RUSSIA & UKRAINE – Johnson’s Russia List table of contents & links :: JRL 2020-#52 :: Monday, 23 March 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-#52 :: Monday, 23 March 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. Russian International Affairs Council;’ Ivan Timofeev, The Troika Rears its Head Once Again.
2. Meduza: The president’s needs. Experts debate if Russia’s constitutional reforms are really just a scheme to keep Vladimir Putin in power until 2036
3. RIA Novosti: Over two-thirds of Russians deem themselves middle-income – poll.
4. TASS: Russians reveal fears over coronavirus epidemic, many ready to hunker down in tough times.
5. Carnegie Moscow Center: Dmitri Trenin, Confronting the Challenges of Coronavirus, Russia Sees Its Worldview Vindicated. As the Kremlin prepares to manage the public health emergency and an economic slowdown, it’s coming to view the global disarray as affirmation of its ideology.
6. Moscow Times: Coronavirus in Russia: The Latest News | March 23.
7. TASS: Over 163,000 coronavirus tests carried out in Russia.
8. TASS: COVID-19 should become less active in April-May, Russian expert says.
9. Government.ru: Meeting with deputy prime ministers. On measures to contain the coronavirus infection.
10. Meduza: Here’s the core of the Russian executive cabinet’s new COVID-19 economic crisis plan, point by point.
11. Russia Beyond: What is Russia’s economic response to coronavirus?
12. www.rt.com: Moscow acted effectively on Covid-19 long before it was classed as ‘pandemic’ – Russian WHO bureau chief to RT.
13. CNN: Why does Russia, population 146 million, have fewer coronavirus cases than Luxembourg?
14. Reuters: Russia to Use Mobile Phones to Track People at Risk of Coronavirus.
15. The Unz Review: Anatoly Karlin, Western Journalists Really Want There to be a Huge Corona Epidemic in Russia.
16. Valdai Discussion Club: Oleg Barabanov, When Disasters and Epidemics Become a New Normal.
17. Moscow Times: Nabi Abdullaev, Business in the Time of Coronavirus: Navigating a Pandemic. Companies need to understand how to deal with knee-jerk responses from governments, and not upset politically-important partners.
18. Intellinews.com: Ben Aris, Russia’s economy to contract by 1% in 2020, says BOFIT.
19. www.rt.com: Russian economy can survive for a long time with oil at $20 per barrel.
20. New York Times: Coming to a Country Near You: A Russian Nuclear Power Plant. A Russian state company is financing and building reactors across the world, reaping for Moscow both profits and geopolitical influence.
21. Bloomberg: Russia Halts War Games on NATO Borders to Fight Coronavirus.
22. TASS: Izvestia: Russia committed to meaningful dialogue with NATO.
23. Russia Matters: Simon Saradzhyan, From Polar Bears to Nuclear Weapons, US and Russia Still Talk (Even If It’s Past Each Other).
24. The Hill: William Courtney, Russia’s Ties with the West Rhyme.
25. Intellinews.com: Ben Aris, How well prepared is Ukraine to face down the coronavirus pandemic? Ukraine’s economy is in a lot better shape than it was in 2014 during the last shock, but its reserves are limited and the impact of the economic downturn is expected to be severe.
26. The Atlantic: Maxim Edwards, Ukraine’s Quiet Depopulation Crisis. The government is trying to entice its people back, not entirely successfully.
27. Financial Times: Profiling Putin: why a new documentary could enrage the Kremlin. The makers of Putin: A Russian Spy Story on tracing the leader’s rise and assessing his skillset.
28. PONARS Eurasia; Andrei Semenov, Taming the Leviathan: How Russians Learn to Counter the State.
29. The New Kremlin Stooge: Mark Chapman, Vladimir Putin’s Long Run.