(Interfax – Moscow, November 9, 2015) Russia, Saudi Arabia and the USA can cooperate to fight ISIS and other terrorists in the Middle East if there is mutual interest in this, says special envoy of the Russian president for the Middle East and Africa, Deputy Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation Mikhail Bogdanov. “As regards the trilateral format of cooperation […]
» Read more
BOCHAROV RUCHEI (Sochi). Nov 10 (Interfax) – Adherence to abstract ideas about the need to change the regime in Syria will have no success at the Vienna meeting; Russia is nevertheless expecting it to be constructive, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said. “If, instead of concrete work on these two issues (forming a list of terrorist organizations and a […]
» Read more
(RFE/RL – rferl.org – RFE/RL’s Russian Service – November 10, 2015) Russia’s Justice Ministry has accused the prominent nongovernmental organization Memorial of “undermining the foundations of the constitutional order of the Russian Federation” and of calling for “a change of political regime” in the country. The ministry sent the Memorial Human Rights Center notification of the accusations on November 9 […]
» Read more
(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Ilya Arkhipov – November 9, 2015) As evidence grows that a bomb may have downed a Russian passenger jet over Egypt, the Kremlin is focused on countering the threat of terrorism at home from sympathizers of Islamic State. Officials insist they were prepared for the risk of terrorist reprisals after President Vladimir Putin ordered air strikes […]
» Read more
While the world focuses on refugees arriving in Europe from warzones in the Middle East, the plight of those fleeing war in Ukraine has been forgotten. (opendemocracy.net – Sara Cincurova – November 20, 2015) Sara Cincurova is a freelance journalist focusing on human rights. She is a former family support worker and holds a Master’s degree from the Paris Descartes […]
» Read more
(Paul Goble – November 9, 2015) For Vladimir Putin, Viktor Kaspruk argues, “Ukraine is the key to a future Russia or more precisely a future Russian Empire,” and consequently, even if he has lowered the temperature in the Donbas in recent weeks, the Kremlin leader is likely to renew his attacks on Ukraine next year having first moved to annex […]
» Read more[check back for updates, including more links; links also posted to facebook and twitter] Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2015-#218 Tuesday 10 November 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 The contents do not necessarily represent the views of IERES or the George Washington University. JRL homepage: russialist.org JRL on […]
» Read more
MOSCOW. Nov 9 (Interfax) – Investigators have charged in absentia Ruslan Mukhutdinov, a member of the Sever battalion, in the killing of opposition politician Boris Nemtsov. “Last Friday, investigators charged Mukhutdinov in absentia with organizing the Nemtsov murder. He was put on the federal wanted persons list,” Vadim Prokhorov, a lawyer for the victims, told Interfax on Monday. A source […]
» Read more
MOSCOW. Nov 9 (Interfax) – Russia’s merchandise imports from outside the CIS plunged 37.9% year-on-year in January-October 2015 to $132.84 billion, the Federal Customs Service (FCS) said, citing preliminary data. In October alone, imports from non-CIS countries totaled $14.375 billion, down 35.9% year-on-year. Imports declined 36.5% in October 2015 year-on-year for food goods and raw materials for their production to […]
» Read more
(Paul Goble – Window on Eurasia – Staunton, November 8, 2015) To the extent that falling prices for natural resources will force Moscow to rely on the development of other sectors, the Russian economy faces another and perhaps even more serious hit in the near term – a dramatically smaller workforce, each of whose members will have to support significantly […]
» Read more
(RIA Novosti – Moscow, November 6, 2015) The majority of Russians are unsatisfied with their financial situation, and nearly each one in six is overwhelmed by a large amount of debts, according to a survey conducted by the National Financial Research Agency. Some 17 per cent of citizens complain about an enormous amount of debts. The percentage of those having […]
» Read more
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – November 9, 2015) Russia will pay for its students to study at elite foreign universities, provided they return home to work after graduation, Education and Science Minister Dmitry Livanov was cited as saying by news agency TASS. The program, titled “Global Education,” was signed into force in June 2014 and is designed to send 1,500 […]
» Read more
(Interfax – November 9, 2015) Seventy-seven percent of Russians call unlikely mass protests against declining living standards and in support of their rights. This is the largest index since the end of last year (68 percent in December 2014), Levada Center told Interfax. The percentage of Russians who deem demonstrations focused on economic demands possible has reduced from 24 percent […]
» Read more[check back for updates, including more links; links also posted to facebook and twitter] Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2015-#217 Monday 9 November 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 The contents do not necessarily represent the views of IERES or the George Washington University. JRL homepage: russialist.org JRL on […]
» Read more
Statement before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Subcommittee on Europe and Regional Security Cooperation On “Putin’s Invasion of Ukraine and the Propaganda that Threatens Europe” Russian Propaganda: Ways and Means Leon Aron, Ph.D. Resident Scholar and Director of Russian Studies American Enterprise Institute November 3, 2015 The American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research (AEI) is a nonpartisan, nonprofit, 501(c)(3) […]
