De-escalation measures have begun in eastern Ukraine as the sides start to withdraw light weaponry from the frontlines – a move expected to be accompanied by political steps in accordance with the Minsk peace agreements signed in February. But are the parties to the conflict ready for this? (Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Alexey Timofeychev, RBTH – October […]
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The governments of the self-proclaimed republics in eastern Ukraine have agreed to postpose their local elections, thus fulfilling the wishes expressed by the leaders of Russia, Ukraine, Germany and France Normandy at talks in Paris on Oct. 2. (Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Alexey Timofeychev, RBTH – October 8, 2015) The unrecognized Donetsk and Lugansk “people’s republics” (DNR […]
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(Business New Europe – bne.eu – Benjamin Rahr in London – October 7, 2015) Despite Ukraine’s 18-month old civil war and the loss of territories in the east of the country, it has impressively maintained its status as one of the world’s leading exporters of agricultural products. Now the pro-European government in Kyiv hopes that its agribusiness, bolstered by a […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – October 8, 2015) Nearly a third of Ukraine’s military losses over the past two years were non-battle casualties, according to the country’s Defense Ministry figures cited by news reports. In total, 2,027 servicemen deaths have been recorded in 2014-2015 so far, according to the Defense Ministry report released Wednesday. Among them, 597 were non-battle casualties, […]
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(Interfax – October 7, 2015) The United States and Russia shared the data on the condition of strategic offensive weapons according to the 2010 START Treaty, ex-chief of the General Staff of the Russian Strategic Missile Forces Col. Viktor Yesin told Interfax-AVN on Oct. 7. “The information published by the U.S. State Department, it’s a pity that it was not […]
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The Kremlin has declined to comment on a CNN report on the Russian Federation’s possible preparations for a ground operation in Syria. However, Russian observers interviewed by RBTH assert that Moscow will not want to get involved too deeply in the conflict and will limit itself to air strikes. (Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Nikolay Surkov, RBTH – […]
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(Interfax – Moscow, October 7, 2015) The Kremlin considers the violation of Turkish airspace by Russian aircraft an embarrassing complication and confirms readiness to hold consultations between the military. “I would like to recall yesterday’s statement of the Russian Defence Ministry where the readiness to immediately begin consultations with the military, including the Turkish military, was voiced to clear up […]
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Subject: How the Economist changed its map of the Syrian conflict to make it look like Russia is bombing moderate rebels rather than al-Nusra Date: Thu, 8 Oct 2015 From: Antony Penaud <antonypenaud@yahoo.fr> Antony Penaud completed his DPhil at the University of Oxford in 2000. His essays on Russia and Ukraine are on www/scribd.com/antonykharms. He is French and lives in […]
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(Business New Europe – bne.eu – Ben Aris in Moscow – October 8, 2015) With temperatures plunging more than 30C in a week, as an Indian summer gives rapidly away to snow, maybe it is no wonder the latest installment of Sberbank CIB’s Ivanov Consumer Confidence Index shows Russian are feeling increasingly glum about their lives. The thirteenth issue of […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – October 8, 2015) Russia’s Justice Ministry has refused to exclude independent elections watchdog Golos from the list of “foreign agents,” the Vedomosti newspaper reported Wednesday. Golos said on Twitter back in July that the ministry had begun the process of removing it from the list. Ruling that its inclusion was an “error,” the ministry also […]
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What Americans know about Russian architecture is mainly thanks to the work of one man, who has photographed the country since 1970. (Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Lara McCoy Roslof, RBTH – September 25, 2015) It’s not easy to get William Brumfield to talk about himself. For Brumfield, 71, the foremost authority on Russian architecture in the U.S., […]
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MOSCOW. Oct 8 (Interfax) – Seventy-two percent of Russian citizens interviewed by Levada Center sociologists have expressed their positive attitude toward Russia’s air campaign against Islamic State (ISIL) targets in Syria. Fourteen percent of respondents criticized these airstrikes and another 14% were unable to articulate their attitude to Russia’s air force operation in Syria. The survey was conducted in 46 […]
» Read more[check back for updates, including more links; links also posted to facebook and twitter] Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2015-#196 Thursday – 8 October 2015 A project sponsored through the Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies (IERES) at The George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs The contents do not necessarily represent the views of IERES or the George Washington University. JRL homepage: russialist.org JRL […]
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MOSCOW. Oct 8 (Interfax) – Russia’s foreign ministry hopes that the move to postpone the elections in the self-proclaimed republics in Donbas will create favorable conditions for further discussions on the matter of political settlement of the conflict in eastern Ukraine. “The crucial point was the statement of Donetsk and Luhansk on the shifting of the dates of the local […]
