May 9:
The U.S. government says Russia has expelled two American military attaches, Radio Free Europe reports. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said the move was not retaliation for the U.S. expulsion of one Russian defense official in November and a second one last month. “[The Russians] gave us some reasons [for the expulsions],” McCormack said. “We believe that the expulsions were not justified, but as we all know in the world of diplomacy, sometimes these things happen.... As far as we’re concerned, we don’t intend to take any further actions. Of course, we always reserve the right [to take further action]. But at this point, I don’t see that we’re going to take any further action in response.”
May 10:
The commander of Russia’s air force, Col.-Gen. Alexander Zelin, has claimed that NATO aircraft approach Russian bombers flying over neutral waters “at unacceptable distances and at unacceptable intervals” and “conduct various maneuvers around them and violate flight safety rules in every way,” the Associated Press reports. Interfax quoted Zelin as complaining that that NATO F-15, F-16 and F-22 fighter jets regularly “attack” Russian bombers over the Arctic Ocean. “It is not a misuse of the word ‘attack’ because our partners are training for combat actions, reaching the point of an attack,” he said. “I must confess that this is quite unpleasant and even dangerous. Naturally, we rehearse our counteractions.”
As AP notes, in February, Russian bombers flew over a U.S. aircraft carrier in the Pacific, prompting the U.S. to scramble fighters to escort the Russian aircraft. Last September, Russian jets were accused of violating Finnish airspace. Russia said the jets were flying over neutral territory.
May 12:
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has met with Dmitry Medvedev in the Kremlin and presented the new president with his list of cabinet appointments, which Medvedev approved, NEWSru.com reports. Most of the previous cabinet’s ministers will remain in their posts, with Putin bringing in Igor Shuvalov, who was his chief economic aide in the Kremlin and liaison to the G8 countries, as first deputy prime minister overseeing foreign economic policy and trade. Former deputy Kremlin chief of staff Igor Sechin has been appointed deputy prime minister overseeing industry (not including the defense sector), energy and natural resources. Shuvalov is seen as relatively liberal while Sechin is de facto leader of the hard-line “siloviki” faction.
Meanwhile, Medvedev has named Sergei Naryshkin to head the Kremlin administration. Naryshkin is a KGB veteran and long-time Putin associate who was formerly a deputy prime minister and the cabinet’s chief of staff. Medvedev also appointed Alexander Bortnikov, former head of the economic security department of the Federal Security Service (FSB), as FSB director, moving former FSB director Nikolai Patrushev into the post of secretary of the advisory Security Council. In what may be a sign of the balance of power between the new president and the new prime minister, NEWSru.com notes that during their Kremlin meeting, Putin sat in the chair he used to sit in as president while meeting with visitors, while Medvedev sat across the table in the visitor’s chair.
May 13:
Investigators in Moscow have issued international warrant for Mustam Makhmudov for murdering independent journalist and Putin critic Anna Politkovskaya in 2006. According to the New York Times, the warrant describes Makhmudov as a 34-year-old Chechen and the “executor of the crime.” The authorities have arrested several other men in the case and have said they believe that the crime was ordered from abroad, a contention Politkovskaya’s friends say is meant to divert attention from people in Russia who ordered her killing.
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