January 26:
Russian President Vladimir Putin's national security czar believes that the United States is seeking to precipitate the collapse of the Russian government in order to acquire the country's resource wealth. "The U.S. government has a goal - to dominate the world. It's possible that they want to achieve this goal through Russia's collapse, which will allow the U.S. access to its rich resources, which, in their opinion, Russia does not deserve to possess," Nikolai Patrushev, the Secretary of Russia's Security Council, said in a recent interview with the Moskovsky Komsomolets newspaper, parts of which were reported by The Moscow Times. In his remarks, Patrushev also pointed the finger of blame at the United States for current Western pressure against Moscow for its Ukraine policy. "The initiator of the current conflict is the U.S. Europe obeys their will," he said.
January 27:
A new bill currently circulating in the Russian State Duma proposes the reintroduction of the Soviet-era practice of asset forfeiture as an additional punishment for crimes. According to RAPSI, the Russian Legal Information Agency, the measure - introduced by the Communist Party (KPRF) - envisions the revival of the now-defunct practice (which was abolished in 2003) as a more effective judicial mechanism. The bill's drafters have argued that the current system of fines levied against wrongdoers is not an "effective measure against criminal activity," and that state seizure of private assets constitutes a more potent punishment.
Russia's military forces in Syria are allegedly supporting the activities of the Hezbollah terrorist group. TheDaily Caller, citing Kuwait's Al Rai newspaper, reports that - according to witness accounts - "Russian spetsnaz [special forces troops] have been conducting operations in coordination with Hezbollah in the mountain region near the coastal Syrian town of Latakia." This coordination, the reports say, include "close air support," "artillery fire" and combat control by Russian military personnel.
January 28:
Russia's state-controlled Sputnik news site has emerged as one of the most prominent tools of the Kremlin's information warfare strategy against the West, a new study from a leading Washington, DC think tank has assessed. The report, published by the Center for European Policy Analysis and entitled "Sputnik: Propaganda in a New Orbit," outlines that the news carrier has pioneered the selective reporting of Central and Eastern European (CEE) politics, providing coverage of "a small number of anti-establishment politicians and give them substantial coverage, while reporting little or nothing about the representatives of other parties or points of view." In places like Poland and the Czech Republic, Sputnik's news coverage is heavily weighted toward small or fringe parties and politicians, while excluding more mainstream voices and candidates.
In its reporting, the study notes, Sputnik provides "disproportionate coverage to protest, anti-establishment and pro-Russian MEPs from CEE" and "does so systematically." Moreover, what limited bandwidth it does give to mainstream politicians and parties conforms with a larger ideological agenda - "the wider narrative of a corrupt, decadent and Russophobic West."
Russia's declining economic fortunes are hitting the country's automotive industry. The Moscow Times reportsthat Russian carmaker AvtoVAZ is planning to put salaries for 50,000 of its employees by a fifth or more. The Volga region-based company has cited the country's deepening recession, and declining product sales, as the reasons behind its decision.
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