RUSSIA & UKRAINE – Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2015-#167 :: Tuesday 24 August 2015

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Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2015-#167
Tuesday – 25 August 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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RUSSIA

1. Moscow Times: Turning Opinions of Disability Upside Down.
2. Irrussianality: Paul Robinson, CSIS MISSES THE MARK. (Canadian Security Intelligence Service)
3. Russia Beyond the Headlines: Russian media watchdog lifts ban on Wikipedia drug article. Roskomnadzor has removed a ban on a Wikipedia article about the drug charas. The online encyclopedia complied with the media watchdog’s demands after Russian telecom providers were told to block access to the material.
4. Russia Beyond the Headlines: Why Russians support Internet censorship. According to a joint report by American researchers and Russian sociologists, 49 percent of Russians are not opposed to Internet censorship. They do not perceive attempts to control the Internet as an infringement on the freedom of speech, experts explain.
5. www.rt.com: Community split over destruction of banned food imports, poll shows.
6. Moscow Times: Vladimir Ryzhkov, Putin Has Russians’ Loyalty, But for How Long?
7. Moscow Times/Vedomosti: Maxim Trudolyubov, Russia’s Brave New Crisis.
8. Carnegie Moscow Center: Yekaterina Schulmann, A Bashful Autocracy: Why There is no Putin Street in St. Petersburg.
9. Russia Beyond the Headlines: Sanctions not responsible for Russia’s falling GDP, say experts. According to a new report by Central Bank analysts, sanctions against Russia have not played a significant role in the decline of Russia’s economy, with experts agreeing that low oil prices are principally to blame.
10. RIA Novosti: Russian economy minister says oil price expected at 52 dollars.
11. TASS: Experts: Russians should wait until ruble volatility gives way to stable rate.
12. Moskovskiy Komsomolets: Paper predicts “most terrible scenario” for Russian economy as oil, rouble drop. (Nikolay Vardul)
13. Moscow Times: Economic Crisis Empties Moscow Central Streets.
14. Forbes.com: Mark Adomanis, Russia’s Labor Market Is Deteriorating.
15. http://readrussia.com: Mark Adomanis, No, the Russian Government Isn’t More Efficient Than the US.
16. Russia Direct: Russian media prepares for an escalation in Donbas in September. Media roundup: Russian media turned its attention to warning signs of intensifying military activity in Eastern Ukraine. Developments in Greece and the Korean peninsula also made headlines.
17. China.org.cn: Russian FM sees end of Western dominance in economy, politics.
18. Reuters: Russia’s Lavrov says U.S. signals it wants to mend ties.
19. The National Interest: Mathew Burrows and Robert A. Manning, America’s Worst Nightmare: Russia and China Are Getting Closer. Will an inverted U.S.-China-Russia triangle reshape the world order?
20. Russia Direct: Artem Kureev, Apocalypse not now: Why the direct war between Russia, NATO is unlikely. Amidst the increase in large-scale military exercises in Europe and Russia, apocalyptic scenarios are becoming commonplace. Thankfully, the worst-case scenarios are unlikely at best. Here’s why.
21. www.rt.com: Danielle Ryan, Trump’s Russia-friendly rhetoric might not be so Russia-friendly after all.
22. Asia Times: Sergei Blagov, Russia takes hard-line stance on territorial dispute with Japan.
23. http://readrussia.com: Chris Miller, Book Review: Gaidar’s Revolution. (Petr Aven and Alfred Kokh)
24. Humanities: David Engerman, The Cold War’s Organization Man. How Philip Mosely helped Soviet Studies moderate American policy.
25. New York Times: Svetlana Boym, 56, Scholar of Myth and Memory, Dies.

UKRAINE

26. Refugees International: Ukraine’s Invisible Displacement Crisis.
27. Sputnik: Ukraine’s GDP Dropped by 35% Surpassing Zimbabwe, Central African Republic.
28. Interfax-Ukraine: Ukrainian Education Ministry strips academic ranks from 12 people for separatism – Deputy Minister.
29. Sputnik: Yatsenyuk to Force Ukrainian Kids to Pledge Allegiance to National Flag.
30. Russia Direct: Peter Kopka, How the Berlin meeting could change our thinking about the Ukraine crisis. The meeting in Berlin between only three participants of the Normandy Four to discuss the Ukraine crisis is proof that the Minsk agreements need to be reassessed. Could we eventually see the involvement of new stakeholders in the negotiation process?
31. TASS: Moscow accuses Kiev of purposefully building up heavy weapons at contact line.
32. World Affairs: Alexander Motyl, Anti-Donbas Sentiment Growing in Ukraine.
33. Bloomberg: Leonid Bershidsky, Ukraine Is Too Corrupt for Debt Deal to Work.
34. Business New Europe: Graham Stack, Ukraine’s largest lender PrivatBank investigated for diverting $1.8bn of IMF funds.
35. Sputnik: Only 2.8% of Ukrainians Ready to Vote for Yatsenyuk’s Party.
36. Rossiyskaya Gazeta: Marina Aleshina, Kyiv is preparing for a blitzkrieg: How and with what will the DPR and LPR defend themselves in the event of an offensive by Ukrainian power-wielders?
37. Kyiv Post: For second year, Ukrainians celebrate Independence Day amid Russia’s war.
38. TASS: Ukraine celebrates Independence Day amid martial law, economic crisis.
39. Sputnik: Ups and Downs in Ukraine’s 24-Year History: Has Kiev Learned Its Lesson?
40. Paul Goble: Ukrainians Mark Independence Day United by Patriotism and Hope, Sociologist Says.
41. www.rt.com: Alexander Mercouris, Poroshenko Dooms Ukraine to Endless War. In a bleak and hopeless speech Poroshenko tells his increasingly demoralised army and nation to prepare for “decades of war”. Meanwhile, as the Ukrainian economy crashes, a government in exile is set up in Moscow and waits in the wings.
42. Facebook: Ivan Katchanovski, Falsification, cover-up and political exploitation of killings of the Maidan protesters from the Volyn Region during the Maidan Massacre.
43. Sputnik: MH17 Most Likely Downed by Surface-To-Air Missile – Dutch Prosecutors.
44. The Unz Review: The Saker, Flight MH-17: One Year Later.
45. Gawker: Ray Lemoine, Ukraine’s Twilight War Zone, Part One: The Donbass D-List.
46. Gawker: Ray Lemoine, Ukraine’s Twilight War Zone, Part Two: Bodies on the Front Line.
47. www.thedailybeast.com: Anna Nemtsova, Lviv Is Ukraine’s Happiest Sad City. In an exclusive interview, the mayor of Western Ukraine’s most important metropolis explains how and why he’s brought democracy to town.
48. The Daily Mail (UK): ‘Blood oozed through the soil at grave sites. You could see the pits move, some of them were still alive’: The secrets of Ukraine’s shameful ‘Holocaust of Bullets’ killing centre where 1.6million Jews were executed. [excerpt]
49. www.thedailybeast.com: Anna Nemtsova, The Fifth Column on Ukraine’s Front Line. In the besieged strategic port of Mariupol, much of the population sympathizes with separatists.