RUSSIA & UKRAINE: JRL 2015-#32 table of contents with links :: Friday 20 February 2015

Johnson’s Russia List
JRL 2015-#32 :: Friday 20 February 2015
E-Mail: davidjohnson@starpower.net
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1. The Daily Telegraph (UK): Justin Huggler, ‘Vladimir Putin is a wife-beater’ – and six other claims in new documentary.
2. The Spectator (UK): Adam Sweeting, Why Putin is even less of a human than Stalin was.
3. The Economist: Ukraine’s War. The fire that did not cease. The fall of Debaltseve underlines the cynicism of the Minsk ceasefire.
4. Washington Post editorial: Russia marches on uninhibited in eastern Ukraine.
5. The Spectator (UK): Anne Applebaum, How Vladimir Putin is waging war on the West – and winning.
6. Fort Russ: “Leave the country if you can”–Ukrainian experts.
7. Moscow Times: A Quarter of Russians Are All For Extramarital Affairs.
8. Moscow Times: Fyodor Lukyanov, Post-Cold War Order Is Breaking Down.
9. The Guardian: Mary Dejevsky, In their cynicism about Putin, western diplomats are making the Ukrainian crisis worse. The Russian president has every reason to want the ceasefire to hold, but if the west continues to misread his motives there’s little chance of it happening
10. www.rt.com: ‘Kiev govt resists only solution to Ukraine crisis- full autonomy of Donbass.’ (interview with Anatol Lieven)
11. Business New Europe: Mark Adomanis, Meet the “new Ukraine”
12. Interfax: Russians say external military threat has grown – poll.
13. Moscow Times: Debaltseve Was Fatal Flaw in Minsk Agreement on Ukraine.
14. Reuters: Options narrow for Ukraine’s Poroshenko after Debaltseve defeat.
15. Interfax: DPR Defense Ministry has no information about Ukrainian heavy arms withdrawal.
16. Centre for International Policy Studies: Paul Robinson, Debacle at Debaltsevo Calls For a New Approach to Ukraine.
17. http://colonelcassad.livejournal.com: The Debalcevo encirclement. February 19th.
18. The Guardian: Alec Luhn, Ukrainian soldiers share horrors of Debaltseve battle after stinging defeat. Thousands of Ukrainian soldiers retreat from strategic town taken by pro-Russia separatists, leaving their dead and wounded comrades behind.
19. Sputnik: Alexander Mercouris, President Poroshenko Betrayed Ukrainian Army in Debaltseve.
20. Sputnik: If You Can’t Make It Fake It: UK Claims Russian Missiles in Ukraine.
21. New York Times: Adrian Karatnycky, Making the Most of Minsk. A Closer Look at the Ukraine Cease-Fire Agreement.
22. http://therealnews.com: In Spite of Fighting in Debaltseve, Ukraine Ceasefire May Hold. Occasional fighting in Ukraine may continue but that does not mean the Minsk II ceasefire will fail, says Tarik Cyril Amar, Assistant Professor of History at Columbia University.
23. Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs: Remarks and comments by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov at a joint news conference after talks with South Ossetian foreign minister Dmitriy Sanakoyev, Moscow, 18 February 2015.(Excerpt re Ukraine)
24. Interfax: Russian general coordinates weapons withdrawal in east Ukraine.
25. Vedomosti: Moscow daily: Debaltseve pullout will help to implement Minsk peace agreements.
26. Russia Beyond the Headlines: Press Digest: Accusations fly as Ukrainian army retreats from Debaltsevo.
27. Kyiv Post: After Debaltseve Defeat, What Next?: Out from Debaltseve hell and back to the trenches.
28. The Vineyard of the Saker: The strategic implications of the battle for Debaltsevo (UPDATED).
29. www.foreignpolicy.com: Alec Luhn, The Draft Dodgers of Ukraine. The country’s struggling army is trying to replenish its ranks. But with its forces taking a pounding in the east, Kiev is discovering that new recruits are making themselves scarce.
30. Moscow Times: Nathan Eyre, Arming Ukraine Will Not Bring Peace.
31. The National Interest: James Carden, Why Ukraine Doesn’t Get a Say on NATO.
32. Reuters: Economic crisis threatens Russia’s most secure state jobs.
33. Moscow Times: Russia Dumps $22 Billion in U.S. Bonds to Slow Economy’s Slide.
34. Forbes.com: By Mark Adomanis, Why Russia Isn’t The Soviet Union In One Chart.
35. www.rt.com: Expectations and reality: What Maidan gave Ukraine’s economy.
36. Russia Direct: Alexey Fenenko, Reality and myths of the Putin Doctrine in the post-Soviet space. The Eurasian Economic Union will attempt to become Russia’s main lever of integration and influence in the post-Soviet space. Russia, though, is not yet ready for a radical revision of the boundaries of the former Soviet Union.
37. Moscow Times: ‘Leviathan’ Is Close Favorite as Oscars Draw Near.
38. Russia Insider: Mark Nicholas, How the West Brought about Kiev’s Sniper Massacre. Whoever actually carried out the massacre, western declarations that Yanukovich would be blamed for all and any violence played an indispensable role in setting up the scene for it.
39. Paul Goble: Putin Aide Linked to Maidan Killings.
40. Kyiv Post: A year after Yanukovych flees power, still no justice for EuroMaidan victims.
41. www.rt.com: Brokering power: US role in Ukraine coup hard to overlook.
42. Consortiumnews.com: Robert Parry, Ukraine Finance Minister’s American ‘Values’
43. Veterans News Now: Finian Cunningham, Putin Should Just Take East Ukraine.