Moscow Times: Majority of Russians Would Support Putin Re-election – Poll

Vladimir Putin file photo with VOA logo; screen shot from video still

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – March 22, 2016) Sixty-five percent of Russians would like to see President Vladimir Putin elected for another term when balloting is held two years from now, a poll released Monday by the independent Levada Center pollster indicated. This compares to 57 percent of respondents who said last year they would like Putin to win the […]

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It Isn’t Time to Normalize With Russia Yet

File Photo of Kremlin Tower, St. Basil's, Red Square at Night

(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Marc Champion – March 22, 2016) Marc Champion writes editorials on international affairs. He was previously Istanbul bureau chief for the Wall Street Journal. He was also an editor at the Financial Times, the editor-in-chief of the Moscow Times and a correspondent for the Independent in Washington, the Balkans and Moscow. He is based in London. […]

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Kyiv sees Savchenko’s conviction as Moscow’s failure to comply with Minsk Agreements – Foreign Ministry statement

Map of Ukraine, Including Crimea, and Neighbors, Including Russia

KYIV. March 22 (Interfax) – The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry has demanded that Ukrainian military pilot Nadiya Savchenko’s conviction be reversed and she be freed. “We view this judicial farce as yet another undeniable evidence of the Russian Federation’s failure to comply with the Minsk Agreements,” the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said in a statement in Kyiv on Tuesday. “The Ukrainian Foreign […]

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RUSSIA & UKRAINE – Johnson’s Russia List table of contents :: JRL 2016-56 :: Tuesday, 22 March 2016

St. Basil's Domes

Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2016-#56 Tuesday, 22 March 2016 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 Facebook: facebook.com/russialist – JRL on Twitter: @JohnsonRussiaLi Support for JRL is provided in part […]

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Sergei Ivanov criticizes Ukrainian Security chief for suggesting “Russian trail” in Brussels attacks

File Photo of Sergei Ivanov, adapted from defense.gov image

NOVO-OGARYOVO. March 22 (Interfax) – Russian presidential administration chief Sergei Ivanov has said the word ‘degenerate’ comes to mind with respect to the head of the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) Vasyl Hrytsak who assumed there was a Russian trail in the terrorist attacks in Brussels. “I consider the word ‘loony’ a very fitting one but probably the only [word] from […]

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RUSSIA & UKRAINE – Johnson’s Russia List table of contents :: JRL 2016-55 :: Monday, 21 March 2016

St. Basil's Domes

Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2016-#55 Monday, 21 March 2016 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 Facebook: facebook.com/russialist – JRL on Twitter: @JohnsonRussiaLi Support for JRL is provided in part […]

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NEWSWATCH Reuters: “Risk of nuclear war in Europe growing, warns Russian ex-minister [Igor Ivanov]”

Iskander Missile with Launch file photo

The East-West standoff over the Ukraine crisis has brought the threat of nuclear war in Europe closer than at any time since the 1980s…. said Igor Ivanov, Russia’s foreign minister from 1998 to 2004 and now head of a Moscow-based think-tank founded by the Russian government. … Russia and the United States have cut their nuclear arsenals [but] the pace […]

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Interfax: Russia submits proposals to U.S. on monitoring truce in Syria

Syria Map

(Interfax – March 21, 2016) The Russian Defense Ministry submitted proposals on the provision and monitoring of the cessation of hostilities in Syria to the United States on Feb. 25 through military diplomatic channels, Lt. Gen. Sergei Rudskoi, head of the Main Operative Department of the Russian Armed Forces General Staff, has said. “This document specifies a mechanism of consultations […]

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NEWSWATCH: “How long will Putin stay in power?” – Washington Post/Nelli Babayan

Putin Descending a Staircase

How long can Putin last? … former Swedish prime minister … Bildt gave him five to 10 years. Some Russian analysts predict the Putin regime will falter as early as mid-2016. Putin will not remain in power indefinitely. But he won’t be out anytime soon. * * * Putin, with his KGB history, has a specific and rather homogenous entourage […]

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NEWSWATCH: “The Baltic Elves Taking on Pro-Russian Trolls; What at first looked like as a social media grudge match could be a precursor to invasion, war, and resistance in the Baltics” – TheDailyBeast.com

Map of Baltics and Environs, Including Kaliningrad

Mindaugas is an unassuming, thirtysomething advertising agency director by day … ferocious cyber-warrior by night. He started a phenomenon … in Lithuania … countering Kremlin propaganda and disinformation …. ‘We needed to call our group something. … we were fighting trolls. … I said, “Let’s be elves.”‘ There were 20 or 30 at first, when the trolls began … leaving […]

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NEWSWATCH Newsweek/Damien Sharkov: “Gorbachev wanted to Preserve the Soviet Union”

