RUSSIA & UKRAINE – Johnson’s Russia List table of contents & links :: JRL 2020-#50 :: Thursday, 19 March 2020

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Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2020-#50 :: Thursday, 19 March 2020
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1. Washington Post: Gerard Toal, John O’Loughlin and Kristin M. Bakke, Six years and $20 billion in Russian investment later, Crimeans are happy with Russian annexation. Our survey shows high levels of trust in Putin – though lower than in 2014.
2. Moscow Times: Take a Hermitage Tour. Walk and walk and walk some more through the Hermitage Museum. (Video)
3. Christian Science Monitor: Fred Weir, Exploring Russia’s forgotten land: The North Caucasus. For the past 25 years, many of the small ethnic republics that make up Russia’s North Caucasus region have been wracked by wars, Islamist insurgencies, and terrorist strikes. Now they are trying to lure outsiders back – and showcase their distinct cultures.
4. TASS: Putin says his status after 2024 will depend on society’s aspirations.
5. TASS: Putin rejects ‘tsar’ label.
6. Kremlin.ru: On public sentiment and post-2024 plans (TASS interview)
[en.kremlin.ru/events/president/transcripts/63034] [Video with English subtitles: https://putin.tass.ru/en/o-planakh-posle-2024/]
7. TASS: Putin calls upon Russians to overcome dividing lines of past and move ahead.
8. Nature: Russia aims to revive science after era of stagnation. Some researchers see promise in planned reforms.
9. https://gilbertdoctorow.com: Gilbert Doctorow, Putin and other ‘Irreplaceable People’ – gilbertdoctorow.com/2020/03/18/putin-and-other-irreplaceable-people/
10. Carnegie Moscow Center: Tatiana Stanovaya, Putin’s Coup: Cunning Plan or Improvisation? Whether Putin wanted to be persuaded to stay on, was testing his entourage for their readiness for a power transition, or was simply waiting for the right moment, we may never know. But there is no evidence that he was preparing to choose a successor.
11. Paul Goble: Constitutional Change a Turning Point in Russia’s History and Quite Possibly Not in the Direction Moscow Wants, Garifullin Says.
12. TASS: Putin calls on Russian officials ‘to be ready for any scenario’ due to spread of COVID-19.
13. www.rt.com: First coronavirus patient dies in Russia: Elderly woman with underlying medical conditions.
14. TASS: All people arriving in Russia must undergo 14-day self-isolation.
15. TASS: Russian researchers fully decode COVID-19 genome.
16. Meduza: The cases for optimism and pessimism. Can Russia’s healthcare system handle the coronavirus outbreak?
17. Moscow Times: Ilya Klishin, Buckwheat and the Coronavirus: How Russians Cope With the End of the World. Although Putin stressed in his speech that there was no need to waste money stocking up on food, throngs of anxious Muscovites continued ravaging supermarkets, snatching up astronomical quantities of toilet paper and, inexplicably, buckwheat.
18. TASS: Nezavisimaya Gazeta: Russia’s budget suffers major blow as dollar reaches 80 rubles.
19. Intellinews.com: Ben Aris, Is Russia facing another banking crisis due to the oil price and coronavirus shocks? The volume of deals on Russia’s repo market jumped on March 10 and the sector is under pressure, but looking back over the last few years, so far this pressure is very limited.
20. www.rt.com: As markets panic, Russian Ruble is WORLD’S WORST performing currency in 2020.
21. Carnegie Moscow Center: Anton Tabakh, Russia Battles New Economic Crisis on Three Fronts. The current economic turbulence resembles a fire at an explosives warehouse during a flood and an earthquake, all at the same time.
22. Reuters: Trump’s National Security Advisor to Attend Russia’s May 9 Victory Day Parade.
23. The National Interest: ALeks Zivic, The Danger of Turning Russia Into a Pariah State. This is the most important lesson from the Treaty of Rapallo.
24. Valdai Discussion Club: Timofei Bordachev, Coronavirus and the Collapse of the Liberal Order: Europe’s Fate Called Into Question. Massive restrictive measures related to the need to respond properly to the challenge of the pandemic spread of coronavirus infections is quite possibly the factor that was needed to recognise that the “liberal world order” has completely disintegrated. – valdaiclub.com/a/highlights/coronavirus-and-the-collapse-of-the-liberal-order
25. Wall Street Journal: Alan Cullison, Eduard Limonov, Punk Exponent of Russian Nationalism, Dies at 77. The prolific novelist and poet was known for his seamy depictions of life in Russia and abroad, and his radical politics.
26. Moscow Times: Mark Galeotti, Farewell, Limonov, a Hand Grenade Amongst the Party Poppers. A Limonov may not have been interested in democracy, but democracy needs to be interested in Limonovs.
27. Oilprice.com: Russia Sees Oil & Gas Income Fall By Almost $40 Billion.
28. Bloomberg: Russia Admits Need to Bolster Oil But Does Not Reach Out to OPEC.
29. Seeking Alpha: Saudis Will Cry Uncle. (excerpt)
30. Nature editorial: The price of Russia-China research collaborations. Vladimir Putin’s government is strengthening research ties with China. That should not be at the expense of other global links.
31. www.rt.com: Coronavirus isn’t stopping trade between Russia & China.
32. www.rt.com: India & Russia plan to open new trade route via Iran despite threat of US sanctions.
33. NYU Jordan Center: Isabelle DeSisto, Remembering the Children of Chernobyl: How HBO’s “Chernobyl” Series Revived the Cuba-Chernobyl Connection.
34. History News Network: Aaron Leonard, Churchill, Stalin and the Legacy of the Grand Alliance: An Interview with Professor Geoffrey Roberts.
35. Forbes.com: Kenneth Rapoza, Ukraine’s Broken Government Scares Off Investors.
36. Slate.com: Josophine Wolff, The Justice Department Has Made Clear Its Indictments of Foreign Hackers Are Only for Show – slate.com/technology/2020/03/justice-department-drops-mueller-charges-russia.html
37. New York Times: Not Just a Crisis: Coronavirus Is a Test for Putin’s Security State. The outbreak offers an opportunity to examine the capabilities of Russia’s expanding surveillance apparatus, and gives Vladimir Putin a chance to prove his indispensability.