RUSSIA & UKRAINE – Johnson’s Russia List table of contents :: JRL 2016-80 :: Friday, 29 April 2016

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Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2016-#80
Friday, 29 April 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
The contents do not necessarily represent the views of IERES or the George Washington University.
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RUSSIA

1. Interfax: Public support for Putin’s job performance remains at 82%.
2. Financial Times: Simon Saradzhyan, No, Russia is not in decline – at least not any more and not yet.
3. Moscow Times: Moscow’s Chief Architect Envisions the City’s Future.
4. Russia Beyond the Headlines/Interfax: Poll: Russians now hope for God’s help more.
5. Paul Goble: Nearly Half of All Russians Now Say They Can Live without Relying on the State, Sociologists Find.
6. Russia Direct: Mikhail Mamedov, How the West views Russia hasn’t changed much in nearly 200 years. There is actually a long historical precedent for how Russia and the West view each other in the post-Cold War era, dating all the way back to the early nineteenth century.
7. Christian Science Monitor: Fred Weir, In Russia, young Communists see moment to vie for power. Under the impact of economic crisis and impatient with ‘mutant capitalism’ dominated by Kremlin cronies, younger members of the Communist Party say they could provide an alternative to ‘Putinism.’
8. Vedomosti: Yelena Mukhametshina, The state is failing to meet its obligations to citizens, Russians believe, but that will not affect forthcoming election results, experts believe.
9. Russia Beyond the Headlines: Polls: Corporate corruption in Russia falls to U.S. level. Russian companies have recorded a drop in the number of kickbacks and bribes in their sectors, a study by Ernst & Young has revealed. According to the survey, corporate corruption in Russia has dropped so much that it is now on a par with the U.S. A similar conclusion has been reached by experts from PwC.
10. Forbes.com: Mark Adomanis, America’s Suicide Rate Is Rapidly Converging With Russia’s.
11. Forbes.com: Mark Adomanis, Russia’s Recession Isn’t Impacting Its Demography.
12. Fort Russ: Mikhail Delyagin, 12 Russian Commandments of Surviving Economic Crisis.
13. www.rt.com: Weak ruble as oil prices rise improves Russia’s economic outlook.
14. Bloomberg: Putin’s Decade-Old Dream Realized as Russia to Price Its Own Oil.
15. Russia Beyond the Headlines/RBC Daily: Russia becomes the world’s leading wheat exporter.
16. US-Russia Business Council: Alfa Bank Sees Signs Of Economic Rebound.
17. Intellinews.com: Russians largely against planned privatisations, poll finds.
18. www.rt.com: Upper house chair urges unified ‘wellbeing standard’ across Russia. (Valentina Matviyenko)
19. Russia Direct: Marina Obrazkova, Making sense of Russia’s strange new choice to defend human rights. The appointment of new human rights ombudswoman Tatyana Moskalkova has provoked a mixed reaction within Russian society in part because she is a former law enforcement official and a conservative politician who supported a series of controversial laws.
20. Levada.ru: Over third of Russians think National Guard set up to prevent unrest – poll.
21. Moscow Times: Oleg Buklemishev, KPIs For The Public Service Sector: A Fig Leaf Of A Real Change. The surprise is not that society is demanding that the system of governance in today’s Russia be transformed, but that the authorities now seem to be considering it.
22. New York Times: As Russians Struggle to Pay Bills, Debt Collectors Mimic the Mob.
23. www.opendemocracy.net: Artur Asafyev, Outrage and outsourcing in Russian healthcare. The doctor is out. Hunger strikes, mistreatment of patients and general desperation are beginning to seem like a feature – as opposed to a bug – of Russia’s healthcare system.
24. Moscow Times: Russia Braces Itself as Syrian Cease-fire Falters.
25. www.rt.com: Russia, US agree to ‘regime of silence’ in parts of Latakia & Damascus, Syria.
26. Valdai Discussion Club: VALDAI CLUB REPORT: NUCLEAR WEAPONS CEASE TO BE A SUFFICIENT DETERRENT. The main feature of possible future war between the great powers would be a breakaway from strict rules of war and the erosion of the boundaries between the concepts of “war” and “peace.”
27. Counterpunch.org: Brian Cloughley, Is Washington Preparing for War Against Russia?
28. www.foreignpolicy.com: DAVID FRANCIS and LARA JAKESA, ‘Sanctions Are a Failue…Let’s Admit That.’ With Europe debating re-opening economic ties to Russia, have U.S. sanctions on Moscow lost their teeth?
29. The National Interest: Loren B. Thompson and Constance Baroudos, 4 Reasons It Would Be Dangerous To Ban Russian Rocket Engines.
30. www.rt.com: NATO greedy for geopolitical space, wants to encircle those who disagree – Lavrov.
31. National Public Radio: Assessing The Myth Of Vladimir Putin. (interview with Mark Galeotti)
32. Russia Direct: Participate in RD Event ‘Russia expertise in American foreign policy.’ Join Russia Direct’s roundtable discussion on the current state of U.S. analysis on Russia and its changing role in the world, which will take place on May 12 in Boston.

UKRAINE

33. AP: 9,333 Killed Since Ukraine Conflict Began, U.N. Says.
34. Counterpunch.org: Halyna Mokrushyna, The War on Ukrainian Scientists.
35. Consortiumnews.com: Nicolai Petro, Ukraine’s Rightists Return to Odessa.
36. Russia Beyond the Headlines: Can Putin and Poroshenko agree on sending peacekeepers to the Donbass? Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko has said he would be willing to send a police mission to Ukraine’s war-torn Donbass region. Earlier, his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin had expressed his desire to deploy armed OSCE observers in the area. But are the leaders not speaking of different things even though their statements may sound similar?
37. UNIAN (Kyiv): Nuland talks: Special status for Donbas, militant amnesty, local election.
38. www.rt.com: Kiev points finger at Moscow over Ukraine GDP contraction.
39. Forbes.com: Kenneth Rapoza, Look Who Funds Ukraine’s ‘Anti-Putin’ Internet TV.
40. Reuters: ‘Highly Likely’ Ukraine Will Receive Next IMF Loans in June-Finance Minister.
41. Counterpunch.org: Ulrich Heyden, Crimea as a Paradise for High-Class Tourism? Plans for the economic renewal and modernization of Crimea were discussed at a recent economic forum in Yalta.
42. www.rt.com: Derek Monroe, Live from the struggling streets of Kiev, Ukraine.
43. Kyiv Post editorial, Attack on free speech.
44. Kyiv Post editorial, The big stall.
45. https://dninews.com: Intelligence Briefing: Ukraine’s Anti Corruption Joke.
46. Embassy of the United States-Kyiv: Remarks by Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Victoria Nuland at a Press Availability.

 

Map of Commonwealth of Independent States, European Portion

Map of Ukraine, Including Crimea, and Neighbors, Including Russia

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