RUSSIA & UKRAINE – Johnson’s Russia List table of contents & links :: JRL 2020-#14 :: Tuesday, 21 January 2020

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Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2020-#14 :: Tuesday, 21 January 2020
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1. BBC: Russia bomb hoaxes: Thousands evacuated as campaign targets Moscow.
2. TASS: Top Russian scholars warn about main global threats for this year.
3. Kremlin.ru: Vladimir Putin submitted to the State Duma draft law amending the Constitution – en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/62617
5. TASS: Kommersant: Vladimir Putin presents his constitutional amendments.
6. Interfax: Amendments to Constitution to be put to public vote following approval by State Duma, Federation Council – Krasheninnikov.
7. Bloomberg: Putin Outlines Sweeping Powers for State Council in Shakeup.
8. Sputnik: Proposed Amendments to Russia’s Constitution: Big Changes You Need to Know About.
9. Interfax: Peskov declines comment on media reports regarding Medvedev’s version of constitutional amendments.
10. New York Times: Putin Outlines Political Overhaul, Including Possible Post for Himself. By proposing to empower a toothless advisory body, President Vladimir V. Putin set off new speculation about his long-term plans.
11. Russian and Eurasian Politics: Gordon Hahn, Putin’s Perstroika? UPDATE.
13. www.rt.com: CrossTalk BULLHORNS on Putin’s proposals: New reforms. Russian President Vladimir Putin has proposed some important political reforms. What are they? What is their significance and, importantly, why now? And what about the claim that he’s ‘clinging to power’? CrossTalking with Dmitry Babich and Alexander Mercouris – rt.com/shows/crosstalk/478648-russia-putin-political-reforms/
14. Moskovsky Komsomolets: Mikhail Rostovsky: Reason for dismissal of Medvedev’s government was its inability to spend. Premier’s belated end.
15. Carnegie Moscow Center: Anton Tabakh, Enter Mishustin: The New Russian Prime Minister’s Agenda. Mikhail Mishustin is replacing Dmitry Medvedev as prime minister of Russia after nearly a decade as director of the Federal Tax Service (FNS). Russians can expect a shift in emphasis from taxation to the allocation of funds as Mishustin draws on his management skills to make government spending as orderly and transparent as taxation became under his leadership.
16. www.memri.org: Mk.Ru. ‘Observer’ Rostovsky: Mishustin Is The Right Man For The Prime Ministership. – memri.org/reports/mkru-observer-rostovsky-mishustin-right-man-prime-ministership
17. Meduza: ‘An investigation loves silence’. What little we know about Igor Krasnov, Russia’s next attorney general.
18. TASS: Moscow court rules searches at homes of Anti-Corruption Foundation employees unlawful.
19. Bloomberg: Russia Finance Chief Faces Demotion Amid Kremlin Spending Push.
20. Intellinews.com: Russia tempted to ease fiscal rule and spend more.
21. Moscow Times: Russia’s Sovereign Credit Rating Upgraded. Upgrade comes as foreigners buy record amount of Russian state debt and reserves hit pre-crisis levels.
22. Moscow Times: Decembrist Blockbuster Splits Film Critics. Is the film about a historical rebellion or today’s protests?
23. TASS: Kommersant: Russian athletes join fight against WADA.
24. www.aljazeera.com: Roman Dobrokhotov, Putin’s constitutional reforms could lead to his political demise. Putin has decided to stay forever in power. But as a result he may have to leave earlier than he hopes for.
25. Moscow Times: Michael McFaul and Kathryn Stoner, Chinese Dreams, Russian Realities. Positive changes in Russia’s economic environment have come despite Mr. Putin’s long rule, not because of it.
26. The American Conservative: ‘God Save The Tsar!’ Far from Putin’s power machinations in Moscow, a Romanov-inspired ball shows how little has really changed.
27. Eurasia Review: William Dunkerley, Prince Harry Nominated For King Of Russia.
28. Kennan Institute: William Pomeranz, Putin’s Cosmetic Constitutionalism.
29. Washington Post editorial: Trump won’t discourage Russia from interfering in 2020, so Congress has to.
30. Antiwar.com: Daniel Lazare, Democrats Invoke Cold War Narrative To Push Impeachment.
31. Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs: Acting Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s remarks and answers to media questions at a news conference on Russia’s diplomatic performance in 2019 Moscow, January 17, 2020 – mid.ru/en/press_service/minister_speeches/-/asset_publisher/7OvQR5KJWVmR/content/id/4001740