RUSSIA & UKRAINE – Johnson’s Russia List table of contents & links :: JRL 2019-#129 :: Thursday, 15 August 2019

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 Support the JRL: russialist.org/funding.php Donate Online: click here for direct link at GWU [check back for updates, including more links; links also posted to facebook and twitter] Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2019-#129 :: Thursday, 15 August 2019 A project sponsored through […]

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How High Is Risk of Nuclear War Between Russia and US?

Russian Mobile ICBM Parade File Photo

(Russia Matters – russiamatters.org – RM Staff- August 6, 2019) This blog post is a joint product of the Russia Matters project and the Belfer Center’s U.S.-Russia Initiative to Prevent Nuclear Terrorism (IPNT).  Is the risk of a nuclear war between the U.S. and Russia now higher than at the height of the Cold War? Yes, it is, according to […]

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Nostalgia for Soviet Past Helping Russians to Overcome Trauma of Loss, Abramov Says

Artist's Rendition of Head and Brain, adapted from .gov image at lbl.gov

(Paul Goble – Window on Eurasia – Staunton, August 10, 2019) “Societies which experience historical traumas, need anesthesia an psychotherapy, sociologist Roman Abramov says. That often takes the form of nostalgia for “‘the good old times,’” which in the Russian case for many but far from all was the period of Brezhnev’s rule (https://iq.hse.ru/news/301388060.html). “Waves of nostalgia became a frequent […]

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Protest Movement Must Broaden Its Agenda or It will Ebb After September 8, Makarkin Says

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

(Paul Goble – Window on Eurasia – Staunton, August 11, 2019) Many observers, impressed by the growth of the number of people coming out to protest in Moscow in recent weeks, have ignored two important aspects of the situation that are likely to lead to the dying out of this wave of demonstrations rather than to its further expansion, Aleksey […]

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RUSSIALINK: “A roadmap for the Moscow crisis; In Moscow, the standoff between the democratic coalition and authorities is approaching its peak. But protesters have a weapon of their own: a clear advantage in the electoral fight.” – Opendemocracy.net/ Grigory Yudin

Arm and Torso of Person in Brown Sweater Placing Paper Ballot into Ballot Box

(Opendemocracy.net – Grigory Yudin – August 12, 2019) Grigory Yudin is a sociologist, philosopher and professor at the Moscow School of Social and Economic Sciences. Moscow’s democratic coalition has a clear advantage in electoral struggle – and this is a fact that the Kremlin can’t ignore. In the past month, 19 independent and opposition candidates have tried to run in […]

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Impact of Sanctions on Russia’s GDP Less Severe Than Low Oil Prices – IMF

Oil Well file photo

The fall in oil prices cost the country on average $48.75 billion in lost economic growth per year. (Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – August 6, 2019) Sanctions have had a less severe impact on Russia’s GDP growth than low oil prices, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said in its latest report on the country. Between 2014 and 2018, sanctions slowed […]

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RUSSIA & UKRAINE – Johnson’s Russia List table of contents & links :: JRL 2019-#128 :: Wednesday, 14 August 2019

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 Support the JRL: russialist.org/funding.php Donate Online: click here for direct link at GWU [check back for updates, including more links; links also posted to facebook and twitter] Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2019-#128 :: Wednesday, 14 August 2019 A project sponsored through […]

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U.S. Envoy To North Korea Favored As Next Ambassador To Russia

File Photo of Stephen Biegun Shaking Hands with ROK Unification Minister, from image featured at state.gov

(Article text ©2019 RFE/RL, Inc., Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty – rferl.org – August 13, 2019 – article text also appeared at https://www.rferl.org/a/u-s-envoy-to-north-korea-favored-as-next-ambassador-to-russia/30106846.html) U.S. envoy to North Korea Stephen Biegun is President Donald Trump’s likely choice to be the next ambassador to Russia, Vox News and Reuters reported, citing sources familiar with the matter inside the White House. The current ambassador […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Donald Trump says an experimental nuclear-powered cruise missile accidentally blew up in Russia, and here’s why experts say he’s right” – Meduza/ Dmitry Kuznets, Kevin Rothrock (translation)

