March 23:
Conflicting reports surround the sudden death of exiled Russian ex-tycoon Boris Berezovsky. Russian television news channel Rossiya 24 reported that Berezovsky was found dead in his bathroom, according to the LA Times, but while some maintain that Berezovsky committed suicide, others note that the ex-tycoon frequently claimed to be the target of assassination plots. Berezovsky earned millions amidst the chaos of the Soviet Union’s breakup, and served as a member of the Russian parliament from 1999 to 2000. Berezovsky is credited with masterminding the campaign that brought Vladimir Putin to power, but shortly after, Putin distanced himself from Boris Yeltsin’s favorite oligarchs and demanded the return of major companies to the state.
March 25:
Human rights group Amnesty International became the latest target of the Kremlin’s unscheduled searches of nonprofit organizations. The organization’s head, Sergei Nikitin, told the New York Times that officers from the general prosecutor’s offices and from the tax police searched Amnesty International's offices as part of an "audit," demanding a list of documents already on file with the government. He added "they don't have any concrete complaints. They say it's a regular check and other cliche phrases." Employees from the state television channel NTV followed close behind the inspectors, "knocking, calling, and...creating additional difficulties." NTV showed footage from a similar raid at the offices of human rights group Memorial the week before, in a segment titled "Memorial is Hiding its Revenue From the General Prosecutor." "All this is a form of scaring us," Nikitin said. "It's a way for them to show that they aren't taking their eyes off of us."
March 26:
Russia and South Africa signed several agreements to further bilateral cooperation on the sidelines of the BRICS summit. These agreements included a joint declaration on strategic partnership, reports RIA Novosti, as well as a deal to cooperate in communications and plans for joint construction of nuclear power plants. Russian President Putin noted that in 2012, the trade turnover between the two countries increased by over 65 percent, and announced plans to further increase bilateral trade “by several times.” The two countries’ leaders additionally signed a strategic agreement to increase cooperative efforts against international terrorism, separatism, organized crime, and drug trafficking.
March 27:
The Kremlin used the BRICS summit to express its displeasure at the decision of the Arab League to allow Syria’s opposition coalition to take the country’s official seat at its latest summit, reports the BBC. The Kremlin called the move “yet another anti-Syrian” step, and illegal under international law. Iranian officials echoed the Kremlin’s disapproval, and a Deputy Foreign Minister added that “assigning Syria’s seat to the Arab League to those who don’t have the backing of the people establishes a pattern of dangerous behavior for the Arab world. These actions will bring an end to the organization’s role in the region.” The Arab League further authorized member states to “offer all forms of self-defense, including military, to support the resistance of the Syrian people and the Free Syrian Army.”
March 28:
According to a recent global health study, HIV/AIDS was the third-largest cause of premature death in Russia in 2010. In a measure of years of life lost as a result of this statistic, Russia ranked among third world countries like Gabon and Botswana (for comparison, HIV/AIDS ranked twenty-third in the United States). While officials estimated the number of HIV/AIDS cases in Russia at 703,781 in November of 2012, the Washington Post reports that analysts place the real number anywhere between one and two million. “Most people are stigmatized and are afraid to go to the hospital,” noted one health activist. “Doctors say by the time people get into the medical system, they already have advanced stages of HIV and tuberculosis.”
President Putin has ordered his administration to make improving health and the average life expectancy a priority, but efforts are complicated by the Kremlin’s insistence that Russia is a donor rather than a recipient of help. Organizations like UNAIDS and other groups previously offered medical aid to the heroin addicts who comprise approximately eighty percent of HIV/AIDS sufferers, but the Kremlin stopped accepting such support last year, and has yet to assume the programs’ financing. “We might succeed in medical treatment,” noted another activist, “but this will not be enough. We need prevention.”
March 29:
President Putin ordered another show of Russia’s military might, this time through naval exercises in the Black Sea. Reuters reports that at least 35 warships and an unspecified number of aircraft will take part in the exercises. Analysts suggest that while the exercises will take place in the Black Sea, they “may have more to do with what is happening in the Mediterranean,” given the uncertain future of Russia’s only remaining ally in Syria. Putin has made the modernization of the military forces a priority since assuming office, and uses the program to strengthen his image as a strong commander-in-chief. On reporting the decision, state media sources emphasized that Putin ordered the exercises from a plane in the dead of night.