RUSSIA & UKRAINE – Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2015-#209 :: Tuesday 27 October 2015

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Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2015-#209
Tuesday – 29 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.
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RUSSIA

1. RFE/RL: Ex-Russian Officials: Stagnation, Declining Living Standards Loom For Russians.
2. Paul Goble: Inozemtsev’s Five Reasons Why Russia Unlikely to Become a Democracy Anytime Soon.
3. The Daily Telegraph (UK): Russia braced for a long night-time of the mind and soul. Foreign correspondent’s notebook: Roland Oliphant reports from Moscow, which has already seen the first snowfall of winter.
4. Russia Beyond the Headlines: Fraser Young, But why Russia? Recent arrival in Moscow, Fraser Young, delves into the myths and legends that help give his adoptive new home such a mysterious allure.
5. Russia Beyond the Headlines: Who to follow: Top 10 Instagram accounts to get to know Russia better. Not following them? You’re missing out.
6. Kremlin.ru: Working meeting with Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin.
7. Counterpunch.org: Mel Goodman, The “War Scare” in the Kremlin, Revisited: Is History Repeating Itself?
8. TASS: Next year could be last for Russia’s Reserve Fund – finance minister.
9. World Economic Forum: Aleh Tsyvinski and Pavel Demidov, What digital can do for Russia’s growth.
10. Interfax: Foreign Ministry: Russian sub rumors are part of information campaign.
11. Russia Insider: The Next Russia Scare: Their Subs Sailing Too Close to Internet Cables. The Russians are after your internet!!
12. Moscow Times: Russian Military Spending to Increase by Less Than 1% Next Year.
13. Pravda.ru: FT: Russia can easily afford military operation in Syria despite economic difficulties.
14. Oilprice.com: Is Russia The King Of Arctic Oil By Default?
15. Opendemocracy.net: Gregory Tumanov, Smooth censorship in Russia. Everybody understands everything, everybody knows everything, and no one says anything aloud.
16. Russia Direct: The Russian media’s response to Assad’s visit to Moscow. Over the past week, the Russian media focused on Bashar al-Assad’s visit to Moscow, the 2015 Valdai Club discussions, and new developments in the Syrian crisis.
17. The National Interest: Dave Majumdar, Russia Stumbles in Syrian Air War.
18. Sputnik: FSA is So Secretive It Has No Idea If Its Members Were in Moscow.
19. Sputnik: Carter: US-Trained Syrian Rebels Not Targeted by Russian Airstrikes.
20. Carnegie Corporation of New York: Simon Saradzhyan, Russia’s Interest in Syria is Not Assad.
21. Rethinking Russia: Yuri Barmin, Three Scenarios of How Russia’s Syria Campaign May End.
22. Moskovskiy Komsomolets: Experts discuss economic impact of Russia’s intervention in Syria.
23. www.rt.com: Pepe Escobar, Battle of Aleppo is a must-win for Russia.
24. http://gordonhahn.com: Gordon Hahn. Russia’s Syria Intervention and the Fate of Israel.
25. Wall Street Journal: Russia Goes Online to Win ‘Generation Putin’ to Syria Campaign. Flashy videos of airstrikes attract loyal following on social networks.
26. Sputnik: Lies About Russia-Caused Civilian Deaths in Syria Stem From US.
27. TASS: Russian Defense Ministry dismisses allegations of Russian airstrike on Syrian hospital.
28. www.rt.com: Russia to exhume father of last Tsar to solve century-old Bolshevik murder of Romanovs.
29. Wall Street Journal: When It Comes to Vladimir Putin, Donald Trump and His GOP Foes Divide. Among Republican presidential candidates, Donald Trump flies largely solo on engaging Russia.
30. www.rt.com: Neil Clark, Oh, those evil Russians! Soviet-era ‘plot’ advances hawks’ agenda.
31. Rethinking Russia: Inaugural Issue of “the Rethinking Russia Journal”

UKRAINE

32. TASS: Donetsk’s northern and western outskirts reportedly shelled.
33. AFP: ‘No margin for error’: dangerous work for Ukraine’s rebel deminers.
34. Ukraine Today: Ukraine should rearm and train while Russia is busy in Syria – military expert.
35. Business New Europe: Local elections in Ukraine pave the way for parliamentary crisis.
36. TASS: Ukraine goes back to feudalism instead of federalization – Ukraine’s former prime minister.
37. Atlantic Council: Brian Medford, Ukraine Goes to the Polls: Kolomoyskyi Is King Again.
38. Washington Post: Day of ‘disillusionment’ as voters in Ukraine go to the polls.
39. Kyiv Post: Opposition Bloc wins big in Kramatorsk city council amid low turnout.
40. Kyiv Post: Politicians exchange accusations, as residents outraged at no vote in Mariupol.
41. www.thedailybeast.com: Anna Nemtsova, They’re Brawling at the Polls in Ukraine. A large segment of the country couldn’t participate, and other parts didn’t dare. But for all the uproar, a faint scent of peace is in the air.
42. www.rt.com: Ukraine votes in local election amid confidence crisis & fraud allegations.
43. http://newcoldwar.org: Ukraine PM pulls his ‘party’ from Oct 25 regional and municipal elections as support withers.
44. Valdai Discussion Club: Arnaud Dubien, Elections in Donbass: The Devil Is in the Details.
45. Washington Post: Ukraine and Russia sever ties in the skies, throwing travelers for a loop.
46. TASS: Disruption of air links is part of big game to tear Ukraine away from Russia.
47. www.rt.com: Yatsenyuk threatens moratorium on $3bn debt to Russia.
48. Opendemocracy.net: Francesca Ebel, Has Ukraine’s ‘Revolution of Dignity’ left women behind? Ukraine’s Euromaidan revolution called for dignity and justice, but almost two years later gender equality is not a priority on the Ukrainian political agenda – not even for female lawmakers.
49. www.foreignpolicy.com: Lolita Brayman, How Ukraine Is Forgetting Its Most Desperate Citizens. Life was already hard enough for those Ukrainians fleeing war in the East. But now they’re even being deprived of the right to vote.
50. Human Rights in Ukraine: Russian military intelligence officers captured in eastern Ukraine change story.
51. Politico.com: EU suffers major court defeat on Ukraine sanctions. Judges rule that putting Andriy Portnov on blacklist was based on flimsy accusations.