Russia in the Changing Post-Soviet Space
… The growing gap between the official Russian discourse and the prevalent perceptions in its neighborhood has become painfully evident […]
» Read moreTag: Russian News
RUSSIALINK: “Moscow Plans Expanded Social Credit-Style Tracking System – Open Media” – Moscow Times
Armenians See Russia As ‘Savior’ Not ‘Scapegoat’ In Nagorno-Karabakh War
(Article text ©2020 RFE/RL, Inc., Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty – rferl.org – Ron Synovitz – Nov. 24, 2020 – article text also appeared at rferl.org/a/armenians-see-russia-as-savior-not-scapegoat-in-nagorno-karabakh-war/30966988.html) As war raged this autumn over Azerbaijan’s breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh, some Armenians expressed a sense of betrayal that long-standing ally Russia wasn’t providing more support to ethnic Armenian fighters in the conflict. But any […]
» Read moreRUSSIALINK: “Russia registers 23,675 new Covid-19 cases, another all-time high of 507 deaths – HQ” – Interfax
Russia registered 23,675 new Covid-19 cases, the all-time high of 507 deaths, and more than 25,000 recoveries in the past 24 hours, the coronavirus response headquarters said […]
» Read moreRUSSIA NEWS & INFORMATION – Johnson’s Russia List contents & links :: JRL 2020-#211 :: Wednesday, 25 November 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-#211 :: Wedneday, 25 November 2020 A project sponsored through […]
» Read moreRussia’s Relentless Quest For Arctic Oil
… Confronted with a series of delays, oftentimes quite problematic, … the Russian Energy Ministry has started to gradually soften up long-term objectives […]
» Read moreIs the WHO Too Soft on Russia? Critics fear Russia is using the WHO’s structural weaknesses to validate its coronavirus approach.
… Russian and international health experts have raised fresh concerns over the WHO’s public stance, saying … defense of questionable statistics and overly pro-government comments demonstrate[] Russia’s influence … and highlights … organizational weaknesses […]
» Read moreAUDIO: Katrina vanden Heuvel: “Steve Cohen’s Anecdote Lecture — December 6, 1983/ via John/ JohnBatchelorShow.com podcast”
Subject: Steve Cohen’s Anecdote Lecture — December 6, 1983/ via John/ JohnBatchelorShow.com podcast Date: Mon, 23 Nov 2020 From: Katrina vanden Heuvel <kat@thenation.com> Steve Cohen gave an annual anecdote lecture in his Soviet Politics class, first at Princeton starting in 1980, and running through his ten years at NYU — until about 2012 — Here is the 12/6/83 Lecture broken […]
» Read moreRUSSIALINK: “IMF projects below-target inflation in Russia, recommends policy easing in coming months” – Interfax
… acceleration of inflation in Russia in recent months was a temporary occurrence brought about mainly by a weakening ruble; consumer price growth will be below target from now on and the Central Bank should lower its key rate in the coming months, the … IMF[] said […]
» Read moreRUSSIA NEWS & INFORMATION – Johnson’s Russia List contents & links :: JRL 2020-#210 :: Tuesday, 24 November 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-#210 :: Tuesday, 24 November 2020 A project sponsored through […]
» Read moreJRL NEWSWATCH: “Russia’s health system under strain as the virus surges back” – AP/ Daria Litvinova
“… Russia’s health care system, vast yet underfunded, has been under significant strains … as the pandemic surges again and daily infections and virus death … break records. Across the country, 81% of hospital beds … set aside for coronavirus patients were full … Wednesday. Three times last week, the Russian government reported … record … daily deaths … [T]he […]
» Read morePutin Says No Hidden Motive In Not Congratulating Biden
… Putin said there was no hidden motive in his decision to not congratulate … Joe Biden … insisting the Kremlin was merely waiting for an “end to the domestic political standoff”[…]
» Read moreJRL NEWSWATCH: “Along Russia’s ‘Road of Bones,’ Relics of Suffering and Despair” – New York Times/ Andrew Higgins
“The Kolyma Highway in the Russian Far East once delivered tens of thousands of prisoners to the work camps of Stalin’s gulag. The ruins of that cruel era are still visible today.” “… [P]risoners, hacking … through insect-infested summer swamps and winter ice fields, brought the road … [which] then brought yet more prisoners … a torrent of slave labor […]
» Read moreJRL NEWSWATCH: “Trump Exits Open Skies Treaty, Moves to Discard Observation Planes” – Wall Street Journal/ Michael R. Gordon
“Without specialized aircraft and equipment, Biden administration would have difficult time re-entering post-Cold War pact.” “The Trump administration formally shut the door on the Open Skies treaty Sunday, exiting the agreement while moving to get rid of … U.S. Air Force planes … used to carry out the … accord[, had had dated to the closing of the Cold War […]
