Category: Population Disaster, Demographics

JRL NEWSWATCH: “Oldest cousin of Native Americans found in Russia” – Science Magazine/ Michael Price

Arctic, History, Soviet Union, JRL NewsBlog, Population Disaster, Demographics, Race, Ethnic, Extremism, Xenophobia, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
Map Depicting Beringia Land Bridge Across Bering Strait, adapted from image at nps.gov

“A new study has revealed … a 14,000-year-old tooth belonging to a close cousin of today’s Native Americans … thousands of kilometers from the landmass that once connected Eurasia and the Americas. … suggest[ing] the Siberian ancestors of North America’s Indigenous peoples were more widespread and mobile …. Sometime about 20,000 years ago, people began to cross the eastern tip […]

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RUSSIALINK: “Russia Reaches Record Life Expectancy of 73.4 Years” – Moscow Times

Elders, Health, Alcohol, Smoking, AIDS, Epidemics, Pensions, Pensioners, Retirees, Population Disaster, Demographics
File Photo of Crowd in Russia Including Person Waving Russian Flag with Eagle

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – April 21, 2020) Russians’ average life expectancy reached a historic record of 73.4 years in 2019, the country’s Health Ministry was quoted by Interfax as saying Tuesday. The increase from 2018, when average life expectancy stood at a little over 73 years, is attributed to a 3.5% decrease in male mortality and a 2.1% decrease […]

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Despite Putin’s Promises, Many Large Russian Families Feel Abandoned By The State

Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, Population Disaster, Demographics
Map of Russia and Russian Flag adapted from images at state.gov

(Article text ©2020 RFE/RL, Inc., Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty – rferl.org – Irina Fokina, Robert Coalson – SEVERODVINSK, Russia, February 9, 2020 – article text also appeared at rferl.org/a/despite-putin-s-promises-many-large-russian-families-feel-abandoned-by-the-state/30424839.html) Natalia Golubtsova and her husband, Sergei Kirillov, are raising their six children in a cramped, two-room apartment in a Brezhnev-era building in this city in Russia’s Far North. When their third […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Demographics” – BMB Russia

Population Disaster, Demographics
File Photo of Crowd in Russia Including Person Waving Russian Flag with Eagle

“Russia’s population declined for a second year in a row in 2019, Rosstat’s preliminary estimate reveals. An increase in migration failed to make up for the dwindling natural population, which fell by 286,000 in the first 11 months of 2019. On the whole, Russia’s population dropped almost 36,000 … [after a] nearly 100,000-person decline in 2018. Rosstat’s demographic forecast predicts […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Ukraine’s population falls behind Poland’s for the first time, electronic census says 5mn people lost since 2000” – bne Intellinews

JRL NewsBlog, Population Disaster, Demographics, Ukraine
Map of Ukraine, Including Crimea, and Neighbors, Including Russia

“Ukraine’s population fell behind that of Poland … [with] an electronic census reveal[ing] the number of citizens … dropped by … 5mn … 37.289mn since the last census in 2000. Poland’s population was 37.98mn in 2018, according to Eurostat. The … Ukrainian number does not include … Crimea or [the] Donbass regions, which would add roughly another million …. The […]

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Russia’s Natural Population Decline to Hit 11-Year Record in 2019

Population Disaster, Demographics
File Photo of Crowd in Russia Including Person Waving Russian Flag with Eagle

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – December 13, 2019) Russia’s natural population decline will set an 11-year record this year as the country’s demographic crisis shows no signs of letting up, the RBC news website reported Friday. Russia’s overall population totaled 146.7 million in January-September 2019, the State Statistics Service Rosstat said in a report last week. While migrant inflows had […]

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Russian North is Dying but Putin’s Media Policies Ensure Most Won’t Find Out

Arctic, Media, Internet, Social Media, Television, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, Population Disaster, Demographics, Regions, Cities, Municipalities
Arctic Map

(Paul Goble – Window on Eurasia – Staunton, Nov. 28, 2019) What is happening in the Russian North recalls to mind an old Soviet joke in which Hitler returns from the dead to watch a Soviet military parade in Red Square. After he has watched this display of military might, he is approached by a Soviet citizen who says, “I […]

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RUSSIALINK: “‘Where Is Our Land?’: Challenges for Indigenous Groups in the Russian Arctic” – Kennan Institute/ Arbakhan K. Magomedov