» Read more
(Paul Goble – Window on Eurasia – Staunton, November 5, 2015) Many commentators are speculating on whether Russia’s elite groups, now threatened by Vladimir Putin’s policies, will find a way to remove him from office and install someone more to their liking. Andrey Piontkovsky has focused particular attention on this issue (nv.ua/opinion/piontkovskiy/putin-protiv-rossijskih-elit-78063.html). But this is only part of a larger […]
» Read more
(RFE/RL – rferl.org – Steve Gutterman – November 5, 2015) Mounting evidence that an onboard bomb brought down the Russian jet that crashed on Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, killing 224 people, poses a tough new dilemma for President Vladimir Putin: how to respond. If the theory of a terrorist attack is borne out, it will look like exactly what Islamic State […]
» Read more
Subject: A-321 crash – Comment on HMG decision. Date: Thu, 5 Nov 2015 From: Andrei Liakhov <gaffriloff@yahoo.co.uk> A-321 crash – Comment on HMG decision. My money is on a technical defect. It is either a computer glitch which the crew tried to correct and swang the aircraft into critical G or the tail was weakened in a previous incident and […]
» Read more
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Peter Hobson – November 6, 2015) The number of Russians attending pro-government rallies has increased tenfold since Vladimir Putin returned to the presidency in 2012, a study found, while enthusiasm for opposition meetings has grown only slightly. A survey by the social research center at the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration […]
» Read more
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – November 6, 2015) Liberal Russian journalist Mikhail Fishman was appointed editor-in-chief of English-language paper The Moscow Times on Thursday, the newspaper’s owner Demyan Kudryavtsev said. “He is a decent, well-known and well-connected person,” Kudryavtsev, who bought the paper earlier this year, said in e-mailed comments to The Moscow Times. The appointment of Fishman comes less […]
» Read more[check back for updates, including more links; links also posted to facebook and twitter] Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2015-#216 Friday 6 November 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 The contents do not necessarily represent the views of IERES or the George Washington University. JRL homepage: russialist.org JRL on […]
» Read more
MOSCOW. Nov 5 (Interfax) – Russia does not see Ukraine as an adversary despite a new military doctrine approved by Kyiv. “For its part, Russia does not consider Ukraine an enemy,” Mikhail Popov, Deputy Secretary of the Russian Security Council, told reporters on Thursday. “While calling our country an enemy, the Ukrainian government continues buying from what it calls its […]
» Read more
(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – YANA LUBNINA, SPECIAL TO RBTH- November 5, 2015) Vladimir Putin has been named the most powerful man in the world once again. The president of Russia took first place in Forbes’ annual ranking for the third year in a row. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and U.S. President Barack Obama took second and third […]
» Read more
(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Sangwon Yoon – November 5, 2015) As U.S. Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice knew Vladimir Putin up close. One thing he liked to remind her during her time in the Bush administration was how Russia had “only been great when it has been led by great men, like Alexander II and Peter the Great.” Hearing him […]
» Read more
(opendemocracy.net – Dmitry Okrest – November 5, 2015) Dmitry Okrest is a former staff writer with The New Times and currently works as an independent journalist. The internet is no longer free in Russia-that’s according to Freedom Net, a report recently published by Freedom House. Freedom of expression on the internet has been under threat for some time in the […]
» Read more
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – November 5, 2015) High alcohol and tobacco consumption mean most Russians will never reach the age of 71, with the average life expectancy in Russia lagging almost 10 years behind the average in developed countries – the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development said in a report published Wednesday. The average life expectancy in Russia […]
» Read more
(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Leonid Bershidsky – November 5, 2015) It’s difficult to quantify the damage Western economic sanctions have done to Russia. The country’s slump is almost exclusively due to a drop in oil prices, which has led to a sharp currency devaluation and a jump in interest rates. Yet the sanctions have fueled the Kremlin’s paranoia, lending Russia’s […]
» Read more
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Howard Amos – November 5, 2015) [Photos here http://www.themoscowtimes.com/arts_n_ideas/article/new-museum-stakes-claim-to-russias-gulag-legacy/542211.html] Russia’s largest museum devoted to the horrors of the Soviet gulag has opened, even as many Muscovites remain unwilling to talk about political repression. Moscow’s new Gulag Museum opened Friday even as the country remains polarized by the legacy of its brutal system of Soviet-era prison […]
» Read more[check back for updates, including more links; links also posted to facebook and twitter] Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2015-#215 Thursday 5 November 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 The contents do not necessarily represent the views of IERES or the George Washington University. JRL homepage: russialist.org JRL on […]
» Read more