» Read moreJRL NEWSWATCH: “Talk of an early retirement for Vladimir Putin is premature; Speculation rose after parliament passed a law granting immunity from prosecution to former presidents and their families” – Financial Times/ Henry Foy
“The future prospects of any strongman leader often boil down to two choices: guaranteed safe passage to civilian life with legal protection, or life-long rule. … Putin, … [soon] mark[ing] 21 years in charge[,] … has engineered a situation [with] a shot of achieving either. … [T]his week … the country’s parliament rubber-stamped a law granting immunity from investigation or […]
» Read moreRUSSIA NEWS & INFORMATION – Johnson’s Russia List contents & links :: JRL 2020-#209 :: Monday, 23 November 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-#209 :: Monday, 23 November 2020 A project sponsored through […]
» Read moreJRL NEWSWATCH: “Russia’s authorities increase pressure on NGOs with plans to strengthen ‘foreign agent’ laws” – Meduza
“… Russia’s Government Cabinet … submitted a bill to the State Duma … strengthening the Justice Ministry’s control over NGOs … [designated as] foreign agents[.] [The bill would] empower[] … authorities to dissolve these organizations or … hinder their work. … requir[ing them] to inform Russia’s Justice Ministry of all of … [planned] programs and events … [T]he Justice Ministry […]
» Read moreRUSSIALINK: “In a Poor Russian City, Coronavirus Hits Hard; The pandemic has combined with poverty to push Ivanovo’s healthcare system to its breaking point.” – Moscow Times
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Felix Light – IVANOVO, Nov. 20, 2020) In this hardscrabble city in central Russia, the morgues are full and well-paid jobs are scarce. Though many of Russia’s outlying regions are struggling with the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic, Ivanovo — a working-class city of 400,000 located 300 kilometers northeast of Moscow — is coping […]
» Read moreKremlin Must Start Now and Work Hard to Overcome Russian Resistance to Getting Immunized, Experts Say
(Paul Goble – Window On Eurasia – Staunton, Nov. 15, 2020) With the prospect that one or more vaccines against the coronavirus will be available in the near future, the Russian government must launch a massive effort to overcome the skepticism of Russians and get the vast majority of them to get the shots when they become available, experts say. […]
» Read moreJRL NEWSWATCH: “In Nagorno-Karabakh peace deal, Russia’s Putin claims a strategic win. But risks are attached” – Washington Post / Robyn Dixon
“… Under the cease-fire, nearly 2,000 [Russian] peacekeepers have been deployed to Nagorno-Karabakh, a separatist enclave controlled by an ethnic Armenian government within the internationally recognized borders of Azerbaijan. … reinforc[ing] the Kremlin’s view that its sphere of influence includes Azerbaijan and Armenia …. [and providing] another counterweight to geopolitical rival[] Turkey, a close Azerbaijan ally and key customer for […]
» Read moreObama Targets Putin In New Memoir, Says Russia ‘To Be Feared, Perhaps, But Not Emulated’
… Obama has targeted … Putin for criticism … suggesting … the Russian president has put … thirst for power over scruples and calling him the leader of a government that resembled a “criminal syndicate” […]
» Read moreRUSSIA NEWS & INFORMATION – Johnson’s Russia List contents & links :: JRL 2020-#208 :: Friday, 20 November 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-#208 :: Friday, 20 November 2020 A project sponsored through […]
» Read moreRussia’s Tragedy is that Those who Love Russia Don’t Love Freedom and Those who Love Freedom Don’t Love Russia, Tsipko Says
(Paul Goble – Window on Eurasia – Staunton, Nov. 16, 2020) Russia’s underlying tragedy, one that has been very much on public view for more than a century, is that its patriots who declare their love for “old Russia” are completely opposed to the values of freedom and human rights, while liberals view the Russian past as alien rather than […]
» Read moreBah Humbug! Russian Santa Faces Fine For Protesting Ban On Holiday Celebrations
… Moscow police detained a man dressed as Grandfather Frost … on Red Square near the Kremlin … where he was protesting a city ban on holiday celebrations […]
» Read moreRUSSIA NEWS & INFORMATION – Johnson’s Russia List contents & links :: JRL 2020-#207 :: Thursday, 19 November 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-#207 :: Thursday, 19 November 2020 A project sponsored through […]
» Read moreRUSSIALINK: “Russia registers 22,410 new Covid-19 cases, all-time high of 22,055 recoveries, all-time high of 442 deaths – HQ”- Interfax
