Tag: Government

JRL NEWSWATCH: “Putin’s Brittle Regime: Like the Soviet One That Preceded It, His System Is Always on the Brink of Collapse” – Foreign Affairs: Maksim Samorukov

Headlines, History, Soviet Union, JRL NewsBlog, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
File Photo of Kremlin Tower, St. Basil's, Red Square at Night

“… [T]he Kremlin makes decisions in a personalized and arbitrary way … lack[ing] … basic quality controls. …. The costs of these structural deficiencies are mounting. … Putin’s regime, a highly personalized system run by an aging autocrat, is more brittle than it seems. Driven by Putin’s whims and delusions, Moscow is liable to commit self-defeating blunders. The Russian state […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Ukraine Braced for Russian Disinformation Attacks on Zelenskiy” – Bloomberg

Headlines, JRL NewsBlog, Media, Internet, Social Media, Television, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian War
File Image of Laptop Computer, Tables and Mobile Device, adapted from image at energy.gov

“Kremlin campaign to focus on legitimacy as vote scrapped Ukrainian leader sensitive over issue as war footing shifts” “… With … Ukrainian territory under Russian occupation, millions … having fled … and [Ukraine’s] infrastructure battered … martial law has imposed restrictions on elections. Zelenskiy … would otherwise be campaigning for a vote held at the end of March if he […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “How Putin’s Obsession With History Led Him to Start a War” – WSJ

Headlines, History, Soviet Union, JRL NewsBlog, Media, Internet, Social Media, Television, Military, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian War
Map of Ukraine, Including Crimea, and Neighbors, Including Russia

“Long-winded, often factually erroneous arguments back his conviction that Russia has a historic right to Ukraine” “[In his] two-hour interview with Tucker Carlson … Putin recounted events of centuries past and trotted out 17th-century documents … expounding on deeply held views about the past, many widely disputed by historians, that have driven him to launch the continent’s bloodiest conflict since […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “The Peril of Abandoning Ukraine; If Congress forces Kyiv to accept a Russian victory, the result won’t be peace but a new war. – WSJ

Headlines, JRL NewsBlog, Military, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian War, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
File Photo of Kremlin Tower, St. Basil's, Red Square at Night

“… If [U.S.] aid is cut off and Ukraine is forced to accept a Russian victory, the result won’t be peace but Russian preparation for a new war. The war in Ukraine activated the Soviet totalitarian psychological inheritance in Russia … [that] never disappeared. … Russia is more dangerous than … since the height of the Cold War [with] [m]ilitarization […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Bureaucracy as the Pillar of Stability: Are There Any Real Institutions Inside the Russian Political Regime?” – Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, Headlines, JRL NewsBlog, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Tower and Building Inside Kremlin

“Russia’s ruling mechanism — bureaucratic institutions — may outlast the current personalism. This vast network of civil servants, technocrats, and administrators forms a modestly resilient framework that endures beyond individual political decisions, providing continuity and ensuring the steady day-to-day functioning of the government.” “A persistent question … has been whether Russia has transitioned from … authoritarian … to … totalitarian […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Alternate Reality: How Russian Society Learned to Stop Worrying About the War” – Carnegie Endowment for International Peace/ Denis Volkov, Andrei Kolesnikov

Headlines, JRL NewsBlog, Military, Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian War
File Photo of Kremlin Tower, St. Basil's, Red Square at Night

“… While the public is tired of the ‘special military operation,’ there are different views on how the fighting should end. … [T]he average Russian believes it is their duty to endorse what the state deems to be moral and right. … Some data … [reveals] doubts …. If they could go back in time, 48 percent of them would […]

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Emerging Leadership Crisis in Moscow Could be a More Violent Version of August 1991, Gallyamov Says

Headlines, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
File Photo of Kremlin Tower, St. Basil's, Red Square at Night

(Paul Goble – Window On Eurasia – Staunton, Nov. 27, 2023) Even now, “Russian elites are unhappy with Putin, but they aren’t trying to overthrow him” because “they have something to lose and don’t want to take risks,” Abbas Gallyamov says. But “at some point, it will be this conflict within the elites that will destroy the regime.” According to […]

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Russia in Review, Nov. 17-21, 2023

