RUSSIA & UKRAINE – Johnson’s Russia List table of contents & links :: JRL 2020-#89 :: Friday, 15 May 2020

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Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2020-#89 :: Friday, 15 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. Russian International Affairs Council: Andrey Kortunov: Cooperation with the West Will Only Happen When Russia Modernises – russiancouncil.ru/en/analytics-and-comments/interview/andrey-kortunov-cooperation-with-the-west-will-only-happen-when-russia-modernises/
2. Intellinews: Russia’s Duma passes a law to allow remote voting in referendum on constitutional changes.
3. Interfax: Russia reports almost 10,600 new Covid-19 cases (+4.2%), 113 deaths in past 24 hours – HQ.
4. www.rt.com: Moscow mayor launches unprecedented FREE MASS TESTING system for coronavirus antibodies.
5. Bear Market Brief: COVID death figures [links to web-viewable version of entire issue of BMD e-mail newsletter]
6. The Guardian: Russia defends its ‘exceptionally precise’ Covid-19 death data. Moscow defends methodology as low official death rate prompts scrutiny.
7. Russia Beyond: Weapons sales in Russia SKYROCKET amid lockdown – rbth.com/science-and-tech/332183-weapons-sales-in-russia-skyrocket
8. http://gilbertdoctorow.com: Gilbert Doctorow, Russia’s handling of the Covid19 pandemic: a busy week – gilbertdoctorow.com/2020/05/15/russias-handling-of-the-covid19-pandemic-a-busy-week/
9. Intellinews: INTERVIEW: Prosperity Capital CEO forecasts Russian oil majors will survive as rivals go bust. Mattias Westman, chief executive of Prosperity Capital Management, predicts Russian oil will survive an impending bloodbath which may eliminate multinationals such as BP and Exxon Mobil.
10. The Barents Observer (Norway): Biggest oil chief comes to Putin, gets support for whopping Arctic project. A deep crisis is shattering the Russian petroleum industry, but Igor Sechin still gets the President’s unequivocal support for the development Vostok Oil, the project that is due to bring several hundred million tons of north Siberian oil to international markets via the Northern Sea Route.
11. www.rt.com: Nord Stream 2 to challenge German regulator’s decision denying waiver of ‘discriminatory’ EU rules for gas pipeline from Russia – rt.com/business/488738-germany-denies-waiver-nord-stream/
12. Wall Street Journal: Power Struggle at Russian Newspaper Shows Kremlin’s Widening Influence. One of the country’s last independent voices could soon be stifled as Putin expands political control.
13. www.opendemocracy.net: Roman Badanin, Russian indie media needs visibility – that’s why the Pulitzer row matters. Independent journalism in Russia is struggling to survive. Hard hitters like the The New York Times don’t have to do much to lend a hand.
14. Russia Observer: Patrick Armstrong, RUSSIAN FEDERATION SITREP 14 MAY 2020 – patrickarmstrong.ca/2020/05/14/russian-federation-sitrep-14-may-2020/
15. PONARS Eurasia: Stephen Crowley, Global Cities Versus Russian Rustbelt Realities.
16. Valdai Discussion Club: Sergey Kravchenko, COVID-19 Pandemic: Global Risks of More Complex Character and the Visions of the Future World – valdaiclub.com/a/highlights/covid-19-pandemic-global-risks-of-more-complex/
17. Indian Punchline: M.K. Bhadrakumar, Russia makes a botch of its Syrian alliance.
18. Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS): Moscow’s War in Syria.
19. TASS: Lavrov calls for universal approach to problems of misinformation. Russia’s top diplomat pointed to the wide use of the so-called ‘highly likely’ approach that currently accompanies any news hooks, from the Skripal case and the MH17 crash to the referendum in Catalonia.
20. Moon of Alabama: NYT Falsely Blames Russia For Cyberattack Committed By British Hacker – moonofalabama.org/2020/05/nyt-falsely-blames-russia-for-cyberattack-committed-by-british-hacker.html#more
21. Wall Street Journal: Kimberley Strassel, Barr vs. the Beltway. Swamp creatures heap abuse on him for exposing abuse at the Justice Department.
22. Dances With Bears: John Helmer, THE THUCYDIDES CLAPTRAP – RUSSIAN LESSONS AT THE PEAK OF THE PANDEMIC, AND JUST AFTER – johnhelmer.net/the-thucydides-claptrap-russian-lessons-at-the-peak-of-the-pandemic-and-just-after/print/
23. RFE/RL: The Death Of Stalin: Unique Propaganda Footage Shows Dictator’s Funeral.

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