(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Alexey Eremenko – November 6, 2014) Women in Ukraine’s separatist-held Luhansk region will be arrested if they are seen in cafes, an insurgent warlord has said. “A woman should be the keeper of the hearth, a mother,” Wraith Brigade commander Alexei Mozgovoi says in a video recently posted on YouTube. “If you want to be […]
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(Window on Eurasia – Paul Goble – Staunton, November 6, 2014) Even though some Western leaders cannot bring themselves to describe what Russia is doing in Ukraine as “an invasion,” Ukraine today is under a mortal threat, and according to Arkady Babchenko, Kyiv and the Ukrainian people are fighting not just to recover the Donbas and Crimea but for their […]
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[check back for updates, including more links; links also posted to facebook and twitter] Johnson’s Russia List JRL 2014-#230 :: Wednesday 5 November 2014 E-Mail: davidjohnson@starpower.net A project of the Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies (IERES) at The George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs: www.ieres.org JRL homepage: russialist.org JRL on Facebook: facebook.com/russialist JRL on Twitter: twitter.com/JohnsonRussiaLi Support JRL: russialist.org/funding.php Ukraine 1. Global Times: Dmitri Trenin, West and Russia now in […]
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[“Mr. Putin resumes his chipping away at Ukraine” – Washington Post editorial – Nov. 3, 2014] The Washington Post editors characterize unauthorized elections held by pro-Russia separatists in eastern Ukraine as another stage in Russian aggression: Russia has taken another significant step toward creating a puppet state inside Ukraine. Over the weekend the Moscow-controlled cities of Donetsk and Luhansk and nearby […]
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[“Ukraine PM says rebel-led regions will never receive funds from Kiev” – Reuters – Nov. 5, 2014] Reuters covers the aftermath in Ukraine of unauthorized would-be local or regional elections held by separatists, and Ukraine’s decision to cut off central government funding of Donetsk and Luhansk until the areas return to government control. Yatseniuk said the government would ordinarily have paid […]
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[“Ukraine peace plan in tatters, ‘frozen conflict’ takes shape” – Reuters 11.5.14] Reuters covers the aftermath in Ukraine of unauthorized elections staged by pro-Russia separatists in parts of the Ukrainian east. Kiev said on Wednesday it would halt payment of state funds in areas controlled by pro-Moscow rebels, as both sides hardened positions in what is rapidly becoming a “frozen […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – November 5, 2014) Russia fell eight places from last year in the 2014 edition of the Legatum Institute Prosperity Index – a yearly rating of countries’ performance across several categories of well-being, including economic indicators such as gross domestic product, but also levels of safety, freedom, health and happiness. This year, Russia ranked the lowest […]
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(RFE/RL – rferl.org – Brian Whitmore – November 5, 2014) As one of his activities marking the Unity Day holiday, Vladimir Putin joined Patriarch Kirill to view an exhibition commemorating the Rurik Dynasty, which established tsarism in Russia and ruled for seven centuries. What kind of message was he trying to send? If you look hard enough, and even if […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Allison Quinn – November 5, 2014) Russia’s health minister has promised to consider the demands of Moscow health workers amid ongoing reforms of the capital’s health care system on Monday in the direct aftermath of a thousands-strong street protest, the TASS news agency reported. “The opinions of patients and doctors hold the utmost significance for […]
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(opendemocracy.net – Anna Arutunyan – November 3, 2014) Anna Arutunyan is an independent journalist and author of ‘The Putin Mystique.’ She lives in Moscow As the Ukraine crisis drags on and as the transformative effects of Crimea’s annexation become increasingly apparent, every time Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, opens his mouth, the bewildered world looks to what he says, for a […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Alexey Eremenko – November 5, 2014) Russia marked National Unity Day on Tuesday with a remarkable show of disunity, with three major distinct rallies taking place across Moscow, including the infamous nationalist Russian March. Nationalism in Russia has long been reviled because of its proponents’ penchants for violence and acrid loathing of President Vladimir Putin. […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Howard Amos – November 5, 2014) The Russian ruble plunged when trading opened Wednesday as the Central Bank announced it would cap the amount of foreign reserves it spends to defend the currency. The ruble fell to historic lows, diving to 44.98 against the dollar and passing the 56 euro mark shortly after 10 a.m. […]
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(Interfax – November 4, 2014) Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia has criticized the West over attempts to play havoc with the minds of the Russian people through the sanctions it had imposed against Russia, Gazprom-owned Russian TV channel NTV reported on 4 November. “One should make the economic situation worse to play havoc with minds. We are now […]
