Russia Watch Thread

[caltrek]

Russia Detains a Hard-line Nationalist Who Accused Putin of Weakness in Ukraine
July 21, 2023

Introduction:

MOSCOW (AP via Courthouse News) — A prominent Russian hard-line nationalist who accused President Vladimir Putin of weakness and indecision in Ukraine was detained Friday on charges of extremism, a signal the Kremlin has toughened its approach with hawkish critics after last month's abortive rebellion by the Wagner mercenary company.

Igor Strelkov, a retired security officer who led Moscow-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine in 2014 and also was implicated by the Netherlands in the downing of a Malaysia Airlines passenger jet that year, has argued that a total mobilization is needed for Russia to achieve victory. He recently criticized Putin as a “nonentity” and a “cowardly mediocrity.”

The detention of the 52-year-old Strelkov, whose real name is Igor Girkin, was reported by his wife, who posted the news on his messaging app channel. She said he apparently faces charges of extremism. The official Tass news agency said that Strelkov's lawyer Alexander Molokhov confirmed his detention, but didn't give any other details.

Read more here: https://www.courthousenews.com/russia- ... ukraine/

[wjfox]

Vladimir Putin signs law banning gender changes in Russia

Mon 24 Jul 2023 19.42 BST

Vladimir Putin has signed legislation that bans people from officially or medically changing their gender, representing a further blow to Russia’s embattled LGBTQ+ community.

The act, passed unanimously by both houses of parliament, bans any “medical interventions aimed at changing the sex of a person”, as well as banning changing a person’s gender in official documents or public records. The only exception will be medical intervention to treat congenital anomalies.

It also annuls marriages in which one person has “changed gender” and bars transgender people from becoming foster or adoptive parents.

The ban is said to stem from the Kremlin’s crusade to protect what it views as the country’s “traditional values”. Lawmakers say the legislation is to safeguard Russia against “western anti-family ideology”, with some describing gender transitioning as “pure satanism”.

Russia’s crackdown on LGBTQ+ people started a decade ago when the president first proclaimed a focus on “traditional family values”, supported by the Russian Orthodox church.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/ ... -in-russia

[Vector]

Following an attempted armed rebellion in Russia, the country’s Federal Security Service (FSB) has been assigned the task of eliminating Yevhen Prigozhin, the owner of the private military company “Wagner.”

The most interesting thing is that at the moment there is no indisputable evidence that Prigogine is alive. And some analysts are inclined to think that he is dead)))

[Vector]

Vladimir Putin signs law banning gender changes in Russia

The obscurity is progressing. Russia has become worse than Iran.

[Vector]

[weatheriscool]

Kremlin critic Alexey Navalny given more jail time on extremism charges
Source: CNN

Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny is facing an even longer stint in jail after being sentenced to 19 years in prison on extremism charges, Russian media report, a fresh blow to a fierce critic of Russia’s President Putin that comes amid an intensifying crackdown on dissent.

Navalny was accused of creating an extremist community, financing extremist activities and a number of other crimes.

He was found guilty on Friday at the high-security penal colony in which he has been detained.

Navalny is already serving sentences totaling 11-and-a-half years in a maximum security facility on fraud and other charges that he says were trumped up.

Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/04/europe/n ... index.html

[caltrek]

Northern Russian Village Shaken After Discharged Wagner Fighter Accused of Killing Six People
August 12, 2023

Introduction:

(Eurekalert) On the morning of August 1, this quiet northern settlement woke up to a horrifying scene. Two wooden houses in separate parts of the village were gutted by fire. Inside one, police found the bodies of two men. In the second, they found the bodies of a married couple, the man’s brother, and a pensioner who was staying with the family. All six had been stabbed to death.

The same day, police arrested two recidivist convicts — Maksim Bochkaryov, 38, and Igor Sofonov, 37 — on suspicion of murder and arson. Investigators said the suspects, who deny the accusations, were “extremely drunk” when they were arrested near the second burned-out house.

The shocking crimes made even more headlines when it was reported that Sofonov was a former fighter in the Wagner mercenary group who had been recruited in prison, wounded in Ukraine, and had returned to Russia with a pardon. Despite the fact that doctors had been unable to remove all the shrapnel from his body, Sofonov had planned to enlist in the army and return to the front, his relatives told RFE/RL.

“I didn’t expect anything like this,” Sofonov’s sister, Aleksandra, said. “I think he was led into this. If he was involved, that is the only explanation. He wouldn’t do such a thing on his own. There was no reason. I can’t make sense of it.”

The mass killing in Derevyannoye is one of a growing number of criminal incidents allegedly involving pardoned convicts returning from Ukraine. According to the Russian news outlet Agentsvo, at least 11 former Wagner fighters have been accused of murder after returning from the war since the beginning of this year.

Read more here: https://www.eurasiareview.com/12082023 ... x-people/

[weatheriscool]

Russia's ruble hits a 17-month low to the dollar as the Ukraine war bites
Source: CNN Business

London CNN — The ruble hit a 17-month low against the dollar Monday, highlighting the growing squeeze on Russia’s economy from Western sanctions and a slump in export revenues. The Russian currency has lost nearly 40% of its value this year, weakening past 100 rubles to the dollar, as Moscow’s war in Ukraine takes a heavy toll.

The fall in the ruble’s value is one of several negative indicators for the Russian economy, even as President Vladimir Putin insists that Western sanctions are having a limited effect.

The currency collapsed in the immediate aftermath of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, dropping as low as 136 to the dollar in March 2022. It then soared to around 50 rubles to the dollar in June last year, as oil and natural gas prices surged.

But European economies have since weaned themselves off Russian oil and gas, importing more from the United States, Canada and Norway instead. That has strained the Russian government’s finances, which are also under pressure from a surge in spending to pay for the ongoing war.

Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/14/economy/ ... index.html

[funkervogt]

The $60 per barrel price cap imposed by the G7 on Russia is the prime factor behind the ruble's crash.
https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/russ ... 07508.html

[erowind]

The $60 per barrel price cap imposed by the G7 on Russia is the prime factor behind the ruble's crash.
https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/russ ... 07508.html

I disagree, the vast majority of Russian oil exports have shifted to non-G7 non-EU countries.



Raw sale volume has also increased.