(RFE/RL – rferl.org – The Daily Vertical: By Brian Whitmore – February 22, 2016) Two years ago today, a revolution climaxed. Two years ago today, a corrupt and incompetent tyrant was deposed. Two years ago today, a nation’s civil society came of age. On February 22, 2014, everything seemed possible in Ukraine. Today, of course, things look quite different. Much […]
» Read more
The political history of Russia’s neighbours can be described in terms of one long conflict between a presidential authoritarian tendency and democratic parliamentarianism. Parliaments are the key. (opendemocracy.net – Mikhail Minakov – February 22, 2016) Mikhail Minakov is Associate Professor at Kyiv-Mohyla Academy and President of the Foundation for Good Politics, Kyiv. He is also director of the Krytyka Institute, […]
» Read more
(US Department of State – February 20, 2016) US Department of State Press Statement Mark C. Toner Deputy Department Spokesperson Washington, DC February 20, 2016 Today, we join the people of Ukraine in honoring the memory of their Revolution of Dignity and those who gave their lives to build a more just, democratic, and European Ukraine. They braved sniper fire […]
» Read more
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Daria Litvinova – February 22, 2016) A young woman named Nikol looks to the camera, wiping away what seem to be tears of happiness. She has reason to be happy, having navigated through to the next round of the Russian television show “Battle of the Psychics.” Somehow, she had managed to select the one car […]
» Read more
(Government.ru – February 18, 2016) Excerpts from Dmitry Medvedev’s opening remarks at the Government meeting: The budget sector and the real sector are overstrained today due to low oil prices and sanctions, so there have been a lot of proposals to be included in the plan but far from all of them were incorporated into the final version. We need […]
» Read more
(Kremlin.ru – February 20, 2016) Vladimir Putin attended a gala reception at the State Kremlin Palace to mark Defender of the Fatherland Day. The President congratulated veterans and armed forces servicemen and civilian personnel on the upcoming holiday. President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Comrades, friends, I would like to congratulate the military and civilian personnel of our armed forces and […]
» Read more
(Paul Goble – Window on Eurasia – Staunton, February 21, 2016) More than eight out of ten Russians still get their news from television, but the share of them trusting that source has fallen from 79 percent in 2008 to only 41 percent now, a trend that is leading ever more of them to rely on family members and close […]
» Read more
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – February 20, 2016) Representatives of all factions in the State Duma have introduced an amendment to the law on non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that specifies the notion of “political activity,” the RBC news agency reported Friday. The draft law, published by the Justice Ministry in January, suggests that operations in a number of spheres including national […]
» Read more
… overshadowed by the war in Syria, fighting in eastern Ukraine has picked up sharply in recent weeks … The resumption of hostilities in Ukraine, with exchanges of machine gun and mortar fire across the front line up to levels not seen since last summer, suggests a willingness by Russia, which supports the rebels in eastern Ukraine, to sustain two […]
» Read moreJohnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2016-#36 Monday, 22 February 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 […]
» Read more
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says last month was the warmest January on record. That sets off alarm bells for climate scientists, but for the average person living in a northern climate, it might not sound so bad. * * * The problem … is that while warmer weather might open up more land in cold regions such as […]
» Read moreJohnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2016-#35 Friday, 19 February 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 […]
» Read more
(RFE/RL – rferl.org – Natalya Golitsyna – February 19, 2016) One of Ramzan Kadyrov’s staunchest critics says the Chechen leader remains one of the most powerful men in Russia despite mounting criticism over his ruthless tactics. According to Akhmed Zakayev, the exiled head of the Chechen separatist government, Kadyrov has accumulated so much clout that Russian President Vladimir Putin himself […]
» Read more
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Daria Litvinova – February 19, 2015) Activist Pavel Chikov could react only with sarcasm when a court handed down a winding up order against his Agora legal advocacy association. “As the first NGO ever to have been liquidated in a Russian court, we are so proud,” he wrote on Twitter. The next day, another organization, […]
» Read more
(Paul Goble – Window on Eurasia – Staunton, February 17, 2016) In an interview with Tomsk television, Mariya Snegovaya points to ten reasons why in her view the Putin system may not be nearly as “sustainable” as many now think given that the fall in oil prices has not led to an immediate effort to over throw the Kremlin leader. […]
» Read more
KRASNOYARSK. Feb 19 (Interfax) – Russian government officials intend to formulate the country’s development strategy to the year 2030 in the next few months, Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich said, opening the plenary session of the Krasnoyarsk Economic Forum on Friday. “We have gathered not only in order to talk, but also to formulate solutions or approaches to solving the […]
» Read more
