January 27, 2024: Russian Digest
Top stories I'm keeping an eye on!
Senate deal on border and Ukraine at risk of collapse as Trump calls it ‘meaningless’
Utah Republican Senator Mitt Romney fired back on former President Donald Trump’s efforts to stop a bipartisan Senate deal to pair border enforcement measures and Ukraine.
A bipartisan Senate deal to pair border enforcement measures and Ukraine aid faced potential collapse Thursday as Senate Republicans grew increasingly wary of an election-year compromise that Donald Trump, the likely Republican presidential nominee, says is “meaningless.”
Senate negotiators have been striving for weeks to finish a carefully negotiated compromise on border and immigration policy that is meant to tamp down the number of migrants who come to the U.S. border with Mexico. But now that negotiations have dragged for weeks, election-year politics and demands from Trump are weighing it down.
At stake is a plan that both President Joe Biden and Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell have worked on for months to broker in hopes of cajoling Congress to approve wartime aid for Ukraine. The U.S. has run out of money to supply Ukraine, potentially leaving the country stranded without robust supplies of ammunition and missiles to fend off Russia’s invasion.
Read More:
https://apnews.com/article/congress-border-security-ukraine-trump-a8601ec6629ddc5b769028ca99ad9879
For my subscribers in the United States, please call your representatives and tell them to pass the aid package to Ukraine.
Kuleba: F-16s, other weapons, can help Ukraine regain control over its airspace in 2024
Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba believes it's realistic for Ukraine to regain control over its airspace in 2024, he said during the press conference with his Lithuanian counterpart, Gabrielius Landsbergis, in Kyiv on Jan. 27.
"If we receive F-16s, if we have combat and reconnaissance drones – that's the importance of our cooperation with Lithuania — if we have electronic warfare equipment and missiles, we will control our sky. It's achievable," Kuleba told journalists.
"All these decisions are currently being implemented. There is nothing unprecedented here. We just need to obtain all these elements in sufficient quantities and in due time," he said, adding that that is why the European Peace Facility (EPF) is so important.
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Russia projects confidence as it pursues alliances to undermine West
Russia is increasingly confident that deepening economic and diplomatic ties with China and the Global South will allow it to challenge the international financial system dominated by the United States and undermine the West, according to Kremlin documents and interviews with Russian officials and business executives.
Russia has been buoyed by its success in holding off a Western-backed Ukrainian counteroffensive followed by political stalemates in Washington and Brussels over continued funding for Kyiv. In Moscow’s view, the U.S. backing of Israel’s invasion of Gaza has damaged Washington’s standing in many parts of the world. The confluence of events has led to a surge of optimism about Russia’s global position.
Officials in Moscow point to growing trade with China, military cooperation with Iran, diplomatic outreach in the Arab world and the expansion of the BRICS grouping of major emerging economies — Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa — to include Iran, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Ethiopia.
Read More:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/01/26/kremlin-global-alliances-ukraine-us/
Angola kicks Russia out of diamond mining project due to sanctions
The Angolan government has demanded that the Russian group of companies (GC) Alrosa withdraw from the diamond mining project at the Catoca mine due to Western sanctions, Expansao reports.
The development of the deposit is carried out by Sociedade Mineira de Catoca, 41% of which is owned by the Angolan national company Endiama. Alrosa owns a similar stake. Another 18% of shares are held by the international holding LL International Holding BV
According to the newspaper, the Angolan authorities have been trying for several months to get rid of the Russian company in the joint capital of the enterprise, since the diamonds it mined have become “toxic” for sale. Endiama President Ganga Junior said that Alrosa's presence undermines the authority of the field developer in the international market, and many banks refuse to work with them because of such cooperation.
The Russian company expressed its readiness to leave the project, but only on condition of monetary compensation for the investments made. However, Luanda ruled out the possibility of payments, noting that the mine is “Angolan heritage” and therefore the country does not owe anyone anything, and Alrosa is obliged to leave “immediately and without any demands.”
