The al-Qaeda leader has urged Islamist groups to overcome internal divisions and join forces to oppose the West, Russia, Syria and Iran. However, it raises the question of whether extremists can forget their differences and act as a united front. (Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – ALEXEY TIMOFEYCHEV, RBTH – November 3, 2015) The call to unite Islamist forces […]
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(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Daryna Krasnolutska, Kateryna Choursina – November 4, 2015) Ukrainian authorities are failing to adequately investigate 48 deaths, including of 42 pro-Russian protesters, in the Black Sea port of Odessa in May 2014, according to an international panel set up by the Council of Europe. The demonstrators clashed with football fans and participants in a pro-government rally […]
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Russia’s postal service joined forces with VTB Bank to establish Post Bank, a new retail lender with three times as many retail branches as the current leader, Sberbank. (Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Kira Egorova – November 4, 2015) Russia’s government approved the establishment of a massive new bank based on the country’s postal service, a move that […]
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DEBALTSEVE. (Donetsk region). Nov 4 (Interfax) – The self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) will launch combat actions at a place they will find necessary, if Ukraine breaches the truce, DPR leader Alexander Zakharchenko said. “The ceasefire is notional, yesterday I heard and saw how the silence regime is being implemented and watched the gunfire on Pesky and the frontline positions […]
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(Voice of America – Molly McKitterick – November 3, 2015) When a Russian news outlet edited the U.S. ambassador into a picture of an opposition rally, the U.S. Embassy countered by editing the ambassador into a series of improbable photos – for instance, on the moon and at an ice hockey rink. The idea was to show that the original […]
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Subject: New Task Force on U.S. Policy Toward Russia, Ukraine, and Eurasia Date: Tue, 3 Nov 2015 From: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace <chogan@carnegieendowment.org> Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and Chicago Council on Global Affairs Launch Task Force on U.S. Policy Toward Russia, Ukraine, and Eurasia Former Deputy Secretary of State and U.S. Senator to Co-Chair Bipartisan Effort WASHINGTON-The Carnegie […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – November 4, 2015) Sergei Guriev, a former adviser to the Russian government who fled the country two years ago, has been appointed chief economist at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the bank said in a statement Tuesday. Guriev is to take up his post in summer 2016. He will become the first […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – November 4, 2015) The online lodging service Airbnb has seen rapid growth in Russia as the country’s economic recession forces more Russians to look for ways to supplement their incomes, the Bloomberg news agency reported Tuesday. The Russian business of San Francisco-based Airbnb has doubled during the past year, propelling Moscow into the world’s top […]
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Russian society has yet to accept that mass migration is a fact, which makes it harder for those moving to the country to integrate into society, according to an expert on xenophobia. (Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Ilya Krol – November 2, 2015) The SOVA Center for Information and Analysis is one of the leading nonprofit organizations in […]
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In a country where more than 130 languages are spoken, the idea of unity is a necessary theme to explore. (Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Mikhail Shvydkoi – November 4, 2015) Mikhail Shvydkoi was the Minister of Culture of the Russian Federation (2000-2004). On Nov. 4, Russian citizens will celebrate National Unity Day. This is a relatively new […]
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(Interfax – November 3, 2015) Russia has a unique opportunity to develop because external forces are trying to hinder it, Russian President Vladimir Putin has said. He was speaking at a meeting with representatives of scientific, cultural, public and religious organizations in Dagestan on 3 November, privately-owned Russian news agency Interfax reported. “Life has worked out such that for us, […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Eva Hartog – November 3, 2015) Roughly one third of this year’s potential conscripts have been exempted from serving in the Russian military for medical reasons, the head of the Defense Ministry’s main military medical directorate, Alexander Fisun, told the Rossiiskaya Gazeta newspaper on Tuesday. This year, about 30 percent of conscripts were turned down […]
» Read more[check back for updates, including more links; links also posted to facebook and twitter] Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2015-#214 Wednesday 4 November 2015 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. JRL homepage: russialist.org JRL on […]
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(RFE/RL – rferl.org – Brian Whitmore – November 02, 2015) We picked the wrong metaphor. When Vladimir Putin announced four years ago that he was returning to the Kremlin, the comparisons to Leonid Brezhnev came fast and furious. If he served two more terms, the logic went, Putin would be in power until 2024 and his reign would end up […]
