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Headlines
RUSSIALINK: “Putin Kicks Off Massive New Gas Field in Russia’s Arctic” – Moscow Times
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – March 20, 2019) President Vladimir Putin has kicked off the full-scale development of one of Russia’s largest proven gas fields […]
Putin Tells Prosecutors To Protect Rights Of Business Owners
(Article text ©2019 RFE/RL, Inc., Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty – rferl.org – March 19, 2019 – article text also appeared at rferl.org/a/putin-tells-prosecutors-to-protect-rights-of-business-owners/29830693.html) President Vladimir Putin […]
RUSSIALINK: “Russia Drops Further in World Happiness Index – UN” – Moscow Times
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – March 20, 2019) It’s not all smiles for Russia as it slips down the global happiness rankings for a third […]
JRL NEWSWATCH: “Russia backs global use of its alternative SWIFT system” – Reuters
“Russian lawmakers on Tuesday backed the international use of a Russian alternative system for the global financial messaging network SWIFT designed by Moscow to eliminate […]
JRL NEWSWATCH: “Russia’s Avoidable Epidemic of HIV/AIDS” – PONARS Eurasia/ Judyth Twigg
“After first exploding among people who inject drugs in the late 1990s, HIV/AIDS now presents a serious public health and social challenge in Russia. The […]
Russia’s Missed Opportunity: Five Years Since Crimea’s Annexation
(Kennan Institute – wilsoncenter.org/program/kennan-institute – Maxim Trudolyubov – March 18, 2019 – wilsoncenter.org/blog-post/russias-missed-opportunity-five-years-crimeas-annexation) Maxim Trudolyubov is a Senior Fellow at the Kennan Institute and the […]
RUSSIALINK: “Abandoning United Russia Is the Road to Nowhere for the Kremlin” – Carnegie Moscow/ Andrey Pertsev (Kommersant)
“…. The disgruntled public ask global questions: Why is the retirement age being raised? Why are prices and utility bills increasing, while salaries are not? […]
RUSSIALINK: “Prosecutors must ensure proper prison conditions – Putin” – Interfax
MOSCOW. March 19 (Interfax) – Prosecutors must step up monitoring of conditions in jails and prisons, President Vladimir Putin said. “The penal system must remain […]
RUSSIALINK: “Nazarbayev to retain position of Kazakh Security Council head, Nur Otan party leader” – Interfax
ASTANA. March 19 (Interfax) – Nursultan Nazarbayev, who has stepped down as Kazakh president, will carry on as chief of the country’s Security Council. “You […]
U.S.-Russian Relations, U.S.-Ukrainian Relations
JRL NEWSWATCH: “Russia backs global use of its alternative SWIFT system” – Reuters
“Russian lawmakers on Tuesday backed the international use of a Russian alternative system for the global financial messaging network SWIFT designed by Moscow to eliminate […]
Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
RUSSIALINK: “Abandoning United Russia Is the Road to Nowhere for the Kremlin” – Carnegie Moscow/ Andrey Pertsev (Kommersant)
“…. The disgruntled public ask global questions: Why is the retirement age being raised? Why are prices and utility bills increasing, while salaries are not? […]
Economy, Business, Investment, Trade
Putin Tells Prosecutors To Protect Rights Of Business Owners
(Article text ©2019 RFE/RL, Inc., Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty – rferl.org – March 19, 2019 – article text also appeared at rferl.org/a/putin-tells-prosecutors-to-protect-rights-of-business-owners/29830693.html) President Vladimir Putin […]
Russia & Ukraine
Russia’s Missed Opportunity: Five Years Since Crimea’s Annexation
(Kennan Institute – wilsoncenter.org/program/kennan-institute – Maxim Trudolyubov – March 18, 2019 – wilsoncenter.org/blog-post/russias-missed-opportunity-five-years-crimeas-annexation) Maxim Trudolyubov is a Senior Fellow at the Kennan Institute and the […]
RUSSIALINK: “Russians Conflicted Over Crimea Annexation’s Value” – Moscow TimesTimes
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – March 15, 2019) Despite still approving of their country’s 2014 annexation of Crimea from Ukraine, fewer Russians view it as […]
