A SHOW OF FORCE SURROUNDING CRIMEA
Russian naval and aerial forces are holding military exercises in and over the Black Sea aimed at defending the Crimean Peninsula from attack. The exercises are said to include defensive objectives, based on protecting the peninsula itself, as well as offensive maneuvers conducted by forces based in mainland Russia. The military equipment used in the exercise reportedly includes various models of Sukhoi fighter aircraft and bombers, as well as units of the advanced S-400 anti-aircraft missile system. (Sputnik, April 3, 2020)
ANOTHER THINK TANK FALLS AFOUL OF THE KREMLIN
Russian authorities have declared the Jamestown Foundation, a DC-based think tank focusing on Russia and the post-Soviet space, to be an "undesirable organization" under Russian law. The legal definition for the term comes from a 2015 law that allows Moscow to single out groups, oftentimes taking the additional step of banning them outright from the country. Among other things, the Office of the Prosecutor General has claimed that the group's activities - which include reports on Russian geopolitics and foreign policy - help incite separatism in Russia's North Caucasus region. Russia's "undesirables" law has long been viewed in the West as an instrument for the Kremlin to intimidate civil society and dampen political discourse within the country. (Reuters, April 8, 2020)
A SOVIET STATUE COMES DOWN IN PRAGUE
Prague city authorities have removed the statue of Marshall Ivan Konev, the Red Army general who liberated Czechoslovakia from Nazi rule in 1945. The statue emerged as a center of controversy as Europe prepares to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the conclusion of World War II. For months now, the statue had been covered up by tarps to prevent vandalism. In response to the removal, Moscow is opening an investigation into what it views as a public desecration of Russia's military history.
Konev's legacy is a complicated one. Despite liberating Prague, the general was also instrumental in the Soviet invasion of Hungary in 1956 and in erecting the Berlin Wall in 1961. City authorities have signaled their intent to place the statue in a museum following its removal, but Russia's Defense Minister has offered to fund and organize its repatriation to Russia instead. (Reuters, April 10, 2020)
ASSAD REQUESTS CORONAVIRUS AID
The regime of Bashar al-Assad, one of Russia's staunchest geopolitical allies in the Middle East, is seeking Moscow's assistance in mitigating the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. Damascus has formally requested material such as testing kits and protective gear from the Russian Ministry of Health as part of the ongoing strategic cooperation between the two countries, a Syrian opposition website has reported. Russia has already sent such medical aid to both Italy and the United States, but to this point has only provided some 25,000 tons of wheat to the Syrian regime.
For its part, Damascus is trying to exploit its growing coronavirus crisis as a political opportunity. It has tried to pin the blame for its domestic situation on the United States and its "obstructive efforts," and it - along with Russia, Iran and five other nations - has formally requested the end of international sanctions in a letter to UN Secretary General António Guterres. (The Syrian Observer, April 10, 2020)
RIOT HITS SIBERIAN PENAL COLONY
A riot and fire broke out at Penal Colony #15 in Angarsk, some 2,500 miles east of Moscow, after prisoners attacked a guard on duty. Penal labor is still used in Russia as a punishment for conviction of a crime. Prisoners at Penal Colony #15 have been known to slit their wrists in protest over poor treatment at the hand of prison guards. Stories regarding the riot's origin differ. Prison officials claim the guard was attacked while helping a prisoner who slit his wrists. A Russian human rights group, however, claims the riot began in retaliation for a prisoner being repeatedly beaten. Images from the colony showed buildings ablaze and the area surrounded by riot police, but order has since been restored there. (BBC News, April 11, 2020) Co
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