Russian Digest
Top daily stories I'm keeping an eye on!
Germany delivers Patriot air defense system to Ukraine
Germany has delivered a Patriot air defense system and missiles for it to Ukraine, according to the German government’s weekly update.
In addition, Berlin has reportedly handed over 16 Zetros trucks and two border protection vehicles.
Germany promised to provide Ukraine with a Patriot battery in January following Washington’s commitment to send the American-made system. The Netherlands later joined the efforts.
The Patriot system is the most advanced air defense weapon in the U.S. arsenal that Kyiv has been long pleading for. One Patriot battery has four to eight launchers designed for four missiles each.
Patriots aim to significantly improve the defense of Ukrainian cities and critical infrastructure against regular Russian missile attacks.
Pentagon spokesperson Patrick Ryder said on March 30 that 65 Ukrainian soldiers had completed training on Patriot systems at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, and returned to Europe.
https://kyivindependent.com/germany-delivers-patriot-air-defense-system-to-ukraine/
Two more European banks refuse Russians to open an account and accept foreign currency
European banks operating in the Russian market continue to tighten the screws for clients.
The subsidiary of the Hungarian OTP Bank will stop crediting customers with US dollars sent from other banks from April 25, Frank Media was told in the call center. Funds sent after this date in US currency will be returned to the sender's account.
The only correspondent bank for crediting funds in dollars to the accounts of OTP Bank is Citibank NA, which is gradually winding down its business in Russia. At the same time, the Hungarian bank still continues to credit customers' accounts with money in other foreign currencies.
In addition, the Russian "daughter" of the largest Italian bank Intesa announced that from April 18 it will not open foreign currency accounts for individuals. Previously, Intesa introduced a commission on balances above $50,000 on all accounts except credit — 0.3% per month.
After the start of the war in Ukraine, the "subsidiaries" of foreign banks operating in Russia gradually tightened the conditions for clients on transactions with dollars and euros. While most Russian banks still have access to the toxic currency, the cost of holding it and transfer fees are rising regularly.
In August, Russian President Vladimir Putin banned foreign banks from selling stakes in their subsidiaries without special permission from the authorities. In October, a list of banks that fell under this ban was published. The list included OTP Bank and Intesa.
Finnish authorities seized the building of the Russian Center for Science and Culture in Helsinki
Finnish authorities seized the building and land of the Russian Center for Science and Culture, located in Helsinki. According to the newspaper Helsingin Sanomat, citing the bailiff service, seven apartments were also seized, three of which are located in close proximity to the center.
The owner of the building, which houses the center of science and culture, is the Russian Federation, and in the past, it belonged to the USSR. The apartments are connected with the Russian Foreign Ministry.
Since the spring of 2022, Finland has been freezing the assets of Russian businessmen on the EU sanctions list. Now the Finnish authorities have dealt directly with the property of the Russian state.
White House nears unprecedented action on U.S. investment in China
The White House is briefing industry on coming rules to govern American investments in China. But some key details remain up in the air.
President Joe Biden’s administration has been divided at the highest levels for years over how aggressively to limit economic engagement with China. But officials now appear to be nearing an agreement on one key effort to curtail Beijing’s technological and military rise.
Unprecedented rules limiting American investments in China are expected later this month — and the administration has begun briefing industry groups like the Chamber of Commerce on the broad outlines of the executive order, which is expected to require companies to notify the government of new investments in Chinese tech firms and prohibit some deals in critical sectors like microchips.
Read More:
https://www.politico.com/news/2023/04/18/biden-china-trade-00092421
Russian Public Diplomacy Advocate Charged With Acting As Agent of Russian Federation in the United States
WASHINGTON – A criminal complaint was unsealed today in the District of Columbia charging Russian national Natalia Burlinova with conspiracy to act as an agent of the Russian Federation in the United States without prior notification to the Attorney General.
The announcement was made by U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Matthew M. Graves, Assistant Attorney General of the National Security Division Matthew G. Olsen, and Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Detroit Field Office James A. Tarasca.
