MOSCOW, May 5 (RIA Novosti) – Deadly clashes between pro-federalization supporters and Ukrainian security forces have raged across the country’s east and south in recent days, killing dozens and injuring hundreds. Some 46 pro-federalization activists died after being trapped in a fire at the trade union building in Odessa, and over 200 others were injured in a clash between the […]
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[check back for updates, including more links; links also posted to facebook and twitter] Johnson’s Russia List :: 2014-#101 :: 5 May 2014 E-Mail: davidjohnson@starpower.net A project of the Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies (IERES) at The George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs: www.ieres.org JRL homepage: russialist.org JRL on Facebook: facebook.com/russialist JRL on Twitter: twitter.com/JohnsonRussiaLi Support JRL: russialist.org/funding.php To subscribe to the JRL email version, email David Johnson at davidjohnson@starpower.net 1. AFP: CIA, FBI […]
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(Window on Eurasia – Paul Goble – Staunton, May 4, 2014) Had Vladimir Putin accepted the Maidan’s ouster of discredited Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovich and agreed to accept the results of the upcoming elections, nothing that has occurred in Ukraine since that time would have happened, according to a Ukrainian commentator. “Thousands of people would not have suddenly discovered in […]
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(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Yuri Simonyan, special to RBTH – May 3, 2014) When it comes to its relations with former Soviet republics in the Caucasus, Moscow has a delicate balancing act to play. It’s virtually impossible for Russia to play the role of a mediator in the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict over Karabakh, but at the same time, […]
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(opendemocracy.net – OLEKSANDER ANDREYEV and ANDREW WILSON – May 2, 2014) Ukraine is a state in political turmoil. But how much of this is the fault of separatists in the east and how much comes from ‘business-as-usual’ corruption from the Kyiv government? Andrew Wilson is a Reader at University College London. He is the author of The Ukrainians: Unexpected Nation […]
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KYIV. May 3 (Interfax) – The OSCE military inspectors held in Slovyansk were treated well and their captors tried to find out what tasks they were fulfilling in the eastern regions of Ukraine, Colonel Ihor Turanskiy, the head of the Ukrainian group of the OSCE military mission and the head of the Verification Department of the Ukrainian General Staff, said. […]
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(RIA Novosti – Slovyansk, May 3, 2014) The Russian president’s special envoy Vladimir Lukin has commented on an audio recording, posted online by the Security Service of Ukraine [SBU], which, according to the SBU, was Lukin’s telephone conversation with leader of the Slovyansk defence forces Igor Strelkov. According to Lukin, this conversation did take place but its content has nothing […]
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(Interfax – May 3, 2014) Moscow considers the position the USA and a number of European countries have taken regarding the bloodshed in Odessa to be the “deepest cynicism”, and in approving Kiev’s “punitive operation” in southeast Ukraine, the West shares responsibility for what is happening, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitriy Peskov has said. He was speaking to journalists on 3 […]
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MOSCOW. May 3 (Interfax) – Russian President Vladimir Putin receives round-the-clock updates on what is happening in southeast Uykraine, his spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. “The president gets reports from intelligence and other relevant agencies, he also receives information from media reports,” Peskov told reporters on Saturday. “Essentially, we now realize how justified and right were the actions of president Putin, […]
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MOSCOW. May 3 (Interfax) – Russia has effectively lost influence over self-defense forces in Ukraine and cannot settle the situation on its own, Russian President’s Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov said. “Western sponsors (of the Kyiv authorities) are making a reservation all the time that self-defense forces in the southeast of the country are armed and show armed resistance. From now […]
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[check back for updates, including more links; links also posted to facebook and twitter] Johnson’s Russia List :: 2014-#100 :: 4 May 2014 E-Mail: davidjohnson@starpower.net A project of the Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies (IERES) at The George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs: www.ieres.org JRL homepage: russialist.org JRL on Facebook: facebook.com/russialist JRL on Twitter: twitter.com/JohnsonRussiaLi Support JRL: russialist.org/funding.php To subscribe to the JRL email version, email David Johnson at davidjohnson@starpower.net 1. Reuters: Ukraine accuses […]
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… 1. Reuters: Rebels down Ukraine helicopters, Putin denounces city assault.