Arctic, Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Nonprofits, Activists, NGO's, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, Population Disaster, Demographics, Race, Ethnic, Extremism, Xenophobia, Regions, Cities, Municipalities
Map of Arctic Highlighting Permafrost, adapted from image at nasa.gov

(Kennan Institute – wilsoncenter.org/program/kennan-institute – Arbakhan Magomedov – Nov. 14, 2019) Arbakhan Magomedov is visiting professor at the Russian State University for the Humanities. (RSUH). His fieldwork in the Far North was done as part of the project “Rising Voices of Northern Indigenous People in the Context of Growing Pressure of Russian Nationalism,” for which he received financial support through […]

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New Russian Study Identifies Three Reasons Why Official Statistics are So Often at Odds with Reality

Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, Population Disaster, Demographics
Diverse Paper Currency, Coins, Line Graph

(Paul Goble – Window on Eurasia – Staunton, Oct. 22, 2019) It is common ground that official Russian statistics are often at odds with reality, but that divergence has seldom been the subject of academic research. Now, Olga Molyarenko of the Higher School of Economics has filled that gap with a study based on 270 in-depth interviews with officials at […]

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Russian Fertility Rate will Continue to Fall Even if Economy Improves, Data Show

Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, Health, Alcohol, Smoking, AIDS, Epidemics, Population Disaster, Demographics
Couple in Hospital with Newborn

(Paul Goble – Window on Eurasia – Staunton, September 30, 2019) Fertility rates in Russia have again fallen to the levels they were in during the 1990s, Rosstat data show, and the government assumes that when the deceive economy improves, they will go right back up. But a more careful examination of the data suggests that underlying shifts in values […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Russians drinking less, living longer, WHO says” – Reuters/ Tom Balmforth

Health, Alcohol, Smoking, AIDS, Epidemics, Population Disaster, Demographics
Man in Silhoette with Bottle of Alcohol and Head in Hand

“Russia remains a nation of heavy drinkers, but alcohol consumption has fallen 43 percent from 2003 to 2016, a key factor in the country’s rapid rise in life expectancy, the World Health Organization said …. Russians consume the equivalent of 11-12 liters worth of pure ethanol a year, among the world’s highest consumption levels, but the reduction since 2003 has […]

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RUSSIALINK: “Russian Women Are Getting Married 8 Years Later On Average, Official Data Says” – Moscow Times

Life in Russia, Culture, Arts, Theater, Music, Population Disaster, Demographics
File Photo of Wedding Ring and Engagement Ring, adapted from image at fnal-gov

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – September 24, 2019) The average woman in Russia gets married eight years later than she did earlier this decade, according to official data. Marriage rates in Russia hit their lowest point since 2000 last year, according to Federal Statistics Service (Rosstat) data, and researchers don’t expect rates to begin rising again until the mid-2020s. Most […]

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Russian Population Decline in Spotlight Again

Far East, Siberia, APEC, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, Population Disaster, Demographics
File Photo of Crowd in Russia Including Person Waving Russian Flag with Eagle

(Russia Matters – russiamatters.org – Daniel Shapiro, Natasha Yefimova-Trilling – September 13, 2019) Last week, in a meeting with top advisors, Russian President Vladimir Putin lamented the population decline in the country’s Far East, saying it falls in an “alarming, red zone.” While this sparsely populated region, which shares a border with far more densely populated Chinese provinces, may raise […]

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Russia Becoming Part of Central Asia after Trying to Leave It Behind, Kuzmin Says

Central Asia, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, Population Disaster, Demographics, Regions, Cities, Municipalities, Religion
Map of CIS Central Asia and Environs

(Paul Goble – Window on Eurasia – Staunton, July 23, 2019) Many Russians were pleased that the demise of the Soviet Union meant that the rapidly growing Muslim populations of the Central Asian republics were beyond the state borders of the Russian Federation and thus would no longer be a brake on the desire of Russians for development and even […]

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RUSSIALINK: “Top Russian Official Warns of ‘Catastrophic’ Population Loss” – Moscow Times

Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, Population Disaster, Demographics
File Photo of Crowd in Russia Including Person Waving Russian Flag with Eagle

