July 11:
Russia continues to interfere with Ukrainian shipping. According to Radio Svoboda, nearly 100 Ukrainian vessels have been detained by Russian border guards in the Azov Sea since this Spring. The detentions are part of "a deliberate policy of the Russian Federation" aimed at "ruin[ing] the economy of two seaports - Berdyansk and Mariupol," Ukrainian authorities have charged. The growing Russian interference comes amid strengthening Kremlin control over the waterway with the construction of a bridge over the Kerch Strait.
Washington wants the European energy market to know that investment in Russia's latest export project will come at a high price. According to Reuters, a State Department spokesperson has issued a warning that companies choosing to invest in Russia's Nord Stream 2 pipeline may face U.S. sanctions. Five European energy firms currently have a stake in the pipeline, which the State Department spokesperson described as just "another tool for the political coercion of European countries" and warned that it is likely to "undermine Europe's overall energy security."
July 12:
Cambridge Analytica may have kicked off the current scandal surrounding the misuse of Facebook user data by third-party developers, but an eerie Russian parallel has now emerged as well. CNN broke the news that Russian technology giant Mail.Ru Group had access to the personal data of tens of thousands of Facebook users as well as their friends via hundreds of applications it ran on the social media platform. Former Facebook employees interviewed for the expose confirmed that it is impossible for the company to know what happened to any user data vacuumed up by Mail.Ru, even though Facebook Vice President of Partnerships Ime Archebold stated that there was "no indication of misuse with Mail.Ru" and would not disclose whether or not any American data was in fact scooped up.
For its part, Mail.Ru – part of a conglomeration owned by Putin ally Alisher Usmanov, who was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department back in January – has denied both the collection of its users' data and any ties to the Russian government. However, CNN observes that the lack of a legal firewall between the Russian government and the private sector render these denials unconvincing. When interviewed for the story, the former deputy assistant secretary of defense for Russia, Michael Carpenter, commented that "Mail.Ru is a large Russian company. It has to abide by Russia's laws. It has to do what the intelligence services demand of it, and in this case they demand that they provide access to all of their data."
The UKRINFORM news agency reports that the latest NATO summit has concluded with a call for Russia to cease its aggression against Ukraine. "We urge Russia to cease all political, financial, and military support to militant groups and stop intervening militarily in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions and to withdraw troops, equipment, and mercenaries from the territory of Ukraine, and return to the Joint Centre for Control and Coordination," the concluding document of the conclave, held in Brussels, read.
July 13:
Russia's occupation of Crimea may be wreaking lasting environmental damage on the Black Sea peninsula. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reports that satellite imagery maps of Crimea from 2016 and 2018 appear to show a rapid disappearance of vegetation during the two-year timeframe. The maps were originally published by Ukraine's Ministry for Temporarily Occupied Territories and Internally Displaced Persons, an agency that blames "the careless attitude of the occupation authority of the Russian Federation" for the drastic environmental change. While RFE/RL notes that it has not yet been able to corroborate the maps' authenticity, it writes that the alleged desertification would be consistent with numerous reports of water shortages ever since Kyiv retaliated against the annexation by blocking key canals that supplied water to the peninsula. The local Crimean government has reportedly also appealed to Russia for financial assistance in order to provide relief to the regions most affected by the drought.
Notwithstanding U.S. plans to reimpose sanctions on Iran, Moscow is now eyeing major new oil deals with the Islamic Republic. According to Bloomberg, Vladimir Putin now intends to invest up to $50 million across various Iranian exploration, production, and refining operations. Three deals worth $15 million have already been confirmed, and Iran is currently in talks with multiple Russian energy companies to hammer out additional projects. Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak has further expressed Russia's interest in an "oil-for-goods" arrangement in which Russia helps Iran sell its oil on the international market in exchange for a commitment that half of the resulting revenue will be spent on Russian products.
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