RUSSIALINK: “Ukraine expecting 700 observers, 800 journalists to arrive for presidential election – State Border Service” – Interfax
KYIV. March 14 (Interfax) – Ukraine is expecting about 700 foreign observers and 800 foreign journalists to arrive for its presidential election of March 31, […]
Deputized As Election Monitors, Ukrainian Ultranationalists ‘Ready To Punch’ Violators
(Article text ©2019 RFE/RL, Inc., Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty – rferl.org – Christopher Miller – KYIV, March 7, 2019 – article text also appeared at […]
Oil, Gas, Energy
RUSSIALINK: “Putin Kicks Off Massive New Gas Field in Russia’s Arctic” – Moscow Times
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – March 20, 2019) President Vladimir Putin has kicked off the full-scale development of one of Russia’s largest proven gas fields […]
Nuclear, Missile Defense
JRL NEWSWATCH: “Specter of new arms race has Russia recalling Soviets’ fate” – Christian Science Monitor/ Fred Weir
“Most Russian schoolchildren hold as true that the Soviet Union collapsed in part because it was foolish enough to engage in a vast global competition […]
Human Rights
Putin Tells Prosecutors To Protect Rights Of Business Owners
(Article text ©2019 RFE/RL, Inc., Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty – rferl.org – March 19, 2019 – article text also appeared at rferl.org/a/putin-tells-prosecutors-to-protect-rights-of-business-owners/29830693.html) President Vladimir Putin […]
Nonprofits, Activists, NGO's
Sharon Tennison: “Video: Russian Journalist Dimitri Babich Speaks to CCI Group”
Subject: Video: Russian Journalist Dimitri Babich Speaks to CCI Group Date: Thu, 24 Jan 2019 From: Sharon Tennison <sharon@ccisf.org> Video: Russian Journalist Dimitri Babich Speaks […]
Chechnya, Dagestan, North Caucasus
Left behind? Russian life in Chechnya; After years of violence, displacement and an authoritarian peace, what is life like for ethnic Russians in the most mono-ethnic and mono-faith area of Russia? (excerpt)
(Ekaterina Neroznikova – opendemocracy.net – March 6, 2019) Ekaterina Neroznikova is a reporter and columnist who writes about the North Caucasus. She writes for a […]
Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime
Putin Tells Prosecutors To Protect Rights Of Business Owners
(Article text ©2019 RFE/RL, Inc., Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty – rferl.org – March 19, 2019 – article text also appeared at rferl.org/a/putin-tells-prosecutors-to-protect-rights-of-business-owners/29830693.html) President Vladimir Putin […]
Media, Social Media, Internet
Russian Bills Banning ‘Fake News,’ Insults Head To Putin For Signature
(Article text ©2019 RFE/RL, Inc., Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty – rferl.org – March 13, 2019 – article text also appeared at rferl.org/a/russian-bills-banning-fake-news-insults-head-to-putin-for-signature/29819238.html) Legislation enabling Russian […]
RUSSIALINK: “‘Point of No Return’: Russia’s Libertarians Lead Protest Against ‘Sovereign Internet’; A draft law aimed at creating an internet that can be cut off from the rest of the world’s has raised fears that Russia could turn into the next North Korea.” – Moscow Times
(Moscow Times – Evan Gershkovich – March 10, 2019 – themoscowtimes.com/2019/03/10/point-of-no-return-russias-libertarians-lead-protest-against-sovereign-internet-a64758) It was Saturday afternoon and Mikhail Svetov was buzzing with nervous energy. Just 24 […]
JRL NEWSWATCH: “35 Key People Involved In The Russia Hoax Who Need To Be Investigated; As their desperate search for collusion continues, Democrats want to interview 81 people. Try this list instead.” – The Federalist/ Willis L. Krumholz
“… Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee have just sent letters to 81 people … associated with … Trump or the Russia probe … to […]
JRL NEWSWATCH: “Don’t be evil; Vladimir Putin wants to stifle the internet; Google should not help him” – The Economist Editorial
