Dear CCI Colleagues,

Edward Lozansky, President of the American University in Moscow, has been focused recently on the upcoming 80th anniversary of the end of World War II.  That focus includes the war time relationship between the Soviet Union and the United States as close allies in the fight to defeat Nazi Germany.  In recognition of that shared struggle and victory, commemorative celebrations of the ‘Spirit of the Elbe’ are being held in multiple locations in Russia now through May 9.

We have to ask, where is the similar celebratory recognition to be seen in the United States or in Europe today?

We consider Edward Lozansky a friend of CCI and we are pleased to share his recent article in Pluralia with you.  We also share his dismay at the obvious lack of respect shown by much of the EU leadership toward the significance of the combined allies’ sacrifices to defeat Nazism. 

“In the latest display of how low the so-called Western values in Europe have deteriorated, the EU leadership is urging the heads of this block’s states against participating in Moscow’s May 9 celebrations of the 80th anniversary of the Allied victory over Nazi Germany in WWII.”

https://pluralia.com/en/a/toward-a-historic-peace-summit

We send best wishes to all who are celebrating this historic event.

Sincerely,
The Directors
Center for Citizen Initiatives

Dear CCI Friends,

Keeping up with the day-to-day news of US/Russia relations and the war in Ukraine is a  discouraging roller coaster ride.   Military advances, peace talks, military losses, cease fires, threats, assurances – all part of the daily news and all, apparently, part of the process of fighting a war to the end, on the one hand, while attempting to negotiate the same war to an end on the other.  It’s exhausting for observers, exhausting and deadly for the active participants.

And throughout all of this the constant, irritating, nagging question persists:  ‘How did we get here?’  Or perhaps it might be more honest to ask, ‘How did we allow ourselves to be led into this morass?’

Thanks to authors such as Ian Proud and Kit Klarenberg (whom we featured last week and appreciate more and more for his dedication to truly investigative journalism), we can follow the step-by-step progression of recent history.  We hope you find the following articles engaging.

“In a recent interview, Boris Johnson admitted that the Minsk 2 agreement fell apart because ‘the Ukrainian nationalists couldn’t accept the compromise’ that President Zelensky wanted to agree with President Putin. 

Claiming that Russia reneged on the Minsk Agreements has been a standard attack line from the west in the past, including from Johnson. Johnson has simply revealed what many already knew, that it was also wilfully inaccurate.”  
The Ukrainians failed to confront ultranationalists to secure peace in the Donbas

“There is no knowing what British intelligence might have in store to prevent long-overdue peace prevailing at last, but the consequences could be world-threatening.”

It’s Official: Ukraine Conflict is British ‘Proxy War’

As always, please let us know your thoughts.

The Directors
Center for Citizen Initiatives

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/