December 12:
The Russian government has ordered the British Council, which promotes British culture abroad, to close down its offices in St. Petersburg and Yekaterinburg by the beginning of January. Russian Foreign Ministry officials have accused the council of operating illegally in those two cities – a charge that both the council and the British government deny. Meanwhile, in an interview with the BBC, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov explicitly linked the order to Britain’s expulsion of Russian diplomats in July, which was part of the ongoing dispute over the London murder of dissident ex-Federal Security Service officer Alexander Litvinenko.
Russian President Vladimir Putin will travel to Minsk, the capital of Belarus, on December 13th, reportedly for talks on a framework for a Russia-Belarus union. According to the Associated Press, with this visit, Putin “has unexpectedly revived efforts to create… a merger that would expand his options for exercising power after he steps down from the Russian presidency next year.” On December 7th, Ekho Moskvy radio quoted anonymous sources in Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko’s administration as saying a constitutional act forming a unified Russia-Belarus state would be signed during Putin’s visit and that Putin would become the union’s president while Lukashenko would become speaker of its parliament. Both Moscow and Minsk have denied the report.
December 13:
Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka Machimura has called Russia’s seizure of four Japanese fishing boats near disputed territory “unacceptable,” Bloomberg News reports. According to Interfax, the vessels, which were seized near an island adjacent to Hokkaido, were suspected of poaching in waters claimed by Russia. The island, which the Japanese call Kunashiri, is part of the group that Russia calls the Southern Kurils and Japan calls the Northern Territories and is claimed by both countries.
December 14:
Opposition leader Garry Kasparov has said he will not run in Russia’s presidential election next March 2nd, claiming Russian authorities thwarted his efforts to be registered as a candidate, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reports. December 13th was the deadline for nonparty candidates to inform the Central Election Commission of their intention to hold a nominating congress attended by at least 500 supporters. The Other Russia opposition coalition had planned to hold its congress on December 12th in Moscow, but the meeting was cancelled at the last minute after the planned venue backed out. “Left with no legal means to announce his candidacy, Garry Kasparov has opted to rescind his name from the roster,” read a statement on The Other Russia’s website on December 14th.
Rossiiskaya Gazeta reports that the Russian Prosecutor General’s Office has launched a probe into the activities of the Investigative Committee, which was set up earlier this year under the auspices of the Prosecutor General’s Office but operates autonomously. According to the government newspaper, while prosecutors insist the probe is routine, they are focusing on whether the Investigative Committee, in its activities, has committed violations of both procedures and laws, including illegal arrests and detentions.
The probe appears to be part of an ongoing power struggle between rival clans of “siloviki.” As Ekho Moskvy radio reports, Investigative Committee head Alexander Bastrykin is said to belong to a group that includes deputy Kremlin chief of staff Igor Sechin and Federal Security Service (FSB) Director Nikolai Patrushev, while Prosecutor General Yury Chaika reportedly belongs to a group that includes Federal Narcotics Control Service chief Viktor Cherkesov and Federal Protections Service chief Yevgeny Murov. Earlier this month, the Prosecutor General’s Office closed down a second criminal case that the Investigative Committee launched against Deputy Finance Minister Sergei Storchak, who is accused of embezzling tens of million of dollars in state funds.
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