Russia's Message on Jet: Conciliation and Bluster - New York Times
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 New York Times |
Russia's Message on Jet: Conciliation and Bluster
New York Times MOSCOW — Russia presented a combination of conciliation and bluster on Monday over its handling of the downed Malaysia Airlines jet, with President Vladimir V. Putin seemingly probing for a way out of the crisis without appearing to compromise with ... MH17: Russia defies pressure to drop support for separatistsThe Globe and Mail Inside the Bizarro World of 'Russia Today'TIME Russia to US: Show Us Evidence Putin-Backed Rebels Downed JetNBCNews.com Wall Street Journal-The Guardian-Telegraph.co.uk all 22,657 news articles » |
 Wall Street Journal |
Russia Presents Its Account of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 Crash
Wall Street Journal Russia sought to use both forums to push back against growing international criticism and U.S. and Ukrainian assertions that Moscow could have provided the missile system that brought down the plane. American officials charged that the Russian version ... |
Europe's political elite should not fear taking tough measures against an unyielding Kremlin, argues Con Coughlin
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The UN Security Council has unanimously adopted a resolution calling for an international investigation into the Malaysia Airlines plane crash in Ukraine.
President Vladimir V. Putin, in a video statement, offered conciliatory words about the crisis over the downed Malaysia Airlines jet in Ukraine.
 BBC News |
MH17 plane crash is 'defining moment' for Russia, says PM
BBC News David Cameron has said the Malaysian Airlines crash in east Ukraine is a "defining moment" forRussia. Some 298 people died, including 10 Britons, when flight MH17 crashed in a pro-Russianrebel-held area last week. The PM said Moscow was fuelling the ... |
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Rebel leader Aleksandr Borodai handed over two black boxes from an airliner downed over eastern Ukraine to Malaysian experts in Donetsk in the early hours of July 22. Both sides signed a document, which Borodai said was a protocol to finalize the procedure after lengthy talks with the Malaysians. (Reuters)
 Bloomberg |
Russian Billionaires in `Horror' as Putin Risks Isolation
Bloomberg Russia's richest businessmen are increasingly frantic that President Vladimir Putin's policies in Ukraine will lead to crippling sanctions and are too scared of reprisal to say so publicly, billionaires and analysts said. If Putin doesn't move to end ... |
The UN Security Council vote unanimously to allow international access to the site of flight MH17 which was downed over eastern Ukraine
- EU foreign ministers to weigh new sanctions against Russia
- Recovery teams await trains carrying bodies from flight MH17
- Five die in heavy fighting in Donetsk
- UN security council demands access to crash site
- Previous live coverage
Russia says it is ready to offer full cooperation with the international investigation into the downing of MH17 after backing the UN security council resolution on the investigation. Agence France-Presse reports:
"Russia is ready to give such an investigation comprehensive help including providing the necessary specialists," the Russian foreign ministry said in a statement.
Russia said that it backed the International Civil Aviation Organisation playing an "active role" after insisting on changes to wording of the resolution to clarify that Ukraine would not take the lead role in the probe.
EU foreign ministers meet in Brussels today to consider possible new sanctions against Russia for its support of separatist rebels in Ukraine. David Cameron is leading the charge for tougher economic sanctions, but France and other EU countries with lucrative contracts with Russia can be expected to show reluctance to go along with the British prime minister. We will bring you the latest news on the crisis in the Ukraine on this liveblog. Here are the main points sor far.
Europeans to Debate Tougher Sanctions on Russiaby By JAMES KANTER and ALAN COWELL
Foreign ministers of the 28-nation European Union were likely to endorse a schedule of measures but delay imposing them.
Ukraine's parliament approved a presidential decree on Tuesday to call up more military reserves and men under 50 to fight rebels in eastern Ukraine and defend the border against a concentration of troops in Russia.
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 BBC News |
What impact will the MH17 disaster have on Russia?
BBC News Russia's economy is struggling. It grew just 1.3% last year, shrank 0.5% between January and March, and didn't grow at all between April and June. And that was before the threat of deeper sanctions following the loss of a Malaysia Airlines passenger ... |
A St. Petersburg resident who is suspected of selling about $10 million worth of e-tickets that he stole by hacking into users' accounts has been detained in Spain and faces extradition to the United States.
