RUSSIA & UKRAINE – Johnson’s Russia List table of contents & links :: JRL 2020-#85 :: Friday, 8 May 2020

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Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2020-#85 :: Friday, 8 May 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. Christian Science Monitor: Fred Weir, World confronts pandemic shortages. Russians have been here before. The coronavirus epidemic has raised worries about job security, food supplies, and social stability in many countries. Not long ago, Russia experienced such a trial. Our correspondent lived through it.
2. Moscow Times: Russia Is Boasting About Low Coronavirus Deaths. The Numbers Are Deceiving. Increasing transparency by Russian officials shows that 233% more coronavirus-positive patients died in at least two regions than reported in the total count. But the country stands by its classification method.
3. Awara: Jon Hellevig, Russia in the Year of Corona. What to Expect of the Economy – awaragroup.com/blog/russian-economy-in-the-year-of-corona/
4. TASS: Kommersant: Coronavirus deals heavy blow to Russia’s infrastructure sector.
5. AFP: Coronavirus deals ‘powerful blow’ to Putin’s grand plans.
6. Moscow Times: Denis Corboy, William Courtney and Kenneth Yalowitz, Covid-19 Crisis Could Spur Post-Soviet Fixes. Five practical steps in the post-Soviet space could improve healthcare and effective governance.
7. Riddle: Sanction exceptions during the Covid-19 pandemic. Denis Primakov on US sanctions against Russia in the light of new OFAC decisions – ridl.io/en/sanction-exceptions-during-the-covid-19-pandemic/
8. Meduza: ‘Fuck the Pulitzer – I just want a hyperlink’. Russian journalists say ‘The New York Times’ should have acknowledged their investigative work in the newspaper’s award-winning reports about the Putin regime’s ‘predations’
9. Russian International Affairs Council: Alexey Gromyko, Illusions of a New Bipolarity – russiancouncil.ru/en/analytics-and-comments/analytics/illusions-of-a-new-bipolarity/
10. Bloomberg: James Stavridis, NATO Flotilla Goes North to Put Russia in Its Place. After months of Moscow’s provocations, the U.S. and U.K. sent surface ships to the Barents Sea for the first time in 35 years.
11. Reuters: Putin Uses WW2 Anniversary for Bridge-Building With U.S., Britain.
12. TASS: Putin links ploys to rewrite history of WWII to political strife in some countries.
13. Valdai Discussion Club: Oleg Barabanov, Images of War in Historical Memory – valdaiclub.com/a/highlights/images-of-war-in-historical-memory/
14. Consortiumnews: Ray McGovern, Once We Were Allies; Then Came MICIMATT . As the 75th anniversary of World War II’s end is marked on Friday, few Americans know the Soviet Union’s major role in that victory, making them vulnerable to today’s anti-Russian messaging – consortiumnews.com/2020/05/08/ray-mcgovern-once-we-were-allies-then-came-micimatt/
15. Washington Times: Edward Lozansky, From a fake U.S.-Russia reset to a real one. This is especially appropriate around the Victory in Europe Day, or V-E Day.
16. Awful Avalanche: The Darker Side Of Victory – How Czechs Punished Germans – Part I – awfulavalanche.wordpress.com/2020/05/08/the-darker-side-of-victory-how-czechs-punished-germans-part-i/
17. RFE/RL: Ukrainian President Names Saakashvili To Head Reform Council.
18. Kyiv Post: Serhiy Kvit, What is the Capitulation Resistance Movement and why does it matter?
19. Facebook: Fred Weir, Re “Schiff releases transcripts undercutting Dem claims of Russia collusion proof”
20. Just the News: John Solomon, Schiff releases transcripts undercutting Dem claims of Russia collusion proof. FBI officials admit they knew Papadopoulos had little contact with Russians but opened probe anyways. DNC-connected lawyer reveals CIA contact.
– justthenews.com/accountability/russia-and-ukraine-scandals/transcripts-fbi-intel-officials-had-little-proof
21. PBS Newshour: READ: Newly released Russia probe transcripts from the House Intelligence Committee.
22. Wall Street Journal: Kimberley Strassel, The Mueller Coverup. His probe was an effort to give a fiction of legitimacy to the FBI’s disaster.
23. Wall Street Journal editorial: The Vindication of Michael Flynn. Justice drops its prosecution with new evidence about the FBI.
24. New York Times editorial: Don’t Forget, Michael Flynn Pleaded Guilty. Twice. Even President Trump has said his former national security adviser lied to the F.B.I.
25. www.outlookindia.com: Trump asks newspapers to give up Pulitzer Prize for Russia coverage. – outlookindia.com/newsscroll/trump-asks-newspapers-to-give-up-pulitzer-prize-for-russia-coverage/182752
26. Washington Post: David Ignatius, If Michael Flynn did nothing wrong, why didn’t he tell the truth?
27. www.rt.com: Robert Bridge, Sweet revenge? Now that Michael Flynn is free, Trump may be tempted to punish the Russiagate conspirators. – rt.com/op-ed/488166-michael-flynn-russiagate-trump/
28. www.rt.com: Britain’s ex-spy chiefs got rich off ‘Russian threat’ warnings, but IGNORED alarm bells on pandemic risk – report. – rt.com/uk/488058-uk-spies-cyber-security-lobbying/
29. Le Monde diplomatique: Catherine Samary, Thirty years since the collapse of the Soviet bloc. In the name of the communist ideal. One of the received ideas that became a ‘truth’ after the fall of the Berlin Wall was that the Soviet bloc’s populations cursed communism, yet obeyed it slavishly. In fact, many social movements within the Eastern bloc had long aspired to genuine socialism.

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