Russia in Review

I. U.S. and Russian priorities for the bilateral agenda.

Nuclear security:

• Personnel reductions in the Russian Interior Ministry didn’t impact security of facilities that that this ministry protects, Russia’s top cop said. "Even with the personnel downsized, we are able to provide the necessary level of security of guarded facilities, which range from weapons and nuclear complex to museums and television station,"  Russian Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev told NTV. (Belfer Center/Tass, 11.27.15).

Iran’s nuclear program and related issues:

• The arms trade adviser to President Vladimir Putin says Russia has begun delivering S-300 air defense missile systems to Iran, according to the Russian state news agency Tass quoted Vladimir Kozhin as saying Thursday that the implementation of the contract for the delivery of the S-300s has begun and the deliveries have started. (AP, 12.03.15).

NATO-Russia relations:

• The Pentagon's top military official initiated a phone call with his Russian counterpart Monday, the highest military-to-military communication between the two nations since August 2014.Gen. Joseph Dunford, the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Gen. Valery Gerasimov, the chief of the Russian General Staff, had a "short" call that discussed a "range of issues," according to Capt. Gregory Hicks, spokesman for the Joint Chiefs. (Defense News, 11.30.15).
• The head of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization said Wednesday that the alliance was open to talks with Russia. “There is a strong message from all allies that there is no contradiction between a strong defense, deterrence and political dialogue," said Jens Stoltenberg, the NATO's secretary-general. Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that if Mr. Stoltenberg took the initiative to convene the NATO-Russia Council, Russia would meet with the alliance. German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier called for resumption of the NATO-Russia communications to prevent incidents. “We live in a risky world and if there are ways through exchange of information, to reduce risks <…> then we should exploit this," Steinmeier said Tuesday night at a NATO summit. The NATO-Russia Council hasn't met since June 2014. (Wall Street Journal, Sputnik, 12.02.15).
• In Moscow, NATO’s offer to Montenegro to join the alliance -- prompted fury and threats. Dmitri S. Peskov, the Kremlin spokesman, said that a NATO expansion would be met with unspecified retaliatory measures from Russia. The military of Montenegro adds just 2,000 troops to the NATO arsenal of3,508,000 and just $5 billion to the NATO pool of $892 billion. Its navy comprises five patrol boats and five landing craft. (Foreign Policy, New York Times, 12.02.15).

Missile defense:

• No significant developments.

Nuclear arms control:

• Frustrated by Russia’s refusal to address the Obama administration’s concerns that it has violated the INF treaty, the Pentagon is moving ahead with plans to strengthen defenses in Europe against Moscow’s military programs, including the threat posed by cruise missiles, Brian P. McKeon, a senior policy official at the U.S. Defense Department, told Congress on Tuesday. Rose Gottemoeller, the senior State Department official for arms control, told a joint meeting of the House Armed Services and Foreign Affairs Committees that Russian officials had never acknowledged developing the prohibited system and instead had focused on leveling ‘‘counteraccusations.” “We continue to consider economic measures in connection with the INF Treaty, but we have not made a decision yet,” said Gottemoeller (Moscow Times, New York Times, 12.03.15).
• The U.S. is on the “brink” of kicking off a new nuclear arms race that will elevate the risk of nuclear apocalypse to Cold War levels, former Secretary of Defense William Perry warned Thursday. “Today, probably I would not have said this 10 years ago, but today we now face the kind of dangers of a nuclear event like we had during the Cold War, an accidental war,” he said. Perry also called for the breaking of the nuclear triad by dismantling the intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) stockpile. (Defense News, 12.03.15).

Counter-terrorism:

• Police in Thailand have confirmed they are searching for Syrian terrorist suspects following a tip from Moscow. A Thai police memo was leaked earlier asking officers to follow up on information from Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) that 10 Syrians who may be linked to the Islamic State (IS) group could stage attacks in Thailand on targets associated with Russia and other foes of the militants. (RFE/RL, 12.04.15).
• Ramzan Kadyrov, leader of Russia's Chechnya region, has vowed to kill whomever was responsible for the beheading of a Chechen man, purportedly shown on an Islamic State (IS) video. (RFE/RL, 12.03.15).
• Former Soviet tank commander Irek Hamidullin who was convicted of leading a terror attack on U.S. forces in Afghanistan was sentenced Thursday to life in prison by a court in Richmond, Virginia. (Moscow Times, 12.04.15).
• The bodies of six employees of the Volga-Dnepr airline killed in a terror attack on a hotel in the capital city of Mali, on Nov. 20, were brought to Ulyanovsk on Nov. 29. (Interfax, 11.29.15).
• Also see sections on Syria and Turkey.

