Russia Reform Monitor: No. 1863

December 14:

Russia’s legislature is cracking down on illegal migration. According to RIA Novosti, a new measure just passed by the State Duma, Russia’s lower house of parliament, has intensified penalties on migrants who don’t conform with official rules for registration within the Russian Federation. Under the new measure, individuals who falsify their registration documents could face up to three years in prison and fines of as much as $5,000, while legal entities which facilitate fraudulent residency schemes could be penalized up to $24,000. The move is seen as an effort to tighten regulations over the hundreds of thousands of people across Russia who reside in the country using deceptive practices.

December 15:

With the Sochi Olympics now less than eight weeks away, Western nations are raising the alarm over what they see as a serious potential threat to the security of their delegations: Islamic radicalism in Russia. The National Post reports that de-classified documents drawn up by Canada’s intelligence community have warned that the Caucasus Emirate, Russia’s main Islamist group, could use the occasion of the Games to launch attacks on Westerners. The documents note that Doku Unarov, the notorious warlord who heads the Emirate, has called for attacks to take place at the “satanic games.” Umarov’s “view that Israeli, U.S. and U.K. interests are legitimate targets raises concerns any Westerners could be targeted,” Canada’s intelligence services have warned.

A new leftist political party has just been launched in Moscow. The Moscow Times reports that a number of prominent opposition figures have founded the Social Democrats of Russia faction—a move that some see as an effort to consolidate the country’s disparate, and often chaotic, opposition political scene. Gennady Gudkov, a former leading member of the A Just Russia party, has been voted as head of the new party, while his son Dmitry was appointed to the party’s political council, as was Duma Deputy Ilya Ponomarov. The SDR has already announced that it is prepared to cooperate with liberal factions like “Yabloko” in its efforts to craft a political agenda. Negotiations between the new entity and “four or five parties” are said to be currently underway. "Establishing the Social Democrats of Russia party carries the historical mission to unite responsible leftist factions and strive for long-term cooperation with other leftist parties, trade unions and civil society organizations," the senior Gudkov has said. "The future success of social democratic ideals and values comes through unity.6

December 16:

Russia’s government could soon have even greater leeway to crack down on the Internet. Russia Today reports that a new bill just passed by the Information Committee of the State Duma provides officials with the country’s Prosecutor’s Office with broad discretion to block websites believed to be inciting extremism—and to do so without a prior court warrant. The move is an apparent governmental reaction to the use of the Internet as an organizing tool in the anti-migrant rallies that took place in Moscow this past October. Moreover, lawmakers are confident that—with the proper legislative framework in place—prosecutors will be able to move swiftly to take down offending websites and block social tools. “It’s easiest to do on social networking websites, as companies owning them have the means and access to expensive technology to block particular pages,” Andrei Lugovoy of the Liberal Democratic party, one of the bill’s initiators, has said. “Twitter and Facebook are more problematic, because their headquarters are situated abroad, but it’s possible to do it quickly with them also.”

Russia has inked a major new arms pact with Egypt, the Washington Free Beacon reports. Under the deal, announced just days after Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu visited Cairo for a slew of high-level meetings, Russia will provide Egypt with over $2 billion-worth of military equipment, including fighter jets, tanks and air defense systems, in the near future. The move, experts say, is very much a product of America’s meandering Middle East policy, which has created strategic opportunities for countries like Russia. “When we cut off aid to Egypt, we lost leverage over Egyptian military, and others were more than happy to fill the void,” notes Anna Borshchevskaya of the European Foundation for Democracy.

Russia has deployed short-range missiles in the Baltic enclave of Kaliningrad, Reuters reports, citing Russian news sources. Russia’s Izvestia newspaper confirmed that the missiles have been there “for some time” after a report in Germany’s Bild newspaper disclosed that the missiles were visible in recent satellite imagery. The news – coming amid tensions between Russia and the West over Ukraine – has caused consternation among the Baltic states, who fear a militarization of their region.