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(RFE/RL – rferl.org – Carl Schreck – November 05, 2014) Ukraine has pledged to recapture them. Separatists vow to expand them. But even as hostilities rage on despite a shaky cease-fire, the areas in eastern Ukraine controlled by Russia-backed rebels appear to be drifting inexorably toward the “F” word, analysts say. “For the foreseeable future — let’s say at least […]
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(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Pavel Koshkin, RBTH – November 4, 2014) Can Moscow and Washington reset the educational and cultural collaboration to minimize negative implications of their confrontation? As an innocent bystander to the diplomatic differences between the U.S. and Russia, educational exchanges are facing major cutbacks or have been canceled as pawns in the growing game […]
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(Institute of Modern Russia – imrussia.org – Olga Khvostunova- October 28, 2014) On the last day of the annual meeting of the Valdai International Discussion Club, Vladimir Putin delivered a speech in which he accused the United States of attempting to establish a global dictatorship. Olga Khvostunova, editor-in-chief of imrussia.org, speculates that the Russian president might have been subconsciously speaking […]
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November 5 (RIA Novosti) – The civil war rages in eastern Ukraine despite reconciliation agreements reached this fall with the participation of Russia and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, the Russian president said Wednesday. “A civil conflict, which in fact is a civil war, rages in Ukraine, near Russian borders. Despite Minsk agreements, peaceful cities are being […]
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(Window on Eurasia – Paul Goble – Staunton, November 5, 2014) Ever more commentators are suggesting that a new round of Russian military aggression in Ukraine is likely in order to secure a Russian-controlled land corridor to Crimea, an action that some analysts say would cost Russia more killed and wounded than it has suffered in any conflict since World […]
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… 8. Kyiv Post: Russia, West diverge sharply on ‘elections’ in Ukraine’s east.
9. RFE/RL: Five Takeaways From Eastern Ukraine’s Separatist Vote.
10. The National Interest: Katrina V. Negrouk, The Aftermath of Ukraine’s Elections: One Step Forward or Two Steps Back? ….
(Window on Eurasia – Paul Goble – Staunton, November 4, 2014) One of the most frequently invoked explanations for the inability of leaders to cope with a challenge is that it is something fundamentally new that they could not have been expected to recognize, understand, and know precisely how to respond. That has been the case in Ukraine and the […]
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(RFE/RL – rferl.org – Mark Galeotti – November 3, 2014) Mark Galeotti is professor of global affairs at the Center for Global Affairs at New York University, an expert on Russia’s security services, and author of the blog “In Moscow’s Shadows” Mikhail Volkov is a cop in Moscow (up to a point) and Viktor Skvortsov is a criminal (of sorts), […]
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(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Yevgeny Levkovich, special to RBTH – November 3, 2014) Yevgeny Levkovich is a journalist and civil activist. There is more potential than usual for scandal in the Russian March held annually on Nov. 4 as nationalists have split over the situation in Ukraine. The Russian March will take place as usual in Moscow […]
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(RFE/RL – rferl.org – Glenn Kates – November 3, 2014) The elections held in eastern Ukraine by the pro-Russian separatists may not have been recognized by anyone but Russia, but that may be all that matters. Here are some more takeaways from the November 2 vote. Western nonrecognition is a moot point for separatists The November 2 elections in Ukraine’s […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Anna Dolgov – UNITED NATIONS, November 4, 2014) Russia has blocked a UN Security Council statement accusing Ukrainian separatists of breaching a peace agreement with Kiev, as Western governments continue to denounce Sunday’s vote as illegitimate. The draft document – the result of two-day long discussions between the 15 members of Security Council up until […]
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KIEV, November 4 (RIA Novosti) – The government in Kiev believes that the recent elections in eastern Ukraine have derailed any future talks between the two warring parties, a deputy chief of President Petro Poroshenko’s staff said late on Monday. Speaking on the Ukraina TV channel, Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration Valeriy Chaly accused the opposition forces in eastern […]
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BRUSSELS, November 4 (RIA Novosti) – The geopolitical tensions over the situation around Ukraine, declining oil prices combined with Russia’s high dependence on energy exports, a weakening ruble and high inflation are among the main risks for the Russian economy, said the European Commission’s (EC) forecast, published Tuesday. “Economic growth in Russia had been on a declining trend for some […]
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… 12. AP: Russia’s Top Radio Station Slapped by Government.
