(Window on Eurasia – Paul Goble – Staunton, August 14, 2013) Muscovites are more xenophobic than are Russians living elsewhere in the Russian Federation, a pattern that means that Sergey Sobyanin’s appeal to such attitudes may help him in his race for mayor of the Russian capital, according to the director of the SOVA Analytic Center. In an article in […]
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(RIA Novosti – MOSCOW, August 16, 2013) Russian regions, most of which heavily rely on federal subsidies to survive, are funded in part based on how strongly they support the ruling United Russia party at elections, a new study claimed. The rule only applies to poorer regions with slow economic growth, according to the study by experts from the […]
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(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Marina Obrazkova, RBTH – August 16, 2013) Russians have become more relaxed about emigration yet contrasting opinions still exist. While some people are willing to abandon their native country in search of a better life, others find it difficult to think of leaving their families and friends behind. Almost 50 percent of […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Michael Bohm, Opinion Page Editor – August 16, 2013) Two weeks have passed since former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden received temporary asylum from Russia, and he hasn’t uttered a word. Nor do we know where he is located. The only information we have is a cryptic statement on Aug. 1 from Snowden’s Russian […]
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(Kennan Institute – wilsoncenter.org/program/kennan-institute – Mary Elizabeth Malinkin) Interview with Alexander Okun, Associate Professor, International Relations, Samara State University, upon the completion of his grant, “Russia in American Political Thought and Public Opinion, 1895-1905.” Spring 2013. Mary Elizabeth Malinkin: What have been some of the most interesting discoveries during your time here? Alexander Okun: I found a lot of materials, […]
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(Business New Europe – bne.eu – Tim Gosling in Prague – August 15, 2013) Russia imposed restrictions on all Ukrainian imports, the Federation of Employers of Ukraine claimed on August 14. The escalation of Moscow’s trade war against its neighbour appears a bid to step up pressure on Kyiv to drop any ambition it has to move towards the EU. […]
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(Institute of Modern Russia – imrussia.org – Donald N. Jensen – August 16, 2013) The cancellation of the bilateral meeting between Barack Obama and Vladimir Putin that had been scheduled for next month is being seen as a long-awaited acknowledgment from the White House that its “reset” policy had failed. Donald N. Jensen, Resident Fellow at the Center for Transatlantic […]
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(Interfax – MOSCOW, August 15, 2013) Russian human rights activists do not believe the murder of Memorial center activist Natalya Estemirova in Grozny is being properly investigated and say there is no political will to find the actual murderers. “It is certain that there is no political will to solve this case,” Svetlana Gannushkina, the head of the Civil Assistance […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Ivan Nechepurenko – August 16, 2013) A defendant in the ongoing trial over the murder of prominent investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya was shot and wounded near Ulitsa 1905 Goda metro on Wednesday evening, his lawyer said. Dzhabrail Makhmudov, who along with his two Chechen brothers Rustam and Ibragim is accused of being involved in the […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – August 16, 2013) The latest poll shows that support for acting Mayor Sergei Sobyanin slid 11 percentage points, a substantial fall that accompanies better showings from his opponents in the upcoming mayoral election. A survey conducted by Synovate Comcon between Aug. 8 and 14 found that Sobyanin’s support fell from 74.6 percent to 63.5 percent […]
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[check back for updates, including more links; links also posted to facebook and twitter] Johnson’s Russia List :: 2013-#150 :: 16 August 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 […]
» Read moreJohnson’s Russia List :: 2013-#149 :: 15 August 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. Russia Direct: Russian protest movement: smaller and more radical? A […]
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(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Anna Lisovets, special to RBTH – August 14, 2013) Russian markets have plenty to offer to their customers – fresh produce, variety and encounters with different cultures. RBTH presents this essential guide to help you navigate the best marketplaces in Moscow. The markets of Moscow have recently become a familiar topic for discussion […]
