Russian Digest
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Southern Command: Russia deploys additional ships to Black Sea
Ukraine’s Southern Command said on April 4 that Russia deployed additional ships to the Black Sea. There are currently 15 ships, including six missile carriers.
According to Southern Command, this amount of ships can carry up to 40 Kalibr missiles.
The military added that the threat of missile attacks is “extremely high.”
Since the full-scale invasion began, the most missiles Russia had had in the Black Sea at any time was 48.
Among other cruise and ballistic missiles, Kalibrs have been among the main weapons Russia has used to attack Ukraine’s civilian infrastructure.
According to the Ukrainian Defense Ministry’s Main Intelligence Directorate, Kalibr missiles can hit a land target more than 2,500 thousand kilometers away and reach a sea target from a distance of over 375 kilometers.
https://kyivindependent.com/southern-command-russia-deploys-additional-ships-to-black-sea/
Finland joins NATO in major blow to Russia over Ukraine war
Finland joined the NATO military alliance Tuesday, dealing a major blow to Russian President Vladimir Putin with a historic realignment of Europe’s post-Cold War security landscape triggered by Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
The Nordic country’s membership doubles Russia’s border with the world’s biggest security alliance. Finland had adopted neutrality after its defeat by the Soviets in World War II, but its leaders signaled they wanted to join NATO after Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine sent a shiver of fear through its neighbors.
“The era of nonalignment in our history has come to an end -– a new era begins,” President Sauli Niinistö said before his country’s blue-and-white flag was raised outside NATO headquarters. A short distance away, outside the security fence, a few dozen people wrapped in flags of their own chanted, “Ukraine needs NATO.”
In praising Finland’s membership, U.S. President Joe Biden noted it came on the 74th anniversary of the signing of NATO’s founding treaty on April 4, 1949.
“When Putin launched his brutal war of aggression against the people of Ukraine, he thought he could divide Europe and NATO. He was wrong,” Biden said in a statement. “Today, we are more united than ever. And together — strengthened by our newest ally, Finland — we will continue to preserve transatlantic security, defend every inch of NATO territory, and meet any and all challenges we face.”
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Ural billionaire Altushkin, who escaped sanctions, finances the assault battalion of the Ministry of Defense
The owner of the Russian Copper Company, Igor Altushkin, whose fortune is estimated by Forbes magazine at $3.4 billion, is the main sponsor of the Ural Battalion, an assault unit within the Russian Defense Ministry.
The fact that Altushkin finances the Ural battalion was told to The Moscow Times by a Defense Ministry official who participated in military operations in Ukraine:
Ural is fully sponsored by Altushkin. Provides equipment and other items. This is his battalion. I got the information from their commander.
Altushkin's sponsorship of Ural was confirmed in a telephone conversation with The Moscow Times by Viktor Yarkov, president of the Ural Veterans Foundation (the recording of the conversation is at the disposal of the editors). He said that the fund is recruiting volunteers for the Ural battalion among former special forces and combat veterans. When asked about who finances the Ural battalion, Yarkov, a former commando, replied:
Altushkin, Copper Company - but there are others.
Yarkov refused to name other sponsors, hurried to end the conversation, and did not return calls from The Moscow Times correspondent.
The press service of the Russian Copper Company answered the questions of The Moscow Times about the financing of the Ural battalion by Altushkin shortly: “The company does not comment on rumors.” A request to the Ministry of Defense on this topic remained unanswered.
"Orthodox oligarch"
Altushkin started the business in the 90s with the collection and processing of non-ferrous scrap. In 1995, together with Andrei Kozitsyn and Iskander Makhmudov, he created UMMC, but in 2003 he sold his stake to partners and founded the Russian Copper Company, headquartered in Yekaterinburg. The company owns mining and metallurgical enterprises in the Sverdlovsk, Chelyabinsk, Orenburg, and Novgorod regions, the Khabarovsk Territory, and Kazakhstan. RMK remains private, Altushkin owns 80% of its shares. And his former partners Kozitsyn and Makhmudov came under European and British sanctions in 2022.
On December 20, 2022, Forbes magazine estimated Altushkin's fortune at $3.4 billion and placed him in 48th place on the list of Russian billionaires. At the same time, Forbes named him one of the most impoverished members of the list in 2022: in less than a year of the war, he lost $ 2.8 billion.
Neither Altushkin himself, his business, nor his family fell under European and American sanctions. Altushkin's wife and at least one of his sons hold British citizenship. The Altushkins own a £17 million London mansion formerly owned by singer Madonna and several apartments, Novaya Gazeta reported.
Altushkin is often called an "Orthodox oligarch" in the media. He financed the construction and restoration of churches in the Sverdlovsk region and in Chechnya. In 2018, Patriarch Kirill flew to Yekaterinburg on his business jet. Altushkin regularly gives the Russian Orthodox Church expensive icons adorned with precious metals by the jewelers of the Russian Copper Company. In 2019, Altushkin tried to build a church in Yekaterinburg on the site of a park. The citizens who stood up to defend the square were dispersed by professional boxers and MMA fighters from the Martial Arts Academy of the Russian Copper Company.
