RUSSIA & UKRAINE – Johnson’s Russia List table of contents :: JRL 2018-71 :: Friday, 20 April 2018

St. Basil's Domes

To inquire about a subscription to the full Johnson’s Russia List e-mail newsletter, e-mail David Johnson at davidjohnson@starpower.net

[check back for updates, including more links; links also posted to facebook and twitter]

Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2018-#71
Friday, 20 April 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.

JRL homepage: russialist.org – JRL on Facebook: facebook.com/russialist – JRL on Twitter: @JohnsonRussiaLi
Support for JRL is provided in part by a grant from Carnegie Corporation of New York to the George Washington University and by voluntary contributions from readers.

Support JRL: russialist.org/funding.phpDonate Online: direct link

1. Bear Market Brief: Kasey Stricklin, Where STEM girls at: Russian women in STEM.
2. The Hill: Yuval Weber, Russia outlandishly blames West as part of Putin provocation campaign.
3. www.rt.com: Putin & Trump will not allow armed confrontation between Russia, US – Lavrov.
4. Russia Observer: Patrick Armstrong, RUSSIAN FEDERATION SITREP 19 APRIL 2018.
5. Bear Market Brief: On to the next election.
6. www.rt.com: Putin tops popularity rating with almost 50 percent support, latest poll shows.
7. Carnegie Moscow Center: Andrei Kolesnikov, Permanent Stagnation: Putin’s Invisible Fourth-Term Agenda. The symbolic and real dimensions of Russian politics are in radical contradiction of each other.
8. Christian Science Monitor: Fred Weir, Kremlin cyberpower? How fight over messaging app is showing its limits.. The Russian government is trying to block popular messaging app Telegram from domestic users. But its creator, Pavel Durov, is easily winning the fight, ensuring Telegram stays up even as the Kremlin clumsily causes collateral damage online.
8a. The Unz Review: Anatoly Karlin, Telegramming Incompetence.
9. The Economist: Catch me if you can. A Russian created Telegram. Now Russia is trying to block it. Pavel Durov’s messaging app is staring down the FSB over privacy.
10. CNBC.com: Russia is opposed to ‘sanction-swapping’ with the US – but is prepared to defend itself, finance minister says.
11. Interfax: Duma speaker warns of Russia’s dangerous dependency on U.S. pharmaceutical imports.
12. www.rt.com: Russian govt to consider dedicated agency to counter foreign economic sanctions.
13. Popular Mechanics: Political Tensions Could Rob the U.S. of the Russian Rocket Engine It Desperately Needs. The United States has become increasingly reliant on the RD-180.
14. TASS: Russia and US may be left without direct flights due to Aeroflot’s visa difficulties.
16. Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs: Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s interview with Rossiya Segodnya, Moscow, April 20, 2018.
17. The Mirror (UK): Doctors ordered at gunpoint to deny Syria chemical attack or else their children will be killed. “Unless you give a testimony, doctor, that there wasn’t a gas attack, we’ll be killing your children”
18. Russia Beyond: William Brumfield: The American who made Russia’s architectural heritage famous abroad. [Text with photos https://www.rbth.com/arts/328098-brumfield-us-russia]
19. UNIAN (Kyiv): Regaining by force or abandoning Donbas: Experts name four scenarios for east Ukraine developments.
20. Reuters: Ukraine moves to split church from Russia as elections approach.
21. Wall Street Journal: Kimberly Strassel, An Honest Comey Interview. Questions nobody is asking the former FBI director-but somebody should.
22. Washington Post editorial: Russia is going after the Internet’s jugular. What will America do?
23. Washington Post: When did Trump and Putin talk about ‘hookers’?
24. Marketwatch.com: Russia undoubtedly has the world’s best prostitutes, says Vladimir Putin. (January 2017)
25. Sputnik: In Russia With Love: First Sex Robot Brothel to Open in Moscow. https://sputniknews.com/viral/201804201063749938-sex-dolls-legal-brothel-opening/
26. RFE/RL: Bolton, New U.S. National Security Adviser, Tells Russia Conditions For Better Ties.
27. New York Times: Cory Gardner, Is Russia Sponsoring Terrorism?

Map of Commonwealth of Independent States, European Portion

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

Map of CIS Central Asia and Environs

Eurasia Map

Comment