Abortion, Agriculture, Argentina, Armenia, Arms Trade, Military Aid, Assassinations, Beatings, Threats, Azerbaijan, South Caucasus, Belarus, BRICS, Bulgaria, Chechnya, Dagestan, North Caucasus, China, Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Headlines, Human Rights, India, Israel, Gaza, Hamas, Palestine, Latin America, Middle East, North Africa, Military, NATO, Oil, Gas, Energy, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, Population Disaster, Demographics, Regions, Cities, Municipalities, Religion, Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian War, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
File Photo of Red Square, Kremlin, Environs, adapted from image at state.gov

(Russia Matters – russiamatters.org) 3 Things to Know In the past month, Russian forces have gained 16 square miles of Ukrainian territory, while Ukraine gained 7 square miles, according to calculations by Katherine Davidson, associate of the Belfer Russia-Ukraine War Task Force.1Yet, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has this week denied his top general Valery Zaluzhny’s recent claim that the war has reached […]

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RUSSIALINK: “Putin’s Daughter Joins Moscow Genetics Society, Criticizes Russian Laws – Mozhem Obyasnit” – Moscow Times

Headlines, Health, Epidemics, Substance Abuse, Human Rights, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections

(Moscow Times – Nov. 13, 2023) President Vladimir Putin’s oldest daughter has been appointed to the board of the Moscow Society of Medical Genetics, the independent news outlet Mozhem Obyasnit reported Monday, citing her public profile on the organization’s website and a video in which she criticizes laws adopted during her father’s time in office. Maria Vorontsova is a candidate […]

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RUSSIALINK: “Putin Re-Election Campaign Begins Enlisting Surrogates – Kommersant” – Moscow Times

Headlines, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Vladimir Putin file photo, adapted from screenshot of video at shareamerica.gov

(Moscow Times – Nov. 11, 2023) The Kremlin has begun compiling a list of influential figures that would campaign on behalf of President Vladimir Putin as he seeks re-election next year, the Kommersant business daily reported Monday, citing several anonymous sources familiar with the matter. According to the newspaper, work on organizing a so-called “initiative group” of campaign surrogates suggests […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Russia’s Putin to stay in power past 2024, sources say” – Reuters

Headlines, JRL NewsBlog, Military, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, Regions, Cities, Municipalities
Vladimir Putin file photo, adapted from screenshot of video at shareamerica.gov

“… Putin [reportedly] has decided to run in the March presidential election, a move that will keep him in power until least 2030 …. After defusing an armed mutiny by the leader of the Wagner mercenary group … Putin has moved to shore up support among his core base in the security forces, the armed forces and with regional voters […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Putin is expected to seek reelection in Russia, but who would run if he doesn’t?” – AP

Headlines, JRL NewsBlog, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Vladimir Putin file photo, adapted from screenshot of video at shareamerica.gov

“… Putin is … expected to seek another term when Russia holds presidential elections next March. … But 71 is an age when death or serious illness are hardly distant concerns …. If Putin was not on the ballot … it’s not clear who might take his place. … There are no primary elections … [P]olitical parties … present [candidates] […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Reports of Putin’s death might not be greatly exaggerated” – The Hill/ Alexander J. Motyl

Headlines, JRL NewsBlog, Media, Internet, Social Media, Television, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Vladimir Putin file photo, adapted from screenshot of video at shareamerica.gov

“Is … Putin dead? … [M]ysterious Russian Telegram channel … ‘General SVR’ and [prominent Russian political analyst] Valery Solovey … [say] yes. … [Putin] supposedly breathed his last … Thursday, Oct. 26. The Putin we see now [allegedly would] … actually his double … [already] filling in for the sickly real Putin for several months. Few Russian or Western analysts […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Alexey Navalny Never Wanted to Be a Dissident” – Politico

Assassinations, Beatings, Threats, Books, New Books, Book Releases, Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Headlines, Human Rights, JRL NewsBlog, Nonprofits, Activists, NGO's, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
File Photo of Alexei Navalny Marching on Street with Others in Background; adapted from image at commons.wikimedia.org with credit to Evgeny Feldman, subject to Creative Commons license; original image at commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:FEV_1795_(cropped1).jpg, with license information at creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en and creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/legalcode

