Tag: Slider
RBTH: Olympic doping scandal: Whistleblower Rodchenkov may face court in Russia
Grigory Rodchenkov’s exposure of Russian Olympic champions’ use of doping contains many unsubstantiated accusations and few facts, say Russian officials and experts. (Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – ALEXEY MOSKO, RBTH – May 16, 2016) Criminal proceedings may be launched against former head of the Moscow Anti-Doping Laboratory Grigory Rodchenkov, the man who revealed to The New York Times […]
» Read moreNEWSLINK TASS: “Russia will not back IMF aid program to Ukraine if it fails to consider debt requests”
NEWSLINK Russia Today: “Russia to counter NATO expansion with new radar station in Crimea – source”
Russians Face Sustained Declines in Standard of Living for the Foreseeable Future, Economist Says
(Paul Goble – Window on Eurasia – Staunton, May 14, 2016) Dmitry Prokofyev, a St. Petersburg economist, says that barring an unexpected shock, Russia faces declines of its GDP of 1.0 – 1.5 percent a year for the foreseeable future, a trend that will exacerbate differences between life in the megalopolises which may improve somewhat and life elsewhere which will […]
» Read moreTRANSCRIPT: [Putin at] Meeting on defence industry development
(Kremlin.ru – May 13, 2016) Vladimir Putin held this week’s final meeting with Defence Ministry leadership and defence industry representatives. The meeting covered the current tasks of the defence industry, specifically, mobilisation readiness of defence industry companies. Another issue on the agenda was the deployment of the US missile defence system in Eastern Europe. President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Good […]
» Read moreRussian Economy Shrank Less Than Forecast as Growth Seen Closer
(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Olga Tanas – May 16, 2016) Russia’s economy contracted less than forecast in the first quarter, leaving it closer to growth than at any time since it slid into recession last year. Gross domestic product fell 1.2 percent from a year earlier after a decline of 3.8 percent in the previous three months, the Federal Statistics […]
» Read moreCould a union do anything to protect Russian journalists?
Physical attacks and management interference have put Russian journalists’ safety – and their ability to work freely – back on the table. A new union will have to survive in an increasingly hostile environment. (opendemocracy.net – Nataliya Rostova – May 16, 2016) Nataliya Rostova is a visiting scholar at the Kennan Institute, senior correspondent for current affairs portal Slon.ru and […]
» Read moreNEWSWATCH: “What to expect from next U.S. ambassador to Ukraine” [former U.S. Ambassador to Armenia, Marie Yovanovitch] – Kyiv Post/Armine Sahakyan
Ukraine can expect Marie L. Yovanovitch, likely the next U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, to try to help achieve a political accommodation between Kyiv and eastern Ukraine’s separatists, to oppose corruption and political thuggery, and to defend human rights and journalist rights. * * * Yovanovitch, who was born in Canada into a family of immigrants from Russia, majored in history […]
» Read moreNEWSLINK Russia Today: “Russian senator calls for criminal prosecution for doping in sports”
NEWSLINK Russia Direct: “22 years after the Nagorno-Karabakh ceasefire, historical battle persists. Resolving the current conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh is impossible without understanding the complex history of the region and the specific grievances of Armenia and Azerbaijan”
NEWSLINK Sputnik News: “US Missile Defense in Eastern Europe: How Russia Will Respond”
NEWSLINK TASS: “Kremlin makes no decision on increasing taxes in Russia after 2018”
NEWSLINK Gordon Hahn: “The Present Stability of Putin’s ‘Sistema'”
NEWSLINK Russia Direct: “To understand Putin’s popularity, visit Russia’s industrial heartland. Book Review: Far from Moscow and St. Petersburg, former NPR correspondent Anne Garrels brings readers closer to the “real Russia” with her new book Putin Country”
NEWSLINK The Guardian/Mary Dejevsky: “How do people see Russia? Eurovision gave one answer. Ukraine triumphed – but the popular vote suggested a more nuanced view of Russia than has often been assumed.”
Panama Papers: Are Russian entrepreneurs actually moving back onshore?
