DOCSLIB.ORG

Migration Processes and Challenges in Contemporary Russia St

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Migration Processes and Challenges in Contemporary Russia St MIGRATION PROCESSES AND CHALLENGES IN CONTEMPORARY RUSSIA ST. PETERSBURG CASE STUDY Marya S. Rozanova WOODROW WILSON INTERNATIONAL CENTER FOR SCHOLARS The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, established by Congress in 1968 and headquartered in Washington, D.C., is a living national memorial to President Wilson. The Center’s mission is to commemorate the ideals and concerns of Woodrow Wilson by providing a link between the worlds of ideas and policy, while fostering research, study, discussion, and collaboration among a broad spectrum of individuals concerned with policy and scholarship in national and international affairs. Supported by public and private funds, the Center is a nonpartisan institution engaged in the study of national and world affairs. It establishes and maintains a neutral forum for free, open, and informed dialogue. Conclusions or opinions expressed in Center publications and programs are those of the authors and speakers and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Center staff, fellows, trustees, advisory groups, or any individuals or organizations that provide financial support to the Center. The Center is the publisher of The Wilson Quarterly and home of Woodrow Wilson Center Press, dialogue radio and television. For more information about the Center’s activities and publications, please visit us on the web at www.wilsoncenter.org. Jane Harman, Director, President and CEO Board of Trustees Joseph B. Gildenhorn, Chairman of the Board Sander R. Gerber, Vice Chairman Public Board Members: James H. Billington, Librarian of Congress; Hillary R. Clinton, Secretary, U.S. Department of State; G. Wayne Clough, Secretary, Smithsonian Institution; Arne Duncan, Secretary, U.S. Department of Education; David Ferriero, Archivist of the United States; Fred P. Hochberg, Chairman and President, Export- Import Bank; James Leach, Chairman, National Endowment for the Humanities; Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Private Board Members: Timothy Broas, John T. Casteen III, Charles Cobb, Jr., Thelma Duggin, Carlos M. Gutierrez, Susan Hutchison, Barry S. Jackson Wilson National Cabinet: Eddie & Sylvia Brown, Melva Bucksbaum & Raymond Learsy, Ambassadors Sue & Chuck Cobb, Lester Crown, Thelma Duggin, Judi Flom, Sander R. Gerber, Ambassador Joseph B. Gildenhorn & Alma Gildenhorn, Harman Family Foundation, Susan Hutchison, Frank F. Islam, Willem Kooyker, Linda B. & Tobia G. Mercuro, Dr. Alexander V. Mirtchev, Wayne Rogers, Leo Zickler MIGRATION PROCESSES AND CHALLENGES IN CONTEMPORARY RUSSIA ST. PETERSBURG CASE STUDY Marya S. Rozanova 2012 Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, Washington, D.C. www.wilsoncenter.org Cover Photograph: Presentation of the “ABC’s for Newcomers to St. Petersburg.” St. Petersburg, Russia; 2012; Peter Kovalev/ITAR-TASS. ISBN: 978-1-938027-01-7 CONTENTS Acknowledgements 3 About the Author 6 Introduction 7 Chapter 1 - Modern Migration and the Challenge of Xenophobia in the Russian Federation 10 1.1. Principal Causes of Xenophobia 1.2. Principal Targets of Xenophobia 1.3. From Slogans to Action: Dynamics in the Escalation of Violence Chapter 2 - Demographic Characteristics and Migration Flows in St. Petersburg 39 2.1. Historical Perspective on Interethnic Relations and Identity in St. Petersburg Chapter 3. Mechanisms for Harmonizing Interethnic Relations in St. Petersburg 63 3.1. Theoretical Foundations of Tolerance-1 Program 3.2. Major Events of Tolerance-1 Program Implementation 3.3. Intermediate Results of Tolerance-1 Program 3.4. Tolerance-2 Program: Continuity and Change Chapter 4. Tolerance Promotion in St. Petersburg: Project Details 87 4.1. Round Table—Interethnic Dialogue: The Role of Youth (2007) 4.2. Tolerance Trainings and Workshops for Young People (2007–2012) 4.3. Makarov Academy’s Multicultural Experience: Answers to New Challenges (2010–2012) ST. PETERSBURG CASE STUDY |1| ACKNOWledgments I would like to express my deep appreciation and gratitude to Blair A. Ruble (Kennan Institute, Woodrow Wilson Center) for extremely helpful consultations and advice, and for his published works about the city of Peter the Great with a deep understanding of the city’s controversial essence and indelible inner dignity. I would like to thank Dr. Valeriy A. Achkasov (St. Petersburg State University), Dr. Susan F. Martin (Institute for the Study of International Migration), Anatoly A. Fomenko (Federal Migration Service of the Russian Federation), Dr. Tatiana Bajan (Department on Integration Assistance, Federal Migration Service, Russian Federation), Mary Giovagnoli (Immigration Policy Center), Michele L. Waslin (Immigration Policy Center), Sonya Michel (United States Studies, Woodrow Wilson Center), Donald Wolfensberger (The Congress Project, Woodrow Wilson Center), Roman Boyarkov (Committee for Youth Policy and Cooperation with Public