“Once upon a time, Alexey Navalny wanted to be a normal politician in a normal country. Now that’s just a fantasy.” [original article was adapted from “The Dissident: Alexey Navalny, Profile of a Political Prisoner,” released by Twelve, an imprint of Hachette Book Group.] “… Navalny, despite decades crusading against Russian corruption and against … Putin’s increasingly dictatorial rule, never […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “It’s no joke: how Russian comedians try to stay relevant in wartime” – Reuters

Georgia, Headlines, Human Rights, JRL NewsBlog, Life in Russia, Culture, Arts, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
European Portion of Commonwealth of Independent States

“… Comigration [is] … a small collective of comedians … [who] have left Russia since Putin’s [2022] invasion of Ukraine … and now ply their trade in Georgia. The contrast in their material is striking [compared with comedians still back in Russia]. According to one …, Ilya Ovechkin, any reference to Putin in a joke boosts laughs by 70%. In […]

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Yeltsin’s Use of Force against Parliament in October 1993 Set Stage for Rise of Putin, Gromov Says

Headlines, History, Soviet Union, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Boris Yeltsin and Vladimir Putin

(Paul Goble – Window On Eurasia – Staunton, Oct. 4, 2023) With each passing year, it becomes more obvious that the events of the end of September and beginning of October 1993 when Boris Yeltsin used force against the Russian parliament and essentially solidified presidentialist rule in Russia were “one of the key turning points in present-day Russia,” Andrey Gromov […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Regime Change in Russia Won’t Lead to Chaos or Collapse” – Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

Headlines, JRL NewsBlog, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Russia Regions Map

“History shows that a change of leader in Russia has almost always been accompanied not by civil strife, but by liberalization.” “… [R]ecent years have seen regional leaders transformed into technocrats whose every move is closely controlled by the federal center. They depend on Moscow for everything, and are accountable to the Kremlin — not the local people. All such […]

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RUSSIALINK: “Kremlin Eyes Liberal Venediktov as Putin’s 2024 Rival – Vedomosti” – Moscow Times

Headlines, Media, Internet, Social Media, Television, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Alexei Venediktov file photo, adapted from image at usembassy.gov

(Moscow Times – Sept. 19, 2023) The Kremlin is considering running media personality Alexei Venediktov as Vladimir Putin’s “liberal” rival in the 2024 presidential elections, the Vedomosti business daily reported Tuesday, citing four anonymous sources close to the presidential administration. Venediktov is the former editor-in-chief of Ekho Moskvy, a liberal-leaning radio station that was blocked by authorities days after Russia […]

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RUSSIALINK: “Longtime Moscow Mayor, Putin Ally Expected to Soundly Win Re-Election” – Moscow Times

Headlines, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, Regions, Cities, Municipalities
Aerial View of Kremlin and Environs

(Moscow Times – Pyotr Kozlov – Sept. 9, 2023) Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin is expected to win re-election by an overwhelming margin in this weekend’s mayoral elections following the elimination of virtually all other opposition and independent candidates. Sobyanin has led Russia’s capital, a city of 12 million people, through waves of mass protests, the Covid-19 pandemic and, today, regular […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “A higher global oil price will help Russia pay for its war; The Kremlin tries new tactics to keep proceeds afloat” – The Economist

Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, Headlines, JRL NewsBlog, Military, Oil, Gas, Energy, Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian War
Oil Wells file photo, adapted from image at usda.gov

“… After … record volumes in recent months, despite Western embargoes, dwindling production and the [Black Sea navigational] risks … Russia’s crude shipments fell to 3m barrels a day (b/d) in August … 800,000 lower than … April-May … and below pre-war levels. …. On September 5th Russia said it would extend a ‘voluntary’ 300,000 b/d cut … to the […]

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Russians Don’t Oppose Putin on Ukraine Because He has Ensured that Large Swaths of Them View Themselves as Winners over Last Two Decades, Busygina Says

Headlines, Military, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian War
Aerial View of Kremlin and Environs

(Paul Goble – Window On Eurasia – Staunton, Aug. 29, 2023) Many observers blame the failure of Russians to oppose Putin on the war as the result either of the historical subservience of the people there to their rulers and to the related sense they have that nothing depends on them and therefore there is no need for them to […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “The Godfather in the Kremlin”- WSJ

