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

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

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: “In Moscow, the War Is Background Noise, but Ever-Present” – New York Times

Aerial View of Kremlin and Environs

“Muscovites go about their daily lives with little major disruption. But the war’s effects are evident — in the stores, at the movies and in the increasingly repressive environment.” “… Muscovites are experiencing dual realities: The war has faded into background noise … yet … remains ever-present in … daily lives. … Advertisements to join the military are … on […]

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

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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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Musk’s new Twitter policies helped spread Russian propaganda, E.U. says” – Washington Post

File Photo of Elon Musk, adapted from image at nasa.gov, with photo credit to Bill Stafford

“X’s failure to slow the spread of disinformation on the Internet would have violated E.U. social media law, had it been in effect.” “… The E.U. has taken a far more aggressive regulatory approach to government-backed disinformation than the United States …. The Digital Services Act … requires [so-called social media companies] to assess the risk of false information, stop […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Russia’s Smoking Guns: How to Prove the Putin Regime’s War Crimes in Ukraine” – Foreign Affairs/ Janine di Giovanni

File Photos of Law Books and Gavel, adapted from image at fjc.gov

“… [The] Ukraine … conflict has involved horrific atrocities, many … extensively recorded in real time …. [U]nlike in Syria and other recent wars, these crimes are being documented with the explicit aim of amassing evidence that can be used in courts. Since the war began, dozens of investigative journalists have been trained to become war crimes researchers, gathering images, […]

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

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: “Inside Zelensky’s Plan to Beat Putin’s Propaganda in Russian-Occupied Ukraine” – Time

Screenshot file photo of Volodymyr Zelensky Gesturing, from Congressional Teleconference, adapted from image at doggett.house.gov

“… [I]n Russia … [and] occupied regions of eastern and southern Ukraine, millions of people absorb the Kremlin line about Ukraine through Russian television. Its central message, like a genocidal fever dream mixed in among gardening shows and soap operas, depicts Ukraine’s existence as a historical mistake, its government a cabal of satanists and neo-Nazis intent on Russia’s destruction. Zelensky, […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Nova Kakhovka Dam in Ukraine: Ten guidelines for writing about catastrophe” – Timothy Snyder

Map of Ukraine, Including Crimea, and Neighbors, Including Russia

“1. Avoid [bothsidesing] this manmade humanitarian and ecological catastrophe …. 2. Russian spokespersons claiming … Ukraine did something … is not … [describing] the real world. … * * *  5. [If citing Russian propaganda, include considerations of what has been said inside Russia itself.] … Russian propagandists have … long argu[ed] [in favor of blowing up] Ukrainian dams … […]

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RUSSIALINK: “‘Almost Nothing Had Changed’: Anti-War Russians Risk First Trips Home Since Invasion” – Moscow Times

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

(Moscow Times – Kirill Ponomarev – May 28, 2023) When animation artist Varvara returned to Russia earlier this year for the first time since fleeing abroad after the Kremlin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the main emotion she felt was surprise. Not by how much had changed in her homeland after over a year of war — but by how little. […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Russian State TV Guest Calls for Putin’s Removal” – Newsweek

Vladimir Putin file photo, adapted from screenshot of video at shareamerica.gov

“… [A] Russian state television [anchor] … quickly interrupted … opposition politician Boris Nadezhdin after he suggested … Putin be ousted …. [O]n the [NTV] program Mesto Vstrechi (Meeting Place), Nadezhdin, who has opposed Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, said that under the current political regime … ‘there is no way for us to come back to Europe.’ ‘We simply have […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Barely Noting War in Public, Putin Acts Like Time Is on His Side” – New York Times

Vladimir Putin file photo, adapted from screenshot of video at shareamerica.gov

“Vladimir V. Putin of Russia looks like a commander in absentia, treating the war in Ukraine as unfortunate but distant. His options have narrowed, but he is still betting on outlasting his foes.” “… [F]ighters stormed across the border into southwestern Russia … prompting two days of the heaviest fighting on Russian territory in 15 months …. Yet … Putin, […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Latvia battles to curb Russian media influence” – DW

Map of Baltics and Environs, Including Kaliningrad

“Latvia is fighting to counter the spread of Moscow’s disinformation. Given its large Russian-speaking community, this is a tough task.” “… Latvia gained its long-awaited independence in the 1990s … then became a member of the [EU] and NATO. But … the country’s Soviet past still has a potent impact …. Even before Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine … Latvian […]

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IERES EVENT: The Russia Program Launch Event: A New Way to Study Russia – March 10 in Washington, D.C.

