(Paul Goble – Window on Eurasia – Staunton, April 22, 2019) Most discussions of the impact of global warming on the Russian Federation have focused […]
Headlines
JRL NEWSWATCH: “Ukraine’s TV President Is Dangerously Pro-Russian” – Foreign Policy/ Alexander J. Motyl
“Volodymyr Zelensky could become the country’s next real-life leader. If his show is any guide, Ukrainians should be worried. …” Alexander J. Motyl is a […]
RUSSIALINK: “Russia might ratify Paris Agreement by year end – Gordeyev” – Interfax
MOSCOW. April 23 (Interfax) – Russia might ratify the Paris Agreement within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) by the year’s end, […]
A Partial To Do List For Ukraine’s President-Elect
Corruption … Economy … Energy Independence … Conflict In The East …
JRL NEWSWATCH: “Russia is no place for young people” – Deutsche Welle
It’s almost impossible to find a decent salary and comfortable living conditions in Russia. For many young people, the only options are to build a […]
Poroshenko has Suffered Fate of Winston Churchill, Khandurin Says
(Paul Goble – Window on Eurasia – Staunton, April 22, 2019) Just as British voters rejected Winston Churchill after he had led the country to […]
RUSSIA & UKRAINE – Johnson’s Russia List table of contents & links :: JRL 2019-#68 :: Monday, 22 April 2019
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 […]
RUSSIALINK: “Zelensky describes return of all Ukrainian POWs home as No. 1 task” – Interfax
KYIV. April 22 (Interfax) – Volodymyr Zelensky, who is winning the Ukrainian runoff presidential election according to exit polls, has described the liberation of Ukrainian […]
JRL NEWSWATCH: “Frolov: Zelenskiy’s presidency won’t be a picnic for Moscow” – Meduza
“… columnist and former diplomat Vladimir Frolov argues [in a separate op-ed] that … Zelenskiy’s likely presidency in Ukraine is a mixed bag for Moscow. […]
JRL NEWSWATCH: “Comic Who Vowed to Unite Ukraine Wins Votes in East and West” – AP
“… With nearly all ballots counted, Zelenskiy had 73% … compared … Poroshenko’s 24%. [OSCE m]onitors … said the election … respect[ed] … ‘fundamental freedoms’ […]
RUSSIALINK: “Ukraine’s Election Result Pleases Both Russia’s Opposition and the Kremlin; The two sides have for once found something they agree on – for different reasons” – Moscow Times
(Moscow Times – Evan Gershkovich – April 11, 2019 – themoscowtimes.com/2019/04/22/ukraines-election-result-pleases-both-russias-opposition-and-the-kremlin-a65325) Volodymyr Zelenskiy, a comedian and actor with no political experience, swept to victory on […]
RUSSIALINK: “Voter turnout in 2nd round of election in Ukraine reaches 61.37% – CEC” – Interfax
KYIV. April 22 (Interfax) – The voter turnout in the second round of the Ukrainian presidential election on Sunday reached 61.37%, which is less than […]
JRL NEWSWATCH: “A Shadow over Ukraine’s Presidential Election” – International Crisis Group/ Katharine Quinn-Judge
“With Ukraine’s establishment forecasting doom after the presidential runoff, the far right’s influence on politics is impossible to ignore. Its resurgence is both a symptom […]
JRL NEWSWATCH: “Why frustrated Ukrainians may elect a comedian as president” – Christian Science Monitor/ Fred Weir
Whom do voters turn to when elected leaders disappoint? Ukraine President Petro Poroshenko looks set to be trounced in elections Sunday, but not because of […]
RUSSIALINK: “Russia hopes Ukraine’s administration is ‘negotiable’ after election” – Interfax
(Interfax – April 21, 2019) Moscow is most hopeful that the winner in Ukraine’s presidential election will possess an ability to negotiate and a willingness […]
JRL NEWSWATCH: “What the Mueller Report Tells Us About How Russia Works; Please, put away those onion-dome-on-the-White-House graphics and abandon those excitable claims of Trump as a Russian agent.” – Moscow Times/ Mark Galeotti
“… Putin’s Russia is … an ‘adhocracy’ … in which the true elite is defined by service to the needs of the Kremlin rather than […]
RUSSIA & UKRAINE – Johnson’s Russia List table of contents & links :: JRL 2019-#67 :: Friday, 19 April 2019
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 […]
JRL NEWSWATCH AUDIO: “Former U.S. Ambassador To Russia Discusses Findings Of Mueller Report”- NPR/ Michael McFaul
“MCFAUL: … I’ve actually been dealing with Russian trolls and Russian real people on social media since I was ambassador in 2012, and I think […]
Trump and Russia: ‘Quid Pro Quo’ or Quid Pro Talk?