The father of six children, Altushkin, is fond of weapons. He created the Archangel Michael sports and shooting club, where he trains with his sons. On the territory of the club in an underground bunker, Altushkin keeps a collection of weapons, numbering 1.5 thousand exhibits. As Forbes wrote, in Altushkin's collection, in particular, there is the world's first grenade launcher, firing canes, and a set for hunting vampires.
In May 2017, Altushkin received the Order of Friendship from Putin's hands as an "outstanding figure in the industry." And in November of the same year, Putin opened a monument to Alexander III in the annexed Crimea, and the creation of the monument was sponsored by Altushkin. In 2020, Putin again awarded Altushkin with the Order of Merit for the Fatherland, IV degree, for supporting the Ural region during the pandemic.
Battalion "Ural"
Altushkin started creating his battalion after a closed meeting of big businessmen with Vladimir Putin in September 2022, Olga Romanova, the head of the Rus' Sedentary movement, knows. At this meeting, representatives of big businesses were asked to collect and finance volunteers to be sent to Ukraine. Earlier this closed meeting was reported by Hristo Grozev.
According to Romanova, at first, Altushkin tried, following the example of the founder of PMC Wagner, to recruit fighters among the prisoners of the Ural colonies, but did not succeed in this: Yevgeny Prigozhin managed to defend his “monopoly” on recruiting prisoners. As a result, Altushkin was forced to switch to recruiting combat veterans.
The Special Forces Veterans Foundation, which recruits fighters for Ural, was registered back in December 2014. The then-head of the fund, Vladimir Yefimov, said that they began sending volunteers to Ukraine immediately after the Maidan. Some veterans participated in the annexation of Crimea and became the so-called "polite people", later the fund switched to sending volunteers to the LDNR.
According to the head of the Veterans of Special Forces Foundation Viktor Yarkov, the battalion recruits mainly people with experience in special forces in hot spots, including Afghanistan and Chechnya. Recruitment is in the 32nd military town in Yekaterinburg, where military unit No. 61423 is deployed.
The Ural battalion is fighting in the Luhansk region near Kremennaya, Russia Today reported in February 2023. In the story, a tanker in a balaclava tells that the battalion was not only equipped but also maintained on a permanent basis by private entrepreneurs. They also buy the necessary equipment upon request: “Copters, active headphones, everything that is needed for the infantry and special units appears instantly.”
In December 2022, propagandist Vladimir Solovyov spoke about the “excellent combat training” of the Ural battalion on his show. The material showed military equipment, which, according to Solovyov, was bought by Russian entrepreneurs.
“There is not a penny of state money. These are all Uralians, men who are brilliantly trained at one of the best training grounds, I think, not only in our country but also in the world. Tanks, armored vehicles, and heavy and light pickups,” Solovyov rejoiced.
The Ural Battalion is not the only unit funded by private individuals. As The Moscow Times wrote earlier, a group of businessmen led by the owner of the Tsargrad TV channel, Konstantin Malofeev, has created a bonus fund from which military personnel of the assault battalions of the Russian Defense Ministry is paid bonuses for a successful offensive in Ukraine.
"The Russian President is a war criminal"
Interview with the Federal Guard Service officer who worked with Putin and who fled Russia
Gleb Karakulov is a captain in the Federal Guard Service. Until mid-October 2022, he worked with Vladimir Putin as an engineer in the Presidential Communications Directorate of the FGS. His duties included the provision of secure communications for the President. In early October, he traveled to Astana, where the Head of State was to participate in three events: the VI Summit of the Conference on Engagement and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia, a meeting of the Council of the CIS Heads of State, and the Russia-Central Asia Summit. On 14 October, the last day of his business trip, Karakulov left his colleagues and flew to Istanbul with his wife and daughter.
The Dossier Center spent over ten hours in conversation with the officer about his decision to leave the FGS and Russia. Karakulov is the highest-ranking intelligence officer in Russia’s recent history to defect to the West. The Dossier Center checked Karakulov’s documents and verified their authenticity. Details from his story match information obtained from various databases and open sources.
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https://dossier-center.appspot.com/fso-en/
The media reported on the suicide in the pre-trial detention center of the deputy general director of Yakutskenergo Igor Shkurko
First Deputy General Director - Chief Engineer of PJSC Yakutskenergo Igor Shkurko committed suicide in a pre-trial detention center, where he was placed on March 30 on suspicion of taking a bribe. This was reported by "KP-Yakutia,” referring to its source.
The publication notes that it has not yet received official confirmation of this information. According to Arcticpost, the Investigative Committee and the Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia in the republic also refused to comment on this information. “Also, PJSC Yakutskenergo has gone on the defensive, which ignores official requests from the media,” the publication reports.
Later, Arcticpost, citing a high-ranking source in law enforcement agencies, confirmed the suicide in the pre-trial detention center of a top manager of Yakutskenergo. "Yes, it's true," was the short answer to the question about the online publication.
