RUSSIA & UKRAINE – Johnson’s Russia List table of contents :: JRL 2017-67 :: Thursday, 6 April 2017

St. Basil's Domes

To inquire about a subscription to the full Johnson’s Russia List e-mail newsletter, e-mail David Johnson at davidjohnson@starpower.net [check back for updates, including more links; links also posted to facebook and twitter] Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2017-#67 Thursday, 6 April 2017 A project sponsored through the Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies (IERES) at The George Washington University’s Elliott School […]

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NEWSWATCH: “Susan Rice Keeps Her Mask On; The press corps buys her story that ‘unmasking’ was no big deal” – Wall Street Journal

File Photo of Susan Rice and Barack Hussein Obama in St. Petersburg Russia, with Mural of St. Petersburg Scene in Background, adapted from image at whitehouse.gov

“Susan Rice returned to the friendly confines of MSNBC … to respond to softball questions about the news that the #Obama national security adviser had ‘unmasked’ the identity of at least one member of the #Trump transition team … surveilled by U.S. #intelligence. … all the more imperative to hear her under oath before #Congress. … Rice didn’t deny that she had sought […]

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AUDIO: Reconsidering Russia Podcast #6: Fred Weir

Map of Commonwealth of Independent States, European Portion

(Reconsidering Russia Podcast – April 4, 2017) [DJ: Listen to the interview with the best Western journalist in Russia here: mixcloud.com/reconsidering-russia/reconsidering-russia-podcast-6-fred-weir/] [note from JRL web editor: embedded audio also should load below] “Guest: Fred Weir, Moscow Correspondent at The Christian Science Monitor, discusses Russian politics and society, US-Russian relations, the centenary of the Russian Revolution, Nagorno-Karabakh, Ukraine, the American Rust […]

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RUSSIA & UKRAINE – Johnson’s Russia List table of contents :: JRL 2017-66 :: Wednesday, 5 April 2017

St. Basil's Domes

To inquire about a subscription to the full Johnson’s Russia List e-mail newsletter, e-mail David Johnson at davidjohnson@starpower.net [check back for updates, including more links; links also posted to facebook and twitter] Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2017-#66 Wednesday, 5 April 2017 A project sponsored through the Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies (IERES) at The George Washington University’s Elliott School […]

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NEWSWATCH: “Did St. Petersburg bombing bring Russia’s Syria intervention back home?” – Christian Science Monitor/ Fred Weir

St. Petersburg

“Though #Russia has been dealing with #terrorism for many years, it has mostly been rooted in domestic conflicts in the Caucasus. But Monday’s deadly bombing of a St. Petersburg metro seems likely linked to Russia’s involvement in Syria’s civil war. … analysts say that the identification of the bomber as Kyrgyz-born Akbarzhon Dzhalilov, from the turbulent central Asian city of […]

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Russian PM Calls Opposition Corruption Charges ‘Rubbish,’ ‘Nonsense’

Dmitri Medvedev file photo

(RFE/RL – rferl.org – April 4, 2017) Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has for the first time responded to allegations of corruption made by opposition activists, calling them “rubbish” and “nonsense.” Medvedev said on April 4 the allegations, which have led to a series of street demonstrations by opposition protesters, had been made “to try to pull people out into […]

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Trump Lacks Room to Move on Sanctions on Russia, Economists Say

File Photo of White House with South Lawn and Fountain

(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Andre Tartar, Anna Andrianova – April 3, 2017) What a difference three months can make. Donald Trump dropped enough hints during the campaign and in the run-up to his inauguration as U.S. president to turn most economists into believers in an imminent easing of sanctions imposed against Russia over the crisis in Ukraine. But as scandals […]

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NEWSLINK: INTERVIEW AND INTRODUCTION: “Yevgeny Yevtushenko – His Poetry Engaged and Enraged Readers at Home and Abroad [2017 reprint of 1987 Interview” – The Progressive/ Yevgeny Yevtushenko/ Katrina vanden Heuvel

Yevgeny Yevtushenko file photo, adapted from image at archives.gov

“Editor’s Note: Yevgeny Yevtushenko, internationally acclaimed Russian poet, novelist, essayist, playwright and film director died on April 1, 2017. He was 83. In honor of his tremendous work and legacy, we are sharing an interview he did with Katrina vanden Heuvel for our magazine in 1987. …”

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RUSSIA & UKRAINE – Johnson’s Russia List table of contents :: JRL 2017-65 :: Tuesday, 4 April 2017