The Russia Program - A New Way to Study Russia with logo

The George Washington University The Institute for European, Russian, and Eurasian Studies invites you to: The Russia Program Launch Event A new way to study Russia myemail.constantcontact.com/Mark-Your-Calender–The-Russia-Program-Launch-Event.html?soid=1110347635144&aid=riWi8iX4Jes Friday, March 10, 2023 9:00am – 3:00pm EST Elliott School of International Affairs Lindner Conference Room 602 1957 E St. NW Washington, D.C. 20052 Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has put an end to […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “The Astounding Saga Of Hamilton 68 Illustrates Scope Of America’s Institutional Rot” – The Federalist

Twitter Logo and Faint World Map

“Thanks to Matt Taibbi’s most recent contribution to ‘The Twitter Files,’ we know the full extent of institutional corruption in the mind-boggling case of Hamilton 68.” “The media fell head over heels for a shoddy propaganda operation spearheaded by an ex-FBI agent. Twitter, internally, understood the operation to be partisan hackery but never spoke out. Organizations full of influential ex-government […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Latest Twitter Files show media, Dems relied on single source alleging ‘Russian bot’ activity: ‘It was a scam'” – Fox

Twitter Logo and Faint World Map

“Elon Musk says ‘shame on MSNBC’ for pushing misleading Russian bots narratives.” “… [T]he dubious source that … media and Democrats heavily relied on to peddle the false narrative of Russian bot activity on the [Twitter] platform. … [was] Hamilton 68, … spearheaded by former FBI special agent and MSNBC contributor Clint Watts[] [and] operated by the Alliance for Securing […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Putin’s Regime is ‘Cracking’ as Elites Panic: Former U.S. Ambassador” – Newsweek

File Photo of Red Square, Kremlin, Environs, adapted from image at state.gov

“An argument on Russian state television is a ‘good sign’ that the country’s leadership is cracking, according to [] former U.S. [A]mbassador [McFaul]. Russia [reportedly] has threatened to nationalize assets of Western companies … pull[ing] resources from the country following its [Ukraine] invasion …. Hundreds of companies have already left Russia after expressing dissatisfaction with the war … [I]f the […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “In the global meme wars, it’s time to side with the elves against the trolls” – Washington Post/ Thomas Kent

File Image of Laptop Computer, Tables and Mobile Device, adapted from image at energy.gov

“The Kremlin’s intensive use of lies and conspiracy theories to defend its invasion of Ukraine has once again dramatized the need for smart policies to counter disinformation. …Perhaps it’s time we learned something from Eastern Europe’s online armies of nongovernment activists — many of them volunteers. They possess authenticity and expertise that outside governments cannot match. … Volunteer activists fight […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Shut Down by the Kremlin, Independent Russian Media Regroup Abroad” – WSJ

Fingers Typing on Computer Keyboard, adapted form image at nps.gov

“News outlets forced to close since Russia invaded Ukraine are soldiering on in exile.” “… [Following] Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Kremlin adopted legislation punishing the dissemination of false information about [Russian military activities] with up to 15 years in prison. [The] Kremlin … said … the law was needed because of ‘the absolutely unprecedented information war … against our […]

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RUSSIALINK: “Hacker Attacks on Russia Gain Attention But Cause Little Damage” – Moscow Times

File Image of Stylized Eye Surrounded by Binary Code

(Moscow Times – Alexandra Vladimirova – April 29, 2022) Two days after the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, a group of hackers managed to get access to several Russian state-owned television channels and broadcast anti-war videos. But the attack ended after a few minutes and regular programming resumed. This type of fleeting hacking operation has been repeated many times […]

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Fact vs. Fiction: Russian Disinformation on Ukraine

Map of Ukraine, Including Crimea, and Neighbors, Including Russia

U.S. Department of State: Fact Sheet: Office of the Spokesperson …. Below are examples of Russian lies about the current crisis and its causes – and the truth […]

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[U.S. Department of State] Report: RT and Sputnik’s Role in Russia’s Disinformation and Propaganda Ecosystem

File Image of Laptop Computer, Tables and Mobile Device, adapted from image at energy.gov

Russian state-funded and state-directed media outlets RT and Sputnik are critical elements in Russia’s disinformation and propaganda ecosystem […]