The latest information published from the Panama Papers shows that some Russian billionaires began closing their offshore companies after the beginning of the governmental de-offshorization campaign in 2015. (Russia Beyond the Headlines – ALEXEI LOSSAN, RBTH – rbth.ru – May 16, 2016) According to the business newspaper RBK Daily, the expanded database of the so-called Panama Papers, published in May […]
» Read moreHedge Funds Reap Big Rewards From Roller-Coaster Russian Markets
(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Elena Popina – May 15, 2016) Russian assets, which are among the most volatile in the world, are bringing hedge fund managers the best returns in emerging markets. Funds with a geographical focus on the country have gained an average 29 percent since the start of 2015, more than any others geared toward major developing nations, […]
» Read moreRUSSIA & UKRAINE – Johnson’s Russia List table of contents :: JRL 2016-87 :: Monday, 16 May 2016
[check back for updates, including more links; links also posted to facebook and twitter] Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2016-#87 Monday, 16 May 2016 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 moreIs NATO’s antimissile defense system in Europe a threat to Russia?
Moscow has called the American antimissile defense system in Romania a threat to its security. Washington and Brussels insist that the system is not aimed at Russia and is helpless against Russian missiles. But is this true? (Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – ALEXEY TIMOFEYCHEV, RBTH – May 16, 2016) The first American antimissile defense system on European soil, […]
» Read moreNEWSWATCH: “Revelations of State-Backed Doping Should Bar Russia From Rio Olympics” – New York Times/JULIET MACUR
Accusations of Russian doping and reported claims of systematic distribution of performance-enhancing drugs and of bribes paid to cover up positive tests would be enough to scare off officials of any event worried about safeguarding its credibility. … you have to wonder what officials from the World Anti-Doping Agency and the International Olympic Committee are thinking now, in light of […]
» Read moreUkrainian blogger gets long sentence for expressing contentious views
(Human Rights in Ukraine – khpg.org – Halya Coynash – May 13, 2016) Ruslan Kotsaba, a controversial Ivano-Frankivsk journalist and blogger, has been sentenced to three and a half years’ imprisonment. The Ivano-Frankivsk City Court found the journalist, who has been in detention for 14 months guilty of obstructing the legitimate activities of the Ukrainian Armed Forces over a video […]
» Read moreWill Chinese factories pollute the Russian Far East?
Experts from WWF’s Amur branch assess the environmental impact of moving certain Chinese industries to Russia’s highly forested peripheral eastern region. (Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – ELENA FEDICHKINA, EVGENY SHVARTS, SPECIAL TO RBTH – May 13, 2016) China’s proposal to relocate some of its production facilities to the Russian Far East has provoked heated debates among many experts. […]
» Read moreInterfax: Federation Council not ruling out deployment of U.S. missile defense shield in Romania may influence New START Treaty’s fate
MOSCOW. May 13 (Interfax) – The activation of a Romania-based facility of the U.S. missile defense shield and the further deployment of this shield in Eastern Europe may influence Russia’s participation in the New START Treaty, signed by the United States and Russia in 2010, Frants Klintsevich, first deputy chairman of the Defense and Security Committee of the Federation Council, […]
» Read morePutinism won’t end with a bang, but a warrant; New charges concerning several leading Russian officials reveal the greatest threat to the Kremlin’s hold on power – elite corruption.
