london he is a journalist broadcaster and specialist in eastern european affairs in berlin we have nicholai petro he is a professor of political science at the university of rhode island and in moscow we cross to vladimir goldstein he's an associate professor of slavic studies at brown university right gentlemen cross-talk rules in fact that means you can jump in anytime on and i very much encourage nicholai if i go to you first in berlin you spent some time in ukraine on a fulbright i understand where it is russian were attitudes about russia come from in the west because obviously you know you can just open up a newspaper or magazine go to

london he is a journalist broadcaster and specialist in eastern european affairs in berlin we have nicholai petro he is a professor of political science at the university of rhode island and in moscow we crossed of lattimer goldstein he is an associate professor of slavic studies at brown university right gentlemen cross-talk rules in effect that means you can jump in anytime you want and i very much encourage it nikolai if i go to you first in berlin you spent some time in ukraine on a fulbright i understand where it is russian were attitudes about russia come from in the west because obviously you know you can just open up a newspaper or magazine go to a website or a television in the west and well russia has to say the very least a bad name. one can hardly answer that question without first turning to your professor former professor martin the lead is a must book about russian western perceptions of russia that's really the first place to start i think the late press professor did an outstanding job in explaining the cultural context the only thing and historical context the essential po

nicholai of the other outer ring of towns that defended lugansk and. from a purely military tactical point of view we can see that this could be actually be considered a draw or a small success for the self-defense forces they managed to withdraw most of their . arms and forces from an encircled position in good order and draw them back to a much more defendable position with a much larger body of volunteers. to support that is much easier to supply than slovyansk was slovyansk in their own words served its purpose as a delaying shield basically of the entire military might of this ukrainian regime supported by the west was focused for three months on a small town of one hundred twenty thousand people now from a political and if we want to say moral point more our point of view the retreat from is a huge defeat and a huge victory that will be paraded on the cameras by the. oligarchy ruler of the regime in kiev petro poroshenko he's already raised up the ukrainian flag over the retaken cover. in buildings and in slovyansk and this will be presented as a

between until government forces in which they admit to downing the plane but speeches sound analysts nicholai popof thinks that the recording is a fabrication. or it's being presented as one un edited recording in reality the sort of if i was compiled out of several fragments in the time mark was inconsistent the part where it is being said the plane was downed by cossacks these markers reveal that one fragment was recorded at sixteen thirty three and that the second fragment which comes right afterwards was recorded at seventeen fifteen. has also released pictures of a surface to air missile launch which it claims was spotted in an area held by anti-government forces the local say the town in that video has been under the control of the ukrainian army for the past two months from a security consultant load of says that so far no real evidence has been produced when you see. this is something that is produced by experts on the ground it takes weeks and months before you can jump to any conclusion whatever is being said is just speculation to a political speech. and the detail that's been larg

opposition fighters and which they allegedly admit to firing on the plane but speech and sound analyst nicholai says that the recording itself was doctored. but it's not really. for it's being presented as one on its record so in reality this sort of was compiled out of several fragments of the time because they're inconsistent the words being said the plane was downed by cossacks these monkeys reveal that one fragment is recorded at sixteen thirty three and that the second fragments which comes right off towards it was recorded at seventeen fifteen. now as far as in the video of the missile system goes key have claims it was shot in a small town near the russian border but local state that you can clearly see an address on the billboard which is actually located in a different town which they say has been under the control of the ukrainian army since may and is located two hundred fifty kilometers away from the russian border now intelligence experts charles shoebridge points out some other discrepancies in kiev's accusations. one could say from the outset with some investigation the air of gr

opposition fighters in which they allegedly admit to firing on the plame bun speech and sound analyst nicholai popof says that their courting seems to be doctored. therefore it's being presented as one on its. own reality of the sort if it was compiled out of several fragments the time because the inconsistent being said the plane was downed by. these monkeys reveal that one fragment is recorded at sixteen thirty three and that the second frog in the works which comes right off to it is it was recorded at seventeen or fifteen. and as far as the video of the missile system goes can have claims that it was shot down in a small town near the russian border but local state that on the billboard you can see an address which is actually located in a different town which they say has been under the control of the ukrainian army since may and is located a full two hundred fifty kilometers away from the russian border you can see it marked on the map here now intelligence expert trial should bridge points out some other discrepancies in accusations. so from the outset with some investigation the area o