Russia registered 22,410 new Covid-19 cases, the all-time high of 22,055 recoveries, and the all-time high of 442 deaths in the past 24 hours, the coronavirus response headquarters said […]
» Read moreRUSSIALINK: “‘A Ward Boss With Nukes’: Obama Unloads on Putin in New Memoir” – Moscow Times
… Putin resembles a local “ward boss” with nuclear weapons and a UN Security Council veto … Obama wrote […]
» Read moreRUSSIA NEWS & INFORMATION – Johnson’s Russia List contents & links :: JRL 2020-#204 :: Tuesday, 17 November 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-#205 :: Tuesday, 17 November 2020 A project sponsored through […]
» Read moreJRL NEWSWATCH: “25,000 medical students are sent out to help Russia’s COVID-struck hospitals” – Barents Observer/ Atle Staalesen
“The virus is putting the healthcare system on its knees. A massive number of students are now sent out to aid.” “… According to the federal healthcare chief, several regions are now running out of available hospital bed[s]. … About 270,000 additional hospital beds are now being prepared for new patients. But medical staff is increasingly … [facing a] shortage. […]
» Read moreJRL NEWSWATCH: “Moldova Vote Winner Promises ‘Balanced’ Ties With West, Russia” – AFP/ France 24
“Moldova’s pro-European election winner Maia Sandu … vowed balanced ties with the West and Russia as Moscow-backed incumbent Igor Dodon conceded … and asked … supporters to refrain from violence. Sandu’s election is … as a major blow to the Kremlin[,] …. [that] wanted polarized Moldova to remain in its sphere of influence …[P]olitics in Moldova[,] … [located between Ukraine […]
» Read moreRUSSIA NEWS & INFORMATION – Johnson’s Russia List contents & links :: JRL 2020-#204 :: Monday, 16 November 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-#204 :: Monday, 16 November 2020 A project sponsored through […]
» Read moreRUSSIA NEWS & INFORMATION – Johnson’s Russia List contents & links :: JRL 2020-#203 :: Sunday, 15 November 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-#203 :: Sunday, 15 November 2020 A project sponsored through […]
» Read moreBy Hook Or By Crook: For The Opposition In St. Petersburg, Winning An Election Is Only The Beginning Of The Battle
… St. Petersburg conducted controversial gubernatorial and local legislative elections. Observers … reported unjustified delays in the vote count, voter intimidation, suspicious recounts, and other alleged violations. … Nonetheless … [o]pposition and independent deputies nearly doubled their representation […]
» Read moreJRL NEWSWATCH: “‘Are We Getting Invaded?’ U.S. Boats Faced Russian Aggression Near Alaska” – New York Times/ Mike Baker
“Russia has escalated its provocative encounters in the North Pacific this year, harassing boats in U.S. fishing waters and sending bombers toward Alaska’s shores.” “The crew … was laying out … long cod-catching line well within U.S. fishing territory in the Bering Sea when a voice crackled over the … radio … issuing commands: The ship was in danger, it […]
» Read moreAmerican Elections have Convinced Russians U.S. is ‘an Ordinary Country with Its Own Problems,’ Volkov Says
Russians have traditionally been among the most convinced believers of American exceptionalism […]
» Read moreJRL NEWSWATCH: “START II is a chance to renew relations between Russia and the West” – bne Intellinews/ Ben Aris
“… [With the agreement] due to expire in February … START treaty [renewal] is a golden opportunity for the West to squeeze … real concessions out of Russia… [T]he Kremlin badly wants to renew the deal. … [I]ts economy suffering from the double whammy of an oil price collapse and … the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the last thing [Russia] wants […]
» Read moreJRL NEWSWATCH: “Peace, for now; A peace deal ends a bloody war over Nagorno-Karabakh; Azerbaijan wins some land, while Turkey and Russia carve out spheres of influence” – The Economist
“Brokered by Russia and Turkey …. [t]he peace deal marks one of the biggest shake-ups in a turbulent region at the crossroads of Europe, Asia and the Middle East since the collapse of the Soviet empire, which also began in Nagorno-Karabakh. … [A]fter 25 years of waiting for the return of its territory, Azerbaijan went back to war. … aided […]
» Read moreRUSSIA NEWS & INFORMATION – Johnson’s Russia List contents & links :: JRL 2020-#202 :: Friday, 12 November 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-#202 :: Friday, 13 November 2020 A project sponsored through […]
» Read moreJRL NEWSWATCH: “Caucasus ceasefire cements Turkey as a power in Russia’s backyard; Azerbaijan-Armenia truce underlines new regional balance between Moscow and Ankara” – Financial Times/ Henry Foy, Laura Pitel