(opendemocracy.net – Mark Galeotti – May 10, 2016) Mark Galeotti is currently Professor of Global Affairs at New York University and a visiting fellow at the ECFR, although from August he will be principal director of the Mayak Intelligence consultancy in Prague and senior researcher at the Czech Institute for International Relations. He blogs on Russian security affairs at In […]
» Read moreTRANSCRIPT: [Putin] Interview with the French Newspaper Le Figaro
(Kremlin.ru – October 26, 2000) Question: Thank you for finding the time to meet with us. Vladimir Putin: Thank you. I think it is important that on the eve of our visit to Paris your readers find out the answers to the wide range of questions you are going to ask me. Question: French readers have long been interested in […]
» Read moreJailed for Protesting Against the Kremlin – Life 4 Years After Bolotnaya
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Eva Hartog – May 13, 2016) The Bolotnoye protest followed disputed parliamentary elections that saw the ruling United Russia secure a narrow parliamentary majority and Putin return to the presidency. The lights went out without so much as a flicker in the Moscow apartment shared by Andrei Barabanov, his mother and girlfriend one evening in […]
» Read moreRUSSIA & UKRAINE – Johnson’s Russia List table of contents :: JRL 2016-86 :: Friday, 13 May 2016
[check back for updates, including more links; links also posted to facebook and twitter] Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2016-#86 Friday, 13 May 2016 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 moreRBTH: Peace in Donbass no closer as Kiev and Moscow refuse to give ground
Talks in Berlin between the foreign ministers of Germany, Russia, France and Ukraine have failed to provide a breakthrough on the resolution of the conflict in eastern Ukraine, with the issue of elections continuing to be a sticking point. (Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – ALEXEY TIMOFEYCHEV, RBTH – May 12, 2016) The two-year-old conflict between government forces and […]
» Read moreRUSSIA & UKRAINE – Johnson’s Russia List table of contents with links :: JRL 2016-85 :: Thursday, 12 May 2016
[check back for updates, including more links; links also posted to facebook and twitter] Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2016-#85 Thursday, 12 May 2016 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 moreRUSSIA & UKRAINE – Johnson’s Russia List table of contents with links :: JRL 2016-84 :: Wednesday, 11 May 2016
[check back for updates, including more links; links also posted to facebook and twitter] Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2016-#84 Wednesday, 11 May 2016 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 moreWhose side is Belarus on anyway? Belarusians generally feel closer to Russia than Ukraine, but refuse to get involved in the conflict between them. It is, they insist, “not our war”.
(opendemocracy.net – Yury Drakakhrust – May 12, 2016) Yury Drakakhrust is a Belarusian journalist. He is the author of a number of Russian-language publications on Belarusian and Russian politics, most notably (co-written with Dmitry Furman) Russia and Belarus: States and Societies. The validity of opinion polls in countries with authoritarian regimes is often questioned: how strong is the fear factor […]
» Read moreTurning our backs on Ukraine
Two years after the tumultuous events of 2014, Ukraine is falling out of international media – with consequences for Ukraine’s democracy. (opendemocracy.org – Ian Bateson – May 11, 2016) Ian Bateson is a foreign correspondent living in Kiev, Ukraine. He has written for Reuters, the Guardian, the Daily Beast and AL Jazeera. He tweets as @ianbateson. Over the past year, […]
» Read moreUkraine’s Free Trade Deal Was Just a Start
(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Leonid Bershidsky – May 11, 2016) Ukraine’s free trade agreement with the European Union was so controversial that it caused the former Soviet republic’s break with Russia, which had opposed the closer ties with Europe. Several months in, it looks like the deal is benefiting the EU more than it is helping Ukraine. That doesn’t mean […]
» Read morePutin: We will break any blockade
(Interfax – May 11, 2016) Russian President Vladimir Putin said the power blockade of Crimea was broken within a short period of time and any other blockade against Russia will be broken in the same way. “The newest technologies were used here, the work, intensive work was done. As a result, the power blockade of Crimea was broken within a […]
» Read moreInterfax: Renaming of cities by Ukraine for de-communization purposes complicates negotiation process – Pushilin
DONETSK. May 12 (Interfax) – Denis Pushilin, an authorized representative of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) in the Trilateral Contact Group on the settlement of the conflict in Ukraine, has criticized the decision made by the Verkhovna Rada to rename some cities in the territories uncontrolled by Ukraine. “These are not very reasonable actions, schizophrenia with the de-communization. If […]
» Read moreNuclear security internationalized and strengthened, diplomats say; New document takes effect that will reduce the risk of a terrorist attack involving nuclear material
(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – ANDREI ZOLOTOV, JR., SPECIAL TO RBTH – May 9, 2016) To take diplomats’ words at face value, the world has grown a notch safer this week. On Sunday, May 8, 2016 an amendment to the Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material (CPPNM), has entered into force, the IAEA announced. This amendment […]
» Read moreRussia Ratifies International Agreement on Financial Information Exchange
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – May 12, 2016) Russia has signed an international agreement on the exchange of financial information, state news agency TASS reported Thursday. The head of Russia’s Federal Taxation Service (FNS) Mikhail Mishustin said that Russia will join the global system of data exchange between tax authorities in different countries in 2018. “This will allow us to […]
» Read moreRussia Convenes Presidential Council to Boost Economy
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Anastasia Bazenkova – May 12, 2016) Stuck in a second year of recession and facing a long period of economic stagnation, Russian officials are searching hard for ways to stimulate growth. On May 25, a presidential economic council will convene for the first time in three years. According to presidential aide Andrei Belousov, it aims […]
» Read more‘All Its Members Faced Jail’: Alekseyeva Recalls Birth Of Russia’s Oldest Rights Group
(RFE/RL – rferl.org – Claire Bigg, Yelena Polyakovskaya – May 12, 2016) Few activists today can speak firsthand about the creation of the Moscow Helsinki Group, Russia’s oldest operating human rights organization, 40 years ago. Lyudmila Alekseyeva is one of them. At 88, she is Russia’s best-known human rights activist and among the last Soviet-era dissidents still active in the […]
» Read moreWhat to tell our children; The head of RBTH’s English desk tries to put into words what for her is important about the May 9 holiday, the legacy of World War II and what it means to future generations.
