Russia Reform Monitor: No. 1867

January 3:

In the wake of the recent bombings in Volgograd, police in the southern Russian city have carried out a massive security sweep. The Moscow Times reports that the broad-ranging measures include the detention of more than 700 suspects, as well as the imposition of “total inspections” on all vehicles and trains entering the region.

Russia’s military is poised to expand its activities in the Arctic, RIA Novosti reports. A spokesman for Russia’s Northern Fleet has announced that the Fleet’s combat aircraft will shortly increase the range of their patrols over the Arctic, bringing more and more of the contested region under Russia’s oversight. In tandem, Russia’s Defense Ministry has announced plans to deploy a combined-arms force in the area by next year.

[Editor’s Note: News of the intensified activity follows a December order by President Putin for the military to increase its focus on the Arctic as a geographic region of strategic competition. Along these lines, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin called last month for a naval buildup in the area – one that the government is now apparently beginning to put into practice.]

January 4:

The United States stands ready to assist Russia in providing security for the upcoming Olympic Games in Sochi, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel has told his Russian counterpart, Sergei Shoigu. The Agence France Presse reports that Hagel made the offer in a phone call to Shoigu in the aftermath of the December 29th and 30th Volgograd bombings. Neither Shoigu nor other Russian officials, however, have indicated that they are interested in requesting U.S. assistance for security operations.

Russian president Vladimir Putin has reversed his earlier decision to ban all protests at the upcoming Sochi Games. The Agence France Presse reports that, under pressure from the International Olympic Committee, the Russian government has lifted a prior blanket prohibition on protests at the Olympics with a presidential decree that says demonstrations, picketing and marches “can be held” with approval and oversight from city officials, as well as sharp limits on the number of participants.

January 5:

The Russian government has intensified its security measures following the Volgograd bombings by deploying “special patrols” of the country’s 49th Army to augment police in major cities in Stavropol kray. The move is intended as a stabilizing one, but it could well backfire on the Kremlin, writes Russian nationalities expert Paul Goble in an entry on his Window on Eurasia blog. The deployment “has likely improved security in the immediate area of the Games but left other areas relatively unprotected and thus more likely targets for attack, as was the case in Volgograd.” Indeed, notes Goble, “taking a step which seems so minor is a confirmation of just how desperate the situation has become in many parts of the North Caucasus before the Sochi Olympiad.”