RUSSIA & UKRAINE – Johnson’s Russia List table of contents & links :: JRL 2020-#51 :: Friday, 20 March 2020

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Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2020-#51 :: Friday, 20 March 2020
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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1. Moscow Times: Coronavirus in Russia: The Latest News | March 20.
2. TASS: Putin does not need to take coronavirus tests, there are no symptoms – spokesman.
3. Barents Observer (Norway): Moscow wants to test everyone that has been abroad. Have you been outside the country in the course of the last two weeks? Then we want to test you for coronavirus, Russian health authorities say.
4. www.rt.com: Russia testing MULTIPLE prototype Covid-19 vaccines.
5. Russia Beyond: ‘The virus has mutated very well’: What Russian doctors say about the new infection – rbth.com/lifestyle/331865-coronavirus-russian-doctors
6. Moscow Times: ‘We Don’t Have Enough Intensive Care Beds’: Coronavirus Will Test Russia’s Creaking Healthcare System. Doctors are worried that the coronavirus pandemic will expose equipment shortages and old facilities.
7. The National Interest: Stratfor, Coronavirus Is Coming for Russia. What emergency measures might Moscow take?
8. No Yardstick: András Tóth-Czifra, Russia and COVID-19
9. RFE/RL: With Europe In Lockdown, Skeptical Russians Are Told: ‘No Reason To Panic’
10. Dances With Bears: John Helmer, WAR ON THE TOILET PAPER FRONT – RUSSIA’S TISSUE BATTLES SWEDES, TURKS, AMERICANS. (excerpt) – johnhelmer.net/war-on-the-toilet-paper-front-russias-tissue-battles-swedes-turks-americans/print/
11. TASS: Kremlin heralds new full-length film on TASS ’20 Questions with Vladimir Putin’ project – tass.com/society/1133091
12. Russia Observer: Patrick Armstrong, RUSSIAN FEDERATION SITREP 19 MARCH 2020 – patrickarmstrong.ca/2020/03/19/russian-federation-sitrep-19-march-2020/
13. Reuters: Coronavirus Forces Putin Critics to Scale Back Protests Before Big Vote.
14. The Economist: Another president for life. Some Russians are resisting Putin’s power grab. His new constitution recalls the Soviet Union.
15. Meduza: Next month when holding a nationwide plebiscite on constitutional amendments, Russian election officials will keep polls open for a full week.
16. Financial Times: Russia holds rates to protect rouble despite virus slowdown. Currency is down nearly 20 per cent since start of March.
17. TASS: Kommersant: Russian government to come up with steps to support economy.
18. www.rt.com: Russia’s gold & near-zero debt give it best chance of thriving in post-coronavirus apocalypse – Max Keiser.
19. New York Times: Thanks to Sanctions, Russia Is Cushioned From Virus’s Economic Shocks. Years of economic isolation and bulging financial reserves have positioned the country to ride out the coronavirus panic and bounce right back.
20. www.rt.com: Oil price crash not catastrophic for Russian economy – Kremlin.
21. Oilprice.com: The Inevitable Outcome Of The Oil Price War.
22. Bloomberg: Putin Won’t Bow to What’s Seen as Saudi Oil-Price Blackmail.
23. NYU Jordan Center: Eliot Borenstein, Forgetting Eduard Limonov: The New York Times’ Obituary Epic Fail.
24. Irrussianality: Paul Robinson, MEMORY POLITICS
25. Carnegie Moscow Center: Maxim Suchkov, Russia and Turkey: Flexible Rivals. If the relationship between Russia and Turkey is a marriage of convenience, then right now the two sides are staying in it purely for the sake of the children: i.e., the political investments that Putin and Erdogan have made in developing bilateral relations when not everyone approved.
26. Valdai Discussion Club: Mikhail Konarovsky, Will the US-Taliban Deal Lead to Lasting Peace in Afghanistan? – valdaiclub.com/a/highlights/will-the-us-taliban-deal-lead-to-lasting-peace/
27. Financial Times: The Human Factor: Gorbachev, Reagan and Thatcher, and the End of the Cold War. Archie Brown praises soft power, challenging the idea of a victory for military might alone.
28. www.rt.com: Bryan MacDonald, Washington Post breaks ranks with other US & UK media, ADMITS polls show Crimeans prefer to be part of Russia – rt.com/op-ed/483564-washington-post-crimeans-prefer-russia/
29. The Unz Review: Anatoly Karlin, Ukraine Is a Corona Hotspot – unz.com/akarlin/ukraine-is-a-corona-hotspot/
30. The Unz Review: The Saker, There Is a Ticking Time Bomb in the Ukraine.
– unz.com/tsaker/there-is-a-ticking-time-bomb-in-the-ukraine/
31. Washington Post: Robyn Dixon and Natalie Gryvnyak, Ukraine’s Zelensky wants to end a war in the east. His problem: No one agrees how to do it.
32. www.rt.com: Stanford Professor Michael McFaul dunks on Khamenei…by puzzling over why Iran doesn’t use Gregorian calendar – rt.com/news/483574-mcfaul-iran-new-year-calendar/
33. National Review: Andrew McCarthy, The Inevitable Shoe Drops: DOJ Dismisses Mueller’s Charges against Russian Businesses. The indictment was political theater never meant to be tried in court.
34. The Unz Review: Anatoly Karlin, Meet the New Russiagate, Same as the Old Russiagate – unz.com/akarlin/eternal-russiagate/
35. Carnegie Europe: Agnieszka Legucka, Russia’s Long-Term Campaign of Disinformation in Europe. Knowing the strategic goals of Russian foreign policy, the EU must prepare for Russian disinformation being a long-term tool for contesting the order in Europe.
36. Newsweek: Ben Noble and Nikolai Petrov, PRESIDENT FOR LIFE? BEHIND THE FACADE, PUTIN’S POWER IS WEAKER THAN YOU MIGHT THINK.
37. The New Republic: Gregory Feifer, Putin Is Perfecting His Authoritarian Model. The Russian president is planning a lifetime tenure-and acting as a beacon for budding autocrats, from Turkmenistan to the Trump White House.

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