RUSSIA & UKRAINE: Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2015-#111 :: Friday 5 June 2015

Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2015-#111
Friday 5 June 2015
A project sponsored through the Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies (IERES) at The George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs
The contents do not necessarily represent the views of IERES or the George Washington University.
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1. Christian Science Monitor: Fred Weir, War flares in Ukraine. Who’s lighting the fuse? President Poroshenko claimed today that Russian forces are set to invade Ukraine. But the spark that ignites new fighting may actually prove to be domestic.
2. TASS: DPR says Ukraine deploying heavy weapons near engagement line.
3. Antiwar.com: Justin Raimondo, Ukraine’s Tragicomedy. Made in the USA.
4. Salon.com: Patrick Smith, We are the propagandists: The real story about how The New York Times and the White House has turned truth in the Ukraine on its head. A sophisticated game of manipulation is afoot over Russia: power, influence and money. U.S. hands are not clean.
5. Der Spiegel: ‘Bellingcat Report Doesn’t Prove Anything.’ Expert Criticizes Allegations of Russian MH17 Manipulation.
6. Russia Insider: Alexander Mercouris, By Relying on Bellingcat the Western Media Is Setting Itself up for a Fall. By treating an amateur blog as an expert on highly technical issues that require opinions from specialists the Western media shows extreme bias and poor judgement.
7. Interfax: Kyiv’s Buk claims in Ukrainian army like saying there is no water in sea–Russian Defense Ministry.
8. www.rt.com: US knowingly conceals E. Ukrainian ceasefire violations by Kiev– leak.
9. Dances With Bears: John Helmer, CHATHAM HOUSE RULE–PROPAGANDA IS WHAT COMES OUT OF OTHER PEOPLE’S MOUTHS, AND POCKETS.
10. Rada TV (Kyiv): Ukrainian president says NATO issue still splits nation.
11. The National Interest: Tedo Japaridze, Saakashvili and the Stanislavski School of Governance. An opinion from Tbilisi.
12. TASS: Analysts blame Kiev for flare-up of hostilities along disengagement line in Ukraine.
13. Sputnik: Right Sector vs. Gays: Leader Pledges to Defend Ukraine From LGBT Invasion.
14. Russia Without BS: Jim Kovpak, Curriculum Vitae. (re Ukrainian nationalists)
15. Kyiv Post: Poroshenko: Ukraine will retake Crimea, strengthen its border with Russia.
16. Russia Insider/Odnoko: Rostislav Ishchenko, It’s Just a Question of Time Before War Resumes in Ukraine. But this time around it is likely to engulf the whole country.
17. Moscow Times: Russians Hope Worst is Over as Inflation Slows in May.
18. Interfax: Russia’s economy doing well but not out of the woods – Central Bank chief.
19. Interfax: Russia proves it can feed itself – Medvedev.
20. www.rt.com: Western sanctions have no significant effect on oil production in Russia – Novak to RT. (Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak)
21. Russia Beyond the Headlines: Artistic expression under threat as conservative tide grows in Russia.
22. Moscow Times: Rare Russian Bastion of Independent Media Suffers Identity Crisis. (Ekho Moskvy)
23. Sputnik: G7 Summit Without Russia: Problem for the West, But Not for the Kremlin. (Die Zeit)
24. Russia Direct: The US, Russia may be closer together politically than many people think. Russia Direct sat down with Andrei Korobkov, a political science professor at Middle Tennessee State University, to discuss the odds of improving U.S.-Russia relations after the 2016 presidential campaign in the United States.
25. Sputnik: Library in Memory of American Historian of Russia Opens in St. Petersburg. (Richard Stites)
26. James Carden: Announcing the launch of the Committee for East-West Accord and its official website, Eastwestaccord.com.