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(Window on Eurasia – Paul Goble – August 6, 2015) Staunton, October 3 – George Kennan’s famous “long telegram” of February 1946 was written to explain to Western leaders something they found difficult to understand: how Moscow could turn from being a wartime ally into an implacable enemy, a problem that some Western leaders are again finding it difficult to […]
» Read more[check back for updates, including more links; links also posted to facebook and twitter] Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2015-#195 Wednesday – 7 October 2015 A project sponsored through the Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies (IERES) at The George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs The contents do not necessarily represent the views of IERES or the George Washington University. JRL homepage: russialist.org JRL […]
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(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Natasha Doff, Lyubov Pronina – October 5, 2015) Ukrainian Finance Minister Natalie Jaresko said she’s optimistic the International Monetary Fund will continue its aid program even if the war-torn nation breaches the lender’s policy by going into arrears on payment of a $3 billion bond owed to Russia. Support from the Group of Seven industrialized nations […]
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MOSCOW. Oct 6 (Interfax) – The militia of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic will begin the pullback of artillery systems immediately after the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) confirms the end of the pullback of tanks by the Ukrainian military, the LPR people’s militsiya headquarters told Interfax on Tuesday. “It is needed to wait until the Ukrainian […]
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(Interfax – October 5, 2015) The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe Special Monitoring Mission (OSCE SMM) reports the process of pulling back weapons from the dividing line in Donbass in compliance with the Minsk agreements. In the districts controlled by the self-proclaimed Lugansk People’s Republic (LNR) the monitors have noticed the withdrawal of 30 main combat tanks (T-64 […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Howard Amos – October 6, 2015) As the United Kingdom’s ambassador to Russia from 2004 to 2008, Anthony Brenton was one of the first Western diplomats to be systematically hounded by pro-Kremlin youth groups. But he said Russian officials told him not to take it personally – and he hasn’t. With relations between Russia and […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Eva Hartog – October 6, 2015) According to textbooks on political violence, a terrorist attack requires the following key components: a target, an actor or actors, and motivations. The Kremlin’s decision to launch air strikes in Syria could raise the risk of terrorist attacks on Russian soil, security analysts said, as the move increases the […]
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Representatives of “moderate” rebel groups in Syria opposed to the regime of Bashar al-Assad have asked the U.S. to supply them with surface-to-air missiles to counter Russian air strikes, American media have reported. Russian observers say this is unlikely but caution that arms may be supplied by the key regional sponsors of Syria’s opposition, Turkey and Saudi Arabia. (Russia Beyond […]
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(RIA Novosti – Moscow, October 4, 2015) Former Russian Finance Minister Aleksey Kudrin believes that the situation on the labour market in the Russian Federation is not improving so far and forecasts that the period of layoffs will continue for some time. “It has now become clear that the situation is not improving, and mass layoffs are starting in the […]
» Read more[check back for updates, including more links; links also posted to facebook and twitter] Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2015-#194 Tuesday – 6 October 2015 A project sponsored through the Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies (IERES) at The George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs The contents do not necessarily represent the views of IERES or the George Washington University. JRL homepage: russialist.org JRL […]
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(Business New Europe – bne.eu – KYIV BLOG: Sergei Kuznetsov in Lviv – October 5, 2015) After the successful launch of a new patrol force in Kyiv in July, the Ukrainian authorities have begun rolling out the initiative in the country’s regions. But while the new-look cops are receiving a cordial welcome, they are still the only visible result of […]
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(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Leonid Bershidsky – October 5, 2015) Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has long had trouble understanding that the Western support of his government is conditional. Now the leaders of France and Germany have told him that in no uncertain terms: The ceasefire agreement for eastern Ukraine has just been recast to put the onus on Poroshenko, rather […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Raymond Stults – October 5, 2015) The 2015-16 season of opera in Moscow enjoyed a rousing start last month when Novaya Opera Theater brought to its stage a new version of Richard Strauss’ “Salome” that came as close to getting everything right – singing, conducting, orchestral playing and staging – as any local production of […]
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Speaking at a forum in Sochi, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has revealed that oil and gas revenues have provided for less than half of the federal Russian budget for the first time, and said the country must focus on reducing its dependence on oil through reforms, stimulating domestic manufacturing and cutting spending. (Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – […]