St. Basil's Domes

To inquire about a subscription to the full Johnson’s Russia List e-mail newsletter, e-mail David Johnson at davidjohnson@starpower.net [check back for updates, including more links; links also posted to facebook and twitter] Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2017-#65 Tuesday, 4 April 2017 A project sponsored through the Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies (IERES) at The George Washington University’s Elliott School […]

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NEWSWATCH: “What Does Obama Think of the Russia Story? The only reasonable conclusion: Not much.” – Wall Street Journal/JAMES FREEMAN

File Photo of Michael McFaul Standing and Barack Hussein Obama Sitting at Desk, adapted from image at whitehouse.gov

“… Schiff … and Maddow are convinced [of] … more than circumstantial evidence of collusion between the … Trump campaign and the Russian government. But … Obama doesn’t see it that way, judging from … comments before and after leaving the White House. It’s a reasonable guess [Obama] has seen more relevant intelligence on this issue than they have. * * * … the Trump White House […]

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NEWSWATCH: “Schiff: Still no ‘definitive’ link between Russia, Trump campaign” – Fox News

Adam Schiff file photo, adapted from image at congress.gov

“The top Democrat on the House committee investigating the ever-expanding probe into Russia’s involvement in the 2016 presidential race said … that panel members still have no ‘definitive’ evidence that the Trump campaign was working with Moscow to defeat Democratic rival Hillary Clinton. … the FBI as well as the House and Senate intelligence committees are investigating the matter, which includes […]

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Putin Is Up, But Russians Are Feeling Down

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

(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Leonid Bershidsky – April 3, 2017) Russia’s long recession is officially over: In the fourth quarter of 2016, the country’s economy grew 0.3 percent, and growth appears to be continuing. Consumer sentiment is in positive territory for the first time since 2014. The numbers indicate that President Vladimir Putin’s Russia is regaining some of its lost […]

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NEWSWATCH: “How Russia Became the Jihadists’ No. 1 Target; Monday’s bombing in St. Petersburg might be only the beginning of a new terrorist wave” – Politico/COLIN P. CLARKE

Map of Middle East and North Africa with Inset Map of Holy Land

“… too soon to say who is responsible for the bombing … in St. Petersburg … it wouldn’t be surprising if international terrorists were responsible. Russia is fast replacing the United States as the No. 1 enemy of al Qaeda, the Islamic State, and other Sunni jihadist groups …. recent Russian actions in the Middle East … escalating intervention in Syria and its […]

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NEWSWATCH: “Trump’s new Russia expert wrote a psychological profile of Vladimir Putin – and it should scare Trump. Review of ‘Mr. Putin: Operative in the Kremlin’ by Fiona Hill and Clifford G. Gaddy” – Washington Post/Carlos Lozada

Vladimir Putin file photo with VOA logo; screen shot from video still

“… It’s hard to know who really runs U.S. foreign policy these days, but to the extent that Hill can influence the Trump administration’s views on Russia, this book suggests a more clear-eyed, realpolitik perspective on Putin’s intentions and capabilities, with low expectations for the rapprochement Trump imagined during the 2016 campaign. In this telling, Putin sees the United States […]

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NEWSWATCH: “A near-no show on Red Square highlights problems of Russia’s protest movement” – Washington Post/David Filipov

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

“… Last weekend’s rallies clearly caught authorities by surprise. State television ignored them, and no one spoke about them until Monday, when Putin’s spokesman called them ‘a provocation.’ That word gets used a lot in Russian officialdom in the sense of ‘someone was trying to start something, but we aren’t going to say what or who or why,’ when, in fact, […]

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Deciphering a Revolution; ‘1917: Code of a Revolution’ is the first exhibition marking this year’s centenary

File Photo of Revolutionaries Marching in Moscow in 1917, adapted from image at state.gov

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Andrei Muchnik – March 31, 2017) In 2017, Russia marks the 100th anniversary of one of the most crucial episodes in its history – the October Revolution. And what better place to hold the first in a series of exhibitions devoted to the centennial than the Museum of Contemporary Russian History – known until 1998 […]

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RUSSIA & UKRAINE – Johnson’s Russia List table of contents :: JRL 2017-64 :: Monday, 3 April 2017

St. Basil's Domes

To inquire about a subscription to the full Johnson’s Russia List e-mail newsletter, e-mail David Johnson at davidjohnson@starpower.net [check back for updates, including more links; links also posted to facebook and twitter] Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2017-#64 Monday, 3 April 2017 A project sponsored through the Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies (IERES) at The George Washington University’s Elliott School […]

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NEWSLINK: “Russia’s March manufacturing PMI continues its strongest expansion since 2011” – bne Intellinews