Montage of Radioactivity Symbol and Russian Map with Russian Flag, adapted from images at .gov sites

“… August 8, two soldiers and five staff from a nuclear research center in Sarov died in an explosion in the Arkhangelsk region while testing some of Russia’s latest ‘hardware.’ … monitors … recorded raised levels of background radiation … and part of the White Sea has been closed to shipping. The United States … announced openly … the accident […]

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RUSSIA & UKRAINE – Johnson’s Russia List table of contents & links :: JRL 2019-#127 :: Tuesday, 13 August 2019

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 Support the JRL: russialist.org/funding.php Donate Online: click here for direct link at GWU [check back for updates, including more links; links also posted to facebook and twitter] Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2019-#127 :: Tuesday, 13 August 2019 A project sponsored through […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “One out of five Russians wants to leave the country. Here’s who they are. A staggering 44 percent of young Russians want to leave.” – Washington Post/ Félix Krawatzek, Gwendolyn Sasse

Aerial View of Kremlin and Environs

“A recent Gallup poll made headlines in Russia with the revelation that a record 20 percent of the population wanted to leave their country. Among younger Russians, the figure was far higher: For 15- to 29-year-olds, a staggering 44 percent indicated that they would like to migrate. Where did they hope to go? Germany (15 percent) and the United States […]

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More Intelligent Part of Elite Understands Regime is Making Liberals into Revolutionaries, Kynyev Says

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

(Paul Goble – Window on Eurasia – Staunton, August 5, 2019) The more intelligent part of the Russian elite fully understands that the regime’s use of force against protesters in the way that it has is transforming liberals into revolutionaries and that further use of force, to which the regime seems to be committed, will only make the situation worse, […]

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RUSSIALINK: “14% of Russians Are Considered Middle Class – Official Data” – Moscow Times

Cash, Calculator, Pen

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Aug. 12, 2019) Less than 15 percent of Russians are considered to be part of the middle class, according to an analysis of official data by the state-run RIA Novosti news agency. Russians’ real incomes and ability to save money have suffered from low oil prices and Western sanctions in the past five years. Independent […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Moscow sees biggest protest rally since 2011 as Kremlin’s brutal police tactics backfire” – bne Intellinews/ Ben Aris

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

“An estimated 60,000 people turned out for the fourth in a series of weekend protests in central Moscow on August 10, a number too large for the Kremlin to ignore that also suggests that the tactic of increased police brutality at recent protests to put off would-be protestors has backfired. … the largest [demonstration] since … 2011-2012 rallies … [after] […]

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RUSSIALINK: “Bolotnaya riot case defendant arrested for 13 days for profane language from stage at Aug. 10 rally” – Interfax

Kremlin and River

MOSCOW. Aug 12 (Interfax) – Moscow’s Meschansky District Court on Monday found activist Alexei Polikhovich guilty of petty hooliganism at the August 10 opposition rally on Sakharov Avenue in Moscow. “The court found Polikhovich guilty of committing an administrative offense defined in Article 20.1 of the Russian Administrative Offense Code and penalized him with 13 days of administrative arrest,” the […]

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RUSSIA & UKRAINE – Johnson’s Russia List table of contents & links :: JRL 2019-#126 :: Monday, 12 August 2019

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 Support the JRL: russialist.org/funding.php Donate Online: click here for direct link at GWU [check back for updates, including more links; links also posted to facebook and twitter] Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2019-#126 :: Monday, 12 August 2019 A project sponsored through […]

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Teflon Putin? Over 20 Years In Power, Scandals Don’t Seem To Stick To The Russian President

