Russia's War Against Ukraine
OP-ED
Alexander J. Motyl: Trading barbs with Putin
Russian opposition activists rally in support of freedom of press in central Moscow, on April 13, 2014. The makeshift poster reads: \"Let's live according to the truth.\" Last week Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered a crackdown on \"destructive\" non-government organisations, saying such groups were behind the mass protests that brought down Ukraine's government. AFP PHOTO / ANATOLY TANIN
One of Ukraine’s richest oligarchs, Igor Kolomoisky, has just taken another rude poke at Russian President Vladimir Putin. And this time the Jewish Ukrainian businessman hasn’t just insulted Putin. By invoking Jewish support of Putin’s Ukrainian nationalist bogeyman—Stepan Bandera (1909–59)—Kolomoisky, who is president of the European Jewish Union and a leading Jewish philanthropist, has engaged in the ultimate provocation.
