Month: January 2016
NEWSLINK Reuters: “Russia cautious on prospects for oil cut deal with OPEC”
NEWSLINK: “NATO Looks to Combat Russia’s ‘Information Weapon’: Document” – Reuters
NEWSLINK: “Kremlin demands ‘Putin corruption’ proof” – BBC: Russia BBC Panorama
NEWSLINK Forbes/Kenneth Rapoza: “Russian Economy Holding On For Dear Life”
NEWSLINK Ukraine Today: “Ukraine’s healthcare ministry announces flu epidemic as more than 80 people die”
NEWSLINK RBTH/Vzglyad: “Are Russia and the U.S. building military bases in Syria? The global media are increasingly reporting that the U.S. and Russia are building military bases in Syria”
NEWSLINK: “Vladimir Putin’s poison tea” – Washington Post
NEWSLINK CBC: “Russia’s bleak winter: Protests grow as ruble weakens and Kremlin makes painful cuts.”
NEWSLINK: “How a liberal bastion is persevering in an increasingly illiberal Moscow. The Andrei Sakharov Center, one of the last safe spaces for Russia’s liberal community, has been fined and fined again for its purported ‘political activity.’ But celebrity support and crowdsourcing have kept it alive.” – Christian Science Monitor
NEWSLINK Wall Street Journal: “Conflict-of-Interest Query Resurfaces in Russian Money Laundering Case” [re: William Browder]
NEWSLINK Carnegie Moscow/Mikhail Krutikhin: “The Russian Oil Industry in the Era of Cheap Crude. A recent slight increase in Russia’s oil output is likely to be short-lived. Oil production may decline almost twofold by the end of the year due to a lack of financing for new field exploration and development.”
NEWSLINK TASS: “Press secretary refuses to discuss possibility of Putin’s marriage”
NEWSLINK Forbes/Mark Adomanis: “Russia’s Demographic Recovery Might Have Peaked”
NEWSLINK AP: “Putin Denounces Soviet Founder Lenin”
RUSSIA & UKRAINE – Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2016-18 :: Tuesday, 26 January 2016
[check back for updates, including more links; links also posted to facebook and twitter] Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2016-#18 Tuesday 26 January 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 […]
» Read moreHow Russians react to BBC’s War and Peace
RBTH’s pick of the best comments made by Tolstoy’s compatriots. (Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – NATALIA MASHINISTOVA, SPECIAL TO RBTH – January 26, 2016) Although BBC’s new War and Peace adaptation hasn’t aired on Russian television yet, the most curious Russians have found a way to check it out on the internet. Any foreign attempt to adapt what […]
» Read moreInterfax: Inquiry against 5 people charged over Nemtsov’s murder completed
(Interfax – January 26, 2016) The criminal investigation opened against five people charged over the killing of Russian opposition politician Boris Nemtsov has been completed, a lawyer for one of the suspects told Interfax. “The investigation has notified me today that the inquiry as part of this case has been completed,” lawyer Mussa Khadisov, who represents suspect Anzor Gubashev, said. […]
» Read moreTRANSCRIPT: [Putin at] Meeting of the Russian Popular Front’s (ONF) interregional forum
(Kremlin.ru – Stavropol – January 25, 2016) Vladimir Putin took part in a plenary session of the Russian Popular Front public movement’s interregional forum. The Russian Popular Front’s first interregional forum addressed specific issues the regions face in their work to implement presidential executive orders of May 2012 and instructions issued following ONF meetings. More than 600 people took part […]
» Read moreRussians’ Real Wages Fall 9.5% in 2015
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – January 26, 2016) As Russia’s inflation reached double-digits last year, Russians saw their real wages decline by 9.5 percent compared to 2014, data published by the Rosstat state statistics service showed Monday. In December 2015, real wages of Russians dropped 10 percent when compared to the same month in 2014, according to Rosstat data. The […]
» Read moreU.S. Official Says Putin Is Secretly Wealthy, Corrupt
(RFE/RL – rferl.org – January 26, 2016) The BBC is reporting that the United States has long considered Russian President Vladimir Putin to be secretly wealthy, corrupt, and focused on enriching his friends and allies. Adam Szubin, the U.S. Treasury’s acting secretary for terrorism and financial crimes, said in an interview with BBC Panorama that the Russian president had been […]
» Read moreRussian Entente Nears as Allies Give Ukraine Sanctions Hint
(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – January 26, 2016) After almost two years on the outside, signs are growing that Russia may soon be invited in from the cold. The worsening of crises from Syria to Libya are forcing the international community to reconsider sanctions slapped on President Vladimir Putin’s government over Ukraine as a way of getting a key diplomatic power […]
» Read moreNEWSLINK ReadUkraine/Mark Adomanis: “Perfect, Non-Corrupt European Police. The idea that Europe has “solved” governance is badly out of date, and Ukraine’s reformers should take note.”