Putin Descending a Staircase

(Article text ©2019 RFE/RL, Inc., Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty – rferl.org – Tony Wesolowsky and Robert Coalson – August 8, 2019 – article text also appeared at rferl.org/a/putin-20-years-power-corruption-scandals/30100279.html) Vladimir Putin was not well known when President Boris Yeltsin picked him as prime minister on August 9, 1999, a key point in his meteoric rise to power. But years earlier, back […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Are We Headed for Another Expensive Nuclear Arms Race? Could Be.” – New York Times/ Steven Erlanger

Iskander Missile with Launch file photo

“After the … death of the [INF Treaty], a new arms race appears to be taking shape … [with] more players … money and … weapons …. [N]ational security adviser … Bolton[] has talked about letting the last strategic-arms control treaty, New START, die in February 2021, without extending it another five years, as foreseen in the accord …. With […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Russians feel the pain of Vladimir Putin’s regime; The police’s violent response to protesters’ demands in Moscow has intensified anger over a flatlining economy” – Financial Times/ Henry Foy, Max Seddon

Diverse Paper Currency, Coins, Line Graph

“… Not since 2012, when thousands of Muscovites took to the streets to protest against … Putin’s return to the presidency, has Russia’s capital seen such a brutal crackdown on demonstrations …. Police trucks packed with young Russians and rows of baton-wielding troops have shown the brute force available to …Putin and his willingness to use it. But the continued […]

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RUSSIALINK: “What to Expect From Moscow Protests This Saturday” – Moscow Times

Aerial View of Kremlin and Environs

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – August 8, 2019) Moscow’s opposition plans to press ahead with more protests this Saturday even after election officials closed all avenues for several Kremlin critics to run for office in the Russian capital next month. The ongoing standoff between Russia’s opposition and its leadership that has taken place in recent weeks has drawn international attention […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “The Best Way to Deal With Russia: Wait for It to Implode” – Politico/ Peter Eltsov

Russia Regions Map

“… Putin has moved to annex former Soviet territories, orchestrated cyberattacks on foreign infrastructure and rolled back domestic democratic protections …. [I]n reality, Russia today is much weaker than either the Romanov Empire, which lasted from 1613 to 1917, or the Soviet Union. Russia’s biggest problem is internal: … fail[ing] to produce a national identity … encompass[ing] its entire population. […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Russian Media Muffle Protest Images, Broadcast Beef Kebabs; President Putin is trying to stop demonstrations without stoking further discontent over a poor economy, a pension revamp and endemic corruption” – Wall Street Journal/ Thomas Grove

Satellite Dishes

“As Russian riot police violently suppressed pro-democracy demonstrations across Moscow, detaining around 1,000 people … pro-Kremlin state news channels featured a different top news item: a city-sponsored barbecue festival on the leafy banks of the Moscow River. Russian state media’s studious dismissal of the nascent protest movement has helped the Kremlin keep its attempts to quash the protests off-screen, avoiding […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “What we know so far about Moscow’s custody challenge against two parents who were seen with their toddler at an election protest” – Meduza

File Photos of Law Books and Gavel, adapted from image at fjc.gov

“Moscow prosecutors are pursuing a custody challenge against a couple who brought their one-year-old child to a … protest for fair elections. … [T]he city’s Prosecutorial Office claimed that ‘during the course of the protest, the parents gave their young child to a third party, which put the boy’s health and life in danger and caused him physical and emotional […]

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U.S. urges Russia to pull troops stationed in Abkhazia, S. Ossetia behind pre-2008 conflict line – embassy in Tbilisi

Georgia Map

TBILISI. Aug 8 (Interfax) – The United States urges Russia to implement the ceasefire agreement of August 12, 2008, and to pull its troops stationed in Abkhazia and South Ossetia to the line that existed before the August 2008 conflict, U.S. Charge d’Affaires in Georgia Elizabeth Rood told the press on Thursday in connection of the 11th anniversary of the […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Russia’s Levada and VTsIOM polls dramatically disagree on sentiment over the Moscow protests” – bne Intellinews/ Ben Aris