In mid-January, Angola sent a delegation to Dubai to meet with Russian authorities in another attempt to get the deal unblocked. One of the options is the departure of Alrosa from the country with a guarantee of return after the lifting of sanctions in the future. However, Moscow is suspicious of such a proposal, given Angola's rapprochement with the United States.
Catoca ranks fourth in the world in terms of deposits. In 2019, the mine's reserves were estimated at 120 million carats. About 6.8 million carats of diamonds are mined in Katok every year.
The European Union blacklisted Alrosa, as well as its CEO Pavel Marinychev, on January 3. This happened against the backdrop of a ban on the import of Russian diamonds, which was introduced as part of the 12th package of sanctions and came into force on January 1. The United States added Alrosa to the block list back in April 2022, a month and a half after Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Alrosa accounts for 28% of global diamond production. More than 60% of the company's shares belong to the state. Alrosa has been operating in Angola since 1992.
Deep Dive…
Our man in Brussels: The Insider has unmasked the GRU officer helping the Kremlin evade sanctions from his base in the heart of Europe
Russian military intelligence (GRU) officer Viktor Labin has set up shop in Brussels, home to the European Commission and NATO headquarters. From his office in a nondescript seven-story building on the outskirts of the Belgian capital, Labin supplies Russian arms manufacturers with European-made coordinate-measuring machines, a high-tech machine tool critical in the production of the Kremlin’s hypersonic Kinzhal missile. The sanctions-busting operation has become a family business. Labin’s younger son runs the Moscow-based middleman that delivers his father’s shipments to end users in Russia, while his elder son pitches in by organizing pro-Kremlin protests across Europe. Despite the Labin family’s unabashed efforts to aid the Russian military-industrial complex, none of them has been placed on the European Union’s sanctions list.
Read the investigation: https://theins.ru/en/politics/268669
Ukraine levels up the fight with drone strikes deep into Russia
Last week, a motorist driving in Russia’s Leningrad region came across something unusual. Men had blocked off the road. In front, a large olive-green military vehicle with cigar-shaped missiles on the back was reversing and then parked up on a snowy verge. “Fuck! It’s an S-300,” the driver exclaimed, before adding: “So guys, let’s prepare for the worst.”
This surreal roadside encounter took place outside St Petersburg, more than 620 miles (about 1,000km) from the border with Ukraine and Russia’s near two-year all-out war. The Kremlin’s security services were apparently taking no chances. They were deploying the S-300 air defence missile system in order to protect Peter the Great’s imperial capital from small but devastating drones.
Over the past three weeks, Ukraine has wreaked havoc with Russia’s energy infrastructure. Soon after the new year, someone attached explosives to train carriages in the Urals city of Nizhny Tagil. A blast took place next to facilities owned by Gazprom Neft, the country’s third biggest oil producer. Next, a kamikaze drone crashed into an oil depot in the Oryol region.
On 18 January, another oil terminal, in St Petersburg – Vladimir Putin’s home city – came under attack. It was the first time since the invasion in February 2022 that unmanned aerial vehicles had reached the Leningrad region.
There was more to come. A large-scale fire broke out at an oil depot in the town of Klintsy, not far from Belarus and Ukraine.
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Estonia to build 600 bunkers along Russian border
Estonia will build hundreds of bunkers on its border with Russia under new plans to create a "Baltic defense line" to strengthen regional security. On Friday an agreement was signed by the three Baltic states to construct "anti-mobility defensive installations" in the coming years.
Defense ministers from Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania signed the agreement in Riga.
They approved the concept of building "anti-mobility defensive installations" on their borders with Russia and Belarus, a statement from the Estonian Ministry of Defense said.
In peacetime, no explosives, cutting wires, or other obstacles will be placed on the border of Estonia, the ministry said. Instead, a network of bunkers, support points, and distribution lines will be established.
In the coming years, they will be used to deter and, if necessary, defend against military threats.
The plans are based on the decisions made at the NATO Madrid Summit in 2023 which emphasized that Allies must be ready to defend the territory from the first meter. New regional defense plans must also be developed.