Diverse Paper Currency, Coins, Line Graph

“Russian manufacturing continues its strongest expansion since 2011 in March with the Markit PMI score of 52.4, almost the same as the previous month’s 52.5, while positive sentiment amongst Russian manufacturers reached a 22-month high. …”

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NEWSLINK: “Yevgeny Yevtushenko obituary. Rebellious Russian poet and author of Babi Yar, who became a celebrity in the west” – The Guardian (UK)/Robin Milner-Gulland

Yevgeny Yevtushenko file photo, adapted from image at archives.gov

“… Yevtushenko was from early on obsessed with travel, first within the USSR and then, as invitations came in from abroad, anywhere in the world he could manage to get to. By 1962 he had become a celebrity outside Russia, and featured on the cover of Time magazine. His many public readings in the west were packed, and a slim volume […]

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NEWSLINK: “Propaganda or alternative worldview? RT, Russia’s voice to the world. The international television news channel RT was an attempt to promote Russian influence in the world. How far has it succeeded?” – Le Monde Diplomatique/ Maxime Audinet

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

“Russia’s state-owned international news channel, RT (formerly Russia Today), celebrated its tenth birthday in December 2015 with a promotional video that showed Margarita Simonyan, the editor-in-chief, in Soviet uniform, inspecting her staff at their Moscow HQ. …”

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NEWSLINK: “The Best Moments in U.S.-Russian Relations” – Origins/Pietro A. Shakarian

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

“… Although the bad episodes are clearly what most Americans remember about the relationship, there were many friendly moments as well. These constructive episodes complicate a history that is often painted as invariably antagonistic. Keeping this complexity in mind, here are ten of the better moments in U.S.-Russian relations. …”

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TRANSCRIPT: Vladimir Putin expressed his condolences to families of those killed and injured in explosion in St Petersburg metro

Kremlin and River

(Kremlin.ru – April 3, 2017) The President was briefed on the blast in the St Petersburg metro by the security service heads, in particular, Director of the Federal Security Service Alexander Bortnikov. Mr Putin instructed the city authorities to take all necessary measures to help the families of those killed and injured. President of Russia Vladimir Putin: As you know, […]

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NEWSLINK: “Where the Russians Are. A color-coded map of the U.S., showing which states have the highest percentage of Russian immigrants [2005/2000]” – Russian Life

United States Map

“North Dakota is not normally the place one thinks of as having a large Russian emigre population. Yet, according to 2000 US Census Data recently released, fully 3.5% of that state’s population, or 22,514 individuals, are of Russian extraction — the highest percentage in the nation. …”

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NEWSLINK: “The St. Petersburg Bombing: Why It Won’t Bring America and Russia Together. While Washington and Moscow face a common enemy, they will continue to fight separately.” – The National Interest/Nikolas Gvosdev

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

“… this attack — as much as it seems to validate Trump’s assertion that Russia, the United States and the nations of Europe face a shared threat from groups like the Islamic State, their offshoots and their imitators — is not going to lead to any policy shifts, nor does it portend any sort of improvement in U.S.-Russia relations. There […]

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RUSSIALINK TASS: “Funeral ceremony for famed poet Yevtushenko anticipated on April 4”

Yevgeny Yevtushenko file photo, adapted from image at archives.gov

“The funeral ceremony for poet Yevgeny Yevtushenko will take place next Tuesday at the earliest, his close friend Mikhail Morgulis told TASS on Sunday. Celebrated Soviet and Russian poet Yevgeny Yevtushenko died in the United States aged 84 on Saturday. …”

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NEWSWATCH: “What Devin Nunes Knows. Team Obama was spying broadly on the incoming administration” – Wall Street Journal/Kimberley Strassel

File Photo of White House with South Lawn and Fountain

“We’ve known since early February that a call by former national security adviser Mike Flynn to the Russian ambassador was monitored by U.S. intelligence. … Flynn’s name was revealed and leaked to the press, along with the substance of his conversation. … Nunes’s own intelligence sources informed him that documents showed further collection of information about, and unmasking of, Trump transition officials. … […]

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TRANSCRIPT: Truth and Justice Forum of Local and Regional Media

Russia Map

(Kremlin.ru – April 3, 2017) Vladimir Putin is taking part in the fourth Truth and Justice Forum of Local and Regional Media. Excerpts from transcript of Truth and Justice Forum of Local and Regional Media President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Good afternoon, friends and colleagues. This, I believe, is our fourth meeting. It has become a tradition, and I think […]

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