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – July 3, 2019) Russia’s population numbers are declining “catastrophically” with several regions vastly underestimating their death rates, a top government official has said. Russia has struggled with a demographic crisis in recent years, with population numbers falling for the first time in a decade to 146.8 million last year. Official data for 2019 places Russia’s […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH AUDIO: “Generation Putin; Russia’s youth flex their political power” – PRI/ Indra Ekmanis/ Producer Daniel Ofman

Children, Adoptions, Orphans, JRL NewsBlog, Media, Internet, Social Media, Television, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, Population Disaster, Demographics
File Image of Laptop Computer, Tables and Mobile Device, adapted from image at energy.gov

“… For more than 33 million Russians under age 20, the leadership of Putin is the only type of government they’ve ever known. Putin succeeded Boris Yeltsin as president in 2000. Since then he’s bounced between the offices of president and prime minister, most recently barring Navalny from running against him in the 2018 presidential elections. … young Russians … […]

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Key to Putin’s Passport Offers to Ukrainians? Russia’s Shrinking Labor Force

Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, Population Disaster, Demographics, Ukraine
Map of Ukraine, Including Crimea, and Neighbors, Including Russia

(Russia Matters – Simon Saradzhyan – April 30, 2019 – russiamatters.org/blog/key-putins-passport-offers-ukrainians-russias-shrinking-labor-force) Russian President Vladimir Putin’s recent decree to make it easier for residents of some separatist-controlled parts of Ukraine to get Russian citizenship has drawn criticism not only from Kiev but from key partners of the Ukrainian government, such as the U.S., EU and individual EU states. His subsequent statement […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Russia is no place for young people” – Deutsche Welle

Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, JRL NewsBlog, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, Population Disaster, Demographics
Map of Russia and Russian Flag adapted from images at state.gov

It’s almost impossible to find a decent salary and comfortable living conditions in Russia. For many young people, the only options are to build a life in Moscow or leave the country, says Anastasia Arinushkina. “… half of Russia’s citizens are unhappy with the size of their salaries and struggle to pay for health care and education, according to recent […]

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Number of Marriages and Number of Divorces Both Falling in Russia – and Possibly for Same Reasons

Families, Population Disaster, Demographics
Map of Russia and Russian Flag adapted from images at state.gov

(Paul Goble – Window on Eurasia – Staunton, April 10, 2019) The Russian justice ministry reports that the number of marriages and the number of divorces in Russia have fallen sharply in recent years, with experts providing a wide variety of explanations. Some say that both trends reflect the uncertainties many feel as a result of economic hardship or international […]

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Russia Makes Progress When It Looks Outward and Suffers When It Turns in on Itself, Inozemtsev Says

Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, Population Disaster, Demographics
Mercator Projection Satellite Image of Earth

(Paul Goble – Window on Eurasia – Staunton, April 5, 2019) Yezhednevny zhurnal offers another chapter from Vladislav Inozemtsev’s new book, An Uncontemporary Country, a chapter that demonstrates that whenever Russia has turned outward and involved itself with the rest of the world, it has made progress but that when it has turned in on itself, it has not only […]

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Gallup Poll Shows One In Five Russians Would Migrate West If Possible

Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, Population Disaster, Demographics, Russia & the West, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
Satellite Image of Earth in Style of Mercator Map, adapted from image at nasa.gov

(Article text ©2019 RFE/RL, Inc., Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty – rferl.org – April 4, 2019 – article text also appeared at rferl.org/a/russian-migrate-west-gallup-poll-one-in-five/29861985.html) One in five Russians say they would leave their country if they could, according to a new poll by Gallup. The Washington-based pollster said on April 4 that since 2014, the percentage of working-age Russians who say they […]

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Rising Mortality Rates Challenge Russia’s Efforts To Kick-Start Population Growth

Health, Alcohol, Smoking, AIDS, Epidemics, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, Population Disaster, Demographics, Regions, Cities, Municipalities
Medical Symbol with Pole, Serpents, Wings, adapted from image at lanl.gov

(Article text ©2019 RFE/RL, Inc., Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty – rferl.org – Matthew Luxmoore – April 4, 2019 – article text also appeared at rferl.org/a/rising-mortality-rates-challenge-population-growth-decline-putin-demographics/29861882.html) Every third region in Russia saw a spike in mortality rates in 2018, according to health officials, contributing to the country’s first population decline in a decade and highlighting the challenges of fending off a […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Russia Takes on Its Demographic Decline” – Stratfor

Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, Population Disaster, Demographics, Race, Ethnic, Extremism, Xenophobia
File Photo of Crowd in Russia Including Person Waving Russian Flag with Eagle

“Highlights Russia’s demographic decline will be a key concern for Moscow in the coming years as a result of emigration and low birth rates. Contradictory data sets and the Kremlin’s plans to attract migrants make it difficult to predict the exact extent and speed of Russia’s demographic decline, but it will nevertheless impact the Russian economy and Moscow’s ability to […]

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RUSSIALINK: “‘An Inescapable Phase of Life’: Fighting Loneliness Among Russia’s Elderly; Already saddled with meager pensions, Russia’s elderly also face another hardship: solitude” – Moscow Times

Pensions, Pensioners, Retirees, Population Disaster, Demographics
File Photo of Elders Walking in Russia

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Evan Gershkovich – March 25, 2019 – themoscowtimes.com/2019/03/25/an-inescapable-phase-of-life-fighting-loneliness-among-russias-elderly-a64935) When Lydia Kondrashova’s husband died in 1994, her pension wasn’t enough to keep her afloat. So she left her longtime home in southern Russia to move in with her youngest daughter in Mytishchi, a Moscow suburb. Two decades later, however, the arrangement had run its course. The […]

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Life Expectancy in Russia Inches Upward to 73 – Health Ministry Official

Budget, Health, Alcohol, Smoking, AIDS, Epidemics, Population Disaster, Demographics
Medical Symbol with Pole, Serpents, Wings, adapted from image at lanl.gov

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – March 21, 2019) Average life expectancy in Russia has reached 73 years, a top health official said on Thursday. Russia plans to spend 1.7 trillion rubles ($26.68 billion) on dramatically improving health care to accomplish President Vladimir Putin’s goal of raising life expectancy to 78 years by the time his term ends in 2024. Average […]

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RUSSIALINK: “Russia Will Be One-Third Muslim in 15 Years, Chief Mufti Predicts” – Moscow Times

Population Disaster, Demographics, Race, Ethnic, Extremism, Xenophobia, Religion
Russian Mosque file photo

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – March 5, 2019) Around 30 percent of the Russian population will practice Islam within the next 15 years, Russia’s grand mufti has predicted, citing demographic trends. Russia’s Muslim-majority regions, including republics in the North Caucasus and the republic of Tatarstan, are known to have the highest birth rates in the country, reflecting similar trends worldwide. […]

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Five Takeaways From Putin’s State-Of-The-Nation Address

Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, Population Disaster, Demographics, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
File Photo of Vladimir Putin at Podium with United Russia Logo, Gesturing

(Article text ©2019 RFE/RL, Inc., Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty – rferl.org – Matthew Luxmoore – February 20, 2019 – article text also appeared at rferl.org/a/five-takeaways-from-putins-state-of-the-nation-address/29781350.html) MOSCOW — In his annual state-of-the-nation address on February 20 to Russia’s two-chamber parliament, President Vladimir Putin promised to spend huge sums of money. Critics ask where those funds will come from. 1. Focus On […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Abortion in Russia: How Has the Situation Changed Since the Soviet Era? [Excerpt]” – PONARS Eurasia/ Victoria Sakevich, Maria Lipman

Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, Population Disaster, Demographics
Ultrasound and Photo of Prenatal Child file photo

(PONARS Eurasia/ Victoria Sakevich, Maria Lipman – February 12, 2019) Victoria Sakevich is a Senior Researcher at the Institute of Demography at the Higher School of Economics, Russia. She has been studying the demography of reproductive health for many years. [Full text with charts: http://www.ponarseurasia.org/point-counter/article/abortion-russia-how-has-situation-changed-soviet-era] Soviet women commonly resorted to abortion as a way to end unwanted pregnancies. In the […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Russian population put in its first full-year decline in a decade” – bne Intellinews

JRL NewsBlog, Population Disaster, Demographics, Regions, Cities, Municipalities
File Photo of Crowd in Russia Including Person Waving Russian Flag with Eagle