The conflict in Ukraine has ‘deeply affected’ 580,000 children close to the front lines and in areas in the volatile east not under government control, the U.N. children’s agency said … Ukraine remains locked in conflict with Moscow, which annexed the Crimean Peninsula and has supported a pro-Russian insurgency in the east. Fighting there has killed more than 9,000 people […]
» Read more
Russia’s government is considering cutting spending on defense procurement this year by 5 percent … a move that would extend the budget squeeze to a sector that up to now has been immune …. The proposal has support across several ministries and in other state institutions, enough for it to go forward for discussion at a cabinet meeting, the sources […]
» Read more
Determined users can easily slip past Russia’s strict anti-piracy laws. … Medvedev used his personal iPad to reach the site during a meeting in which measures to combat piracy were under discussion…. the banned file-sharing website RuTracker …. Click here for Transitions Online: Russian Premier Bypasses Ban on File-Sharing Site
» Read more
Fear of Russian aggression will help drive European defense spending up by 8.3 percent this year, putting a halt to 20 years of declining budgets … Over two decades after the end of the Cold War, Vladimir Putin’s expansionist policies in Crimea and Ukraine have pushed European leaders to once again increase their spending on military programs, according to the […]
» Read more
(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Leonid Ragozin – February 18, 2016) Two years have passed since a popular uprising in Kiev toppled a Russia-backed regime in Ukraine. The glory of that people power moment has faded, and Western supporters are losing patience with the government as corruption hampers efforts to jump-start the economy. The gross domestic product of the war-plagued country […]
» Read more
The Pentagon revealed … that Russia granted a U.S. request not to target American special operations forces deployed to northern Syria …. The Pentagon made the request to the Russians after a U.S. decision to send the special operations forces into Syria last year. * * * … Russia also outlined some areas, such as airfields, that it did not […]
» Read more
(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Aliaksandr Kudrytski, Volodymyr Verbyany – February 17, 2016) Two years after Ukrainians shed blood on the streets of Kiev to crush a Kremlin-backed kleptocracy, the country of more than 40 million people is back on the brink of failed-state status. The government’s long descent into chaos reached a new nadir this week, when amid reform delays […]
» Read more
(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Olga Tanas – February 18, 2016) [Charts here bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-02-17/the-one-shock-sidestepped-by-russia-is-catching-up-with-putin] Russia’s longest recession in two decades is proving a test too far for the labor market. After deflecting pressure in 2015 with salary reductions, part-time work and unpaid vacations, companies are increasingly opting to cut jobs as the economy enters its second year of contraction. As Russia’s […]
» Read more
Maya Kucherskaya, a writer, linguist, literary critic and director of the newly opened Creative Writing School, the first such center for budding authors in Russia, talked to RBTH about professional writing, censorship and Russia’s book market. (Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – YULIA VINOGRADOVA, SPECIAL TO RBTH – February 17, 2016) RBTH: How is the Creative Writing School different […]
» Read more
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Anna Dolgov – February 18, 2016) Former oil tycoon turned opposition politician Mikhail Khodorkovsky’s pro-democracy foundation has received dozens of requests from members of Russia’s main political parties to endorse them during an upcoming parliamentary election this fall, the coordinator of Khodorkovsky’s Open Elections project said in comments published Wednesday. The requests that came in […]
» Read more
Russia, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Venezuela have announced their readiness to freeze oil production volumes at January levels but fell short of agreeing to cut production by 5 percent as was earlier anticipated. Market analysts believe this agreement is a loss for Russian diplomacy – as a result of the deal, oil prices and the related value of the ruble […]
» Read more
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – February 18, 2016) Moscow City Hall has approved a rally to mark the one-year anniversary of the death of Kremlin critic Boris Nemtsov, opposition party member Konstantin Merzlikin told The Moscow Times on Wednesday. The authorities have given permission for 50,000 people to attend the memorial event, which is due to take place on Feb. […]
» Read more
(RFE/RL – rferl.org –Carl Schreck – February 17, 2016) For a person who has dedicated her life to improving ties between Moscow and the West — and who has passionately denounced what she calls the “demonization” of President Vladimir Putin by Western media and officials — Sharon Tennison has gotten a strange reception in Russia. Tennison, an American activist whose […]
» Read more
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – February 18, 2016) The number of foreign tourists booking summer vacations in Russia has risen by 30 percent amid the weakening of the ruble, the Kommersant newspaper reported Wednesday, citing a study by the Momondo online reservation system. Demand for trips to Russia during the summer months among German travelers – who made the most […]
» Read more
… February 16, the Ukrainian parliament deemed the performance of its government unsatisfactory with 247 votes, but only 194 parliamentarians voted for a no-confidence measure. The government did not fall … this strange vote may appear a victory for … Poroshenko, but it seems a Pyrrhic victory that may have broken the ruling coalition in parliament and brought Ukraine closer […]
» Read more
