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: “…. Prigozhin’s ‘revolt,’ of course, can go down as a clear illustration of the perils of permitting private armies to exist. …” – Fred Weir

Yevgeny Prigozhin file photos, adapted from images at fbi.gov

(Fred Weir – facebook.com/fred.weir – June 24, 2023) “It’s not the first time something bizarre has happened when I am away from Moscow. Prigozhin’s ‘revolt,’ of course, can go down as a clear illustration of the perils of permitting private armies to exist. …” [original post should load below, and also appears at facebook.com/fred.weir/posts/793729415591872/] 

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Prigozhin’s armed insurrection/mutiny/rebellion” – Michael Kofman

Yevgeny Prigozhin file photos, adapted from images at fbi.gov

(Michael Kofman – twitter.com/KofmanMichael – June 25, 2023) “A few thoughts on Prigozhin’s armed insurrection/mutiny/rebellion. For now it appears over. … Prigozhin launched a mutiny that ultimately challenged Putin’s power, and the system. This was not a traditional coup, but with Putin’s video and FSB statements it became a challenge that would reveal the extent of brittleness in the regime. […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Wagner’s Aborted Mutiny Leaves No Winners in Russia; The authority of the Russian state has sustained lasting damage, inviting future challenges” – WSJ

Yevgeny Prigozhin file photos, adapted from images at fbi.gov

“Shaken by the Wagner mutiny, Russia began addressing the damage of Saturday’s bout of violence as its citizens tried to understand how these events will affect … Putin’s regime, … shown … [to be] so unexpectedly vulnerable. … One widely shared conclusion in Russia …  was that none of the key players in the power struggle that began when Prigozhin […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Short-Lived Mutiny in Russia Sheds Light on Putin’s Hold on Power” – New York Times

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

“The armed standoff on the road to Moscow, brief as it was, represented the most dramatic struggle for power in Russia in decades.” “… Could Russia’s botched invasion … eventually lead to the downfall of … Putin? For a few chaotic, head-snapping hours this weekend, the notion did not seem so far-fetched. … [E]ven with the apparent end to the […]

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RUSSIALINK: “Prigozhin’s Insurrection Creates Headaches for Russia-China Alliance, Experts Say” – Moscow Times

File Photo of Beijing Temple, adapted from image at lbl.gov

(Moscow Times – Jake Cordell) Yevgeny Prigozhin’s rebellion against Moscow will have stoked alarm in China and could throw sand in the wheels of the “no-limits” strategic partnership between Presidents Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping, experts said on Sunday. After a 24-hour armed insurrection in which Prigozhin’s Wagner mercenaries seized control of parts of the southern city of Rostov-on-Don and […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “A critical look at Russian studies in the U.S.” – Meduza

Bookcase file photo, adapted from image at nlm.nih.gov

“In a new piece for VoxUkraine that’s been circulating on Twitter, economists Yuriy Gorodnichenko, Ilona Sologoub, and Tatyana Deryugina make the case for a ‘major review of both the quantity and quality of “Slavic” studies,’ arguing that the field focuses disproportionately on Russia and leaves graduates unprepared to produce balanced media coverage or wise policy. The claim that many of […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “The great dilemma: NATO is agonising over whether to let Ukraine join. America is not keen for the country to enter the alliance — yet” – The Economist

NATO Meeting File Photo

“… Biden was blunt … about Ukraine’s chances of joining NATO. ‘I’m not going to make it easier,’ he declared. Despite its bold fight against Russia, the country still has to prove itself: ‘Does it meet all the standards every other nation in NATO does?’ Joining the alliance … ‘is not automatic.’ America … finds itself unusually isolated in the […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Ukraine’s Offensive Slows Down, Zelensky Says, as Kyiv Rethinks Approach” – WSJ

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

“Putin says Kyiv has no chances in its push to retake occupied land” “Ukrainian forces are proceeding more slowly than planned in their offensive to retake occupied areas, … Zelensky acknowledged, as military commanders said they are taking time to reassess tactics, adjusting to Russia’s extensive minefields and [air] attacks …. Both sides agree that the intensity of fighting declined […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Russia gas flows through Ukraine could stop next year, Kyiv says” – Financial Times

Gas Flame file photo

“Ukrainian energy minister said renewal of five-year transit contract to supply Europe was unlikely” “One of the last arteries carrying Russian gas to Europe could be shut off by the end of [2024] when Ukraine’s … contract with Gazprom expires … Ukrainian [Minister of Energy German] Galushchenko said … the chances of … [contract] renewal … were slim … [T]he […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “An unspooked spook; Ukraine’s spymaster has got under the Kremlin’s skin” – The Economist/ Kyrylo Budanov