“The defendant is accused of subverting our foreign agent notification laws in order to promote Russian national interests here in the United States, concealing from the public that her recruitment efforts were funded by a Russian security service,” said U.S. Attorney Graves. “We will continue to expose these serious crimes and hold all who perpetrate them accountable.”
“The defendant is accused of exploiting academic and research institutions’ commitment to the free exchange of ideas in order to promote Russian interests,” said Special Agent in Charge Tarasca. “The FBI will continue to prioritize counterintelligence because of the importance of protecting our nation’s vital secrets, and we will work with our partners to investigate and stop individuals who hide their work for foreign governments.”
According to the affidavit in support of criminal complaint, Burlinova recruited U.S. citizens from academic and research institutions to travel to Russia in order to participate in a public diplomacy program called Meeting Russia. The program was operated by a Russian organization called PICREADI that was funded by the Russian government and devoted to Russian national interests. Burlinova’s co-conspirator was employed by the Russian Federal Security Service (“FSB”), Russia’s principal security service with counterintelligence and surveillance responsibilities. The FSB Officer provided funding and other support for Burlinova’s foreign recruitment and her efforts to advance Russian interests in the United States.
Read More:
Last year the Institute for European Integrity placed Natalya Burlinova and her Picreadi NGO on the NGO Watchlist.
Read More:
https://www.iei.ngo/ngo-watchlist/public-initiative-creative-diplomacy-picreadi
U.S. Citizens and Russian Intelligence Officers Charged with Conspiring to Use U.S. Citizens as Illegal Agents of the Russian Government
Defendants Sought to Sow Discord, Spread Pro-Russia Propaganda and Interfere in Elections Within the United States
A federal grand jury in Tampa, Florida, returned a superseding indictment charging four U.S. citizens and three Russian nationals with working on behalf of the Russian government and in conjunction with the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) to conduct a multi-year foreign malign influence campaign in the United States. Among other conduct, the superseding indictment alleges that the Russian defendants recruited, funded and directed U.S. political groups to act as unregistered illegal agents of the Russian government and sow discord and spread pro-Russian propaganda; the indicted intelligence officers, in particular, participated in covertly funding and directing candidates for local office within the United States.
Additionally, in a separate case out of the District of Columbia, a criminal complaint was unsealed charging Russian national Natalia Burlinova with conspiring with an FSB officer to act as an illegal agent of Russia in the United States.
“Russia’s foreign intelligence service allegedly weaponized our First Amendment rights – freedoms Russia denies its own citizens – to divide Americans and interfere in elections in the United States,” said Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen of the Justice Department’s National Security Division. “The department will not hesitate to expose and prosecute those who sow discord and corrupt U.S. elections in service of hostile foreign interests, regardless of whether the culprits are U.S. citizens or foreign individuals abroad.”
“Efforts by the Russian government to secretly influence U.S. elections will not be tolerated,” said Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite, Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “As today’s announcement demonstrates, the Criminal Division is committed to eradicating foreign malign influence from the U.S. political system and helping ensure the integrity of our elections.”
“Today’s announcement paints a harrowing picture of Russian government actions and the lengths to which the FSB will go to interfere with our elections, sow discord in our nation and ultimately recruit U.S citizens to their efforts,” said Acting Assistant Director Kurt Ronnow of the FBI’s Counterintelligence Division. “All Americans should be deeply concerned by the tactics employed by the FSB and remain vigilant to any attempt to undermine our democracy. The FBI remains committed to confronting this egregious behavior and ultimately disrupting our adversaries and those who act on their behalf.”
Read More:
Last year the Institute for European Integrity placed Aleksandr Ionov and his CIPDH NGO on the NGO Watchlist.
An in-Depth Investigation:
https://www.iei.ngo/ngo-watchlist/comite-international-pour-la-protection-des-droits-de-lhomme
Saudi Arabia and the UAE are cashing in on buying Russian oil products at deep discounts
Leading oil producers in the Persian Gulf are actively buying up Russian oil products. Having lost their traditional customers in Europe, Russian companies are forced to sell diesel, naphtha, gas oil, and heating oil at a discount, allowing their new counterparties to make good money.