Organizations, St. Petersburg Government), Dr. Tamara M. Smirnova (nongovernmental organization “St. Petersburg House of National Cultures”) for the benefits of conversations with them. In addition, I’d like to acknowledge the rector of Admiral Makarov State Maritime Academy, Valeriy L. Mikheev, for his valuable organizational support for the project on adaptation and integration of Academy students from the North Caucasus (Ingushetia) into the multicultural society of St. Petersburg; Lemka S. Izmailova, education minister, Republic of Ingushetia, Ruslan S. Khautiev, chair of the Youth Committee, Republic of Ingushetia, and Yunus S. Khautiev, plenipotentiary envoy for the Republic of Ingushetia in St. Petersburg, for their support and contributions toward developing interregional ST. PETERSBURG CASE STUDY |3| cooperation in educational migration and youth policy; Aleksandr S. Nikolayev, chair, Committee for Youth Policy and Cooperation with Public Organizations of the St. Petersburg Government, for his support of initiatives on adaptation of recent arrival students to the multicultural environment of St. Petersburg; and for the very effective leadership and direction of the expert group members for the project— Drs. Galina L. Bardier, Andrey G. Gretsov, Sergey V. Akopov, and Anastasia A. Azbel—and advisory consultants of Drs. Anatoly S. Kolesnikov, St. Petersburg State University, and Akhmet A. Yarlykapov, Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology, Russian Academy of Sciences. Finally, I am extremely grateful to all the Kennan Institute staff for invaluable organizational help and support, and to Amy Freeman for research assistance, and would like to thank Barbara A. Kohl for her extremely valuable work on editing this manuscript. This research was conducted in connection with a Galina Starovoitova Grant on Human Rights and Conflict Resolution at the Kennan Institute of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, D.C., and financial support by the St. Petersburg Government Committee for Science and Higher Education. Parts of this book have been adapted from the following publications: Marya S. Rozanova, review of In the Name of Nation: Nationalism and Politics in Contemporary Russia, by Marlene Laruelle, Russian Journal of Communication (forthcoming). Marya S. Rozanova. “Migration Process, Tolerance and Migration Policy in Contemporary Russia.” In Demography, Migration, and Tolerance: Comparing the Russian, Ukrainian, and U.S. Experience, edited by Nancy Popson, 36-53. Washington, DC: Kennan Institute, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, 2011. Marya Rozanova and Amy Freeman. “U.S. Immigration Policy: Problems and Trends in a Comparative Perspective.” Paper |4| MIGRATION PROCESSES AND CHALLENGES IN CONTEMPORARY RUSSIA presented at Re-Imagining the Americas: (Im)migration, Transnationalism, and Diaspora, Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY, April 10, 2010. Sergey Akopov and Marya Rozanova. Migration Processes in Contemporary St. Petersburg. The NISPAcee Journal of Public Administration and Public Policy 3, no. 1 (2010): 77–92. Sergey Akopov and Marya Rozanova. Identichnosti v epohu global’nyh migratsii [Identities in an era of global migration]. St. Petersburg: Izdatel’stvo DEAN, 2010. ST. PETERSBURG CASE STUDY |5| ABOUT THE AUTHOR Marya Rozanova is adviser to the rector and associate professor at Admiral Makarov State Maritime Academy (St. Petersburg, Russia), and former Galina Starovoitova Fellow on Human Rights and Conflict Resolution at the Kennan Institute, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, DC. Since 2007, she has headed the nongovernmental organization Center for Civil, Social, Scientific and Cultural Initiatives “STRATEGIA” (www.org-strategia.org), based in St. Petersburg, which specializes in a wide variety of issues related to youth policy, xenophobia prevention and tolerance promotion, youth conflict resolution, migration processes, and migrant children and youth integration in Russian society. Ms. Rozanova holds bachelor and doctorate degrees from St. Petersburg State University, and a law degree from the North-West Academy of Public Administration. Author of more than forty scientific works, she is also the winner of multiple grants from the St. Petersburg regional government. Her most recent book, Identichnosti v epohu global ' nyh migratsii [Identities in an era of global migration] (St. Petersburg: Izdatel’stvo, 2010), coauthored with Sergey Akopov, is focused on transformation of cultural and ethnic identity and migration processes in contemporary Russia. |6| MIGRATION PROCESSES
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Russia 2012 International Religious Freedom Report
