Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2015-#147 :: Friday 31 July 2015

Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2015-#147
Friday 31 July 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.
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RUSSIA

1. Ukraine Today: Russia greater threat to US than IS terrorism – Breedlove.
2. Paul Goble: Idiots ‘Useful’ and Otherwise on the Rise in Russia and the West.
3. The Economist: Russia’s prisons. Putin v Punk Pussy. A brave, brassy singer highlights the plight of Russia’s other inmates.
4. Moscow Times: Pyotr Romanov, Russia Won’t Be Rushed by the West.
5. Irrussianality: Paul Robinson, BOOK REVIEW. WHAT PUTIN REALLY REALLY WANTS. (re Walter Laqueur’s Putinism: Russia and its Future with the West)
6. Moscow Times: Average Bribe in Russia Doubles in Rubles, Remains Steady in Dollars.
7. Moskovskiy Komsomolets: Russian electoral law precludes “new, unauthorized players” – newspaper. (Mariya Rybakova)
8. Meduza: Russia’s most foreign agent. How one human rights group became the country’s most harassed organization. (Golos)
9. Consortiumnews.com: Robert Parry, Why Russia Shut Down NED Fronts.
10. TASS: Pundits predict ruble’s fluctuations, not instant slump.
11. http://readrussia.com: Mark Adomanis, Russia’s Housing Sector, Amazingly, Is Still In the Middle of Bloom.
12. Russia Insider: Gilbert Doctorow, Sanctions Have Failed. ‘Buy Russian’ Is Working. Western sanctions may result in the resurrection of a food super-power which competes with the EU on global export markets.
13. BBC: Russian debtors despair as boom turns to bust.
14. www.rt.com: Scotland Yard’s Litvinenko charges ‘linked to EU sanctions against Russia.’ (interview with Martin McCauley)
15. CBSNews.com: Donald Trump: “I’d get along very well with Vladimir Putin”
16. Russia Beyond the Headlines: Can Moscow bet on ‘Trump card’ in U.S.?; Obama takes Africa for a tango; Kyrgyzstan casts its lot in with Russia.
17. Washington Post: Ryan Schuessler, Small thaw in U.S.-Russian relations at the Alaska frontier.
18. Russia Direct: Nikolay Pakhomov, Moscow can’t remain indifferent to ISIS threat in Afghanistan. As ISIS shows growing signs of extending its scope and reach to Afghanistan, it’s leading to difficult new questions for Russia about how best to deal with this emerging security threat.
19. The Economist: Russia and the world. Making waves, if not ruling them. With a mixture of bluff and opportunism, Vladimir Putin is talking up his country’s diplomatic and strategic power.
20. www.rt.com: Bryan MacDonald, Why does the Western liberal media love Russian criminals?
21. The Economist: Russian foreign policy. Blind alley. Without a foreign-policy rethink, Russia is doomed to irrelevance and decline. (re Russia and the New World Disorder by Bobo Lo)

UKRAINE

22. Russia Insider: Ukraine’s PM Yatsenyuk in 2012: Putin Is Russia’s Saviour.
23. Interfax-Ukraine: Avakov calls for Ukrainian military to become volunteer force due to difficulties with mobilization.
24. Valdai Discussion Club: Mikhail Pogrebinsky, What Ukrainians Think About Their Leaders.
25. AFP: Ukraine court permits pro-Russia rebels’ self-rule.
26. TASS: Ukraine’s self-proclaimed republics urge Kiev to agree on Donbas special status.
27. Interfax: DPR accuses Ukrainian military of 47 strikes in past 24 hours.
28. Catholic Herald (UK): Ukraine faces mass starvation and the exodus of millions, says bishop. Bishop Sobilo says his country faces its worst crisis since the Second World War.
29. AFP: IMF: Ukraine economic picture ‘incredibly encouraging’
30. Kyiv Post: Uncleansed: Justice Ministry says bureaucracy is foiling lustration.
31. Wall Street Journal: Ukraine, Bondholders Move Closer to Deal. After months at an impasse over $19 billion in bonds, creditors agree to small haircut to speed debt restructuring.
32. Business New Europe: US expands sanctions day after Russia vetoes MH17 UN tribunal.
33. Interfax: Russia will respond to sanctions imposed against it using principle of mutuality, but asymmetrical actions are also possible.
34. Russia Beyond the Headlines: Flight MH17: Russia blocks UN resolution on international tribunal.
35. Russia Direct: Ivan Tsvetkov, Why Russia opposes an international tribunal on MH17. The establishment of an international tribunal would be a dangerous precedent and might lead to Russia being forced to give up some of its special privileges as a permanent member of the UN Security Council.
36. Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs: The Foreign Ministry’s statement on the discussion of further steps related to the continuing investigation into the MH17 disaster at the UN Security Council.
37. Russia Insider: Alexander Chopov, MH17: West Wants a Tribunal Without an Investigation. A prior Russia-drafted UN MH17 resolution already calls for an independent international investigation – yet it is Ukraine and the US which are withholding possibly useful data. So who’s actually an obstacle to clearing up the issue?
38. Wall Street Journal: Sohrab Ahamari, Debunking Putin’s ‘Fascist Kiev’ Myth. Jews from eastern Ukraine seek refuge from Russian invasion under the rule of a government Moscow claims is infested by neo-Nazis.
39. Fort Russ: Stories from Oles Buzina: SS Galicia Division against Ukraine.
40. The Vineyard of the Saker: What is “Ukrainian nation”, and what are its future options?
41. Zerkalo Nedeli (Kyiv): Ukrainian ambassador to the USA says Russia seeks to “blackmail” West with Donbass escalation. (Valeriy Chalyy)