RUSSIA NEWS & INFORMATION – Johnson’s Russia List contents & links :: JRL 2020-#168 :: Tuesday, 15 September 2020

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Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2020-#168 :: Tuesday, 15 September 2020
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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1. Intellinews: A third of Russians consider Russia to be a great power.
2. Medium.com: Sarah Lindemann-Komarova, Russian Elections 2020 Part Two: What Happened?
3. Meduza: Everybody’s a winner! Russia’s new three-day voting scheme delivers huge victory margins for incumbent governors, while Navalny’s coalition succeeds in two municipal races.
4. rt.com: Paul Robinson, Despite small gains for the far right & Navalny, Russia’s weekend elections don’t suggest any major political change is imminent – rt.com/russia/500748-navalny-poisoning-saga-russia-elections/
5. Intellinews: Early voting accounts for almost half ballots cast in Russia’s regional elections.
6. Wall Street Journal: After Navalny Poisoning, Putin’s Loyalists Win Big in Russian Elections. Regional contests were seen as test of whether opposition could gain ground from Putin supporters.
7. RFE/RL: What Do The Regional Election Results Tell Us About Putin’s Russia?
8. rt.com: Russia’s Communist Party rejects results of some gubernatorial elections after its candidates were barred from running.
9. Moscow Times: Russia to Field 3 New Parties in 2021 State Duma Race.
11. NYU Jordan Center: Noah Buckley, Guns or Butter: How the Public Judges Its Leaders in an Authoritarian Regime.
12. Reuters: Russian excess deaths over summer outstrip COVID toll by more than 3 to 1.
13. rt.com: 14% of volunteers testing pioneering Russian Covid-19 vaccine ‘Sputnik V’ have experienced side effects, health ministry says.
14. Reuters: Fifteen scientists launch critique of Russia’s COVID-19 vaccine data.
15. Russia Beyond: 10 most popular Telegram channels to get inside the Russian mindset. – rbth.com/lifestyle/332716-10-most-popular-telegram-channels-in-russia
16. Intellinews: Ben Aris, Lukashenko, Putin meet in Sochi, Russia grants $1.5bn bailout loan … and more?
17. Al Jazeera: Russia says Belarus leader plans to change constitution.
18. Kremlin.ru: Meeting with President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko. (full transcript) – en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/64031
19. rt.com: After Putin-Lukashenko talks in Sochi, Russia disbands controversial standby National Guard unit stationed near Belarus border.
20. Indian Punchline: M.K. Bhadrakumar, Russia blasts US’ Indo-Pacific strategy.
21. Russia Matters summary: “Syria and the Russian Armed Forces: An Evaluation of Moscow’s Military Strategy and Operational Performance” by Michael Kofman.
22. theduran.com: Russia will prevent separatism in Syria: Russian analyst explains.
– theduran.com/russia-will-prevent-separatism-in-syria-russian-analyst-explains/
23. The Hill: Steven Pifer, Spinning good news on arms control.
24. Valdai Discussion Club: Oleg Barabanov, The World as Dystopia: A Literary Genre or Reality? – valdaiclub.com/a/highlights/the-world-as-an-anti-utopia-a-literary-genre/
25. The Scott Horton Shoe: Paul Robinson on the ‘Russiagate’ Narrative that Refuses to Die.
26. The Hill: US commander says evidence hasn’t corroborated intelligence of Russian bounties on US troops.
27. The Grey Zone: Gareth Porter, DARK WEB VOTER DATABASE REPORT CASTS NEW DOUBTS ON RUSSIAN ELECTION HACK NARRATIVE. A new report showing that US state-level voter databases were publicly available calls into question the narrative that Russian intelligence “targeted” US state election-related websites in 2016.
28. Carnegie Moscow Center: Dmitry Trenin, The last page. How Navalny’s case changed relations between Russia and Germany. Berlin closes the era of trustful, long-term friendly relations with Moscow, opened by Gorbachev. Moscow also turns the page. Thus, the situation becomes simpler and at the same time more risky: Russia no longer expects something from Europe, and therefore it becomes unnecessary to look back at its opinion or interests.
29. New York Times: Navalny Says He is Breathing on His Own in a Message From His Hospital Bed. The poisoned Russian opposition leader plans to return to Russia, his spokeswoman says.
30. rt.com: Navalny posts FIRST picture from Berlin hospital: Spokesman insists he’ll to return Russia, Kremlin ‘happy’ to see his recovery – rt.com/russia/500744-navalny-improvement-return-to-russia/
31. rt.com: Berlin struggles to answer RT’s question on fate of mysterious Navalny aide who left Russia for Germany without being questioned. – rt.com/russia/500685-berlin-struggles-to-answer-rts/
32. Dances With Bears: John Helmer, THE PEVCHIKH PLOT – NAVALNY BOTTLE, LONDON WITNESS FLEEs THE SCENE OF THE CRIME, BERLIN TOO. – johnhelmer.net/the-pevchikh-plot-navalny-bottle-london-witness-flee-the-scene-of-the-crime-berlin-too/print/
33. Vesti.ru: Navalny, “Novichok” and the “White Box” – vesti.ru/article/2457559
34. Forbes.com: Kenneth Rapoza, Market Eyes More Sanctions On Russia.
35. Politico.com: Russia is back, wilier than ever – and it’s not alone. Moscow’s hacking and disinformation tactics have evolved since 2016, while Americans help spread doubts about the November election.
36. Bloomberg editorial: Europe Needs to Recognize the Threat From Russia. Putin’s challenge to international norms requires a more forceful response.

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