Russian Digest

Russia fighter jet accidentally fires ammunition in Belgorod, injuring 2

A Russian fighter-bomber jet accidentally fired its ammunition on the Russian city of Belgorod on April 20, injuring two women, Russian state-controlled media Tass reported, citing the Russian Defense Ministry.

Earlier, a large explosion was reported in the city, located 40 kilometers north of the border with Ukraine.

"As a Sukhoi Su-34 air force plane was flying over the city of Belgorod there was an accidental discharge of aviation ammunition," Tass reported the defense ministry as saying.

The ministry said two women were injured by the accident. Buildings were also reportedly damaged and a probe has already been initiated, Tass said.

Belgorod Oblast Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said on Telegram said that there was a 20-meter crater on a main street in the city and that four cars and four apartment buildings were damaged, Reuters reported.

https://kyivindependent.com/russia-fighter-jet-accidentally-fires-ammunition-in-belgorod-injuring-2/

The Ministry of Defense dropped the S-400 complex worth 5 billion rubles into a ditch

The S-400 anti-aircraft missile system was traveling in a convoy of eight vehicles but fell behind on the road near Tula. Then the 33-year-old driver lost control and sent the car worth billions of rubles into a ditch and broke his arm.

A regiment of S-400 air defense systems of 16 launchers costs more than $1 billion. One vehicle costs $62.5 million, or more than 5 billion rubles.

The sanctions, which prevent Russia from obtaining Western components for the production of weapons, have become the reason for the threat of non-fulfillment of contracts that Russia signed with India. Problems, in particular, arose with the shipment to India of five S-400 Triumph anti-aircraft missile systems, the contract for the supply of which was signed back in 2018. The amount of the contract is $5.4 billion, and Russia has committed to fulfilling it by the end of 2024.

https://www.moscowtimes.ru/2023/04/20/v-belgorode-progremel-vzriv-na-meste-obrazovalas-ogromnaya-voronka-a40732

Switzerland expands Russia sanctions list, adding Wagner group and Russian news agency RIA

Switzerland is extending its list of sanctions relating to Russia to include the Wagner private military group and state news agency, RIA, as Western allies hit the country with bans designed to isolate it from the global economy.

In a statement on Thursday, the Swiss Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research (EAER) justified that it is sanctioning the Wagner group for “their active involvement in Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine” and RIA for its “dissemination of pro-government propaganda and disinformation.”

“Switzerland is adopting the sanctioning of these two organizations and thus strengthens the effect of the EU (European Union) measures,” the EAER statement outlined.

Ukraine planned attacks on Russian forces in Syria, leaked document shows

Ukraine’s military intelligence agency developed plans to conduct covert attacks on Russian forces in Syria using secret Kurdish help, according to a leaked top-secret U.S. intelligence document.

The introduction of a new battlefield — thousands of miles from the war in Ukraine — appeared designed to impose costs and casualties on Russia and its Wagner paramilitary group, which is active in Syria, and possibly force Moscow to redeploy resources from Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky directed a halt to the planning in December, but the leaked document, based on intelligence gathered as of Jan. 23, lays out in detail how the planning progressed and how such a campaign could proceed if Ukraine revived it.

The document — which in places bears the marking HCS-P, indicating that certain information is derived from human sources — details how officers of the Main Directorate of Intelligence, the Ukrainian Defense Ministry’s military intelligence service, could plan deniable attacks that would avoid implicating the Ukrainian government itself.

Exclusive: Evidence emerges of Russia’s Wagner arming militia leader battling Sudan’s army

The Russian mercenary group Wagner has been supplying Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF) with missiles to aid their fight against the country’s army, Sudanese and regional diplomatic sources have told CNN.

The sources said the surface-to-air missiles have significantly buttressed RSF paramilitary fighters and their leader Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo as he battles for power with Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, Sudan’s military ruler and the head of its armed forces.

In bordering Libya, where a Wagner-backed rogue general, Khalifa Haftar, controls swathes of land, satellite imagery supports these claims, showing an unusual uptick in activity on Wagner bases.

The powerful Russian mercenary group has played a public and pivotal role in Moscow’s foreign military campaigns, namely in Ukraine, and has repeatedly been accused of committing atrocities. In Africa, it has helped to prop up Moscow’s growing influence and seizing of resources.

Dagalo and Burhan had been jockeying for power in negotiations over restoring civilian leadership in Sudan before talks broke down, erupting into some of the worst violence the country has seen in decades.

The fighting has claimed hundreds of lives and deprived millions of people from electricity, water and food.

State Duma deputies retained real estate in EU and NATO countries

State Duma deputies increased their incomes and did not get rid of their apartments in Switzerland, the EU, and NATO countries, despite the sanctions and the war in Ukraine, the We Can Explain telegram channel found out.

On February 6, President Vladimir Putin signed a law allowing members of both houses of parliament not to publish income and property declarations. All factions of the State Duma took advantage of this, except for A Just Russia - For Truth (SRZP). Also, reports were posted by several communists, United Russia members, and Sardana Avksentiev from the New People.

