March 29, 2024: Russian Digest
Top stories I'm keeping an eye on!
March 29, 2024
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Ukraine war latest: Russian assault on Kharkiv can't be ruled out, chief commander says
Russia's attempt to take the city of Kharkiv can't be ruled out, Commander-in-Chief of Ukraine's Armed Forces Oleksandr Syrskyi said on March 29.
In an interview with Ukrinform, Syrskyi said Ukraine's Armed Forces were "taking all measures to adequately respond to such a possibility."
Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city, located just over 30 kilometers south of the Russian border, has in recent weeks seen an escalation in strikes from Russian missiles, drones, and air bombs.
A recent report by Latvia-based Russian media outlet Meduza claimed "political elites" have not ruled out that President Vladimir Putin will order a ground offensive against the city.
Read More at Kyiv Independent
Russia Doubled Imports of an Explosives Ingredient—With Western Help
U.S., German, and Taiwanese firms made nitrocellulose that was shipped to Russia, much of it through one Turkish company, despite sanctions
Russia has boosted its imports of an explosive compound critical to the production of artillery ammunition, including from companies based in the U.S. and other Western countries and allies, despite international sanctions meant to choke Moscow’s wartime production, according to trade data.
Russian imports of nitrocellulose, a highly flammable cotton product central to gunpowder and rocket propellant manufacture, surged 70% in 2022, the first year of Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and midway through 2023 had amounted to 3,039 tons of the product, nearly double the 2021 level.
Read More at WSJ
Zelensky: ‘We are trying to find some way not to retreat’
President Volodymyr Zelensky delivered a stark message to Congress in an interview on Thursday as Russian missiles were pounding southern Ukraine: Give us the weapons to stop the Russian attacks, or Ukraine will escalate its counterattacks on Russia’s airfields, energy facilities, and other strategic targets.
Zelensky spoke in a sandbagged, heavily guarded presidential compound that seemed nearly empty of its old civilian workforce after more than two years of war. The security was so tight, I had to surrender my plastic felt-tip pens. But Zelensky appeared as animated and pugnacious as when he made his defiant stand in the courtyard when the war began.
The congressional delay in approving a $60 billion military aid package has been costly for Ukraine, Zelensky said. The military has been unable to plan future operations while legislators squabbled for nearly six months. He warned that hard-pressed Ukrainian forces might have to retreat to secure their front lines and conserve ammunition.
Read More at The Washington Post
Italian fighter jets twice intercepted Russian planes over the Baltic Sea
Details: In the last 24 hours, Eurofighters of the Italian Air Force, part of the 4th Air Tactical Group, which is stationed at the Polish base in Malbork, have carried out a double interception of Russian aircraft in the Baltic Sea.
The alert, issued from the NATO command center based in Wedem, Germany, was announced on Thursday and Friday morning due to a signal of an unidentified aircraft flying over the international waters of the Baltic Sea.
After the plane was identified, the Italian F-2000 fighters returned to their base in Malbork.
Via Ukrainian Pravda
Russian ‘scorched earth’ missile attack damages power plants in Ukraine
Russian forces unleashed 99 missiles and drones in a fourth massive attack against Ukrainian energy infrastructure in the past 10 days.
Three fossil fuel-fired power plants were seriously damaged, Ukrainian energy company DTEK said in a statement.
“All night, Russia has ruthlessly launched missiles & drones against Ukraine’s energy infrastructure — now all of Ukraine is under air alert,” tweeted U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Bridget Brink. “Our assistance is needed now.”
Read More at Politico
The largest mining and metallurgical holding in Russia announced a massive refusal of banks to process payments
Foreign banks refuse to work with Norilsk Nickel, even though the company is not directly affected by Western sanctions. This was announced on Friday by Anton Berlin, vice president of the largest mining and metallurgical holding in Russia, which is the world leader in the production of nickel and palladium.
“We have quite a few banks that refuse to accept and transfer money as payment for Russian products. Almost all the largest banks refuse transfers to Russia,” Berlin said on a direct line with Norilsk Nickel employees. He added that service providers, warehouses, ports, and shipowners are also refusing to cooperate. “We have to rebuild the entire sales system... Now we are faced with a large number of external restrictions,” Reuters quotes the top manager.
At the end of last year, Norilsk Nickel reported a two-fold drop in net profit, to $2.87 billion, as well as a reduction in the production of key metals: nickel by 5%, to 209 thousand tons, and palladium by 4%, to 2.692 million ounces.
Norilsk Nickel has to sell metals at a discount, although “not always,” Berlin said. “Some of our customers, primarily European, voluntarily refuse Russian metals and even products obtained from Russian raw materials, for example, at our Finnish plant. Some are ready to use Russian metals, but only buy not from a company that is part of a Russian group, but from someone independent,” said the top manager.
According to reports published in early February, last year the share of the European market in Norilsk Nickel's revenue decreased from 47% to 24%, while the share of Asia, on the contrary, increased from 31% to 54%. Total revenue fell 15% to $14.4 billion.
Via The Moscow Times
Russian authorities export stolen Ukrainian grain to Turkey, Libya and Israel - anti-corruption center NGL.media
In 2023, Russian authorities exported almost 212 thousand tons of grain from the occupied part of the Zaporizhzhia region, the total value of which is estimated at $46 million. According to an investigation by the independent Ukrainian anti-corruption center NGL.media, which studied Russian export data, the stolen grain was exported to Turkey, Libya, and Israel.
