Johnson’s Russia List with links :: 2014-#35 :: Wednesday, 19 February 2014

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Johnson’s Russia List :: 2014-#35 :: 19 February 2014
E-Mail: davidjohnson@starpower.net
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POLITICS

1. R-Sport: Hockey: Finland Sends Russia Crashing Out of Home Olympics.
2. Business New Europe: Ben Aris, West must take some of the blame for Kyiv’s burning.
3. ITAR-TASS: Brussels, Moscow can lead Ukraine out of stalemate – experts.
4. Moscow Times: What the Papers Say, Feb. 19, 2014.
5. ITAR-TASS: Russia upper house approves bill bringing back mixed election system of lower house.
6. Interfax: NPOs law could be further corrected – diplomat. (NGOs)
7. Moscow Times: More Pressure on Liberal Media as Ekho Moskvy Gets New CEO.
8. www.russiatoday.com: New bill equates popular bloggers to mass media.
9. Moscow Times: Fearing Persecution, Bolotnoye Suspects Flee Abroad.
10. Reuters: Putin foes denounce trial as ‘political order’
11. RIA Novosti: Russian Lawmaker Has Undeclared Luxury Dubai Apartment – Navalny.
12. Moscow Times: Ecologists Suspect Opposition Leader Navalny of Poaching.
13. Reuters: Sochi Games global broadcast output dwarfs Vancouver.
14. The New Republic: Julia Ioffe, Pussy Riot’s Arrest in Sochi May All Have Been a Piece of Performance Art.

ECONOMY

15. Russia Beyond the Headlines: Russian ruble reaches 5-year low.
16. The National Interest: Will Pomeranz, Russia’s Sliding Ruble.
17. Reuters: Russia hopes to raise $5.5 bln from privatisations in 2014.
18. Financial Times: Russian privatisation: it’s back, sort of.
19. Moscow Times: Konstantin Sonin, Central Bank’s War for Independence.
20. Moscow Times: Gazprom Captures Largest-Ever Share of European Gas Market.
21. Washington Times: Siberian shale find fuels Russia’s fracking future. Vast oil reserves could create new top producer.
22. Forbes.com: Christine Moorman, The Riddle Of Marketing In Russia.

FOREIGN AFFAIRS

23. ITAR-TASS: Yanukovich: opposition has crossed the line, when they urged people to take up arms.
24. RIA Novosti: Ukraine’s Premier Calls Protests ‘Attempt to Seize Power’
25. ITAR-TASS: Russia warns against attempts to impose mediation on Ukraine – Lavrov.
26. RIA Novosti: Fear of Nationwide Turmoil in Ukraine Mounts as Unrest Spreads.
27. Reuters: Ukraine leader denounces coup bid, West weighs sanctions.
28. ITAR-TASS: Responsibility for events in Ukraine completely on extremists, Dmitry Peskov says.
29. ITAR-TASS: No one wins from Ukraine clashes – Russian senator.
30. ITAR-TASS: Russian MP warns against break-up of Ukraine under Yugoslav scenario.
31. RFE/RL: Pro-Russian Separatism Rises In Crimea As Ukraine’s Crisis Unfolds.
32. Wall Street Journal: Ukraine Clashes Raise Stakes in Renewed East-West Contest. Ex-Soviet Republic’s Fate is Vital for Putin’s Drive to Rebuild Russian Regional Influence.
33. The Guardian: Mary Dejevsky, Ukraine is now in a potentially revolutionary situation. This is no longer about east v west – and the descent into violence may be hard to reverse.
34. Washington Post editorial: Violence in Ukraine shows need for negotiated settlement.
35. Wall Street Journal editorial: Ukraine Gets Ugly. Amid rioting and a regime crackdown in Kiev, the EU and U.S. stay on the sidelines.
36. The Independent on Sunday (UK): Patrick Cockburn, Are protesters overthrowing a brutal despot, or merely bad losers at the polls? The Arab Spring model of protest, symbolised by Tahrir Square, is now destabilising democratically elected leaders
37. www.opendemocracy.net: Andrew Wilson, Ukraine’s 2014: a belated 1989 or another failed 2004?
38. www.russiatoday.com: US, EU are ‘neck deep’ in plan to see pro-Western regime change in Ukraine.
39. Russia Direct: How can the West and Russia respond to the Bosnian crisis? How might the West and Russia respond to the ongoing protests in Bosnia and Herzegovina? Nikita Bondarev is a senior fellow for the Center for Euro-Atlantic Research at the Russian Institute for Strategic Studies, tries to answer these questions.
40. Moscow Times: Vladimir Kozin, Time to Sign a Super New START.
41. www.aljazeera.com: Moscow’s struggle to protect nuclear material. US intelligence reports renew fears over Russia’s weapons stockpile security.
42. www.pakalertpress.com: US missile shield: ‘Russian Bear sleeping with one eye open’
43. Russia Beyond the Headlines: Breaking down barriers: America through the eyes of a Russian. In November 2013 Vsevolod Pulya, an RBTH editor, was an intern at the Denver Post. In this piece he describes his experiences working and traveling in Colorado, and discusses the mutual stereotypes that influence the way Russians and Americans perceive each other.