Headlines, JRL NewsBlog, Military, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Kremlin and River

“The very public death of Putin henchman Yevgeny Prigozhin highlights the evolution of Russia into a mafia state held together by violence and incapable of global leadership.” “… Prigozhin had come to symbolize the criminal trajectory of the Russian state[,] [i]n the 1980s, … imprisoned in the Soviet Union, … [then] a rags-to-riches transformation from [post-Soviet] street vendor … to […]

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VIDEO: JRL NEWSWATCH: “Russia expert Fiona Hill says Prigozhin’s death in a plane crash is ‘par for the course'” – Face the Nation

Assassinations, Beatings, Threats, Headlines, JRL NewsBlog, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, United Nations
Yevgeny Prigozhin file photos, adapted from images at fbi.gov

“NANCY CORDES: … So, … Putin claims he had nothing to do with this. Is there anyone in the diplomatic community who believes that? FIONA HILL: I doubt it. … I think what we can certainly say is he didn’t order it not to happen because there are plenty of people who were painting a target on Prigozhin’s back. The […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “‘He Has Blood on His Hands'” – New York Times

Assassinations, Beatings, Threats, Headlines, JRL NewsBlog, Military, Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian War
Map of Ukraine, Including Crimea, and Neighbors, Including Russia

“In a Ukraine village, there are no tears for Yevgeny V. Prigozhin, the leader of the Wagner private militia, whose presumed death in a plane crash was reported this week.” “Mykola Honchar lives in a crumbling stone house in what is left of a tiny hamlet of eastern Ukraine. … attacked by Russian forces … last year, as … Wagner […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “How the suspected death of Prigozhin could impact Russia’s stability [Angela Stent]” – PBS

Assassinations, Beatings, Threats, Headlines, Military, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian War
Yevgeny Prigozhin file photos, adapted from images at fbi.gov

“Angela Stent …: Oh, I think Putin would have enough reason to [want] Prigozhin dead. After all, Prigozhin challenged the Kremlin. He challenged the conduct of the war. He had a populist message to Russians that, while their children were dying and their husbands dying in Ukraine, the children of the elite were in the South of France enjoying themselves. […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Experts react: What the Prigozhin plane crash reveals about Putin, the Wagner Group’s future, and the war in Ukraine” – Atlantic Council

Africa, Assassinations, Beatings, Threats, Headlines, JRL NewsBlog, Military, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Yevgeny Prigozhin file photos, adapted from images at fbi.gov

“… Prigozhin … was reportedly killed in a plane crash … with nine other passengers … traveling from Moscow to St. Petersburg, according to Russian authorities and Wagner-affiliated Telegram groups. Some reports have indicated that the plane was downed by Russian air defenses. Just hours earlier, General … Surovikin, who allegedly had advance knowledge of the Wagner mutiny and had […]

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RUSSIALINK: “Putin Opts Against Stricter Capital Controls Amid Ruble’s Slide – Vedomosti” – Moscow Times

Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, Headlines, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
File photo of Russian paper currency, adapted from image at csce.house.gov

(Moscow Times – Aug. 17, 2023) Russia will not tighten capital controls in response to a weakening ruble, the Vedomosti business daily reported Thursday, citing two anonymous sources close to the Russian government. President Vladimir Putin met with cabinet members and Central Bank governor Elvira Nabiullina on Wednesday to hear proposals on converting foreign currency earnings held by exporters into […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “C.I.A. Chief Says Wagner Mutiny Revived Questions About Putin’s Rule” – New York Times

Headlines, JRL NewsBlog, Military, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian War, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
William Burns file photo, adapted from image at cia.gov

“William J. Burns gave the most detailed public account yet by a U.S. official of the damage done to President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia by last month’s uprising by the mercenary group” “… [C.I.A. Director] Burns … said that for much of the 36 hours of the [Wagner] rebellion last month, Russian security services, the military and decision makers […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “‘Wonder Confronts Certainty’ Review: Lessons From Russian Literature” – WSJ

Headlines, History, Soviet Union, JRL NewsBlog, Life in Russia, Culture, Arts, Military, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian War
Bookcase file photo, adapted from image at nlm.nih.gov