According to investigators, grain is exported through the State Grain Operator (GZO) enterprise, created in occupied Melitopol in May 2022 and entered into the all-Russian register in December of the same year. The founding documents of the SZO were approved by the head of the occupation administration, Yevgeny Balitsky. The company seized control of most of the agricultural land and equipment, as well as grain complexes in the occupied part of the Zaporizhzhia region.
At the beginning of 2023, the GZO was included in the sanctions list of the United States, and then - of Ukraine and the UK. However, as investigators have found, the company successfully circumvents the restrictions by using Russian shell companies to trade on international markets. Exported grain is loaded at the Kavkaz port in the Kerch Strait, that is, on the territory of the Krasnodar Territory, which allows you to write in customs documents “the country of origin of the grain is Russia.”
The largest buyer of grain from Russian companies associated with state-owned enterprises was the Turkish company Trans World Agro Tarim Ihracat Ithalat Limited Sirketi (Trans World Agro). It purchased almost 134 thousand tons of grain worth $28.6 million. Trans World Agro, registered in Turkey, was established in December 2022 by Israeli citizen Leon Mace, and the director was Ukrainian Leonid Pashkovsky. After journalists became interested in the company’s activities, the names of Mace and Pashkovsky disappeared from the constituent documents.
Via The Insider
Poland investigating Russian espionage, security agency says
Poland's Internal Security Agency (ABW) has carried out searches as part of an investigation with other European security services into alleged Russian espionage, it said on Thursday.
A hub for Western military supplies to Ukraine as it fights Russia's invasion, Poland says it has become a major target of Russian spies. It accuses Moscow and its ally Belarus of trying to destabilise it.
"Actions aimed at organising pro-Russian initiatives and media campaigns in EU countries have been documented," ABW said in a statement, mentioning the website voice-of-europe.eu that it says published pro-Russian material.
Read More at Reuters
Netherlands will temporarily deploy Patriot anti-aircraft missile systems in Lithuania
The Netherlands will temporarily deploy Patriot anti-aircraft missile systems in Lithuania, the Republic's Ministry of National Defense reports. “This summer, the Netherlands decided to deploy the Patriot long-range air defense system in Lithuania for several weeks. The Dutch military unit will undergo training in Lithuania together with units of the Lithuanian army,” the statement says. This is as Poland scrambled jets a second time in a week because of Russian missiles.
Russian drone flew 23 kilometers over Romania before hitting the ground – photo, video
A Russian drone crashed on the Great Brăila Island after flying 23 kilometers over Romanian territory at approximately 20:00 on 28 March.
According to media reports, before the fall, the drone had flown 23 kilometers over Romanian territory. Although the origin is unknown, Russian markings can be seen on the debris, similar to those used on Shahed UAVs.
According to HotNews.ro, the crater formed by the drone's fall has a diameter of about four meters and can be seen from above.
Authorities received a report of a drone falling around 21:45 on Thursday. Since then, law enforcement has closed off the area. Witnesses say they heard a loud explosion as the drone fell.
Earlier on Friday, the Romanian Ministry of Defence reported the discovery of drone-like fragments on Romanian territory near the Danube River and the Ukrainian border.
Via Ukrainian Pravda
Prigozhin Is Dead, but His Troll Farms Are Alive and Peddling Disinformation
Online influence campaigns have remained active since the Wagner Group leader’s death in a plane crash, Google says.
Russian trolls farms linked to Yevgeny Prigozhin remain active months after the mercenary chief died in a plane crash and are likely to continue peddling disinformation aimed at influencing opinions on the war in Ukraine and the 2024 U.S. elections, according to new cybersecurity research.
Several distinct online influence campaigns with covert or financial links to the former paramilitary chief were active throughout 2023 and underwent subtle shifts in their targeting, Google’s Mandiant Intelligence unit said. The activity continued even as propaganda outfits more overtly connected to Prigozhin appeared to be dismantled by the Russian government in the wake of his August death.
Read More at WSJ
Migrants began to be expelled from St. Petersburg, following Moscow
A large-scale operation to search and deport migrants has begun in St. Petersburg, the First Department organization reports, citing a lawyer who defends some foreign citizens.
“You cannot approach temporary detention centers for foreign citizens. There is a lot of special equipment and buses around for traveling to the airport. There are also raids on dormitories and apartments. All special detention centers are overcrowded,” the lawyer said. He added that the bailiffs call this “Operation Anti-migrant.”
According to the defense lawyer, on March 29, several buses with detainees, in respect of whom a decision on deportation had been made, left for Pulkovo airport. A day earlier, more than 64 foreign citizens were deported from the Vyborg district of St. Petersburg alone. “Two full planes took off,” the defender said.
Earlier it became known that in Moscow there has been a sharp increase in the number of cases of violation of the rules of entry into Russia by foreigners (Article 18.8 of the Administrative Code). They talk about expulsion from the country. “The police catch almost all migrants on the street, especially if they have Tajik passports. Everyone is taken to the department and checked,” said one of the lawyers.
After the attack on Crocus City Hall, raids on migrant workers intensified in Russian cities. In addition, 10 Russian regions have introduced work restrictions for them. Thus, the authorities of the Novgorod region banned foreigners with a license from driving taxis and buses, as well as selling alcohol. Previously, a ban on the work of migrants in certain industries was introduced in the Chelyabinsk, Magadan, Kaliningrad, Tula, Novosibirsk, Tyumen, and Kaluga regions, as well as in the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug - Ugra and Yakutia.
Note: Russia was already experiencing a worker shortage and dependent on migrants.
Via The Moscow Times