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Subject: Détente NOW! Date: Fri, 30 Oct 2015 From: “Dr. Christian Wipperfürth” <cwipperfuerth@email.de> Your readers might be interested in the “Détente NOW!” – Initiative by leading members of the Social Democratic Party (which takes part in the German government), the industrie and NGOs. It can be found at http://www.cwipperfuerth.de/2015/10/detente-now-english/ —- Pax Christi Press Release (translation) Berlin, October 2015 For a […]
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(RIA Novosti – Moscow, November 2, 2015) Protest activity in Russia in the first six months of this year increased by 15 per cent compared with the same period last year, according to a study by the Civil Initiatives Committee [founded by former Finance Minister Aleksey Kudrin]. The assessment of protest activity was based on reports in the media and […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – October 31, 2015) Russians believe they need an income of at least 175,000 rubles ($2,725) a month to feel happy, according to poll results published by the Izvestia daily Friday. The cost of happiness is higher in Moscow, where an average resident needs at least 193,000 rubles a month to feel happy, the poll by […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – November 3, 2015) Russian incidence of tuberculosis has fallen by 30 percent over the past 10 years, the country’s health minister said Friday, according to the RIA Novosti news agency. Since 2005, incidence of tuberculosis infections in Russia has decreased by 30 percent, while the mortality rate from the disease has decreased twofold, Veronika Skvortsova […]
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While public polls are showing a negative attitude toward Americans among ordinary Russians, from a lifestyle perspective, the influence of American pop culture is quite notable. (Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – KIRA TVERSKAYA, SPECIAL TO RBTH – October 31, 2015) DeLorean cars, Doc Brown quotes and Photoshopped images of Marty McFly flooded Inernet users Oct. 21. Crowds gathered […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Anastasia Bazenkova – November 3, 2015) Major foreign IT companies could suspend their investment in Russia or withdraw from the country altogether over restrictions in the Russian market, the Kommersant newspaper reported Monday. These restrictions include a Russian law that obliges state agencies to justify the purchases of foreign software from Jan. 1, 2016, as […]
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ASTANA. Nov 3 (Interfax) – Kazakhstan occupies 56th place in the Legatum Institute’s 2015 Prosperity Index, being one position down since the previous year. Norway retained the leading position; its first runner-ups are Switzerland, whose position was also changed, and Denmark. The top ten prosperous countries of the world also include New Zealand, Sweden, Canada, Australia, the Netherlands, Finland and […]
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Low prices for hydrocarbons have led to the record-breaking filling of storage facilities in Europe and the United States, according to data published by Goldman Sachs. Although the report predicts a sharp decline in demand for oil, posing a threat to the Russian economy, Russian experts do not expect panic in the oil market. (Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru […]
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(Interfax – October 30, 2015) A criminal investigation launched against the director of the Moscow-based Library of Ukrainian Literature, Natalya Sharina, who is a suspect in a case opened into the spreading of extremist literature, may be closed, a source in law enforcement agencies told Interfax. “The case against Sharina may be closed on the basis of the Prosecutor’s Office’s […]
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The investigating authorities have not yet released an official explanation of what caused Oct. 31 plane crash in Egypt, which killed all 224 people onboard. However, experts have come up with three different possible explanations of what happened. They share one common thread: the plane broke into pieces while still in the air at a high altitude due to an […]
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From: “Sperling, Erik” <Erik.Sperling@mail.house.gov> Subject: Nov. 4 event on Capitol Hill: The Crisis in US-Russia Relations, from Ukraine to Syria Date: October 28, 2015 The Crisis in US-Russia Relations, from Ukraine to Syria: Is Congress Overlooking its Causes and Potential Solutions? Hosted by Rep. John Conyers, Jr., Rep. Ted Yoho, Rep. Charles Rangel, Rep. Steve Cohen, Rep. Jim Himes, Rep. […]
» Read more[check back for updates, including more links; links also posted to facebook and twitter] Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2015-#213 Tuesday 3 November 2015 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. JRL homepage: russialist.org JRL on […]
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(Paul Goble – Staunton, October 25, 2015) Now that Vladimir Putin is focused on Syria and clearly unlikely to stop there, the Ukrainian government should take advantage of the situation by moving militarily to reclaim Russian-occupied territories in the Donbas and Crimea, according to Konstantin Borovoy. “The attention of the Russian president has been distracted” for the moment by Syria, […]
» Read more[check back for updates, including more links; links also posted to facebook and twitter] Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2015-#212 Monday – 2 November 2015 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. JRL homepage: russialist.org JRL […]
» Read moreReuters covers Russian media coverage of climate issues. … the Russian public heard little mention of climate change, because media coverage across state-controlled television stations and print media all but ignored it. On national TV, the villains were locals who routinely but carelessly burn off tall grasses every year, and the sometimes incompetent crews struggling to put the fires out. […]
