Professor stands by attending controversial Russian conference

A University of Manitoba professor is under fire for participating in an event organized by a Russian think-tank on Canada’s sanctions list for spreading disinformation — during which, critics say, she helped Moscow’s propaganda efforts against Ukraine. Radhika Desai and her husband attended the Valdai Discussion Club, all expenses paid, in Sochi, Russia, earlier this month. The forum is billed as a wide-ranging conference about international issues. Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks at it every year. Desai then made international headlines when she asked Putin for his opinion on the scandal involving the Ukrainian veteran of a notorious Nazi unit,…