Russia Reform Monitor: No. 1870

January 15:

The Washington Times reports that, despite a massive mobilization of troops by the Russian government, as well as the creation of a 1,500 mile “security cordon” by the Kremlin, concerns continue to abound about the safety of the upcoming Olympic Games in Sochi. Specifically, U.S. officials have noted that the lack of infrastructure in the Black Sea city “has made the city vulnerable to a mass attack” – particularly because of a lack of connectivity among roadways, limited capacity for those roads that do exist, and transit “choke points” that would make inviting targets for terrorist attacks.

January 17:

Russia has stepped up its military support to the regime of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad. According to pan-Arab daily Al-sharq al-Awsat, the shipments include armored vehicles, drones, guided bombs, surveillance equipment, radars, electronic warfare systems, and spare parts for helicopters. Russian intelligence experts have also reportedly been helping run observation drones to track rebel forces and carry out air force strikes for the regime.

Two Senators have introduced legislation designed to make the “Magnitsky Act” global in scope, the Moscow Times reports. Currently, the Act—named after lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, who died in prison in 2009 after exposing widespread governmental corruption—targets Russian officials implicated in the Magnitsky case from entering the United States or using American banks. But the new bill, introduced by Senators Ben Cardin (D-MD) and John McCain (R-AZ) and known as the Global Human Rights Accountability Act, would expand the penalties to cover human rights violators in all countries.

January 18:

Thirty-three families that were affected by a Russian bill last year banning adoptions by Americans have filed appeals with the European Court of Human Rights. The families have argued that the ban violates the rights of the 259 children whose adoptions were in the works when the bill was enacted, reports the Associated Press. The ban was initially intended to act as retaliation against the “Magnitsky Act,” which was passed by Congress a year ago, but Moscow has continued to turn down requests to reconsider the ban in the months since.

January 19:

London’s Guardian newspaper reports that the Pentagon and U.S. intelligence services are drawing up contingency plans for a large-scale evacuation of American athletes and tourists in the event of a major terror incident at the Olympic Games in Sochi. Such an evacuation effort would face “major obstacles,” the paper notes, chief among them the Russian government’s reluctance to allow foreign troops onto its soil. The Kremlin, meanwhile, has imposed what amounts to an intelligence blackout on information about threats to the Games and the security procedures being put in place in response, much to the dissatisfaction of American policymakers. "We don't seem to be getting all of the information we need to protect our athletes in the games," Mike Rogers, the chairman of the House intelligence committee, has said in an interview. "They're not giving us the full story about what are the threat streams, who do we need to worry about, are those groups – the terrorist groups who have had some success – are they still plotting?"

January 20:

Russia’s National Anti-Terrorism Committee has announced that it is analyzing a video posted on Sunday by an Islamic militant group claiming responsibility for the suicide bombings in Volgograd last month, the Associated Press reports. The two men in the video identify themselves as members of a jihadist group operating in Iraq, although their association with the group is unclear. The video was released by the Vilayat Dagestan - a part of the extremist group Caucasus Emirate, Russia’s most prominent jihadist grouping, which seeks the establishment of an Islamic state in the North Caucasus. The leader of the Emirate, Doku Umarov, has urged his followers to attack the Sochi Olympics, which he called “satanic dances on the bones of our ancestors.”