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Nobody wants to deploy ground forces in Syria, says Russian Ambassador to the UK (Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – October 29, 2015) Alexander Yakovenko is Russian Ambassador to the United Kingdom. He was previously Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs. ISIS has established a bridgehead in Syria and other countries of the Middle East. The terrorists do not conceal […]
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(Business New Europe – bne.eu – MOSCOW BLOG: Julia Reed in Moscow – October 29, 2015) Earlier in October, Moscow was in the middle of an Indian summer. Autumn is the time to be in the city. I was sitting in a one-room Lebanese cafe a seven-minute walk away from the Kremlin, customers coming in and out for a cigarette […]
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(RFE/RL – Nick Holdsworth – October 28, 2015) SIBERIAN TAIGA, Russia — Agafia Lykova emerges from the thick forest on the banks of the Abakan River like an image from Russian folklore. Dressed in ragged black sackcloth with a tattered head scarf and a triangular prayer amulet hanging from a beaded cord around her neck, she greets visitors arriving by […]
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(PONARS – ponarseurasia.org – Elise Giuliano – October 2015) Elise Giuliano is a Lecturer in the Department of Political Science at Columbia University and Academic Advisor of the MA Program in Russia, Eurasia and Eastern Europe at Columbia’s Harriman Institute. [Text with charts here http://www.ponarseurasia.org/memo/origins-separatism-popular-grievances-donetsk-and-luhansk] (PONARS Eurasia Policy Memo) What were the origins of separatism in the Donbas? When the […]
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KYIV. Oct 29 (Interfax) – Representatives of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics are obstructing the access of OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (SMM) monitors to weapon storage sites, Deputy Chief Monitor Alexander Hug said. The OSCE SMM continues to monitor the withdrawal of artillery pieces with calibers under 100mm and mortars with calibers under 120mm and to […]
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Stars and Stripes reports on U.S. Army review of its European force posture in light of issues posed by Russia. The U.S. Army is reviewing its force structure in Europe, measuring everything from crisis-response capabilities to its mix of armor and infantrymen, as the service adapts to counter a revanchist Russia, the Army chief of staff said. Gen. Mark Milley, […]
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(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Stephen Bierman, Julian Lee – October 29, 2015) Russian oil output is poised to break a post-Soviet record for the fourth time this year as the nation’s producers once again prove themselves resilient to a slump in crude prices. Production of crude and a light oil called condensate is on track to reach 10.77 million barrels […]
» Read more[check back for updates, including more links; links also posted to facebook and twitter] Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2015-#211 Thursday – 29 October 2015 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. JRL homepage: russialist.org JRL […]
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(RFE/RL – rferl.org – Brian Whitmore – October 27, 2015) In the past couple years, Russian hackers have launched attacks on a French television network, a German steelmaker, the Polish stock market, the White House, the U.S. House of Representatives, the U.S. State Department, and The New York Times. And according to press reports citing Western intelligence officials, the perpetrators […]
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MOSCOW. Oct 28 (Interfax) – It is currently difficult to call the Russian banking system healthy, Sberbank (MOEX: SBER) deputy CEO Bella Zlatkis believes. “If two or three banking institutions in the country close per week, if this number increases by tens in a year, if a whole number of banking institutions are having problems with capital and liquidity, I […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Daria Litvinova – October 28, 2015) The All-Russian People’s Front (ONF), the organization created in 2011 on the eve of the State Duma elections and headed by President Vladimir Putin, made the headlines this week as federal and some regional authorities announced plans to give it more power in various decision-making processes. The Economic Development […]
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Subject: The Black Sea and Beyond Date: Wed, 28 Oct 201 From: Stephen Blank <traininblank@aol.com> David could you please place a notice of my new article The Black Sea and Beyond in the Proceedings of the US Naval Institute, http://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/2015-10/black-sea-and-beyond The naval and strategic consequences of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine cast a long shadow over Eastern Europe and the Middle […]
» Read more[check back for updates, including more links; links also posted to facebook and twitter] Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2015-#210 Wednesday – 28 October 2015 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. JRL homepage: russialist.org JRL […]
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(Human Rights in Ukraine – khpg.org – Halya Coynash – October 27, 2015) One of the two Russian spetsnaz officers captured in eastern Ukraine in May this year is now denying that he was a serving Russian officer, and the other, whose family has just hired a different lawyer, may be planning to do the same. Any claim now that […]
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