RUSSIA & UKRAINE: JRL 2015-#16 table of contents with links :: Friday 23 January 2015

Johnson’s Russia List
JRL 2015-#16 :: Friday 23 January 2015
E-Mail: davidjohnson@starpower.net
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1. Reuters: Ukraine death toll may be far higher than known 5,000: U.N.
2. Kyiv Post: No winners in battle for hearts and minds in Ukraine’s east.
3. The Tablet: Ukrainian church leader offers Just War defence of escalating violence.
4. Russia Insider: Alexander Mercouris, It Took 6 Days for Western Media to Admit Donetsk Airport Fell to Rebels. Kiev’s denials can be understood, but why did western media go along with them when there was overwhelming evidence to the contrary?
5. Moon of Alabama: Ukraine: War In Kiev And Beyond?
6. Sputnik: US Unable to Confirm Recent Reports of Russian Troops in Ukraine.
7. The Economist: Ukraine and the IMF. Bigger and better. But a new bail-out will be no panacea.
8. Russia Insider: Mark Nicholas, Ukraine Budget Is a Paltry $30 Bn. It Can’t Pay. If West Were Humane It Would Let It Default. Western financial “aid” benefits creditors much more than Ukraine which is already saddled with more debt than it can possibly pay off.
9. Interfax: Luhansk authorities ask Ukrainian “guerrillas” not to blow up coal trains.
10. TASS: Ukraine beginning to fall apart, says country’s first president. (Leonid Kravchuk)
11. Wall Street Journal editorial: Russian Aggression, Western Talk. Vladimir Putin wages war on Ukraine, while Europe hopes to ease sanctions.
12. www.rt.com: US plays ‘instigator’s role’ in Ukraine crisis – Russian UN envoy.
13. Valdai Discussion Club: Igor Ivanov, Let There Be No War.
14. Paul Goble: Putin Now has His Storm Troopers and Pogroms Will Surely Follow, Ganapolsky Says.
15. Moscow Times: Fyodor Lukyanov, 2015 Promises Bad News for Russia.
16. Interfax: Russia now in extremely difficult economic condition, but could use this for reform – Shuvalov.
17. Bloomberg: Deputy Prime Minister Shuvalov Sees Hard Landing for Russia.
18. Sputnik: Capital Flight From Russia in 2015 May Be $90-$100 Billion. (Kudrin)
19. Moscow Times: Chris Weafer, Russian Economy Will Rally, But Won’t Boom.
20. Moscow Times: More Russians See Potential for Political Protests in Their Country, Poll Shows.
21. TASS: Russians say “no” to protests and demonstrations.
22. Bloomberg: Putin Said to Shrink Inner Circle as Hawks Beat Billionaires.
23. Moscow Times: Russian Patriarch Says Halving Abortions Will Help Solve Population Crisis.
24. Russia Beyond the Headlines/Izvestia: Reality show about adoptive families suggested to dispel myths about adoption. The Russian Civic Chamber has asked federal television stations to create shows about adoption.
25. Moscow Times: Turf War Seen at Heart of Russian Space Industry Shake-Up.
26. www.opendemocracy.net: Maria Sharmina and Christopher Jones, Discounting the future of climate change in Russia. Like it or not, global warming will affect Russia, and ignoring it only stores up problems for later.
27. Moscow Times: How Poland Kept Putin Away From the Auschwitz Memorial.
28. Sputnik: Dmitry Babich, Poland vs. Russia: Malfunctioning Memories Breed Monsters, if Only in Word.
29. Interfax: Russia’s Rosatom ready to continue nuclear safety cooperation with US.
30. Russia Direct: Maurizio Martellini an Paola Ceragioli, How Russia and the West can turn nuclear rivalry into cooperation. The nuclear rivalry between Russia and the West must not be allowed to escalate further. What’s needed is some sober thinking from both sides in three key areas: intermediate-range nuclear forces, tactical nuclear weapons, and possible cyber attacks against nuclear installations.
31. Business New Europe: Naubet Bisenov, The Great Succession Game. Central Asian leaders’ silence on succession plans poses a growing threat to stability in this volatile region.
32. Los Angeles Times: Review ‘Red Army’ a winning look at Soviet-era’s storied ice hockey team.
33. TriQuarterly: Russell Working, Road of Bones (excerpt). (re Kolyma gulag camps)
34. Ancient Origins: The Search for the Lost Library of Ivan the Terrible.