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(opendemocracy.net – Liana Fix – August 14, 2013) Liana Fix is a researcher on Russia and Eurasia. Her research interests include Russian foreign and security policy after 1991 and regional dynamics in South Caucasus and Central Asia. Five years after the Russian-Georgian war, Georgian Premier Bidzina Ivanishvili has announced that Tbilisi is ready for direct talks with Abkhazia and South […]
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(RIA Novosti – MOSCOW, August 15, 2013) A year after Russia opened a transit hub in Ulyanovsk to help in NATO’s pullout from Afghanistan, not a single alliance member has used it, a Russian newspaper said Thursday. “Russian authorities insisted, when opening the hub, that only Russian transport companies service its operations. And they hiked the prices so much that […]
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(Interfax – MOSCOW, Aug 14, 2013) The number of convicts who have walked free under the so-called economic amnesty has now exceeded seventy, the press service for the Federal Service on the Enforcement of Punishments has reported. “Seven people who served their sentences in correctional establishments and 35 people registered with criminal enforcement inspectorates have been released under a decree […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – August 15, 2013) The Audit Chamber has found gross violations in the processes through which authorities award state orders of 1 billion rubles ($30 million) or more. More than 70 percent of the contracts, as calculated by their quantity and value, were finalized in a “gray area,” the Chamber said on its website Thursday. There […]
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(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Ilya Arkhipov & Stepan Kravchenko – August 14, 2013) Russian President Vladimir Putin has opened Moscow’s first detention camp for illegal immigrants as migrants become the main concern among voters preparing for the city’s first mayoral election since 2003. The tarpaulin tents for 600 people, surrounded by an eight-meter (26 feet) fence, signal the campaign for […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Yekaterina Kravtsova – August 15, 2013) Supporters of mayoral hopeful Alexei Navalny on Wednesday were struggling to find answers over an incident that took place Tuesday evening that saw police force their way into a central Moscow apartment to seize what they said were illegal campaign materials. In a statement released Wednesday, police explained the […]
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(RFE/RL – rferl.org – Natalya Dzhanpoladova & Arslan Saidov – MOSCOW, August 14, 2013) According to a recent Levada Center poll, 40 percent of Muscovites believe the campaign for the city’s September 8 mayoral election will be “dirty, featuring slander, falsification, [and] abuse of administrative resources.” The events of the last couple of weeks seem to be proving them right, […]
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(Interfax – MOSCOW, August 14, 2013) Sergei Sobyanin would have won the Moscow mayoral election in the first round with 67.4% of the vote if the election were held next Sunday, the Russian Public Opinion Study Center (VTsIOM) said. The acting Moscow mayor is the best known candidate – 98% respondents in the VTsIOM telephone poll said they knew him. […]
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(Window on Eurasia – Paul Goble – Staunton, August 14, 2013) Many in the Russian Federation and the West were shocked when European countries recently published figures showing that thousands of Russians are now seeking asylum or at least permanent residence abroad, but Russian realtors say that behind these numbers is an even more disturbing one. Ever more wealthy Russians […]
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(RIA Novosti – MOSCOW, August 14, 2013) More parties have been banned from regional elections in Russia this year than in 2012, despite the Kremlin’s attempted liberalization of political legislation, a new study said Wednesday. In total, 9.2 percent of the candidate lists submitted by parties for the September 8 elections have been banned, compared with 2.4 percent last […]
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(opendemocracy.net – Daniil Kotsyubinsky – August 13, 2013) Daniil Kotsyubinsky is a Russian historian and journalist based in St. Petersburg For the past month, Moscow has been following the fortunes of opposition leader Aleksey Navalny trial, imprisonment, implausible release and continuing Mayoral ambitions. But can all really be as it seems? Daniil Kotsyubinsky presents an alternative view. Moscow’s hot […]
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(Interfax – MOSCOW, August 13, 2013) Russians are not unanimous about the need to protect copyright owners, sociologists told Interfax. Some 48% of 1,600 respondents polled in 130 towns and cities in 45 regions in late July said it was possible to buy “pirated” discs and software. Thirty-nine percent argued it was improper and 13% could not answer the question. […]