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RUSSIALINK: “Russian embassy, consulates in Ukraine operating as usual – Russian Foreign Ministry” – Interfax

Map of Ukraine, Including Crimea, and Neighbors, Including Russia

MOSCOW. Jan 18 (Interfax) – The Russian embassy and consulates general in Ukraine are operating as usual despite the attacks of Ukrainian radicals and the provocations staged by local law enforcement officers, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said on Tuesday. “The Russian embassy and consulates general to Ukraine are working as usual. They are doing so despite the attacks […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Russia’s Military Buildup Near Ukraine Is an Open Secret” – WSJ

Artist's Depiction of Spy Satellite in Orbit, With Stylized Depictions of Lines of Site and Data Points, adapted from image at iarpa.gov

Satellite images, social media posts and flight-tracking data allow private analysts to track details governments once classified […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Putin wishes Russians happier new year, hails their strength” – AP/ Vladimir Isachenkov

File Photo of Vladimir Putin at Podium with United Russia Logo, Gesturing

“In a televised address broadcast just before midnight in each of Russia’s 11 time zones, Putin said the nation … has faced ‘colossal challenges … ‘ … Russia’s state coronavirus task force has registered … about 10.5 million confirmed infections and 308,860 deaths, but the state statistics agency … [using] broader criteria … has reported nearly 626,000 virus-linked deaths in […]

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‘WINDOW ON EURASIA’ REOPENS

Eurasia Map

(Paul Goble – Dec. 12, 2021) I am happy to report that my health situation has stabilized sufficiently to allow me to prepare Windows on Eurasia again. I have managed to keep up my daily surveys of URLs since mid-October but only more recently have been able to prepare my own posts on them. Because I was not certain how […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Kremlin penetrates deeper into online world of Russians” – Financial Times

File Image of Laptop Computer, Tables and Mobile Device, adapted from image at energy.gov

“Pressure grows on foreign social media platforms after state-run group’s takeover of Russia’s Facebook.” “The takeover … of VKontakte … by companies tied to … Gazprom has the feel of a final act in a long saga of creeping state control over the company. … [T]he Facebook lookalike’s trajectory has mirrored … the Russian internet … from the freewheeling Ru-net […]

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RUSSIALINK: “Staff of Shuttered Kyiv Post Announce ‘Independent’ Relaunch Effort” – Moscow Times

File Photo of Woman's Hands Typing on Computer Keyboard, adapted from image at fbi.gov

The staff at Ukraine’s English-language Kyiv Post announced efforts to relaunch as an “independent” publication days after its owner shuttered it amid a dispute over editorial independence […]

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‘Sword Of Damocles’: With First Legal Charges, Russia’s ‘Foreign Agent’ Law Bares Its Teeth

File Photo of Kremlin Tower, St. Basil's, Red Square at Night

“‘… you have to remember how every single ruble ended up in your account.’ If a report is deemed erroneous, a designated “foreign agent” could face a fine of up to 300,000 rubles ($4,250) or a prison term from two to five years […]

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RUSSIALINK: “Russian Journalist Dmitry Muratov Wins Nobel Peace Prize” – Moscow Times

File Photo of Nobel Prize Medal, adapted from image at lanl.gov

[Dmitry Muratov,] editor-in-chief of one of Russia’s leading independent newspapers, Novaya Gazeta, has won the Nobel Peace Prize. … for the paper’s reporting on human rights, freedom of speech and other politically sensitive topics […]

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Fake About Fakes: Russian Election Commission Airs Apparently Falsified Video Sullying Its Critics

Russian State Duma Building file photo

In a separate development, tens of thousands of pro-government bloggers participated in a coordinated campaign to spread positive reports about the course of the parliamentary elections […]

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British Researchers Say Pro-Russian Influence Operation Targets Western News Websites

File Image of Laptop Computer, Tables and Mobile Device, adapted from image at energy.gov

The websites of several prominent Western news outlets have been targeted by a pro-Russian influence operation that uses the websites’ comment sections to distort public opinion […]

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Russian Independent Media Join Forces To Urge Putin To End ‘Foreign Agent’ Label

File Image of Laptop Computer, Tables and Mobile Device, adapted from image at energy.gov

Russian news journals and websites have joined … to protest against … targeting by authorities of a growing number of independent media outlets and journalists under Russia’s controversial “foreign agent” law […]

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Who Might Russia Declare A ‘Foreign Agent’ Journalist? Pretty Much Anyone, Really.