Stylized Artist's Depiction of Shadowy Figures in Dark Coats and Dark Hats, One Carrying a Briefcase

“… 37-year-old General [Kyrylo] Budanov, a former commando, is Ukraine’s youngest-ever spymaster. … [A]rchitect of increasingly brazen operations within Russia, he is also a big irritant for the Kremlin. Aides say there have been ‘at least ten’ attempts on his life. … Western partners describe [him] as a straightforward and incorruptible player. He is now [reportedly] privy to more American […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Top U.S. official to meet Ukraine war sceptics from developing nations” – Financial Times

File Photo of Jake Sullivan Gesturing While Speaking Next to U.S. Flag, with White House Logo in Background

“Jake Sullivan to fly to Copenhagen at Kyiv’s request to meet India, Brazil and others in ‘global south’” “Joe Biden’s … national security [advisor Jake Sullivan] will fly to [Copenhagen] this weekend at [Ukraine’s] behest … for an unannounced meeting with representatives of several developing countries that have not condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, [reportedly] including India, Brazil and South […]

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Russia Analytical Report, June 12-20, 2023 – 4 Ideas to Explore

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

(Russia Matters – russiamatters.org) “Ukrainians’ early setbacks are a sign that their offensive will be a long, deadly grind, and not a repeat of their rout of Russian troops in … Kharkiv region late last summer,” according to a new analysis by WSJ reporters Daniel Michaels and Isabel Cole. “It was always going to be difficult,” said Rob Lee, a […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “The Treacherous Path to a Better Russia; Ukraine’s Future and Putin’s Fate” – Foreign Affairs/ Andrea Kendall-Taylor, Erica Frantz

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

“… Authoritarian leaders rarely lose power while still waging a war they initiated. … [and] authoritarian regimes most often survive in the wake of the departure of longtime leaders … [W]ere Putin to die … or be removed by insiders, the regime would … likely endure …. One development … could spark more substantive change in Russia: a Ukrainian victory. […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “NATO Has No Good News for Ukraine” – Foreign Policy

NATO meeting file photo

“Next month’s meeting of Western allies will leave the war-torn country mostly empty-handed.” “… [In] 2008 … NATO officially welcomed Ukraine’s aspirations for membership …. Now, after a full-scale Russian invasion, [Ukraine] is being asked to wait longer, without a timeline …. [T]he alliance … offers [Ukraine] perhaps the only chance at dodging future Russian attacks on its sovereignty. … […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Russia’s Showcase Economic Forum Is Now a Charade” – Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

Cash, Calculator, Pen

“The excessive optimism of Putin and his ministers smacks of an attempt to convince not even mythical investors so much as themselves that business as usual is possible — and even compatible with their threats to unleash nuclear war.” “… Investors and foreign media used to see … Putin’s keynote address as an economic road map and indication of [Putin’s] […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “In Rush to Arm Ukraine, Weapons Are Bought but Not Delivered, or Too Broken to Use” – New York Times

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

“Some of the weapons sent to Ukraine by other countries have been unusable, and hundreds of millions of dollars in contracts paid up front have yet to be fulfilled.” “Ukraine has paid contractors hundreds of millions of dollars for weapons that have not been delivered, and some of the much-publicized arms donated by its allies have been so decrepit that […]

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Russia in Review, June 9-16, 2023 – 7 Things to Know

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

(Russia Matters – russiamatters.org) Ukraine’s military command claimed, as of June 15, to have retaken approximately 40 square miles of territory in the course of its counteroffensive, even as its soldiers encountered what U.S. military officials described as fierce resistance by Russian troops. The latter have reportedly managed to destroy at least four Leopard-2 tanks, 3 Leopard 2R engineering vehicles […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “‘Mines Everywhere’: Ukraine’s Offensive Is Proving a Hard Slog” – WSJ

Russian Landmine TM-62, adapted from image at army.mil

“Dense Russian defenses and a lack of air cover add to the challenges facing Ukrainian troops.” “… Ukraine’s ambitious offensive to take back Russian-occupied land is proving to be a hard slog against dense minefields, well-prepared defenses and Russia’s superior air power. After … mixed results, Ukrainian forces have mostly paused … assaults … [to] draw lessons from the past […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Ukraine’s Offensive Meets Strong Russian Riposte; Kyiv’s forces are making progress but encountering resistance, defense official says” – WSJ

