RUSSIA & UKRAINE – Johnson’s Russia List table of contents :: JRL 2016-171 :: Friday, 16 September 2016

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Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2016-#171
Friday, 16 September 2016
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1. TASS: Siberian authorities to tear down illegally installed Stalin statue.
2. Moscow Times: Russia’s Birth Rate Growing Despite Economic Crisis.
3. The Blogmire: Rob Slane, Breaking: Putin ‘Possibly Injecting Journalists’ With Substance That Compels Them to Write Utter Drivel – Expert Says.
4. Washington Post editorial: Obama should respond to Russian meddling in the U.S. election.
5. Washington Post: Russian hacking a question of revenge and respect.
6. Washington Post: David Ignatius, The Cold War is over. The Cyber War has begun. Obama must write the rules of cyberwarfare against an increasingly aggressive Russia.
7. The Guardian (UK): Fancy Bears origins unclear but Russia seizes chance to put boot into Wada. Experts disagree on whether hackers are tied to the Kremlin.
8. AP: False Clues Make It Tough to Find WADA Hackers.
9. Consortiumnews.com: Gilbert Doctorow, Russian Hardliners Gain from US Putin-Bashing. The harsh U.S. rhetoric denouncing Russian President Putin is having the adverse effect in Russia of strengthening hard-line “populists” in upcoming elections who think Putin’s ruling party is too soft on the U.S.
10. Kremlin.ru: Address to the people of Russia ahead of the State Duma election.
11. www.rt.com: Russia readies for nationwide Single Election Day.
12. Sputnik: Duma Elections: The Important But Overlooked Vote Occurring in Russia This Fall.
13. Interfax: Russians differ on work of independent monitors at elections.
14. AP: Russia’s Election: New Rules, Old Faces.
15. Sputnik: Russian Levada Center Appeals to Justice Minister Over Foreign Agent Listing.
16. New York Times: Russia’s Opposition, While Repressed, May Be Its Own Worst Enemy.
17. Intellinews.com: Russia votes in a non-event that will be decisive.
18. Intellinews.com: Ben Aris, Will the Kremlin fix the Duma elections and can it get away with it if it does?
19. The Economist: Russia’s elections. Duma-day machine. Vladimir Putin has the country’s ballot under control.
20. Fort Russ: Tatzhit Mihailovich, Unholy Alliance: Russia’s Pro-Western Opposition Openly Joins Forces With The Far-Right.
21. www.rt.com: 80% of Russians would not join protests – poll shows.
22. Sputnik: US Gives Russia Data About Location of ‘Moderate Rebels’ in Syria for First Time.
23. Russia Direct: Alexey Khlebnikov, What are the prospects for the Russia-US ceasefire in Syria? For the second time this year, Russia and the U.S. have agreed on a Syrian ceasefire. However, the obstacles to its implementation are making its future success quite unlikely.
24. www.rt.com: Russia says US failing to deliver on Syria ceasefire deal, wants details declassified.
25. http://theduran.com: Alexander Mercouris, Lavrov Kerry deal on Syria already in trouble.
26. Sputnik: Preferring to ‘Deal With the Devil It Knows’: US Think Tank on Deal With Russia. (Stratfor)
27. Center on Global Interests: Michael Purcell, Combined Military Operations: The Practical Challenges of US-Russia Cooperation in Syria (Part II). Reasonable management of expectations is essential to achieving an acceptable outcome for U.S.-Russian military cooperation in Syria.
28. Russia Direct: Ivan Tsvetkov, How Hillary Clinton’s health is affecting her image in Russia. For many Russians, Hillary Clinton’s health issues are reminiscent of an earlier time, when the health of Soviet leaders became a national issue. It is feeding into new perceptions of Clinton as a weak and dysfunctional candidate.
29. The National Interest: Nikolay Pakhomov, Central Asia Is Crucial-But Nobody Seems to Care. No great power is skillfully managing its relations with the region.
30. www.rt.com: Russian bloggers slam Bellingcat MH17 investigation for ‘falsified evidence’
31. www.newcoldwar.org/Jyllands-Posten (Denmark): The attacks on journalists and decline of media freedoms in Ukraine: Interview with Ivan Katchanovski.
32. Financial Times: Tony Barber, Russia’s dark art of disinformation. Fancy Bear and Cozy Bear are examples of a rich tradition of subversion.