13. Reuters: Russia keeps oil output near high despite sanctions, low prices.
14. Wall Street Journal editorial: The Run on the Ruble. Sanctions and a strong dollar create currency woes for Putin. …
(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Leonid Bershidsky – November 2, 2014) In the history of Ukraine’s Maidan revolution, which ousted President Viktor Yanukovich in February, Mustafa Nayyem deserves prominent mention. A year after the journalist’s Facebook post drew the first protesters to Kiev’s main square, he’s now a freshly elected member of parliament, conflicted about his role and struggling to find […]
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(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Leonid Bershidsky – October 30, 2014) Now that Ukraine’s electoral battles are over and the conflict in the country’s eastern regions is frozen, one of three scenarios could unfold: Quick and painful economic and regulatory surgery, a slide into Russia’s suffocating embrace, or chaos, as gangs of former volunteer fighters from the eastern war go on […]
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(Window on Eurasia – Paul Goble – Staunton, November 2, 2014) Lev Gudkov, the director of the Levada Center, says that the ongoing Ukrainian crisis is dividing Russian society to an extent comparable to the ways in which the demise of the Soviet Union and the war in Chechnya and that as such this crisis represents “a turning point” in […]
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(Window on Eurasia – Paul Goble – Staunton, November 3, 2014) Vladimir Putin has a very clear strategy in Ukraine: first, sow panic among Ukrainians and the West and then wait, then provoke Ukrainians into doing things that distance them from the West, and then wait; invade when both Ukrainians and the West are off balance; and then repeat the […]
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MOSCOW. Nov 3 (Interfax) – Russia is prepared to do everything it can to help launch dialogue between Kyiv and representatives of Ukraine’s southeastern regions. “Today it is important to take active measures in order to ensure a sustainable dialogue between Kyiv and representatives of Donbas. And we are help in every possible way,” Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Howard Amos – November 1, 2014) Concerns are rising among U.S. businesses in Russia that Washington lawmakers could move to enshrine sanctions on Russia in new legislation, extending their impact and delaying their repeal. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee unanimously passed such a legislative proposal last month and analysts warn the measure is more likely […]
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(Voice of America – voanews.com – Daniel Schearf – November 1, 2014) Russia’s economy was struggling even before it was hit with western sanctions for annexing Crimea from Ukraine. Despite the downward trend, President Vladimir Putin’s popularity has reached an all-time high on a wave of nationalistic fervor. But analysts say the high numbers are set to drop. The value […]
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(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Richard Winterbottom, special to RBTH – November 3, 2014) Keeping a weather eye open: With winter slowly creeping in, our newly repatriated expat recalls how Russians react to the weather. Last week my Facebook and Vkontakte walls have been plastered with pictures of perviy sneg (first snow of the year) in several of […]
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(RFE/RL – rferl.org – Daisy Sindelar, Halyna Tereshchuk – October 31, 2014) Andriy Sadovyy acts like a man with nothing to hide. In 2013, when the Lviv mayor purchased a new family home, he invited journalists to the house for a tour. And now, as his fledgling party prepares to enter the notoriously down-and-dirty world of parliamentary politics, Sadovyy says […]
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(Window on Eurasia – Paul Goble – Staunton, November 2, 2014) In 1991, Ukrainians separated themselves “not from Russia but from Moscow,” as shown by the continuing willingness of most to speak Russian, historian Georgy Mirsky says. Indeed, at that time, “no one except Bandera supporters separated themselves off from Russia or from the Russian people.” But now, the Russian […]
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MOSCOW, November 2 (RIA Novosti) – The political crisis in Ukraine erupted in November 2013, when the country’s Cabinet of Ministers announced a halt to the country’s European integration process. The so-called Maidan protests started to be staged in Kiev’s central square and soon spread across the country, which resulted in violent armed clashes between the radicals and police and […]
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LUHANSK, November 2 (RIA Novosti) – Voter turnout in the self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic (LPR) in eastern Ukraine is about 38 percent as of 5 p.m. local time (14:00 GMT),Luhansk election commission chief Sergei Kozyakov told journalists Sunday. “As of 5 p.m. local time [14:00 GMT] the turnout totaled 129,395 voters, i.e. 37.83 percent of the total,” Kozyakov said at […]
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KIEV, November 2 (RIA Novosti) – Kiev has claimed to observe movement of military equipment and troops from Russia to the Donbas region, Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council’s spokesperson Andriy Lysenko said in a statement Sunday, but failed to provide evidence. “The intensive movement of military equipment and troops from the territory of the Russian Federation to the territory […]
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… 22. RFE/RL: Can Lviv Mayor Change Ukrainian Politics Once And For All?