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

“Fierce battles have ensued in the south and east of Ukraine as Russian forces push back against a counteroffensive aimed at driving them from the region … [according to] Ukraine’s deputy defense minister [Hanna Malyar] …. [She] said Russian troops have employed antitank guided missiles and loitering munitions that stay airborne while identifying a target and then attack. Mines laid […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Despite war, post-Soviet states find breaking up with Russia hard to do” – Christian Science Monitor/ Fred Weir

Map of CIS Central Asia and Environs

… [At this year’s Victory Day parade,] Putin was joined … by the leaders of seven other post-Soviet countries, including all five former Soviet Central Asian republics, plus Armenia and Belarus. After more than a year of severe stress, many of those countries have sought to distance themselves from embattled Moscow and find alternative avenues for trade, political connections, and […]

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RUSSIALINK: “Russia Risks Return to Planned Economy – Central Bank” – Moscow Times

Cash, Calculator, Pen

(Moscow Times – June 15, 2023) Russian Central Bank Governor Elvira Nabiullina warned Thursday that Russia is at risk of reverting to a planned economic system as it grapples with restructuring challenges driven by soaring war expenses and unprecedented Western sanctions. “The temptation to manage economic restructuring can lead to [a situation] where we suppress private initiative [by businesses], not […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Putin’s administration staff ‘are starting the day with a bottle of vodka and Security Council’s Dmitry Medvedev is often drunk when he writes his apocalyptic threats of nuclear war'” – Daily Mail (UK)

Dmitri Medvedev file photo

“Sources close to the Kremlin say stress of Ukraine war is turning some to drink State banquets serve luxury cognac costing more than £6,000 a bottle Some Russian admin staff are said to be starting the day with a bottle of vodka” Click here for: “Putin’s administration staff ‘are starting the day with a bottle of vodka and Security Council’s […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Why Putin Will Never Agree to De-escalate; Regardless of Ukraine’s counteroffensive, Russia is bracing for a long war” – Foreign Policy

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

“As Ukraine accelerates its counteroffensive a… a rational person might conclude … 2023 must surely be the last year of Russia’s war against its neighbor. Russian military resources are depleted, Moscow’s long and bloody winter offensive in the Donbas has yielded meager results, and Russian society longs for the return of prewar stability. Logic dictates … the Kremlin has no […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Ukraine’s Winnable War; Why the West Should Help Kyiv Retake All Its Territory” – Foreign Affairs/ Gideon Rose

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

“… Russia invaded Ukraine … to conquer the country and erase the independence … gained after the [Soviet] collapse …. Russia’s attempt to take [Kyiv] was thwarted … then its attempts to consolidate gains in the east and the south were disrupted. Russian troops were forced to withdraw from the Kharkiv region and Kherson. A brutal Russian air campaign against […]

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RUSSIALINK: “Ideology, Money or Freedom? Why Fighters from the Global South Join Russia’s Army in Ukraine” – Moscow Times

Africa Map

(Moscow Times – Leyla Latypova, Vivianne Wandera – June 13, 2023) The family of Tanzanian-born Nemes Raymond Taremo first heard rumors that their beloved relative had been killed on the frontlines in faraway Ukraine in December last year. They received their last message from Taremo, 37, two months earlier — on Oct. 17 — shortly after he joined Russia’s Wagner […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Russia’s improved weaponry and tactics pose challenges to Ukraine’s counteroffensive” – AP

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

“Ukrainian troops are probing Russian defenses … [in] a second summer of fighting … facing an enemy that has made mistakes and suffered setbacks …. But analysts say Moscow also has learned from those blunders and improved its weapons and skills. Russia has built heavily fortified defenses along the … 600-mile[] front line, honed … electronic weapons to reduce Ukraine’s […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Fear and Mayhem as Russia’s War Comes Home” – New York Times

European Portion of Commonwealth of Independent States

“Attacks from Ukraine have killed at least a dozen Russian civilians and displaced thousands. But they have not fundamentally changed the calculus for Vladimir Putin.” “Abandoned cats and dogs roam vacant streets lined with blasted apartment buildings, rubble and crumpled cars in Shebekino, a Russian border town pounded by shelling from Ukraine. A hair salon still smoldered last week. Every […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Military Assistance to Ukraine Is a Rare Success” – RAND

File Photo of F-16 in flight above clouds, adapted from image at defense.gov with photo credit, U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Matthew Lotz

“… Military aid has a well-deserved bad reputation. Large-scale [U.S.] attempts … to build partner militaries — from Afghanistan to Iraq to Vietnam — have cost billions … while failing to build effective partner forces. Yet the indirect approach[,] … done right, can deliver remarkable strategic effects, as … in Ukraine. While the bravery and resourcefulness of the Ukrainians surely […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “‘A Wall of Steel’: Ukrainian Troops Face Hard Slog in Offensive’s First Days” – WSJ