Kremlin and River

“… results of a poll by independent pollster the Levada Center violently disagreed with a poll by the state-owned pollster, the Russian Public Opinion Research Centre (VTsIOM), on the reaction to the weekend protests over the upcoming city council elections. Levada found that 37% of Muscovite supported the protests, 27% viewed them negatively and 30% were neutral. … a VTsIOM […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Jon Huntsman to Resign as Trump’s Ambassador to Russia; Former governor of Utah will return home after a tenure marked by deteriorating relations” – Wall Street Journal/ Alex Leary, Michael R. Gordon, Georgi Kantchev, Natalie Andrews

File Photo of John Huntsman, Men in Military Uniforms and Others, adapted from image at army.mil

“Jon Huntsman, … U.S. ambassador to Russia, will resign … in early October … ahead of what is widely seen as a bid to again seek election as Utah’s governor. The 59-year-old Republican was ambassador to China under … Obama, resigned that post to run for president in 2012, then was selected by … Trump to be ambassador to Russia […]

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For Russian Economy, August Not April is the Cruelest Month

Diverse Paper Currency, Coins, Line Graph

(Paul Goble – Window on Eurasia – Staunton, August 3, 2019) August has begun with yet another decline in the value of the ruble, continuing the trend this summer month set in 1998 with default and continued last year with a decline of eight percent in the ruble’s exchange rate against Western currencies. And the rest of this month this […]

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RUSSIA & UKRAINE – Johnson’s Russia List table of contents & links :: JRL 2019-#125 :: Thursday, 8 August 2019

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 Support the JRL: russialist.org/funding.php Donate Online: click here for direct link at GWU [check back for updates, including more links; links also posted to facebook and twitter] Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2019-#125 :: Thursday, 8 August 2019 A project sponsored through […]

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RUSSIA & UKRAINE – Johnson’s Russia List table of contents & links :: JRL 2019-#124 :: Wednesday, 7 August 2019

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 Support the JRL: russialist.org/funding.php Donate Online: click here for direct link at GWU [check back for updates, including more links; links also posted to facebook and twitter] Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2019-#124 :: Wednesday, 7 August 2019 A project sponsored through […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Violent Crackdowns on Russian Opposition Reveal Dangerous Policy Shift” – Moscow Times/ Sam Greene

Aerial View of Kremlin and Environs

“The level of confrontation between the Kremlin and the Russian opposition has increased, and along with it the scale and severity of the law-enforcement response to protests.” “There has been a significant and sustained shift in the Kremlin’s relationship with the Russian opposition[] and … the Russian public [generally] …. Authorities across the country have issued ever fewer permits for […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Trump Adds to Sanctions on Russia Over Skripals” – New York Times/ Michael Crowley, Julian E. Barnes

File Photo of White House with South Lawn and Fountain

“… Trump … signed an executive order imposing new sanctions on Russia, responding to growing pressure from Congress to further punish Moscow after a nerve agent attack …. the second round of sanctions by the administration after a botched attempt in March 2018 to fatally poison a former Russian military intelligence officer, Sergei Skripal, in …  Salisbury [in the UK]. […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Russia’s rubbish mountain piles pressure on Putin; Waste recycling reforms spark protests from provincial residents” – Financial Times/ Max Seddon

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

“… in woodland near … Likino-Dulyovo … [demonstrators] stare down riot police and bulldozers. … want[ing] to stop … construction of a garbage processing plant in wet peatland forest that they say feeds local rivers and hosts endangered species. … fac[ing] violent crackdowns, with reports of police beating and arresting protesters … dragging an elderly man away by the arm […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Are regular Russians ready to face the police baton to get what they want?” – bne Intellinews/ Ben Aris

Aerial View of Kremlin and Environs

“Has the brutal beating of protestors in Moscow … and the arresting of over 1,300 people – some simply innocent passersby – radicalised Muscovites? … It’s clear that … Putin’s tight grip on popular politics is slipping. Several high-profile celebrities came out publicly in support of the protestors, which in ‘Putin’s Russia’ is unusual, as it is bad for your […]

