RUSSIA & UKRAINE – Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2015-#178 :: Monday 14 September 2015

Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2015-#178
Monday – 14 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. Business New Europe: Moscow world’s most unfriendly city, survey finds.
2. National Public Radio (NPR): As Warm Days Wane In Moscow, An ‘Air Of Desperate Celebration’
3. Interfax: Lavrov: Putin will speak at UN of Western abuses of sanctions’ mechanism.
4. Russia Direct: Pavel Koshkin and Sofia Grebenkina, Russian public opinion takes the temperature of the sick man of Europe. Despite the Kremlin’s lack of strategic thinking and economic difficulties, Russians are still supporting President Vladimir Putin. To explain why, experts have advanced a number of different scenarios and theories about the way Russians view their country after Crimea.
5. AP: Few jobs and little hope, but rural Russia sticks with Putin.
6. www.politico.eu: Alec Luhn, Why Russia still loves Putin. The ruling party will win in Sunday’s elections. And that’s not just because of its dirty tricks campaign against the opposition.
7. Interfax: United Russia loses four district head elections in Tomsk Region.
8. Moscow Times: Russia’s Regional Elections Marred by Pressure on Observers, Fraud.
9. TASS: Russia sums up Sunday’s local election results.
10. Interfax: Golos reports numerous electoral violations.
11. TASS: Regional elections in Russia a test in run-up to parliamentary elections.
12. Business New Europe: Russia’s liberal opposition is dead, long live the ruling party!
13. Russia Direct: Yury Korgunyuk, 2016 could be the moment of truth for Russia’s political system. With Russia running elections in 83 out of 85 regions on Sept. 13 and significant attempts by the Kremlin to manage the democratic process within Russia, there is growing concern that the 2016 Duma elections might finally expose the weaknesses of the ruling party.
14. Moscow Times: Mark Adomanis, Russia Must Face Up to Economic Reality.
15. Carnegie Moscow Center: Andrey Movchan, Just an Oil Company? The True Extent of Russia’s Dependency on Oil and Gas.
16. Newsweek.com: Judy Dempsey, Forget Ukraine. It’s Business As Usual Between Europe and Russia. Europe’s big energy companies want to return to business as usual with Russia, despite the continuing conflict in Ukraine and the EU’s continuing sanctions on Russia.
17. The Independent (UK): Mary Dejevsky, Elton John should talk to Putin about gay rights. But will Russia listen? If the singer does meet Russia’s president, their discussion could be longer and more serious than he might expect.
18. Russia Direct: Eugene Bai, Russia’s net delusion: How Russian online media distract people from reality. To distract attention from urgent economic problems and the mistakes of Russian authorities, the Russian media are looking for ways to send out alternative messages.
19. New York Times: Sabrina Tavernise, Why Russians Hate America. Again.
20. The Unz Review: Anatoly Karlin, The Murmansk Express.
21. Interfax: Tbilisi says Russia promises not to hinder Georgia-EU Association Agreement.
22. Christian Science Monitor: Fred Weir, Russia in Syria: Ghosts of Afghanistan may limit Kremlin’s options now. Memories of the Soviet Army’s failure in Afghanistan still haunt the Russian public – making a major deployment to Syria almost unthinkable, Russian experts say.
23. Consortiumnews.com: Robert Parry, Who’s to Blame for Syria Mess? Putin!
24. Defense One: US and Russian Forces in Syria Aren’t Talking to Each Other. CENTCOM says it has “no military-to-military contact” with Russian forces sent to help the embattled Assad regime.
25. New York Times editorial: Russia’s Risky Military Moves in Syria.
26. Washington Post: Jackson Diehl, Putin shifts fronts in Syria and Ukraine.
27. Russia Beyond the Headlines: Moscow accused of obstructing Syrian chemical weapons dossier. Russia has proposed extending the mandate of the UN mission on chemical weapons in Syria to Iraq, where it claims ISIS militants may be behind production. However, some media see this as Moscow diverting attention from the actions of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and delaying a resolution on chemical weapons in Syria.
28. The Unz Review: The Saker, So What Are the Russians Really Doing in Syria?

UKRAINE

29. Russia Beyond the Headlines: Russian experts: No new Maidan revolution in Ukraine. In the wake of clashes outside the Ukrainian parliament in late August that claimed at least three lives, observers have started talking about a new round of political crisis in Ukraine and its possible consequences. RBTH asked Russian experts whether a new Maidan-style revolution is possible in Kiev.
30. TASS: Poroshenko says ceasefire main precondition for implementing Minsk accords.
31. TASS: Putin: question of Donbass future should be decided not by Russia.
32. Kremlin.ru: Answers to journalists’ questions.
.33. http://newcoldwar.org: Poll shows little confidence by Ukrainians in economic ‘reforms’ of present government.
34. http://newcoldwar.org: Sharply increased mortality rates in Ukraine.
35. Sputnik: Poroshenko Caught Calling for Renewed Operations in Donbass.
36. Sputnik: Kiev Vows to Crush Donbass With Professional Unit of Volunteers.
37. www.opendemocracy.net: Marina Denysenko, Communication breakdown in Ukraine’s east. A recent survey conducted by Telekritika, a Ukrainian media watchdog, reveals just how hard it is for Kyiv to communicate with the ‘People’s Republics.’
38. http://readrussia.com: Mark Adomanis, On the Streets of Kiev.
39. TASS: Ukraine not to buy coal from South Africa, opting for Donbas – energy company.
40. www.rt.com: Europe’s $500mn lifeline to Ukraine to buy Russian gas not enough – Gazprom.
41. Kyiv Post: Saakashvili says Ukraine run by ‘shadow” oligarchic government.
42. Kyiv Post: Brian Bonner, Poroshenko-Yatsenyuk going way of Yushchenko-Tymoshenko in corruption fight.
43. Washington Post: Lawrence Summers, Why Ukraine’s debt deal is important not just for Ukraine, but for the West.
44. Kyiv Post: Yatsenyuk says he can’t do much about corruption in Ukraine.
45. Dances With Bears: John Helmer, MH17 – DUTCH PREPARE MISSILE ATTACK ON MOSCOW.
46. Strategic Culture Foundation: Eric Zuesse, U.S.-Installed Ukrainian Regime Now Fears Return of Donbass to Ukraine.
47. Sputnik: Yay for Irredentism! Victoria Nuland Promises Yalta’s Return to Ukraine.
48. Paul Goble: Putin Changing Tactics in Ukraine But Not Strategy, Shevtsova Says.
49. Kyiv Post: Analyst says Russian propaganda destroyed border between fact, fiction. (Peter Pomerantsev)
50. Pravda.ru: Yatsenyuk, Europe and the Ukrainian dream.
51. Antiwar.com: Ted Snider, The Knot At the Heart of the Ukraine Crisis.