(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – OLGA VLASOVA, RBTH – May 9, 2016) Ever since I became an adult I always spend the morning of May 9 according to the same routine. I wake up early while everyone is still in bed and watch a couple of old Soviet films about how boys and girls lived and died in […]
» Read moreWhy is NATO once again talking of deterring ‘resurgent Russia’?
Recent comments by high-ranking U.S. military officials show that the West is continuing to support the idea of a military build-up in Eastern Europe to “deter” Russia. What’s behind these statements? Some believe that the groundwork is being laid to change the balance of power in Eastern Europe in the West’s favor. (Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – ALEXÉI […]
» Read more1 out of every 2: What do half of all Russians believe?
Opinion polls are regularly published in Russia containing curious facts about ‘every second Russian’ – according to surveys half of the population pray, steal items from hotel rooms and live in anticipation of a war, among other things. RBTH found out more. (Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – YEKATERINA SINELSCHIKOVA, RBTH – May 11, 2016) Sociological services often publish […]
» Read moreNEWSLINK Russia Direct: “What does Victory Day mean for Russia after Ukraine and Syria? Today Russians look at Victory Day through the lens of the war in Ukraine and the Kremlin’s Syria military operation. However, it might bring about three negative implications both for Russia and the world.”
NEWSLINK Russia Direct: “Donald Trump: Neither a friend nor enemy for Russia. Even though the Kremlin appears outwardly hopeful about a Trump presidency, there are reasons for concern, including the unpredictability of Trump’s future foreign policy moves. 14. www.rt.com: Bryan MacDonald, Spring’s Holy Trinity: How every ‘anti-establishment’ vote is now Russia’s fault”
NEWSLINK Irrussianality/Paul Robinson: “BOOK REVIEW: BLACK WIND, WHITE SNOW by Charles Clover” #RUSSIA #UKRAINE
Kyiv Must Reject West’s Calls to Change Constitution and Hold Elections in Occupied Donbas, Piontkovsky Says
(Paul Goble – Window on Eurasia – Staunton, May 7, 2016) Kyiv must reject calls by Berlin and Paris to change the Ukrainian constitution and allow elections in the occupied Donbas because these calls, which reflect Moscow’s exploitation of the desire of the two European leaders to be seen as peace makers, would result in the destruction of the Ukrainian […]
» Read moreWhy Gazprom’s ‘Monopoly’ in Europe is Far from Over
(Oilprice.com – Ilana Stav – April 4, 2016) The first U.S. shipment of liquefied natural gas (LNG) arrived in Portugal last week and Gazprom did not immediately cut its own gas prices for Europe. While European media has hailed the entry of U.S. gas into the market as a game-changer and a monopoly-breaker, in the short term, nothing has changed […]
» Read morePutin walks fiscal tightrope; deficits seen to 2020
(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – ANDRE TARTAR AND OTT UMMELAS – May 7, 2016) If the Russian government’s in-house forecaster is right that muted oil prices are here to stay, budget deficits will stretch to the end of this decade, according to a Bloomberg survey of analysts. Under the Economy Ministry’s projection that oil will average $40 a barrel through 2019, […]
» Read more‘Russia Urgently Needs a Defeat,’ Moscow Commentator Says
(Paul Goble – Window on Eurasia – Staunton, May 8, 2016) As Russians prepare to commemorate Victory Day tomorrow, Moscow commentator Mikhail Berg argues that “Russia urgently needs a defeat,” because the experience of countries suggests that defeats have the effect of “sobering up” society and elevating the recognition of the value of the individual relative to the state. In […]
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