Ep 99 Ukraine feat Mark Sleboda

Mark Sleboda joins us today from Moscow to talk about the state of affairs in Ukraine, the Ukraine elections and the larger geopolitical picture. Mark is an International Affairs & Security Analyst, a US Navy veteran, a university lecturer and a foreign policy realist.

We do a deep dive into the 2014 Maidan / Euromaidan uprising and intervention by the US, EU and NATO, and how Ukraine became the country that it is today. There is an ongoing separatist movement, civil war and an economic and ideological break from Russia. But there has been no significant improvement for its citizens, leaving the country with a crisis of confidence, poverty and corruption. We discuss the three frontrunner candidates in the elections: the current president Poroshenko, former prime minister Tymoshenko, and Zelensky, a dark horse, anti-corruption comedian who plays a president on TV on a media channel owned by an infamous exiled oligarch, Kolomoisky. This interview was recorded on the day before the first part of the elections on March 30. We now know that Poroshenko and Zelensky will now advance to the runoff elections on April 21. FOLLOW him on Twitter @MarkSleboda1 and on Facebook, find his appearances on RT and other international channels. Around the Empire is listener supported, independent media. Pitch in if you can 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 March 30, 2019. Music by Fluorescent Grey.