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Russians’ Trust in TV News Falls 25% in 10 Years – Report

Adapted File Photo of TV Set in Russia with Camera, Camerman, Woman on Set in Background

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – August 1, 2019) Russians’ trust in television news as a news source dropped by 25% in the past decade, according to the independent Levada Center pollster’s latest report on the national media landscape. Television remains the biggest news source for Russians despite becoming less trusted over the past decade, past Levada polling has said. Trust […]

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RUSSIA & UKRAINE – Johnson’s Russia List table of contents & links :: JRL 2019-#123 :: Friday, 2 August 2019

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 Support the JRL: russialist.org/funding.php Donate Online: click here for direct link at GWU [check back for updates, including more links; links also posted to facebook and twitter] Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2019-#123 :: Friday, 2 August 2019 A project sponsored through […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Cold War in Cyberspace; Western military hackers have penetrated Russian targets, from tech giants to the nationwide power grid, reports say” – Transitions Online/ Ky Krauthamer

File Image of Stylized Eye Surrounded by Binary Code

“… a U.S. Senate report on Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election … relayed intelligence assessments that Russian government hackers scanned electoral systems in all 50 states, looking for weaknesses …. Russian meddling reportedly continued as the 2018 midterm elections neared … [DHS indicated that there were] ‘numerous actors … regularly targeting election infrastructure, likely for different purposes, including […]

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Expert Survey: Is Nuclear Arms Control Dead or Can New Principles Guide It?

Russian Mobile ICBM Parade File Photo

(Russia Matters – russiamatters.org – July 30, 2019) With the historic INF Treaty more than likely to terminate, and the future of New START in doubt, what guiding principles for interstate nuclear arms control can we hope for? Of eight U.S., Russian, European and Chinese experts surveyed by Russia Matters, most agree that bilateral agreements between the world’s two nuclear […]

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Trump Calls Putin To Offer Help Battling Siberian Fires

Vladirmir Putin and Donald Trump Sitting in Chairs with Flags Behind, adapted from image at whitehouse.gov

(Article text ©2019 RFE/RL, Inc., Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty – rferl.org – August 1, 2019 – article text also appeared at rferl.org/a/russian-army-called-in-to-fight-siberia-forest-fires/30085889.html) U.S. President Donald Trump has offered to help Russia battle widespread forest fires in Siberia as he seeks to repair Washington’s fractious relationship with Moscow. Trump called Russian President Vladimir Putin to make the offer, the Kremlin said […]

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The Kremlin is pushing for a “sovereign internet”. But at what cost? As Russia’s moves towards a “sovereign internet” gather speed, Russia’s IT sector is weighing up the cost of isolation.

File Image of Artist's Conception of Globe with Curved Connecting Lines of Light Passing Through Space, adapted from image at fincen.gov

(opendemocracy.net – Liliia Zemnukhova – July 30, 2019) Liliia Zemnukhova is a researcher at the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Federal Scientific Sociological Centre and the Centre for Researching Science and Technology at the European University at St Petersburg. “The best programmers are actively leaving the country,” Pyotr, the head of a St Petersburg IT start-up, tells me. “Many major western […]

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RUSSIALINK: “Significant progress on security issue since truce began – DPR” – Interfax

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

DONETSK. July 31 (Interfax) – The self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) notes significant progress on security after yet another truce came into effect, DPR foreign minister Natalia Nikonorova told journalists on Wednesday. “At today’s meeting of the security subgroup, negotiators noted substantial progress in the security situation, due to the introduction (agreed on at the last meeting) of the truce […]

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RUSSIALINK: “1 in 4 Russians Are Seeing Their Wallets Shrink – Poll” – Moscow Times

Hands Opening Envelope Containing Cash

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – July 31, 2019) Almost a quarter of Russians say they have felt their finances dwindle in recent months, according to a survey by the state-run Foundation of Public Opinion (FOM) pollster. Real incomes have declined in the past five years in Russia against the backdrop of Western sanctions and falling oil prices. As he took […]

