Ep 120 Ukraine Political Transformation? feat Mark Sleboda

Guest: Mark Sleboda. Mark Sleboda joins us today from Moscow to talk about political affairs in Ukraine and the recent snap elections in the Ukrainian parliament, the Rada. The “throw the bums out” trend continues and the new president,Volodymyr Zelensky and his brand new political party now has a rare absolute majority and they begin the task of actually governing this troubled state.  Mark is an International Affairs & Security Analyst, a US Navy veteran, a university lecturer and a foreign policy realist. FOLLOW Mark on Twitter @MarkSleboda1 and on Facebook, look for his appearances on RT, Sputnik and other international channels.  Around the Empire is listener supported, independent media. Pitch in at Patreon: patreon.com/aroundtheempire or paypal.me/aroundtheempirepod. Find all links at aroundtheempire.com.  SUBSCRIBE on YouTube. FOLLOW @aroundtheempire and @joanneleon.  SUBSCRIBE/FOLLOW on iTunes, iHeart, Spotify, Google Play, Facebook or on your preferred podcast app. Recorded on August 7, 2019. Music by Fluorescent Grey. Timestamps: 01:30 Ukraine presidential and snap parliamentary elections, Zelensky, “Servant of the People”, rejection of Poroshenko, anti-corruption, vague policies that appeal to East and West Ukraine, new inexperienced Zelensky party in Rada with diverse policy positions, no party platform or ideology 11:00 Oligarch Kolomoisky, originally pro-Maidan, funded & armed nationalist/neo-Nazi battalions, Privat Bank, fled country with IMF funds, self-exiled and later returned, possibly created Zelensky 16:30 Zelensky continues orientation toward EU and the West, Minsk agreement, privatization and austerity 18:30 Civil war, refusal to talk with Donbass separatists leaders, relations with Russia 21:30 Ukrainian economy 27:30 Control of military and national guard, intelligence services 30:30 Ukraine elections and parties (also with an introduction to Mark’s pets voicing their opinion in the background :) (see photos in reference links) 44:00 VICE article (see reference links) propaganda on the far-Right militias, influence on Europe, missiles found in Italy, blowback of Western proxies, current situation with neo-Nazi militias, previous contradictory work of VICE in Ukraine Reference Links: Around the Empire: Ep 99 Ukraine feat Mark Sleboda Netflix: Servant of the People VICE: FAR-RIGHT EXTREMISTS HAVE BEEN USING UKRAINE’S WAR AS A TRAINING GROUND. THEY’RE RETURNING HOME.  Pics of Mark’s pets (including Morrigan the crow)