The U.S. and Global Security Review - Blog by Michael Novakhov

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Dmytro Hodzenko was killed one day before he was due to be discharged from service in the Ukrainian army. He was on the front line to the very end. (RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service and 24 Channel)

The Last Days Of A Ukrainian Soldier by rferlonline
Tuesday April 12th, 2016 at 9:49 AM

From: rferlonline
Duration: 02:37

Dmytro Hodzenko was killed one day before he was due to be discharged from service in the Ukrainian army.
Originally published at - http://www.rferl.org/media/video/ukraine-soldier-death/27669508.html

Putin Sends Panama Extradition Agreement to Duma for Ratification by The Moscow Times
Tuesday April 12th, 2016 at 9:49 AM

The Moscow Times Top Stories

President Vladimir Putin has submitted an extradition agreement between Russia and Panama to the State Duma for ratification, the Meduza news website reported on Tuesday, citing the Duma's official website.

New Book Details How Moscow has Built Its Influence Network in France by paul goble (noreply@blogger.com)
Tuesday April 12th, 2016 at 9:49 AM

Window On Eurasia -- New Series

Paul Goble

Staunton, April 12 – A new book by French scholar Cecile Vaissie of the University of Rennes-2 describes the ways Moscow has used the media, political lobbying and hidden financing to develop an influence network in France, a network that has been very effective in certain parts of the political spectrum but not on the French population as a whole.

Vaissie discussed her book, “Les Reseaux du Kremlin en France” (ISBN 978-2-36383-212-2), with Anna Stroganova of the Russian Service of Radio France International (ru.rfi.fr/rossiya/20160409-sesil-vesse).

The author points out that “some of these networks have existed already for a very long time.” Some had continued to function right along, while others have been “reactivated” by the Putin regime. Still others, including those involving the extreme French right are relatively new and not surprisingly, these have attracted the most attention.

One can understand this network only by putting it in the context of the fact, Vaissie observes, that “in France Russia has always been admired as a mysterious country and the subject of various kinds of fantasies which are easy to use to attract new supporters” in specific contexts.

One of these notions widespread among the French is that “Russia and its leaders are a single whole.” That is not true as the Kremlin does not represent the Russian people now or at many points in the past. But the willingness of the French to accept this equivalence makes it easier for Moscow to organize support networks.

Lenin did so after 1917. Stalin and his successors followed this up and ensured that the French would ignore reports about Soviet crimes and justify or at least not condemn actions like the suppression of the Hungarian uprising in 1956 or the invasion of Afghanistan in 1979, the French scholar continues.

Prior to the end of the USSR, Moscow relied on the French communist party, but now it seeks support “above all on the extreme right flank” of the French political system by providing loans or other aid to the National Front – although, Vaissie notes, Russian agents of influence have not forgotten the extreme left.

All countries seek to promote their interests abroad. The problem of Russia’s efforts in this regard lies in the fact that “many of the Russians assigned by the Kremlin for the development of Franco-Russian relations are ‘former’ KGB officers. But as Vladimir Putin has said, in this profession, there are no ‘former’ people.”

Moscow has used money to advance its interests, but “one should not think that all of the supporters of the Kremlin in France have been purchased. People sincerely support the policy of the Russian authorities” because of the way Moscow’s agents present Russian goals, as defenders of tradition for the right, as anti-American for the left, and so on.

Vaissie describes the three major public organizations Moscow uses to spread its influence within French elites: the Coordination Council of Russian Compatriots in France, the Franco-Russia Dialogue which is headed by a Russian security officer, and the Institute of Democracy and Cooperation headed by Natalya Narochnitskaya.

The French scholar says she was pleased to discover in the course of writing her book that while politicians and business people are often attracted to Moscow’s messages, very few French intellectuals are, at least in comparison with the 1930s and 1970s, and that “85 percent of the French have a negative opinion about the Russian authorities and Vladimir Putin.”

Read the whole story

· · ·

Weeks after ‘pullout’ from Syria, Russian military is as busy as ever - The Washington Post
Tuesday April 12th, 2016 at 9:42 AM

Weeks after ‘pullout’ from Syria, Russian military is as busy as ever

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By Michael Birnbaum April 12 at 5:00 AM

MOSCOW — Russia portrayed last month’s drawdown from Syria as a victory and a homecoming, after a six-month deployment in which its air force turned the tide of the long-running conflict. So it was a surprise this week that Russian state outlets quietly reported that powerful new Russian helicopters were seeing Syrian combat for the first time.

Even after Russian President Vladimir Putin’s sudden March 14 announcement that cut short Russia’s Syrian deployment, officials said they would maintain a muscular presence on twin air and naval bases in coastal Syria. But the current level of activity would suggest that the pullout has been minor at best, despite last month’s fanfare and Russian officials’ insistence that they have withdrawn from Syria. Returning aviators were greeted with bouquets and brass bands, while military officials declared victory.

