A CIC-member only event.  Registration details for this in-person event will be sent shortly to our members.

When: Thursday, May 18

Where: The Sticky Wicket Pub, the Strathcona Hotel, 919 Douglas Street

Time: 5 – 7:00 pm (doors open at 5 pm)

Russia invaded Ukraine with overwhelming force in February 2022 and since then the resulting war has devastated the country, killed hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians and Russians, and displaced more than 15 million people.  For the most part, Russia’s invasion has failed, leading to the isolation of Russia and in March, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant against President Vladimir Putin, accusing him of being responsible for war crimes committed in Ukraine.  Within Russia, the Kremlin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine also marked the start of a new, all-out drive to eradicate public dissent, Human Rights Watch said recently in its World Report 2023. Indeed, Russian authorities adopted a broad range of new laws with long prison sentences for “offenses” such as referring to the armed conflict in Ukraine as a “war,” or criticizing the conduct of the Russian armed forces. And what peaceful protests against the war there were in the early days were met with violence, mass arrests, and administrative and criminal prosecutions.  Meanwhile, independent Russian media outlets are now non-existent.

For our next Politics-in-the-Pub (PiP) our speaker will offer a personal perspective regarding the state of domestic opposition to Putin.