RUSSIA & UKRAINE: JRL 2015-#105 table of contents with links :: Johnson’s Russia List – Thursday AM, May 28, 2015

Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2015-#105 :: Thursday 28 May 2015
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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RUSSIA

1. Moscow Times: Yoga Journal Celebrates Its First 10 Years in Russia.
2. Russia Insider: EXCLUSIVE: PUTIN POISONS OPPOSITION ACTIVIST WITH ‘SPOILED YOGURT’!. Russian opposition activist Vladimir Kara-Murza hospitalized, likely after eating ‘spoiled yogurt’. Putin must be stopped!
3. Interfax: Gorbachev Foundation: Russia, West reach dangerous line of confrontation.
4. www.rt.com: Gorbachev Foundation urges ‘new Perestroika’ to save Russia.
5. Moscow Times: Worst Not Over for Russia as Economy Shrinks 4.3% in April.
6. Reuters: Russia’s Economy Ministry sees economy recovering from 2016.
7. Russia Insider: Moody’s Revises Outlook for Russian Economy. The international ratings agency has predicted Russia’s GDP will decline by less than previous estimations.
8. www.rt.com: Top banker Gref speaks against hasty political reforms.
9. Business New Europe: Ben Aris, Russia on track for poor harvest.
10. Russia Beyond the Headlines: Alexander Yakovenko, The Russian economy: overcoming difficulties fast.
11. Interfax: Juvenile delinquency rates down three-fold in Russia since early 1990s.
12. Russia Beyond the Headlines: Experts puzzled by sudden rise in Russia’s mortality rate. The first quarter of 2015 saw the mortality rate in Russia grow by a surprising 5.2 percent, with analysts particularly puzzled by a 22-percent rise in the death rate among those suffering from respiratory illnesses. Experts are so far reluctant to attribute these figures to a single specific cause.
13. http://readrussia.com: Mark Adomanis, The Graying Bear: Russia Isn’t “Dying” but It Is Getting Old.
14. Moscow Times: Russian Rights Activist Alexeyeva Returns to Kremlin Council.
15. Christian Science Monitor: Fred Weir, Russia moves to silence civil society and its ‘undesirable’ contacts.
16. Interfax: Russian Constitutional Court says election monitor not “foreign agent”
17. Russia Direct: Yury Korgunyuk, The end of the rule of law in modern Russia? The new law on “undesirable” foreign organizations is set to turn Russia into a besieged fortress. Severing Russian citizens’ and organizations’ ties with the outside world is now easier than ever.
18. Russia Direct: Dmitry Polikanov, What’s behind the Kremlin’s phobia of foreign NGOs? The new law on “undesirable organizations” is just the latest attempt by the Kremlin to limit the activities of foreign NGOs on Russian soil. Some even warn that the law may be an attempt to prevent a color revolution in 2016.
19. Russia Direct: The law on undesirable organizations Fighting those who make life in Russia better. RD Interview: Elena Panfilova, the head of anti-corruption NGO Transparency International – Russia, discusses the law on undesirable organizations and its implications for Russia and its citizens.
20. Moscow Times: Fyodor Lukyanov, U.S. and Russia Back to Cold War Diplomacy.
21. Reuters: Josh Cohen, Breakdown in U.S.-Russia relations raises risk of nuclear-armed jihadists.
22. Business New Europe: Switzerland probes Russian 2018 World Cup bid over bribery charges.
23. www.rt.com: Putin: FIFA-linked arrests are US attempt to thwart Blatter re-election.
24. TASS: Russian experts warn against politicizing FIFA corruption probe.
25. Russia Insider: Alexander Mercouris, Russia’s Chief Intelligence Analyst Comes Out of the Shadows. Lieutenant General Reshetnikov of the Russian Institute of Strategic Research gives a wide-ranging interview on threats Russia faces from the West, to militant Islamic groups, to the conflict in Ukraine.
26. Brookings Institution: Watch: Joe Biden tough but optimistic on Russia, Putin and Ukraine.
27. www.rt.com: US won’t accept idea of global ‘spheres of influence’ – Biden.
28. Yahoo Politics: Russia ‘reset’ architect to next president: Don’t try that again. (Michael McFaul)
29. Russia Direct: Ksenia Zubacheva, What to expect from the Russian lobby in the West. Russian companies hit by sanctions continue to pump large sums of money to lobby their interests in the U.S. and the EU. But is it really worth it?
30. Dances With Bears: John Helmer, ANNE APPLEBAUM LOSES WAR AGAINST RUSSIA – HER INCOME PLUMMETS FASTER THAN UKRAINE’S GDP.
31. Russia Insider: Danielle Ryan, How to Become a ‘Mouthpiece for a Mass Murderer.’ Step 1: Disagree with the White House.
32. The Association for Slavic, East European, & Eurasian Studies (ASEEES): ASEEES BOARD STATEMENT REGARDING THE MAY 11 2015 SPECIAL MEETING DECISIONS. (re Stephen Cohen)