Bne Intellinews reports on Russian demographics and population decline, citing statistics from state agency Rosstat that Russian population fell from 146,880,432 at the beginning of 2018 to 146,793,744 at the start of 2019, a decrease of 86,688. Says bne intellinews: “The fall in the natural population has been partly offset by inbound migration, which covered half of the fall in […]

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RUSSIALINK: “Official Data Vastly Underestimates Russian Emigration – Report” – Moscow Times

Population Disaster, Demographics
Map of Russia and Russian Flag adapted from images at state.gov

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – January 16, 2019) At least six times more Russians are leaving the country than officially estimated, a comprehensive study conducted by the Proekt news outlet said on Wednesday. Proekt’s report highlights discrepancies between official data from the Rosstat federal statistics agency and data compiled by countries where Russians emigrate to. Rosstat estimates 377,000 Russians left […]

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Isolation and Reconquista: Russia’s Toolkit as a Constrained Great Power

Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, Europe, EU, Military, NATO, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, Population Disaster, Demographics, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
Russian Soldiers Marching

(Russia Matters – russiamatters.org – Marlene Laruelle – December 12, 2018) Marlene Laruelle is a research professor, associate director of the Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies, director of the Central Asia Program and co-director of PONARS Eurasia at The George Washington University. [russiamatters.org/analysis/isolation-and-reconquista-russias-toolkit-constrained-great-power] In 2007, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s famous Munich speech took stock of what Russia considered the failure of the […]

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RUSSIALINK: “Diseases caused by bad nutrition cause 63% of deaths in Russia – Rospotrebnadzor” – Interfax

Health, Alcohol, Smoking, AIDS, Epidemics, Population Disaster, Demographics
Medical Symbol with Pole, Serpents, Wings, adapted from image at lanl.gov

MOSCOW. Dec 6 (Interfax) – Over half of all deaths in Russia are associated with eating low-quality food and the wrong nutrition, Rospotrebnadzor said in a report released on Thursday. “The idea of labeling [products] is due to Rospotrebnadzor’s concerns about the high rate of diseases associated with eating among the country’s population. About 63% of all deaths in Russia […]

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RUSSIALINK: “Medvedev: Pension Reform Was Hardest Decision of the Past Decade” – Moscow Times

Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, Pensions, Pensioners, Retirees, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, Population Disaster, Demographics
Dmitri Medvedev file photo

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – December 6, 2018) Russia’s prime minister on Thursday said that this summer’s decision to raise the retirement age was the hardest the authorities have had to make in the past 10 years. Dmitry Medvedev, who became prime minister in 2012 and served as Russia’s president for a four-year term starting in 2008, announced plans to raise […]

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Every Fifth Married Russian has More Children than He or She Wants, Sociologist Says

Children, Adoptions, Orphans, Population Disaster, Demographics
Map of Russia and Russian Flag adapted from images at state.gov

(Paul Goble – Window on Eurasia – Staunton, November 18, 2018) Seventy-five percent of married couples in Russia have children, but only 55 percent say they would like to have them, according to a 17-year-long study by Yuliyz Lezhnina of the Institute for Social Policy of Moscow’s Higher School of Economics (rosbalt.ru/moscow/2018/11/17/1746996.html) Having children is still the basis for marriage […]

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In Russia, Clash of Generations Replacing Clash of Civilizations, ‘Nezavisimaya Gazeta’ Says

Children, Adoptions, Orphans, Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, Population Disaster, Demographics
Map of Russia and Russian Flag adapted from images at state.gov

(Paul Goble – Window on Eurasia – Staunton, November 11, 2018) Recent statements by FSB Director Aleksandr Borotnikov suggest that in Russia, the clash of generations, historically known in Russia as the battle between “fathers and sons,” is replacing the clash of civilizations, according to the editors of Nezavisimaya gazeta. The recent wave of violent acts by young Russians has […]

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RUSSIALINK: “Russia’s Population Decreases for First Time in a Decade” – Moscow Times

Population Disaster, Demographics
File Photo of Crowd in Russia Including Person Waving Russian Flag with Eagle

(Moscow Times = themoscowtimes.com – September 20, 2018) The Russian population has decreased in 2018 for the first time in almost a decade as the country battles a demographic crisis that threatens its economy, according to new data. Declining birth rates after the collapse of the Soviet Union have resulted in a second demographic slump as the generation born in […]