Cyber security:

• Russia's largest ever data center will cost $1bn and be rigged up to a nuclear power station. Kalinin power station - 120 miles from Moscow - will provide the 80 megawatts needed to power the data center’s 10,000 server racks. (World Nuclear News,  11.27.15).

Energy exports from CIS:

• Russia, Iran, and Iraq have quashed a plan reportedly being eyed by Saudi Arabia to lift sagging global oil prices through collective cuts in oil output. The Energy Intelligence newsletter reported that Saudi Arabia, the largest oil producer in OPEC, was ready to propose a cut of 1 million barrels a day in output at a meeting of the oil cartel on December 4, if non-OPEC countries like Russia joined in. Russia’s Energy Minister Alexander Novak has earlier said his country will stick to its strategy of maintaining oil production and has no plans to take part in Friday’s OPEC meeting (RFE/RL, 12.04.15, Bloomberg, 12.03.15).
• In recent months, Russian oil companies and the Saudi Arabian Oil Co., known as Saudi Aramco, have been aggressively discounting their crude to Europe. Saudi Arabia is now targeting countries like Sweden and Poland, where Russia has long been dominant and the Middle Eastern kingdom hasn't had a major presence. (Wall Street Journal, 12.01.15).
• Alexander Novak, the Russian energy minister, announced that Moscow was halting talks with Ankara over the Turkish Stream gas pipeline, a $10 billion construction project meant to funnel Russian gas to Europe. (New York Times, 12.03.15).
• Ten European governments -- the easternmost members of the European Union -- have complained in a letter that Russia's plans to extend its natural-gas link to Germany run counter to EU interests and risk further destabilizing Ukraine. (RFE/RL, 11.17.15).

Bilateral economic ties:

• No significant developments.

Other bilateral issues:

• The U.S. House of Representatives is set to vote on a bill that would authorize spending for the intelligence community for the year that ends Sept. 30, 2016. The bill would require the Director of National Intelligence to submit a report to Congress on Russia’s “use of political assassinations as a form of statecraft” since 2000. The DNI will also conduct a study that can be used to measure the damage caused by cyberattacks, in part to determine “the response to such incidents.”  (Wall Street Journal, 11.30.15).
• Seventy-five percent of those questioned in a new poll  by Levada Center said Russia should mend ties with the United States and other Western countries. Sixteen percent disagreed, whereas another ten percent found it hard to say. (Moscow Times, 12.02.15).
• A spokesperson for the U.S. State Department says Washington is "troubled" by Russia's banning of a pro-democracy charity fund founded by U.S. billionaire and philanthropist George Soros. (RFE/RL, 12.01.15).
• Russian prosecutors have determined the activities of a U.S.-funded NGO to be "undesirable", paving the way for the U.S.-Russia Foundation for Economic Advancement and the Rule of Law to be banned on Russian territory. (RFE/RL, 12.04.15).

II. Russia news.

Domestic politics, economy and energy:

• In his annual address to the parliament on Thursday Russian President Vladimir Putin detailed measures aimed at pulling Russia's economy out of a recession. “The situation is difficult but, as I've said, not critical, “Putin said. Putin issued a series of edicts. He extended an amnesty for repatriating capital flight for six more months, seeking to return desperately needed cash from abroad. He extended a benefits program for mothers for two more years. He also said that farmland that is not cultivated by its owners should be sold at auction, adding that Russia should be self-sufficient in farming by 2020. (Wall Street Journal, 12.03.15, Washington Post, 12.03.15).
• Russia’s credit-rating outlook was raised to stable from negative by Moody’s Investors Service, which cited a stabilization of external finances and a diminished likelihood of the economy facing a further “intense shock” in the next 12 to 18 months after being sanctioned over Ukraine. (Bloomberg, 12.03.15).
• Crude prices at $30 per barrel will push the Russian economy to depths that would threaten the nation’s financial system, according to 63 percent of respondents in a Bloomberg survey. “The situation we are in is no longer a crisis,” Deputy Finance Minister Maxim Oreshkin said at a round-table at the upper house of parliament in Moscow. “It’s a new reality, reflecting new prices for oil, a new situation with the balance of payments.” (Bloomberg, 11.29.15).
• While October unemployment was near 2 percent in Moscow and St. Petersburg, it was almost 31 percent in the North Caucasus republic of Ingushetia. (Bloomberg, 12.03.15).
• Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has signed a decree limiting purchases of imported medicines, according to a document published on the government's website on Wednesday. (Moscow Times, 12.02.15).
• The reactor pressure vessel has been installed at unit 4 of the Rostov nuclear power plant in Russia. The unit is expected to start operations in 2017. (World Nuclear News, 12.01.15).
• Russian President Vladimir Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said on December 2 that the Kremlin is unaware of the latest public accusation by opposition blogger Aleksei Navalny concerning Prosecutor-General Yury Chaika and his sons. (RFE/RL, 12.02.15).
• Forty-five percent of respondents to the survey by the independent Levada Center pollster said they supported regular rotation of leaders through elections, down from a steady 60 percent recorded a year ago and in every poll since 2007. (Moscow Times, 12.03.15).
• Russians are more convinced than at any time in recent history that their country is a great power. Sixty-five percent of Russians surveyed by the independent Levada Center pollster said Russia was a great power, compared to 25 percent who disagreed. Four years ago, in 2011, the split was around 50-50. (Moscow Times, 11.30.15).

Defense and Aerospace:

• Russian Airborne Forces are planning large-scale military maneuvers in the North Pole area of the Arctic next year. (RFE/RL, 11.30.15).

Security, law-enforcement and justice:

• Russian police arrested Olga Nikonova, head of the legal department of Rosatom subsidiary TVEL for allegedly embezzling 100 million rubles when working at this nuclear fuel maker. In the meantime case of ex-deputy head of Rosatom Yevstratov - who was arrested for alleged embezzlement of 50 mn rubles back in 2010 - is yet to be heard in court. (Kommersant, 12.01.15).
• Russian national Andrei Belyaev has been charged with treason and taken into custody pending trial. It is the 20th treason case this year that the Russian media are aware of. (Moscow Times, 12.01.15).
• Police officials in Dagestan say that unknown attackers shot dead Imam Suleiman Kokreksky in the evening on December 1 in the city of Khasavyurt near the border with Chechnya. Kokreksky is the third imam killed in Dagestan by unknown assailants in recent months. (RFE/RL, 12.02.15).
• Former Russian senator Sergei Pugachyov is subject to a U.K. arrest warrant for continuing to flout court orders in his dispute with the Russian Deposit Insurance Agency over the collapse of International Industrial Bank. (Bloomberg, 12.03.15).

Foreign affairs and trade:

