(Paul Goble – Window on Eurasia – Staunton, March 21, 2016) To solidify its break from a Russia-dominated space, Ukraine should shift from the Russian-based Cyrillic alphabet Moscow imposed on it to a script based on the Latin alphabet used by European countries, according to Aleksandr Donyi, the head of the Last Barricade social organization and a former deputy of […]
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(RFE/RL – rferl.org – March 22, 2016) Ukraine’s battered economy shrank by 9.9 percent in 2015 due to implosions in the financial sector and consumer demand, the state statistics service reported on March 21. The stunning fall last year followed a drop of nearly 7 percent in 2014, the year Russia annexed Crimea and Ukraine’s war with Russia-backed separatists broke […]
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MOSCOW. March 22 (Interfax) – Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko has said that the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) did not publish the results of research on meldonium before banning this substance. “It is necessary to thoroughly examine the problems of this substance’s [meldonium] withdrawal and retention in blood. We have received a reply from WADA that they did not do […]
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Russia’s recent air campaign in Syria has had mixed effects on the civil war there. RBTH interviewed Noah Bonsey, Senior Syria Analyst at International Crisis Group, an NGO that researches conflicts and aims to advance policies for their resolution, as he returned from a recent field trip to Syria. (Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – NIKOLAI SHEVCHENKO, RBTH – […]
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Sanctions are hampering Russia’s modernization and economic growth, but the country is determined to develop new technologies. Science parks are a crucial part of the national innovation strategy. How many have been built in the country recently, and what exactly are they doing? RBTH has the answers. (Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – VICTORIA ZAVYALOVA, RBTH – March 21, […]
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(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – DARYA LYUBINSKAYA, RBTH – March 21, 2016) According to the latest survey by the Levada Center, over the last year the approval rating of Russian President Vladimir Putin fell by 10 percent. Sociologists attribute this to the fact that the euphoria after the “Crimean Spring” has passed. In 2015, those who “completely trust” […]
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(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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(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. 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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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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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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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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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 – 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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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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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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… 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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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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(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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… 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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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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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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(Kremlin.ru – March 17, 2016) At a meeting in the Kremlin’s St George Hall, Vladimir Putin presented state decorations to service personnel and defence industry specialists who distinguished themselves in the performance of special missions in the Syrian Arab Republic. More than 700 officers and men of the Aerospace Forces, the Ground Forces and the Navy attended the ceremony, along […]
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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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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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(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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(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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Russia’s terrorist threat has evolved. But the authorities are yet to evolve with it. (opendemocracy.net – Mark Galeotti – March 17, 2016) Mark Galeotti is Professor of Global Affairs at New York University’s SCPS Center for Global Affairs. He blogs on Russian security affairs at In Moscow’s Shadows and tweets as @MarkGaleotti. Why did Uzbek nanny Gyulchekhra Bobokulova call out […]
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(Kremlin.ru – March 16, 2016) Vladimir Putin held a meeting with Government members to discuss measures to develop the Far East, including improvements to the electric power pricing policy, as well as other current issues on the socioeconomic agenda. In particular, the President heard reports from Russian Railways President Oleg Belozerov and Transport Minister Maxim Sokolov about work to improve […]
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What is really behind the Kremlin’s decision to withdraw from Syria? The move is almost certainly down to a complex combination of factors, involving Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and the EU. (Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – DMITRY YEVSTAFYEV, SPECIAL TO RBTH – March 16, 2016) The decision to pull Russian forces out of […]
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(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 – 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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(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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(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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(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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(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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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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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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(Interfax – March 15, 2016) Russia may keep its S-400 surface-to-air missile systems in Syria for a while, the chairman of the Russian Federation Council’s defense and security committee, Viktor Ozerov, has said.
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MOSCOW. March 16 (Interfax) – Russia increased investment in US Treasuries for the third successive month in January, this time by approximately $4.8 billion, according to data from the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the Federal Reserve. Russian investment in UST grew $6.1 billion last year as a whole. Russia, which held $96.9 billion in UST at the end […]
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