NEWSLINK Forbes/Kenneth Rapoza: “American In Charge Of Ukraine’s Finances Thinks Russia Debt Deal Doable”
NEWSLINK UNIAN (Kyiv): “Ukraine gets $266 mln from U.S. over two years – Pyatt”
NEWSLINK Reuters/Lucian Kim: “A dangerous moment for Ukraine’s fragile ceasefire”
RUSSIA & UKRAINE – Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2016-17 :: Monday, 25 January 2016
[check back for updates, including more links; links also posted to facebook and twitter] Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2016-#17 Monday 25 January 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 […]
» Read moreNEWSLINK: “Russian economy contracts 3.7 percent in 2015, slump set to continue” – Reuters
Can the North Caucasus adapt to political change?
Amid a crumbling and fragile system, central and regional elites gear up for a new power struggle in Russia’s North Caucasus. (opendemocracy.net/RBC – Denis Sokolov – January 25, 2016) Denis Sokolov is Senior Research Fellow at the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration. If 2015 was the year of purges of regional elites for the North Caucasus, […]
» Read moreNEWSLINK: “The death of a former KGB operative is a reminder of Vladimir Putin’s past life as a spy.” – Washington Post
At Davos forum Russia promises to eliminate its dependence on oil
Russian representatives announced imminent large-scale economic reforms at the World Economic Forum. The proposed changes would affect the country’s dependence on oil and the facilitation of investors accessing the market. (Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – ALEXEI LOSSAN, RBTH – January 25, 2016) Low oil prices are helping the Russian government carry out large-scale reforms despite the drastic reduction […]
» Read moreAntony Penaud: Reflections on the Litvinenko case
Subject: Reflections on the Litvinenko case Date: Mon, 25 Jan 2016 From: Antony Penaud <antonypenaud@yahoo.fr> Antony Penaud completed his DPhil at the University of Oxford in 2000. His essays on Russia and Ukraine are on www/scribd.com/antonykharms. He is French and lives in London. I returned last Thursday from a holiday in Moscow, and on the Gatwick train I picked up […]
» Read moreTRANSCRIPT: [Putin at] Meeting with President of the Russian Academy of Sciences Vladimir Fortov
(Kremlin.ru – January 22, 2016) The Russian Academy of Sciences’ achievements in 2015 and priority areas of work were the main subjects of discussion. President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Mr Fortov, I propose that we look at the results of the Academy’s work. How did the work process go, and what are your priorities? President of the Russian Academy of […]
» Read moreThe Exodus Equation: Study Shows Russian Math Geniuses Excelling In West
(RFE/RL – rferl.org – Antoine Blua – January 24, 2016) The massive exodus of scientists since the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union is a known phenomenon that has greatly affected the field of mathematics. More than 30 speakers invited to address the 1986 International Congress of Mathematicians in California came from the Soviet Union — most of them from […]
» Read moreRecord Number of Russians Empty-Handed at New Year – Poll
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – January 25, 2016) Twenty-three percent of Russians received no gifts for New Year – the highest percentage for six years, according to a poll conducted by state-run pollster VTsIOM. For those who did receive gifts, the most popular items were sweets, alcohol and delicacies – these items were received by 24 percent of respondents, according […]
» Read moreSchooling in Moscow: A Mixed Bag
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Vasily Kolotilov – January 25, 2016) “Some of the boys called my son “Obama’s little spy,” says Jynks Burton. “But they’re at that age I suppose, always looking for something to tease other boys about …” Burton’s eight-year-old son, Alex, makes a scowling face. He says he doesn’t want to talk about the incident. The […]
» Read moreThe poorer Russians get, the happier they become and other mysteries
Sometimes sociological surveys capture paradoxical results. For example, for some reason Russians on the whole feel happier when they are poorer and many people that claim to be Orthodox Christians do not go to church and do not believe in God. As the famous 19th century poet Fyodr Tyutchev once said, “Russia cannot be understood with the mind alone.” (Russia […]
» Read moreFear Once Again Dominating Russian Society, Gudkov Says
(Paul Goble – Window on Eurasia – Staunton, January 24, 2016) For first time since the late 1980s, fear has come to dominate the lives of Russians, although many are unwilling to acknowledge this directly preferring instead to say that they are not afraid but that others are, a typical case of projection of their own situation, according to Lev […]
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