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

“Brigades with Western arms make small gains against Russia’s defensive lines in occupied regions.” “… Russian forces have spent months preparing for attacks in occupied parts of the country’s south, where the Ukrainians would like to push through and cut the land bridge that connects Russia to Crimea …. Ukrainian officials have said little about … progress … but insist […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “As Ukraine Launches Counteroffensive, Definitions of ‘Success’ Vary” – New York Times

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

“Privately, U.S. and European officials concede that pushing all of Russia’s forces out of occupied Ukrainian land is highly unlikely.” “… [T]he new military drive will influence discussions of future support for Ukraine … [and] how to guarantee its future. … [U]nclear … is … what the United States, Europe and Ukraine view as a ‘successful’ counteroffensive. … Zelensky has […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “How Putin’s War Became Russia’s War; The Country Will Struggle to Reckon With Its Crimes in Ukraine” – Foreign Affairs

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

“… Putin’s war against Ukraine has become the defining event of his years in power. Even if he rules for another quarter century, Russia’s president will forever be considered a war criminal. But the consequences of the war are even more far-reaching: it promises to leave a stain on Russian society and politics that will remain even after Putin is […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Attacking Ukraine’s Kakhovka Dam Fits Russia’s Centuries’ Old Pattern” – Newsweek

European Portion of Commonwealth of Independent States

“… [T]his latest incident should be understood as yet another horrific atrocity in a long history of Russian colonial violence. … [D]ays before the destruction of the dam, a prominent Russian propagandist called for the destruction of ‘every living thing’ in one of Ukraine’s eastern regions in order to ‘punish and deter’ Ukrainians for resisting Russian occupation. This state news […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “White House anxiously watches Ukraine’s counteroffensive, seeing the war and Biden’s reputation at stake” – Politico

File Photo of Joe Biden at Podium in Front of U.S. and State Department Flags, adapted from image at usembassy.gov

“With the debt ceiling done, attention turns to the challenges piling up internationally.” “Senior U.S. officials are convinced that future support for the Ukraine war — and … Biden’s global reputation — hinges on the success of Ukraine’s counteroffensive. Succeed and Western military and economic aid will flow. Stumble or fail to meet expectations, and that support will likely dry […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “The Russian fortifications Ukraine needs to break through in its counter-offensive” – The Telegraph (UK)

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

“Advancing Ukrainian troops must break through an elaborate network of Russian defences running hundreds of miles across the country … built in anticipation of Kyiv’s offensive. … [S]atellite imagery … has revealed the array of minefields, anti-tank ditches, and trenches lying ahead of … Ukrainian troops attempting to push south. The defences … [reportedly] are constructed in a ‘three-line system,’ […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Russia’s Willing Collaborators; Ukraine Needs a Measured Lustration Policy to Strengthen Security and Rebuild Democracy” – Foreign Affairs

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

“If Kyiv … regains significant territory, as … in the fall of 2022, it will have to decide what to do with people in those areas who worked with or otherwise assisted Russian occupation authorities and forces in their repression of local populations and propaganda. … Russia has been actively relying on collaborators to establish … control over … occupied […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “The key to ending the war in Ukraine? Attacking Crimea” – Washington Post/ John E. Herbst, Daniel Fried

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

“…. Ukrainian forces have a real chance at achieving victory …. The path to victory is anything but straightforward. But one way or another, it likely passes through Crimea. … Crimea represents a point of maximum leverage[] … [and] is exactly where Ukraine needs to make battlefield gains to bring this war to a successful conclusion. … A Ukrainian advance […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “The Pentagon Is Freaking Out About a Potential War With China (Because America might lose.)” – Politico

File Image of Taiwan Map and Taiwanese Urban Landscape, adapted from image at export.gov

“… [A war-game scenario envisions] early morning … massive [Chinese] bombardment … of Taiwan’s navy and air force as the People’s Liberation army and navy mount a massive amphibious assault …. Having taken seriously … Biden’s pledge to defend the island, Beijing also [strikes] pre-emptively at U.S. and allied air bases and ships in the Indo-Pacific. The U.S. … even[s] […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Ukrainian forces suffer ‘stiff resistance’ and losses in assault on Russian lines” – CNN

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

“… Ukrainian forces managed to overrun some Russian forces in the east around Bakhmut. … Russian forces, armed with anti-tank missiles, grenades and mortars, have put up ‘stiff resistance’ … dug into defensive lines … several layers deep in some areas and marked by minefields … [inflicting] a heavy toll on Ukrainian armored vehicles. … Ukraine’s Deputy Defense Minister Hanna […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Kyiv says it intercepted call showing Russia blew up Kakhovka dam” – Reuters