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(Window on Eurasia – Paul Goble – Staunton, August 13, 2013) As the first Chinese merchant ship begins an unescorted voyage from Dalian to Rotterdam on the Northern Sea Route, Russian military officials are pondering how many icebreakers Russia in fact needs to ensure that Moscow is able to continue its dominance of that increasingly important passage between Europe and […]
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(RIA Novosti – WASHINGTON, August 13, 2013) Online U.S. retail behemoth Amazon is embarking on a “massive” expansion in the Russian books market and has already begun signing contracts with Russia’s largest publishing houses, a publishing industry website has reported. The Seattle-based firm has already signed an agreement with Rosman, one of Russia’s biggest publishers of children’s titles, for […]
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(Interfax – MOSCOW, Aug 13, 2013) Russia expects the EU countries to be able to overcome symptoms of crises in their economies and is willing to provide its assistance in this during its presidency of the G20, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said. “We genuinely hope our European partners emerge from the period of stagnation as soon as possible. We […]
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(Interfax – August 14, 2013) Russian Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov has called for withdrawal of U.S. tactical nuclear armaments from the territories of non-nuclear countries and dismantlement of the related infrastructure. “As an expert on the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) I have a question why nuclear armaments are deployed on the territories of non-nuclear countries. What is the nuclear […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Des Brown – August 12, 2013) Come September, more than 2000 schoolchildren across Russia will be packing their luggage and decamping to the houses of the most traditional of British institutions – the boarding school – entering a world of prep and pastoral care, a world of Mr. Chips, the Eton Boating Song and Harry […]
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(Institute of Modern Russia – imrussia.org – Tatiana Stanovaya – August 13, 2013) The issues of internal migration and relations between Russians and “newcomers” from the Russian southern regions have become major problems in the country. Political analyst Tatiana Stanovaya talks about whether the government has a strategy with regard to such issues. In July, an acute crisis broke out […]
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(RIA Novosti – Natalia Antonova, Acting Editor-in-Chief of The Moscow News. She also works as a playwright, her work featured at the Lyubimovka Festival in Moscow and Gogolfest in Kiev, Ukraine – August 13, 2013) The war on migrants in Moscow is being stepped up ahead of the September 8 mayoral election with a tent camp set up […]
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(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Patrick Sewell, special to RBTH – August 14, 2013) Despite the now notorious “gay propaganda” bill, frustrated westerners would be wrong to view Russian society as innately homophobic. As much as I love Russia, I’ll be honest – I’ve seen some angry Russians in my time. There are a lot of half-baked stereotypes […]
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(RFE/RL – rferl.org – Dmitry Volchek – August 14, 2013) Russian investigators are pressing ahead with a controversial defamation probe following a complaint by Yelena Mizulina, a lawmaker best known for her crusade to promote what she considers “traditional values.” Mizulina, who heads the parliament’s committee on family, women and children, has authored a number of controversial initiatives over the […]
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(RIA Novosti – MOSCOW, August 14, 2013) The vast majority of Russians see not paying their debts as an ethically unacceptable act, whereas they are much more willing to suspend moral judgment on tax evasion, a new poll showed Wednesday. Only 3 percent of the respondents said that leaving a debt unpaid was acceptable, compared with 95 percent who […]
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(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Georgy Manaev, special to RBTH – August 14, 2013) Hitchhiking in the world’s largest country can be a thrilling experience. Gathering bits of advice from Russia’s most experienced travelers, RBTH delves into the history and local habits of this adventurous mode of travel. In recent years, most of the urban population of the […]
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(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Marina Obrazkova, RBTH – August 14, 2013) All is fair in love and war – and in the Moscow mayoral race. As Navalny deals with accusations of receiving campaign funding from abroad, Sobyanin’s properties are the target of the opposition. The first major scandals of the Moscow mayoral campaign have erupted. The Prosecutor […]