• Syria:
  • At a climate summit in Paris world leaders grappled with the difficulties of forging a broader international coalition to counter the threat of the violent Islamists. “On the whole, I think we have an understanding of where we need to go," Mr. Putin said at a news conference in Paris after he met with President Barack Obama on the sidelines of the summit.  (Wall Street Journal, 11.30.15).
  • Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Barack Obama discussed Syria and the need for a new Syrian constitution and elections on sidelines of the climate summit in Paris. "We talked about how, in the near future, the focus of our attentions should be on a list of organizations we believe to be terroristic, and a list of organizations that represent the 'healthy' opposition,” Putin said. The two leaders also discussed implementation of the Minsk-2 agreement in Ukraine. (Sputnik, Gazeta.ru, 12.01.15).
  • A day after meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, the U.S. president said there are signs his Russian counterpart recognizes the Syrian conflict won't be settled through military force alone. However, Mr. Obama said the two leaders remain at odds over the future of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. (Wall Street Journal, 12.02.15).
  • The United States and Russia are drafting separate United Nations resolutions to tighten restrictions on financing sources for the Islamic State group, envoys said December 1.The proposed new Security Council measures would build on a resolution adopted in February that aimed to cut off millions of dollars in earnings from IS smuggling of oil and antiquities. (RFE/RL, 12.02.15).
  • After talks with French President François Hollande at the Kremlin last week, Putin said, "We are ready to cooperate with the coalition which is led by the United States." Putin also said the exchange of information with France and the U.S.-led coalition “was the subject of extensive negotiations" with Mr. Hollande. "Our positions are the same," Putin told Hollande talks. "That forces us to join our forces in fighting terrorists. We are prepared to work with you, Mr. President." Putin has also asked French officials to create a map indicating the location of troops in Syria fighting against the Islamic State. Hollande said France was ready to fight alongside Russia but added, "Of course, Assad cannot play any role in the future of this country." France agreed to coordinate airstrikes with Russia against IS and share information on the disposition of armed groups in Syria. Putin agreed in turn to “avoid targeting” the “healthy” armed opposition, a term he has used to refer to the Free Syrian Army. (Washington Post, Moscow Times, Wall Street Journal, 11.27.15, Institute for Study of War, 12.01.15).
  • The world powers that met in Vienna for landmark talks aimed at ending the war in Syria could meet next in New York in mid-December, diplomats here said, as long as the latest tensions between Russia and Turkey can be calmed. ''We have not seen this kind of momentum around the diplomatic and political track in a very long time, and arguably ever,'' Samantha Power, the United States ambassador to the United Nations, said of the talks. (New York Times, 12.02.15).
  • If there’s one thing the U.S. and Russia can agree on in the Syria crisis, it’s the need to cut off Islamic State’s oil trade, so they and other countries have been escalating their air attacks on it. The attacks have been increasing since the Nov. 13 terror assault in Paris. (Wall Street Journal, 12.01.15).
  • In his annual address to the parliament on Thursday Russian President Vladimir Putin repeated calls for a broad, United Nations-mandated coalition against “terrorist groups." “Terrorists in Syria pose a special threat [to Russia]. They receive money and weapons, build up their forces, and if they win there sooner or later they will come back to Russia and we will have to fight them here, he said. (Wall Street Journal, Interfax, International Business Times 12.03.15).
  • By operating in the air above Syria, Russian military pilots “are essentially directing Syrian armed units,” Russian President Vladimir Putin said. (Tass, 12.03.15).
  • Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Thursday that Great Britain was obliged to coordinate with Damascus on its airstrikes on Islamic State targets within Syria. (Wall Street Journal, 12.03.15).
  • ''We've got a coalition of 65 countries who've been active in pushing back against ISIL for quite some time,'' Barack Obama said last week. ''Russia right now is a coalition of two -- Iran and Russia, supporting Assad.'' More than 50 members of the U.S.-led coalition  have never been directly involved in the air campaign, however. (New York Times, 11.30.15).
