RUSSIA NEWS & INFORMATION – Johnson’s Russia List contents & links :: JRL 2021-#24 :: Tuesday, 2 February 2021

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 2021-#24 :: Tuesday, 2 February 2021
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.
JRL Home: russialist.org – JRL on Facebook: facebook.com/russialist – JRL on Twitter: @JohnsonRussiaLi
Support for JRL is provided in part by a grant from Carnegie Corporation of New York to the George Washington University and by voluntary contributions from readers.

1. Washington Times: Nuclear war with China or Russia ‘a very real possibility,’ U.S. Strategic Command chief warns. (excerpt)
2. NYU Jordan Center for the Advanced Study of Russia: Eliot Borenstein, The Problem with Johnson’s Russia List. This is not an antisemitic dogwhistle, it’s an antisemitic cowbell.
3. Wall Street Journal: Russian Covid-19 Vaccine Was Highly Effective in Trial, Study Finds, Boosting Moscow’s Rollout Ambitions. Sputnik V shot achieved 91.6% efficacy against coronavirus symptoms, says paper in U.K.’s Lancet.
4. Russia Beyond: 7 questions about Sputnik V, the first Russian COVID-19 vaccine – rbth.com/lifestyle/333346-questions-sputnikv-russian-vaccine
5. The New Yorker: Joshua Yaffa, Letter from Moscow. The Sputnik V Vaccine and Russia’s Race to Immunity. When the pandemic struck, scientists in Moscow set out to beat the West.
6. Intellinews: Ben Aris, Putin’s popularity slumps to 53% in wake of Navalny demonstrations.
7. New York Times: Tony Wood, Putin Isn’t as Strong as He Looks. For the first time in a long while, the Russian president isn’t holding all the cards.
8. TASS: Nezavisimaya Gazeta: Navalny may be charged under new amendment to Russia’s Criminal Code.
9. rt.com: As more than a dozen foreign diplomats attend Navalny trial, West must resist temptation to interfere in Russian affairs – Kremlin – rt.com/russia/514367-west-interfere-navalny-trial/
10. Responsible Statecraft: Anatol Lieven, What Putin nemesis Alexei Navalny is, and what he is not – responsiblestatecraft.org/2021/02/02/what-putin-nemesis-alexei-navalny-is-and-what-he-is-not/
11. TASS: Authorities pursue probe over detained protesters left to sleep in buses – tass.com/society/1251691
12. Meduza: Polite police and disorderly demonstrators. How Russian television networks and national news agencies reported Alexey Navalny’s January 31 opposition protests.
13. The FSU Brief: Has Russia’s Political Scene Changed with Alexey Navalny’s Return? The opposition figurehead faces a long haul to change public opinion – fsubrief.substack.com/p/progress-still-patchy-for-navalny
14. Monthly Review Online: Aleksandr Buzgalin, Is Russia waking up? – mronline.org/2021/02/01/is-russia-waking-up/
15. Inside Story (Australia): Graeme Gill, Navalny’s long game. January’s protests might be less damaging to Putin than a slow leaching away of legitimacy.
16. rt.com: Top Navalny aide asked alleged British spy for millions in funding, intelligence video released by Russia’s FSB claims to reveal – rt.com/russia/514291-navalny-aide-funding-alleged-british-spy/
17. Twitter: Hero of western liberals Alexei Navalny comparing Muslim migrants to cockroaches (with English subtitles) – twitter.com/i/status/1356240440845074437
18. Bloomberg: Russia Suffers Smaller Economic Slump Than Peers in 2020.
19. Kremlin.ru: Vladimir Putin laid flowers on the grave of the first President of Russia Boris Yeltsin – en.kremlin.ru/events/president/transcripts/64958
20. Russia Beyond: 25 rare photos of Russia’s first President you’ve never seen before – rbth.com/lifestyle/329890-25-rare-photos-of-yeltsin
21. TASS: Kommersant: Moscow, Washington gear up to resume arms control dialogue.
22. Washington Post: James Cameron, The U.S. and Russia kept a bilateral nuclear weapons deal alive. The harder part comes next. These five developments make arms control agreements even more complicated.
23. Awful Avalanche: Donbass Seeks Path To Reintegration With Russia – Part III – awfulavalanche.wordpress.com/2021/02/02/donbass-seeks-path-to-reintegration-with-russia-part-iii/
24. Sputnik: Half of Ukraine’s Residents Against Ban of Russian TV Channels, Poll Shows – sputniknews.com/europe/202102021081951727-half-of-ukraines-residents-against-ban-of-russian-tv-channels-poll-shows/