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Report: U.S Army has been training Ukrainians who moonlight as vigilantes

Report: U.S Army has been training Ukrainians who moonlight as vigilantes

Tatiana Prophet
Foreign Affairs

By Tatiana Prophet

According to a report published last September by the Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies at George Washington University, since 2018 a paramilitary group with ties to Azov Battalion has taken to social media to publicly congratulate its members who were graduates of officer training with American, Canadian and other NATO armed forces at Ukraine’s National Academy of the Army in Yavoriv, western Ukraine (the same base which was reportedly bombed on March 13 of this year by Russian forces).

It’s hard to imagine how U.S. army officers could be training recruits with ties to violent paramilitary gangs; but in Ukraine, the military and the street gangs are often one and the same (see the absorption of Azov Battalion into the Ukraine National Guard). Further, it is highly unlikely that American and NATO officials encouraged such membership; those who commented for an academic report on the subject said they had expected Ukraine’s Ministry of Defence to screen recruits.

Who’s really in charge here?

Who’s really in charge here?

Tatiana Prophet
Foreign Affairs

By Tatiana Prophet

Sometimes you don’t want to know how the sausage is made, but you know you have to.

Some of us were undoubtedly unsettled at today’s Congressional hearing when we learned that European Union ambassador Gordon Sondland has never been a note taker. It makes perfect sense in any case that he would chafe at the refusal by the White House or State Department to provide him with his own official emails and texts to jog his memory — even if we might like to think that someone in that position would be extra conscientious.

Also unsettling: He half-smirked through the entire thing, almost like a hairless Prince Charles casually amused at his own casual approach to the job.

Behind white knuckles, Macron makes up his own mind

Behind white knuckles, Macron makes up his own mind

Tatiana Prophet
Foreign Affairs

By TATIANA PROPHET

In May, when Donald Trump first met Emmanuel Macron, how was their famous handshake so misinterpreted by the U.S. media? The centrist, rational, climate-aware young president was obviously not going to like Trump. Right? Well images from the past two days seem to undercut any impression of dislike between the two men.

After the white-knuckle handshake made headlines around the world, there was a quote from the young French president, oft buried in the avalanche of sinew and bone: "I saw a leader with strong opinions on a number of subjects, which I share in part — the fight against terrorism, the willingness to keep our place in the family of nations — and with whom I have disagreements that we spoke about very calmly," Macron said.

"I saw someone who listens and who is willing to work," he added.

Indeed, the headline most of us saw was: "Macron says handshake with Trump was 'not innocent.'"

Once again, the media is focusing on the superficial takeaways rather than the boring details of how two long-term allies find their way to consensus.

In fact, on Friday, Bastille Day, the headlines exploded with yet another prolonged handshake between the dynamic duo on their inarguably friendly visit for France's big day. "Shake Hands Like a Normal Person," commanded Esquire in a possibly first imperative headline for the mens magazine.