File Photo of Mikhail Gorbachev and Ronald Reagan at Table Signing Documents

… Gorbachev told Russian radio RSN that he was among those who voted for the Soviet Union not to be dissolved and instead seek internal reform. ‘I was of the position that the union should be democratised,’ Gorbachev said …. ‘Centralised government was in the way of everything that was going on in each republic. It was necessary to give […]

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NEWSWATCH: “How Putin Could Make Russia Great Again” – Newsweek.com/William Courtney, Donald Jensen

File Photo of Kremlin Tower, St. Basil's, Red Square at Night

After Russia annexed Crimea … Obama dismissed it as a regional power that acts ‘out of weakness.’ [ ] Russia is more … but a penchant for zero-sum statecraft and coercing neighbors lessens its stature. By cooperating more in the international arena, Russia could become a greater power.  … Putin’s announcement of a military drawdown in Syria hints that Russia […]

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TRANSCRIPT: [Putin at] Meeting on construction of Kerch Strait Bridge and Crimea and Sevastopol’s socioeconomic development

Map of Ukraine, Including Crimea, and Neighbors, Including Russia

(Kremlin.ru – March 18, 2016) Vladimir Putin held a meeting on construction of the Kerch Strait Bridge and on Crimea and Sevastopol’s socioeconomic development results and their integration into the Russian Federation’s economic and legal space. President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Good afternoon, colleagues. Let me start by congratulating everyone on the second anniversary of Crimea and Sevastopol’s reunification with […]

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NEWSWATCH: “Mikhail Khodorkovsky Is Putin’s Most Powerful Enemy (in Exile). Russia may not be ready for the ex-billionaire to return, but his arguments are gaining ground.”

Mikhail Khodorkovsky file photo

… the Open Russia Foundation …. basically represents the brains and money behind the Russian opposition [and recently] held an event at its headquarters … in London. … predictions for Russia’s future seemed to grow darker by the minute.  * * * On the back row of the rather thin audience, the foundation’s sponsor, exiled Russian tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovksy – […]

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RUSSIA & UKRAINE – Johnson’s Russia List table of contents :: JRL 2016-54 :: Friday, 18 March 2016

St. Basil's Domes

Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2016-#54 Friday, 18 March 2016 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 Facebook: facebook.com/russialist – JRL on Twitter: @JohnsonRussiaLi Support for JRL is provided in part […]

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NEWSWATCH: “Don’t Fear the Russians” – New York Times/Anatol Lieven

Aerial Photo of Pentagon and Environs

Writing in the New York Times, Anatol Lieven argues for greater U.S.-Russian engagement on Ukraine and Syria. If you believe many of the commentators and policy makers in Washington … Putin … is an expansionist on the march. … he annexed Crimea and fueled a destabilizing conflict in eastern Ukraine. … intervened in the Syrian civil war and rescued his […]

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NEWSWATCH: “RUSSIAN HYBRID WARFARE AND OTHER DARK ARTS” – War on the Rocks/Michael Kofman

Europe Map

  Following Russia’s annexation of Crimea, hybrid warfare has become conversational short form in the West for describing Moscow’s sneaky ways of fighting war. … a dangerous Kremlin innovation the West must learn to grapple with. … the word has mutated from describing how Moscow was fighting its war in Ukraine to incorporating all the various elements of Russian influence […]

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NEWSWATCH: “What is the best way to describe Vladimir Putin’s Russia?” – Reuters/John Lloyd

Vladimir Putin file photo with VOA logo; screen shot from video still

In January of this year, a British judge, Robert Owen, said … Putin … was ‘probably’ a murderer. * * * Litvinenko’s widow, Marina … called on Prime Minister David Cameron to expel all Russian spies … and for a range of … sanctions … on several figures close to the murder … includ[ing Putin] himself. * * * In […]

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Black Sea Rising: Rebirth of a Russian Fleet

Black Sea Satellite Photo file image

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Matthew Bodner – March 17, 2016) From a military point of view, Russia’s ground operation to annex Crimea in 2014 was an exceptionally clean affair, and gave ample opportunity to demonstrate the fruits of Moscow’s military modernization efforts. But for Russia’s famed Black Sea Fleet, the most tactically relevant action it could take was to […]

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Dreams in Isolation: Crimea 2 Years After Annexation

Map of Ukraine, Including Crimea, and Neighbors, Including Russia

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Eva Hartog – March 17, 2016) DZHANKOI, SIMFEROPOL, KERCH, Crimea – The soldiers carry assault rifles and stand guard, some of them wearing black balaclavas to protect their faces. No more than 100 meters and a bridge separate them from the nearest Ukrainian positions. There, against the gray sky, a blue and yellow flag flickers […]

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Kadyrov to Get Another Term, Say Kremlin Sources