financing and all this could discourage the use support for kiev is a political science professor nicholai petro the one thing i think the political parties want to avoid that are currently there is being blamed for the price hikes the significant price hikes for utilities. are under water that are going to coming in the pipeline first of all there will be political crisis which is just in and out while there is a political necessity as europe's as the e.u. sees it to support and disburse money into ukraine it will actually not do that indefinitely and the problem is ukraine is running out of money even for an army the money to pay the soldiers will run out next week. well hours before the prime minister's resignation ukraine's lower house voted to dissolve parliament but only after making it impossible for the communists to be part of the next one they were deemed to have not enough deputies to be represented in elections two years ago the communist secured thirteen percent of the vote well over two and a half million people voted for that some of its members lost their seats amid the pol

opposition fighters in which they allegedly admitted to firing on the plane but speech and sound analyst nicholai a pop off says that the recording has been doctored or that it's. being presented as one on its record so in reality it is sort of it was unclear as to several fragments of the time because the consistent being said the plane was downed by cossacks so why do these monkeys reveal that one fragment of this record is sixteen thirty three and that the second frog in the water which comes right off to it is it was recorded at seventeen or fifteen. and as far as the video of the a missile system goes claims it was shot in a small town near the russian border but local state you can see the address on the billboard which is actually located in a different town which they say has been under the control of the ukrainian army since may and is located two hundred fifty kilometers away from the russian border intelligence expert charles shubert points out some other discrepancies in kiev's accusations. well you could say from the outset with some investigation the air of ground from which it was

political situation with political science professor nikolai petro from the university of rhode island nicholai thanks for being with us well you know at such a time of crisis for ukraine so many huge events going on there it crumbles the prime minister goes he was of course the leader of one of the revolution leaders that ousted the president what ahead now is it going to go well right now we have. the need for an interim prime minister. the current prime minister has resigned. but since there is no actual coalition that will support him they have thirty days in which to come up with a coalition and if they feel their new elections for the parliament must be held and that seems to be the strategy of the two parties that have brought down the current call them into force you will actions of the parliament he's staying put until the intil the new person is brought in but what what what what was his downfall here is because he couldn't push through economic reforms seen as a failure was. i think that it was not anything in particular that he did or failed to do i really think this is political ma

opposition fighters and which they allegedly admit to firing on the plane but speech unsigned unless nicholai popof say's the recording was doctored but it's not really it's a text online. and therefore it's being presented as one. unedited recorded in reality the saudi file was compiled out of several fragments at the time because the inconsistent part where it is being said the plane was downed by cossacks these markers reveal that one fragment is recorded at sixteen thirty three and then the second fragments which comes right afterwards was recorded at seventeen fifteen. and as far as the video of the missile system goes kiev claims it was shot in a small talk on near the russian border but local state you can see an address on the billboard which is actually located in a different time which they say has been under the control of the ukrainian army since may and it's located around two hundred and fifty kilometers away from the russian border intelligence expert charged to bridgepoint sites some other discrepancies in kiev's accusations one could say from the outset with some investigatio

opposition fighters in which they allegedly admit to firing on the plane but speech unsigned analysts nicholai popof ses recording was doctored. well it's a text online. for it's being presented as one and it's. so in reality it's sort of compiled out of several fragments in the time consistent being said the plane was downed by cossacks so why do these monkeys reveal that one fragment and some who are sixteen thirty three and that the second frog in the water which comes right off to his it was recorded at seventeen fifteen. and as far as the video of the missile system goes kiev claims it was shot in a small toy near the russian border but local state you can see an address on the billboard which is actually located in a different tone which they say has been under the control of the crimean army since may honest look at it two hundred fifty kilometers away from the russian border intelligence expert charles shoe bridge points some other discrepancies in kiev's accusations one could say from the outset with some investigation the air of ground from which it was launched and of course that wo

