RUSSIA NEWS & INFORMATION – Johnson’s Russia List contents & links :: JRL 2021-#169 :: Thursday, 26 August 2021
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Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2021-#169 :: Thursday, 26 August 2021
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1. Moscow Times: Russia Sees Record Virus Deaths Despite Falling Cases
2. Bloomberg: Russian Climate Plan Sees Rising Emissions Countered by Forests
3. New York Times: In First Interview From Jail, an Upbeat Navalny Discusses Prison Life. Russian political prisoners today are subjected to “psychological” pressure, said the opposition leader Aleksei A. Navalny, who is forced to watch state TV for more than eight hours a day.
4. New York Times: Read Excerpts From Navalny’s Interview With The Times. Aleksei A. Navalny, the Russian opposition leader, lays out his case — by turns funny, sarcastic and ironic — for the inevitability of democracy in his country.
5. rt.com: Fake poisoning or genuine attempt? Russian TV documentary examines evidence of alleged attack on opposition figure Alexey Navalny – rt.com/russia/533051-solovyov-tv-documentary-navalny-poisoning/
6. TASS: Kremlin leaves open possibility that foreign agent law could be amended if necessary – tass.com/politics/1330461
7. RFE/RL: Vote Now, Get Bonus Later: Putin Accused Of Bribing Electorate To Save Ruling Party.
8. rt.com: As its poll numbers drop to new lows, Putin-supporting United Russia party faces prospect of losing its absolute hold on power – rt.com/russia/533117-united-russia-party-poll-drop/
9. Meduza: Back with a vengeance. After failing to meet goals in the 2019 Moscow municipal elections, Russia’s ruling establishment has ramped up efforts in 2021, but success in the State Duma is far from guaranteed.
10. rt.com: 30 years after Soviet collapse, almost two-fifths of Russians say they have ‘barely enough’ for food, as prices surge – survey – rt.com/russia/533102-lack-funds-prices-survey/
11. Russia Matters: Claim in 2021: Russia’s GDP per capita is 30% lower than in 2013
12. Wall Street Journal: Gas Shortage Boosts Russia’s Sway Over Europe’s Energy Markets. Russia’s Nord Stream 2 pipeline to Germany nears completion as natural gas trades at all-time highs.
13. Interfax: Moscow says dialogue with US impossible without return of diplomatic property
14. rt.com: Paul Robinson, An evil empire? The Soviet Union’s legacy is being used to paint Russians as conquerors, despite the fact it conquered them too – rt.com/russia/533105-soviet-union-legacy-conquerors/
15. Asia Times: Russia weighs security vs influence in new Afghanistan. Moscow appears to be treading a path between tackling security threats and seeking to gain advantage from the US retreat.
16. Rossiyskaya Gazeta: Fyodor Lukyanov on Afghanistan: America is not back – it is running. Afterword to the 20-year inglorious war.
17. Interfax: Russia doesn’t want to see U.S. troops in Central Asia – Lavrov.
18. Moscow Times: Russia to Allow Resettlement of 1K Afghans, Diaspora Leader Says.
19. Izvestia: Russian security supremo interviewed on USA’s Afghan record, its implications.
20. Clingendael Spectator: Dmitti Trenin, MERKEL FACES RUSSIA: DIALOGUE WITH LIMITED RESULTS.
21. Carnegie Moscow Center: Konstantin Skorkin, In the Donbas, Russia’s Newest Citizens Prepare to Vote. The Kremlin continues to view the breakaway republics as a buffer zone and Trojan horse inside a recalcitrant Ukraine, but allowing their inhabitants to take part in Russian domestic politics will help to score key propaganda points.
22. Intellinews: Crimea Platform inaugural meeting. The inaugural Crimea Platform Summit was attended by more than 40 international delegations in Kyiv and while it didn’t recommend any concrete actions it did firmly put the Crimea issue back on the international agenda, a PR coup for president Zelenskiy.
23. TASS: Ukrainian opposition politician exposes Kiev’s purchasing schemes with Russian gas – tass.com/economy/1330087
