(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Des Brown – February 10, 2014) The Economist’s Feb. 1 issue led with President Putin and the Winter Olympics as its cover story, saying that “the message of the Games is simple: Russia is back.” Western commentators never fail to mention that the Winter Olympics are a showcase for Putin’s modern Russia, while highlighting Sochi’s […]
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[check back for updates, including more links; links also posted to facebook and twitter] Johnson’s Russia List :: 2014-#29 :: 11 February 2013 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 […]
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Johnson’s Russia List :: 2014-#28 :: 10 February 2013 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 POLITICS 1. Moscow Times: Richard Lourie, 10 Good Things About Putin’s Russia. […]
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[“Awaiting Russia’s Next Move in Ukraine” – The International New York Times – Celestine Bohlen – February 11, 2014] The International New York Times covers efforts by the West to address the crisis in Ukraine. Russia is expected to step up efforts to bring Ukraine more firmly into the Russian sphere, once the Sochi Winter Olympics are concluded: … in […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Anatoly Medetsky – February 10, 2014) Renault Russia sales chief Sergei Kuteishchikov had to shave his head last month, having lost what seemed a sure bet. He gambled that in 2013’s declining market, his dealers would beat the previous year’s sales results, but not by much. A recent message he sent to the dealers included […]
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(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Andy Potts, special to RBTH – February 9, 2014) Andy Potts is a sportswriter and RBTH freelancer who is attending the Sochi Games as part of the International Ice Hockey Federation. Despite teething troubles over the last week, the Sochi Olympics have already shown that Russia is determined to present a new face […]
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(Window on Eurasia – Paul Goble – Staunton, February 10, 2014) Vladimir Putin would view drawing Ukraine into a single economic and political arrangement with Russia as an enormous geopolitical achievement, but if he were to succeed initially, the Kremlin leader would be setting the stage for the demise of the Russian Federation itself, according to a Moscow commentator. In […]
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(Interfax – February 10, 2014) Ecology is to become the most sought-after, most funded field of Russian science over the next few years, Russian Presidential Aide and former education minister Andrei Fursenko said. “I think ecology will be a very interesting area (of research) for Russia. I believe that over the next five to ten years the problem of the […]
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(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – eonid Bershidsky – February 10, 2014) Leonid Bershidsky writes on Russia, Europe and technology for Bloomberg View. The Sochi Winter Olympics may have cost seven times as much as the Vancouver ones four years ago, but they are achieving President Vladimir Putin’s goal: Russians, including many of his fiercest opponents, have united in a powerful upsurge […]
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MOSCOW, February 10 (RIA Novosti) – Russian investigators have reopened a probe into an alleged multimillion-ruble fraud at the Defense Ministry on the basis of one of the suspect’s testimonies, Kommersant newspaper reported Monday. One of the key figures in the case has claimed that the defense officials accused of masterminding the scheme were not behind it, and has pointed […]
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(Interfax – February 10, 2014) Russia’s oldest human rights organization, the Moscow Helsinki Group, has been forced to cut its staff size by several times due to the notorious law on NGOs, Russian privately-owned news agency Interfax reported on 10 February, quoting the veteran rights champion, Lyudmila Alekseyeva, who heads the organization. “In connection with the new law there are […]
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MOSCOW, February 10 (RIA Novosti) – Russia’s major satellite provider stopped broadcasting Dozhd independent television channel Monday after the network became embroiled into a controversy over an opinion poll about World War II. Tricolor TV, Russia’s biggest satellite TV provider, said a week ago that its board of directors had unanimously decided to exclude the liberal Dozhd channel from all […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – John Freedman, Moscow Times theater editor – February 10, 2014) I once wrote most of what I planned to be a book about Russia. I got as far as sending chapters out to publishers. One of the few editors who was kind enough to reject me personally explained why my proposal was not of interest. […]
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Johnson’s Russia List :: 2014-#27 :: 9 February 2013 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 POLITICS 1. The Guardian: Sochi is to Putin what Berlin in 1936 […]
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KIEV, February 9 (RIA Novosti) – Ukrainian security agents are on high alert following reports of planned explosions in the country that could cause mass casualties, the national security service said Sunday. A warning has been issued concerning high-risk facilities across Ukraine, including nuclear and hydro power plants, international airports, railway stations and bus stations, cross-country pipelines and weapons storage […]
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(RFE/RL – rferl.org – Tom Balmforth – MOSCOW – February 07, 2014) They’re gearing up to march on Moscow’s Bolotnaya Square. Two years ago, protesters rallied there against electoral fraud in the wake of the disputed December 2011 State Duma elections. In May 2012, they clashed with police on the eve of President Vladimir Putin’s inauguration. And, on February 8, […]
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MOSCOW. Feb 8 (Interfax) – Konstantin Ernst, author of the script for Friday’s opening ceremony for the Sochi Winter Olympics, said the main idea of the show that was part of the ceremony was to retell Russian history in a modern language. “The language of a stadium means three-dimensional and vivid images and quite direct metaphors. On that basis, we […]