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Differences between Male and Female Life Expectancy in Russia ‘Largest in the World,’ New Study Says

Health, Alcohol, Smoking, AIDS, Epidemics, Pensions, Pensioners, Retirees, Population Disaster, Demographics
Medical Symbol with Pole, Serpents, Wings, adapted from image at lanl.gov

(Paul Goble – Window on Eurasia – Staunton, September 10, 2018) On average, women in Russia live 11 years longer than men do, according to a study conducted by Russian and Western scholars that has been published in Britain’s authoritative medical journal, The Lancet (thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(18)31485-5/fulltext). The study focused on trends between 1980 and 2016 and noted that the difference between […]

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Not So United: Russia’s Ruling Party Rattled By Pension-Reform Crisis

Budget, Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, Population Disaster, Demographics
File Photo of Kremlin Aerial View, adapted from .gov source

(Article ©2018 RFE/RL, Inc., Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty – rferl.org – Yelizaveta Mayetnaya, Robert Coalson – August 5, 2018 [Text with links and graphics: rferl.org/a/not-so-united-russia-ruling-party-rattled-by-pension-reform-crisis/29413547.html] Speaking to a riled-up crowd at a July 28 protest against the Russian government’s deeply unpopular proposal to raise retirement ages in Vologda, angry pensioner Nikolai Zharavin didn’t mince words as to who was to […]

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There is No “Reform” in Russia’s Recent “Pension Reform” Bill | Interview with Evgeny Gontmakher

Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, Pensions, Pensioners, Retirees, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, Population Disaster, Demographics
Cash, Calculator, Pen

(PONARS Eurasia – Maria Lipman, Evgeny Gontmakher – July 26, 2018) [Text of interview here ponarseurasia.org/article/there-no-reform-russias-recent-pension-reform-bill-interview-evgeny-gontmakher] Maria Lipman speaks with Evgeny Gontmacher about the political and socioeconomic implications of raising the retirement age. Gontmacher is the deputy director responsible for social policy projects and recommendations at Aleksei Kudrin’s Committee of Civil Initiatives. Over 1992-2003, he held positions as Head of […]

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Demography Being Abused in Russian Pension Age Debate, Vishnevsky Says

Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, Pensions, Pensioners, Retirees, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, Population Disaster, Demographics
File Photo of Crowd in Russia Including Person Waving Russian Flag with Eagle

(Paul Goble – Window on Eurasia – Staunton, July 22, 2018) Both supporters and opponents of the Russian government’s plan to raise retirement ages frequently invoke demographic statistics; but all too often, Anatoly Vishnevsky of Moscow’s Higher School of Economics, they use these figures incorrectly and thus make it more difficult for Russia to solve some of its problems. In […]

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RUSSIALINK: “Russian population falls by 77,800 in 5M 2018 – Rosstat” – Interfax

Population Disaster, Demographics
File Photo of Crowd in Russia Including Person Waving Russian Flag with Eagle

MOSCOW. July 18 (Interfax) – Russia’s de jure population was an estimated 146.8 million on June 1, 2018, down 77,800 since the start of the year, the Federal State Statistics Service (Rosstat) said. The population grew by 259,700 in 2016 and 77,400 in 2017. The number of births in 5M 2018 fell to 651,000 from 679,200 in the same period […]

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Governors Back Moscow’s Pension Plan but Seek Exemptions for Their Own People

Budget, Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, Population Disaster, Demographics, Regions, Cities, Municipalities
Russia Regions Map

(Paul Goble – Window on Eurasia – Staunton, July 16, 2018) Caught between the demands of the Kremlin which decides whether they will be in office and the opposing views of their populations that could make their time there easy or difficult, Russia’s governors are simultaneously telling Moscow they support the pension plan but asking it to exempt their own […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Russian pundit says migration policy needs to be ‘more open'” – Izvestia/Sergei Ryazantsev

Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, JRL NewsBlog, Migrants, Population Disaster, Demographics
Russian Migrant Workers file photo

In Izvestia, Sergei Ryazantsev argues: “… The United Nations rates [Russia] third after the United States and Germany in terms of number of immigrants. … in 2015 … the US population born overseas amounted to 46.6m; 12m went to Germany, 11.6m to Russia. Uzbeks, Tajiks, Kyrgyz, Armenians, Azerbaijanis, and representatives of other republics of the former USSR began to come […]