The discrepancy leaves the Kremlin running a large-scale intervention in Syria’s bitter five-year conflict even as Russia’s powerful state media insists otherwise. The extent of the Russian activities on the ground is a sign that the Kremlin has little intention of dialing back support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, despite initial suggestions that he was backing away, analysts say. Russia also does not appear ready to cede space in Syria to other nations operating in the skies and on the ground, including the United States.

[After four months, Russia’s campaign in Syria is proving successful for Moscow]

The Kremlin has portrayed its Syrian operations as successful in helping Russia elbow its way back to the international negotiating table after the isolation that followed its annexation of Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula. It appears committed to holding on to its spot.

“Our active efforts in combating international terrorism have gone some way to improve our relations with the leading powers,” Putin said Thursday.

Now, Russian minesweepers are checking Palmyra’s ancient ruins for explosives. Russian military advisers are whipping Syrian government forces into shape and planning attacks. Russian special forces are on the front lines, calling in targeting information for airstrikes. Russian warships continue to steam through the Bosphorus and deliver supplies to Assad.

The activity comes in a nation with a bitter history of far-flung military operations: The Soviet Union’s Afghanistan intervention helped hasten the Soviet system’s demise. But Putin, by announcing the pullout, has lowered the stakes for Russia’s Syrian deployment while easing some of the pressure that had built over more than five months of a grueling operational tempo, diplomats and analysts say.

Even if the activities remain the same, the goals appear to have changed. Putin said in September that Russia was going to defeat the Islamic State. This week, he said that Russia had fulfilled its goals in Syria – which he said were to keep Assad in power and strike a blow against Assad’s opponents.

Russia’s combat sorties have dropped since the peak of the Russian airstrike effort in February. At one point, Russia was flying nearly 100 sorties a day. It was flying 20 to 25 late last month in its campaign to take Palmyra back from the Islamic State, according to a Russian Defense Ministry spokesman.

“Now there is the beginning of a peaceful process, but unfortunately the peaceful process will stop if Russia stops military activities,” said Vladimir Yevseyev, a Middle East military expert at the Moscow-based Center for Social and Political Studies who has tracked Russian military activity in Syria.

But if warplanes have stilled their engines, helicopters are taking a newly prominent role in the fighting. Last month, the Kremlin-owned Sputnik news website said that brand-new Mil Mi-28N attack helicopters fired antitank missiles against Islamic State armored vehicles near Palmyra.

And last week, Russian Kamov Ka-52 “Alligator” helicopters took part in the Syrian government effort to retake al-Qaryatayn, a central Syrian city in between Damascus and Palmyra, Sputnik reported. Syrian state news published a video of the combat. The Ka-52 helicopters are an advanced, highly maneuverable aircraft.

The helicopters “are tested there now, yes, and they show very good results,” said Ivan Konovalov, a military analyst who is the director of the Moscow-based Center for Strategic Conjunctures. “The targets that are set for them are destroyed.”

Western diplomats, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal assessments, said they believe about one-third of the Russian fixed-wing aircraft were pulled from Syria in the days after the withdrawal announcement; they are unsure when the helicopters were sent.

[Syria shows that Russia built an effective military. Now how will Putin use it?]

The current Russian military activity is broadly considered in keeping with a late February cease-fire because it is supporting the fight against the Islamic State, which was not included in the truce. Russian forces have held to the cease-fire, even as forces loyal to Assad have not, officials say.

Russian officials have also offered fresh clarity about the extent to which Syrian government advances since last fall were the product of their assistance. Russian military advisers embedded with the Syrian army on the ground after the beginning of Russian operations in September, said Col. Gen. Alexander Dvornikov, the commander of Russian forces in Syria, in an interview late last month with Rossiyskaya Gazeta, the official newspaper of the Russian government.

“Our advisers were most actively involved in planning combat operations, and that surely helped to improve the situation,” Dvornikov said. The advisers also help during combat and train Syrian forces on how to use Russian equipment, Dvornikov said.

Dvornikov also made the first official acknowledgment that Russian special forces were operating on the ground in Syria, after months in which Russia insisted that it was only operating in Syrian skies. The special forces do reconnaissance of possible targets, call in airstrikes and perform “other special tasks,” he said.

So far, six Russian servicemen are officially acknowledged to have died during combat in Syria, and Russian media have reported on an additional two dead men who may have been working for private military contractors. The Russian Defense Ministry recently posted a tender commissioning 10,000 medals for participation in the Syrian operations.

At least two battalions, or 800 people, of Russian troops are expected to remain in Syria long-term, said Viktor Ozerov, the chairman of the Defense and Security Committee of Russia’s upper house of parliament, immediately after the pullout announcement. Russia has long had a small military presence at its Tartus naval base on the Syrian coast. It now also operates the Khmeimim air base, in Latakia province, where it plans to leave in place its S-400 anti-aircraft weapon system, which gives Russia effective control over Syrian airspace. And it can redeploy its warplanes in a matter of hours.