    RUSSIA 2012 INTERNATIONAL RELIGIOUS FREEDOM REPORT Executive Summary The constitution provides for freedom of religion; however, other laws and policies restrict religious freedom. In practice the government generally respected religious freedom, but imposed restrictions that affected members of minority religious groups. These included the use of extremism charges to ban religious materials and restrict groups’ right to assemble, detentions, raids, denial of official registration with the Ministry of Justice, denial of official building registration, and denial of visas to religious workers. There is no state religion, but the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) and other “traditional” religious communities received preferential consideration. The trend in the government’s respect for religious freedom did not change significantly during the year. There were reports of societal abuses and discrimination based on religious affiliation, belief, or practice. Members of minority religious groups continued to experience harassment and occasional physical attacks. Violent extremism in the North Caucasus region and an influx of Central Asian migrant workers led to negative attitudes in many regions toward traditionally Muslim ethnic groups. The U.S. ambassador addressed religious freedom in consultations with government officials; he also met with religious leaders and participated in events to promote religious tolerance. Other U.S. embassy and U.S. government officials raised the treatment of minority religious groups with government officials on numerous occasions. The U.S. government engaged a number of religious groups and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in a regular dialogue on religious freedom. Embassy staff actively monitored possible violations of religious freedom. Section I. Religious Demography According to the Government Statistics Agency, the population is 143.2 million.
    [Show full text]
  • 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.
    [Show full text]
  • Future of the Obvodny Canal—The Main Line of the Saint
    Architecture and Engineering Volume 2 Issue 4 FUTURE OF THE OBVODNY CANAL — THE MAIN LINE OF THE SAINT PETERSBURG GREY BELT Leonid Lavrov 1, Fedor Perov 2, Raffaele Gambassi 3 1,2 Saint Petersburg State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering Vtoraja Krasnoarmejskaja ul. 4, St. Petersburg, Russia 3 Via Salceto 87, Poggibonsi,Siena, Italy 1 [email protected], 2 [email protected] Abstract The study looks at the issues of the development of territories in the Obvodny Canal area. These issues, which are of great interest as related to the planned transformation of the Grey Belt, become more aggravated due to the increase in traffic load after the Western High-Speed Diameter (WHSD) opening. A significant decrease in the housing quality and cost of apartments facing embankments is observed, which can be explained by an extremely high level of noise and contamination with exhaust gases. Options for the improvement of environmental conditions, based on the conversion of territories allocated for the canal water area, are proposed. It is being noted that the Obvodny Canal has lost its functional purpose and can be converted as dozens of (nowadays former) canals in the historic center of Saint Petersburg. Keywords Grey Belt, Saint Petersburg transport infrastructure, Obvodny Canal, ecology of living environment. Introduction The canal was abandoned and for a long time it served The Obvodny Canal was constructed in 1803–1835. as a waste canal for local enterprises and residential In 1766, a drainage ditch was dug from the Ligovsky Ca- blocks. In the 1960s, a proposal to fill up the canal was nal to the Ekateringofka River; the western part of the Ob- debated.
    [Show full text]
  • Agustin Betancourt in Russia1
    Q ’H ’E 2009 AGUSTIN BETANCOURT IN RUSSIA1 Vladimir E. Pavlov 1.- To the service of the Russian Crown2. Agustin Betancourt arrived for the first time in Russia in November 1807 and stayed there for several months, till April 1808. During this first stay he was presented to Alexandre I, charmed him as a person, pleased him as an engineer and got the invitation to enter the service of the Crown under very advanta- geous conditions (fig. 1). He also impressed the royal family, and namely the empress-mother Maria Fedorovna with whom he entertained a correspondence after his departure and whose benevolent atti- tude contributed greatly to concretise this opportunity. Thus, in her letter addressed to Betancourt in Paris, the royal Lady asked him not to postpone his coming to Russia that particularly influenced his decision. In his reply, dated June 22, 1808, Betancourt writes about his definitive decision and preparations for his journey3. The fact that Betancourt had given his prior agreement to Alexander I to turn to the service of Russia is evidenced by the Alexander I’s decree dated March 13, Figure 1. Alexandre I, emperor of Russia (1801-1825). Portrait 19th 1808, and addressed to the cabinet council century. “On the delivery of two thousand roubles 1 The author warmly thanks M. Bradley who kindly accepted to review the English version of this paper. 2 The author’s works on the subject, see: BOGOLÛBOV, A.; PAVLOV, V.; FILATOV N. (2002) Avgusin Betankur: 1758-1824: Učënyj, inžener, arhitektor, gradostroitel’, Nižnij Novgorod, Nižegorodskij gos. un-t; PAVLOV, V.E.
