Russia Reform Monitor: No. 1848

August 31:

Despite the Kremlin’s dogged support of the Assad regime in Syria, the Kremlin announced plans to postpone the delivery of fighter jets and S-300 missile defense systems to Syria, citing a failure to pay for them. RIA-Novosti reports that only 30 percent of the 2007 agreement between the two countries over the delivery of 12 MiG-29M/M2 jets has actually been paid. Delivery has now been pushed to at least 2016-2017, while a 2010 contract over S-300 missile systems has likewise been frozen, reportedly because Damascus failed to provide an advance payment. “Supplies of S-300 are out of question until we see real money,” said an unnamed official in the Russian military. The S-300 systems were originally scheduled for delivery in July 2014.

September 1:

Russia has seen an escalation of “homophobic vigilantism” since the introduction of controversial legislation outlawing “homosexual propaganda” in June. The Guardian reports that the new law has seen the rapid growth of rightwing groups who often use social media to “ambush” gay people, in the hopes of humiliating them on camera. “The latest laws against so-called gay propaganda...have essentially legalized violence against LGBT people,” said the head of one rights activist, “because these groups of hooligans justify their actions with these laws.” Human rights groups argue that the rise of violence against the LGBT community has largely gone unnoticed because so many crimes are not reported to the police. Even those that are reported rarely result in court cases, because Russian law does not outlaw discrimination based on sexual orientation.

September 2:

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov flatly refused to accept evidence from the United States that Bashar al-Assad’s regime used chemical weapons against the Syrian people. “That which our American partners have shown us both in the past and recently...absolutely has not convinced us,” Lavrov said at an appearance at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations, adding that there is “nothing concrete” in the information the U.S. has presented. “There are no facts, there is just dialogue about ‘what we know for sure,’” he continued, echoing comments made earlier in the week by President Vladimir Putin, who described the idea that Assad’s troops would use chemical weapons as “absolute nonsense.” The Wall Street Journal reports that the United States didn’t hesitate in its response, as Secretary of State John Kerry told ABC News that “we’ve offered the Russians previously to have a briefing on this...and they chose, I literally mean chose, not to believe it or to at least acknowledge it publicly.” Experts expect the Syrian conflict to dominate discussions at this week’s G20 summit in Moscow.

The Russian Foreign Ministry released a travel advisory this week to warn Russian travelers – usually not an event that makes headlines. This time, however, it was a warning for people wanted by the United States not to visit nations that have an extradition treaty with Washington. “Warning for Russian citizens traveling internationally,” the release read. “Recently, detentions of Russian citizens in various countries, at the request of American law enforcement, have become more frequent – with the goal of extradition and legal prosecution in the United States.” The New York Times reports that the announcement continued to note that “experience shows that the judicial proceedings against those who were in fact kidnapped and taken to the U.S. are of a biased character, based on shaky evidence, and clearly tilted toward conviction.”

Among the cases cited in the bulletin were those of Viktor Bout, an accused arms dealer extradited from Thailand; Maksim Chukharayev, accused of running a massive money-laundering operation and extradited from Costa Rica; and Dmitry Ustinov, arrested in April in Lithuania and charged with smuggling American-made night-vision goggles to Russia for resale. The Foreign Ministry maintained that Russian citizens “could not expect to be treated fairly in the American justice system.” “Russian embassies and consulates general logically give consular and legal help to Russians in trouble,” the warning concluded, “ however, one should not count on a successful outcome in such cases.”

September 4:

As talks of military strikes in Syria continue, the Kremlin announced plans to further bulk up its naval presence in the Mediterranean. RIA-Novosti reports that another group of ships will join the country’s Mediterranean task force in the near future. A destroyer, an electronic intelligence ship, large amphibious landing ships, and a frigate are expected to leave Russia’s Pacific, Northern, Baltic, and Black Sea fleets, along with a “number” of support and auxiliary ships. The Slava class guided missile cruiser Moskva, currently in the Atlantic, will also join the growing fleet as soon as September 17. The timing of the announcement seems to belie the continued insistence of military officials that the buildup is still part of “routine rotations.”

September 6:

As the G20 summit concluded in Moscow, the world’s leaders remained deeply divided over the crisis in Syria. BBC reports that China and Russia, who have repeatedly refused to agree to a U.N. Security Council resolution against the Syrian regime, maintain that any military action without the U.N. would be illegal. The United States, in turn, maintains that action is “necessary” in reaction to the alleged use of chemical weapons on the Syrian people. Even a one-on-one meeting between Russian President Putin and American President Obama reportedly ended in a stalemate, while British Prime Minister David Cameron acknowledged that the “summit was never going to reach agreement.” Thus far, the only result has been a joint statement from the U.S., Australia, Canada, France, Italy, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Turkey, and the UK, recognizing that the “world cannot wait for endless failed processes that can only lead to increased suffering in Syria and regional instability,” and calling for “a strong international response” to the situation.