That Putin announced the pullback at all may be a sign that he was cautious about overcommitting to Syria, said Ruslan Pukhov, a military analyst who leads the Moscow-based Center for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies.

“Putin understands his voters, the Russian people, much better than any leader before him till Stalin,” Pukhov said. “We have a painful experience of Afghanistan. The first signs that people were worried, they already appeared.”

Rebels said to down warplane in northern Syria as truce frays

Russia, with an eye on U.S., threatens to bomb Syrian cease-fire violators

The secret pact between Russia and Syria that gives Moscow carte blanche

Today’s coverage from Post correspondents around the world

Michael Birnbaum is The Post’s Moscow bureau chief. He previously served as the Berlin correspondent and an education reporter.

Read the whole story

· · · · · · · · · ·

New poll finds young Arabs are less swayed by the Islamic State - The Washington Post
Tuesday April 12th, 2016 at 9:41 AM

New poll finds young Arabs are less swayed by the Islamic State

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By Joby Warrick April 12 at 3:00 AM

Two years after proclaiming a new “caliphate” for Muslims in the Middle East, the Islamic State is seeing a steep slide in support among the young Arab men and women it most wants to attract, a new poll shows.

Overwhelming majorities of Arab teens and young adults now strongly oppose the terrorist group, the survey suggests, with nearly 80 percent ruling out any possibility of supporting the Islamic State, even if it were to renounce its brutal tactics.

A year ago, about 60 percent expressed that view, according to the 16-country survey released Tuesday.

“Tacit support for the militant group is declining,” concludes a summary report by the poll’s sponsor, ASDA’A Burson-Marsteller, a public relations firm that has tracked young Arabs’ views in annual surveys for the past nine years. Other recent surveys have found similarly high disapproval rates for the Islamic State among general populations in Muslim-majority countries.

[U.S.-led strikes are causing a cash squeeze for the Islamic State]

The new poll, based on face-to-face interviews with 3,500 respondents ages 18 to 24, suggests that young Arabs are both increasingly fearful of the terrorist group and less swayed by its propaganda, compared with previous years. More than half the participants ranked the Islamic State as the No. 1 problem facing the Middle East, and 3 out of 4 said they believed that the group would ultimately fail in its quest to establish an Islamic caliphate in Iraq and Syria.

The survey suggests that religious fervor plays a secondary role, at best, when young Arabs do decide to sign up with the Islamic State. When asked why Middle Easterners join the group, the participants listed joblessness or poor economic prospects as the top reason. Only 18 percent cited religious views — a “belief that their interpretation of Islam is superior to others” — and nearly as many picked sectarian tensions between Sunnis and Shiites as the chief motivating factor.

Young Arabs from countries with high unemployment rates were more likely to list economic hardship as a top reason for wanting to join the Islamic State, the survey found. The results align with the findings of other researchers who have noted that many recruits use religion mostly as a rationalization.

[Islamic State finds fertile recruiting ground among Europe’s criminal gangs]

“Members do not say they join for economic reasons, but other factors they identify — including ones related to religious reasons — could be a proxy of economic or social factors,” Hassan Hassan, an Islamic State expert at the Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy, said in an analysis of the survey’s findings. “In other words, members may consciously or unconsciously conceal true motives.”

The survey, taken in January and February of this year, also shows growing disillusionment with the Arab Spring uprisings that began in 2011. Of the 16 countries in the poll, only in Egypt did a majority describe their homeland as better off now than it was five years ago. Overall, the share of survey participants who said they have seen improving conditions since the uprisings dropped from 72 percent in 2012 to 36 percent this year.

Accordingly, respondents tended to rank stability over democracy as a coveted virtue for an Arab state. For the fifth straight year, young Arabs picked the United Arab Emirates as the top country to live in, with a 22 percent ranking, followed by the United States, with 15 percent.

[How the West’s Islamaphobia fuels the Islamic State]

Arab youth were generally mixed in their views of the United States. More than 60 percent saw Washington as an ally, with the strongest positive rankings coming from Persian Gulf states such as Saudi Arabia and the UAE. By contrast, more than 90 percent of Iraqis regarded the United States as an enemy. Dislike for Washington was nearly as high in Yemen and in the Palestinian territories, and more than half of Lebanese youth said they saw the United States as an enemy.

The margin of error for the survey was 1.65 percent.

Want to understand the Islamic State? Read these 8 stories.

Inside the Islamic State’s surreal propaganda machine

Joby Warrick joined the Post’s national staff in 1996. He has covered national security, intelligence and the Middle East, and currently writes about the environment.

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Page 3

Why the Russian Economy Is Tumbling - The New York Times
Tuesday April 12th, 2016 at 9:38 AM

Budget balance

Surplus

In trillions of rubles

-1

A global recession weakened Russia’s economy.