    [Show full text]
  • Saint Petersburg
    Государственное бюджетное общеобразовательное учреждение гимназия №70 Петроградского района Санкт-Петербурга Н.В. Репина Санкт-Петербург in English Учебное пособие по английскому языку для обучающихся 6-8 классов Санкт-Петербург 2016 Репина Н.В. «Санкт-Петербург in English», СПб, 2016, – 64 с. Данное учебное пособие представляет собой разработки занятий по англоязычному краеведению. Пособие способствует формированию коммуникативной компетенции в рамках темы «Город Санкт-Петербург». Каждый урок состоит из текста о Санкт-Петербурге, словаря и упражнений, направленных на формирование универсальных учебных действий обучающихся. Пособие рассчитано на обучающихся 6-8 классов образовательных организаций. Его можно использовать в качестве факультативного курса по теме «Санкт-Петербург». © Н.В. Репина, 2016 © ГБОУ гимназия №70 Петроградского района СПб, 2016 © Издательский центр ГБОУ гимназии №70 Петроградского района СПб Оглавление Оглавление ..................................................................................................................................................... - 3 - Предисловие ................................................................................................................................................... - 4 - Урок 1. Saint Petersburg ........................................................................................................................... - 5 - Урок 2. The history of Saint Petersburg ...................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Russian Federation State Actors of Protection
    European Asylum Support Office EASO Country of Origin Information Report Russian Federation State Actors of Protection March 2017 SUPPORT IS OUR MISSION European Asylum Support Office EASO Country of Origin Information Report Russian Federation State Actors of Protection March 2017 Europe Direct is a service to help you find answers to your questions about the European Union. Free phone number (*): 00 800 6 7 8 9 10 11 (*) Certain mobile telephone operators do not allow access to 00800 numbers or these calls may be billed. More information on the European Union is available on the Internet (http://europa.eu). Print ISBN 978-92-9494-372-9 doi: 10.2847/502403 BZ-04-17-273-EN-C PDF ISBN 978-92-9494-373-6 doi: 10.2847/265043 BZ-04-17-273-EN-C © European Asylum Support Office 2017 Cover photo credit: JessAerons – Istockphoto.com Neither EASO nor any person acting on its behalf may be held responsible for the use which may be made of the information contained herein. EASO Country of Origin Report: Russian Federation – State Actors of Protection — 3 Acknowledgments EASO would like to acknowledge the following national COI units and asylum and migration departments as the co-authors of this report: Belgium, Cedoca (Center for Documentation and Research), Office of the Commissioner General for Refugees and Stateless Persons Poland, Country of Origin Information Unit, Department for Refugee Procedures, Office for Foreigners Sweden, Lifos, Centre for Country of Origin Information and Analysis, Swedish Migration Agency Norway, Landinfo, Country of
    [Show full text]
  • St Petersburg 8
    Plan Your Trip 12 ©Lonely Planet Publications Pty Ltd St Petersburg “All you’ve got to do is decide to go and the hardest part is over. So go!” TONY WHEELER, COFOUNDER – LONELY PLANET Regis St Louis, Simon Richmond Contents PlanPlan Your Your Trip Trip page 1 4 Welcome to Top Itineraries ���������������20 Travelling to Moscow ����36 St Petersburg ������������������ 4 If You Like� ����������������������22 Museums St Petersburg’s Month by Month ������������24 & Galleries �������������������37 Top 10 ������������������������������� 6 With Kids ������������������������26 Eating ���������������������������39 What’s New �������������������� 13 Money-Saving Tips �������28 Drinking Need to Know �����������������14 & Nightlife ������������������ 43 Visas �������������������������������29 First Time Entertainment ������������ 46 St Petersburg �����������������16 Tours & Activities �����������31 Shopping ��������������������� 48 Getting Around �������������� 18 Visiting on a Cruise �������34 Explore St Petersburg 50 Historic Heart ����������������54 Vasilyevsky Island ������� 143 Day Trips from Sennaya & Kolomna ���104 Petrograd & St Petersburg ������������ 173 Vyborg Sides ��������������� 154 Smolny & Sleeping ���������������������186 Vosstaniya ��������������������121 Understand St Petersburg 197 St Petersburg History ������������������������� 200 Arts �������������������������������226 Today ���������������������������� 198 Architecture ����������������� 219 Literature ���������������������236 Survival Guide 241 Transport ���������������������242