23. The American Interest: Steven Pifer, RUSSIA AND THE WEST. Taking Stock in Ukraine. Seven things to know about the crisis, Moscow’s and Kyiv’s actions, and the West’s response. …
… 37. The Economist: Russia and the West. Hard talk. What lies behind Vladimir Putin’s latest anti-American rant.
38. Institute of Modern Russia: Donald Jensen, A Cold Peace?
39. New York Times: Serge Schmemann, Blaming the West for Things Gone Wrong, Mr. Putin Sings an Old Tune.
40. Christian Science Monitor: Fred Weir, Russia’s flights over Europe: How much bark, how much bite? NATO says it has seen an ‘unusual level of air activity over European airspace,’ involving 19 Russian bombers and fighters on Wednesday alone. But the flights are more message than menace, experts say.
41. New York Times: New Russian Boldness Revives a Cold War Tradition: Testing the Other Side. …
(opendemocracy.net – Sergei Markedonov – October 30, 2014) Sergei Markedonov heads the Department of International Relations at the Institute of Political and Military Analysis, Moscow. He is now is a visiting fellow of the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington DC, USA Will the new treaty being discussed between Abkhazia and Russia provide a blueprint for cooperation or […]
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(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Andrei Reznichenko, special to RBTH – October 30, 2014) Despite strained relations, the United States and Russia are continuing to collaborate on a radioactive waste management program that has been in place for the past 15 years. At the opening of the VI ATOMEX 2014 International Forum of Nuclear Industry Suppliers in Moscow […]
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(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Mikhail Shchelkanov, special to RBTH – October 28, 2014) Mikhail Shchelkanov is the head of the laboratory of Virus Ecology at the Ivanovsky Institute of Virology of the Russian Minstry of Health. This summer, he helped fight Ebola in Guinea. What is the likelihood that these factors could come into play in Europe […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Delphine d’Amora – October 30,, 2014) Despite concerns of a consumer lending bubble in Russia, relatively few Russians have any debt at all compared with residents of the U.S. and Europe, according to a survey released Wednesday. Russia’s consumer lending market grew at the blistering rate of 40 percent in 2012 and again in 2013, […]
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(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Marina Obrazkova, RBTH – October 30, 2014) Every year on October 30, Russia marks the Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Political Repression. The day before, on October 29, a day-long demonstration called ‘The Return of the Names’ is held in Moscow, where people gather on Lubyanka Square to read out the […]
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(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Henry Meyer – October 30, 2014) As President Vladimir Putin’s approval rating with Russians returns to a record, the man who would oust him from the Kremlin sits isolated at home under house arrest. Alexey Navalny remains convinced that he can bring about the downfall of Russia’s “authoritarian” ruler. “The regime will devour itself, destroy itself, […]
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(RIA Novosti – Moscow, October 30, 2014) Experts polled by RIA Novosti have linked President Vladimir Putin’s consistently high approval ratings, as documented by the Public Opinion Foundation [FOM], to socioeconomic instability, external pressure and the president’s powerful speech at the Valdai [Valday] forum [on 24 October]. According to the results of a FOM survey conducted on 25-26 October, among […]
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(Business New Europe – bne.eu – CONFERENCE CALL: Ben Aris in Kyiv – October 31, 2014) Two days after a crucial parliamentary election that put the seal on Ukraine’s latest political transformation, SP Advisors, a leading local investment firm, held its first investment conference and invited international investors to Kyiv to debate the Eastern European country’s future. The mood at […]
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