groupings crumbled forcing the prime minister to announce he's quitting political science professor nicholai petro from the university of rhode island told me he believes the p.m.'s trying to escape responsibility for failing reforms the one thing i think that political parties want to avoid that are currently there is being blamed for the price hikes the significant price hikes for utilities and gas that are underway that are going that are coming in the pipeline first of all there will be a political crisis. which has just been announced every. few weeks or so that we can we're witness to fights among members of parliament while there is a political necessity as europe's as the e.u. sees it to support and disburse money into ukraine it will actually not do that indefinitely and the problem is ukraine is running out of money even if words army the money to pay its soldiers will run out next week after the break as gaza's deaths top seven hundred now we report from overcrowded cemeteries and ask israel when it will stop. this is the media leave us so we leave the baby. bush is secure. your p

up in the fighting between ukrainian troops and antigovernment forces these are the images from nicholai you have circulating online houses have been severely damaged by the shelling and there are reports of the army shooting at cars of locals attempting to flee he says it has taken control of the town. these are pictures from the nearby city of slavyansk you can hear the sounds of explosions there with people running for cover there are unconfirmed reports of multiple civilian deaths over the last twenty four hours they are hard to verify though because of the ongoing fighting has suffered some of the worst destruction since the million fewer operation was eulogized in april and there's a similar situation in neighboring climate or sq. i. was going to quote you this is. pretty good so that's what you to do your words. for her which i found this resident of crime of course came home to discover that it's in ruins this is what it what is left of his apartment after his house was pounded by shelves. for the money and it is going up which is michael matz does that work for the new. people w

itself is hesitating over the funds already set aside as opposed to political science professor nicholai petro he told me the crisis is here to stay he thinks the one playing i think the political parties want to avoid that are currently there is being blamed for the price hikes the significant price hikes for utilities and gas that are under water that are going that are coming in the pipeline first of all there will be political rights there's just been announced while there is a political necessity as europe's as the e.u. sees it to support and disburse money into ukraine it will actually not do that indefinitely and the problem is ukraine is running out of money even for an army the money to pay and soldiers will run out next week. we tell a group of russian investigators have come on the shelling on the russian ukraine border moscow's investigative committee says the shells were fired deliberately from ukrainian territory a total of forty seven of them were in car service in the region for r.t. . well the investigative committee personnel were wearing uniforms so they could not have

that one man was killed and twenty injured in the recent attacks residents of the local town of nicholai say care of soldiers of even shot a cause with refugees inside who were fleeing the region. so the armed operation continues apace worryingly though a leak has emerged apparently from a leading u.s. policy foundation which outlines chilling suggestions for coming down even harder on dissent in east ukraine if any peace deal should fail briggs's the details. there's this leaked confidential document that surfaced in the online media it's allegedly prepared by the rand corporation for the ukrainian government with advice on how to carry out a swift crackdown in the east of the country the rand corporation is a global policy think tank financed by the us government and corporations which mainly offers research and analysis for the pentagon we cannot independently verify the authenticity of this memorandum we hope that the rand corporation will get back to us with a comment but as we through the stages in this advice course of action there is an eerie resemblance to what's going on on the

opposition fighters and which they allegedly admit to firing on the plane but speech and sound analyst nicholai popof says the recording has been doctored. or it's being presented as one on it it's recorded in reality the sort if it was compiled out of several fragments at the time because the inconsistent part where it is being said the plane was downed by cossacks these monkeys reveal that one fragment was recorded at sixteen thirty three and that the second fragment which comes right off towards it was recorded at seventeen fifteen. well as far as the video of the missile system goes kidd claims that was shot in a small town near the russian border but local state you can see on the billboard and address which is actually located in a different part of a different town actually different part of the country and it is been under the control of the ukrainian army since may and is located two hundred fifty kilometers away from the russian border intelligence expert charles troubridge points out some other discrepancies in kiev's accusations as well. one could say from the outset with some inves