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(Business New Europe – bne.eu – MOSCOW BLOG: Ben Aris in Moscow – October 5, 2015) President Vladimir Putin’s speech to the UN on September 28 – the first time he has personally appeared there for a decade and probably his most significant speech since 2007 – clearly shows the Kremlin’s foreign policy goals and how it is trying to […]
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Russian observers are voicing cautious optimism after another round of talks between the leaders of Russia, Germany, France, and Ukraine aimed at resolving the Ukrainian conflict. The issue of local elections in the Donbass remain the main stumbling block on the path to finding a political solution to the crisis in eastern Ukraine. (Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – […]
» Read more[check back for updates, including more links; links also posted to facebook and twitter] Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2015-#193 Monday PM – 5 October 2015 A project sponsored through the Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies (IERES) at The George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs The contents do not necessarily represent the views of IERES or the George Washington University. JRL homepage: russialist.org […]
» Read more[check back for updates, including more links; links also posted to facebook and twitter] Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2015-#192 Monday AM – 5 October 2015 A project sponsored through the Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies (IERES) at The George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs The contents do not necessarily represent the views of IERES or the George Washington University. JRL homepage: russialist.org […]
» Read more[check back for updates, including more links; links also posted to facebook and twitter] Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2015-#191 Friday – 2 October 2015 A project sponsored through the Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies (IERES) at The George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs The contents do not necessarily represent the views of IERES or the George Washington University. JRL homepage: russialist.org JRL […]
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(Business New Europe – bne.eu – Graham Stack in Kyiv – October 2, 2015) Hopes for an end to 18 months of fighting in eastern Ukraine hinged on a meeting of the leaders of France, Germany, Ukraine and Russia in Paris on October 2, with breakthrough prospects enhanced by a recent ceasefire and withdrawal of tanks and other weapons from […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Anastasia Bazenkova – October 2, 2015) Russian courts received their first personal bankruptcy petitions on Thursday, as the country’s first ever law allowing individuals to declare themselves bankrupt entered into force. On the eve of the law’s arrival, analysts warned that courts could be overwhelmed by a flood of applicants unable to pay debts accumulated […]
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(Business New Europe – bne.eu – Jason Corcoran in Moscow – October 1, 2015) Goldman Sachs, Wall Street’s most profitable investment bank, has finally decided to trust Russian financiers to run its operation in Moscow. After reshuffling the deck, the bank said its business in Russia will now be now by Sergei Arsenyev and Dmitri Sedov, along with Tim Talkington, […]
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(Interfax – Moscow, October 1, 2015) Russian President Vladimir Putin has called on businessmen and entrepreneurs to render financial support to Russian human rights non-commercial organizations. “I fully and completely join the call and believe that we all together and I personally must urge, here, right now, I’m urging our citizens, all our business structures to render support to non-commercial […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Daria Litvinova – October 2, 2015) President Vladimir Putin met with the presidential Human Rights Council on Thursday and promised to rewrite the so-called “foreign agents” law requiring that all NGOs which receive funding from abroad and are engaged in political activity to register as “foreign agents,” a term widely associated in Russia with espionage, […]
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(Business New Europe – bne.eu – Yuval Weber of Moscow’s Higher School of Economics – September 30, 2015) At the mid-June opening of Russia’s “military Disneyland” – officially titled “Patriot Park” – President Vladimir Putin took the opportunity to announce that 40 new intercontinental missiles would be added to Russia’s nuclear forces and that the theme park itself would be […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Matthew Bodner – September 30, 2015) By providing Syrian President Bashar Assad’s military with material and logistical support, Moscow has committed itself to protecting his embattled regime, which has suffered a series of setbacks at the hands of the Islamic State and U.S.-backed opposition forces. But it remains unclear just how far Russian President Vladimir […]
» Read more[check back for updates, including more links; links also posted to facebook and twitter] Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2015-#190 Thursday – 1 October 2015 A project sponsored through the Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies (IERES) at The George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs The contents do not necessarily represent the views of IERES or the George Washington University. JRL homepage: russialist.org JRL […]
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The Washington Post features an interview of Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko conducted by Lally Weymouth, prior to Poroshenko’s recent address before the United Nations. [Poroshenko:] ‘… we have a very dangerous conflict in the center of Europe with the participation of thousands of Russian troops. We are doing our best to block Putin with political and financial support. We have […]
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