Even from the truncated declarations it follows that the war did not affect the well-being of the deputies. Thus, State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin increased revenues by 23%, earning 80.9 million rubles, which is 15.9 million more than in 2021.

In general, it follows from the published declarations that the average monthly salary of a deputy exceeded 500 thousand rubles, while for ordinary Russians it was 63 thousand rubles, and in real terms, according to Rosstat, it fell by 1.1 %.

Four parliamentarians from the NWRP kept the property abroad but decided not to publicly indicate it in the declarations. Among them is the vice-speaker Alexander Babakov - he owns an estate in France, recorded in the company of his son and daughter. The property was frozen as part of the sanctions.

Babakov regularly criticizes Europe, especially its energy policy. “These are poorly educated people, especially in the economic sphere. They think that this winter is the only one. And how will they survive the second, and third? This is just the funeral of Europe, ” he said in one of his speeches.

Deputy Vadim Belousov, who escaped from Russian justice and was sentenced to 10 years in a strict regime colony for a bribe of 3 billion rubles, has a house and an apartment in Spain. They are registered with his wife Irina, the documents are at the disposal of the "MO". Belousov is wanted but is still listed in the Duma since the court decision has not entered into force. Nikolai Novichkov, a colleague of the deputy in the faction, said that he did not know where he was.

Another parliamentarian, Alexander Remezkov, has two apartments in Austria: one is registered to his ex-wife, the other to his daughter. Valery Hartung's wife has a 190-meter apartment in Switzerland and a 94-meter apartment in Cyprus. In October 2022, he confirmed ownership of them and stated that he "has always been against the war in any of its manifestations.”

https://www.moscowtimes.ru/2023/04/20/deputati-gosdumi-sohranili-nedvizhimost-vstranah-esinato-a40709

Moldova announced a violation of the security regime by Russian troops in Transnistria

At the meeting of the Joint Control Commission (JCC) for the management of the peacekeeping operation in Transnistria, Moldova announced a violation of the security regime by the so-called Russian peacekeeping contingent.

As "European Truth" writes with reference to Moldpres, this is stated in the statement of the Moldovan Reintegration Bureau.

During the meeting of the Central Committee of Moldova, Moldova raised the issue of illegal posts of "Transnistrian" security forces and the need to remove them from the so-called security zone located along the entire administrative border between the right and left banks of the Dniester.

The Moldovan delegation drew attention to the repeated cases of placement of roadblocks by the joint peacekeeping forces, at which cars, including diplomats accredited in Moldova, are stopped unjustifiably.

Kishinev also pointed to the violation of the Security Zone regime by the Russian military contingent from February to April 2023. It was about the uncoordinated "movement of armored military equipment outside the location of the posts of the United Peacekeeping Forces."

The Moldovan Reintegration Bureau emphasized that these incidents "had a resonance in society and increased the dissatisfaction of the residents of the Security Zone, who are regularly subjected to unjustified stops with excessive checks of documents and vehicles."

In this regard, Kishinev called on the Russian military contingent to refrain from destabilizing actions and contribute to the preservation of peace on the banks of the Dniester.

The military contingent of the Russian Federation in Transnistria has the official name of the Operational Group of Russian Forces (OGRV). The OGRV was created from the remnants of the former 14th Russian Army, which was stationed here in the early 1990s and took an active part in the Transnistrian conflict.

The OGRV itself is quite small: two motorized rifle battalions plus a command unit. In total, this is from 1,500 to 1,700 servicemen of the Russian Federation. The vast majority of the staff of the OGRV is made up of local residents who have Russian citizenship.

Moldova considers the presence of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in Transnistria illegal and demands its withdrawal. Previously, the Russian military could rotate through the land corridor of Ukraine, but since 2014, they have not had such an opportunity.

https://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2023/04/20/7398770/

Estonia Charges Former Danske Bank Staff With Money Laundering

Estonian authorities charged on Monday six former officials at Danske Bank’s Estonian division for their alleged role in one of the biggest money-laundering scandals in history, which broke out in 2017 and is now being brought to a close.

Danske’s Estonia division funneled through more than US$220 billion in suspicious payments from 2007-2015. The majority of the illicit funds are believed to have come from Russian sources.

The Estonian Prosecutor’s Office said that the six suspects were jointly responsible for initiating and operating the money-laundering scheme, which was hidden from other units of the bank and served their personal interest.

They are accused of laundering $2 billion and 6 million euro ($6.6 million) of dirty money originating from crimes committed in Russia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Switzerland, the United States and Iran.

US, Ukraine Allies Consider Near-Total Ban on Exports to Russia

Comes as nations continue to export large amounts to Russia
Talks at preliminary stage, are obstacles for implementation

The Group of Seven (G7) countries are considering a near-total ban on exports to Russia, Kyodo news agency reported on Friday, citing Japanese government sources.

Bloomberg news on Thursday also reported that the United States and Ukraine's allies were considering "an outright ban on most exports to Russia". That report said officials from G7 nations were discussing the idea before a summit meeting in Japan next month.

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