“Sometimes it seems as if … Putin’s presidency has been made for television. … bare-chested exploits on horseback, microlight flights with cranes and the fighting […]
JRL NEWSWATCH: “In connection with Maria Butina, FBI agents reportedly questioned people close to Dmitri Simes, the president of the Center for the National Interest” – Meduza
“While investigating Maria Butina for illegal foreign agent activities, the [FBI] reportedly explored her ties to Russian-American political expert and Center for the National Interest […]
RUSSIALINK: “Moscow authorities permit rally against Internet restrictions” – Interfax
MOSCOW. March 6 (Interfax) – The authorities in Moscow granted an application from activists for a rally against Internet restrictions to be held in Academician […]
RUSSIALINK: “Russian Opposition Activist Defects to Kremlin-Run RT” – Moscow Times
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – February 28, 2019) A onetime Russian opposition activist has taken a job at the Kremlin-run RT television channel, stirring heated […]
JRL NEWSWATCH: “Russia Presses Case for Greater Control Over Its Internet” – AP
“… Kremlin spokesman [Peskov] said … reports that the U.S. military carried out a cyberattack in Russia ahead of the U.S. midterm elections proves that […]
Russian Bill On ‘Autonomous Operation’ Of Internet Advances In Duma
(Article text ©2019 RFE/RL, Inc., Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty – rferl.org – February 12, 2019 – article text also appeared at rferl.org/a/russian-bill-on-autonomous-operation-of-internet-advances-in-duma/29765882.html) Russia’s lower house of […]
JRL NEWSWATCH AUDIO: “Reconsidering Russia Podcast #17: Stephen F. Cohen”
(Reconsidering Russia Podcast #17: Pietro A. Shakarian interview of Stephen F. Cohen – February 1, 2019 – embedded audio should load below, or click here: […]
Europe, EU
JRL NEWSWATCH: “Russia backs global use of its alternative SWIFT system” – Reuters
“Russian lawmakers on Tuesday backed the international use of a Russian alternative system for the global financial messaging network SWIFT designed by Moscow to eliminate […]
Health, Alcohol, Smoking, AIDS, Epidemics
RUSSIALINK: “Russia Drops Further in World Happiness Index – UN” – Moscow Times
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – March 20, 2019) It’s not all smiles for Russia as it slips down the global happiness rankings for a third […]
Assassinations
NEWSLINK: “Russia spread ‘disinformation’ on Skripal attack; Report says state media spread seven different conspiracy theories about the attack” – Financial Times/ Solape Alatise, David Bond
“Russian state media published 138 contradictory accounts of the nerve agent attack on former double agent Sergei Skripal last year …”
John Helmer: “Book announcement: The Man Who Knows Too Much About Russia”
Subject: Book announcement Date: Wed, 26 Dec 2018 From: John Helmer The Man Who Knows Too MuchAbout Russia By John Helmer THE GENUINE GOLDEN […]
NEWSLINK: “Skripal Suspect Boshirov Identified as GRU Colonel Anatoliy Chepiga” – Bellingcat
“… Bellingcat has been able to confirm the actual identity of one of the two officers. The suspect using the cover identity of ‘Ruslan Boshirov’ […]
JRL NEWSWATCH: “In breakaway Ukraine, those who live by the sword are dying by it; Could an anonymous cull of Donbass’ violently charismatic separatists precede a peaceful solution?” – Asia Times/ Giovanni Pigni
“Yet another leader in Ukraine’s breakaway Donbass region has met a kinetic end: … leader of the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic, Aleksandr Zakharchenko … assassinated […]
Life in Russia, Culture, Arts, Theater, Music
RUSSIALINK: “Russia Drops Further in World Happiness Index – UN” – Moscow Times
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – March 20, 2019) It’s not all smiles for Russia as it slips down the global happiness rankings for a third […]
Religion
RUSSIALINK: “Russia Will Be One-Third Muslim in 15 Years, Chief Mufti Predicts” – Moscow Times
(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 […]