The train was met by forensic experts and other representatives of countries that had citizens on the jet downed last week in territory controlled by pro-Russian rebels. 
A train carrying the remains of many of the victims of a Malaysia Airlines plane downed over eastern Ukraine arrived on July 22 in Kharkiv. Authorities said the bodies will then be taken to the Netherlands to be identified. The train left the crash site on July 21 after the Malaysian government agreed with pro-Russian separatists for recovered bodies to be handed over to the Netherlands, where two thirds of the victims came from. (Reuters)
Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a law reestablishing "standard" winter time in the Russian Federation.
Moscow Metro Head Fired After Fatal Crashby The Moscow Times
Following the worst accident in the Moscow metro's 80-year history, Mayor Sergei Sobyanin fired the head of the metro's management company, Ivan Besedin, on Tuesday.
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Train leaves Ukraine war zone with victims of Malaysia plane; black boxes handed overby Michael Birnbaum, Anthony Faiola, Carol Morello
DONETSK, Ukraine — After days of resistance, pro-Russian rebels on Monday yielded some ground in the crisis surrounding downed Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 — handing over passengers’ bodies, relinquishing the plane’s black boxes and pledging broader access for investigators to the crash site.
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Foreign secretary Philip Hammond says Europe must send a clear signal to Russia, following the MH17 plane crash. Speaking to reporters in Brussels, where he is discussing possible new sanctions, he warns that Russia's support for the separatist rebels in eastern Ukraine cannot to allowed to continue Continue reading...
 NBCNews.com |
Russia to US: Show Evidence Kremlin-Backed Rebels Downed MH17
NBCNews.com Russia hit back at Western claims that Kremlin-backed rebels downed Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 and demanded that the U.S. provide evidence of its alleged role in the missile attack. On Sunday's "Meet the Press," Secretary of State John Kerry ... MH17 crash spotlights Russia's roleSky News Australia MH17: Russia defies pressure to drop support for separatistsThe Globe and Mail Flight MH17: Europe Unlikely to Enforce Tougher Sanctions on RussiaTIME New York Times -Fox News -KPRC Houston all 25,216 news articles » |
Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a law that increases the punishment for public calls for separatism.
Nervous And Thirsty, Donetsk Braces For A Showdownby noreply@rferl.org (Olena Removska)
As separatist fighters dig in against a possible Ukrainian government offensive on the city of Donetsk, residents now face the possibility of being without water. Fighting around the city has damaged the city's water-supply system, and Donetsk could be dry in a matter of days.
Russian property tycoons will continue to make record returns on luxury London homes, say foreign exchange experts
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MH17 and Moscow’s Magical Mystery Jets by Mark Galeotti
After a weekend of virtual silence—while elements of the Russian media tried to fill the infospace with all kinds of lurid and rapidly-debunked rumor and conjecture—Monday saw Moscow hit back at the allegations that Malaysian Airlines Flight 17 was shot down by separatist rebels with Russian government assistance. Beyond President Putin’s strangely constrained personal statement (not the body language of a man at all comfortable with the situation), a key element were the “ten questions” posed by Lt. Gen. Andrey Kartopolov, chief of the General Staff’s Main Operations Directorate and Lt. Gen. Igor Makushev, chief of the Air Force Main Staff at a press conference on 21 July.
The overall intent is nakedly to shift blame onto Kiev (and Washington) and to provide the basis for subsequent challenges to the inevitable findings of any serious international enquiry: that MH17 was shot down by a rebel missile (as they themselves have been overheard admitting).
Broadly speaking, the “questions”—all unashamedly leading ones—framing Russia’s implicit defense argument concern three broad questions: the shift in MH17’s flight from its original route; the alleged presence of Ukrainian air defense units in the area, with their radars active; and the alleged presence of Ukrainian military aircraft close to the airliner shortly before and after it had been shot down.
The question of the aircraft’s route has been explained already. The Malaysian government has affirmed that there was no last-minute course change, just a slight deviation necessitated by a thunderstorm to the south and requested by the pilot.