Ramzan Kadyrov file photo

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Daria Litvinov – March 17, 2016) Barely a month has gone by without a controversy involving Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov. In January, a Kadyrov associate published an Instagram picture depicting Kadyrov with an aggressive dog and the caption “Tarzan’s teeth are itching to tackle [opposition leaders].” In early February, Kadyrov posted on Instagram an image […]

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Interfax: Putin requests not to promote ‘conspiracy theory’ regarding doping scandal

Olympic Rings Lit at Night, adapted from image at state.gov

(Interfax – March 16, 2016) Russian President Vladimir Putin has called on the chiefs of the Russian sports to refrain from politicizing the situation related to the meldonium use and from framing a ‘conspiracy theory’ with regard to Russian athletes. “Firstly, nothing should be politicized and no conspiracy theory should be promoted,” Putin said at his meeting with government members, […]

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TRANSCRIPT: “Ukrainian Reforms Two Years After the Maidan Revolution and the Russian Invasion” – Senate Testimony by Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland

U.S. Capitol in Bright Sunlight

(U.S. Department of State – March 15, 2016) Testimony of Victoria Nuland, Assistant Secretary, Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs Statement Before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Washington, DC As prepared Thank you Chairman Corker, Ranking Member Cardin, members of this committee for the opportunity to join you today and for the personal investment so many of you have made […]

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Russia May Label Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation ‘Foreign Agent’

File Photo of Kremlin Tower, St. Basil's, Red Square at Night

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Anastasia Bazenkova – March 16, 2016) The All-Russian Interethnic Union of Youth has filed a request with the Russian Justice Ministry that they add the Anti-Corruption Foundation NGO – headed by the oppositioner Alexei Navalny – to its list of “foreign agents.” The group also requested that the Prosecutor General’s Office investigate Navalny for inciting […]

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Top U.S. Official: Ukraine Reforms Endangered By Oligarchs Fighting Back

Maidan Square in Kiev, Ukraine

(RFE/RL – rferl.org – WASHINGTON, March 15, 2016) A top U.S. administration official has taken pointed aim at the wealthiest Ukrainian tycoons, known as oligarchs, accusing them of undermining the country’s anticorruption reform efforts. Victoria Nuland, assistant secretary of state for European аnd Eurasian Affairs, warned on March 15 that, if efforts to liberalize the economy and fight endemic graft […]

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Russia, Inc.: From “structural reforms” of the 2000s to austerity policies today, neoliberalism has been and remains an organic part of the Putin regime

Cash, Calculator, Pen

(opendemocracy.net – Ilya Matveev – March 16, 2016) Ilya Matveev is a researcher and lecturer based in St Petersburg, Russia. He is a founding editor of the online publication Openleft.ru and a member of the research group Public Sociology Laboratory. In December 2014, Vladimir Putin gave his usual annual speech to Russia’s Federal Assembly. This speech turned out to be […]

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RBTH: Syria withdrawal: Which of Russia’s forces are being pulled out?

File Photo of Buk-1 SAM

Russia is withdrawing more than half of its fighters and bombers from Syria, while leaving its missile defense systems and naval fleet in the Mediterranean, Russian military experts told RBTH. Despite the pullout, the Russian armed forces will continue to strike positions Moscow says are held by ISIS militants. (Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – NIKOLAI LITOVKIN, RBTH – […]

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Interfax: Yet another humanitarian aid convoy to be sent to Donbas on March 24 – Puchkov

Map of Ukraine, Including Crimea, and Neighbors, Including Russia

MOSCOW. March 16 (Interfax) – Yet another humanitarian aid convoy for Donbas residents is due to be sent on March 24, said Vladimir Puchkov, Russia’s Emergency Situations Minister. “We are now readying yet another humanitarian convoy. We are completing all necessary preparatory procedures, coordinating with the International Committee of the Red Cross, committees from Kyiv, a convoy is planned for […]

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RUSSIA & UKRAINE – Johnson’s Russia List table of contents :: JRL 2016-52 :: Wednesday, 16 March 2016

St. Basil's Domes

Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2016-#52 Wednesday, 16 March 2016 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 Facebook: facebook.com/russialist – JRL on Twitter: @JohnsonRussiaLi Support for JRL is provided in part […]

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RUSSIA & UKRAINE – Johnson’s Russia List table of contents :: JRL 2016-51 :: Tuesday, 15 March 2016

St. Basil's Domes

Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2016-#51 Tuesday, 15 March 2016 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 Facebook: facebook.com/russialist – JRL on Twitter: @JohnsonRussiaLi Support for JRL is provided in part […]

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Syria Opposition Says Russian Military Pullout Helps Peace Talks

Syria Map

(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Henry Meyer – March 15, 2016) Syria’s main opposition group said Russia’s withdrawal of forces from the country will help peace talks in Geneva, even as a top Russian military official said that airstrikes will continue against terrorists. The pullout ordered by Russian President Vladimir Putin is “a positive step which will help to move forward […]

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RBTH: Russia has changed course of civil war in Syria, say analysts

Syria Map

Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered the withdrawal of the main part of the military group in Syria. According to Russian observers, the pullout will affect land and aerospace forces, while the fleet and missile defense and intelligence systems will stay in the region. (Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – NIKOLAI LITOVKIN, RBTH – March 15, 2016) Russian President […]

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RBTH: Moscow is winding down its presence in Syria. Why? Why now?

