RUSSIA & UKRAINE – Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2015-#174 :: Thursday 3 September 2015

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Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2015-#174
Thursday – 3 September 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: Putin Calls on Young Russians to Work for the Glory of Their Country.
2. Kremlin.ru: Address at Knowledge Day celebrations with teachers and students of Sirius educational centre.
3. Reuters: Russia’s Putin calls for Stalin-style “leap forward”
4. Gazeta.ru: “Revival of tandem” seen behind recent Putin-Medvedev photo op.
5. Vedomosti: Pundits review poll on Russians’ attitude to military in power.
6. Interfax: Beslan commemorates all victims of 2004 terrorist act.
7. Moscow Times/Vedomosti: Pavel Aptekar, Budget Cuts Hit Russian Orphanages Hard.
8. Moscow Times: Russia’s New Personal Data Law Will Be Hard to Implement, Experts Say.
9. Moscow Times: Rampaging Pseudoscience Turning Russia into ‘Medieval State’ – Q&A. (interview with Academy of Sciences’ Evgeny Alexandrov)
10. Interfax: Sberbank forecasts Russian GDP to contract 0.5% in 2016 – Gref.
11. Wall Street Journal: For Russia, Oil Collapse Has Soviet Echoes. Dependence on oil and gas revenue has undermined Russia’s long-term economic fortunes.
12. TASS: Banned products’ smuggling into Russia drops 10-fold – minister.
13. www.rt.com: Alexander Yakovenko, Russia’s UNSC presidency focuses on Middle East conflicts.
14. www.rt.com: UNSC veto right is crucial balance tool to avoid ‘disasters’ – Russia’s envoy Churkin.
15. Moskovskiy Komsomolets: Popular Russian daily supports experts’ call for direct communications with NATO.
16. The Vineyard of the Saker: The Saker, On Russian military interventions (or lack thereof).
17. www.rt.com: ‘Don’t believe these reports’: Putin’s spokesman on Russian fighter jets in Syria claims.
18. Moscow Times: Putin Flies to China Amid Economic Gloom.
19. Kremlin.ru: Interview to TASS and Xinhua news agencies.
20. Russia Beyond the Headlines: Russia waits on U.N. response over claim to extend Arctic borders. After 14 years, Moscow is renewing an effort to claim a vast territory on the outer margin of the continental shelf abutting Russia’s land mass in the Arctic. What are the economic benefits of acquiring the legal rights to this underwater area and is Russia’s claim likely to be approved?
21. Fair.org: Adam Johnson, US Leads World in Credulous Reports of ‘Lagging Behind’ Russia.
22. Russia Direct: Andrei Korobkov, Why the 2016 US presidential elections matter to Russia. Even though it is too early to predict the winner of the 2016 presidential election, it’s not too early to reflect on the impact that this election will have on U.S.-Russia relations.
23. Russia Insider: ‘Foreign Policy’ Asks: Is Russian Literature Covertly Invading Your Mind? Is the Kremlin using literature to undermine the fact that Putin shot down MH-17? Foreign Policy asks the tough questions, again.
24. New York Times: Alexander Sokurov: Russia as Allegory for Art and Life.
25. Russia Direct: Artem Kureev, Can Estonia build a new Berlin Wall between Russia and the West? Estonia’s attempts to build a new fence on its border with Russia might symbolically raise a new Iron Curtain between Russia and the West. But does Europe really want it – and can it afford it?
26. www.rt.com: UK, US should garrison troops in Eastern Europe to deter Russia – think tank.
27. Dances With Bears: John Helmer, KALININGRAD – THE DAGGER POINTS WEST AND EAST.

UKRAINE

28. Reuters: Street violence in Kiev dims prospects for peace effort in Ukraine’s east.
29. Russia Insider: Poroshenko Blames Kiev Grenade Deaths on…Wait for It…Russia!
30. Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs: Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s statement and answers to questions at a meeting with students and faculty of Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO University) Moscow, 1 September 2015. (excerpt re Ukraine)
31. Salon.com: Patrick Smith, Outright lies from the New York Times: What you need to know about the dangerous new phase in the Ukraine crisis. While establishment media toe Washington’s line, violence and instability have shaken the Ukraine this week.
32. New York Times: Ukraine Weighs Autonomy for Parts of East, Already in Russia’s Thrall.
33. The Guardian (UK): Andrey Kurkov, Kiev’s week of violence is a crisis of its own making. Theories abound about the violence that has flared again in Kiev. But despite profiting from it, Russia is very unlikely to have perpetrated it
34. PBS Newshour: In Ukraine, why resistance is growing to a negotiated settlement with separatists.
35. Reuters: Ukraine outbreak brings polio back to Europe, WHO says.
36. The Guardian (UK)/Novoye Vremya: Jaroslav Gritsak, Ukraine needs radical reforms not Soviet bans. As the country celebrates anniversary of independence from USSR, Jaroslav Gritsak argues that an independent judiciary is more important than the removal of statues.
37. Irrussianality: Paul Robinson, MWG O GOFFI. (re Timothy Snyder)
38. http://newcoldwar.org: Kiev regime’s decentralization reform is a farce – Zakharchenko.
39. Interfax-Ukraine: New military doctrine calls Russia Ukraine’s military adversary, stipulates NATO membership.
40. Forbes.com: Paul Roderick Gregory, If Russian Soldiers Aren’t Dying In Ukraine, Why Did Putin Make Casualty Stats A State Secret?
41. www.opednews.com: Craig Comstock, Cuban Missile Crisis in Reverse?
42. Center on Global Interests: Igor Rotar, Ukraine Report: A Look Inside East And West: Part 2: Report from seperatist-controlled territory in Donbass.
43. Novaya Gazeta: Liberal Russian paper studies east Ukraine rebels’ assets, spheres of influence.
44. Financial Times: Ukraine: Costs of conflict. A debt deal agreed with the IMF and creditors averted default but the war-torn country’s worries are far from over.
45. Dances With Bears: John Helmer, IMF OFFICIALS IMPLICATED IN THEFT, CONCEALMENT OF UKRAINE LOAN CORRUPTION, US JUSTICE DEPARTMENT INVESTIGATING.