RUSSIA & UKRAINE – Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2015-#210 :: Wednesday 28 October 2015

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Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2015-#210
Wednesday – 28 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. Washington Times editorial: Trying to recreate Soviet Russia. But Vladimir Putin’s empire is more banana republic than Marxist superpower.
2. Russia Insider: Alexander Mercouris, A Night at the Perm Ballet. Immaculate ballet performance confirms Urals’s city’s vibrant cultural life and shows that culture in Russia’s regions is thriving.
3. Transitions Online: Russia Unveils Moon Landing Plans.
4. Christian Science Monitor: Fred Weir, Russian church-state mystery: Who is buried in Romanovs’ tomb? At the insistence of the powerful Russian Orthodox Church, the Kremlin is trying to determine if the remains of Czar Nicholas and his family are who there are said to be – despite little doubt among historians.
5. Moscow Times: Putin’s Movement Not Taking On Bigger Role Until 2016, Say Experts.
6. TASS: Anti-corruption measures in Russia may force many legislators to leave their seats.
7. www.rt.com: Putin wants to ax dollar from Russian trade.
8. Interfax: Hard to call Russian banking system healthy – Sberbank exec.
9. TASS: Russia climbs 11 positions in Doing Business ranking.
10. Russia Beyond the Headlines: World Cup 2018: sporting bonanza or own goal? Russia’s economic crisis can help or hinder the World Cup, depending on how host cities see the opportunity.
11. Russia Direct: What Obama and Putin should know about each other. Russia Direct sat down with Vladislav Zubok, a professor from the London School of Economics and Political Science and a fellow of the Wilson Center, to understand what U.S. President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin get wrong about each other.
12. Sputnik: Calm Down: Nuclear War Between US-Russia Not in the Cards.
13. Russia Beyond the Headlines: Russia’s all-inclusive diplomacy over Syria. In the last week Moscow has ratcheted up its diplomatic campaign in Syria, hosting Bashar al-Assad as well as meeting representatives of the Syrian opposition and making overtures to other regional players to join negotiations. Does this diplomatic offensive spell an end to Russia’s international isolation?
14. Moskovskiy Komsomolets: Russian legislators interviewed on meeting Syrian president.
14a. TASS: Russian upper house speaker: US ground missions in Syria would violate international law.
15. Moskovskiy Komsomolets: Russian expert argues against his country’s air strikes in Iraq.
16. Brookings Institution: Garrett Campbell, Russia’s military is proving Western punditry wrong.
17. Moscow Times: Josh Cohen, Path to Peace in Syria Runs Through Moscow.
18. The Jordan Times: Osama Al Sharif, Russia now holds key to political settlement in Syria.
19. www.rt.com: Moscow demands US-led coalition in Syria ‘prove or deny’ allegations Russia is ‘bombing civilians’
20. Russia Insider: Jay Vogt, Bellingcat Shows He Doesn’t Understand a Damn Thing About Russia’s Syrian Campaign. He can see the picture, but cannot come anywhere close to grasping why it looks like it does.
21. Russia Beyond the Headlines: Russian Defense Ministry demands proof of Syria hospital bombings.
22. Talk: Alleged Russian strike on Sarmin hospital.
23. Forbes.com: Kenneth Rapoza, It’s Nice!’ How Borat Saved Kazakhstan.
24. http://readrussia.com: Mark Adomanis, Russia Isn’t a Superpower, It Just Plays One on TV.
25. The Japan Times: Gregory Clark, Russia unfairly demonized.
26. RFE/RL: Brian Whitmore, Putin’s Mafia Statecraft.
27. Euromaidan Press: Vitaliy Portnikov, The last year of Putin’s Russia.
28. Paul Goble: Russia, Lacking Transportation Net, ‘Only Nominally a Single Country,’ Orekh Says.
29. www.rt.com: Robert Bridge, First Amendment flop: McCain & gang calls for ‘shutting down’ RT.
30. Stephen Blank: The Black Sea and Beyond.

UKRAINE

31. www.foreignpolicy.com: Hannah Thoburn, Revenge of the Oligarchs. Last Sunday’s local election was Ukraine’s first chance to show that things have changed. But it looks like the moguls still rule.
32. Russia Insider: Alexander Mercouris, Ukraine’s Local Elections Expose Poroshenko’s Weakening Grip. Victories of Opposition Bloc in the east and Svoboda in the west and poor showing of the ‘mainstream’ Maidan parties confirms growing disenchantment and polarisation.
33. AFP: Ex-Georgian president’s Ukraine ambitions suffer blow.
34. Sputnik: Minsk Deal? Never Heard of That! Ukrainian Forces Shelling Donetsk Airport.
35. Ukraine Today: Rotten vegetables and stale bread: Ukrainian army promises probe into poor frontline conditions.
36.Russia Beyond the Headlines: Progress stalls over debt repayment and flight bans. Moscow’s demand for repayment of Ukrainian debt has caused discord on the ground. Now, following the imposition of tit-for-tat airspace closures, the dispute has escalated to the skies.
37. Bloomberg: Ukraine Has ‘Long Way to Go’ in Graft Fight, World Bank Says.
38. New York Times: Ukraine Ban on Russian Symbols Fuels Fight Over National Identity.
39. http://gordonhahn.com: Gordon Hahn, Weimarization of the Maidan Ultra-Nationalist/Oligarchic Regime Rolls On.
40. Brookings Institution: Steven Pifer, One more time on avoiding a new Cold War.