Russia Reform Monitor: No. 1813

December 29, 2012:

Despite recent indications that the Kremlin’s support for the Assad regime might be wavering, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told the United Nations at a recent press conference that there is “no possibility” of persuading Assad to leave Syria. He added that if the opposition continues to use Assad’s departure as a precondition for peace talks, it will come at the cost of “more and more lives of Syrian citizens.” The New York Times reports that Russia, along with most Western nations, supports a political settlement of the conflict on the basis of an international agreement reached last summer in Geneva, which prescribes a transitional government and a peacekeeping force until elections can be held. The sticking point in the agreement continues to be President Assad’s role in such a transition.


December 31, 2012:

As of January 1, 2013, beer will officially be classified as an alcoholic drink for the first time in Russia. The new label, according to the Telegraph, will mean new limitations on its availability in stores, as well as a ban on television ads. Street outlets such as kiosks, railway stations, bus stops, and gas stations—which previously relied on beer for up to 30 percent of their total sales—will no longer be permitted to sell beer, and stores still licensed to sell it will be banned from doing so between 11pm and 8am. About 500,000 deaths annually in Russia are believed to be drink-related, including 30,000 involving driving accidents.


January 1:

The new year also marked the start of the Kremlin’s controversial new ban on adoptions of Russian children by American families. The ban provoked a surprising amount of dissent among Russian officials, reports Agence France-Presse, which the opposition movement hopes to capitalize on with a rally planned for January 13 in central Moscow. American officials reacted to the ban with disgust, while Republican Senator John McCain wondered “how much lower the Russian government under President Putin can stoop...But to punish innocent babies and children over a political disagreement between our governments is a new low, even for Putin’s Russia.” Some experts believe the new law, along with the suggestion of a complete ban on foreign adoptions, indicates Putin’s aim of showing that Russia is a nation “in no need of foreign help.”


January 2:

The naval exercises the Kremlin planned in the Mediterranean and Black Seas have grown to a scale not seen since the fall of the Soviet Union. RIA-Novosti reports that the drills will include warships from the Northern, Baltic, Black Sea and Pacific Fleets, and are intended to “improve control, ensure and practice multiservice force interaction of the fleets in the far-off maritime zones.” Marine troops and paratroopers will also be involved, in order to simulate operations involving amphibious ships.


January 3:

Scientists have noted a disturbing spike in the number of HIV infections in Russia. Al Jazeera reports that there are nearly 200 new infections reported every day, over 40 percent of which are diagnosed in women. This spike suggests that about one in every 100 people in Russia currently have HIV, and activists argue that the government is largely indifferent to the problem. “If we had 200 cases of diarrhea at a children’s pioneer camp,” said the head of Russia’s AIDS research center, “the country’s head sanitation doctor would fly out immediately to save them... helicopters would fly, the police would search for the source of infection, prosecutors would get to work. But here we are seeing that there is complete indifference to this situation.”


January 4:

Russia appears to be the new haven for disgruntled French citizens. A presidential decree granted Russian citizenship to famed French actor Gerard Depardieu, after he announced his intention to leave France over a proposed tax hike to the wealthy. Depardieu is a personal friend of President Putin, and previously worked on a film in Russia. Only a day later, French actress Brigitte Bardot announced similar intentions if the French government euthanizes two Indian elephants at a zoo in Lyon, despite offers from her animal rights foundation to care for the animals. The Kremlin hasn’t responded to Bardot’s announcement, but CNN reports that Putin welcomes the opportunity to bolster Russia’s image as a viable alternative to the West.