“The massive Asian side of Russia is often forgotten, as much of it consists often frigid and uninhabitable Siberian wilderness. … A team of Russian and American researchers looked at a number of computer models … [U]nder the most extreme scenario … [regarding] greenhouse gases … parts of Siberia where average January temperatures dip below minus 30 will be warmer […]
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(Kremlin.ru – June 6, 2019) Vladimir Putin met with heads of the world’s leading news agencies. The meeting took place on the sidelines of the 2019 St Petersburg International Economic Forum for the sixth time. The conversation with Vladimir Putin involved representatives of news agencies from Great Britain, Germany, Iran, Spain, Italy, China, the United States, France, and Japan; Russia […]
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“… At nearly 1,000 pages Stalingrad is slightly longer than its sequel. … Grossman places an earlier focus on the Shaposhnikov family and friends … their lives … thrown into disarray by the impending Battle of Stalingrad. Hitler’s huge offensive on the Eastern Front has driven Soviet forces into a prolonged retreat. Stalingrad … on a clifftop by the Volga […]
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(Kennan Institute – wilsoncenter.org/program/kennan-institute – Pavel Koshkin – wilsoncenter.org/blog-post/michael-calvey-case-revisited-corporate-hit-bargaining-chip) Pavel Koshkin is a research fellow of the Institute of U.S. and Canadian Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences (ISKRAN) and a contributor to Forbes Russia The American investor Michael Calvey, who was detained in February in Moscow on fraud charges, is back in the news again. Calvey, who has […]
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(Article text ©2019 RFE/RL, Inc., Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty – rferl.org – June 6, 2019 – article text also appeared at rferl.org/a/putin-says-russia-prepared-to-drop-arms-control-treaty-if-u-s-not-interested-in-renewal/29984790.html) In a far-ranging discussion on foreign policy, President Vladimir Putin said that Russia is prepared to drop the New START arms control treaty if the United States is not interested in renewing it. Speaking on June 6 at […]
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MOSCOW. June 6 (Interfax) – Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has confirmed preparations for Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to Rome and the Vatican, where a meeting with Pope Francis is pending. “It is true that Putin’s trip and contacts in Rome are being prepared. He is due to have an audience with the pontiff as part of the visit. Technicalities […]
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“… Activists fear Ingushetia’s blackouts could be repeated across Russia thanks to a law signed by … Putin in May. * * * … Half of Russia’s internet traffic passes through an unassuming 19-storey high rise in southwestern Moscow … hous[ing] MSK-IX [data center], the largest of the country’s internet exchange points. … the physical point of contact for over […]
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“… For more than 33 million Russians under age 20, the leadership of Putin is the only type of government they’ve ever known. Putin succeeded Boris Yeltsin as president in 2000. Since then he’s bounced between the offices of president and prime minister, most recently barring Navalny from running against him in the 2018 presidential elections. … young Russians … […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – June 5, 2019) Almost half of Russians are concerned about the environment in their regions, according to a study by the Moscow-based NAFI Research Center obtained by the state-run TASS news agency. Environmental issues have taken center stage at protest rallies across Russia over the past year, with citizens drawing attention to concerns including landfills, […]
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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 2019-#96 :: Friday, 7 June 2019 A project sponsored through […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – June 6, 2019) Russian economic growth is hampered by deep-seated corruption in the country’s legal system, the head of Russia’s auditing agency said Thursday. Audit Chamber head Alexei Kudrin told a St. Petersburg International Economic Forum panel that corruption in the Russian judiciary system goes back centuries, pointing to one of the classic Russian poet […]
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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 2019-#95 :: Thursday, 6 June 2019 A project sponsored through […]
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(Article text ©2019 RFE/RL, Inc., Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty – rferl.org – BRUSSELS, June 5, 2019 – article text also appeared at rferl.org/a/ukraine-president-promises-nato-referendum-as-part-of-path-to-west/29982943.html) Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has promised to hold a referendum on NATO membership — a move strongly opposed by Moscow — as the country embarks on a path of European and Euro-Atlantic integration. Speaking in an interview […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – June 5, 2019) Only four out of Russia’s 22 ministry websites are transparent, a government audit has revealed. Experts commissioned by Russia’s Audit Chamber assessed the ministries’ openness of information, data and dialogue, assigning a letter grade to each of the three categories. Only the interior, culture, finance and energy ministries received AAA ratings, according […]
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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 2019-#94 :: Wednesday, 5 June 2019 A project sponsored through […]
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“According to … Russia[] … polling agenc[y] [WCIOM], trust in [Putin] has fallen to an all-time low … 31.7 percent. … [T]he economy struggles … real disposable incomes look set to decline for the sixth straight year[;] the bloom is very much off the Crimean rose. After some [Kremlin] consternation … the same agency released a new survey using a […]
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“… rubbish towers above the Timokhovo dump outside Moscow, one of the biggest in Europe. Authorities plan to build an incinerator to burn some of the trash, but … activists are fighting for it to be recycled instead. Since 2013, residents have complained of foul sulphurous smells and worry that effluents are polluting ground water. … [A]uthorities acknowledged the smell […]