    [Show full text]
  • Cultural Heritage, Cinema, and Identity by Kiun H
    Title Page Framing, Walking, and Reimagining Landscapes in a Post-Soviet St. Petersburg: Cultural Heritage, Cinema, and Identity by Kiun Hwang Undergraduate degree, Yonsei University, 2005 Master degree, Yonsei University, 2008 Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of The Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy University of Pittsburgh 2019 Committee Page UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH DIETRICH SCHOOL OF ARTS AND SCIENCES This dissertation was presented by Kiun Hwang It was defended on November 8, 2019 and approved by David Birnbaum, Professor, University of Pittsburgh, Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures Mrinalini Rajagopalan, Associate Professor, University of Pittsburgh, Department of History of Art & Architecture Vladimir Padunov, Associate Professor, University of Pittsburgh, Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures Dissertation Advisor: Nancy Condee, Professor, University of Pittsburgh, Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures ii Copyright © by Kiun Hwang 2019 Abstract iii Framing, Walking, and Reimagining Landscapes in a Post-Soviet St. Petersburg: Cultural Heritage, Cinema, and Identity Kiun Hwang, PhD University of Pittsburgh, 2019 St. Petersburg’s image and identity have long been determined by its geographical location and socio-cultural foreignness. But St. Petersburg’s three centuries have matured its material authenticity, recognizable tableaux and unique urban narratives, chiefly the Petersburg Text. The three of these, intertwined in their formation and development, created a distinctive place-identity. The aura arising from this distinctiveness functioned as a marketable code not only for St. Petersburg’s heritage industry, but also for a future-oriented engagement with post-Soviet hypercapitalism. Reflecting on both up-to-date scholarship and the actual cityscapes themselves, my dissertation will focus on the imaginative landscapes in the historic center of St.
    [Show full text]
  • The City's Memory: Texts of Preservation and Loss in Imperial St. Petersburg Julie Buckler, Harvard University Petersburg's Im
    The City’s Memory: Texts of Preservation and Loss in Imperial St. Petersburg Julie Buckler, Harvard University Petersburg's imperial-era chroniclers have displayed a persistent, paradoxical obsession with this very young city's history and memory. Count Francesco Algarotti was among the first to exhibit this curious conflation of old and new, although he seems to have been influenced by sentiments generally in the air during the early eighteenth century. Algarotti attributed the dilapidated state of the grand palaces along the banks of the Neva to the haste with which these residences had been constructed by members of the court whom Peter the Great had obliged to move from Moscow to the new capital: [I]t is easy to see that [the palaces] were built out of obedience rather than choice. Their walls are all cracked, quite out of perpendicular, and ready to fall. It has been wittily enough said, that ruins make themselves in other places, but that they were built at Petersburg. Accordingly, it is necessary every moment, in this new capital, to repair the foundations of the buildings, and its inhabitants built incessantly; as well for this reason, as on account of the instability of the ground and of the bad quality of the materials.1 In a similar vein, William Kinglake, who visited Petersburg in the mid-1840s, scornfully advised travelers to admire the city by moonlight, so as to avoid seeing, “with too critical an eye, plaster scaling from the white-washed walls, and frost-cracks rending the painted 1Francesco Algarotti, “Letters from Count Algarotti to Lord Hervey and the Marquis Scipio Maffei,” Letter IV, June 30, 1739.