2. www.euronews.com; Tymoshenko dismisses civil war fears, says Putin’s regime facing its end.
3. Financial Times: Ukraine PM warns of ‘most dangerous 10 days’ …
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Anna Dolgov – May 2, 2014) Former oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky has said his surprise release from prison last December was facilitated by an agreement made with President Vladimir Putin to stay away from politics, but added that the deal expires in August. When asked about his abstention from political life since his surprise presidential […]
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(Interfax – May 2, 2014) Eighty-six percent of Russian citizens recently interviewed by the All Russian Center for Public Opinion Studies (VTsIOM) believe that Russia’s Armed Forces will be able to defend the country in the event of a real military threat. The latest survey was conducted in 42 Russian regions and involved 1,600 people. A total of 66 percent […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – May 1, 2014) Nearly six in every 10 Russians think that their country is heading in the right direction, the highest number in more than two decades, a recent poll has shown. A total of 58 percent of respondents were pleased with the nation’s present course, up from 43 percent in January and 51 percent […]
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(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Maria Karnaukh, special to RBTH – May 2, 2014) The 2014 Winter Olympics have already gone down in history as the most expensive Olympics ever, but now they promise to set another record in terms of profits generated by the organizers. The funds from sponsors alone will bring the Sochi Organizing Committee $1.3 […]
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(Business New Europe – bne.eu – Ben Aris in Moscow – April 30, 2014) Who were the snipers that shot and killed the so-called “Heavenly Hundred” on Kyiv’s Independence Square, known as Maidan, on February 20? An investigation by Germany’s leading broadcaster ARD TV lends weight to the allegations that some section of the Ukrainian opposition was involved. The report […]
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(Business New Europe – bne.eu – Ben Aris in Moscow – May 2, 2014) The April 17 deal that brought Ukraine back from the brink of war may be coming apart at the seams, though its true significance is that it was agreed at all. Rather than an end in itself, the deal is a harbinger of how events will play […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Matthew Bodner – April 30, 2014) With the latest restrictions on high-technology defense articles and services announced Monday as part of new U.S. sanctions on Russian officials and businesses over the conflict in Ukraine, Washington is playing a dangerous game that may wipe out two decades of closely cultivated commercial ties between the Russian and […]
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WARSAW. May 2 (Interfax) – Russia expects that Ukraine will spend part of the loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) toward clearing its debts for Russian gas already supplied to it, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said. Speaking in Warsaw on Friday, Novak pointed out that Ukraine had received the first tranche of an IMF loan in an amount […]
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(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Alexei Lossan, RBTH – May 1, 2014) More than a month has now passed since the EU and the United States first imposed sanctions on Russia in response to what they saw as its annexation of Crimea. On Monday, April 28, the U.S. hit Russia with a further round of sanctions. But what […]
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MOSCOW. May 1 (Interfax) – The Kyiv authorities are engaging in “shams” in place of a broad nationwide discussion involving all of the country’s political forces and regions on ways to end the continuing crisis, the Russian Foreign Ministry has said. “We have taken note of the remarks made by “acting Prime Minister of Ukraine” [Arseniy] Yatsenyuk, who said that […]
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(Business New Europe – bne.eu – May 2, 2014) Tensions in eastern Ukraine are rising to a new level after the Ukrainian army began a special operation against Russia-backed separatists in Ukraine’s eastern town of Sloviansk. The situation is extremely confused and journalists are being turned away from approaching the city at roadblocks, but social media is carrying unconfirmed reports […]
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… 1. RFE/RL: ‘Slap On The Wrist’: Congressional Critics Slam ‘Tepid’ Russia Sanctions.
2. www.mccain.senate.gov: STATEMENT BY SENATORS MCCAIN AND GRAHAM ON SANCTIONS AGAINST RUSSIA AND THE SITUATION IN UKRAINE.
