RUSSIA & UKRAINE – Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2015-#214 :: Wednesday 4 November 2015

[check back for updates, including more links; links also posted to facebook and twitter] Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2015-#214 Wednesday 4 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 […]

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Perestroika, Putin-Style

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

(RFE/RL – rferl.org – Brian Whitmore – November 02, 2015) We picked the wrong metaphor. When Vladimir Putin announced four years ago that he was returning to the Kremlin, the comparisons to Leonid Brezhnev came fast and furious. If he served two more terms, the logic went, Putin would be in power until 2024 and his reign would end up […]

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Détente NOW!

Europe Map

Subject: Détente NOW! Date: Fri, 30 Oct 2015 From: “Dr. Christian Wipperfürth” <cwipperfuerth@email.de> Your readers might be interested in the “Détente NOW!” – Initiative by leading members of the Social Democratic Party (which takes part in the German government), the industrie and NGOs. It can be found at http://www.cwipperfuerth.de/2015/10/detente-now-english/ —- Pax Christi Press Release (translation) Berlin, October 2015 For a […]

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RIA Novosti: “Protests on the rise in Russia – study”

Map of Russia and Russian Flag adapted from images at state.gov

(RIA Novosti – Moscow, November 2, 2015) Protest activity in Russia in the first six months of this year increased by 15 per cent compared with the same period last year, according to a study by the Civil Initiatives Committee [founded by former Finance Minister Aleksey Kudrin]. The assessment of protest activity was based on reports in the media and […]

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Russians Need 175,000 Rubles a Month to Feel Happy, Poll Shows

Cash, Calculator, Pen

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – October 31, 2015) Russians believe they need an income of at least 175,000 rubles ($2,725) a month to feel happy, according to poll results published by the Izvestia daily Friday. The cost of happiness is higher in Moscow, where an average resident needs at least 193,000 rubles a month to feel happy, the poll by […]

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Russian Incidence of Tuberculosis Falls by 30% Over 10 Years

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

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – November 3, 2015) Russian incidence of tuberculosis has fallen by 30 percent over the past 10 years, the country’s health minister said Friday, according to the RIA Novosti news agency. Since 2005, incidence of tuberculosis infections in Russia has decreased by 30 percent, while the mortality rate from the disease has decreased twofold, Veronika Skvortsova […]

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American pop culture trends Russians choose to adopt

Stylized Russian and U.S. Flags with Number 200, 1807-2007

While public polls are showing a negative attitude toward Americans among ordinary Russians, from a lifestyle perspective, the influence of American pop culture is quite notable. (Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – KIRA TVERSKAYA, SPECIAL TO RBTH – October 31, 2015) DeLorean cars, Doc Brown quotes and Photoshopped images of Marty McFly flooded Inernet users Oct. 21. Crowds gathered […]

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Foreign IT Companies Threaten to Quit Russia Over Restrictive Legislation

File Image of Stylized Eye Surrounded by Binary Code

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Anastasia Bazenkova – November 3, 2015) Major foreign IT companies could suspend their investment in Russia or withdraw from the country altogether over restrictions in the Russian market, the Kommersant newspaper reported Monday. These restrictions include a Russian law that obliges state agencies to justify the purchases of foreign software from Jan. 1, 2016, as […]

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Kazakhstan down to 56th position, Russia climbs to 58th place in Prosperity Index

Diverse Paper Currency, Coins, Line Graph

ASTANA. Nov 3 (Interfax) – Kazakhstan occupies 56th place in the Legatum Institute’s 2015 Prosperity Index, being one position down since the previous year. Norway retained the leading position; its first runner-ups are Switzerland, whose position was also changed, and Denmark. The top ten prosperous countries of the world also include New Zealand, Sweden, Canada, Australia, the Netherlands, Finland and […]

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Ukraine Probes Attack on Chief Prosecutor Amid Calls He Resign

Maidan Square in Kiev, Ukraine

(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Daryna Krasnolutska, Kateryna Choursina – November 3, 2015) Ukrainian authorities opened a criminal investigation into a sniper attack on Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin, who’s under pressure to resign amid criticism he has hindered the country’s fight against graft. At about 10 p.m. Kiev time on Monday, an unknown assailant fired at a window in Shokin’s office […]

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Is the Russian economy about to be hit by a new drop in oil prices?

Offshore Oil Rig file photo

Low prices for hydrocarbons have led to the record-breaking filling of storage facilities in Europe and the United States, according to data published by Goldman Sachs. Although the report predicts a sharp decline in demand for oil, posing a threat to the Russian economy, Russian experts do not expect panic in the oil market. (Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru […]

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Case against Moscow’s Library of Ukrainian Literature may be closed

Vladimir Markin file photo

(Interfax – October 30, 2015) A criminal investigation launched against the director of the Moscow-based Library of Ukrainian Literature, Natalya Sharina, who is a suspect in a case opened into the spreading of extremist literature, may be closed, a source in law enforcement agencies told Interfax. “The case against Sharina may be closed on the basis of the Prosecutor’s Office’s […]

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The crash of the Russian airliner in Egypt: Theories abound

Map of Egypt and Environs`

The investigating authorities have not yet released an official explanation of what caused Oct. 31 plane crash in Egypt, which killed all 224 people onboard. However, experts have come up with three different possible explanations of what happened. They share one common thread: the plane broke into pieces while still in the air at a high altitude due to an […]

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Nov. 4 Event on Capitol Hill: The Crisis in US-Russia Relations, from Ukraine to Syria

U.S. Capitol in Bright Sunlight

From: “Sperling, Erik” <Erik.Sperling@mail.house.gov> Subject: Nov. 4 event on Capitol Hill: The Crisis in US-Russia Relations, from Ukraine to Syria Date: October 28, 2015 The Crisis in US-Russia Relations, from Ukraine to Syria: Is Congress Overlooking its Causes and Potential Solutions? Hosted by Rep. John Conyers, Jr., Rep. Ted Yoho, Rep. Charles Rangel, Rep. Steve Cohen, Rep. Jim Himes, Rep. […]

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RUSSIA & UKRAINE – Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2015-#213 :: Tuesday 3 November 2015

[check back for updates, including more links; links also posted to facebook and twitter] Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2015-#213 Tuesday 3 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 […]

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Kyiv Must Use Military Means to Recover Occupied Territories Now, Borovoy Says

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

(Paul Goble – Staunton, October 25, 2015) Now that Vladimir Putin is focused on Syria and clearly unlikely to stop there, the Ukrainian government should take advantage of the situation by moving militarily to reclaim Russian-occupied territories in the Donbas and Crimea, according to Konstantin Borovoy. “The attention of the Russian president has been distracted” for the moment by Syria, […]

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RUSSIA & UKRAINE – Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2015-#212 :: Monday 2 November 2015

[check back for updates, including more links; links also posted to facebook and twitter] Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2015-#212 Monday – 2 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 […]

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NEWSWATCH Reuters: “Russian media take climate cue from skeptical Putin”

Reuters covers Russian media coverage of climate issues. … the Russian public heard little mention of climate change, because media coverage across state-controlled television stations and print media all but ignored it. On national TV, the villains were locals who routinely but carelessly burn off tall grasses every year, and the sometimes incompetent crews struggling to put the fires out. […]

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