  • U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Thursday he believes that if an agreement can be reached to ease President Bashar al-Assad of Syria from power, a coalition of Americans, Russians and Syrian forces could wipe out the Islamic State ''in a matter of literally months.'' (New York Times, 12.04.15).
  • U.S. Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter lamented what he said were Russia's military strikes against opposition fighters who should play a role in Syria going forward, and he criticized Moscow's support for Assad. The Russians "should be striking ISIL," Carter said. "If they got in the right place ... we could associate ourselves with what their doing." (Boston Globe, 12.02.15).
  • The White House said on Monday it has seen "some intensification" of Russian air strikes against Islamic State in Syria during the past several weeks. (Reuters, 12.01.15).
  • The advanced S-400 antiaircraft system has been deployed at a Russian military base in Syria's Latakia.  Russia is also reportedly preparing to deploy fixed-wing aircraft for the first time as well as 1,000 troops to the Assad regime’s Shayrat Airbase in Homs Province, likely in an effort to support an ongoing pro-regime offensive to recapture the IS-controlled city of Palmyra. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on December 3 that the Russians were adding fortifications and developing runways at this base in a sign they intend to use it as their second air base in the country. Russia is also reportedly deploying the TOS-1 Buratino multiple launch rocket system to Syria. (Institute for Study of War, 12.01.15, National Interest, 12.03.15, RFE/RL, 11.26.15, RFE/RL, 12.03.15).
  • For the first time since the operation's beginning Russian Su-34 bomber jets have conducted sorties in Syria with air-to-air missiles on Monday, the Russian Aerospace Forces spokesman said. (Sputnik. 11.30.15).
  • A Russian jet recently penetrated Israeli airspace but was not shot down thanks to an open communication system between the two countries, Israel's defense minister said Sunday. (AP, 11.29.15).
  • According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Russian air strikes in a northern Syrian town are reported to have killed at least 18 people and wounded dozens more. (RFE/RL, 11.29.15).
  • A recent nation-wide poll conducted in Russia by the Levada Center showed that 53% of Russians would react negatively if Russia were to launch a ground military operation in Syria. (Levada Center/Belfer Center, 12.02.15).
  • Ethnic Chechen Salahuddin Shishani has been removed as emir of Caucasus Emirate in Syria. (Chechensinsyria.com, 12.03.15).
  • A court in Russia's North Caucasus has sentenced six men to up to seven years in jail for recruiting fighters for the Islamic State extremist organization in Syria. (RFE/RL, 12.01.15).
  • On Wednesday the U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned four individuals and six entities providing support to the Syrian regime. They include Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, whom Treasury describes as a "wealthy Russian businessman" and "long-time World Chess Federation president." (Wall Street Journal, 11.27.15).
• Turkey:
  • In his annual address to the parliament on Thursday Russian President Vladimir Putin said Russia “won't rattle its sabers" in the conflict with Turkey, but could add to sanctions. “If they think that after committing heinous war crimes and murdering our people they will get away just with tomatoes and restrictions on construction and other industries, they are deeply mistaken,” Putin said. “Only Allah knows why they did that. Apparently Allah decided to punish Turkey's leadership by depriving them of senses and mind," Mr. Putin said . Putin has earlier said that “we have every reason to think that the decision to shoot down our plane was dictated by the desire to protect the oil supply lines to Turkish territory.”  (Wall Street Journal, 12.03.15, RFE/RL, 11.30.15).
  • Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree completing an array of sanctions against Turkey in response to the downing of a Russian bomber on the Syrian border, including imports of certain products. It also restricts “certain types of work" or services rendered on Russian territory by Turkish organizations. Although Russia has said it would also ban fruits and vegetables from Turkey, it will wait several weeks to enforce the sanctions to avoid creating sudden shortages that could fuel inflation. The Kremlin has also ordered the Russian government to ban charter flights between Russia and Turkey and tighten control on Turkish trucking companies on Russian territory. The government also said Russian authorities should play closer attention to vessels operating in Russian ports. And Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has announced that Russia would cancel a free-visa regime with Turkey.  (Wall Street Journal, 11.29.15, Washington Post, 11.29.15, New York Times, 12.01.15).
  • Turkey is the main consumer of Islamic State’s oil and Russia has proof that “the highest political leadership of the country, President Erdogan and his family, are involved in this criminal business,” Russian Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov said. In his annual address to the parliament on Thursday Russian President Vladimir Putin said that "We know, for example, that Turkey is stuffing its pockets and letting terrorists make money on selling oil plundered in Syria.” Erdogan shot back at Russian accusations, saying that “nobody has the right to slander Turkey” by claiming it buys oil from the Islamic State.(Foreign Policy, 12.02.15, Interfax,12.03.15).
  • Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said he had heard "nothing new" from his Turkish counterpart on Thursday after the first high-level bilateral contact between the two countries since the Turkish air force shot down a Russian jet nine days ago. (Today’s Zaman, 12.03.15).
  • Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Ankara made first attempts to get in touch with Moscow only seven or eight hours after the Turkish Air Force shot down a Russian bomber in Syria, which seemed "an eternity" to Russia. (Interfax, 11.28.15).
  • Kremlin foreign-policy adviser Yuri Ushakov confirmed on Friday that Mr. Putin had received the requests Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to meet. Asked why Russia hadn't responded, Mr. Ushakov suggested the Kremlin was waiting to see contrition from the Turkish leadership. “We see a lack of readiness from the Turkish side to offer an elementary apology for the incident with the aircraft," Mr. Ushakov said. (Wall Street Journal, 11.27.15).
  • Speaking after meeting with the secretary general of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said Monday that Turkey won't apologize for shooting down a Russian jet fighter last week. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has expressed “sadness" numerous times, but refusing to apologize. . (Wall Street Journal, 11.30.15).
  • The body of a Russian pilot who died after his warplane was shot down along the Turkey-Syria border has been flown back to Russia and buried in Lipetsk. (CNN, 11.30.15, Gazeta.ru, 12.03.15).
  • U.S. President Barack Obama urged Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday to decrease tensions with Turkey. The U.S. State Department said Monday that the Russian jet shot downed by Turkey last week had violated Ankara’s airspace. The administration pointedly didn’t say, however, that Ankara was justified in shooting down the Russian Su-24. Earlier, a spokesman for the U.S. Embassy in Moscow has said that the downing of a Russian jet is not in violation of a safety memorandum agreed to by the U.S. and Russia last month. “It does not apply to or limit the right of Turkey to defend its sovereign airspace in accordance with international law,” he said. (RFE/RL, 11.30.15, Moscow Times, 11.26.15, AP, 11.30.15).
  • NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg backed Turkey's right to defend its territory in reference to the downing of the Russian bomber, but repeated his calls for calm and dialogue between Russia and Turkey. (Wall Street Journal, 11.30.15).
• Other countries:
  • In his annual address to the parliament on Thursday Russian President Vladimir Putin said: “I propose holding consultations, in conjunction with our colleagues from the Eurasian Economic Union, with the SCO and ASEAN members, as well as with the states that are about to join the SCO, with the view of potentially forming an economic partnership. “ (Kremlin.ru, 12.04.15).
  • The European Council meeting on December 18 may extend sanctions against Russia for another six months, a European diplomatic source said. (Interfax, 11.30.15).
  • A recent exercise between U.S. and Indian forces might just underscore the need for Washington to speed up the replacement of older submarines. The Indian media is claiming that one of New Delhi’s Russian-built Kilo-class diesel-electric attack submarines managed to “sink” a nuclear-powered U.S. Navy Los Angeles-class attack submarine during exercises in October. (NI, 12.01.15).
  • Rolls-Royce plans to help Rosatom avoid falling foul of regulators by sharing the lessons it has learned from producing instrumentation and control systems for the nuclear power industry. (World Nuclear News, 12.01.15).

Russia's neighbors:

• Ukraine:
  • In a one-hour speech to a joint session of the Russian parliament, Vladimir Putin did not utter the word "Ukraine" once. (RFE/RL, 12.04.15).
  • U.S. Vice President Joe Biden will address Ukraine's parliament next week during a visit. U.S. officials say is aimed at showing Ukraine -- and Russia -- Washington’s continued support for Kyiv. The December 8 speech will be preceded by talks with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk, officials said (RFE/RL, 12.02.15).
  • NATO's supreme commander, Gen. Philip Breedlove, said on Wednesday that there was little chance that Russia would meet a year-end deadline for a peace deal in eastern Ukraine, saying the calmer situation there did not mean the end of the conflict was near. (New York Times, 12.02.15).
  • Russia laid out a long list of demands for amending a sweeping trade deal between Ukraine and the European Union a month before the pact is due to be fully implemented. The new demands came at a fresh round of discussions with Moscow aimed at mitigating Russian concerns about the deal. But with no breakthrough in Tuesday's talks, hopes are fading that a compromise can be found. In a bid to resolve the dispute, Berlin has proposed a joint declaration between the EU and Russia offering Moscow the prospect of long-sought investment and energy concessions to create a more integrated economic area from the Atlantic to the Pacific. (Financial Times, 12.01.15, Wall Street Journal, 12.02.15).
  • Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko says his government will spend five percent of gross domestic product on defense and security next year, in a bid to strengthen the army in its fight against pro-Russian separatists in the east. (RFE/RL, 12.02.15).
  • Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has pardoned Russian citizen Vladimir Starkov arrested in eastern Ukraine and exchanged him for Ukrainian serviceman Andriy Hrechanov held by Russia-backed separatists. (RFE/RL, 12.01.15).
  • Ukraine's energy minister has told the parliament in Kyiv that Russia has begun to restrict coal supplies to Ukraine, days after the Kremlin threatened to punish Kyiv for a power blackout of Russian-annexed Crimea. (RFE/RL, 11.27.15).
  • Ukraine’s Energy Minister Volodymyr Demchyshyn say some electricity deliveries to Crimea can be resumed but that the timing must be agreed with Crimean Tatar activists who are conducting protests along the transmission lines in Ukraine's Kherson region. (RFE/RL, 11.30.15).
  • A nongovernmental group of international election monitors says delayed local elections on November 29 were conducted in accordance with laws and regulations in the eastern Ukrainian cities of Mariupol and Krasnoarmiisk. (RFE/RL, 11.29.15).
  • Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has taken part in ceremonies to commemorate the millions who died of famine under Soviet dictator Josef Stalin. (RFE/RL, 11.29.15).
  • This week, the World Health Organization is sending a blunt message to Ukraine: declare a state of emergency. The reason: two children in Southwestern Ukraine were diagnosed with polio in September. (NPR, 12.03.15).
  • The United States has delivered more than $260 million in non-lethal military equipment to Ukraine, but some of the U.S.-supplied gear is little more than junk. One Ukrainian special forces unit is using U.S.-supplied Humvees dating from the late 1980s and early 1990s. The tires on one of the trucks blew apart after driving only a few hundred kilometers. The cost to purchase a Humvee tire in Ukraine is roughly $1,000, so instead one Ukrainian unit bought a cheap used SUV for a little more than what it would take to replace two Humvee tires. (Wall Street Journal, 11.30.15).
• Other neighbors:
  • Tajikistan has extradited two Kyrgyz nationals to Kyrgyzstan, where they face charges of recruiting for the Islamic State militant group in Syria and Iraq. (RFE/RL, 11.30.15).
  • Kyrgyz officials say well-known theologian Kadyr Malikov has been attacked by supporters of the Islamic State extremist organization. (RFE/RL, 11.30.15).
  • Seven residents of Tajikistan's southwestern Shahrtuz district have been jailed for raising the Islamic State extremist organization's flag in a public place. (RFE/RL, 12.04.15).
  • Mihra Rittmann, a Human Rights Watch researcher and office director in Bishkek who was banned this week from reentering the country has described the move as "interference" into the global rights watchdog's activities. (RFE/RL, 12.04.15).
  • In Moldova's breakaway region of Transdniester, the ruling Obnovlenie (Renovation) party appears to have won a landslide victory in general elections that were held on November 29. (RFE/RL, 11.29.15).
  • The Moldovan police said Thursday that they had detained 13 people suspected of being members of a paramilitary group accused of planning to attack the capital, Chisinau, and Balti, a northern city with a largely Russian population, with the aim of creating a separatist republic similar to the one in eastern Ukraine. (AP, 11.27.15).
  • Separatist officials of Nagorno-Karabakh say one soldier of the unrecognized territory was killed in the latest clashes with Azerbaijani armed forces. The breakaway region's Defense Ministry said that the soldier was killed when "Nagorno-Karabakh armed forces fought with Azerbaijan's sabotage and reconnaissance group that tried to cross the border" early on December 4.(RFE/RL, 12.04.15).
  • Village elders from the Nardaran settlement on the outskirts of Baku have called for talks with the authorities a day after a police raid in their community turned violent. Azerbaijan’s Interior Ministry says two police officers and four suspected militants were killed during a raid on a "criminal gang" that was planning terrorist attacks in the country. (RFE/RL, 11.27.15).
  • Georgian President Giorgi Margvelashvili has stripped former President Mikheil Saakashvili of his Georgian citizenship. (RFE/RL, 12.04.15).

Back issues of Russia in Review are available here.If you wish to either unsubscribe from or subscribe to Russia in Review, please e-mail Simon Saradzhyan at simon_saradzhyan@hks.harvard.edu.