Russia Reform Monitor: No. 1939

November 10:

As part of its larger public diplomacy strategy, Russia has rebranded its premier state-run media outlet, The Moscow Times reports. RIA Novosti, which for decades served as Russia's flagship news organ, was relaunched on November 9th with a new name, Sputnik, and a new mission: to counter the "aggressive propaganda promoting a unipolar world." The effort was necessary because "[t]he world is tired of one country thinking of itself as exceptional," the Kremlin's media czar, Dmitry Kiselyov, has said.

The prognosis for Russia's economic health remains grim, at least for the foreseeable future. Radio Free Europe reports that, based upon the economic constriction that has accompanied the Kremlin's adventurism in Ukraine, Russia's central bank is now forecasting three years of "stagnation," during which Russia's economy will experience little or no growth between 2014 and 2016. Under the bank's dominant financial model, economic growth will total 0.3 percent this year, "zero in 2015, and 0.1 percent in 2016."

November 11:

Even as Western powers try to convince Iran to curtail its nuclear activities, Moscow is actively expanding its atomic ties to Tehran. The Associated Press reports that Russia recently inked an agreement to build two additional reactors in the Islamic Republic. The agreement, which was signed in Moscow by ROSATOM head Sergei Kiriyenko and Ali Akbar Salehi, Iran's top nuclear official, marks a "turning point in the development of relations between our countries," according to the latter. Under the arrangement, construction of the new reactors will be monitored by the International Atomic Energy Agency, to ensure that the uranium used in the new facilities is returned to Russia for reprocessing.

The new deal, moreover, might be just the beginning. According to the AP, construction of the two new plants could be "possibly followed by another six," making Moscow a major stakeholder in Iran's nuclear future.

Russia's energy links to China continue to strengthen. The New York Times reports that Russian state gas giant Gazprom has signed its second major gas deal with China for a new pipeline that would enable Russian exports to the PRC from Siberia. The agreement - a follow-on to an earlier, May pipeline agreement between Gazprom and the China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) - comes in response to U.S. and European sanctions, and amid deteriorating diplomatic relations between Russia and the West. It does not, however, indicate a complete turn east by Moscow, observers say. The deal with China is a form of "insurance," according to Yan Vaslavski, associate professor of political science at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations. "Russia has no intention of diminishing gas shipments to Europe."

November 12:

Russia's military is assuming an increasingly aggressive profile in the Western Hemisphere. The Associated Press reports that Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu has declared that - in response to ongoing tensions with the West over Ukraine - Russia must "maintain military presence in the western Atlantic and eastern Pacific, as well as the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico." This includes the initiation of regular and expanded patrol missions by Russian long-range bombers close to the continental United States.

The Ukrainian government is bracing for a new round of hostilities with Moscow. According to Bloomberg, authorities in Kyiv have told the country's military to prepare for renewed battle in light of a massive influx of Russian war materiel into pro-Russian separatist enclaves in the country's south and east. The Daily Beast, meanwhile, cites experts as saying that as many as 7,000 Russian troops are already inside Ukraine, while between 40,000 and 50,000 more are now massed on the common border between the two countries.