WASHINGTON, D.C. April 4, 2014


TO: NCSJ Leadership and Interested Parties

FROM: Stephen M. Greenberg, Chairman;
Alexander Smukler, NCSJ President;
Mark B. Levin, NCSJ Executive Director

Dear Friend,

During a St. Petersburg City Council meeting on March 19th, Council member Vitaly Milonov, from Russia's ruling party, made anti-Semitic statements and pushed the city to honor "John of Kronstadt," an ultranationalist 19th century Russian Orthodox Church leader who supported pogroms against Jews.

The Russian Jewish Congress and the Federation of Jewish Communities of Russia condemned Milonov's remarks.

This is the second recent public anti-Semitic remark noted in Russia. In March, news outlets also reported that a television anchorwoman on Russian state television asserted that the Jews brought the Holocaust on themselves.

Ousted Ukraine president Viktor Yanukovych called Crimea's annexation by Russia "tragic" during an interview on Wednesday, and pledged to renegotiate the status of Crimea with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Shortly after the interview, the new chief of Ukraine's Security Service said that the killing of protesters in February was done "under the direct leadership" of Yanukovych. Yanukovych continues to deny his involvement in the killings.

The Central Election Commission of Ukraine has registered 23 presidential candidates for the upcoming May elections. The contenders include former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, Petro Poroshenko, Svoboda party leader Oleg Tyagnybok, and several self-nominated candidates from the Party of Regions and the Right Sector. This week's update includes an RFE/RL profile on the current front-runner, chocolate magnate Petro Poroshenko.

Congress passed legislation this week providing $1 billion in loan guarantees and $150 million in direct aid for Ukraine. The bill is expected to be signed into law by President Obama. The U.S. House of Representatives also passed a bill to provide additional funding for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and Voice of America in Ukraine.

NATO has suspended all cooperation with Russia over the annexation of Crimea. In response, Russia condemned the move and recalled its Ambassador to NATO back to Moscow for "consultations."

Russia is moving forward on a $20 billion oil-for-goods deal with Iran, causing concern about violating the spirit of P5+1 negotiations. There is much debate about the potential negative consequences of the Ukrainian crisis and the deterioration in U.S.-Russia relations on the progress of the ongoing Iranian nuclear talks.

Hundreds of Russian-speaking Jews from North America gathered last weekend for the annual Limmud FSU conference in New Jersey. The conference featured cultural and educational programs with leading academics, politicians, artists and Jewish community activists from the U.S., Israel, Russia, and other FSU states.

Sincerely,

Mark B. Levin
Executive Director

About NCSJ

NCSJ: Advocates on Behalf of Jews in Russia, Ukraine, the Baltic States & Eurasia, founded in 1971, represents the organized American Jewish community in monitoring and advocating on behalf of the estimated 1.5 million Jews living in the 15 successor states of the former Soviet Union.