    [Show full text]
  • The Hundred Russian Whistleblowers the Subject Referring to Protection Of
    Report of the International Human Rights Group Agora The hundred Russian whistleblowers The subject referring to protection of individuals who reveal information about violations to the public gets more and more topical not only in Russia, where the whistleblowers are regularly subjected to retaliation, including murders, violence, prosecution and imposing of disciplinary measures, but also in the rest of the world. The questions relevant to protection of whistleblowers have become subject to discussions in the UN, OSCE, Council of Europe, OECD, the bodies of the European Union and the G20. Up to date the national legislations of more than 60 countries envisage various measures aimed at guaranteeing of security and protection from retaliation of individuals who objectively act in favor of society by revealing of inaccessible information. The review of the subject relevant to protection of whistleblowers shall include the existing materials in the field. Mainly the Project on basic principles of laws on reporting of facts about corruption and illegal activities1 realized by Transparency International and the report of experts of this organization published in 2012 on ‘Corruption Reporting and Whistleblower Protection’2 describing in details the existing international and foreign approaches that may be used at elaboration of mechanisms for protection of individuals who report violations of greater size. The assurance of access to information is one of the problems closely related to the protection of whistleblowers. According to a report of Team 29 ‘The right to know’ the practice in Russia when it comes to assurance of access to information is not always in conformity to the international requirements and often contradicts to these requirements3.
    [Show full text]
  • Russian Law Enforcement and Internal Security Agencies
    September 14, 2020 Russian Law Enforcement and Internal Security Agencies Russia has an extensive internal security system, with Competition frequently leads to arrests and prosecutions, multiple, overlapping, and competitive security agencies often for real or imagined corruption allegations to undercut vying for bureaucratic, political, and economic influence. targeted organizations and senior leadership both Since Vladimir Putin assumed Russia’s leadership, these institutionally and politically. agencies have grown in both size and power, and they have become integral to the security and stability of the Russian Law Enforcement and Internal government. If Putin extends his rule beyond 2024, as is Security Agencies and Heads now legally permissible, these agencies could play a role in (as of September 2020) the leadership succession process and affect the ability of a transitional regime to quell domestic dissent. For Members Ministry of Interior (MVD): Vladimir Kolokoltsev of Congress, understanding the numerous internal security National Guard (Rosgvardiya, FSVNG): Viktor Zolotov agencies in Russia could be helpful in assessing the x Special Purpose Mobile Units (OMON) prospects of regime stability and dynamics of a transition x Special Rapid Response Detachment (SOBR) after Putin leaves office. In addition, Russian security agencies and their personnel have been targeted by U.S. x Interior Troops (VV) sanctions for cyberattacks and human rights abuses. x Kadyrovtsy Overview and Context Federal Security Service (FSB): Alexander Bortnikov
    [Show full text]
  • Putin's Trick in Donbass
    MONTHLY January 2018 CONTENTS 6 16 24 NEW YEAR, RUSSIANS BOTHER MOSCOW PLAYS SAME WAR U.S. ALLIES THE OSSETIAN CARD RUSSIA’S INVESTIGATIVE BLACK CLOUDS COMMITEE FACES 3 OVER BASTRYKIN 15 IMMINENT REVOLUTION PURGES RUSSIANS BOTHER 5 IN LUHANSK 16 U.S. ALLIES NEW YEAR, FSB “CLEANS UP” AFTER 6 SAME WAR 18 THE FAILED OPERATION PUTIN’S TRICK WHY MOSCOW LEFT KURDS. 8 IN DONBASS 19 FIVE REASONS HOW RUSSIA AVOIDS ANOTHER “LIBERAL” 10 SANCTIONS. EPISODE 2 21 IS GOING TO JAIL ROSGVARDIYA’S RUSSIA STRENGTHENS ITS 11 IRON FIST 22 FORCES ON THE BATIC SEA NO CHANCES OF RUSSIAN MOSCOW PLAYS 13 MILITARY BASE IN SUDAN 24 THE OSSETIAN CARD www.warsawinstitute.org 2 © KREMLIN.RU 3 January 2018 BLACK CLOUDS OVER BASTRYKIN In the last days of December, officers of the Investigative Directorate of the FSB detained another important person in the case against Zakhar Kalashov aka Shakro Molodoy. As a result, a former colonel of the Investigative Committee was charged with corruption. His detention occurred one and a half years after other high-ranking officers had been arrested. Such a state of affairs may mean the beginning of massive personal purges within the Investigative Committee and further weakening of the position, and perhaps even resignation, of the influential head of the service, Alexander Bastrykin. ntil July 2016, Colonel Alexey Committee. In addition, the investigation on UKramarenko had been the Head of bribes from Shakro Molodoy was initiated the Main Investigation Directorate of the by the FSB and not by the Investigative Investigative Committee (ICR) of Russia in Committee.
    [Show full text]