February 4:
The Kremlin is claiming a major victory in its struggle against radical Islam in the Caucasus. According to the Long War Journal, Russia’s Federal Security Service has killed Mokhmad Mohammed Shabban and an associate during a sweep in the restive republic of Dagestan. Shabban, an Egyptian, is believed by Russian authorities to have helped establish al-Qaeda’s regional franchise in the Caucasus in the early 1990s, and to have been involved in attacks against infrastructure and Russian soldiers throughout Chechnya and neighboring republics. Most recently, Shabban was reportedly the mastermind behind the January 6th suicide bombing that killed seven Russian policemen on the outskirts of Dagestan’s capital city, Makhachkala.
Russia’s security services are using the opportunity of Shabban’s demise to recycle an old charge against neighboring Georgia – that the government in Tbilisi is in collusion with Islamic radicals. According to a statement released by the FSB, Shabban “masterminded acts of sabotage to blast railway tracks, transmission lines, and gas and oil pipelines at instructions by Georgian secret services."
February 5:
Just days after the killing of militant leader Mohkmad Shabban, violence has flared once again in Russia’s restive Caucasian republics. Reuters reports that a gun battle between Islamic militants and Russian security troops in Chechnya has left at least eleven people dead. At the same time, according to Reuters, the head of the police force in Makhachkala was killed when his car was strafed with gunfire by unknown assailants.
February 6:
A population infusion is underway in Russia’s inhospitable Far East. According to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, hundreds of ethnic Russian “repatriates” are poised to return to the Kamchatka Peninsula as part of a government-subsidized influx of skilled labor from abroad. Some 700 physicians, engineers and shipbuilders, most from the former Soviet republics, will settle in the regional capital, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, and surrounding districts in coming days as part of the Russian government’s official policy of “repatriation of compatriots from abroad.” Under the plan, each will receive some $4,000 stipend, as well as transportation and documentation expenses, for their relocation.
February 8:
Russia is poised to become France’s newest arms client. Reuters reports that the French government has formally agreed to sell Russia a Mistral-class warship – a key asset desired by Moscow to upgrade its military arsenal. The French move, according to Reuters, represents a potential liability to the Atlantic Alliance: “France belongs to the NATO military alliance and its willingness to sell Russia advanced technology that could be used in a confrontation with its forces or against its allies has caused concern among other NATO members.” Already, the move has spurred protests from the Obama administration, with Secretary of Defense Robert Gates traveling to Paris in an effort to convince the French government to reconsider the strategically-damaging sale.
February 9:
Last year, Russia overtook the United States as the largest arms merchant in Latin America, Pravda reports. “Latin America is no longer Washington’s playground,” the state news agency reports, as a rise in anti-Americanism has made regional governments more hospitable to military trade with Moscow. “[W]ith the wave of People Power that has recently swept across the continent, it comes as no surprise that Governments which are no longer bullied by their northerly neighbour should turn to Moscow for superior equipment at better and more flexible prices.” Between 2008 and 2009, the official news organ notes, sold some $5.4 billion worth of military equipment in the Western Hemisphere, with Venezuela, Brazil and Peru the most active clients.
Want these sent to your inbox?
Subscribe