Return to Russia: Crimeans Tell the Real Story of the 2014 Referendum and Their Lives Since

Eva Bartlett traveled to Crimea to see firsthand out how Crimeans have fared since 2014 when their country reunited with Russia, and what the referendum was really like.

Eva Bartlett
By Eva Bartlett
Crimea Feature photo

SIMFEROPOL, CRIMEA -- In early August I traveled to Russia for the first time, partly out of interest in seeing some of the vast country with a tourist's eyes, partly to do some journalism in the region. It also transpired that while in Moscow I was able to interview Maria Zakharova, spokeswoman of the Foreign Ministry. High on my travel list,

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MintPress Sits Down with Russia’s Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Maria Zakharova

Russia’s Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Maria Zakharova weighs in on Syria, Crimea, the Moscow protests and more.

Eva Bartlett
By Eva Bartlett
Maria Zakharova Interview Feature photo

  Moscow -- In a simple meeting room at the Russian Foreign Affairs Ministry building, Russia's Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova gave me a generous hour of her time in a conversation peppered with bemused laughter at Western allegations about Russia and clear frustration at the West's incessant vilification of all

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A Syrian Leader Tells His Country’s Story: An Interview with SAA General Hassan Hassan

Eva Bartlett sits down for an exclusive interview with the head of the Syrian Arab Army’s Political Administration, General Hassan Hassan.

Eva Bartlett
By Eva Bartlett
Syria General Hassan Hassan

For years, international headlines spotlighting Syria have claimed that the Syrian government, army, and its allies were guilty of a variety of atrocities. Yet as time has passed, many of the accusations levied at government and its allies have been shown to have been either falsified, staged (as in the case of allegations of chemical attacks in

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Voices from Syria’s Rukban Refugee Camp Belie Corporate Media Reporting

Eva Bartlett visited refugees in Syria escaping the horrid conditions in the Rukban Refugee Camp, a desolate outpost in the US administered deconfliction zone. What she found was very different than the ‘reality’ depicted by the Western press.

Eva Bartlett
By Eva Bartlett

AD-DUMAYR, SYRIA -- A little over a year ago -- just after the Syrian army and its allies liberated the towns and villages around eastern Ghouta from the myriad armed jihadist groups that had waged a brutal campaign of torture and executions in the area -- I interviewed a number of the civilians that had endured life under jihadist rule in Douma,

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Syria’s Grand Mufti Hassoun Discusses Peaceful Coexistence, Love, and an Inclusive, Nonsectarian Syria

“The difference between war in the name of religion and war for money or oil is that with war for oil, when you put your hand on oil wells, the war ends. When you control politics, the war is over. But when it comes to religion, here is the problem: the fight will go on for hundreds of years.” — Syrian Grand Mufti Hassoun

Eva Bartlett
By Eva Bartlett
Ahmad Badr Al Din Hassoun

DAMASCUS, SYRIA -- On October 2, 2018, I met with the Grand Mufti of Syria, Dr. Ahmad Badr Al-Din Hassoun, a scholar and the highest official of Islamic law in Syria, who assumed the position of grand mufti in 2005. Dr. Hassoun's (archived) website notes that in addition to his title of grand mufti, his other positions include, “Chairman of the

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Media Ignores the Plight of Kirill Vyshinsky: A Russian Journalist Imprisoned Without Trial in Ukraine

Eva Bartlett speaks with journalist Vladimir Rodzianko on the detention of Kirill Vyshinsky by Ukraine since May 2018. Ukrainian authorities accuse Vyshinsky of “treason” and have delayed his trials twice.

Eva Bartlett
By Eva Bartlett

The case of Russian-Ukranian journalist, Kirill Vyshinsky, imprisoned without fair trail in Ukraine since mid-May is yet another in a long list of attacks on journalists by NATO-aligned countries that never make the headlines. A petition for Vyshinsky's release reads: On May 15, 2018, the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) carried out a massive

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