Experts suggest this crisis is more alarming.

Deficit

-2

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

Source: Russian Ministry of Finance

Depending on Oil Revenue

One reason for Russia’s current economic situation is the sharp decline in global oil prices since June 2014. “Russia’s economy never diversified away from oil and raw materials export dependence,” Kimberly Marten, a political science professor at Barnard College and Columbia University, said in a recent email. In 2015, oil and gas accounted for 43 percent of the government’s revenue.

Federal revenue by source

Oil and gas

All other sources

100

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

Source: Russian Ministry of Finance

Sanctions and a Falling Ruble

After Russia annexed Crimea in 2014, the European Union and the United States used economic sanctions to target Russia’s financial, energy and defense sectors. Western sanctions have multiplied the effect of the low oil prices, said Robert Kahn, an international economics senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. Russia has very little debt, but sanctions have made it difficult for the country to borrow on international capital markets.Additionally, the ruble has fallen nearly 50 percent against the dollar since August 2014. This has depressed the standard of living across Russia, because a weaker ruble makes imports more expensive. Russia countered Western sanctions with import bans on various food products, leading to a smaller supply of those goods and further rising prices.The World Bank predicts the poverty rate will reach 14.2 percent in 2016.

rubles per dollar

Value of the ruble

APRIL 7

68.5

rubles per

dollar

2004

2006

2008

2010

2012

2014

2016

Source: Central Bank of Russia

Expanding the Military

On March 14, President Vladimir V. Putin announced that he would immediately begin pulling troops from Syria, reducing a military intervention that has cost Russia $482 million so far.Increased defense spending — at the expense of education, health care and infrastructure — has been a part of Russia’s return to the world stage. In 2008, Dmitri A. Medvedev, the president at the time,announced a program to modernize the country’s military by 2020. That overhaul, which has been expensive, included building new bases, conducting vast military exercises and updating equipment.Now, the expansion has ceased. Russia recently announced plans to decrease its defense budget by 5 percent this year.

$50

billion

Military budget

2006

2008

2010

2012

2014

Source: IHS Jane’s

Dipping Into the Reserves

Russia maintains a Reserve Fund, which has been supported by excess oil revenue, to protect the federal budget from economic shocks. But the fund has fallen 45 percent since September 2014 as the government ran larger and larger deficits. The finance minister, Anton Siluanov, has said that the Reserve Fund could run out by 2017. Mr. Siluanov said in a recent interviewthat Russia may need to dip into its other money supply, the National Wealth Fund, which is used primarily to fund pensions. It now holds $73.18 billion and has been used recently for infrastructure projects and bank bailouts.

billion

Russia’s Reserve Fund

$50.6

billion

2014

July

2015

July

2016

Source: Russian Ministry of Finance

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· · · · · · · · · · · · ·

Rosneft now Russia's most valuable company - Salt Lake Tribune
Tuesday April 12th, 2016 at 9:28 AM

Bloomberg

Rosneft now Russia's most valuable company
Salt Lake Tribune
Rosneft became Russia's most valuable company as its market capitalization exceeded that of natural-gas exporter Gazprom for the first time since its shares began trading in 2006. Rosneft stock rose 4.2 percent in London by 3:40 p.m., boosting the ...
Rosneft Surpasses Gazprom as Russia's Most Valuable CompanyBloomberg

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Рукопись Бориса Пастернака продана за 77,5 тысячи долларов - Российская Газета
Tuesday April 12th, 2016 at 9:28 AM

Российская Газета

Рукопись Бориса Пастернака продана за 77,5 тысячи долларов
Российская Газета
Рукопись Бориса Пастернака была продана в понедельник за 77,5 тысячи долларов на аукционе в Нью-Йорке. Она включает в себя заметки для романа "Доктор Живаго" и стихотворение, посвященное его музе Ольге Ивинской. Она вдохновила писателя на создание образа Лары в ...
Рукопись «Доктора Живаго» ушла с молотка за $77,5 тысИА REGNUM
Черновики Пастернака и редкое издание Чехова продали на аукционе в СШАИзвестия
Черновики "Доктора Живаго" продали с торгов в Нью-Йорке за $77 тыс.Интерфакс
ТАСС -НТВ.ru -РИА "VistaNews" -YakutiaMedia
Все похожие статьи: 41 »

Syria Fighting Escalates Before Wednesday Peace Talks
Tuesday April 12th, 2016 at 9:27 AM

As diplomats work to set the stage for a new round of peace talks on Syria starting Wednesday in Geneva, the situation on the ground is increasingly violent. Government forces and their allies have clashed with opposition fighters in Aleppo, while Syrian airstrikes pounded rebel-held areas in Homs province. Zlatica Hoke reports.

