RUSSIA & UKRAINE – Johnson’s Russia List table of contents :: JRL 2018-32 :: Wednesday, 14 February 2018

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Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2018-#32
Wednesday, 14 February 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
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1. New York Times magazine: Karl Ove Knausgaard, A Literary Road Trip Into the Heart of Russia. In the land of Tolstoy, Turgenev and now Putin, what are the stories Russians are telling themselves? (excerpt)
2. Wall Street Journal: Janusz Bugajski, Fight Putin With Fire. Moscow reportedly plans to interfere with another U.S. election. Russia has an election coming up too.
3. Facebook: Fred Weir, Russian Threat.
4. www.axios.com: Aaron Schwartzbaum, Putin refocusing at home in 2018.
5. TASS: Russian presidential candidates to start debates on February 26 – election authority.
6. www.rt.com: Communists propose confiscation of property to boost Russian economy.
7. The Unz Review: Israel Shamir, A Russian Trump? (re Pavel Grudinin) [Text with links http://www.unz.com/ishamir/a-russian-trump/]
8. www.rt.com: ‘None of the above’ candidate asks Supreme Court to remove Putin from presidential race. (Ksenia Sobchak)
9. Meduza: Russian network TV can show Oliver Stone’s ‘The Putin Interviews,’ but election officials wish they’d wait until after the March 18 vote.
10. Interfax: Roskomnadzor threatens to block sites that don’t delete info from Navalny film by Wed night.
11. Russiafeed.com: Paul Goncharoff, The wisdom of a Russian grandmother: today’s financial bubbles are trouble. With financial uncertainty ahead, good financial advice can come from the unlikeliest of places.
12. Bloomberg: Russian Billionaires Are Building Megaschools to Rival Eton and Exeter.
13. Oilprice.com: Russia Gets $41.5 Billion Boost From OPEC Deal.
14. http://theduran.com: Alexander Mercouris, The Russian Doping Scandal and how the IOC betrayed the Olympic Movement. The decision to exclude Russian athletes who have been cleared of all wrongdoing is contrary to all principles of justice. [Text with links http://theduran.com/russian-doping-scandal-ioc-betrayed-olympic-movement/]
15. Vesti.ru: Sergei Lavrov: International Diplomat Extraordinaire Opens Up About the Details of the Dangerous Profession. [Video of full interview with English subtitles https://www.vesti.ru/doc.html?id=2987548&cid=4441]
16. PONARS Eurasia: Mikhail Alexseev, Why Trump’s Bid to Improve U.S.-Russian Relations Backfired in Congress.
17. TASS: Kremlin urges media not to rely on misinformation on developments in Syria.
18. TASS: Kommersant: Russian mercenaries suspected of being killed in a US-backed Syria Attack.
19. Bear Market Brief: In wake of Syria disaster, PMC regulation advances.
20. www.rt.com: US trying to create ‘quasi-state’ on large part of Syria’s land – Lavrov.
21. Bear Market Blog: Maggie Tennis, Nukes of Hazard: 30 Years of Nuclear Security is Profoundly at Risk. (re INF treaty)
22. Awful Avalanche: Valentine Day Special – Was Alexander Nevsky Gay? – Part I. [Text with links https://awfulavalanche.wordpress.com/2018/02/14/valentine-day-special-was-alexander-nevsky-gay-part-i/]
23. Interfax-Ukraine: Nearly 140 books added to list of publications with anti-Ukrainian content.
24. Sputnik: ‘Shoot at All Targets on Maidan’: New Evidence of Georgian Snipers. [Complete text with photos https://sputniknews.com/europe/201802141061632008-ukraine-maidan-georgian-snipers-evidence/]
25. TASS: Poroshenko needs Donbass standoff to maintain position as president – expert.
26. Interfax: Situation in Donbas deteriorating – LPR.
27. TASS: Izvestia: DPR beefs up defenses awaiting Kiev’s potentially new offensive.
28. USA Today: State Department’s answer to Russian meddling is about to be funded. ($40 million)
29. AP: Chinese Spokesman Says No Idea Why US Feels ‘So Insecure’
30. New York Times: Russia Sees Midterm Elections as Chance to Sow Fresh Discord, Intelligence Chiefs Warn. (Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats: “We’re not going to allow some Russian to tell us how to vote, how we ought to run our country.”)
31. www.rt.com: Lip service to Russian threat & fears of China: Intelligence chiefs face Senate.
32. Washington Post: Christian Caryl, Christopher Steele is a hero – and Americans owe him their thanks. washingtonpost.com/news/democracy-post/wp/2018/02/14/christopher-steele-is-a-hero-and-americans-owe-him-their-thanks/?utm_term=.808000bae6e7
33. Vice News: BuzzFeed is going all out to prove Trump’s “pee tape” is real.
34. The American Interest: Kirk Bennett, Carter Page, Useful Idiot. The demonization of Carter Page highlights the most alarming aspect of our recent domestic political turmoil-a disturbing conviction that basic standards of truth or fairness must not be allowed to deflect from the paramount objective of toppling Trump.
35. The National Interest: George Beebe, The Deep State Has Long Abused Its Power. From Eisenhower to Trump, the intelligence community has always struggled with its political role.

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