“The writings of Tolstoy, Turgenev, Dostoyevsky and others are littered with clues for understanding the 21st-century world.” “Books of cultural criticism seldom shed a piercing light on headline events. However, readers of ‘Wonder Confronts Certainty,’ Gary Saul Morson’s masterly panorama of classic Russian literature and its hinterland of ideas, will find their understanding of Yevgeny Prigozhin’s recent botched rebellion against […]

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Russia in Review, June 30-July 7, 2023 – 5 Things to Know

China, Cybersecurity, Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, Europe, EU, Germany, Headlines, Human Rights, India, Iran, Japan, Lithuania, Media, Internet, Social Media, Television, Military, Nuclear, Missile Defense, Oil, Gas, Energy, Sanctions, Spies, Spy Allegations, Syria, Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian War, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
File Photo of Red Square, Kremlin, Environs, adapted from image at state.gov

(Russia Matters – russiamatters.org) The U.S. has included cluster munitions in its latest $800 million package of military aid to Ukraine. More than 100 countries have signed onto the Convention on Cluster Munitions, vowing to never use them, but the U.S. is not one of them. A significant percentage of the submunitions often fail to detonate, effectively turning them into […]

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Post-Mutiny: Trust in Prigozhin Below Margin of Error, Support for Peace Talk Grows

Headlines, Military, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian War
European Portion of Commonwealth of Independent States

(Russia Matters – russiamatters.org – RM Staff – July 7, 2023) What made Yevgeny Prigozhin rebel? We have seen multiple explanations offered, including his outspoken hatred for Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov; his evident reluctance to give up control of his PMC Wagner to the Defense Ministry; unspecified personal financial pressures; and his […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Is NATO Ready for Chaos in Russia?” – Foreign Policy/ Angela Stent

Headlines, JRL NewsBlog, NATO, Nuclear, Missile Defense, Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian War
Russian Mobile ICBM Parade File Photo

“… [Prigozhin’s] short-lived mutiny … reminded the world that autocrats appear to be stable — until they are not. As NATO leaders convene … they will focus on the immediate challenge of the Russia-Ukraine war …. [b]ut the Western alliance will inevitably confront having to deal with a less stable nuclear-armed Russia. NATO has returned to its original mission of […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “The Prigozhin Affair Is Much Less than Meets the Eye” – Politico

Headlines, JRL NewsBlog, Military, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian War
Yevgeny Prigozhin file photos, adapted from images at fbi.gov

“The short-lived mutiny by the Wagner Group rebounded to help solidify Putin’s control.” “… There is no doubt that Prigozhin’s rebellion was unpleasant news for Putin. But is the Russian leader weakened? We know very little about what happened between Putin and Prigozhin … ‘Putin’s chef.’ And what we do know supports very few, if any, of the claims that […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Wagner Cost Russia Suspiciously Little Money” – Bloomberg/ Leonid Bershidsky

Headlines, JRL NewsBlog, Military, Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian War
Yevgeny Prigozhin file photos, adapted from images at fbi.gov

“If Putin’s defense spending numbers are correct, it’s likely that Prigozhin overstated the size of his army.” “… [D]isatisfaction with Russia’s military and political leadership will continue to brew with the fighting in Ukraine. As more details become available about Wagner — until recently, the best-equipped, always regularly paid part of the Russian invasion force — officers and soldiers alike […]

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Russia Analytical Report, June 26-July 5, 2023 – 5 Ideas to Explore

China, Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, Headlines, Human Rights, Military, NATO, Nuclear, Missile Defense, Oil, Gas, Energy, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, Sanctions, Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian War, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
File Photo of Red Square, Kremlin, Environs, adapted from image at state.gov

(Russia Matters – russiamatters.org) Even though the pace of Ukraine’s counteroffensive has “progressed more slowly than many had hoped,” the West’s interests “lie in continuing to arm, train and help defend Ukraine in the face of an ongoing threat from Russia ,” according to WP’s editors. One reason for “the slower rate” of Ukraine’s territorial gains is that Ukrainian forces […]

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PONARS Eurasia: Your Monday Take – In the News [re: Prigozhin Apparent Mutiny]

Headlines, Military, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Yevgeny Prigozhin file photos, adapted from images at fbi.gov