Taliban Launches Anti-Government Spring Offensiveby webdesk@voanews.com (Ayaz Gul)
Tuesday April 12th, 2016 at 9:27 AM

The Taliban says it has launched its annual spring military offensive in Afghanistan, titled “Omari Operation.” In a statement sent to reporters Tuesday, the Islamist insurgent group promised “large scale attacks on enemy positions, martyrdom-seeking (suicide) and tactical attacks against enemy strongholds and assassination of enemy commanders in urban centers.” The Taliban said the operation has been named after its deceased leader Mullah Omar, and is part of its 15-year-old “jihad against the American invasion” and effort to reestablish an Islamic system in Afghanistan. “With the advent of spring it is again time for us to renew our Jihadi determination and operations,” the insurgent group said. Taliban inflicted heavy losses in 2015 The Taliban inflicted heavy casualties on Afghan security forces during the 2015 fighting season, killing nearly 6,000 personnel, including soldiers and police, while another 14,000 were wounded. The militant group also captured more territory then at any point since it was ousted from power in 2001 for harboring al-Qaida. The U.S.-led military coalition ended its combat mission in 2014, leaving behind some 13,000-troops, mostly Americans, to train Afghan forces and conduct counterterrorism operations. Afghan leaders blame the withdrawal of international forces for the battlefield and other losses but have vowed to evict Taliban insurgents from areas they now control and keep them from making advances this year. Peace talks stalled The U.S., China and neighboring Pakistan all joined hands with Afghanistan to try to arrange peace talks between the Taliban and the Kabul government in early March to prevent the insurgents from launching the spring offensive. But the Taliban refused to attend and there are fears this year’s fighting could see more bloodshed in the war-ravaged country. Afghanistan blames Pakistan Afghan officials in recent days have alleged that despite its efforts to help in Afghan peace efforts, Pakistan has not taken action against Taliban leaders and their sanctuaries on the other side of the border, charges Islamabad rejected. It is widely perceived that Taliban commanders are using Pakistani areas, including its southwestern border province of Baluchistan for directing hostilities in Afghanistan. The head of the Afghan intelligence agency recently told the national parliament that the neighboring country's military spy agency is behind the resurgent Taliban. The insurgent group has made significant advances in the southern Helmand province, which borders Baluchistan. Local Afghan commanders say that five out of 14 districts of the largest poppy-producing Afghan province are under the Taliban's control, while fighting has been waging in several other districts.

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В убийстве медсестер в Петербурге подозревают пациентов госпиталя - РИА Новости
Tuesday April 12th, 2016 at 9:26 AM

РИА Новости

В убийстве медсестер в Петербурге подозревают пациентов госпиталя
РИА Новости
Сотрудники правоохранительных органов Санкт-Петербурга ищут троих пациентов Окружного военного госпиталя, подозреваемые проходили лечение в психиатрическом отделении, пояснили в пресс-службе Западного военного округа. Работа дежурной части. Архивное фото.
В военном госпитале в Санкт-Петербурге убили двух медсестерРБК
В петербургском военном госпитале убили двух медсестерBBC Russian
В военном госпитале Петербурга психбольные убили двух медсестер и сбежалиLenta.ru
Interfax Russia -Росбалт.RU -Радиостанция ЭХО МОСКВЫ -ИА REGNUM
Все похожие статьи: 122 »

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Page 4

Waxwork Putin Shows Russia's Creeping Influence at EU Fringe - Bloomberg
Tuesday April 12th, 2016 at 9:25 AM

Bloomberg

Waxwork Putin Shows Russia's Creeping Influence at EU Fringe
Bloomberg
“A further increase in Russian sentiment is possible,” said Jovo Bakic, a sociology professor at the Faculty of Philosophy in Belgrade. “And I wouldn't be surprised to see Vucic, after two or three years, changing his rhetoric if he sees that Russia ...

and more »

В Сирии потерпел крушение российский вертолет - РБК
Tuesday April 12th, 2016 at 9:24 AM

РБК

В Сирии потерпел крушение российский вертолет
РБК
В Сирии в районе города Хомс разбился новейший боевой вертолет Ми-28Н «Ночной охотник» из состава российской группировки, участвующей в военной операции. Два пилота погибли, вертолет не был сбит, заявили в Минобороны. Ударный вертолет Ми-28Н «Ночной охотник» ...
Потерпевший крушение в Сирии Ми-28Н базировался БуденновскеВзгляд
Вертолет Ми-28Н ВКС РФ потерпел катастрофу в СирииТАСС
Россия потеряла в Сирии боевой вертолет Ми-28Ведомости
Интерфакс -Ura.ru -Вести.Ru -ИА REGNUM
Все похожие статьи: 142 »

Russian Military Helicopter Crashes In Syria
Tuesday April 12th, 2016 at 9:24 AM

Russia's Defense Ministry says a Russian military helicopter has crashed in Syria, killing two military personnel on board.

