JRL Russia Digest: Pulse of Russia Aug. 9, 2012
8.9.12, covering JRL 2012-145

Radical Islam is raising tensions in the Russian region of Tatarstan ... political struggles have broken out over military spending and procurement ... Russia reportedly will try to thwart the flow of Chinese migrants in the Far East ... reports of a Russian general being killed in Syria were refuted by the general appearing on camera ... there continue to be issues raised over Syrian chemical weapons and Russian or American involvement in destroying the WMD after Assad falls ... the first protesters have been fined under the new law on demonstrations ...

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... the trial of the Pussy Riot Three has concluded, but the verdict will not be delivered until Aug. 17; Kommersant bemoans the fact that the trial likely has worsened Russia's image further in the West ... according to a poll, Russians do not believe Russian authorities or political parties ... the Russo-Georgian War reaches its fourth anniversary, and Vladimir Putin has contradicted Dmitri Medvedev on the circumstances surrounding the beginning of the war ... Interfax is promoting the notion that some Russians favor the Russian annexation of Georgian separatist regions Abkhazia and South Ossetia ... Putin says Russia was prepared for what he, and pro-Kremlin source Russia Today, term Georgian aggression ... politicians and others in both Russia and Georgia have weighed in on the Russo-Georgian conflict and how it is characterized ... Putin also spoke about the Olympics and his debate over Russian corruption with rock star Makerevich ... Interfax is attempting to portray Russian laws as being in compliance with world corruption standards, as framed by UN operatives, regardless of what actually happens in practice ... the Russian Prosecutor General admits failures in the fight against corruption, which one commentator calls the organic restribution of wealth ... Nezavisimaya Gazeta comments that Putin's exchange with the rock star was a missed opportunity, and that Putin lacks direct links for meaningful dialogue with society ... a Russian court has reduced the sentence for YUKOS figure Platon Lebedev, a partner of Mikhail Khodorkovsky, but both remain jailed ... Sergei Magnitsky's old boss reportedly had informed Putin about the theft of $800 Million from the Russian budget prior to the arrest and prison death of corporate lawyer Magnitsky ... Yevgeny Primakov has weighed in on Syria, the Middle East and Islamism ... a Russian Orthodox Priest tries to explain as the flap continues over Putin's reaction to having his hand kissed ... the Russian opposition assesses the challenges posed by fighting Putinism, as Valdai Club figures try to gauge Russian political trends ... the Moscow Times continues monitoring Russian-language newspapers ... Cossacks and activists are opposing a mining project in southwestern Russia ...

Keywords: Russia, Media, Internet - Russian News - Russia - Johnson's Russia List

Radical Islam is raising tensions in the Russian region of Tatarstan ... political struggles have broken out over military spending and procurement ... Russia reportedly will try to thwart the flow of Chinese migrants in the Far East ... reports of a Russian general being killed in Syria were refuted by the general appearing on camera ... there continue to be issues raised over Syrian chemical weapons and Russian or American involvement in destroying the WMD after Assad falls ... the first protesters have been fined under the new law on demonstrations ...

file photo
... the trial of the Pussy Riot Three has concluded, but the verdict will not be delivered until Aug. 17; Kommersant bemoans the fact that the trial likely has worsened Russia's image further in the West ... according to a poll, Russians do not believe Russian authorities or political parties ... the Russo-Georgian War reaches its fourth anniversary, and Vladimir Putin has contradicted Dmitri Medvedev on the circumstances surrounding the beginning of the war ... Interfax is promoting the notion that some Russians favor the Russian annexation of Georgian separatist regions Abkhazia and South Ossetia ... Putin says Russia was prepared for what he, and pro-Kremlin source Russia Today, term Georgian aggression ... politicians and others in both Russia and Georgia have weighed in on the Russo-Georgian conflict and how it is characterized ... Putin also spoke about the Olympics and his debate over Russian corruption with rock star Makerevich ... Interfax is attempting to portray Russian laws as being in compliance with world corruption standards, as framed by UN operatives, regardless of what actually happens in practice ... the Russian Prosecutor General admits failures in the fight against corruption, which one commentator calls the organic restribution of wealth ... Nezavisimaya Gazeta comments that Putin's exchange with the rock star was a missed opportunity, and that Putin lacks direct links for meaningful dialogue with society ... a Russian court has reduced the sentence for YUKOS figure Platon Lebedev, a partner of Mikhail Khodorkovsky, but both remain jailed ... Sergei Magnitsky's old boss reportedly had informed Putin about the theft of $800 Million from the Russian budget prior to the arrest and prison death of corporate lawyer Magnitsky ... Yevgeny Primakov has weighed in on Syria, the Middle East and Islamism ... a Russian Orthodox Priest tries to explain as the flap continues over Putin's reaction to having his hand kissed ... the Russian opposition assesses the challenges posed by fighting Putinism, as Valdai Club figures try to gauge Russian political trends ... the Moscow Times continues monitoring Russian-language newspapers ... Cossacks and activists are opposing a mining project in southwestern Russia ...