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Johnson’s Russia List :: 2014-#26 :: 7 February 2013 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 POLITICS 1. Reuters: Winter Games to open, Putin keen to prove doubters […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Michael Bohm – February 7, 2014) Michael Bohm is opinion page editor of The Moscow Times. For Russians watching state television news over the past several weeks, the message about the political turmoil in Ukraine is clear: The anti-government protests are a U.S. plot. Take, for example, this Jan. 22 evening news broadcast on Channel […]
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(Business New Europe – bne.eu – Graham Stack in Kyiv – February 7, 2014) According to the leaked recording of a phone-tapped conversation between senior US diplomats, Washington is pushing for Ukraine’s opposition leaders to take up the offer from President Viktor Yanukovych to head a government of national unity, while viewing Klitschko as a future presidential front runner. But […]
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(RFE/RL – rferl.org – February 7, 2014) A senior U.S. diplomat has denied Russian claims that Ukrainian antigovernment militants are trained at the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv. Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland also said Washington and the international community are ready to provide more aid to Ukraine if leaders move quickly to implement democratic reforms and install what she […]
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(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – David Miller, special to RBTH – February 7, 2014) Russia’s biggest crude producer agrees to buy Morgan Stanley’s oil merchanting assets as it ramps up cooperation on new fields with U.S. major ExxonMobil. Russia’s largest oil firm, Rosneft, purchased Morgan Stanley’s oil trading and transportation business in a move that gives the firm […]
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(Business New Europe – Moscow blog – bne.eu – Ben Aris – February 7, 2014) The Sochi Winter Olympics kick off today February 7, but they have already turned from being a trial of human endeavour into a celebration of the hatemongering that pervades the coverage of Russia. Radio Liberty has published a useful page on its website that simply […]
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Johnson’s Russia List :: 2014-#25 :: 6 February 2013 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 POLITICS 1. Moscow Times: What to Expect at Sochi’s Opening Ceremony. 2. […]
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(Interfax – February 6, 2014) The upcoming resignation of U.S. Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul has nothing to do with the end of the reset policy in Russia-U.S. relations, Russian Ambassador to the United States Sergei Kislyak said. “I did not know when Mike decided to resign but I know that he wanted to return to his favorite work at […]
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Subject: Pussy Riot Invades America and Everything in Russia is Awful as Putin’s Olympics Begin:A Historical Perspective Date: Thu, 6 Feb 2014 From: Sarah Lindemann-Komarova <echosiberia@gmail.com> Pussy Riot Invades America and Everything in Russia is Awful as Putin’s Olympics Begin: A Historical Perspective By Sarah Lindemann-Komarova [Siberian-based civil society development activist] Over the last few weeks the Western media “everything […]
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BRUSSELS, February 6 (RIA Novosti) – The European Union is ready to boost aid to Ukraine if Kiev pursues economic and political reforms, a senior EU official said Wednesday. “In case of a positive scenario we will be ready to extend our assistance based on a genuine commitment for political and economic reforms, in cooperation with the IMF and other […]
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(opendemocracy.net – Valery Kalnysh – February 4, 2014) Valery Kalnysh is editor of the Kommersant Ukraina newspaper The Maidan protests, which started over two months ago, have drawn a very clear line between the political parties. At future elections, voters will ask their candidates, ‘What did you do during Maidan?’ How might the politicians reply? The Ukrainian parliament or Verkhovna […]
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(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Viktor Litovkin, special to RBTH – February 5, 2014) The U.S. recently accused Russia of contravening the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty in its testing of the RS-26 intercontinental ballistic missile. However, these allegations may conceal a hidden agenda. The United States has informed its NATO allies of American concerns over a possible breach […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Jennifer Monaghan – February 6, 2014) More than 200 writers from around the world have signed an open letter to the Russian authorities denouncing the introduction of gay-propaganda and blasphemy laws in Russia, which they call an attack on freedom of expression. We “cannot stand quietly by as we watch our fellow writers and journalists […]
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(Interfax – Moscow, February 5, 2014) The West will stop criticizing Russia and will start loving it only if it becomes defenceless and weak, the Russian president’s press secretary Dmitriy Peskov has said. “When we disband our army, give out concessions for all our natural resources and sell all our land to Western investors, then they will stop criticizing us. […]
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(Moscow News – themoscownews.com – Natalia Antonova, Nathan Gray – February 5, 2014) Following the weakening of the ruble, Moscow residents both foreign and local are bracing themselves in expectation of higher prices and general market instability. Yet according to the experts, it is too soon to tell whether or not the currency’s present state will have a lasting impact […]
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(RIA Novosti – February 5, 2014) The St. Petersburg-based Freedom of Information Foundation has filed a complaint against the prosecutor office’s request that it register with the Justice Ministry as a “foreign agent.” The request was issued after the NGO’s founder attended a meeting of human rights activists with US President Barack Obama during the G20 summit last September, the […]
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(RFE/RL – rferl.org – Tom Balmforth – MOSCOW – February 5, 2014) Just shy of four years ago a new private television channel appeared on the Russian media scene. With a new generation of talent, snappy and hip programming, and a politically independent line, Dozhd (Rain) TV presented a sharp contrast to the drab and predictable Kremlin-controlled media. And it […]
