RUSSIA & UKRAINE – Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2015-#201 :: Thursday 15 October 2015

[check back for updates, including more links; links also posted to facebook and twitter]

Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2015-#201
Thursday – 15 October 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.
JRL homepage: russialist.org
JRL on Facebook: facebook.com/russialist
JRL on Twitter: twitter.com/JohnsonRussiaLi
Support JRL: russialist.org/funding.php
Support for JRL is provided in part by a grant from Carnegie Corporation of New York and the Open Society Foundations to the George Washington University and by voluntary contributions from readers.

RUSSIA

1. Tablet: Dmitry Trenin, Putin’s Syria Gambit Aims at Something Bigger Than Syria. What is Russia up to in the Middle East?
2. Kremlin.ru: Russia Calling! Investment Forum. (transcript continued)
3. Valdai Discussion Club/Lenta.ru: Valdai 2015: The Environment For Dialogue Has Changed. (interview with Fyodor Lukyanov)
4. www.rt.com: Negative attitude of Russians to US policies hits new record high.
5. Interfax: Poll: Russians adjusting to crisis, buying less expensive goods, food.
6. Business New Europe: Ben Aris, Investors warm to a lukewarm Russia.
7. Forbes.com: Mark Adomanis, Russia’s ‘Import Substitution’ Isn’t Working.
8. TASS: Russia’s Energy Ministry foresees risk of oil production decline in 2017.
9. Moscow Times: Exiled Russian Economist Reportedly Joining European Development Bank. (Sergei Guriev)
10. Russia Beyond the Headlines: Innovators bring the startup revolution to Russia, but business development lags behind. Russian hi-tech startups are growing rapidly in number, but to implement their inventions a revolution in the big business sector is also needed.
11. Russia Beyond the Headlines: Instant messaging apps: Social resource or security threat? Is tighter government regulation of instant messaging apps using encryption really needed? Where is the line between user friendliness and national security threat? Internet expert Anton Merkurov reflects upon the matters for RBTH.
12. Moscow Times: Russian Antarctic Expedition Halts Research Due to Lack of Funds.
13. Interfax: United Russia primaries candidates must take part in debates – Medvedev.
14. www.rt.com: Putin: I don’t get how US can criticize Russian op in Syria if it refuses dialogue.
15. Valdai Discussion Club: Andrey Suchentsov, Assumed Rivalry Prevents US-Russia Cooperation on Syria.
16. Christian Science Monitor: Fred Weir, Why isn’t Russia singling out ISIS in Syria? Because it never said it would. Many in the West have criticized Russia’s intervention in Syria for not targeting IS. But Russia does not view ‘moderate’ rebels as any better than their IS counterparts.
17. Interfax: Moscow ready to maintain contact with Free Syrian Army if it gets in touch with representatives – Bogdanov.
18. AP: Syria air campaign on, Putin may already seek exit strategy.
19. www.dailybeast.com: Syria Rebels Plan Suicide Attacks on Russians. The Homs Liberation Movement, a Free Syrian Army faction close to al Qaeda, plans to infiltrate the Syrian military to find where the Russians are-and blow them up.
20. Valdai Discussion Club: Vasily Kuznetsov, Russians in Syria: Obvious Risks.
21. The National Interest: Dov Zakheim, Yes, Putin Does Have a Strategy in Syria. Russia is doing quite well for itself in the Middle East.
22. Time.com: Eugene Rumor, A Way Forward for Obama and Putin in Syria. The Iran deal offers lessons to address the crisis.
23. Russia Beyond the Headlines: Sergei Alexashenko, How will the war in Syria affect the Russian economy? While developments in Syria will not have a great effect on the world’s oil market, if Russia remains involved for long it may stand to lose serious economic support from the Gulf monarchies and could see Ankara driving a hard bargain on the Turkish Stream gas pipeline from Russia to Turkey.
24. New York Times: Russian Military Uses Syria as Proving Ground, and West Takes Notice.
25. Russia Direct: Eugene Bai, What ‘non-interference in internal affairs’ means for Russia now. Russia’s principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries is continually being tested, first in Ukraine, then in Syria. And now, in Venezuela, Russia faces a number of difficult decisions of who to support.
26. The Conversation: David Lewis, What are Russia’s grand designs in Central Asia?
27. Paul Goble: Most Russians Want War, Always Have and Always Will, Nevzorov Says.
28. Fort Russ: Nina Kouprianova, State Propaganda? Realities of the Russian Media Landscape.
9. Wall Street Journal: Joshua Yaffa, The Leader Russia Deserves. Hundreds of years of history-especially the experience of the Soviet century and the trauma that followed-have made Putin inevitable. (re IMPERIAL GAMBLE by Marvin Kalb)
30. www.rt.com: Pepe Escobar, Moscow doubles down on Washington.

UKRAINE

31. Business New Europe: All creditors bar Moscow back Ukraine debt restructuring.
32. TASS: Russia’s position on Ukraine’s $3 bln debt unchanged – Finance Ministry.
33. Wall Street Journal: Ukraine Threatens Russia With Legal Action Over Debt. Prime minister gives Moscow two-week deadline to restructure $3 billion bond.
34. http://readrussia.com: Jim Kovpak, Ukraine: Life at the Front.
35. Kyiv Post: Svoboda, Right Sector march streets to mark Oct. 14 Defenders’ Day holiday in Ukraine.
36. http://gordonhahn.com: Gordon Hahn, The Darkening of ‘Color Revolutions’ 2.0: Maidan Regime Investigates Its Founders for Mass Murder.
37. www.foreignpolicy.com: Can Poroshenko Control Ukraine’s Right Wing? The Ukrainian leader’s newest opponents are in his own parliament.
38. TASS: Analysts say Kiev authorities in fact team up with Islamic State.
39. Interfax: Crimeans not to be forced to renounce Ukraine’s citizenship – pro-Kremlin leader.
40. The Independent (UK): Viktor Yushchenko: ‘Every politician in Ukraine who turns to the West is in danger.’ The former Ukraine president, who survived a poisoning attempt in 2004, tells Kim Sengupta in Kiev why he thinks Western nations underestimate the dangers of a resurgent Russia, which he hints was behind the attack on him.
41. Fort Russ: An interview with expert Leonid Reshetnikov on the creation of Russophobia in Ukraine – it’s recent origins and use by the US.
42. New York Times editorial: Russia’s Fictions on Malaysia Flight 17.
43. New York Times: Julia Ioffe, Why Russia’s Alternate History of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 Matters.
44. Russia Ministry of Foreign Affairs: Briefing by Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Maria Zakharova. Developments in the inquiry into the MH17 Malaysia plane crash.
45. Dances With Bears: John Helmer, AUTOPSY OF THE MH17 CRASH – DUTCH SAFETY BOARD REVEALS 3 POSSIBLE PIECES OF BUK SHRAPNEL IN THE BODIES OF THE COCKPIT CREW, AND CHEMICAL EVIDENCE IT CANNOT SUBSTANTIATE – AUSTRALIAN FEDERAL POLICE ISSUE PUBLIC REJECTION OF AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT ALLEGATIONS.
46. Russia Beyond the Headlines: Manufacturer of BUK missiles disagrees with Dutch official report on MH17. The Dutch Safety Board has finally released its long-awaited report on the MH17 disaster. According to the findings, the Malaysia Airlines jet was shot down by a BUK 9M38M1 missile. However, the maker of the BUK rockets, the Almaz-Antey company, has published its own document with different findings.
47. Counterpunch.org: Binoy Kampmark, Dangerous Skies: MH17 and the Culpability of Civil Aviation.