October 16:
Worried over the growing threat of cyberattack, Russia's military is forming cybersecurity units to protect its strategic forces. According to RIA Novosti, the Russian Defense Ministry has announced the creation of "Sopka" teams within the country's Strategic Rocket Forces. Their task? To "detect and prevent cyberattacks" aimed at elements of the Russian Federation's strategic arsenal. The move is part of a larger cybersecurity initiative now taking shape within the Russian armed forces - one that, by 2017, will entail the creation of a "special division" tasked with cyberdefense within the country's military.
October 17:
Is Russia de-escalating in Ukraine? European leaders, at least, don't think so. The Agence France Presse reports that, in contradiction to Russian statements, NATO has declared that it has seen no sign of a significant retraction of Russian forces from the Ukrainian border, where they have been massed for months. "We would welcome the withdrawal of Russian troops on the border with Ukraine, as this would be a step in the right direction. But for the moment, we have not seen major and significant movements yet," a NATO official has told the news agency.
Russia, Ukraine and Europe remained deadlocked over the crisis in Ukraine. A new summit in Milan, Italy aimed at solving the more than six-month-old crisis has ended without a substantive breakthrough, Reuters reports. The acrimonious talks were reportedly "full of misunderstandings and disagreements" between Russian President Vladimir Putin and European leaders, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who noted that no "breakthrough" was visible, at least so far.
[EDITORS' NOTE: While European nations continue to pressure Moscow over its policy in Ukraine, their calculus has been complicated by Vladimir Putin's recent warning that his government could cut gas supplies to Ukraine as a result of an ongoing dispute over pricing and unpaid fees between Moscow and Kyiv. Europe currently relies on Russia for roughly one-third of its natural gas, and half of this supply transits Ukraine on its way to the EU. A Russian cut-off of supply to Ukraine, therefore, could have major economic and geological effects throughout the entire Continent.]
October 18:
Bloomberg reports that credit agency Moody's has slashed Russia’s rating to the second-lowest investment grade. The move, made on account of Russia's "sluggish" economic performance and its "increasingly subdued medium-term growth prospect," puts the Russian Federation at a score of BAA2. Another concern contributing to the downgrade is what the company's analysts have called "the gradual and ongoing erosion of the country's international reserve buffer"; Russia expended $13 billion of its foreign exchange reserves in October alone in an attempt to stabilize commodity prices and maintain the smooth functioning of government.
October 19:
The Russian government is expanding its pressure on McDonald's. The Financial Times reports that authorities in Russia have now launched more than 200 separate investigations against the Western fast food giant, most of them over alleged hygiene or financial violations. But observers suspect an ulterior motive; quite simply, the London daily notes, McDonald's has become "one of the biggest casualties of Moscow's festering stand-off with the west over Ukraine." McDonald's currently operates 450 restaurants in the Russian Federation, more than 100 of which are located in the Moscow metropolitan area.
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