(Russia Matters – russiamatters.org – RM Staff – April 18, 2019 – russiamatters.org/blog/trump-and-russia-quid-pro-quo-or-quid-pro-talk) A few weeks before today’s release of the voluminous Mueller report, a […]
JRL NEWSWATCH: “Hacked Emails Appear To Reveal Russia Is Backing Comedian Likely To Be Ukraine’s Next President” – Newsweek/ Cristina Maza
“… hacked emails suggest … Zelenskiy may have a powerful patron of his own: the Kremlin. … Ukraine’s security services … are investigating whether Zelenskiy’s […]
Russia & Ukraine
JRL NEWSWATCH: “Ukraine’s TV President Is Dangerously Pro-Russian” – Foreign Policy/ Alexander J. Motyl
“Volodymyr Zelensky could become the country’s next real-life leader. If his show is any guide, Ukrainians should be worried. …” Alexander J. Motyl is a […]
A Partial To Do List For Ukraine’s President-Elect
Corruption … Economy … Energy Independence … Conflict In The East …
Poroshenko has Suffered Fate of Winston Churchill, Khandurin Says
(Paul Goble – Window on Eurasia – Staunton, April 22, 2019) Just as British voters rejected Winston Churchill after he had led the country to […]
RUSSIALINK: “Zelensky describes return of all Ukrainian POWs home as No. 1 task” – Interfax
KYIV. April 22 (Interfax) – Volodymyr Zelensky, who is winning the Ukrainian runoff presidential election according to exit polls, has described the liberation of Ukrainian […]
JRL NEWSWATCH: “Frolov: Zelenskiy’s presidency won’t be a picnic for Moscow” – Meduza
“… columnist and former diplomat Vladimir Frolov argues [in a separate op-ed] that … Zelenskiy’s likely presidency in Ukraine is a mixed bag for Moscow. […]
JRL NEWSWATCH: “Comic Who Vowed to Unite Ukraine Wins Votes in East and West” – AP
“… With nearly all ballots counted, Zelenskiy had 73% … compared … Poroshenko’s 24%. [OSCE m]onitors … said the election … respect[ed] … ‘fundamental freedoms’ […]
RUSSIALINK: “Ukraine’s Election Result Pleases Both Russia’s Opposition and the Kremlin; The two sides have for once found something they agree on – for different reasons” – Moscow Times
(Moscow Times – Evan Gershkovich – April 11, 2019 – themoscowtimes.com/2019/04/22/ukraines-election-result-pleases-both-russias-opposition-and-the-kremlin-a65325) Volodymyr Zelenskiy, a comedian and actor with no political experience, swept to victory on […]
RUSSIALINK: “Voter turnout in 2nd round of election in Ukraine reaches 61.37% – CEC” – Interfax
KYIV. April 22 (Interfax) – The voter turnout in the second round of the Ukrainian presidential election on Sunday reached 61.37%, which is less than […]
JRL NEWSWATCH: “A Shadow over Ukraine’s Presidential Election” – International Crisis Group/ Katharine Quinn-Judge
“With Ukraine’s establishment forecasting doom after the presidential runoff, the far right’s influence on politics is impossible to ignore. Its resurgence is both a symptom […]
JRL NEWSWATCH: “Why frustrated Ukrainians may elect a comedian as president” – Christian Science Monitor/ Fred Weir
Whom do voters turn to when elected leaders disappoint? Ukraine President Petro Poroshenko looks set to be trounced in elections Sunday, but not because of […]
RUSSIALINK: “Russia hopes Ukraine’s administration is ‘negotiable’ after election” – Interfax
(Interfax – April 21, 2019) Moscow is most hopeful that the winner in Ukraine’s presidential election will possess an ability to negotiate and a willingness […]