Likewise, the issue of the presence of Ukrainian government air defense systems is something of a red herring, not least given the clear evidence that the separatists had deployed at least one Buk system in the area. Considering the evidence of increasing direct Russian intervention in the conflict—not least cross-border rocket barrages—then it would only be prudent for Kiev to watch its skies. But any attack from where the Russians allege the Ukrainian Buk-M1s were based would have meant the missile would have flown over rebel positions. It is hard to believe that no one would have noticed a large, loud, bright missile streaking through the skies above them.
Worth dwelling on, though, are the questions relating to alleged government aircraft:
6. What was a military plane doing on the route intended for civilian flights?“Russian monitoring systems registered that there was a Ukrainian Air Force jet, probably Su-25, climbing and approaching the Malaysian Boeing.”“The Su-25 was 3-5 km away from the Malaysian plane. Su-25 is capable of climbing to the altitude of 10,000 meters for a short period of time. Its standard armament includes R60 air-to-air missiles, which are capable of locking and hitting targets from 12 km and which are guaranteed to hit the target from the distance of 5 km.”
One wishes the Russians would make their minds up: was it a Ukrainian ground-based missile or a jet they are implying shot down MH17? In any case, setting aside the continued implausibility of this “false flag” hypothesis, or indeed Kiev’s claim that no such jet was in the area, let’s consider the details.
A Su-25 is a ground-attack aircraft. Yes, it can be armed with air-to-air missiles such as the R-60 ‘Aphid’, but its 3kg warhead—compared with the SA-11 Buk’s 70kg—is extremely unlikely to have done the damage visible on MH17. Eyewitness and photographic evidence from the crash site demonstrates a very broad and deep fragmentation pattern. Both the Buk’s 98M38 or 98M317 missiles and the R-60 are designed to explode just before impact to blast the target with shrapnel, but the size, pattern and above all quantity and kinetic energy of the two weapons’ warheads are very different.
Nor necessarily is an R-60 at all likely to have brought a Boeing 777 down with one hit. The KAL 007 747 brought down by Soviet fighters in 1983 was hit by two heavier R-98 missiles (with 40kg warheads) and still did not suffer the immediate, catastrophic destruction evident for MH17. Overall, the damage clearly points to a larger weapon than the R-60.
Meanwhile, the Russians are claiming that a second aircraft surveilled the crash site:
7. Why was the military jet flying at almost the same time and the same altitude with a passenger plane?“At 17:21’35, with [the Boeing’s] velocity having dropped to 200 kilometers per hour, a new mark detecting an airborne object appears at the spot of the Boeing’s destruction. This new airborne object was continuously detected for the duration of four minutes by the radar stations Ust-Donetsk and Buturinskaya. An air traffic controller requested the characteristics of the new airborne object, but was unable to get any readings on its parameters – most likely due to the fact that the new aircraft was not equipped with a secondary surveillance radar transponder, which is a distinctive feature of military aircraft,” said Makushev.“Detecting the new aircraft became possible as it started to ascend. Further changes in the airborne object’s coordinates suggest that it was hovering above the Boeing 777’s crash site, monitoring of the situation.”
Let’s consider this claim, too. The Russians are calling this a “jet” and suggesting that it was shadowing MH17. And yet, to “hover” requires a helicopter (or, if you want really outré conspiracy theory, a US V-22 Osprey tilt-rotor, and if that appeals, please feel free to ignore the evidence that the closest V-22 is at RAF Mildenhall in the UK). There is a distinct implausibility of the notion that a Ukrainian government helicopter could loiter within two miles of the rebel-held town of Hrabove without the separatists noticing it, let alone doing anything about it.
Furthermore, MH17 had been cruising at around 476 knots, or 545 mph. Even assuming it was slowing as it descended to its death, the fastest helicopter in the Ukrainian arsenal is the Mi-24. Its flat-out speed is some 210 mph, and flying at that speed for any time means not carrying external stores (such as weapons systems or sensor pods) and taking no precautions against the man-portable surface-to-air missiles the rebels have already used to bring down other government helicopters.
In short these particular allegations, like the others raised by Moscow and its chorus of apologists, simply fail to hold water. Their main role, after all, is not so much to convince the skeptical and the informed, but rather to reassure the sympathetic and confuse the uncertain, filling the information space with enough rumor, conjecture, conspiracy theory and downright misinformation to try to prevent any clear consensus emerging.
