Research, ideas, and leadership for a more secure, peaceful world

Press Release

Russia in Review

Published:

Abstract

Russia in Review: a digest of useful news from U.S.-Russia Initiative to Prevent Nuclear Terrorism for March 4 – March 11, 2016

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

Nuclear security:

  • A semi-submersible floating platform for transporting special material decommissioned by the Russian Navy has been delivered to the shipyard in Muggiano, in La Spezia, Italy.  (World Nuclear News, 03.08.16).
  • The Obama administration’s FY 2017 Budget Request provides a programmatic level of $12.9 billion for NNSA, $357 million above the FY 2016 enacted level, U.S. Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz told a Senate Appropriations Subcommittee. The Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development of the U.S. Senate will have our final hearing on NNSA’s budget next week. (CONGDP, 03.09.16).

Iran’s nuclear program and related issues:

  • Since January, Iran has exported 10 tons of 3.5 percent enriched uranium to Russia and imported 140 tons of yellow cake, according to Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi. (Washington Post, 03.09.16).
  • Russia and the West are now divided on how well IAEA is reporting on whether Tehran is meeting its commitments under the landmark nuclear deal. Western nations want more details while Moscow opposes their push. (AP, 03.07.16).
  • Russia says the first delivery of its S-300 missile-defense system to Iran will take place in August or September this year. Unidentified Russian officials have earlier told  Kommersant that problems with payment issues had arisen. Rostec chief Sergei Chemezov  said of Iran’s shopping list for Russian arms: “The list is very long. There’s a lot they would like.” (RFE/RL, 03.11.16, Wall Street Journal, 03.10.16).

Military issues, including NATO-Russia relations:

  • Pentagon officials have started talking openly about using the latest tools of artificial intelligence and machine learning to deter Russia and China. “This is how we will make our battle networks more powerful, hopefully, and inject enough uncertainty in the minds of the Russians and the Chinese that, you know, if they ever did come to blows with us, would be able to prevail in a conventional way. That, for me, is the definition of conventional deterrence,” Robert Work, the deputy secretary of defense explained. (Washington Post, 03.10.16).
  • The U.S. army has announced it will significantly increase its presence in the annual “Anaconda” military exercises in Poland which starts in June. The exercises will take place between 7-17 June, and 25,000 NATO troops from more than 20 countries are set to take part. (Radio Poland, 02.26.16).
  • NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that Russia has made “numerous attempts” to intimidate its neighbors and split NATO. (Moscow Times, 03.08.16).
  • Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic  and Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed Serbia's recent agreement to allow NATO personnel to maintain a presence in the country. Nikolic said Russia was not alarmed by the deal.(RFE/RL, 03.11.16).

Missile defense and nuclear arms control:

  • The Russian military will have to “adequately” respond to Washington’s plan to upgrade its nuclear bombs in Europe in apparent violation of a nuclear arms non-proliferation treaty (NPT), according to Mikhail Ulyanov, director of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s Department for Non-Proliferation and Arms Control. Russia’s response can include deployment of Iskander missiles can in Kaliningrad and deployment of Rubezh ICBMs, a source in the Russian General Staff said. (Kommersant, Russia Today, 03.11.16).
  • A majority of Americans favor cutting the US defense budget in five out of seven key areas, including nuclear weapons and missile defense, according to a new University of Maryland survey released March 9. (Defense News, 03.09.16).

Counter-terrorism:

  • Russian citizens are wiring tens of millions of rubles to terrorist groups that seek donations online to fight "infidels," head of Russia's state financial watchdog Yury Chikhanchin said. Government agents have identified 42 terror cells in Russia so far this year, along with 30 more found in other countries in cooperation with foreign security services, Chikhanchin said. About 1,500 people were added to terrorist lists last year, and 3,500 bank accounts have been frozen. (Moscow Times, 03.10.16),
  • Omar al Shishani, the Islamic State military commander, survived last weekend’s airstrike in the Syrian city of Shaddadi, but “was seriously injured,” according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. (Long War Journal, 03.10.16).
  • The Islamic State terrorist organization's so-called 'Caucasus Province' has called in a video on Russian Muslims to "kill apostates in Russia." Also The Caucasus Emirate in Syria, the official Syrian branch of the al Qaeda-linked Caucasus Emirate, has released two videos highlighting its role in the current fighting in the Aleppo province.   (Jerusalem Post, 03.06.16, Long War Journal, 03.10.16).
  • A military court in the Russian capital has sentenced six men to prison terms of 11 to 14 years after finding them guilty of planning a terrorist attack on a Moscow suburb in 2014.  (RFE/RL, 03.10.16).
  • The Tbilisi City Court on March 7 found Aiuf Borchashvili guilty of recruiting fighters for the Islamic State extremist group and sentenced him to 14 years in jail. Giorgi Khutunishvili and Davit Pirisebiya, who had been recruited by Borschashvili to join IS, were found guilty of being members of a terrorist organization and sentenced to 11 and 10 years, respectively.  (RFE/RL, 03.07.16).
  • German intelligence has obtained a cache of 22,000 questionnaires of Islamic State would-be recruits. There are 23 questions, including names, date and place of birth, hometown, telephone number, education and blood type. (Guardian, 03.09.16).

Cyber security:

  • The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers has submitted Thursday a plan for ending U.S. oversight of key technical Internet functions in favor of a global multi-stakeholder governance model. (CIO, 03.10.16).

Energy exports from CIS:

  • OPEC members and rival producers, including Russia, have yet to decide when, or where, to hold talks on a proposed accord to freeze oil output. (Bloomberg, 03.10.16).
  • Oil prices may have passed their lowest point, the International Energy Agency said. Brent crude rose 1.7% to $40.76 a barrel on London's ICE Futures exchange on Friday. (Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, 03.11.16).
  • Russian Energy Minister Aleksandr Novak will meet with Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh on March 14 in Tehran to discuss how an oil-output freeze might apply to Iran. TMK, Russia's largest manufacturer of steel pipes, is in talks to supply Iran's oil and gas sector. (Wall Street Journal, 03.09.16, RFE/RL, 03.11.16).

Bilateral economic ties:

  • The U.S. Treasury Department has reaffirmed that it’s not imposing sanctions on the Russian company that makes RD-180 rocket engines used to launch U.S. national-security satellites. (Bloomberg, 03.07.16).

Other bilateral issues:

  • U.S. President Barack Obama said: “The truth is, actually, Putin, in all of our meetings, is scrupulously polite, very frank. Our meetings are very businesslike. He never keeps me waiting two hours like he does a bunch of these other folks.” Putin is “constantly interested in being seen as our peer and as working with us, because he’s not completely stupid. He understands that Russia’s overall position in the world is significantly diminished,” Obama said. “A weak, flailing Russia constitutes a threat as well, though not quite a top-tier threat,” according to the U.S. president. (The Atlantic, April 2016).
  • The office of Russia’s prosecutor general on Thursday outlawed the National Democratic Institute claiming the group posed “a threat to the foundations of Russia’s constitutional order and national security.” A State Department spokesman said the United States rejected the notion that NDI was “a threat to Russia.” Russia’s Investigative Committee claimed an opposition leader received more than $35,000 from NDI in 2013 and 2014 to distribute to families of protesters convicted of attacking police during the Bolotnaya Square protest in Moscow. (New York Times, 03.11.16, Bloomberg, 03.10.16).
  • U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump said: “As far as Putin is concerned, I think Putin has been a very strong leader for Russia. I think he has been a lot stronger than our leader, that I can tell you.  …I don’t say that in a good way or a bad way. I say it as a fact.” (New York Times, 03.11.16).
  • U.S. presidential candidate John Kasich said: “You won’t arm the freedom fighters in Ukraine, we let the Russians trump up some excuse in the business of Russian-speaking people. … We will arm the Ukrainians so they have lethal defensive aid. We will destroy ISIS and Mr. Putin, you better understand, you’re either with us or you’re against us.” (New York Times, 03.11.16).
  • The spokeswoman for Russia's Foreign Ministry has taken a swipe at the raucous U.S. presidential primaries campaign, suggesting that the candidates should pay less attention to Russia and more to domestic problems. (Tass, 03.11.16).

II. Russia news.

Domestic politics, economy and energy:

  • On a risk-adjusted basis, Russian equities have risen the most this year among the top 10 markets represented in MSCI Inc.’s developing-nation stock gauge. (Bloomberg, 03.06.16).
  • Moody's Investors Service placed Russia's credit rating under review for a possible downgrade, citing the "structural shock" from a prolonged drop in oil prices. (RFE/RL, 03.05.16).
  • The Russian outbound tourist flow decreased by 31.3 percent last year, the largest drop in 18 years. (Moscow Times, 03.10.16).
  • Bo Andersson, chief executive of Russia's largest car maker AvtoVAZ, plans to step down. (Wall Street Journal, 03.07.16).
  • About 45 percent of senior positions in Russian companies are held by women, according to a report by Grant Thornton. (Bloomberg, 03.10.16).
  • Russia has outpaced all European countries in the number of inmate deaths with a total of 4,200 lethal cases registered in the country's prisons in 2013. (Moscow Times, 03.08.16).
  • Russia's sports minister on Friday acknowledged a share of responsibility for a growing doping scandal focused on the use of meldonium. More than 60 athletes, including Maria Sharapova, Pavel Kulizhnikov and Yekaterina Bobrova, have tested positive for the use of the drug this year.  (Wall Street Journal, New York Times, 03.11.16).

Defense and Aerospace:

  • The Russian Navy is set to conduct a massive live-fire nuclear exercise on a scale not seen since before the collapse of the Soviet Union. Of the two Northern Fleet Borey-class submarines participating one will sequentially launch its entire payload of sixteen RSM-56 Bulava missiles in a drill that replicates the Soviet-era Begemot II exercise which took place in August 1991. (National Interest, 03.10.16).
  • Individual financial restrictions should not affect the quality of Army and Navy rearmament activities in any ways, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday. (Tass, 03.11.16).
  • Rostec chief Sergei Chemezov said he agreed with the Russian Ministry of Finance’s assessment that Russia cannot afford such  defense expenditures. “Of course. The budget is reducing, because revenues are smaller and smaller,” he said. “There will be a reduction. There already is one,” he said. (Wall Street Journal, 03.10.16).
  • Russia's Tupolev Tu-22M3 long-range bombers have flown to Tajikistan to take part in joint anti-terror exercise. (Tass, 03.11.16).
  • Russia’s Sukhoi design bureau has presented the first blueprints for the sixth-generation fighter jet development.(Tass, 03.02.16).

Security, law-enforcement and justice:

  • A Russian rights group says two Western journalists and two rights activists were hospitalized after masked men with knives and clubs attacked them as the group tried to enter Russia's Chechnya region from neighboring Ingushetia. (RFE/RL, 03.09.16).
  • Former Russian Press Minister Mikhail Lesin, who was found dead in a Washington hotel room last year, died of blunt force injuries to the head, U.S. authorities said on Thursday. The police investigation is focused on Lesin's death, but that does not rule out a possible change to a murder probe, according to a U.S. law enforcement source. Lesin was supposed to attend a dinner honoring Russian billionaire Pyotr Aven and Washington socialite  Susan Lehrman at a hotel in the U.S. capital on November 3, 2015. (Reuters, 03.10.16RFE/RL, 03.11.16).
  • An Austrian court has ruled not to extradite to Russia Ural Rakhimov, former head of the Bashneft oil giant in Russia's region of Bashkortostan. (RFE/RL, 03.09.16).
  • A group of Kyrgyz nationals has been detained in Moscow for allegedly forging documents.  (RFE/RL, 03.09.16).

Foreign affairs and trade:

  • Syria:
    • The Syrian army backed by Russian air strikes is aiming to capture Palmyra from Islamic State. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said at least 32 Islamic State fighters were killed on Thursday in the Palmyra area.  (Reuters, 03.11.16).
    • Russia says the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has indicated it will send delegates to peace talks on the Syrian conflict in Geneva next week. UN envoy Staffan de Mistura said “substantial” talks would begin March 14.  Mistura also set a deadline of March 24 for warring parties to make progress. (Bloomberg, RFE/RL, 03.09.16).
    • Russian President Vladimir Putin participated in a joint telephone conference with British Prime Minister David Cameron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Francois Hollande and Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi to discuss the partial cease-fire in Syria last week.(Moscow Times, 03.04.16).
    • Russia's Defense Ministry has said it was ready to give access to its military bases in Syria for humanitarian aid deliveries. (RFE/RL, 03.07.16).
    • The fifth year of the Syrian conflict was the worst yet for civilians — and Russia, the U.S., France and Britain are partly to blame. That's according to a new report from 30 aid and human rights groups, including Oxfam and Care International. (NPR, 03.11.16).
  • Other countries:
    • "China and Russia have great economic complementarity and a great desire to work together. Our cooperation is long-term and strategic in nature. I think that temporary factors will not prevent us from deepening our comprehensive cooperation," Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said. (Sputnik, 03.08.16).
    • Russia and China told North Korea on Friday its nuclear ambitions were unacceptable, urging Pyongyang to resume talks. Russia considers DPRK’s statements containing threats to deliver "preventive nuclear strikes" against opponents to be absolutely impermissible, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Monday.(Tass, 03.07.16, Reuters, 03.11.16).
    • This summer Russia and China will ratify the deal to have Russia deliver 24 Su-35 fighters to China, Rostec chief Sergei Chemezov said. (Wall Street Journal, 03.10.16).
    • Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic says he has received assurances from Russian President Vladimir Putin that Moscow will continue to back Belgrade's claim to Kosovo. (RFE/RL, 03.11.16).

Russia's neighbors:

  • Ukraine:
    • “The fact is that Ukraine, which is a non-Nato country, is going to be vulnerable to military domination by Russia no matter what we do,” U.S. President Barack Obama said.  (The Atlantic, April 2016).
    • The Ukrainian Army said on March 5 two of its soldiers have been killed in clashes with Russia-backed separatists controlling swathes of eastern Ukraine. (RFE/RL, 03.05.16).
    • EU ambassadors on March 9 extended asset freezes and visa bans on 146 people and 37 entities that according to the EU have benefited from Russia’s annexation of Crimea or been responsible for actions against Ukraine's territorial integrity. (RFE/RL, 03.09.16).
    • The Dutch-led team charged with determining who was responsible for the downing of Malaysian Airlines Flight MH17 over eastern Ukraine said it will determine the exact launch site of the missile that destroyed the plane by summer. (RFE/RL, 03.08.16).
    • Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has said he is ready to secure the release of Ukrainian pilot Nadia Savchenko through a prisoner exchange with Russia. (RFE/RL, 03.10.16).
  • Other neighbors:
    • Azerbaijan and its rebel Nagorno-Karabakh region accused each other on Friday of violating a ceasefire with intense shelling. (Reuters, 03.11.16).
    • “The fall in oil prices has affected everyone, and Azerbaijan is no exception,” an unnamed Russian defense industry official told Kommersant. As a result, a shipment of weapons ordered several years ago by Azerbaijan is currently sitting in port waiting for payment, the official said. (Moscow Times/EurasiaNet, 03.07.16).
    • Tajik officials say one of the country's border guards and a suspected terrorist have been killed in a security operation along the border with Afghanistan. (RFE/RL, 03.07.16).
    • The parliament in Tajikistan has approved a bill criminalizing "illegal" hard currency exchanges. (RFE/RL, 03.09.16).

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.