JRL NEWSWATCH: “Hacked Emails Appear To Reveal Russia Is Backing Comedian Likely To Be Ukraine’s Next President” – Newsweek/ Cristina Maza
“… hacked emails suggest … Zelenskiy may have a powerful patron of his own: the Kremlin. … Ukraine’s security services … are investigating whether Zelenskiy’s […]
U.S.-Russian Relations, U.S.-Ukrainian Relations
JRL NEWSWATCH: “What the Mueller Report Tells Us About How Russia Works; Please, put away those onion-dome-on-the-White-House graphics and abandon those excitable claims of Trump as a Russian agent.” – Moscow Times/ Mark Galeotti
“… Putin’s Russia is … an ‘adhocracy’ … in which the true elite is defined by service to the needs of the Kremlin rather than […]
Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
RUSSIALINK: “Russia might ratify Paris Agreement by year end – Gordeyev” – Interfax
MOSCOW. April 23 (Interfax) – Russia might ratify the Paris Agreement within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) by the year’s end, […]
Economy, Business, Investment, Trade
JRL NEWSWATCH: “Russia is no place for young people” – Deutsche Welle
It’s almost impossible to find a decent salary and comfortable living conditions in Russia. For many young people, the only options are to build a […]
Oil, Gas, Energy
Russia Replaces Venezuelan Crude On European Markets
(Oilprice.com – Irina Slav – April 12, 2019) European refiners are switching to Russian sour grades as U.S. sanctions have shrunk Venezuela’s similar-grade exports, Reuters […]
Nuclear, Missile Defense
Sergey Rogov: “Russian-American Conference on Arms Control”
Subject: Russian-American Conference on Arms Control Date: Mon, 15 Apr 2019 From: Sergey Rogov <sergeyrogov@hotmail.com> To: davidjohnson@starpower.net I think you might be interested in this […]
Human Rights
Record Numbers of Russians Have Positive View of Stalin, Levada Center Finds
(Paul Goble – Window on Eurasia – Staunton, April 16, 2019) On the centenary of the establishment of the GULAG that he did so much […]
Nonprofits, Activists, NGO's
RUSSIALINK: “Serebrennikov’s house arrest prolonged by another 3 months” – Interfax
MOSCOW. April 2 (Interfax) – The Meshchansky Court of Moscow has extended the house arrest of the Gogol Center’s artistic director Kirill Serebrennikov, who has […]
Chechnya, Dagestan, North Caucasus
Left behind? Russian life in Chechnya; After years of violence, displacement and an authoritarian peace, what is life like for ethnic Russians in the most mono-ethnic and mono-faith area of Russia? (excerpt)
(Ekaterina Neroznikova – opendemocracy.net – March 6, 2019) Ekaterina Neroznikova is a reporter and columnist who writes about the North Caucasus. She writes for a […]
Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime
JRL NEWSWATCH: “Russia is no place for young people” – Deutsche Welle
It’s almost impossible to find a decent salary and comfortable living conditions in Russia. For many young people, the only options are to build a […]
Media, Social Media, Internet
Russian Duma Approves Sovereign-Internet Bill
(Article text ©2019 RFE/RL, Inc., Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty – rferl.org – April 16, 2019 – article text also appeared at rferl.org/a/russian-duma-approves-sovereign-internet-bill/29883847.html) The lower chamber […]
Mark H. Teeter: “Whaddaya know — an upbeat story on Moscow news media!”