The point is not to let them.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a law increasing the punishments for people who violate the rules for organizing and holding street protests.
Russia to Let Visa, MasterCard Sidestep Security Depositby By Delphine d'Amora
The Russian government has officially declared the conditions that will allow international payment systems Visa and MasterCard to continue business in Russia without paying the massive security deposit that had threatened to shove them out of the country.
Flight MH17: what the Russian papers are sayingby Tom Balmforth for RFE/RL, part of the New East network
Despite mounting evidence that Moscow-backed rebels are responsible for shooting down Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 over eastern Ukraine, Russia's media is still painting a very different picture.RFE/RL reports
Despite mounting evidence that Moscow-backed rebels are responsible for shooting down Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 over eastern Ukraine last week, killing 298 people, Russia's print media is still painting a very different picture.
Some claim it was shot down by the Ukrainian military, which mistook the passenger jet for a military aircraft. Others suggest terrorists had been on board.
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A public inquiry into the 'calculated murder' of Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko has been long delayed, says Richard Ottaway, chair of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee
 MSNBC |
CNN poll: Favorable views of Russia drop following Malaysian airliner crash
CNN (blog) Washington (CNN) - Most Americans say Russia is directly or indirectly responsible for the downing of a Malaysia Airlines jetliner over eastern Ukraine, and unfavorable opinions of Russiahave surged, according to a new national poll. A CNN/ORC ... What Russia and Israel have in commonWashington Post (blog) Russia's U.S. standing plummets, still more popular than CongressMSNBC all 20 news articles » |
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Europe can remove the economic shackles which bind it to Vladimir Putin, but it has to wean itself off its energy addiction
 Telegraph.co.uk |
MH17: Europe must hit Russia hard with sanctions, says David Cameron
Telegraph.co.uk “If he does not change his approach to Ukraine in this then Europe and the West must fundamentally change our approach to Russia. Those of us in Europe should not need to be reminded of the consequences of turning a blind eye when big countries bully ... How far do EU-US sanctions on Russia go?BBC News MH17 crash spotlights Russia's roleSky News Australia MH17: Russia defies pressure to drop support for separatistsThe Globe and Mail Fox News -KSAT San Antonio all 25,444 news articles » |
President Vladimir Putin appeared to take one step forward and two steps back Tuesday, appeasing the international community with promises of cooperation in the investigation of downed Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 but blaming the West for interference in Ukraine and warning "outside forces" against orchestrating color revolutions.
Analysts who once praised the president’s strategic skills and his seeming mastery of western governments now warn that he has boxed himself into a corner
Ukrainians report sightings of missile launcher on day of MH17 crash by Shaun Walker in Torez
In Torez, some say missile's journey through town has been a hot topic but people are scared of talking to outsiders
Claims by pro-Russia separatists in east Ukraine that they have never been in possession of the missile launcher apparently used to down flight MH17 are looking increasingly flimsy, as several witnesses told the Guardian they had seen what appeared to be a Buk missile launcher in the vicinity of the crash site last Thursday.
The sightings back up a number of photographs and videos posted online which put the Buk system close to the crash site on the day of the disaster. Just before lunchtime last Thursday, prior to the Malaysia Airlines plane's takeoff, a Buk was driven through Gagarin Street, one of the central thoroughfares of Torez, witnesses said.
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Updated July 22, 2014 11:45 a.m. ET
The refrigerated train carrying the remains of those killed aboard Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 has reached the government-controlled city of Kharkiv, finishing the first part of a journey out of the conflict zone where they have been stuck for days. WSJ's Margaret Coker reports. (Photo: Getty Images)
The Netherlands said Tuesday it would take the lead in the probe of the crash of Malaysia Airlines3786.KU +15.00% Malaysian Airline System Bhd Malaysia RM0.23 +0.03 +15.00% July 22, 2014 4:59 pm Volume (Delayed 15m) : 291.62M P/E Ratio N/A Market Cap RM3.34 Billion Dividend Yield N/ARev. per Employee N/A 0.240.220.2010a11a12p1p2p3p4p 07/22/14 Europe Markets Rise But Russia... 07/22/14 U.S. Stocks Rise After Economi... 07/22/14 Finland Dovish on Russian Sanc...More quote details and news » 3786.KU in 
Your Value Your Change Short position Flight 17, but accident investigators still hadn't arrived at the crash site amid raging fighting in the region.