If The Goal Is To Defeat Islamic State, Don't Rely On Russia To Help by support@pangea-cms.com (James Miller)
Tuesday April 12th, 2016 at 9:24 AM

Three historic developments have taken place in Syria in the last month and a half. Any of these events could have substantial impact on the collective efforts to combat IS, but each of them is clouded in myth, distortion, and broken promises.

UPDATE 1-Russia says one of its attack helicopters crashes in Syria - Reuters
Tuesday April 12th, 2016 at 9:24 AM

UPDATE 1-Russia says one of its attack helicopters crashes in Syria
Reuters
The crash is the third aircraft Russia has acknowledged losing in Syria. Turkey shot down aRussian Sukhoi-24 bomber near the Syrian-Turkish border on Nov. 24 and a helicopter sent to rescue the pilots was then destroyed by rebels after landing ...
Mi-28N gunship crashes near Homs, both pilots dead – Russian Defense MinistryRT
Russia says one of its attack helicopters crashes in Syria - agenciesDaily Mail
Russia's Night Hunter helicopter crashes in Syria, 2 pilots killedPravda
BBC News-Washington Post
all 48 news articles »

Weeks after 'pullout' from Syria, Russian military is as busy as ever - Washington Post
Tuesday April 12th, 2016 at 9:23 AM

Washington Post

Weeks after 'pullout' from Syria, Russian military is as busy as ever
Washington Post
MOSCOW — Russia portrayed last month's drawdown from Syria as a victory and a homecoming, after a six-month deployment in which its air force turned the tide of the long-running conflict. So it was a surprise this week that Russian state outlets ...
Syria Defies Russia in Bid to Keep AssadWall Street Journal
US needs Russia in Syria: Russian analystsRussia and India Report
'Time to build new Syria': Russian deputy defense minister speaks of op & peace in RT exclusiveRT
Sputnik International -TASS
all 141 news articles »

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Page 5

The Daily Vertical: Putin's Crisis Menu (Transcript)
Tuesday April 12th, 2016 at 9:19 AM

Separatist leaders in Georgia's South Ossetia region have announced that they will hold a referendum on joining Russia in the coming months.

The Kremlin, meanwhile,says that Russian troops stationed in Moldova's pro-Moscow breakaway Transdniester region can't pull out of the region unless they are allowed to pass through Ukraine.

And in the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh, Moscow is pretending to be a peacemaker, while at the same time continuing to arm both Armenia and Azerbaijan.

And then, of course, there's always Donbas, where the OSCE is reporting a significant increase in cease-fire violations amid fears that Moscow is preparing for a spring offensive.

Despite speculation in the Russian media that Vladimir Putin is preparing to turn inward and focus on domestic affairs, the Kremlin leader is clearly keeping his options open abroad.

And this is because given Russia's economic difficulties, it will be very difficult for Putin's team of spin doctors to put together a compelling domestic narrative for the upcoming political season.

So he's being careful to maintain a ready-made menu of foreign crises.

Putin has absolutely no domestic achievements to boast of since he returned to the Kremlin four years ago.

He owes his sky-high popularity and his very legitimacy to success in foreign affairs -- and he knows it.

And for this reason, we should be keeping our eyes wide open for the next manufactured crisis.

Keep telling me what you think on The Power Vertical's Twitter feed and on our Facebook page.

The Daily Vertical: Putin's Crisis Menuby support@pangea-cms.com (Brian Whitmore)
Tuesday April 12th, 2016 at 9:16 AM

The Daily Vertical is a video primer for Russia-watchers that appears Monday through Friday.

Weeks after ‘pullout’ from Syria, Russian military is as busy as ever by Michael Birnbaum
Tuesday April 12th, 2016 at 9:16 AM

Europe

Russian helicopters, special forces and military advisers are still supporting Syria’s government.

Read the whole story

· · ·

Кремль объяснил исключение Грызлова из совбеза - BBC Russian
Tuesday April 12th, 2016 at 9:15 AM

The Moscow Times Top Stories

BBC Russian

Кремль объяснил исключение Грызлова из совбеза
BBC Russian
Пресс-секретарь Кремля Дмитрий Песков заявил, что бывший спикер Госдумы Борис Грызлов исключен из состава Совета безопасности в связи с тем, что слишком занят работой в контактной группе по мирному урегулированию конфликта на Украине. По словам Пескова, теперь сфера ...
Источник: Грызлов займется диалогом по УкраинеРИА Новости
Песков назвал причину исключения Грызлова из СовбезаРосбалт.RU
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Russian Helicopter Crashes in Syria, Two Pilots Deadby The Moscow Times
Tuesday April 12th, 2016 at 9:10 AM

A Russian Mi-28 helicopter has crashed in Syria, killing two pilots on board, the RIA Novosti news agency reported Tuesday, citing the Russian Defense Ministry.