(PONARS Eurasia – ponarseurasia.org – July 3, 2023) Ponarsians have weighed in en masse to interperet Yevgeny Prigozhin’s apparent mutiny. Kimberly Marten, who has long studied his Wagner Group, cautions that calling it a private military company belies the fact that it works on behalf of the Russian State and that, contrary to popular belief, Prigozhin is more its fixer […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “The Wagner ‘Coup’ Was Staged by Putin — and the West Fell for It” – Newsweek/ Rebekah Koffler

Headlines, JRL NewsBlog, Military, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Yevgeny Prigozhin file photos, adapted from images at fbi.gov

“… An army invades Russia, race[s] right up to Moscow, and no one gets hurt? With just a few thousand men, it achieved what Hitler with almost a million men wasn’t able to? And Putin holds his military back? And then, with Moscow supposedly within his grasp, Prigozhin decides, ‘Oh well, never mind’ and heads to Belarus? … It is […]

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Russia in Review, June 23-30, 2023 – One Thing to Know

Headlines, Human Rights, Iran, Media, Internet, Social Media, Television, Military, NATO, North Korea, Nuclear, Missile Defense, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, Syria, Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian War, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
File Photo of Red Square, Kremlin, Environs, adapted from image at state.gov

(Russia Matters – russiamatters.org) Russian intelligence services may have known in advance of Yevgeny Prigozhin’s plan to stage a mutiny, but it nonetheless materialized to pose the greatest military and security threat to Vladimir Putin’s rule since the end of the second Chechen war. The mutiny itself lasted only 36 hours, never spread to Moscow and ended with its chief […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “The humbling of Vladimir Putin: The Wagner mutiny exposes the Russian tyrant’s growing weakness. But don’t count him out yet” – The Economist

Headlines, JRL NewsBlog, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian War
Vladimir Putin file photo, adapted from screenshot of video at shareamerica.gov

“The last pretence of … Putin to be … one of his nation’s historic rulers was stripped away …. [A]rmed mercenaries swept through his country almost unopposed, covering some 750km (470 miles) in a single day, seizing control of two big cities and getting to within 200km of Moscow before withdrawing unharmed. [] Putin long ago failed as a reformer […]

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Mutiny in Russia: What Happened, What’s Next and What To Be Thankful For

Belarus, Headlines, Military, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian War
Yevgeny Prigozhin file photos, adapted from images at fbi.gov

(Russia Matters – russiamatters.org – Simon Saradzhyan – June 29, 2023) Simon Saradzhyan is the founding director of Russia Matters. What drove Yevgeny Prigozhin to lead his PMC Wagner troops on a “march for justice” across southern Russia, toward Moscow? Was it a mutiny meant to overthrow Vladimir Putin and install the ex-convict in the Kremlin? Or was the owner […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Yesterday’s Putin Is Gone” – New York Times/ Andrei Kolesnikov

Headlines, JRL NewsBlog, Military, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Vladimir Putin file photo, adapted from screenshot of video at shareamerica.gov

“… Prigozhin’s mutiny … poke[d] a hole in the Kremlin’s campaign to assure Russians that everything is fine …. [] Prigozhin … gave more Russians reason to doubt their leadership. Is [] Putin really the all-powerful, czarlike figure they thought he was? …. Even if they are not ready to give up their relative safety and stability in favor of […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Prigozhin went free. What about these Russians?” – Washington Post

Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Headlines, Human Rights, JRL NewsBlog, Military, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian War
File Photo of Prison Cell and Bars with Shaft of Light, adapted from image at fbi.gov

“For 18 months, Russia has been sliding deeper into totalitarian rule, including draconian laws pushed by … Putin that make it criminal to question the war against Ukraine — or even call it a ‘war’ …. [T]housands of Russians who object to the war and oppose [] Putin have not had the benefit of [the kind of] lenienc[y] [shown Prigozhin, […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “West explores nuclear risks from unstable Putin regime” – Financial Times

Headlines, JRL NewsBlog, Nuclear, Missile Defense, Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian War
Russian Tactical Missile on Mobile Launcher, adapted from image featured by army.mil and defense.gov