Oilers in Saudi Arabia and the UAE are buying cheaper Russian oil products for use in the domestic market and sending their crude oil and products for export at higher world market prices, The Wall Street Journal says, citing oil top managers and analysts.
These countries have an abundance of their own oil products, “so the only reason to import them from Russia is to capitalize on the difference in prices,” says Elshan Aliyev, director of Middle East oil products at Argus Media pricing agency.
Naphtha and diesel from Russia are sold at $60 and $25 a tonne discount, respectively, compared to equivalent grades produced in the Persian Gulf, he said. A ton of naphtha in the region, for example, now costs about $628, which means that Russia has to give a discount of almost 10%.
At the same time, over the past year, Saudi Arabia has significantly increased diesel exports to France and Italy, which previously mainly purchased Russian fuel, according to Kpler data. Russia is "largely saturating the [Saudi] market with cheaper transportation fuels, freeing up [locally produced] diesel for export to other countries," said Kpler analyst Victor Katona.
The state-owned company Saudi Aramco earned $161 billion in 2022, which was a record profit for any oil company in the world. Its petroleum products division saw a 27% increase in profits.
The UAE, meanwhile, has become a major trading center for oil and products from Russia, both for domestic and foreign markets. Since December, Dubai's Emirates National Oil has taken in five tankers of gasoline, and in November, 700,000 barrels of Arctic crude were delivered to the Abu Dhabi National Oil refinery, Kpler said. But mostly private firms import Russian products for resale in Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and East African countries, Aliyev said. Its purchases by the Emirates more than tripled last year to a record 60 million barrels.
The share of Russian gas oil in the storage facilities of Fujairah, the main oil center of the UAE, now exceeds 10%; only Saudi gas oil has a larger share, according to Argus.
Saudi Arabia bought almost no oil and oil products from Russia before the war in Ukraine and now buys about 100,000 barrels per day, according to Kpler (that's more than 36 million annually). At the same time, Saudi Aramco often does this through Fujairah, and not through Saudi ports, the WSJ points out, citing a Saudi official and Kpler.
https://www.moscowtimes.ru/2023/04/18/saudi-oae-russian-oil-a40365
US diplomatic convoy fired on in Sudan, prompting warning from Blinken
A U.S. diplomatic convoy came under fire on Monday in Sudan in an apparent attack by fighters associated with Sudan's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Tuesday, in an incident he described as "reckless" and "irresponsible".
The incident prompted a direct warning from Blinken, who separately telephoned RSF leader General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti, and Sudan's army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, to tell them that any danger posed to American diplomats was unacceptable.
"I can confirm that yesterday we had an American diplomatic convoy that was fired on," Blinken said at a news conference in the Japanese resort town of Karuizawa where he attended a meeting of the Group of Seven foreign ministers.
Read More:
Poland Building Electronic Barrier On Border With Russia
Poland has begun building a state-of-the-art electronic barrier at its land border with Russia’s Kaliningrad exclave to monitor and counteract any illegal activity, the Polish interior minister said Tuesday.
The barrier, which will be equipped with 24-hour monitoring cameras and motion detectors, will run for 210 kilometers (130 miles) and is due to be completed in the fall.
“We will have full monitoring of the border with Russia,” Mariusz Kaminski told a news conference.
“I am sure that this will be the best secured EU border,” he said.
Last year, Poland, which is an EU member, built a wall on its border with Belarus, a Russian ally, to stop a massive illegal inflow of migrants. Warsaw said the crossings were organized by the Belarus and Russian authorities to destabilize Poland and the rest of the EU.
Poland’s eastern borders with Russia and Belarus, which are also EU external borders, will be “perfectly prepared for any type of illegal activities that are linked to crisis situations regarding our eastern neighbors,” Kaminski said.
Read More: