Russia's Domestic Security Wars
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Load more
Recommended publications
-
The Russia You Never Met
The Russia You Never Met MATT BIVENS AND JONAS BERNSTEIN fter staggering to reelection in summer 1996, President Boris Yeltsin A announced what had long been obvious: that he had a bad heart and needed surgery. Then he disappeared from view, leaving his prime minister, Viktor Cher- nomyrdin, and his chief of staff, Anatoly Chubais, to mind the Kremlin. For the next few months, Russians would tune in the morning news to learn if the presi- dent was still alive. Evenings they would tune in Chubais and Chernomyrdin to hear about a national emergency—no one was paying their taxes. Summer turned to autumn, but as Yeltsin’s by-pass operation approached, strange things began to happen. Chubais and Chernomyrdin suddenly announced the creation of a new body, the Cheka, to help the government collect taxes. In Lenin’s day, the Cheka was the secret police force—the forerunner of the KGB— that, among other things, forcibly wrested food and money from the peasantry and drove some of them into collective farms or concentration camps. Chubais made no apologies, saying that he had chosen such a historically weighted name to communicate the seriousness of the tax emergency.1 Western governments nod- ded their collective heads in solemn agreement. The International Monetary Fund and the World Bank both confirmed that Russia was experiencing a tax collec- tion emergency and insisted that serious steps be taken.2 Never mind that the Russian government had been granting enormous tax breaks to the politically connected, including billions to Chernomyrdin’s favorite, Gazprom, the natural gas monopoly,3 and around $1 billion to Chubais’s favorite, Uneximbank,4 never mind the horrendous corruption that had been bleeding the treasury dry for years, or the nihilistic and pointless (and expensive) destruction of Chechnya. -
Russo-EU Relations: Impact of the Navalny Factor
www.rsis.edu.sg No. 049 – 19 March 2021 RSIS Commentary is a platform to provide timely and, where appropriate, policy-relevant commentary and analysis of topical and contemporary issues. The authors’ views are their own and do not represent the official position of the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, NTU. These commentaries may be reproduced with prior permission from RSIS and due recognition to the author(s) and RSIS. Please email to Mr Yang Razali Kassim, Editor RSIS Commentary at [email protected]. Russo-EU Relations: Impact of the Navalny Factor By Christopher Cheang SYNOPSIS The EU announced on 2 March 2021 new sanctions against Russia over the imprisonment of Alexei Navalny, the opposition figure. This development only confirms the already tense Russo-EU relationship but will not lead to a point of no return. COMMENTARY EUROPEAN SANCTIONS which covered travel bans and asset freezes of four top Russian officials in response to the jailing of the opposition figure Alexei Navalny did not come as a surprise. The officials are Viktor Zolotov, head of Russia’s National Guard; Igor Krasnov, the prosecutor general; Alexander Kalashnikov, the Federal Penitentiary Service chief; and Alexander Bastrykin, who heads the Investigative Committee. Zolotov and Bastrykin are seen as close to President Vladimir Putin. Russia has pledged to respond to the sanctions but can be expected to calibrate its moves. Its focus in the future will be on maintaining strong links with individual European Union (EU) countries, principally Germany. EU’s importance to Russia In an interview in mid-February, Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov stressed that Russia was prepared to sever its links with the EU, should the grouping impose sanctions in the wake of Navalny’s imprisonment. -
Afghan Narcotrafficking: a Joint Threat Assessment
POLICY REPORT 2013—1 Copyright © 2013 EastWest Institute ISBN: 978-0-9856824-1-5 On the cover: A scarecrow stands tall in a poppy field in northern Afghanistan. Photos: Reporters.be/AP The views expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the EastWest Institute, its board of directors or its staff. The EastWest Institute is an international, non-partisan, not-for-profit policy organization focused on confronting critical challenges that endanger peace. EWI was established in 1980 as a catalyst to build trust, develop leadership, and promote collaboration for positive change. The institute has offices in New York, Brussels, Moscow and Washington. For more information about the EastWest Institute or this paper, please contact: The EastWest Institute 11 East 26th Street, 20th Floor New York, NY 10010 U.S.A. 1-212-824-4100 [email protected] www.ewi.info AFGHAN NARCOTRAFFICKING A JOINT THREAT ASSESSMENT JOINT U.S. - RUSSIA WORKING GROUP ON AFGHAN NARCOTRAFFICKING APRIL 2013 PRINCIPAL AUTHOR: Ekaterina Stepanova EDITOR: Jacqueline McLaren Miller CONTRIBUTORS: Ilnur Batyrshin, Head of the Scientific Research Center, Russian Federal Drug Control Service (FSKN) George Gavrilis, Executive Director, The Hollings Center for International Dialogue Viktor Korgun, Head of the Afghanistan Department, Institute of Oriental Studies, Russian Academy of Sciences John “Jack” Lawn, former Administrator, Drug Enforcement Administration David Mansfield, Independent Consultant Gretchen Peters, author, -
Inside Russia's Intelligence Agencies
EUROPEAN COUNCIL ON FOREIGN BRIEF POLICY RELATIONS ecfr.eu PUTIN’S HYDRA: INSIDE RUSSIA’S INTELLIGENCE SERVICES Mark Galeotti For his birthday in 2014, Russian President Vladimir Putin was treated to an exhibition of faux Greek friezes showing SUMMARY him in the guise of Hercules. In one, he was slaying the • Russia’s intelligence agencies are engaged in an “hydra of sanctions”.1 active and aggressive campaign in support of the Kremlin’s wider geopolitical agenda. The image of the hydra – a voracious and vicious multi- headed beast, guided by a single mind, and which grows • As well as espionage, Moscow’s “special services” new heads as soon as one is lopped off – crops up frequently conduct active measures aimed at subverting in discussions of Russia’s intelligence and security services. and destabilising European governments, Murdered dissident Alexander Litvinenko and his co-author operations in support of Russian economic Yuri Felshtinsky wrote of the way “the old KGB, like some interests, and attacks on political enemies. multi-headed hydra, split into four new structures” after 1991.2 More recently, a British counterintelligence officer • Moscow has developed an array of overlapping described Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) as and competitive security and spy services. The a hydra because of the way that, for every plot foiled or aim is to encourage risk-taking and multiple operative expelled, more quickly appear. sources, but it also leads to turf wars and a tendency to play to Kremlin prejudices. The West finds itself in a new “hot peace” in which many consider Russia not just as an irritant or challenge, but • While much useful intelligence is collected, as an outright threat. -
Mr. Chairman, I Welcome the Opportunity to Appear Before The
Mr. Chairman, I welcome the opportunity to appear before the Helsinki Commission to discuss the current situation in Russia and the concerns of all of us about the Putin government and the future of Russia. First, I wish to emphasize the value of the Commission’s mandate and stated criteria to promote compliance with the fundamental standards of civil society in Russia and the other former Soviet republics. Second, those of us who have witnessed first-hand the travesty of justice in Russia much appreciate the concerns expressed by the co-chairmen about the improper handling of the Yukos trial and the sentencing of Mikhail Khodorkovsky and his colleagues by Russian authorities. Your formal statement to the world’s press that the “case appears to the world to be justice directed by politics” and that the “selective prosecution such as appears to be the case here will wreak havoc on Russia’s legal system” reflects that the chairmen of this commission have an accurate view of the Khodorkovsky trial and the weakened state of the legal system in Russia. Third, it is vitally important that the Helsinki Commission continue monitoring the implementation of the provisions of the 1975 Helsinki Accords as they relate to Russia and report its findings to the public. While the U.S. Administration and Congressional leaders must necessarily balance many variables in the bilateral relationship, the Helsinki Commission has a clear mandate to insure that human rights and basic freedoms are maintained in the countries under its jurisdiction. Mr. Chairman, it is my opinion that the rule of law is the cornerstone of civil society because it serves to protect the rights and freedoms of all citizens. -
The Siloviki in Russian Politics
The Siloviki in Russian Politics Andrei Soldatov and Michael Rochlitz Who holds power and makes political decisions in contemporary Russia? A brief survey of available literature in any well-stocked bookshop in the US or Europe will quickly lead one to the answer: Putin and the “siloviki” (see e.g. LeVine 2009; Soldatov and Borogan 2010; Harding 2011; Felshtinsky and Pribylovsky 2012; Lucas 2012, 2014 or Dawisha 2014). Sila in Russian means force, and the siloviki are the members of Russia’s so called “force ministries”—those state agencies that are authorized to use violence to respond to threats to national security. These armed agents are often portrayed—by journalists and scholars alike—as Russia’s true rulers. A conventional wisdom has emerged about their rise to dominance, which goes roughly as follows. After taking office in 2000, Putin reconsolidated the security services and then gradually placed his former associates from the KGB and FSB in key positions across the country (Petrov 2002; Kryshtanovskaya and White 2003, 2009). Over the years, this group managed to disable almost all competing sources of power and control. United by a common identity, a shared worldview, and a deep personal loyalty to Putin, the siloviki constitute a cohesive corporation, which has entrenched itself at the heart of Russian politics. Accountable to no one but the president himself, they are the driving force behind increasingly authoritarian policies at home (Illarionov 2009; Roxburgh 2013; Kasparov 2015), an aggressive foreign policy (Lucas 2014), and high levels of state predation and corruption (Dawisha 2014). While this interpretation contains elements of truth, we argue that it provides only a partial and sometimes misleading and exaggerated picture of the siloviki’s actual role. -
Putinism: a Praetorian System?
Notes de l’Ifri Russie.Nei.Visions 106 Putinism: A Praetorian System? Jean-Robert RAVIOT March 2018 Russia/NIS Center The Institut français des relations internationales (Ifri) is a research center and a forum for debate on major international political and economic issues. Headed by Thierry de Montbrial since its founding in 1979, Ifri is a non-governmental, non-profit organization. As an independent think tank, Ifri sets its own research agenda, publishing its findings regularly for a global audience. Taking an interdisciplinary approach, Ifri brings together political and economic decision-makers, researchers and internationally renowned experts to animate its debate and research activities. The opinions expressed in this text are the responsibility of the author alone. This text is published with the support of DGRIS (Directorate General for International Relations and Strategy) under “Russia, Caucasus and Eastern Europe Observatory”. ISBN: 978-2-36567-808-7 © All rights reserved, Ifri, 2018 How to quote this document: Jean-Robert Raviot, “Putinism: A Praetorian System?”, Russie.Nei.Visions, No. 106, Ifri, March 2018. Ifri 27 rue de la Procession 75740 Paris Cedex 15—FRANCE Tel.: +33 (0)1 40 61 60 00—Fax: +33 (0)1 40 61 60 60 Email: [email protected] Website: Ifri.org Russie.Nei.Visions Russie.Nei.Visions is an online collection dedicated to Russia and the other new independent states (Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova, Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan). Written by leading experts, these policy-oriented papers deal with strategic, political and economic issues. Author Jean-Robert Raviot is a doctor of political science with accreditation to supervise research and professor of contemporary Russian civilization at Paris Nanterre University. -
The Siloviki in Putin's Russia
Ian Bremmer and Samuel Charap The Siloviki in Putin’s Russia: Who They Are and What They Want The July 2006 meeting of the Group of Eight (G-8) major indus- trialized nations in St. Petersburg focused the attention of the international media on Russia. On issues ranging from Middle East conflict to energy se- curity, President Vladimir Putin sought to demonstrate that his increasingly self-confident government has earned its seat at the G-8 table. Coverage of the summit focused squarely on Putin—his international priorities, control over domestic politics, personal relationships with other heads of state, and leadership style. These stories created the impression that Putin is Russian politics, reinforcing the view that to understand Putin himself is to under- stand Kremlin policy. Since Putin was named acting president on December 31, 1999, ana- lysts have poured over his personal history, public statements, and writings, confidently forecasting political and economic trends based largely on their interpretations of what they found. Those who portray him as an autocrat underline his KGB background. Others point to his tutelage under former St. Petersburg mayor and liberal reformer Anatoly Sobchak or his preference for pragmatism over ideology. Recently, Western scholars unearthed his doc- toral thesis and used it to explain Russian state involvement in the energy sector.1 President George W. Bush famously contributed to this line of analysis by implying in 2001 that his “sense of the man’s soul” provided a reliable foun- dation for U.S.-Russian relations. Despite its parsimony and popularity, this approach to understanding Kremlin policy, which some have called “Putinol- ogy,” creates a misleading impression of how Russia is ruled. -
Russi-Monitor-Monthl
MONTHLY May 2020 CONTENTS 3 17 28 POLAND AND DENMARK BEGIN BELARUS RAMPS UP RUSSIAN ECONOMY COMES CONSTRUCTION OF BALTIC DIVERSIFICATION EFFORTS BADLY BECAUSE OF PANDEMIC PIPE PROJECT TO CHALLENGE WITH U.S. AND GULF CRUDE RUSSIAN GAS DOMINANCE PURCHASES POLAND AND DENMARK BEGIN CONSTRUCTION OF BALTIC PIPE PROJECT CORONAVIRUS IN RUSSIA: BAD NEWS FOR 3 TO CHALLENGE RUSSIAN GAS DOMINANCE 20 THE COUNTRY MOSCOW: THE CAPITAL RUSSIA UNVEILS RESCUE PLAN FOR OIL 5 OF RUSSIAN CORONAVIRUS OUTBREAK 22 SECTOR VLADIMIR PUTIN SUFFERS PRESTIGIOUS 6 FAILURE IN VICTORY DAY CELEBRATIONS 23 TENSIONS RISE IN THE BLACK SEA RUSSIA EASES LOCKDOWN YET OFFERS ROSNEFT, TRANSNEFT IN NEW FEUD OVER 8 LITTLE SUPPORT TO CITIZENS 25 TRANSPORTATION TARIFFS ROSNEFT’S SECHIN ASKS OFFICIALS FOR NEW TAX RELIEFS DESPITE RECENT GAZPROM IS TURNING TOWARDS CHINA, 10 MISHAPS 27 BUT THERE ARE PROBLEMS FRADKOV REMAINS AT THE HELM OF THE RUSSIAN ECONOMY COMES BADLY 12 KREMLIN’S “INTELLIGENCE SERVICE” 28 BECAUSE OF PANDEMIC RUSSIA STEPS UP DIPLOMATIC EFFORTS AS RUSSIA AIMS TO BOOST MILITARY FACILITIES 14 KREMLIN AIDE KOZAK VISITS BERLIN 30 IN SYRIA GAZPROM’S NATURAL GAS EXPORT RUSSIA–NATO TENSIONS CONTINUE ON 16 REVENUE DECLINED DRAMATICALLY IN Q1 32 BOTH FLANKS BELARUS RAMPS UP DIVERSIFICATION RUSSIA, BELARUS SQUABBLE OVER GAS EFFORTS WITH U.S. AND GULF CRUDE DELIVERIES IN NEW CHAPTER OF ENERGY 17 PURCHASES 34 WAR RUSSIA’S ROSNEFT HAS NEW OWNERSHIP RUSSIA FACES BIGGEST MILITARY THREAT 19 STRUCTURE BUT SAME CEO 36 FROM WEST, SHOIGU SAYS 2 www.warsawinstitute.org 4 May 2020 POLAND AND DENMARK BEGIN CONSTRUCTION OF BALTIC PIPE PROJECT TO CHALLENGE RUSSIAN GAS DOMINANCE Construction of a major gas pipeline from Norway is to begin in the coming days, Polish President Andrzej Duda said in the morning of May 4. -
Treisman Silovarchs 9 10 06
Putin’s Silovarchs Daniel Treisman October 2006, Forthcoming in Orbis, Winter 2007 In the late 1990s, many Russians believed their government had been captured by a small group of business magnates known as “the oligarchs”. The most flamboyant, Boris Berezovsky, claimed in 1996 that seven bankers controlled fifty percent of the Russian economy. Having acquired massive oil and metals enterprises in rigged privatizations, these tycoons exploited Yeltsin’s ill-health to meddle in politics and lobby their interests. Two served briefly in government. Another, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, summed up the conventional wisdom of the time in a 1997 interview: “Politics is the most lucrative field of business in Russia. And it will be that way forever.”1 A decade later, most of the original oligarchs have been tripping over each other in their haste to leave the political stage, jettisoning properties as they go. From exile in London, Berezovsky announced in February he was liquidating his last Russian assets. A 1 Quoted in Andrei Piontkovsky, “Modern-Day Rasputin,” The Moscow Times, 12 November, 1997. fellow media magnate, Vladimir Gusinsky, long ago surrendered his television station to the state-controlled gas company Gazprom and now divides his time between Israel and the US. Khodorkovsky is in a Siberian jail, serving an eight-year sentence for fraud and tax evasion. Roman Abramovich, Berezovsky’s former partner, spends much of his time in London, where he bought the Chelsea soccer club in 2003. Rather than exile him to Siberia, the Kremlin merely insists he serve as governor of the depressed Arctic outpost of Chukotka—a sign Russia’s leaders have a sense of humor, albeit of a dark kind. -
Russia's Silence Factory
Russia’s Silence Factory: The Kremlin’s Crackdown on Free Speech and Democracy in the Run-up to the 2021 Parliamentary Elections August 2021 Contact information: International Partnership for Human Rights (IPHR) Rue Belliard 205, 1040 Brussels, Belgium [email protected] Contents I. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 4 II. INTRODUCTION 6 A. AUTHORS 6 B. OBJECTIVES 6 C. SOURCES OF INFORMATION AND METHODOLOGY 6 III. THE KREMLIN’S CRACKDOWN ON FREE SPEECH AND DEMOCRACY 7 A. THE LEGAL TOOLKIT USED BY THE KREMLIN 7 B. 2021 TIMELINE OF THE CRACKDOWN ON FREE SPEECH AND DEMOCRACY 9 C. KEY TARGETS IN THE CRACKDOWN ON FREE SPEECH AND DEMOCRACY 12 i) Alexei Navalny 12 ii) Organisations and Individuals associated with Alexei Navalny 13 iii) Human Rights Lawyers 20 iv) Independent Media 22 v) Opposition politicians and pro-democracy activists 24 IV. HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS TRIGGERED BY THE CRACKDOWN 27 A. FREEDOMS OF ASSOCIATION, OPINION AND EXPRESSION 27 B. FAIR TRIAL RIGHTS 29 C. ARBITRARY DETENTION 30 D. POLITICAL PERSECUTION AS A CRIME AGAINST HUMANITY 31 V. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS 37 I. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY “An overdose of freedom is lethal to a state.” Vladislav Surkov, former adviser to President Putin and architect of Russia’s “managed democracy”.1 Russia is due to hold Parliamentary elections in September 2021. The ruling United Russia party is polling at 28% and is projected to lose its constitutional majority (the number of seats required to amend the Constitution).2 In a bid to silence its critics and retain control of the legislature, the Kremlin has unleashed an unprecedented crackdown on the pro-democracy movement, independent media, and anti-corruption activists. -
RUSSIA INTELLIGENCE Politics & Government
N°66 - November 22 2007 Published every two weeks / International Edition CONTENTS KREMLIN P. 1-4 Politics & Government c KREMLIN The highly-orchestrated launching into orbit cThe highly-orchestrated launching into orbit of of the «national leader» the «national leader» Only a few days away from the legislative elections, the political climate in Russia grew particu- STORCHAK AFFAIR larly heavy with the announcement of the arrest of the assistant to the Finance minister Alexey Ku- c Kudrin in the line of fire of drin (read page 2). Sergey Storchak is accused of attempting to divert several dozen million dol- the Patrushev-Sechin clan lars in connection with the settlement of the Algerian debt to Russia. The clan wars in the close DUMA guard of Vladimir Putin which confront the Igor Sechin/Nikolay Patrushev duo against a compet- cUnited Russia, electoral ing «Petersburg» group based around Viktor Cherkesov, overflows the limits of the «power struc- home for Russia’s big ture» where it was contained up until now to affect the entire Russian political power complex. business WAR OF THE SERVICES The electoral campaign itself is unfolding without too much tension, involving men, parties, fac- cThe KGB old guard appeals for calm tions that support President Putin. They are no longer legislative elections but a sort of plebicite campaign, to which the Russian president lends himself without excessive good humour. The objec- PROFILE cValentina Matvienko, the tive is not even to know if the presidential party United Russia will be victorious, but if the final score “czarina” of Saint Petersburg passes the 60% threshhold.