November 18:
Moscow's economic pressure against Kyiv is escalating. Itar-TASS reports that Russia's Economic Development Minister, Alexey Ulyukayev, disclosed that the Kremlin has decided to impose a food embargo on Ukraine, beginning January 1st. "Since Ukraine joined anti-Russia sanctions - economic, financial - we've decided to impose... protective measures in the form of food embargo," Ulyukayev said in an interview that was aired by the Rossiya-24 TV news channel. The punitive measure is a potentially costly one; the projected cost of the food embargo for 2016 has been estimated by the Ukrainian government to be some $600 million.
Russia is reinforcing its military contingent in Crimea. According to Itar-TASS, the Kremlin has dispatched two new missile ships - the Serpukhov and the Zelyony - to its military base in Sevastopol. Both vessels, which will be inducted into the Russian Black Sea fleet, are outfitted with the Kalibr-NK, an advanced long-range missile system.
November 19:
Russia and Egypt are expanding their ties into a new arena: nuclear energy. Egyptian President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi has signed an agreement for a new nuclear power plant with Sergey Kiriyenko, head of Russia's state-owned ROSATOM nuclear concern, Al-Ahram reports. The agreement, inked during Kiriyenko's recent state visit to Cairo, envisions the construction of a next-generation nuclear plant in Dabaa on the Mediterranean coast over the next dozen years, in the process ushering in what the Russian official has called "a truly new chapter in the history of our bilateral relations."
The attorneys for Ukraine's most prominent prisoner of conscience are now facing legal troubles of their own.According to Radio Svoboda, Mark Feigin and Nikolay Polozov - who serve as the lawyers for imprisoned Ukrainian helicopter pilot Nadia Savchenko - now themselves face a possible legal complaint from the Rostov regional court where Savchenko is being tried. The two lawyers face potential criminal punishment for their use of social media platform Twitter to publicize the proceedings of the trial, even though such messaging isn't technically banned.
November 21:
Russia won't be getting a reprieve from Western sanctions for at least another half-year. Reuters reports that, at the recent G20 summit in Turkey, Western leaders agreed to extend the economic sanctions levied against Russia for its conduct in Ukraine for another six months, until July of 2016. The decision, the news agency reports, was driven in part by fears of a renewed escalation of pressure by Moscow against Kyiv in the run-up to elections in eastern Ukraine. Sanctions are currently set to expire in January, which would give Moscow a free hand to expand its political support for pro-Russian separatists - something Western leaders want to avoid as Ukraine's turbulent east gears up to go to the polls in what promise to be contested elections. "The elections in Ukraine are heavy lifting," one diplomat confirmed. "We only have a chance to get what we want if we play the sanctions card. Financial sanctions need to stay in place until the bitter end."
Western sanctions have cost Russia significantly, a leading economist has said. "The sanctions have considerably complicated the situation in the country," former Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin told reporters in comments carried by the Interfax news agency. The results have been striking. "The Russian economy is seeing a hard year, and unlike the 2008-2009 crises, the people's real incomes have been declining for the first time since the early 2000s," Kudrin told attendees at a civic forum in Moscow.
November 22:
Russia is reconfiguring its military presence in Tajikistan. According to Eurasianet, Russia's deployment in the southern city of Kulyab in Tajikistan will soon be a thing of the past, as a key military base is closed and troops are shifted to stations in the country's capital, Dushanbe. However, Russia's overall military strength in the Central Asian state won't diminish, a spokesman for Russia’s Central Military District has reassured reporters. Yet the hasty closure of the base, announced only days ago by Tajik authorities, is curious, and experts suspect that it comes in response to ongoing tensions between Russian soldiers and Tajik locals. The change will bring with it significant negative side-effects, since "many locals depended on the base directly or indirectly for employment" and security in the city - situated only 40 kilometers from the border with Afghanistan - was bolstered by the Russian military presence.
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