RUSSIA & UKRAINE – Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2015-#203 :: Monday 19 October 2015

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Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2015-#203
Monday – 19 October 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. TASS: Sergey Ivanov: Don’t think the Kremlin always decides everything, sometimes it doesn’t. The chief of Russia’s presidential staff in TASS special project Top Officials.
2. Government.ru: Dmitry Medvedev’s interview with Vesti v Subbotu (News on Saturday) programme by the Rossiya television network.
3. Al Jazeera: Anatol Lieven, Putin shows his realism in Syria. A lack of moderate Syrian opposition forces has forced Washington to give tacit consent to Russian intervention.
4. The Independent (UK): Vladislav L Inozemtsev, Putin’s aim is clear: to restore the principle of sovereignty to international affairs. The Russian President has two messages – one for his audience at home, one for the West.
5. The Independent (UK): Robert Fisk, Everyone wrote off the Syrian army. Take another look now. All this is only the beginning of Mr Putin’s adventure in the Middle East.
6. Moscow Times: Foreign Investment in Russian Commercial Property Hits 7-Year High.
7. Russia Beyond the Headlines: Russian nationalists in retreat as government applies pressure. A temporary ban has been imposed on the sole large association of Russian nationalists, with the prosecutor’s office demanding that it be recognized as extremist. RBTH asks activists and observers what is happening with the nationalist movement in Russia, and why it is now calling itself the government’s “new enemy.”
8. Bloomberg: Russia’s Ailing Consumers Keep Door Open for Rate Cuts.
9. TASS: Kremlin chief of staff: Russia to do nothing against its interests to get sanctions lifted.
10. The Jordan Times: Richard Werver and Vladimir Yakunin, Are Sanctions Saving Russia?
11. http://readrussia.com: James Pearce, Russia: a Taxi Driver’s Version.
12. Huffington Post: Sarwar Kashmeri, No Russian Quagmire in the Middle East.
13. The Unz Review: The Saker, Week Two of the Russian Military Intervention in Syria. Options for Daesh, the Empire and Russia.
14. Middle East Eye: Gareth Porter, Obama won’t admit the real targets of Russian airstrikes. No one is discussing the reality that the Russian offensive is targeting the biggest militant threat to the Assad regime.
15. Project Syndicate: Richard Haass, Testing Putin in Syria.
16. www.rt.com: Alexander Yakovenko, Why Russia had to intervene in Syria.
17. Moscow Times: One-Third of Russians Think Russian Military Is World’s Best.
18. Irrussianality: Paul Robinson, Lifestyle and Identity.
9. Russia & India Report: Ajay Kamalakaran, Moving away from a West-centric outlook. The western media is not likely to change its negative approach towards Russia anytime in the near future. It’s time for Russians to stop caring.
20. Financial Times: Courtney Weaver, God’s TV, Russian style.
21. Public Books: Russia, Today: Part 1: Eliot Borenstein, CAUGHT IN A BAD ROMANCE: WHAT AMERICA MEANS TO RUSSIA.

UKRAINE

22. https://ukrainecomment.wordpress.com: Brian Milakovsky, DID KYIV SILENCE UKRAINE’S BIGGEST OPPOSITION NEWSPAPER? PART 1.
23. https://ukrainecomment.wordpress.com: Brian Milakovsky, DID KYIV SILENCE UKRAINE’S BIGGEST OPPOSITION NEWSPAPER? PART 2.
24. Moscow Times: Poroshenko Pressures TV Channel to Keep Putin Handshake Off-Air.
25. Gazeta.ru: Anton Linnik, Poroshenko Controls Only Kiev. Who Will Win in Ukraine’s Cities With More Than Million Inhabitants.
26. Stratfor: a Grand Bargain remains elusive in Ukraine.
27. Kyiv Post: Return to Volnovakha: Nine months after 13 civilians killed in Russian-separatist attack, loyalties still divided.
28. World Affairs: Alexander Motyl, A Cautionary Note: Reintegrating the Donbas.
29. Moscow Times: Jean-Marie Guehenno, What’s Next for Russia and Ukraine?
30. Russia Direct: Vladimir Evseev, 8 reasons why the Dutch got the MH17 report incomplete. The report published by the Dutch Safety Board on the Boeing 777 Malaysia Airlines disaster cannot be definitive because it largely ignores the findings of Russian experts.
31. Russia Direct: Ivan Tsvetkov, The Malaysian Boeing saga is far from over. The “final” MH17 report shows that there is still a long way to go in determining what actually happened in Ukraine.
32. Russia Insider: Patrick Armstrong, MH17 Final report is Not a Final Report; It’s Just a Limited Hangout. It tells as much of the truth as it has to. But no more.