The Baltic countries are one area of operations, and so defense installations will be built in coordination with Latvia and Lithuania.
Read More:
https://news.err.ee/1609227386/estonia-to-build-600-bunkers-along-russian-border
Deep Dive…
Taiwan has become the Russian arms industry’s main source for high precision machine tools
Despite its publicly pro-Ukrainian position, Taiwan has become Russia’s most important supplier of high-precision metalworking machines, The Insider has discovered as part of a joint investigation carried out with Taiwanese outlet The Reporter. Following the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, German, Japanese, and Swiss machine tools manufacturers all left the Russian market, and Chinese substitutes proved to be of inferior quality. However, Taiwanese machining centers, lathes, and electrical discharge machines have since filled the gap, satisfying the needs of the Russian military-industrial complex. Taiwanese technology has proven indispensable in the production of fuses, precision weapons, and other Russian military hardware. Sanctions imposed by the Taiwanese government have not remedied this situation, as the machine tools themselves are shipped to Russia via third countries, including Turkey. And in some cases, critical machinery is not subject to restrictions at all.
Read Investigation: https://theins.ru/en/politics/268661
German foreign ministry concerned about extensive Russian disinformation on Twitter (X)
Experts at the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs have identified a systematic disinformation campaign favouring Russia on the social media platform Twitter (X). The government is concerned about potential interference in upcoming elections.
Source: European Pravda, citing Spiegel
Details: The editorial team obtained a confidential report from analysts in the Department of Strategic Communications at the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Through specialised software, they examined a vast dataset on Twitter from 20 December to 20 January.
Over that month, analysts identified over 50,000 accounts not belonging to real individuals and engaged in coordinated information campaigns in the German language. On certain days, these bots generated around 200,000 tweets per day. Their activity notably decreased on weekends and holidays, aligning with Russia's official days off.
A prevalent narrative in these posts suggests that Germany neglects the interests of its population to support Ukraine. Bots, posing as first-person accounts, express opinions such as finding it "strange that the government does more for other countries than its citizens."
It appears that the coordinators of this campaign are targeting existing dissatisfaction among Germans and attempting to amplify it. Analysts believe the campaign aims to fuel discontent, and undermine trust in the government, democratic institutions, and the media. German assistance to Ukraine is a priority target, along with narratives about the "failure of Ukraine" and the "influx of Ukrainian refugees."
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs analysts believe that Russia is behind this campaign, which has been ongoing since 2022.
Read More:
https://news.yahoo.com/german-foreign-ministry-concerned-extensive-072731234.html
Businessman Arrested for Scheme to Illegally Export Semiconductors and Other Controlled Technology to Russia
Defendant Allegedly Used Network of Businesses in China and Other Countries to Illegally Transfer Hundreds of Thousands of Semiconductors to Sanctioned Business with Ties to Russian Military and Russian Intelligence Agencies
Ilya Kahn, 66, a citizen of the United States, Israel and Russia, and resident of Brooklyn, New York, and Los Angeles, California, was arrested yesterday in Los Angeles for his alleged involvement in a years-long scheme to secure and unlawfully export sensitive technology from the United States for the benefit of a Russian business. The business was sanctioned by the U.S. government following Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and whose clients include elements of the Russian military and the Federal Security Service (FSB), the main successor agency to the Soviet Union’s KGB.
Read Indictment:
Thank you, Olga, for sharing all this important news and call to action. Everyone in the U.S., let's all get Olga's request* DONE today or ASAP by calling the U.S. Capitol Switchboard to be transferred to our U.S. Representatives' offices to leave a message or voicemail (about a 1 minute limit). I said mine must do more to help stop the unfair partisan games and get Ukraine the military and additional aid it desperately needs NOW as our key ally who is defending itself, Europe and us all against Russia's global hybrid war on all our democracies and struggling nations!
*"For my subscribers in the United States, please call your representatives and tell them to pass the aid package to Ukraine." - Olga