Kremlin and River

… the government of Russian President Vladimir Putin accelerates its campaign against independent journalism […]

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RUSSIALINK: “BBC journalist Rainsford will get Russian visa if London gives visas to Russian journalists – Russian Foreign Ministry” – Interfax

File Photo of British Parliament Building, Big Ben, Thames, adapted from image at loc.gov

MOSCOW. Aug. 19 (Interfax) – Moscow will not be trying to prevent BBC journalist Sarah Rainsford from obtaining or getting her visa extended if London applies the same approach towards Russian journalists in Britain, the Foreign Ministry’s spokesperson Maria Zakharova said on Thursday. “As you know, we always keep our promises. We promised to respond and we did. But this […]

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Five Former Moscow Police Officers Jailed Over 2019 Arrest Of Journalist Golunov

File Photos of Law Books and Gavel, adapted from image at fjc.gov

A Russian court has sentenced five former police officers to several years in prison for the 2019 arrest of investigative journalist Ivan Golunov on trumped-up drug charges. … The journalist suffered bruises, cuts, a concussion, and a broken rib […]

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AUDIO: JRL NEWSWATCH: “What Russia Stands To Gain By Backing Belarus [Fiona Hill interview]” – NPR

Map of Belarus and Environs, adapted from images at cia.gov

“A growing number of European countries are blocking access to Belarusian airlines. … after Belarus intercepted a commercial flight and removed and arrested Roman Protasevich, an opposition journalist who was on board. … While Western democracies try to sanction Belarus, Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, seems to support Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko. … Fiona Hill … spoke to NPR’s All Things […]

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RUSSIALINK: “Russia Wants to Exempt State Media From ‘Foreign Agent’ Scrutiny” – Moscow Times

Satellite Dishes

… Russia’s Ministry of Digital Development, Communications and Mass Media submitted a draft bill … requiring only commercial, and not state media, to be subjected to financial audits […]

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RUSSIALINK: “After Plane Crisis, Is Belarusian President Lukashenko Becoming a Troublesome Partner for Russia?” – Moscow Times

Alyaksandr Lukeshenko file photo, adapted from image at usembassy.gov

Analysts say Moscow’s muted reaction to the diversion to Minsk of a Ryanair flight speaks to the Kremlin’s ambivalent view of the strongman. (Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Felix Light – May 24, 2021) In the hours after Belarus shocked the world by forcing a Ryanair plane flying from Athens to Vilnius to land in Minsk and arresting prominent opposition […]

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RUSSIALINK: “Google Files First Lawsuit Against Russia’s Internet Censor” – Moscow Times

File Image of Laptop Computer, Tables and Mobile Device, adapted from image at energy.gov

… The company filed a lawsuit April 23 against Roskomnadzor in the Moscow Arbitration Court […]

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RUSSIALINK: “Pavel Durov Revealed – Almost – in New Documentary” – Moscow Times

File Image of Laptop Computer, Tables and Mobile Device, adapted from image at energy.gov

Durov … found[ed] … social networking platform VKontakte, the Russian equivalent of Facebook, and later Telegram, the encrypted messaging app […]

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EU ‘Rejects’ Russian Labeling Of Meduza Media Outlet As ‘Foreign Agent’

EU Map adapted from cia.gov image

The [EU] has dismissed Russian authorities’ labeling of Latvia-based independent news outlet Meduza as a “foreign agent” and urged Moscow to end its “systematic infringement” of basic rights and freedoms […]

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RUSSIALINK: “Filmmaker Vitaly Mansky on Artdocfest and Russia on Film” – Moscow Times

File Photo of Reel of Film

Film director Vitaly Mansky … was in the news throughout the festival in Moscow and St. Petersburg as he was closed down by the authorities and attacked by pro-Kremlin activists […]

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RUSSIALINK: “Facing Heightened Threats, Russia’s Main Independent Paper Contemplates a Bleak Future” – Moscow Times

File Photo of Woman's Hands Typing on Computer Keyboard, adapted from image at fbi.gov

The latest attack on Novaya Gazeta is making some of its editors wonder how long it can survive in the country. (Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Felix Light, Pjotr Sauer – March 25, 2021) On the way to work at Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta last Monday morning, journalists noticed a strong chemical stench on the street outside their central Moscow […]

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