Subject: Whaddaya know — an upbeat story on Moscow news media! Date: Mon, 8 Apr 2019 From: Mark H. Teeter <markhteeter@gmail.com> AND NOW THE NEWS, […]
RUSSIALINK: “International, state regulation of Internet inevitable – Kiriyenko” – Interfax
MOSCOW. April 8 (Interfax) – Russian Internet companies already account for about 4% of GDP and this figure will continue to rise, but regulation of […]
Tired of Strong Hand, Ever More Russians Want a Parliamentary Republic, ‘Nezavisimaya Gazeta’ Says
(Paul Goble – Window on Eurasia – Staunton, April 2, 2019) Twenty years ago, Russians overwhelmingly wanted a strong hand to restore order; but now, […]
Russian State Media Highlights The Negative In Ukrainian Presidential Vote
“As Ukrainians voted for a new president, Russians keeping track of the election on state TV were bombarded with coverage of Ukraine’s failures as an independent state and reports of alleged electoral fraud. … Incumbent President Petro Poroshenko, who has consistently played on the threat from Russia to rally his supporters, was not a popular choice in Moscow. …”
JRL NEWSWATCH: “After Mueller Report, News Media Leaders Defend Their Works” – New York Times/ Amy Chozick
“[CNN president] Jeff Zucker … said he was ‘entirely comfortable’ with the network’s coverage. ‘We are not investigators. We are journalists, and our role is […]
NEWSLINK: “Serious journalists should be proud of – not bullied over – their Russia reporting” – Washington Post/Margaret Sullivan
“… All right, then. Here goes. …”
Russian Bills Banning ‘Fake News,’ Insults Head To Putin For Signature
(Article text ©2019 RFE/RL, Inc., Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty – rferl.org – March 13, 2019 – article text also appeared at rferl.org/a/russian-bills-banning-fake-news-insults-head-to-putin-for-signature/29819238.html) Legislation enabling Russian […]
RUSSIALINK: “‘Point of No Return’: Russia’s Libertarians Lead Protest Against ‘Sovereign Internet’; A draft law aimed at creating an internet that can be cut off from the rest of the world’s has raised fears that Russia could turn into the next North Korea.” – Moscow Times
(Moscow Times – Evan Gershkovich – March 10, 2019 – themoscowtimes.com/2019/03/10/point-of-no-return-russias-libertarians-lead-protest-against-sovereign-internet-a64758) It was Saturday afternoon and Mikhail Svetov was buzzing with nervous energy. Just 24 […]
JRL NEWSWATCH: “35 Key People Involved In The Russia Hoax Who Need To Be Investigated; As their desperate search for collusion continues, Democrats want to interview 81 people. Try this list instead.” – The Federalist/ Willis L. Krumholz
“… Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee have just sent letters to 81 people … associated with … Trump or the Russia probe … to […]
Europe, EU
RUSSIALINK: “Most Russians Prefer Council of Europe Membership – Polls” – Moscow Times
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – April 8, 2019) A majority of Russians support their country’s membership in the Council of Europe (CoE) human rights watchdog, […]
Health, Alcohol, Smoking, AIDS, Epidemics
‘The Ice Will Melt and We Will All Die’ – Global Warming Seen Sparking Epidemics in Russia
(Paul Goble – Window on Eurasia – Staunton, April 22, 2019) Most discussions of the impact of global warming on the Russian Federation have focused […]
Assassinations
NEWSLINK: “Russia spread ‘disinformation’ on Skripal attack; Report says state media spread seven different conspiracy theories about the attack” – Financial Times/ Solape Alatise, David Bond
“Russian state media published 138 contradictory accounts of the nerve agent attack on former double agent Sergei Skripal last year …”
John Helmer: “Book announcement: The Man Who Knows Too Much About Russia”
Subject: Book announcement Date: Wed, 26 Dec 2018 From: John Helmer The Man Who Knows Too MuchAbout Russia By John Helmer THE GENUINE GOLDEN […]
NEWSLINK: “Skripal Suspect Boshirov Identified as GRU Colonel Anatoliy Chepiga” – Bellingcat
“… Bellingcat has been able to confirm the actual identity of one of the two officers. The suspect using the cover identity of ‘Ruslan Boshirov’ […]
JRL NEWSWATCH: “In breakaway Ukraine, those who live by the sword are dying by it; Could an anonymous cull of Donbass’ violently charismatic separatists precede a peaceful solution?” – Asia Times/ Giovanni Pigni
“Yet another leader in Ukraine’s breakaway Donbass region has met a kinetic end: … leader of the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic, Aleksandr Zakharchenko … assassinated […]
Life in Russia, Culture, Arts, Theater, Music
Yermolai Solzhenitsyn: “Re: Some information on SolzhenitsynCenter.org”
Subject: Some information on solzhenitsyncenter.org Date: Tue, 26 Mar 2019 From: Yermolai Solzhenitsyn <yermolai_solzhenitsyn@mckinsey.com> To: davidjohnson@starpower.net Dear David, We saw recently a piece on JRL […]
Religion
RUSSIALINK: “Russian Orthodox Church expects Ukrainian authorities not to force believers to join new church following elections” – Interfax
MOSCOW. March 26 (Interfax) – The Russian Orthodox Church has called on the Ukrainian authorities to change its attitude toward members of the canonical Orthodox […]
