternative media for the past three years for others.  It is especially important  given the size and reach of the Times readership but the question is, how do we interpret it?

Matt Taibbi has taken a deep dive into it and come up with a provocative analysis titled: 

“Biden Lied About Everything, Including the Nuclear Risk, During Ukraine Operation”

https://www.racket.news/p/biden-lied-about-everything-including

Is it possible to glean truth from the propaganda, spin, manipulation and outright lies and how do we tell the difference?

A British parliamentarian has, coincidentally, tackled just that subject.  Robert
Skildelsky presents an atypical view from the House of Lords.  

These are head-spinning times, friends.  Let us know how you sort wheat from chaff in the information/disinformation/misinformation overload environment, please!

The Directors
Center for Citizen Initiatives

(NB:  we ask for your thoughts and we read each and every response – thank you so much for taking the time to share.  We do not respond to each of you each time you write only because of time constraints but you are much appreciated!  PD)

Dear CCI Friends,

There was an 80th anniversary commemorative event held at the Livadia Palace in Yalta last week to celebrate the Churchill, Roosevelt, Stalin plan for a post-WWII peace agreement.  Many people and organizations from around the world were invited to attend and comment, including CCI. 

One participant in particular gave a speech that cannot be surpassed for candor and heart.  Roger Waters acknowledged the best laid plans of the original Yalta attendees; he also expressed his deep pain for humanity as a result of the subsequent failure of most of those good intentions.  

If we compare the goals of the original Yalta plan (as Waters sees them) to the reality of the present, are we doomed to the paralysis of despair?  Or may we hope we still have time to make the world a better place?

Your thoughts?

Sincerely,
The Directors
Center for Citizen Initiatives

“Yalta 80 Years On”
https://scheerpost.com/2025/03/29/roger-waters-we-will-not-move-one-solitary-inch-towards-your-armageddon/

Dear CCI Friends,

Censorship (regulating what we are allowed to hear or say) and propaganda (sculpting the reality we are allowed to know) are defining our lives in this era.  Insisting on truth is the only antidote.  For those of us in the trenches it feels like a silent and uphill battle, but there are names and faces in the spotlight who are calling out the ‘official narrative’ for what it is – baloney. 

Rick Sanchez is an award-winning American journalist who worked at Russia Today for three years until the 2022, Special Military Operation in Ukraine.  Recently interviewed by Tucker Carlson, Sanchez said he was not censored by Russia while at RT, but finds censorship in the US ubiquitous; so ubiquitous he was censored right out of a job.

Tucker and Sanchez explore the issues: the neocon chokehold on corporate media, free speech in America, Russia’s perspective on the war, and things you can’t say if you work for big business media in the United States of America, Land of the Free.  Luckily for us, we are still the Home of the Brave thanks to voices like Sanchez and Carlson.

What does this chokehold on truth mean to ‘we the people’ who, we are told, have the ultimate say in guiding the largest, most powerful military in the history of the world?  Please let us know your thoughts on this critical issue.

“Rick Sanchez: Fired and Threatened With Jail for Refusing to Spout Zelensky’s Talking Points”

https://tuckercarlson.com/tucker-show-rick-sanchez

The Center for Citizen Initiatives

Dear CCI Friends and Colleagues:
 
At this critical stage in the quest for peace in Ukraine, and the unfolding saga in Europe where many of its leaders want to keep the war going till the last Ukrainian, we felt that the interview between Richard Sakwa and James Carden would be important to share with you. 
 
https://usrussiaaccord.org/acura-qa-richard-sakwa-trumps-perestroika/ 
 
Richard Sakwa is Professor of Russian and European Politics at the University of Kent in the UK. He has published widely on Soviet, Russian, European and post-communist affairs. Books include The Crisis of Russian Democracy: The Dual State, Factionalism and the Medvedev Succession (Cambridge University Press, 2011), Putin and the Oligarch: The Khodorkovsky – Yukos Affair (London and New York, I. B. Tauris, 2014) and Putin Redux: Power and Contradiction in Contemporary Russia (London and New York, Routledge, 2014). His latest book is Frontline Ukraine: Crisis in the Borderlands, which was published in 2016. He is currently working on Russia against the Rest: The Crisis of the Post-Cold War International System.
 
James Carden is senior adviser to ACURA (American Committee for US Russia Accord). He previously served as an advisor to the US-Russia Bilateral Presidential Commission and to the Special Representative for Intergovernmental Affairs at the US State Department. A contributing editor and columnist at The American Conservative and a contributing writer for foreign affairs at The Nation,  his articles have appeared in publications on the left, right, and center including The Quincy Institute’s Responsible Statecraft, The Washington Post, The Guardian, The Los Angeles Times, The Spectator, Quartz, among many others.
 
In this interview, Sakwa and Carden reflect on the quest for peace by the US which is being opposed by many European countries, even against the wishes of their own people. It is ironic that in spite of so much death and destruction, many of the so-called leaders in the Collective West wish to keep the war going. The implications of this, and some pathways forward for all parties concerned, are discussed in this thoughtful, engaging, and timely interview. 
 
We welcome your thoughts on this critical subject.
 
Regards, 
Paula Day and Krishen Mehta, Directors CCI