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RUSSIA & UKRAINE – Johnson’s Russia List table of contents & links :: JRL 2019-#122 :: Thursday, 1 August 2019

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 Support the JRL: russialist.org/funding.php Donate Online: click here for direct link at GWU [check back for updates, including more links; links also posted to facebook and twitter] Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2019-#122 :: Thursday, 1 August 2019 A project sponsored through […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Some thoughts on the security side of Saturday’s Moscow crackdown” – In Moscow’s Shadows/ Mark Galeotti

Aerial View of Kremlin and Environs

“… 1. There seems to have been something of a split between the police and the National Guard. …  2. … gas and guns were absent. … an entirely old school shield-and-baton operation …. [without] even … armed snatch squads … behind the lines as backup, suggesting [authorities] knew … they weren’t going to face serious trouble …. 3. Who […]

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Russians Living on Loans Face Credit Crunch This Fall, Financial Analyst Says

Cash, Calculator, Pen

(Paul Goble – Window on Eurasia – Staunton, July 28, 2019) The economic situation of the large number of Russians who have sought to maintain their earlier standard of living by taking out loans is about to get much worse, financial analyst Igor Nikolayev says, because in the coming months, the government plans to make it more difficult for them […]

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RUSSIALINK: “Russia Could Re-Criminalize Domestic Violence After European Court Ruling, Senator Says” – Moscow Times

European Court of Human Rights Building file photo

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – July 31, 2019) Russia could make domestic violence a crime two years after lawmakers decriminalized some forms of domestic abuse, a top senator has said after a ruling by Europe’s top human rights court put a spotlight on the issue. The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) this month ruled for the first time that […]

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RUSSIA & UKRAINE – Johnson’s Russia List table of contents & links :: JRL 2019-#121 :: Wednesday, 31 July 2019

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 Support the JRL: russialist.org/funding.php Donate Online: click here for direct link at GWU [check back for updates, including more links; links also posted to facebook and twitter] Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2019-#121 :: Wednesday, 31 July 2019 A project sponsored through […]

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Russians Finally Finding Out Just How Poorly Paid They Are, Shelin Says

Cash, Calculator, Pen

(Paul Goble – Window on Eurasia – Staunton, July 24, 2019) Russians have long been accustomed to hearing that the average wage in Russia is 47,700 rubles (800 US dollars) a month, Sergey Shelin says; but now they are learning that the median wage – the one where half receive more and half less – is only 34,300 rubles (560 […]

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RUSSIALINK: “21M Russians Live in Poverty, Official Data Says” – Moscow Times

Diverse Paper Currency, Coins, Line Graph

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – July 29, 2019) The number of Russians living below the poverty line has grown by half a million since early 2018, according to official data. Western sanctions and falling oil prices over the past five years have led to a decline in real incomes and a rise in consumer prices. President Vladimir Putin is pursuing […]

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RUSSIALINK: “Russia’s Super-Important Nonelections” – Kennan Institute/ Maxim Trudolyubov

Aerial View of Kremlin and Environs

(Kennan Institute – wilsoncenter.org/program/kennan-institute – Maxim Trudolyubov – July 26, 2019) Maxim Trudolyubov is a Senior Fellow at the Kennan Institute and the Editor-at-Large of Vedomosti, an independent Russian daily. [wilsoncenter.org/blog-post/russias-super-important-nonelections] The Moscow City Council election would normally be a dull affair that few voters cared about. But this year’s election is already hot. A number of prospective candidates claim […]

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Russian Plane Draws Shots from South Korea in First Air Patrol with China: Belfer Experts Weigh In

(Russia Matters – russiamatters.org – RM Staff- July 25, 2019) South Korean fighter jets fired over 300 warning shots at a Russian Air Force A-50 Mainstay Airborne Early Warning aircraft on July 23 after the Russian plane twice violated South Korea’s airspace above the East Sea, according to South Korean authorities cited by The Aviationist. Earlier that day, Russian and Chinese […]

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