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(Paul Goble – Window on Eurasia – Staunton, June 3, 2019) The most likely and immediate consequence of mass protests be they against the construction of a church as in Yekaterinburg, against building dumps for Moscow trash as in the Russian North, or against border changes as in Ingushetia will be the dismissal of governors and even mayors where such […]
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MOSCOW. June 4 (Interfax) – Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has endorsed a plan for making changes to legislation aimed at cancellation of all outdated laws regulating control and oversight activities effective January 1, 2021. The relevant document was published on the government’s website on Tuesday. The plan was drawn up in line with the president’s instructions on implementing the […]
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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 2019-#93 :: Tuesday, 4 June 2019 A project sponsored through […]
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(Paul Goble – Window on Eurasia – Staunton, June 1, 2019) Many people in the regime and beyond are not inclined to take the current wave of protests in Yekaterinburg, Yakutsk, Siyes, and Ingushetia seriously, Yevgeny Gontmakher says, assuming the causes are so varied and the solution to the demonstrations the same as it was in 2011-2012. The economist says […]
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“… Putin’s own government doesn’t believe his ambitious campaign pledges to improve living standards are attainable. Officials have analyzed the $400 billion [National Projects] spending program … and found that the majority of targets will be impossible to achieve before … Putin’s term [ends] in 2024 …. Putin and … Medvedev have been briefed about the findings …. confirm[ing] conclusions […]
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“… Reactor 4 at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant … [had an explosion and] spewed radioactive material across northern Europe. That reactor, a design called the RBMK-1000, was discovered to be fundamentally flawed after the Chernobyl accident. And yet there are still 10 of the same type of reactor in operation in Russia. How do we know if they’re safe? […]
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Russia has been one of Maduro’s major supporters in its standoff with the U.S. “Russia has withdrawn key defense advisers from Venezuela, an embarrassment for … Maduro as Moscow weighs the leader’s political and economic resilience against … U.S. pressure. Russian state defense contractor Rostec … trained Venezuelan troops and advised on … arms contracts, [but reportedly now] has cut […]
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“… [Putin] popularity ratings … have become the subject of … speculation — and … significant reinterpretation. … [m]uch of that popularity … built on rising living standards — especially in the last decade … on the back of soaring prices for … natural resources, especially oil …. Putin’s last … election victory … was judged by [OSCE] observers … […]
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(Paul Goble – Window on Eurasia – Staunton, May 29, 2019) In the first quarter, Mediascope found, 75 percent of residents of major Russian cities turned to the Internet at least once a day, while only 70.4 percent of this category watched television, the first time Internet has outpaced television in Russia this way and something that will have major […]
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MOSCOW. June 3 (Interfax) – Media reports alleging that a group of Russian specialists is leaving Venezuela is a question not for the Kremlin but for the organizations responsible for the maintenance of special hardware shipped there, Kremlin press secretary Dmitry Peskov said. Asked by journalists on Monday to comment on reports that a large group of Russian specialists has […]
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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 2019-#92 :: Monday, 3 May 2019 A project sponsored through […]
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(Russia Matters – russiamatters.org – Ben Aris – May 30, 2019) Ben Aris is editor in chief of bne Intellinews. He has been covering Russia as a journalist since 1993. While Moscow has been aggressively advancing its interests on the international stage, Russia’s stagnating economy means the country risks gradually falling behind the rest of the world and possibly facing […]
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(Oilprice.com – Nick Cunningham – May 23, 2019) There is a growing push in the U.S. Congress to slap sanctions on the Nord Stream 2 pipeline. The pipeline under construction would carry Russian natural gas to Germany, and has been a lightning rod of controversy both in Europe and across the Atlantic. Many governments and officials from Eastern Europe fear […]
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(Article text ©2019 RFE/RL, Inc., Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty – rferl.org – May 31, 2019 – article text also appeared at rferl.org/a/landing-at-pushkin-putin-decree-assigns-russian-airports-the-names-of-cultural-figures/29974519.html) It’s already pretty hard to travel to Russia without hearing the name of the beloved 19th-century poet Aleksandr Pushkin. Now it may be impossible, if you fly into Moscow. President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree attaching the […]
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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 2019-#91 :: Friday, 31 May 2019 A project sponsored through […]
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[scroll down for video] “… the Department of Energy … [has] touted the expansion of [a] liquid natural gas … facility … by saying that it would spread ‘freedom gas’ to the world. … giv[ing] ‘America’s allies a diverse and affordable source of clean energy’ …. Not only has the U.S. become largely energy independent … the shale boom has […]
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(Article text ©2019 RFE/RL, Inc., Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty – rferl.org – May 29, 2019 – article text also appeared at rferl.org/a/nearly-half-of-russian-families-can-afford-only-food-clothing/29970069.html) Nearly half of all Russian families say that they only have enough money for food and clothing and cannot buy items of longer-term use such as furniture and appliances, media reports cite data from the state statistics agency […]