Your Value Your Change Short position Flight 17, but accident investigators still hadn't arrived at the crash site amid raging fighting in the region.
The rare investigation into a civilian air disaster in the midst of a conflict zone was slowly taking shape. But five days after the crash it still remained unclear how effective investigators could be amid a Ukrainian military offensive in the area, little security at the crash site and allegations of evidence tampering on the ground.
The remains of hundreds of victims were transported by train out of the rebel-held area in eastern Ukraine to the government-held city of Kharkiv, leaving the probe into the downing of the flight from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur that killed 298 people on board as the next step.
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said the Netherlands will spearhead the probe. "Our priorities are the recovery of our people, the best possible investigation, and justice," he said.
The Netherlands had the most citizens on the flight and has also taken the lead in the forensics efforts. Ukraine, under international rules, has the right to lead the investigation but can pass responsibility to another organization.
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, seen here during a news conference in The Hague, on Sunday, said the Netherlands would take the lead in the probe of the crash of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17.AFP/Getty Images
Interactives
Both Moscow and the pro-Russian separatists widely believed by Western officials to have shot down the plane voiced a willingness to help in the investigation, which has been bogged down by negotiations between Ukraine and the rebels to get access. Russia says Ukraine could have shot down the plane.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a speech Tuesday that Russia would attempt to influence separatists in eastern Ukraine to aid the investigation even as he slammed Western leaders for "destabilizing" the country.
Both forensic evidence at the scene and the black boxes remain crucial to understanding how the jet came apart and crashed.
Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman, who is overseeing Kiev's handling of the crash, said the black boxes were on the train that had carried victims' bodies.
The devices, which were earlier handed over by the leader of the self-proclaimed pro-Russia rebel state to Malaysian officials, could definitively rule out any equipment malfunction on the jet itself and provide some indication of the unlikely chance that the pilots saw a launch or knew a missile was approaching.
U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron said the country's Air Accidents Investigation Branch based in Farnborough, England would retrieve the data at the Netherlands' request. A spokesman for the Belgian Ministry of Defense said the plane would arrive in Kiev "in a couple of hours" to pick up the black box, and would return as soon as possible. The black boxes were expected to arrive in the U.K. early Wednesday morning.
While the operation to salvage victims' remains was complete, crash investigators still had trouble accessing the area.
"The most important issue for the day is to get access to the crash site to do the professional work," Mr. Groysman told reporters in Kharkiv.
Mr. Borodai has declared a unilateral cease-fire around the crash site and said he would allow Dutch security officials or other armed foreign guards—just not Ukrainian authorities—to accompany international crash investigators.
The Dutch Safety Board hopes to conclude the agreement to take over the probe Wednesday, but investigators had not yet arrived at the site because of security concerns, a spokeswoman for the Dutch Safety Board said Tuesday. Ukrainian forces have continued to press attacks in recent days against the pro-Russia rebels.
On the ground on Tuesday, much of the rural area where the plane went down remained open for anyone to access. Initial security provided by rebel gunmen in the days after the crash had largely disappeared, with the site at the town of Roszypne, where the Boeing's cockpit landed, completely unguarded.
A Ukraine security spokesman claimed on Tuesday that "Russian military experts" had been working at the crash site in civilian disguise. The claim couldn't be independently confirmed.
The lack of security reflected the reality of a crash in the midst of a war zone, where the rebels are hard-pressed to devote resources to cordon off the 35-square-kilometer (13.5-square-mile) crash site while simultaneously waging battle against Ukrainian forces.
The army is tightening its control around the easternmost regional capital of Luhansk, held by insurgents since April, spokesman Col. Andriy Lysenko said at a briefing in Kiev. Ukrainian forces now have the city of around 400,000 inhabitants almost completely encircled, according to a map presented at the briefing.
Ukraine's army is also moving to cut off the town of Lysychansk in the neighboring Donetsk region, Col. Lysenko said. Lysychansk is the base of Alexei Mozgovoi, a leading insurgent commander.