People's resilience helps Russia dodge deeper crisis - Reuters
Tuesday April 12th, 2016 at 9:08 AM

Reuters

People's resilience helps Russia dodge deeper crisis
Reuters
Despite declining living standards there were no large protests in Russia's regions last year and few predict there will be before a parliamentary vote in September that the pro-Putin UnitedRussia party is on course to win. Putin's approval ratings ...

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Oil Hits 2016 High Above $43 on Producer Meeting Hopesby webdesk@voanews.com (Reuters)
Tuesday April 12th, 2016 at 9:07 AM

Oil reached a 2016 high above $43 a barrel on Tuesday, supported by hopes that an upcoming meeting of oil producers will agree steps to tackle a supply glut, and by a weak U.S. dollar and further signs of strong demand in China. Many members of OPEC plus outside producers such as Russia are meeting Doha, Qatar, on Sunday to discuss freezing output. The dollar fell to its lowest in nearly eight months against a basket of currencies, supporting commodities. Brent crude was up 50 cents at $43.33 a barrel at 0842 GMT and earlier in the session reached a 2016 high of $43.53. U.S. crude gained 39 cents to $40.75 a barrel. "The weak dollar is one important reason," said Eugen Weinberg of Commerzbank. "Also, the fact that we are above $40 and at multi-month highs is also contributing to the price increase as it is prompting some speculative buying." Also supporting prices was rising vehicle sales in China — a further sign of strong gasoline demand in the No. 2 consumer — and a plan by thousands of oil and gas workers in Kuwait to go on strike from Sunday. "If it is not clear if the strike will last long and will have any meaningful impact on exports or domestic production [including refineries], it does illustrate further the amount of pain that [Gulf] oil producers are also facing at current price levels," said Olivier Jakob, analyst at Petromatrix. Oil prices have collapsed from above $100 in mid-2014 due to oversupply. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries' decision in November 2014 to abandon its traditional role of cutting output helped deepen the decline. In a sign that oversupply may be easing, the structure of the Brent crude market has strengthened and the discount at which the first-month contract is trading to the second – known as contango — has narrowed significantly. This is partly in response to oilfield maintenance in the North Sea in June that will reduce supply of the crudes underpinning the Brent benchmark. Crude gained a boost last week after a surprise decline in U.S. inventories from a record high. But this week's U.S. supply reports are expected to show an increase in stocks of 2.8 million barrels. Industry group the American Petroleum Institute is scheduled to release its report on Tuesday at 4:30 p.m. EDT (2030 GMT), while the government's figures are due out on Wednesday.

Read the whole story

· ·

The Morning Vertical, April 12, 2016 by Brian Whitmore
Tuesday April 12th, 2016 at 9:07 AM

The Interpreter

ON MY MIND

Russian state television’s botched “expose” of opposition leader and anticorruption crusader Aleksei Navalny is telling on a number of levels. That the Kremlin would commission a hit job on Navalny isn’t surprising — they’ve been doing that for years. That they would accuse him of being in the employ of Western powers is also no shocker — it’s a standard talking point.
What it does show is that Vladimir Putin’s regime is very worried about the damage corruption allegations can do in the wake of the Panama Papers revelations; and that they’re worried about Navalny’s ability to document and spread information about official malfeasance.
But why would they do such a sloppy job of it? Why would they botch this hit job in such obvious and transparent ways? Perhaps it was a rush job, put together in haste after last week’s Panama Papers bombshell. Perhaps Putin’s vaunted propaganda machine is completely losing its mojo. Or perhaps, in a more sinister interpretation, the Kremlin just doesn’t care about being even close to convincing anymore. Perhaps the “expose” wasn’t meant to convince — but to send a signal. In which case, Navalny had best prepare for a high-stakes show trial.

IN THE NEWS

A Russian military helicopter has crashed in Syria, killing two military personnel.

France has frozen $1 billion in Russian assets in connection with a lawsuit by shareholders of the defunct Yukos oil company.

Reuters is reporting that Ukrainian Finance Minister Natalie Jaresko will not serve in the country’s new government.

Six NATO countries will send more than 1,000 troops to military exercises in Estonia in May.

President Vladimir Putin has removed Boris Gryzlov, the former speaker of the State Duma, from the Security Council. The move came days after Viktor Zolotov, who will head Russia’s new National Guard, was named a memberof the council.

Former Finance Minister Aleksei Kudrin will reportedly draft a new economic program for Vladimir Putin.

A 3-meter-high bronze statue of bombastic Russian politician Vladimir Zhirinovsky has been unveiledin Moscow to mark his 70th birthday later this month.

WHAT I’M READING

Sanctions Bite

The Warsaw-based Center for Eastern Studies has a new report out on the effect of sanctions on the Russian economy.