3. Washington Post editorial: Obama’s half-measures give Vladimir Putin little to fear. …
(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Anna Andrianova and Andre Tartar – April 29, 2014) Russia faces a fifty-fifty chance of recession, the highest since Bloomberg started to track the measure, as the crisis in Ukraine raises the risk of further sanctions, according to a survey of economists. The probability of a recession over the next 12 months rose to 50 percent, […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Anna Dolgov – April 29, 2014) The Prosecutor General’s Office said it identified 24 nongovernmental organizations as “foreign agents” last year, in line with a law that rights groups say is intended to limit dissent in Russia. In particular, a report by Prosecutor General Yury Chaika singled out human rights group Public Verdict Foundation for […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Ivan Nechepurenko – April 29, 2014) Amid growing criticism of its increasingly tighter regulation of the Internet, Russia’s official media watchdog on Monday vowed to continue its fight in the “information war,” saying freedom of speech “does not mean everything is permitted.” The government made clear at an annual meeting of top officials of the […]
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(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Stephen Bierman – April 29, 2014) Exxon Mobil (XOM) Corp.’s dream of drilling in the Russian Arctic may risk running aground on the politics of Ukraine. The company plans to start drilling in August in the Arctic’s remote Kara Sea — the centerpiece of Exxon’s global alliance with Russian state-controlled OAO Rosneft. (ROSN) The partnership, which […]
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(RFE/RL – rferl.org – Tom Balmforth – KYIV – April 25, 2014) U.S. Vice President Joe Biden said this week that Ukraine’s presidential election may be the most important in the country’s history. But you wouldn’t know it on the streets of Kyiv. With one month until polling booths open, the threat of war dominates headlines. Election leaflets are rare. Just one of the […]
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(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Vsevolod Pulya, RBTH – April 28, 2014) The Russian search engine was actually registered in the Netherlands and received its first investments from foreign investors. Nevertheless, it believes that this is “common practice for any internet startup.” Russian search engine Yandex has responded to comments by Russian President Vladimir Putin about foreign influences […]
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(Interfax – April 28, 2014) Six foreign embassies, including those of Britain and the USA, interfered in Russia’s internal affairs by funding NGOs in the country, Prosecutor-General Yuriy Chayka said in his report on the state of law and order in Russia, according to privately-owned Russian news agency Interfax on 28 April. “The study of sources of foreign funding of […]
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MOSCOW, April 29 (RIA Novosti) – About 86 percent of Russians believe that the Russian armed forces can protect them from military threats, a state-run pollster said Tuesday. “The Russian army will protect our country if a military threat emerges – that’s the opinion of 86 percent of Russians. The number of respondents who gave a similar answer has grown […]
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MOSCOW, April 29 (RIA Novosti) – Civil war in Ukraine could break out as soon as next month, the deputy director of research programs at Russia’s Council on Foreign and Defense Policy said Tuesday. “A civil war might kick off on May 26-27, as it is obvious that federalization supporters will not go anywhere and, apparently, will not be satisfied […]
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MOSCOW, April 29 (RIA Novosti) – Russia may recognize the results of upcoming elections in Ukraine on certain conditions, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said Tuesday in an online interview with Russia’s Gazeta.ru. “It depends on what will precede them and how they are held,” Ryabkov said, responding to a question about whether Russia would recognize the results of […]
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MOSCOW, April 29 (RIA Novosti) – People rallying in the southeastern Ukrainian cities of Donetsk and Slaviansk are not separatists or terrorists, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told Gazeta.ru Tuesday. “I can’t describe Slaviansk and Donetsk protesters as separatists,” Ryabkov said in an interview with the online newspaper Gazeta.ru. “These are people who demand that their ultimate rights be […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – April 29, 2014) Russia’s communications minister has said there is no reason why independent channel Dozhd cannot return to cable television packages, in a sign of hope for the cash-strapped station. Communications and Mass Media Minister Nikolai Nikoforov said nothing was preventing Dozhd from being carried by cable television providers, and that the state was […]
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NOVOSIBIRSK, Russia, April 29 (RIA Novosti) – In the past decade, Russian scientists have gathered enough scientific evidence to substantiate the country’s territorial claim for hydrocarbon-rich areas of the Arctic shelf, a leading Russian scientist said Tuesday. Valery Vernikovsky of the Trofimuk Institute of Petroleum Geology and Geophysics said a UN commission rejected Russia’s previous claim in the early 2000s […]