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(Fred Weir, Christian Science Monitor Correspondent – Facebook post – May 30, 2019 – facebook.com/fred.weir/posts/10218476254873823) “Here is one of those stories, in this case a huge NYT exclusive, that make my jaw drop with disbelief. I don’t know much about the intelligence biz — it’s not really my beat — but I do know that there is virtually no chance […]
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“Top U.S. and Russian diplomats discussed step-by-step implementation of a 2012 roadmap to U.N.-supervised elections in Syria that could allow a Syrian government ‘to move back into the international community’ … [Ambassador James Jeffrey] said … indicat[ing] a new U.S.-Russian engagement on efforts to end the eight-year Syrian conflict that has killed over 400,000 people …. But Jeffrey cautioned that […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – May 30, 2019) Russian sociologists should explain President Vladimir Putin’s record-low trust levels amid his growing approval ratings, the Kremlin said on Thursday. A recent state-funded survey said that public trust in Putin has dropped to its lowest level since 2006. The same survey showed Putin’s approval rating grow from 61 percent in January to […]
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MOSCOW. May 30 (Interfax) – Moscow will deeply regret Iran’s potential withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), but there is still a chance to avert this negative scenario, Russian Ambassador to Iran Levan Dzhagaryan said in an interview published in the newspaper Izvestia on Thursday. “Doubtlessly, Iran’s […]
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(Pravda.ru – May 30, 2019) Russia has been actively strengthening its defense capability in the Arctic region lately. The gradual melting of Arctic ice makes the passage of foreign warships near Russia’s northern borders possible. In light of this, a set of rules was introduced for the passage of ships along the Northern Sea Route (NSR). All foreign countries must […]
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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 2019-#90 :: Thursday, 30 May 2019 A project sponsored through […]
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(PONARS Eurasia Policy Memo – Ivan Kurilla – May 28, 2019 – Ivan Kurilla is Professor at the European University at St. Petersburg) Relations between Russia and the United States have been known to change, for the better or for the worse, within a relatively short period of time. Drawing on historical examples, I analyze cases when relations improved and […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – May 29, 2019) Russians’ incomes will fall for a sixth consecutive year in 2019, experts from Moscow’s Higher School of Economics (HSE) and Russia’s Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA) said. Russia’s Economic Development Ministry has projected real incomes to reverse the five-year slump and grow by 1 percent in 2019, based on […]
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“Intelligence assessment marks first time U.S. has said Kremlin failed to observe Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty commitments” “Russia has likely been secretly carrying out very low-yield nuclear tests to upgrade its nuclear arsenal, according to a new U.S. intelligence assessment, challenging Moscow’s claims …. the first time the U.S. has said the Kremlin has failed to strictly observe its […]
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(Voice of America – voanews.com – Jamie Dettmer – May 29, 2019) Normally the delivery of twins is a cause for celebration – and when the head of government is one of the parents and the other is an aspiring politician it opens up the possibility for cute photo-opportunities. Not so in Russia under the command of Vladimir Putin, it […]
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(Paul Goble – Window on Eurasia – Staunton, May 27, 2019) A major political crisis in Russia is “inevitable,” Valery Solovey says, not because of the economic crisis but because of “a qualitative change in the mass consciousness” of Russians who once again have come to believe that radical changes are no longer precluded and that if they are so […]
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(PONARS Eurasia – Harley Balzer – May 20, 2019) Harley Balzer is Professor Emeritus of Government and International Affairs, and founding Director, Center for Eurasian, Russian and East European Studies, at Georgetown University. (PONARS Eurasia Policy Memo) Recent survey and focus group data indicate that Russians increasingly are questioning whether some of President Vladimir Putin’s policies are worth the price […]
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(Article text ©2019 RFE/RL, Inc., Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty – rferl.org – Matthew Luxmoore – MOSCOW, May 25, 2019 – article text also appeared at rferl.org/a/flouting-law-in-nostalgia-s-name-russia-s-growing-movement-of-soviet-citizens-/29962523.html) Konstantin Vyatkin has never acknowledged the Soviet collapse. “For the past 28 years I’ve tried to live in this country called Russia,” he says. “But in my heart I still live there, in the […]
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KYIV. May 27 (Interfax) – The Servant of the People party has set itself the task of obtaining a one-party majority in the future Verkhovna Rada on the basis of an early parliamentary election. “We would not like to turn to other parties to form a coalition. Our ultimate goal is to form a coalition from one political force,” the […]
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“… Zelensky should … reject[] the [IMF] austerity programme and default[] on … external debt, according to his contentious oligarch supporter[] Igor Kolomoisky … [a suggestion that] will ring alarm bells with … western backers even though … Zelensky … said he would stick to the terms of Ukraine’s $3.9bn bailout. Concern among Ukrainians and western officials about … Kolomoisky’s […]
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(Oilprice.com – May 23, 2019 – Tsvetana Paraskova) While nuclear power plants in the U.S. are retiring as they face stiff cost competition from cheap and abundant natural gas, America has also been struggling to keep its leadership on the global nuclear power market as state-sponsored programs in China and Russia have started to dominate the world’s nuclear plant construction […]
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