RUSSIA & UKRAINE – Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2015-#197 :: Friday 9 October 2015

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Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2015-#197
Friday – 9 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. Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs: Special briefing by Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Maria Zakharova. (re Syria)
2. Rossiyskaya Gazeta: Fedor Lukyanov, Opportunities and risks of Syrian campaign.
3. Kremlin.ru: Meeting with Head of RusHydro Nikolai Shulginov.
4. Kremlin.ru: Meeting with Moscow State University Rector Viktor Sadovnichy.
5. Kremlin.ru: Meeting with winners of Teacher of the Year national competition.
6. Kremlin.ru: Meeting with Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu.
7. Government.ru: Dmitry Medvedev’s interview with Rossiya 1 TV Channel.
8. Government.ru: Meeting of the Government Commission on Import Substitution.
9. Government.ru: International Investment Forum Sochi-2015.
10. Russia Beyond the Headlines: Sochi forum: Sanctions curbing foreign investment in innovation in Russia.
11. Government.ru: International online conference marking Skolkovo’s fifth anniversary.
12. www.rt.com: Communists seek retirement age referendum from Russian govt.
13. Interfax: Finance Ministry’s Nesterenko: retirement age increase ‘inevitable’
14. TASS: Plans for hiding names of property owners from public scrutiny in focus.
15. TASS: Russian resources of reserve funds may be exhausted in 2017-2018 at current spending rate.
16. Russia Beyond the Headlines: Revitalizing the ‘Made in Russia’ brand. In the past few years, dozens of small businesses have popped up in disused Russian factories and workshops, bringing home-grown designs into existence and turning a profit. But their founders want more, including restoring lost manufacturing skills and putting the country on the map for quality exports.
17. www.rt.com: Russian military operation in Syria bolsters oil market, domestic stocks.
18. www.rt.com: Turning point? EU Commission head says relations with Russia ‘must be improved,’ US ‘can’t dictate’
19. www.rt.com: Any NATO movement toward Russia’s borders will lead to reciprocal steps – Kremlin.
20. Valdai Discussion Club/Ogonyok: Fyodor Lukyanov, RUSSIANS IN SYRIA: FERVOUR AFTER SYNDROME.
21. TASS: Assad’s future remains apple of discord among parties to Syria’s crisis.
22. www.rt.com: Over 70 percent of Russians support anti-ISIS airstrikes in Syria – poll.
23. Sputnik: Most Russians Support Putin’s Decision on Anti-ISIL Campaign in Syria. (different poll)
24. Sputnik: Russian Jets Carry Out Record 67 Sorties Against ISIL Targets in Syria.
25. Moskovskiy Komsomolets: Newspaper contrasts Russian pilots’ anti-ISIL success with USA “bombing desert”
26. www.rt.com: Proof please? CNN claims Russian missiles crashed in Iran, Moscow refutes, US can’t confirm.
27. TASS: Russian missile strikes against IS in Syria hit Pentagon, NATO on rebound – analysts.
28. TASS: What’s behind NATO’s “much ado” about routine air incident? (re Turkey)
29. www.rt.com: Moscow ready to establish contacts with FSA, help it unite forces with Assad against ISIS.
30. Interfax: Russia asks UK for assistance in establishing contacts with FSA.
31. Russia Beyond the Headlines: Two coalitions against ISIS: What next for Syria? A week after the launch of Russian air strikes on targets inside Syria, the hopes of a wider coalition to fight the Islamic State (ISIS) militants that have taken over huge parts of the region have faded into thin air. Hopes that the common enemy, representing a civilizational challenge, would bring Russia and the Western coalition into one camp proved to be premature.
32. www.rt.com: Neil Clark, ‘Who are Syrian moderates & where are they?’
33. www.rt.com: ‘US hoisted on its own petard over its Assad stance’ – Col. L. Wilkerson.
34. www.rt.com: ‘We need all-pervasive strategy against ISIS involving everyone’ – Admiral Alan West.
35. www.rt.com: Bellingcat accuses Russia of faking videos showing jets dropping bombs on ISIS.
36. www.rt.com: Hysterical beast: The problem with The Daily Beast’s Russia analysis. (re Michael Weiss)
37. Valdai Discussion Club: Vladimir Avatkov and Mikhail Kochkin, RUSSIA-TURKEY RELATIONS: TIME FOR DECISIVE MOVE.
38. Russia Beyond the Headlines: Is there a Taliban-ISIS double threat to Russia and Central Asia? The ongoing Taliban offensive on the Afghan strategic stronghold of Kunduz, which is only 45 miles away from the border with Tajikistan, has raised concerns that there could be a spillover of radical Islamism into Central Asia, the soft underbelly of Russia. While the experts approached by Troika Report ruled out air strikes such as those that Russia is currently carrying out in Syria, some pre-emp
39. Interfax: Interfax: Russian officials discuss ISIS threat at Afghanistan security conference.
40. Sputnik: Afghanistan Seeks Russian Military Support as US Commitment Wavers.
41. Russia Direct: Sergey Markedonov, Will the Kremlin respond to increased tensions in Nagorno-Karabakh? Moscow faces tough choices about the escalating Nagorno-Karabakh crisis. Any change from the status quo could have implications not only for Russia’s relationships with Armenia and Azerbaijan, but also for the region’s integration processes.
42. Russia Beyond the Headlines: Belarusian writer Svetlana Alexievich wins 2015 Nobel Prize in literature. Writer is best known for her books War’s Unwomanly Face, Zinky Boys, Second-hand Time, Voices from Chernobyl.
43. Russia Beyond the Headlines/Rossiyskaya Gazeta October 14, 2013: Saying a long farewell to the inner Red Man. The definitive exploration of Homo Sovieticus can be found in the non-fiction world of Svetlana Alexievich.

UKRAINE

44. TASS: Poroshenko cautiously optimistic about implementation of Minsk agreements.
45. Interfax: Moscow hopes Minsk peace accords for Ukraine will be extended – source.
46. Sputnik: Poroshenko Claims Russia Destroys ‘World Order’ by Striking ISIL in Syria.
47. TASS: Inhumane blockade in Donbas persists – Russia’s OSCE ambassador.
48. Interfax: Elections in DPR, LPR could be held on February 21.
49. TASS: Over 1 mln Ukrainians flee to Russia since February 2014 – migration official.
50. Fort Russ: Ishchenko: What are the real issues preventing a settlement in Ukraine?
51. Fort Russ: Kiev learned nothing from loss of Crimea and Donbass.
52. www.foreignpolicy.com: Lev Golinkin, Winter Is Coming. And So Is Ukraine’s Far Right. An armed, radical threat could tear Ukraine apart before snow falls in Kiev.
53. Sputnik: Ukraine: Dreams That Never Came True.
54. http://readrussia.com: Sean Guillory, Ukraine’s New Neoliberal Necromancer. (Arthur Laffer)
55. US Department of State: Testimony on Ukraine. Victoria Nuland, Assistant Secretary, Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs. Statement Before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

 

Map of Commonwealth of Independent States, European Portion

Map of Ukraine, Including Crimea, and Neighbors, Including Russia

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