Col. Lysenko said clashes took place across the region Monday and overnight. In one incident, the separatists used a minibus packed with explosives to attack an army checkpoint, killing three soldiers, he said. Col. Lysenko said he couldn't confirm or deny reports that the vehicle was exploded by a suicide bomber.
Rebels confirmed widespread fighting.
Col. Lysenko said Ukrainian forces, including border posts, came under attack from mortars and multiple-rocket launchers from the Russian side of the border. Border guards found traces that around 14 "Grad" multiple rocket-launchers entered Ukraine from Russia and fired on Ukrainian positions, he said. Russia has denied providing weapons to the rebels or allowing militants to shoot from the Russian side of the border.
President Barack Obama blamed Russia for arming the rebels, including with antiaircraft weapons, and said Mr. Putin had a "direct responsibility" to compel the separatists to cooperate.
Russia has laid out its version of events in the crash, suggesting that a Ukrainian fighter jet could have downed the plane, but stopping short of assigning blame.
On Tuesday, Mr. Putin said he'd do all he could to aid the investigation but gave little sign of changing course on Ukraine in the face of Western warnings of tougher sanctions. In a punchy speech at a meeting of the country's security chiefs, Mr. Putin berated the West for "destabilizing" Ukraine, saying the current government came to power "in an armed and unconstitutional way."
"We are being called upon to influence the rebels in southeastern Ukraine. Everything that is in our power we, of course, will do," Mr. Putin said. "Russia will do everything that depends on it to ensure a full, comprehensive, in-depth and transparent investigation," he said.
—Paul Sonne, Margaret Coker, Jason Ng and Robin van Daalen contributed to this article.
Write to Anton Troianovski at anton.troianovski@wsj.com, James Marson at james.marson@wsj.comand Robert Wall at robert.wall@wsj.com
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Updated July 21, 2014 7:52 p.m. ET
This year's most important Russian financial indicator will be how much money flees abroad. Central-bank data released on July 9 put capital flight so far this year at $75 billion, almost 4% of gross domestic product, and rising by the day. And that was before last Thursday's murderous downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 over eastern Ukraine.
Westerners marvel at Vladimir Putin's high domestic approval ratings, above 80% in Gallup's most recent poll, which comes after this year's invasion of neighboring Ukraine and annexation of Crimea. But those with the wherewithal to let their money do the talking say different. More money has fled Russia in the first half of 2014 than in the whole of 2013. If Mr. Putin were really doing a good job, capital flight would not be an issue.
Popularity and capital flight are rarely considered together, but they hold the key to Putinism: He gives ordinary Russians stability and television (heavy with propaganda), while their rulers get the right to strong-arm their way to riches and keep the money safely abroad. For the Romans, it was bread and circuses; for Mr. Putin, it is bread, circuses and offshore bank accounts.
Mr. Putin is often credited with rebuilding Russia, but that has been as much aided by $100-a-barrel oil as by anything he has done. Hundreds of billions of dollars have poured out of Russia since he took power in 2000, while corruption has spread to encompass every element of the economy.
He has done nothing about this, since doing so would cost him the support of the Russian elite. These are the people that Nikolai Patrushev, former head of Russia's FSB domestic-intelligence agency and now Mr. Putin's Security Council secretary, calls "the new nobility." Without them Mr. Putin would be nothing, and it is their money and their channels to the West that the U.S. and the European Union should target.
To succeed, Western authorities need to follow the assets: the yachts, the mansions, the estates, the professional sports teams—most owned via Western shell companies and funded via Western banks. It is here that the West has the leverage it needs, if it wants to solve the Putin problem before something even worse happens than the downing of Flight 17.
Russian President Vladimir Putin in Brasilia for an international gathering, July 16. Reuters
Mr. Putin has long acted like someone to whom international law means nothing. In 2004 a court in Qatar convicted two Russian agents of murdering the former president of Chechnya Zelimkhan Yandarbiyev with a car bomb in Doha. In late 2007 Andrei Lugovoi, the former KGB agent wanted for questioning by British authorities in the poisoning death of Kremlin critic Alexander Litvinenko with radioactive polonium-210 in London in 2006, was elected to the Russian parliament. (Mr. Lugovoi denies involvement.) Mr. Putin hived off two chunks of Georgia in 2008 and declared them independent.