File Photo of Kremlin Tower, St. Basil's, Red Square at Night

Observers are hotly debating the true reasons for Russian President Vladimir Putin’s order to downsize and refocus the military operation in Syria, with some describing it as a tactical withdrawal while others label it an acknowledgement of failure. What is really behind the unexpected decision, and what will happen now? (Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – VLADIMIR MIKHEEV, SPECIAL […]

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Putin’s Pullout: Behind Russia’s New Syria Surprise

Syria Map

(RFE/RL – rferl.org – Steve Gutterman – March 15, 2016) Vladimir Putin surprised his country and the world on March 14 by ordering the start of a partial withdrawal of Russian forces from Syria, less than six months after the beginning of an air campaign that followed a swift and secretive buildup on the ground. What are the motives and […]

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Fewer Russians Think Political Opposition Exists in Russia – Poll

Arm and Torso of Person in Brown Sweater Placing Paper Ballot into Ballot Box

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – March 15, 2016) The share of Russians that think there is political opposition in Russia has decreased from 66 to 54 percent over the past year, the Interfax news agency reported Monday, citing a new survey by the independent Levada Center pollster. The findings come six months before parliamentary elections in Russia and reveal that […]

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TRANSCRIPT: [Putin at] Meeting with Sergei Lavrov and Sergei Shoigu

Syria Map

(Kremlin.ru – March 14, 2016) Vladimir Putin held a working meeting with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu to address issues of settling the Syrian crisis. The President gave an order to begin withdrawing the main part of Russian troops from the Syrian Arab Republic on March 15. The President of Russia also instructed the Foreign Ministry […]

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RUSSIA & UKRAINE – Johnson’s Russia List table of contents :: JRL 2016-50 :: Monday, 14 March 2016

St. Basil's Domes

Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2016-#50 Monday, 14 March 2016 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 Facebook: facebook.com/russialist – JRL on Twitter: @JohnsonRussiaLi Support for JRL is provided in part […]

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‘They Took Everything Away’: Russia’s Disabled Hit Hard By New Rules

Medical Symbol with Pole, Serpents, Wings, adapted from image at lanl.gov

(RFE/RL – rferl.org – Claire Bigg – March 14, 2016) Daniil is 5 years old, but he has spent more time in the hospital than many adults. Last year, he was treated four times at the intensive-care unit of his local hospital in Magnitogorsk, an industrial city in Russia’s Urals region. Daniil suffers from congenital adrenal hyperplasia, a life-threatening genetic […]

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Obama: ‘Putin is Not Completely Stupid’

Putin and Obama with U.S. and Russian Flags

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Anna Dolgov – March 11, 2016) Vladimir Putin wants to be seen as the peer of U.S. leaders and remains businesslike during top-level meetings, U.S. President Barack Obama said in an interview published in the April issue of U.S. magazine The Atlantic. Despite the Kremlin’s official rhetoric, Obama said Putin “understands that Russia’s overall position […]

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Hawks See Obama’s NATO Pick as Soft on Russia

File Photo of Rose Gottemoeller Gesturing, Sitting Behind Placard Reading United States of America

(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Josh Rogin – March 11, 2016) At a crucial moment in the U.S. relationship with Europe, President Barack Obama has chosen a No. 2 for NATO whom some Republican lawmakers see as the face of a wrongheaded approach to Russia. On Tuesday, the Obama administration informed NATO allies that it will recommend the undersecretary of state […]

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U.S. officials unhappy with Russian plans to upgrade spy planes

Aerial File Photo of Launch Site

Russia plans to enhance the surveillance technology it uses to observe the territory of the U.S. and Canada – but American officials have expressed concern over the plans. (Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – NIKOLAI SHEVCHENKO, RBTH – March 14, 2016) U.S. officials want Washington to deny Russia the right to observe strategic infrastructure facilities in the U.S. from […]

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Who’s to blame for the meldonium: Russia’s athletes, doctors or officials?

Olympic Rings Lit at Night, adapted from image at state.gov

The drug that has been banned since January 2016 may lead to the disqualification of several leading Russian athletes in the wake of the Maria Sharapova scandal. However, Russian officials and athletics insiders disagree on who should take responsibility for the latest doping debacle to engulf Russian sports. (Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – TIMUR GANEEV, SPECIAL TO RBTH […]

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