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Russia’s World Cup Team Bucks Multiethnicity Seen On Swiss, Other Teams

Population Disaster, Demographics, Race, Ethnic, Extremism, Xenophobia, Sports, Olympics, World Cup
File Image of Soccer Ball, Field, Stadium with Lights, adapted from image at fbi.gov

(Article ©2018 RFE/RL, Inc., Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty – rferl.org – Pete Baumgartner – June 30, 2018 – article also appeared at rferl.org/a/russia-world-cup-team-no-multiethnicity-swiss/29329228.html) While there is a splash of ethnic diversity on virtually every team playing in soccer’s 2018 Russia World Cup, many cite the Swiss national team for setting the standard for being multicultural. Known affectionally by its fans […]

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World Cup May Have Helped Russia But It hasn’t Boosted Putin

Budget, Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, Pensions, Pensioners, Retirees, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, Population Disaster, Demographics, Sports, Olympics, World Cup
File Photo of Putin Sitting at Desk, Looking Down, Writing, During Call-In Show, adapted from screenshot of video at kremlin.ru

(Paul Goble – Window on Eurasia – Staunton, June 24, 2018) Many commentators in both Russia and the West have suggested that the World Cup has helped Russia to overcome much of the opprobrium it has suffered as a result of its invasion of Ukraine, its meddling in elections in Western countries and in general its disruptive behavior. And it […]

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Russians Getting Older, Reducing Pressure for and Likelihood of Change, Pryanikov Says

Pensions, Pensioners, Retirees, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, Population Disaster, Demographics
Map of Russia and Russian Flag adapted from images at state.gov

(Paul Goble – Window on Eurasia – Staunton, June 11, 2018) The average age of Russians today is much higher than in the past and will continue to rise in the coming decades, Pavel Pryanikov says; and as a result, the usual source of pressure for change, from members of younger generations, is going to fall, reducing still further the […]

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Putin vs. Pensions: Will His Reelection Finally Free Him To Tackle Looming Crisis?

Budget, Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, Population Disaster, Demographics
File Photo of Elders Walking in Russia

(Article ©2018 RFE/RL, Inc., Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty – rferl.org – Mike Eckel – May 16, 2018 – article also appeared at rferl.org/a/putin-vs-pensions-will-his-reelection-finally-free-him-to-tackle-looming-crisis-/29229857.html) It’s been the third rail of Russian politics for years, if not decades, but now an increasingly fragile economy appears to have forced the Kremlin to finally reckon with the country’s pension crisis. Russia’s pension system — […]

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RUSSIALINK: “UN Predicts Falling Population, Rising Urbanization in Russia Through 2050” – Moscow Times

Population Disaster, Demographics
File Photo of Crowd in Russia Including Person Waving Russian Flag with Eagle

[Link to UN Report: https://esa.un.org/unpd/wup/] (Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – May 17, 2018) Russia’s population will shrink by 11 million people by 2050 and will increasingly be concentrated in cities, according to the latest United Nations estimates. Russia has been in the midst of a generational demographic crisis, which newly inaugurated President Vladimir Putin said he would seek to reverse […]

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‘Even in Soviet Times, Nobody Believed Promises Like Putin is Making,’ Gontmakher Says

Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, Population Disaster, Demographics
Couple in Hospital with Newborn

(Paul Goble – Window on Eurasia – Staunton, May 9, 2018) Vladimir Putin’s new May decrees are no more realistic or realizable than the 2012 ones that even he has acknowledged have remained largely unfulfilled, Yevgeny Gontmakher says. Instead, they are slogans about the future like those the Soviet government trotted out on holidays and that no one in the […]

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NEWSLINK: “Russia’s ‘Brain Drain’ and the Prospects for Regime Transformation” – Russian and Eurasian Politics/Gordon M. Hahn

Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, Newslinks, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, Population Disaster, Demographics
Map of Russia and Russian Flag adapted from images at state.gov

“The U.S. government … is claiming a sharp spike in asylum claims from Russian citizens, hitting a 24-year high in 2017 …. One of the main drivers of revolutionary forms of democratic regime transformation, according to contemporary social science, is the lack of sufficient social mobility for middle class youth that often emerges in authoritarian countries with high or rising […]

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