RUSSIA & UKRAINE – Johnson’s Russia List table of contents & links :: JRL 2020-#128 :: Friday, 17 July 2020

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

Support the JRL: russialist.org/funding.php
Donate Online: click here for direct link at GWU

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

Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2020-#128 :: Friday, 18 July 2020
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 Home: 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.

1. Medium.com: Caitlin Johnstone, “Putin Hacked Our Coronavirus Vaccine” Is The Dumbest Story Yet – medium.com/@caityjohnstone/putin-hacked-the-coronavirus-vaccine-is-the-dumbest-story-yet-e5277c158ce5
2. Sputnik: Developments in Oxford Vaccine Officially Shared With Russia, No Need to ‘Steal’ Them – RDIF Head – sputniknews.com/world/202007161079905224-developments-in-oxford-vaccine-officially-shared-with-russia-no-need-to-steal-them–rdif-head-/
3. Forbes: Kenneth Rapoza, Russia Thinks It Can Have A Covid-19 Vaccine Ready By End Of Summer
4. rt.com: As Covid-19 vaccine enters final stage of testing, Russia could be world’s first country with mass immunization program.
5. The Nation: David Foglesong, With Fear and Favor: The Russophobia of ‘The New York Times’. Disregarding all past experience, journalists, politicians, and foreign policy experts have simply assumed that the claims of Russian bounties for killing American troops are true. They-and we-should know better.
6. Russia Beyond: Why is Siberia warming faster than anywhere else on the planet? – rbth.com/science-and-tech/332456-siberia-warm-climate
7. rt.com: 100-degree heat inside the Arctic Circle: Siberian heatwave ‘almost impossible’ without climate change, says new study.
8. Kremlin.ru: Meeting on federal budget for 2021 and 2022-2023 planning period – en.kremlin.ru/events/president/transcripts/63674
9. In Moscow’s Shadows: Mark Galeotti, The FSO’s surveys and the Kremlin’s conservative bias
10. Meduza: What Putin reads. Vital policymaking in Russia relies on sociological research conducted by the Secret Service. Here’s how it works.
11. Wall Street Journal: Spate of Raids, Arrests in Russia Spurs Fears of Opposition Crackdown. Since President Putin won a plebiscite that could prolong his power for years to come, journalists have been detained, the homes of critics raided and a popular governor has been arrested.
12. Interfax: Investigative Committee says it has irrefutable evidence that Furgal was behind murders of businessmen.
13. BBC: Russia’s young liberals confronted by MeToo moment
14. Paul Goble: Russian Opposition Must Talk with Siloviki and Attract Them to Its Side, Gallyamov Says
15. Journal of Democracy: Marlene Laruelle, Making Sense of Russia’s Illiberalism (excerpt)
16. Bloomberg: Pompeo Warns Energy Majors Over New Russian Gas Pipelines.
17. TASS: Marital fallacies: No ‘honeymoon’ between Russia, United States, says Kremlin.
18. TASS: Izvestia: Russia needed as mediator to resolve Azerbaijani-Armenian conflict, experts say.
19. Foreign Policy: Ankur Shah, Russia Loosens Its Belt. Russia’s foreign minister bowed out of China’s high-level Belt and Road meeting. Is Moscow finally signaling its discontent over the initiative?
20. Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS): Jonathan Hillman, China and Russia: Economic Unequals (excerpt)
21. Carnegie Moscow Center: Konstantin Skorkin, Ukraine’s Unpopular Populist: What Next for Zelensky? A further fall in President Zelensky’s ratings could become a serious demotivating factor for the former TV star. His transformation from the “people’s president” into yet another Ukrainian politician with broken promises, a state dacha, and a dodgy entourage will primarily weigh on the president himself.
22. rt.com: Helen Buyniski, The Russians are coming, again! Poorly understood cybercrimes play perfectly into political agendas – rt.com/op-ed/494986-russian-hackers-vaccine-fail-cia/
23. RealClearInvestigations: Aaron Mate, Mueller and Weissmann Op-Eds Greatly at Odds With Their Report and Evidence
24. strategic-culture.org: Patrick Armstrong, The Real ‘Russian Playbook’ Is Written in English – strategic-culture.org/news/2020/07/17/real-russian-playbook-written-english/
25. Washington Post: George Will, The thugocracy of Vladimir Putin