RUSSIA & UKRAINE – Johnson’s Russia List table of contents :: JRL 2018-112 :: Wednesday, 20 June 2018

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Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2018-#112 :: Wednesday, 20 June 2018
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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1. Washington Post editorial: While we watch the World Cup, Russians are being jailed for reading the Bible. Now, as in Soviet times, Jehovah’s Witnesses are victims of Putin’s authoritarianism.
2. SBS (Australia): How the Russians proved everyone wrong, at home and abroad. Dismissed, derided and demonised, the Russian team was considered something of a running joke among most people here until this month.
3. Russia Insider: Russian Ostashko, Never Mind the Haters, This World Cup Is Great for Russia. It’s impossible not to fall in love with Russia!
4. AP: Smiling Russians? World Cup Hosts Defy Glum, Hostile Image.
5. Wall Street Journal: The Russian Soccer Team’s Biggest Trolls: Russians. The host country’s passion and emotions toward its own soccer team are usually expressed as unbridled pessimism. But after two dominant wins, the Russians look to be in prime position to make it out of the group stage.
6. Vesti.ru: A Feeling of Awe and Wonder: World Cup Guests in Moscow Taken Aback By the Splendor of the Games.
7. www.rt.com: Almost 80% of Russians want death penalty to fight corruption, Twitter poll shows.
8. Washington Post: Simon Saradzhyan and Nabi Abdullaev, Is Vladimir Putin’s Russia in decline? We figured out how to measure ‘national power.’
9. Russiafeed.com: Frank Sellers, Majority of Russians want Putin to remain president beyond current term. Putin represents predictability, and a certain degree of certainty, both of which are conditions which are typically necessary for sustained growth and prosperity.
10. Paul Goble: State Patriotism the New Official Ideology of Putin’s Russia, Lev Gudkov Says.
11. Gazeta.ru: Andrei Vinokurov: Presidential Administration: no one changes team during championship. Who are new members of Russian president’s administration?
12. The Daily Telegraph (UK): What does it mean to be a man in Putin’s Russia?
13. TASS: Two-thirds of Russians feel no impact of Western sanctions – poll.
14. Bloomberg: End of Putin’s Middle Class Boom Turns Savings Into a Luxury.
15. TASS: Izvestia: Business climate in Russia improving despite US restrictive measures.
16. TASS: Kommersant: Russia to side with Europe, China in global trade war.
17. www.rt.com: Russia to retaliate against US steel & aluminum tariffs – economy minister.
18. Interfax: Vacancies from Russian diplomats’ expulsion from U.S. to be filled gradually – Russian Foreign Ministry.
19. The National Interest: Dave Majumdar, The Rise of Russia’s Military. After feeling betrayed at the end of the Cold War, the Kremlin is using the military as its premier tool to achieve policy goals and weaken the West. (excerpt)
20. TASS: Nezavisimaya Gazeta: Trump gearing up for “Star Wars” with Russia, China.
21. www.rt.com: Russian Defense Minister calls for ‘symmetrical response’ to NATO activities near Western borders.
22. www.rt.com: ‘Way to disaster’: Moscow warns US against deploying WMDs in space, threatens with ‘tough response’
23. www.rt.com: South Korea wants railroad link to Russia through North Korea.
24. Counterpunch.org: C. J. Hopkins, Confession of a Putin-Nazi Denialist.

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