Russia Reform Monitor: No. 1953

January 13:

Like most other governments, the Kremlin reacted with outrage to the January 7th terrorist attack on the offices of Charlie Hebdo in Paris. Its behavior since then, however, suggests that policymakers in Moscow are deeply worried that a similar incident could take place in the Russian Federation.

Social media website Mashable reports that the Russian government has warned a number of broadcasters and print media outlets they will be blacklisted if they reprint the satirical French magazine's caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad. In a formal letter, ROSKOMNADZOR, the country's official media oversight body, warned that "inclusion in any media of caricatures of the religious leaders is unacceptable; placing online media links to other media materials (including foreign), copyright material justifying these events, caricatures of religious figures will be considered as a violation of Roskomnadzor Federal Law 'On Countering Extremist Activity.' caricatures of religious figures will be considered as a violation of Roskomnadzor Federal Law 'On Countering Extremist Activity.'"

January 14:

The Moscow Times reports that two militants from Russia's restive Dagestan region have been detained in connection with the January 6th suicide bombing of a police station in the Turkish capital of Istanbul. The suicide bomber, who has been identified as Diana Ramazova, was a Russian national. Turkish news sources report that half-a-dozen people in all have been apprehended in connection with the incident.

January 15:

When Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula voted last spring to join the Russian Federation, hopes ran high that the new affiliation would bring fresh prosperity to the territory. Today, however, the Peninsula finds itself considerably worse off than it was before. According to The Moscow Times, Crimea - which experienced 0.5 percent deflation in 2013, when it was a Ukrainian holding - saw inflation as high as 42.5 percent last year, following its annexation by Russia. Estimates from the Crimean State Statistics Service also indicate that food prices in the territory rose by more than 50 percent last year, and the cost of services rose by some 27 percent during the same period.

Russia continues to nurture its strategic ties to Iran. PressTV reports that Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu is slated to visit Tehran in late January on a two-day state visit aimed at bolstering defense and military cooperation between the two countries. One of the issues likely to be on the agenda between the two countries is Russia’s S-300 anti-aircraft system - technology which Moscow promised to Iran in 2007 in order to help the latter protect its nuclear facilities, but which was never delivered because of American and Israeli pressure on Moscow.

January 16:

Russia and Armenia have long been strategic partners, but now a new issue could put strain on ties between Moscow and Yerevan. According to the BBC, thousands of protesters in Armenia's second largest city, Gyumri, have demanded that a Russian soldier accused of killing a local family be handed over to authorities. The Russian soldier, Valery Permyakov, is currently being held at a Russian base in the country, but activists want him to face domestic justice.