Most Western governments were happy to ignore all of this—some even brushed off the annexation of Crimea—as long as the Russian money kept flowing into their economies. But the downing of Flight 17, killing 298 people, is different. There can be no justification for giving poorly disciplined guerrillas missiles powerful enough to bring down an airliner. This is rogue-state behavior, and the West needs to act.
Washington has already pioneered some bold and effective sanctions, including clever targeting of Russia's crucial energy and arms industries the day before Flight 17 was shot down. Judging by Secretary of State John Kerry's words on Sunday, tougher sanctions may be on the way.
Crisis in Ukraine: A History
Europe has been feeble in comparison, but the leaders of France, Germany and Britain backed sanctions on Sunday, and EU foreign ministers are discussing action on Tuesday. It will be a brave foreign minister who tells his Dutch, British, Belgian or German counterparts, after the bodies of their slain countrymen have been treated disgracefully by pro-Russia rebels, that Mr. Putin deserves the benefit of the doubt.
It seems certain that more Russian individuals and companies will have their dealings with Americans and Europeans curtailed by the end of the week. But that will not solve the problem. Thanks to the sly methods of offshore financiers, the Western financial system remains wide open.
According to Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index, Russia is as corrupt as Pakistan. Precise details of the amount of corrupt money generated each year are not available, obviously, but it is clearly in the billions, and it has to go somewhere. We do not know all the routes it takes to get out of Russia, but thanks to Hermitage Capital CEO and co-founder William Browder, we do know one of them.
Hermitage Capital once managed the largest pool of foreign money invested in Russia. That was before Russian officials stole $300 million from Hermitage, imprisoned its auditor, Sergei Magnitsky, and watched him die in jail in 2009. Mr. Browder has deep pockets, and a long memory, and he has funded a forensic investigation into the fate of the stolen cash. It passed through Cyprus, Latvia, Moldova, Switzerland and the British Virgin Islands, and it ended up buying property in Manhattan, Dubai and elsewhere.
Those who allegedly laundered the Hermitage money (Latvian citizens acting as nominee directors of shell companies) also appeared as suspects in investigations by journalists and nongovernmental organizations into the fate of the billions stolen from Ukraine by ex-President Viktor Yanukovych, suggesting that their services are available to any post-Soviet kleptocrat who wants them.
Western banks are the gatekeepers to our financial system and are supposed to report suspicious transactions, obey U.S. and European financial laws and sanctions, and turn away illegal money. They have clearly been failing to fulfill this role.
Mr. Putin's regime is a criminal one, and our banking system facilitates that crime. They steal it; we fence it. Changing the way we treat Russian money, making its owners prove its provenance before banks accept it, would at a stroke cut away one of the struts that support the Putin regime. It would encourage honest Russian businesses and penalize the dishonest.
It is up to Russians to improve their own country, but we can help by ceasing to accept the money their rulers steal. Sanctions treat the symptoms of the disease, not its cause, and the longer we put that off, the deeper the cancer of dirty money will penetrate our countries—and the harder cutting it out will become.
Mr. Bullough, a former Moscow correspondent for Reuters, is the author of "The Last Man in Russia: The Struggle to Save a Dying Nation" (Basic Books, 2013).
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Happy Birthday, America! Happy Birthday, America! Posted by Mike Nova at 7/04/2014 10:03:00 AM · Email ThisBlogThis!Share to TwitterShare to FacebookShare to Pinterest ...
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"Ai," the traditional Chinese character for love (愛) consists of a heart (心, middle) inside of "accept," "feel," or "perceive," (受) which shows a graceful emotion. It can also be interpreted as a hand offering one's heart to another ...
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The Islamic State group in Iraq has issued an ultimatum to Christians and Muslim minorities to leave Mosul. They captured the city last month at the start of their offensive and the Iraqi army have been unable to dislodge them.
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Write to Jay Solomon at jay.solomon@wsj.com and Anton Troianovski at anton.troianovski@wsj.com. Posted by Mike Nova at 7/21/2014 06:52:00 AM · Email ThisBlogThis!Share to TwitterShare to FacebookShare to Pinterest ...