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

“Ukraine’s domestic security service[, The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU),] said on Friday it had intercepted a telephone call proving a Russian ‘sabotage group’ blew up the Kakhovka hydroelectric station and dam in southern Ukraine. … [The explosion] unleashed mass flooding, forcing thousands of residents to flee and wreaking environmental havoc.  [The SBU] posted a one-and-a-half minute audio clip on […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Russians Are Unraveling Before Our Eyes; A wave of fresh humiliations has the Kremlin struggling to control the narrative” – Foreign Policy/ Alexey Kovalev

Kremlin and River

“[After militant incursions into Russian territory,] [c]ombined with … Moscow drone attack[s], it’s now clear … Russia’s war has come home to roost … The Ukrainians have also been stepping up their drone attacks on oil refineries, airfields, and other critical sites deep inside Russia. … [T]he Russians seem to be unraveling. … [such as with] the bitter conflict between […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Russian Elite Is Souring on Putin’s Chances of Winning His War” – Bloomberg

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

“Even some who support the invasion and want to intensify the fight against Ukraine have become deflated about Russia’s prospects.” “… [D]eepening gloom … grip[s] Russia’s elite about … Putin’s war in Ukraine, with even the most optimistic seeing a ‘frozen’ conflict as the best available outcome …. Many within the political and business elite [reportedly] are tired of the […]

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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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JRL NEWSWATCH: “U.S. had intelligence of Ukrainian plan to attack Nord Stream project – Washington Post” – Reuters

Gas Flame file photo

“The United States learned of a Ukrainian plan to attack the Nord Stream natural gas pipelines three months before they were damaged … The Washington Post reported … citing [online] leaked information …. [washingtonpost.com/national-security/2023/06/06/nord-stream-pipeline-explosion-ukraine-russia/] The CIA [reportedly] learned last June, through a European spy agency, that a six-person team of Ukrainian special operations forces intended to blow up the Russia-to-Germany […]

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The Russian Idea Revisited

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

(Kennan Institute – wilsoncenter.org/program/kennan-institute – William E. Pomeranz – June 6, 2023) William Pomeranz is the Director of the Wilson Center’s Kennan Institute, Some years after the Soviet Union’s collapse, President Boris Yeltsin initiated a national search for a new Russian idea. The past was too raw and controversial, however, to reach any consensus on or reconciliation as to what […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Cologne court fines pro-Russia Ukrainian” – DW

Map of Germany

“Elena Kolbasnikova, a Ukrainian national who lives in the western German city of Cologne and has spoken out in support of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, argues that she has a right to freedom of speech.” “A Ukrainian national … liv[ing] in Cologne … hop[ing] to get a Russian passport …, Elena Kolbasnikova was looking at a [German] prison sentence … […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “De-colonising Russia and the independence movements threatening Putin” – The Herald (Scotland)

Russia Regions Map

“… The buzzword for the future of Russia is ‘decolonisation.’ For many people this means a challenge to the current state’s imperialistic mindset, in respect of both its neighbours and the minority nations inside its borders. For others, the term has come to mean dismemberment. … The current Federation has some 190 or so ethnic groups, and most are not […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Why Support for Putin’s War Is Rife in Russia’s Worst-Hit Regions” – Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

European Portion of Commonwealth of Independent States

“Belgorod, Bryansk, and Kursk — known in the 1990s as the communist ‘red belt’ — are now a support belt for Putin’s ‘special operation.’” “In Russia’s Belgorod region, which borders Ukraine, 1,150 apartments in a single district were damaged last week in recent incursions and shelling. It might seem that the arrival of hostilities on Russian territory should prompt Russians […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Interview – Marlene Laruelle” – E-International Relations

Marlene Laruelle file photo, from gwu.edu

“… Q: Where do you see the most exciting research/debates happening in your field? I see a lot of exciting debates happening in the fields of both Russian Studies and Illiberalism. In the field of Russian Studies, there are mixed feelings, obviously, because of Russia’s full-scale war on Ukraine: a lot of pessimism regarding the future of conducting research in […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “How much is Russia spending on its invasion of Ukraine? By historical standards, it’s a puny amount. That tells you three big things” – The Economist

Cash, Calculator, Pen

“… Russia’s budget is murky — especially its military one. … However … consult[ing] … various experts[] … our own analysis … come[s] up with … 3% of GDP. … Three reasons explain why Russia is spending so little. The first is political. Many within the Russian government would like to continue to portray the war … as a ‘special […]

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