As previously reported, First Deputy General Director - Chief Engineer of PJSC Yakutskenergo, member of the Board of PJSC Yakutskenergo Igor Shkurko was detained on suspicion of taking a bribe.
Igor Shkurko was born in Aldan in February 1974. He worked as the general director of South Yakutsk Electric Networks OJSC and was elected to the Aldan District Council, a member of United Russia.
Earlier, United Russia suspended Igor Shkurko's membership in the party. As Ruslan Platonov, head of the United Russia Party RIC, said, the issue of Shkurko's exclusion from the party will be decided after the case is considered in court.
Alexey Struchkov, CEO of PJSC Yakutskenergo, also previously stated in a comment to Arcticpost that the company is fully cooperating with the investigation.
https://yakutia.info/article/208673
UK scales back probe into Mikhail Fridman four months after raid in London
National Crime Agency drops two of three lines of inquiry against sanctions-hit Russian billionaire after his arrest in December.
The UK is no longer investigating two of the three initial allegations against Mikhail Fridman four months after arresting the sanctions-hit Russian oligarch at his London mansion. The National Crime Agency, which tasked more than 50 officers to raid Fridman’s multimillion-pound home in north London in December, has stopped probing the 58-year-old businessman on suspicion of conspiracy to defraud the Home Office and conspiracy to commit perjury, according to people with knowledge of the decision. The agency was still investigating suspected money laundering offences, they said. The two sides are also in dispute over the warrant used for the raid, according to one of the people. An NCA spokesperson confirmed the agency was no longer pursuing the said lines of inquiry against a wealthy 58-year-old Russian individual detained in a raid in London in December, without specifically naming Fridman, whose arrest has been widely reported. The agency declined to comment further on the warrant. Fridman declined to comment for this story. The reduced scope of the NCA’s investigation into Fridman is a setback to the agency’s new anti-kleptocracy cell, which was set up to target corrupt elites and Kremlin-linked individuals laundering their assets in the UK in the wake of Russian president Vladimir Putin invasion of Ukraine. Fridman was on a video call with his business partners when NCA officers burst into his home to arrest him in December, according to one person with knowledge of the raid. The allegations dropped by the NCA related to evidence Fridman gave in support of his girlfriend’s UK immigration application, the person added.
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https://www.ft.com/content/132851c0-5a5c-4205-a621-518974a98838
Lawyers Meet With U.S. Reporter Held In Moscow As Russian Independent Journalists Call For His Release
Lawyers representing American journalist Evan Gershkovich, who was detained last week in Russia on espionage charges widely seen as politically motivated, met with their client for the first time on April 4 in a Moscow prison, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) said.
“Evan’s health is good, and he is grateful for the outpouring of support from around the world. We continue to call for his immediate release,” WSJ Editor-in-Chief Emma Tucker said in a note to the newsroom quoted by Reuters.
She said the paper was encouraged by the visit, and Gershkovich's family is “relieved to know we finally have contact with Evan.”
Moscow’s Lefortovsky district court said on April 3 that it had received an appeal filed by his defense against his arrest, according to Russian news agencies. No date for a hearing on the appeal has been set. On March 30, a court agreed to a request from the Federal Security Service (FSB) to hold Gershkovich under arrest for two months.
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https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-journalists-support-gershkovich/32348764.html
How Revenge Porn is Used to Silence Dissidents in Azerbaijan
Revealing photographs of journalists and activists are proliferating on social media. Many Azerbaijanis, and the women themselves, suspect they were planted by the country’s authoritarian government as revenge against speaking out. The government denies the claims.
In mid-February, Azerbaijani activist Bakhtiyar Hajiyev escalated a month-long hunger strike to protest his detention, announcing he would no longer even drink water.
Over the next few weeks, a series of channels promising the “exposure of Bakhtiyar” began appearing on the social media app Telegram. They seemed designed to embarrass Hajiyev by spreading a trove of material stolen from his personal phone, including photographs, chats, and audio recordings of sexual encounters.
The posts, which were shared with thousands of readers, also exposed a series of women he had been in contact with over the past seven years, many of them activists and journalists themselves.
Several of the women were shown in compromising positions or nude. Others were “exposed” for just posing next to Hajiyev in public. Some of the Telegram channels dredged up old hacked images of women who had simply expressed support for the activist, or dissent from the government. Many of the posts revealed the women’s home addresses or contact information alongside intimate conversations and lewd captions.
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Prigozhin and Wagner, then Gazprom, and now Malofeev, Altushkin, and other magnates are discovered (and encouraged) to be forming their own private military units. It sure sounds like Russia’s devolving into warlordism, with government encouragement. I wonder if that’s just a crass budgetary calculation by Putin, an inability to by Putin to stop such lèse-majesté, or a genuine disregard by Putin for the Russian state and people after his demise? His idols Stalin, Peter the Great, and Ivan the Terrible would never have allowed this much power to coalesce in potential rivals’ hands.