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U.S. President Barack Obama says Russia must do its part to pressure pro-Russian separatists to allow international access to the downed Malaysian airliner in Ukraine. In remarks at the White House Monday, Obama said ...
Four days after the Boeing 777 came crashing down into the fields of eastern Ukraine, the black box recorders from flight MH17 were finally handed over to the Malaysians at a surreal night-time ceremony in Donetsk.
22/07/14 01:37 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks mikenova shared this story from Network Front | The Guardian. Malaysian officials receive flight recorders from downed plane in ceremony after 12 hours of negotiations ...
Posted by Mike Nova at 7/22/2014 09:18:00 AM · Email ThisBlogThis!Share to TwitterShare to FacebookShare to Pinterest. No comments: Post a Comment .... Mike Nova's shared news links. Loading... Russians Hear News ...
Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman told a press conference, 'there is information [the rebels] did certain things' to the recorders (pictured), but didn't elaborate. Posted by Mike Novaat 7/22/2014 10:13:00 ...
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LongIslander1987 wrote: "He is as dumb as a bag of rocks..."1 hr ago » Told ya'-according to PRico's current governor, niuyoricans, stateside 22/07/14 00:18 from 3 Comments, last updated on Monday Jul 21 by Jorge LongIslander1987 wrote: He is as dumb as a bag of rocks . The Populares should be reaching out to s...
1 hr ago » Told ya'-according to PRico's current governor, niuyoricans, stateside 22/07/14 00:18 from 3 Comments, last updated on Monday Jul 21 by Jorge LongIslander1987 wrote: He is as dumb as a bag of r...
MH17 black boxes handed over by pro-Russia rebelsMH17 black boxes handed over by pro-Russia rebels by Shaun Walker in Donetsk and Harriet Salem in Torez Tuesday July 22 nd , 2014 at 12:37 AM Network Front | The Guardian 1 Share Malaysian officials receive flight recorders from downed plane in ceremony a...
MH17 black boxes handed over by pro-Russia rebelsby Shaun Walker in Donetsk and Harriet Salem in Torez Tuesday July 22nd, 2014 at 12:37 AM Network Front | The Guardian 1 Share Malaysian officials rece...
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Is the German chancellor an agent of Russia? 19/07/14 03:21 from RenewAmerica columns» Is the German chancellor an agent of Russia? 19/07/14 03:21 from RenewAmerica columns (Cliff Kincaid) - In the wake of the shoot-down of the Malaysian Airlines plane over Ukraine, various pundits continue to say it is unlikely that Europe will do much ...
» Is the German chancellor an agent of Russia? 19/07/14 03:21 from RenewAmerica columns (Cliff Kincaid) - In the wake of the shoot-down of the Malaysian Airlines plane over Ukraine, various pundits continue to say it is unlik...
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Obama Urges Full, Unimpeded Ukraine ProbeObama Urges Full, Unimpeded Ukraine Probe by webdesk@voanews.com (VOA News) Monday July 21 st , 2014 at 12:41 PM Voice Of America 1 Share U.S. President Barack Obama says Russia must do its part to pressure pro-Russian separatists to allow international ...
Obama Urges Full, Unimpeded Ukraine Probeby webdesk@voanews.com (VOA News) Monday July 21st, 2014 at 12:41 PM Voice Of America 1 Share U.S. President Barack Obama says Russia must do its part to press...
Puerto Rico buys time with investors, creditors but many still see trouble for slumping island - APPuerto Rico buys time with investors, creditors but many still see trouble for slumping island - Sports Monday July 21 st , 2014 at 12:25 PM 1 Share SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - Puerto Rico's government has managed its first balanced budget in more than a deca...
Puerto Rico buys time with investors, creditors but many still see trouble for slumping island - Sports Monday July 21st, 2014 at 12:25 PM 1 Share SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - Puerto Rico's government has ...
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Detectives believe the prominent criminal law scholar and blogger, murdered in his Florida home, was the intended target.
Israel reported one of its soldiers missing in action as the army's assault on Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip entered its third week under growing diplomatic pressure to end the violence.
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