“Officials have discussed possible negative outcomes from Wagner insurrection destabilising Kremlin” “Western nations have explored contingencies in the aftermath of … Prigozhin’s attempted insurrection … including the threat to nuclear stockpiles from an unstable [Russian] regime …. Talks led by G7 members [reportedly] have included [discussions of] how a weakening of … Putin’s control over security and military forces could […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “After the rebellion, how well will Putin carry on his rule?”  – Christian Science Monitor/ Fred Weir

Headlines, JRL NewsBlog, Military, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Yevgeny Prigozhin file photos, adapted from images at fbi.gov

“Yevgeny Prigozhin’s attempted rebellion didn’t topple President Vladimir Putin. But in its aftermath, it has launched debate over just how stable Mr. Putin’s hold on the country really is.” “When oligarch Yevgeny Prigozhin led his 25,000-strong Wagner private military forces into open insurrection against Russia’s Defense Ministry and Moscow elites … it looked like the kind of turning point that […]

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Émigré Politicians, Russian and Non-Russian, Mired in Wishful Thinking, Vintsevskaya Says

Far East, Siberia, APEC, Headlines, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, Regions, Cities, Municipalities
Russia Regions Map

(Paul Goble – Window On Eurasia – Staunton, June 14, 2023) Many émigré politicians, Russian and non-Russian, talk about the looming collapse of Russia, a position that is understandable but fundamentally defective because it is a classic example of wishful thinking, of believing that what one wants to happen is what will, Tatyana Vintsevskaya says. The Siberian activist, who herself […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Wagner ‘shot down seven Russian aircraft and killed 13 airmen’ during coup attempt” – The Telegraph (UK)

Headlines
Map of Russia and Russian Flag adapted from images at state.gov

“Wagner Group mercenaries shot down seven Russian aircraft and killed 13 airmen during the failed coup attempt, according to Russian military bloggers. ‌Video footage … appeared to show the wreckage of a Russian Air Force Ilyushin-22 in a rural area of southern Russia … most likely to have been used as an airborne command and communications centre …. All 10 […]

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Prigozhin has captivated the West – but pundits have no idea what is going on

Headlines, Military, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Yevgeny Prigozhin file photos, adapted from images at fbi.gov

“Many Western pundits were quick to offer their hysterical takes on the weekend’s events in Russia” (opendemocracy.net – Jeremy Morris – June 26, 2023) Jeremy Morris is a researcher at Aarhus University, Denmark. His work covers labour relations, political economy, and the lived experience of people in Russia, Ukraine and other places since the collapse of the Soviet Union. He […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Just How Much Trouble Is Vladimir Putin In?” – Politico

Headlines, JRL NewsBlog, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Vladimir Putin file photo, adapted from screenshot of video at shareamerica.gov

“Fourteen Russia experts on what we learned about Putin over the past few days, and what the attempted mutiny could mean for Russia and the West.” “… Some think this is the beginning of the end of Putin’s rule while others think he could use the episode to consolidate his power. Some see a future of bitter infighting among elites […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “The Beginning of the End for Putin? Prigozhin’s Rebellion Ended Quickly, but It Spells Trouble for the Kremlin” – Foreign Affairs/ Liana Fix, Michael Kimmage

Headlines, JRL NewsBlog, Military, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian War
European Portion of Commonwealth of Independent States

“… [Recent] events … portend a dark future for Russia. In a few short hours, Prigozhin’s armed rebellion generated enormous chaos. The war has stretched Russian state capacity thin … [T]he revolt has stretched it still further, presenting … a new domestic challenge. For years, the Kremlin has devised ways to head off a [cosmopolitan,] liberal, urban revolution. … [T]he […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Wagner’s Aborted Mutiny Leaves No Winners in Russia; The authority of the Russian state has sustained lasting damage, inviting future challenges” – WSJ

Belarus, Headlines, JRL NewsBlog, Military, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Yevgeny Prigozhin file photos, adapted from images at fbi.gov

“Shaken by the Wagner mutiny, Russia began addressing the damage of Saturday’s bout of violence as its citizens tried to understand how these events will affect … Putin’s regime, … shown … [to be] so unexpectedly vulnerable. … One widely shared conclusion in Russia …  was that none of the key players in the power struggle that began when Prigozhin […]

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