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(opendemocracy.net – Dmitry Travin – February 6, 2014) Dmitry Travin is Research Director at the European University in St. Petersburg’s Centre of Modernization Studies. Russia’s unemployment figures look low, but they are rising, and there is a great gulf between the prosperous centre and failing regions. A foreigner coming to Moscow or St Petersburg as a tourist or on business […]
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MOSCOW, February 6 (RIA Novosti) – Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday gave final approval to a contentious reform to streamline the justice system by merging two top courts. According to the terms of the law, the merger of the Supreme Arbitration Court, which oversees business disputes, and the Supreme Court, which handles criminal cases and civil lawsuits, will be […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Anatoly Medetsky – February 6, 2014) The Cabinet is mulling further tax breaks for the Far East and moving some government agencies to the remote region in another bid to inject more vigor in the economically lagging area. In addition, two new state companies could emerge to plow 170 billion rubles ($4.8 billion) into preparing […]
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(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Anna Trofimova, RBTH – February 6, 2014) The Soviet experience taught Russians that it was better to suffer than admit the need for help, but times are changing. It should come as no surprise that living in Russia is hard: It’s cold, wages are low and the government is unresponsive. Nevertheless, Russians have […]
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(Russia Beyond the Headlines – c – Svetlana Sinepostolovich, for RBTH – February 4, 2014) Here is a to-do list for travelers who don’t want to miss any of Sochi’s highlights 1. Take the obligatory tourist photo While in Sochi you must get a picture of yourself against the backdrop of the subtropical palms along Platanovaya Alley (Sycamore Alley). Tourists […]
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(Interfax – February 6, 2014) Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak has described preparations for the XXII Winter Olympic Games and the event itself as the largest investment project for the country. “Since the victory in Guatemala of the Russian Federation’s bid to host the XXII Olympic Games in Sochi, many people have asked one and the same questions: whether […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Matthew Bodner – February 6, 2014) As the Olympic Torch arrived in Sochi on Wednesday and President Vladimir Putin personally presided over the raising of the Russian flag in the Olympic Village, the Internet was abuzz with tales of construction blunders and the popular Twitter hashtag “#Sochiproblems.” No secret has been made about the significance […]
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(Interfax – Moscow, February 5, 2014) The Russian president’s press secretary Dmitriy Peskov has said everything is ready for the Olympic Games and made an appeal not to exaggerate problems in Sochi. “I’m not in favour of making problems that accompany any event of this scale, any Olympic Games, look like they can affect the entire process,” Peskov said, speaking […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Anna Dolgov – February 6, 2014) More than half of Americans think that a terrorist attack is likely at the Sochi Winter Olympics, set to open Friday, despite assurances by the White House that the Games will be safe, a recent poll indicates. Fifty-seven percent of respondents said they thought a terrorism act at the […]
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Johnson’s Russia List :: 2014-#24 :: 5 February 2013 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 POLITICS 1. ITAR-TASS: Putin named politician number one in first world poll […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Ivan Nechepurenko – February 6, 2014) The opening ceremony for the Winter Olympics on Friday will take Russia’s biggest cultural gems and serve them up with contemporary dance music and spectacular lighting. At least, that is what can be expected if the final rehearsal is anything to go by. The organizers have asked that the […]
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(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Natalia Orlova, special to RBTH – February 5, 2014) While developed economies face the need to deleverage, emerging markets still have the opportunity to grow by taking on more debt. Natalia Orlova is the Chief Economist at Alfa Bank in Moscow. While developed economies face the need to deleverage, emerging markets still have […]
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MOSCOW. Feb 5 (Interfax) – Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has ordered analyzing the possibility of relocating the main offices of a number of major companies partly or wholly owned by the state and a number of federal government bodies to the Far East, Russian Deputy Prime Minister and presidential envoy to the Far Eastern Federal District Yury Trutnev told […]
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MOSCOW, February 5 (RIA Novosti) – Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered to amend recent environmental legislation that critics said could allow for real estate development in Russia’s protected territories. A law passed in December allows for the downgrading of any of the 102 Russian wildlife reserves to natural parks, where construction is permitted under certain conditions. The law, which passed […]
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(cc – February 4, 2014) Vladimir Putin visited the Persian Leopard Breeding and Rehabilitation Centre at the Sochi National Park. Vladimir Putin toured the Centre together with IOC Executive Director for the Olympic Games Gilbert Felli and IOC Coordination Commission Chairman Jean-Claude Killy. The Centre was set up in 2009 within the framework of the programme to restore the Persian […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Ezekiel Pfeifer and Natalya Krainova – February 5, 2014) Michael McFaul, who has served as U.S. ambassador to Russia over a two-year period marked by heightened tensions between Washington and Moscow, announced in a blog post Tuesday that he would be leaving his position as ambassador and returning to academia later this month. McFaul, 50, […]
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