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(Moscow News – themoscownews.com – Maria Stambler – August 14, 2013) On September 8, Muscovites will head to the polling station to vote for the new mayor and between 53-55% have already decided to cast their vote for acting Mayor Sergei Sobyanin, according to the latest poll by the All-Russian Center for the Study of Public Opinion. The poll was […]
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(RIA Novosti – August 13, 2013) The share of Russians who trust the TV is almost three times greater than of those who regard the internet as a trustworthy source of information, Russian state news agency RIA Novosti reported on 13 August, quoting the latest opinion poll from VTsIOM, the Russian Public Opinion Research Centre. Asked which source they would […]
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(RIA Novosti – MOSCOW, August 14, 2013) Missile defense talks between Russian and NATO military officials in the past 10 days have reached another impasse, Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov said Wednesday. “We have been discussing the missile defense issue for the past 10 days…however, no solution for this problem is yet in sight,” Antonov told reporters in Moscow […]
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(RIA Novosti – BAKU, August 13, 2013) US-Russian relations are so important that it is impossible to put them on hold, a Kremlin aide said Tuesday, days after US President Barack Obama called for a “pause” in relations with Russia. “What pause can there be if active contacts are ongoing, including between key ministers?” Russian presidential aide Yury Ushakov […]
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(Interfax – MOSCOW, Aug 14, 2013) The father of former CIA employee Edward Snowden will arrive in Russia shortly. He will be traveling incognito at first, a source familiar with the situation told Interfax on Wednesday. “The visit of Snowden Sr. and the accompanying persons will be confidential for the apparent reason. The world will learn about their arrival post […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Ivan Nechepurenko – August 14, 2013) President Vladimir Putin met with his Azeri counterpart Ilham Aliyev in Baku on Tuesday in what proved to be a fruitful visit, but one which led some to express caution about Russia’s influence in the republic. The visit came just a few weeks before presidential elections are set to […]
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(RIA Novosti – MOSCOW, August 14, 2013) The intended pullout of the NATO-led forces from Afghanistan starting in 2014 is “too hasty,” Russia’s Deputy Defense Minister said Wednesday adding that Russia will reinforce its military bases in Central Asia ahead of the withdrawal. The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), which has been fighting the radical Islamist Taliban movement in […]
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(Institute of Modern Russia – imrussia.org – Donald N. Jensen – August 13, 2013) Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in Ukraine on July 27 to attend a joint commemoration marking the 1,025th anniversary of Russia’s conversion to Christianity. As Donald N. Jensen, Resident Fellow at the Center for Transatlantic Relations at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, points […]
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(Window on Eurasia – Paul Goble – Staunton, August 13, 2013) Moscow, having helped Iran to build its atomic power station at Bushehr over the last two decades, is now negotiating with Tehran to construct one or more such stations, despite Israeli and Western concerns that Iran is using such facilities, despite its promises to the contrary, to produce nuclear […]
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[check back for updates, including more links; links also posted to facebook and twitter] Johnson’s Russia List :: 2013-#148 :: 14 August 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 :: 2013-#147 :: 13 August 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. RIA Novosti: Russia’s Courts, Judges Struggle to Win Public Trust […]
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(Moscow News – themoscownews.com – Natalia Antonova, Acting Editor-in-Chief – August 12, 2013) Pavel Adelgeim, an outspoken Orthodox priest, was stabbed to death last week. His death was a tragic end to an equally tragic life. Father Pavel, as he was known to many, was the son of parents who suffered grievously from repressions in the Soviet Union. In the […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Yekaterina Kravtsova – August 13, 2013) When the pro-Kremlin youth movement Nashi announced its closure last year, it seemed the days were numbered for the Seliger camp, where the gathering of thousands of young Nashi members each summer prompted some to label it the headquarters of a brainwashing cult. But rather than fade away, the […]
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