RUSSIA & UKRAINE – Johnson’s Russia List table of contents & links :: JRL 2019-#53 :: Friday, 29 March 2019

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Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2019-#53 :: Friday, 29 March 2019
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1. Newsnet (ASEEES): THE MAGNITSKY ACT-BEHIND THE SCENES. An interview with the film director, Andrei Nekrasov.
2. Christian Science Monitor: Fred Weir, Ukraine votes: The incumbent, the populist, or the comedian? Ukraine’s Maidan Revolution brought hope and enthusiasm to Kiev, but now much of that energy has sapped away. Sunday’s presidential election has a chance to reinvigorate Ukrainian reform.
3. Valdai Discussion Club: Andrey Kortunov, Mueller Report: A Reason for Optimism – valdaiclub.com/a/highlights/mueller-report-a-reason-for-optimism/
4. TASS: US will never remove sanctions on Moscow, Russian PM says.
5. www.rt.com: Bryan MacDonald, Mueller report: ‘Russiagate’ hoax helped turn ordinary Russians against the US – rt.com/op-ed/454993-mueller-russiagate-hoax-report/
6. Russia Observer: Patrick Armstrong, RUSSIAN FEDERATION SITREP 28 MARCH 2019 – patrickarmstrong.ca/2019/03/28/russian-federation-sitrep-28-march-2019/
7. Vedomosti: Pundit views Russians’ indifference to corruption. (Alexei Levinson)
8. The Economist: Bulldogs under the rug. Russia’s new purges rattle the elite. No one is immune in the Kremlin’s in-fighting.
9. Intellinews.com: Russia’s business confidence improves, but consumer confidence remains depressed.
10. Reuters: Russia Seen Cutting Rate in 2019 Amid Stable Inflation Outlook-Reuters Poll.
11. Russia Beyond: Why does Russia have such a low unemployment rate?
12. www.rt.com: No great firewall: Russian PM says Moscow doesn’t want to ‘regulate’ web, only protect its interests.
13. Transitions Online: Russian Courts Throw Cold Water on Chinese Baikal Project. Authorities faced stiff local opposition to plan to bottle lake water for the Chinese market.
14. Moscow Times: Dmitry Stefanovich, What to Make of General Gerasimov’s Latest ‘Doctrine.’ Russia provided its first theoretical justification for operations in remote military theaters.
15. Defensenews.com: Russian Pukhov, NATO is the obstacle to improving Russian-Western relations.
16. Defensenews.com: Russian Pukhov, NATO’s growing membership, demonization of Putin drive anti-Western policies.
17. Russia in Global Affairs: Andrei Tsygankov, From Global Order to Global Transition. A major factor in understanding the present and future global transition processes will be a global rethinking of (asymmetric) resources available to international actors, ideas and perceptions of the leaders of major powers and the nature of internal political processes. (excerpt)
18. Washington Post: Fareed Zakaria, Is Venezuela where Trump finally stands up to Putin?
19. TASS: Izvestia: Washington shelled out over $1.3 bln on Ukrainian army.
20. Stanford: Michael McFaul Testifies Before House Intelligence Committee. (“Putin’s Playbook”)
21. New York Times: Oliver Bullough. Unraveling the Putin Enigma. (re PUTIN’S WORLD Russia Against the West and With the Rest by Angela E. Stent)
22. Washington Post: Stephen Kotkin, How Putin outmaneuvers a blundering United States on the world stage. (re PUTIN’S WORLD Russia Against the West and With the Rest by Angela E. Stent)
23. Forward: Lev Golinkin, Stop Appropriating Atrocities To Talk About Russian Meddling.
24. The National Interest: Hunter DeRensis, How the Media Got it Wrong on Trump and Russia. After two years, will the mainstream print and cable news have a reckoning about their practices and motives, or bury their heads in the sands of disproven conspiracies?
25. Washington Post: Marc Thiessen, The Trump-Russia collusion hall of shame.
26. TASS: RBC: Three scenarios for Ukraine’s imminent presidential runoff.
27. TASS: Ukrainian presidential election: Oligarchs making their bets.
28. TASS: Ukrainian presidential candidates promise to return country to peace.
29. Aljazeera: Kharkiv’s pro-Russian protesters still mistrustful of Kiev. Some in Kharkiv see Ukrainian government as ‘illegitimate’ and will not vote in Sunday’s presidential elections.
30. AP: Separatist Conflict in Eastern Ukraine Divides Young Voters.
31. RFE/RL: How To Watch (And Understand) Ukraine’s Presidential Election.
32. Moscow Times: Russia Enjoys the Show in Tight Ukrainian Election. As Ukrainians head to the polls this weekend, the Kremlin is paying close attention.
33. Valdai Discussion Club: Andrei Tsygankov Ukraine, America and the “Island of Russia” – valdaiclub.com/a/highlights/ukraine-america-and-the-island-of-russia/