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(opendemocracy.net – John Weeks – April 25, 2014) ‘Shock therapy’ was imposed on the post-Soviet world by the West, with catastrophic results. Now, we are planning on repeating that experiment in Ukraine. John Weeks is Professor Emeritus, School of Oriental & African Studies, University of London, and author of Economics of the 1%: How mainstream economics serves the rich, obscures […]
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MOSCOW, April 29 (RIA Novosti), Daria Chernyshova – Western sanctions against Moscow are unlikely to disrupt existing business ties with Russia, Renaissance Capital economist Oleg Kouzmin told RIA Novosti. “We do not think that sanctions would damage the existing business relations with Russia and its trading partners,” Kouzmin said. “Probably they may become an additional obstacle for attracting new foreign […]
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MOSCOW, April 29 (RIA Novosti), Victoria Matsneva – The second wave of US sanctions has scared neither Russian officials nor businesses, affecting only the assets controlled by the already-sanctioned businessmen Gennady Timchenko and brothers Arkady and Boris Rotenberg, as well as Bank Rossiya. None of the 17 companies targeted by the US sanctions trades its stock on exchanges and only […]
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(RFE/RL – rferl.org – Carl Schreck, Luke Johnson – April 28, 2014) When the United States last month imposed visa and financial sanctions on wealthy businessmen seen as close to Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Russian leader laughed it off, saying: “I think I need to stay away from them.” Putin might have a harder time staying away from the group of senior officials […]
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(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Nikolai Gorshkov, special to RBTH – April 29, 2014) Diplomatic efforts to solve the crisis in Ukraine cannot keep up with the rapidly deteriorating situation on the ground. After an initial burst of optimism that the diplomats might have negotiated a way out of the crisis, the great Geneva hope for peace in […]
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The White House Office of the Press Secretary For Immediate Release April 28, 2014 Background Conference Call on Ukraine Sanctions Manila, Philippines 9:24 P.M. PHT MS. HAYDEN: Hi, everyone. Thanks for joining. We’re here to talk about the new sanctions that will be going out today on Russia. We have senior administration officials to speak with you on background. There […]
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(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Indira A.R. Lakshmanan, Ilya Arkhipov and Kasia Klimasinska – April 29, 2014) The latest U.S. penalties against Vladimir Putin’s inner circle may provoke the Russian president into escalating the Ukraine crisis without crippling key sectors of his nation’s economy. The sanctions imposed by the Obama administration yesterday on seven officials and 17 companies won’t go unanswered, […]
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(Stratfor.com – George Friedman – April 29, 2014) The United States announced new sanctions on seven Russian government officials April 28. A long-used tactic, sanctions can yield unpredictable effects or have no effect at all, depending upon how they are crafted. It is commonly assumed that sanctions are applied when a target country’s actions are deemed unacceptable. The sanctioning nation presumably chooses […]
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(mccain.senate.gov – Washington, D.C. – April 28, 2014) U.S. Senators John McCain (R-AZ) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) today released the following statement on the Obama Administration’s latest round of sanctions against Russia and the situation in Ukraine: “The Obama Administration’s latest round of sanctions is days late and dollars short. While a unified U.S. and European response to Russia’s aggression […]
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(RFE/RL – rferl.org – WASHINGTON – April 28, 2014) A fresh round of U.S. sanctions against top Russian officials amounts to little more than a “slap on the wrist” and will do little to halt the unrest in Ukraine, Republican lawmakers said. Members of Congress in recent days had called for the Obama administration to impose sanctions on key economic players in Russia, such […]
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… 37. Washington Post: Jackson Diehl, Ukraine’s wake-up call for NATO.
38. Bloomberg: Russian Billions Scattered Abroad Show Trail to Putin Circle.
39. Wall Street Journal editorial: The Russia Problem. Putin’s Kremlin is not a status quo power with a few historical grievances.
40. Paul Goble: Window on Eurasia: Is Putin at Risk of Being Overthrown by a Coup? …
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Oleg Sukhov – April 28, 2014) Last week, the State Duma gave its final approval to a bill introducing criminal penalties for “spreading lies” about the Soviet Union’s role in World War II. The legislation, under which offenders face up to five years in prison, has prompted renewed allegations that the Kremlin is imposing a […]
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(RIA Novosti – April 28, 2014) Russia remains one of a group of countries with a minimum level of anti-Semitism, said the head of the European Jewish Congress, Vyacheslav Moshe Kantor, commenting on the results of the annual report on the level of anti-Semitism in the world for 2013. Russia remains one of a group of countries with a minimum […]
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