A once-obscure Ukrainian regional pundit who gained national attention for predicting the unlikely rise of President Volodymyr Zelenskiy is now predicting the new leader’s popularity will swiftly evaporate. Zelenskiy, who played a schoolteacher who becomes president on a TV sitcom, repeated the trick in real life with a landslide victory in April. This month his new party also won control of parliament in a snap election. Viktor Bobyrenko, a former…
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Putin speeds up Russia passport process for Ukraine’s breakaway region
Thursday, April 25, 2019Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed an order easing the path to Russian citizenship for residents of separatist-controlled eastern Ukraine, fueling tensions with Kiev. Under the new regulation, residents from eastern Ukraine will get passports within three months. Until now, they were required to have lived in Russia for five years before applying and undergo citizenship tests. Russia’s move comes as an early test for the Ukrainian president-elect Volodymyr Zelenskiy.…