“Although they are not the deciding factor, the Western financial sanctions are nevertheless an important factor affecting the deteriorating economic situation in Russia,” the authors write. “They have significantly undermined the opportunities which Russian companies have to attract foreign capital, thus contributing to the deterioration of their financial condition (which is particularly prominent in the case of energy firms subject to sanctions). Therefore, Russian businesses need more support from the state. However, this support is becoming more difficult due to the dramatic fall in oil prices — revenues from oil exports are the main source of budget revenue.”

Exposing the Navalny ‘Expose’

Russian bloggers and journalists continue to point out discrepancies and inaccuracies in Russian state television’s broadcast alleging that opposition leader and anticorruption activist Aleksei Navalny is a paid agent of U.S. and British intelligence.

Here are rundowns from Insider magazine, Meduza, and RFE/RL’s Moscow correspondent Tom Balmforth.

The death of a Cosmonaut

Today marks the 55th anniversary of Soviet cosmonaut Yury Gagarin’s historic first-ever orbit of the Earth on April 12, 1961.

NPR has a sad and creepy story about Gagarin’s close friend Vladimir Komarov, a cosmonaut who died in the failed Soyuz-1 mission in April 1967.

“So there’s a cosmonaut up in space, circling the globe, convinced he will never make it back to Earth; he’s on the phone with Alexei Kosygin — then a high official of the Soviet Union — who is crying because he, too, thinks the cosmonaut will die.”

Read the rest here.

The Death of a Journalist

What does it mean when a Russian man with no known enemies, a journalist covering cultural affairs, is killed in his apartment with no sign of forced entry? Journalist and author Masha Gessen has this moving piece in The New York Times on The Art Of Reading A Russian Obituary.

Karabakh Machinations

RosBalt interviews Caucasus expert Sergei Markedonov on how the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh went “from from bad to worse.”

The Open Wall looks at “how Russia is playing both sides against the middle” in Karabakh.

Meanwhile, In Ukraine

On the Atlantic Council’s website, Anders Aslund takes a look at the economics of Ukraine’s political crisis.

Ukraine, meanwhile, is preparing to make its Soviet KGB archives available online.

Putin Loves His Nukes

Vladimir Putin’s absence at the recent nuclear summit in Washington raised eyebrows. Simon Shuster has a good piece in Newsweek on why Putin isn’t interested in arms control and why Russia is rebuilding its nuclear arsenal.

The Art of Electronic Warfare

Russia has been steadily expanding its electronic-warfare capabilities. The Jamestown Foundationtakes a look at the the book Radioelektronaya Borba (Electronic Warfare), by a group of Russian defense experts.

Read the whole story

· · · ·

Effort to Impeach Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff Clears Congressional Panel by SIMON ROMERO
Monday April 11th, 2016 at 10:33 PM

NYT > World

Supporters of the Brazilian leader are now scrambling ahead of a floor vote in the lower house of Parliament.

US Navy officer charged with spying
Monday April 11th, 2016 at 10:33 PM

BBC News - World

A US Navy officer is charged with espionage, accused of passing military secrets to China and Taiwan.

Congressional Panel Recommends Impeachment for Brazilian President Rousseff by webdesk@voanews.com (VOA News)
Monday April 11th, 2016 at 10:32 PM

FoxNewsChannel's YouTube Videos

A Brazilian congressional committee Monday recommended that President Dilma Rousseff face impeachment for alleged corruption. The panel voted 38-27 in favor of the motion and will now send its recommendation to the entire lower house. A two-thirds majority is needed there for a trial in the Senate. The lower house is expected to vote within a week and political observers say the outcome is too close to call. Rousseff is accused of hiding the details of the poor state of the...

Body parts found in recycling bin identified as belonging Seattle nurse who went missing after baseball game date - New York Daily News
Monday April 11th, 2016 at 10:31 PM

The Boston Globe defends its anti-Trump mock front pageby FoxNewsChannel
Monday April 11th, 2016 at 10:30 PM

From: FoxNewsChannel
Duration: 03:43

Boston Globe editorial board member tells 'On the Record' why it stands by satirical take on a potential Donald Trump presidency

Over 400 protesters arrested at U.S. Capitol by ReutersVideo
Monday April 11th, 2016 at 10:30 PM

ReutersVideo's YouTube Videos

From: ReutersVideo
Duration: 00:33

Police say the more than 400 people protesting government corruption at the U.S. capitol were arrested for "unlawfu protest activity'. Gavino Garay reports.

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Pentagon cuts put a squeeze on Army towns
Monday April 11th, 2016 at 10:29 PM

Stars And Stripes News

A fast-shrinking U.S. Army squeezes military towns and the people in them in unforeseeable ways.

U.S. General Calling For 'Apolitical' Troops As White House Race Heats Up
Monday April 11th, 2016 at 10:28 PM

The U.S. military's top general has a message for American troops as the race for the White House heats up: Stay out of politics.

Pasternak's Dr. Zhivago Notes Sell For $77,500 In New York Auction by support@pangea-cms.com (RFE/RL)
Monday April 11th, 2016 at 10:27 PM