“… a six-week-long conflict with Armenia over … Nagorno-Karabakh … resulted in major gains for Azerbaijan and its Turkish-backed military …. A truce … freezes the conflict … includ[ing] agreements that [Russian ally] Armenia … must hand over additional land …. While the truce was brokered by Moscow — which has deployed [nearly 2,000] peacekeepers — … Azerbaijan’s success with […]
» Read moreRussia’s ‘Neo-Imperialism’ Is a Product of Complex Factors
… Sagramoso’s “Russian Imperialism Revisited” … argues that Russia’s “neo-imperialist policies became prominent during the mid-to-late 2000s, as disappointment with the West grew,” […]
» Read moreJRL NEWSWATCH: “Reshuffle: Political Analysis” – BMB Russia
“The Russian government underwent a mini-reshuffle … [with] new leaders for five of its 21 ministries. … [The reshuffle] test[ed] the new procedure for appointing cabinet officials. According to … constitutional changes, cabinet officials nominated by the PM are now … approved or rejected by the Duma before going to the president. … Mishustin is solidifying his position within the […]
» Read moreRUSSIALINK: “What Does the Nagorno-Karabakh Deal Mean for Russia?” – Moscow Times
… At least 1,960 Russian troops were deployed to the region just hours after Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the arrangement […]
» Read moreWhen Revanchism Does not Equate to Revisionism: Taking Stock of the New U.S.-Russian Great Power Rivalry
The events of recent years are less representative of a shift in Russian strategy than they are of the fragmentation of the international order […]
» Read moreRUSSIALINK: “Pandemic to cease seriously affecting Russia’s economy at start of 2021, budget to be key issue – Belousov”- Interfax
MOSCOW. Nov 11 (Interfax) – The coronavirus will very likely cease substantially affecting Russia’s economy by the end of 2020 or early 2021, while the main issue next year will be the budget as well as the necessity to replace budget expenditures with investments, First Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Belousov said on Wednesday during the “Strong Ideas for a New […]
» Read moreRUSSIA NEWS & INFORMATION – Johnson’s Russia List contents & links :: JRL 2020-#200 :: Wednesday, 11 November 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-#200 :: Wednesday, 11 November 2020 A project sponsored through […]
» Read moreAlcohol Killing Directly or Indirectly Half of Working-Age Russians, Study Says
New studies … show that Russians have the lowest healthy life expectancy in Europe … the result, to a large degree, of the fact that Russians ‘drink more than in most countries and do so in ways … especially harmful to their health and well-being’ […]
» Read moreRUSSIALINK: “Russian PM Mishustin Tightens Grip on Domestic Policy in Mini Reshuffle; Putin’s divide-and-conquer approach is also on display.” – Moscow Times
The Russian government is pushing ahead with a long-rumored mini-reshuffle … in what analysts see as a mark of both newly installed prime minister Mikhail Mishustin’s growing influence and … Putin’s divide-and-conquer approach to keeping his underlings in check […]
» Read moreRUSSIALINK: “Russian Ruble, Stocks Surge on Vaccine Optimism; Airlines and oil companies top performers as Pfizer announcement on vaccine effectiveness buoys markets.” – Moscow Times
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – November 9, 2020) The Russian ruble and stock market soared Monday, hitting their strongest levels in months as global markets cheered positive news from one of the frontrunners in the coronavirus vaccine race. American pharma giant Pfizer and German BioNTech said their vaccine, currently in Phase 3 medical trials, was 90% effective in preventing Covid-19 […]
» Read moreRUSSIALINK: “Russia Won’t Congratulate Biden on U.S. Election Victory Before Official Results – Kremlin” – Moscow Times
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – November 9, 2020) Russia will not yet recognize Joe Biden as President-elect of the United States, the Kremlin said Monday as world leaders rushed to congratulate the Democratic Party challenger after U.S. television networks declared him the winner. “We believe it’s correct to wait for the official results of the elections to be announced,” Kremlin […]
» Read moreMore Than Just An Onlooker, Ukraine Largely Relieved At U.S. Election Result
(Article text ©2020 RFE/RL, Inc., Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty – rferl.org – Mark Raczkiewycz – KYIV, Nov. 8, 2020 – article text also appeared at https://www.rferl.org/a/more-than-just-an-onlooker-ukraine-largely-relieved-at-u-s-election-result/30937071.html) When U.S. media began to call the presidential race in Joe Biden’s favor on November 7, it was about 6:30 p.m. in Kyiv. Within hours, a former president tweeted that his country was “blessed,” […]
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