RUSSIA & UKRAINE – Johnson’s Russia List table of contents :: JRL 2016-138 :: Friday, 22 July 2016

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Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2016-#138
Friday, 22 July 2016
A project sponsored through the Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies (IERES) at The George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs
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1. The Daily Telegraph (UK): Two walruses die at Vladimir Putin-backed oceanarium.
2. www.rt.com: Putin calls for independent commission with foreign experts to handle Russian doping issue.
3. AP: Russia’s track and field stars angered by Rio Olympics ban.
4. Kremlin.ru: Meeting of ASI Expert Council.
5. Intellinews.com: Less than a fifth of Russians would consider emigrating, poll finds.
6. Russia Direct: Why Russian society should pay more attention to Kremlin’s foreign policy. RD Interview: Carnegie Moscow Center director Dmitri Trenin talks to Russia Direct about his latest book and outlines the key flaws of the Kremlin’s foreign policy.
7. Russia Beyond the Headlines: ‘Thieves-in-law’: Russia’s close-knit criminal corporation. In mid-July, the police detained Shakro Molodoi, or Shakro the Young, a king of the underworld and infamous “thief-in-law,” who lived in a lavish mansion in Moscow. In the 1990s and early 2000s, people like him were the protagonists of popular Russian TV series, later forgotten – but the “thieves” themselves have not gone anywhere.
8. Valdai Discussion Club: Timofei Bordachev, RUSSIA AND THE BERLIN-WASHINGTON ORDER IN EUROPE.
9. The National Interest: Ted Galen Carpenter, The NATO Alliance Is Terminally Ill.
10. Russian International Affairs Council: Sergey Rekeda, Chaos Creeps up on Russia from the South.
11. Russia Beyond the Headlines: New commander takes charge of Russian operation in Syria. Lt. Gen. Alexander Zhuravlev is expected to change the course of battle with Islamic State (ISIS) militants, who are advancing towards Palmyra once more.
12. Russia Direct: Ilya Lakstygal, Just how effective has the Russian military campaign in Syria really been? Russia’s military in Syria has had only limited success in reclaiming territory lost to ISIS. More importantly, the costly campaign still has not led to the West’s desire to cooperate with Moscow in either the Middle East or Ukraine.
13. The National Interest: Paul Saunders, Anti-Trump Hysteria on NATO.
14. Russia Insider/Jamestown Foundation: The Real Threat to the Baltics Isn’t Russia — It’s Depopulation.
15. Russian International Affairs Council: Igor Ivanov, U.S.-Russia Relations and the U.S. Presidential Election.
16. http://theduran.com: George Szamuely, Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin: Potential Partners – Not Allies or Even Friends.
17. The National Interest: Mark Galeotti, Russia Is Only A Threat If We Let It Be One.
18. Washington Post: Anne Applebaum, How a Trump presidency could destabilize Europe. His ‘Manchurian’ ties to Russia and his lack of support for NATO are troubling.
19. New York Times: Paul Krugman, Donald Trump, the Siberian Candidate.
20. Washington Post: Russian elites are more militaristic and anti-American than they’ve been in years.
21. Quora: Session with Michael McFaul. (Q&A)
22. AP: Call for Reconciliation Over Ukraine Conflict Falls Flat. (Nadiya Savchenko)
23. Interfax: Yanukovych’s lawyers hurry Kyiv court with organizing his questioning in “Berkut” inquiry.
24. Tablet: Jared McBride, Ukrainian Holocaust Perpetrators Are Being Honored in Place of Their Victims. 75 years after a little-known massacre, another memorial in Eastern Europe is erected to obfuscate the history of World War II.
25. www.opendemocracy.net: Serhiy Kudelia, What does the murder of Pavel Sheremet say about contemporary Ukraine? Two years after EuroMaidan, Ukraine’s culture of impunity remains a deadly threat to freedom of expression.