From the editor
Vladimir Putin’s annual press conference yesterday was exactly like all his previous ones, apart from the fact that he spoke via video link, while small groups of journalists sat in masks and socially distanced from each other in Moscow and Russia’s regions. As usual Putin reeled off economic figures and managed to find things to boast about despite the pandemic. He claimed that Russia’s healthcare system had been better prepared than those of other countries, and reminded viewers that Russia had developed and manufactured the first coronavirus vaccine. In answer to a question about why he hadn’t had the Sputnik vaccine yet himself, Putin claimed it wasn’t available to his age group – despite Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu, 65, having the vaccine.
Putin conducted his annual press conference via video link
The “highlight” was always going to be hearing what Putin would say about the Bellingcat investigation into the poisoning of Alexei Navalny, published this week, which identified the FSB agents who committed the attack. As always Putin avoided saying Navalny’s name, instead calling him “the Berlin patient” and “our well-known blogger”. His comments were predictable, repeating his claim that Navalny was working with US intelligence, and quipping that “if they had wanted to poison him they would have finished him off”. Putin has been able to get away with brushoffs like these for 20 years, and he obviously doesn’t think there is a need to change his style.
Putin also said that it was up to the Ukrainian government to bring peace to Donbass, and that the West should stop supporting the Belarusian people who are protesting against Alexander Lukashenko. Having finally congratulated Joe Biden on his election win after the Electoral College voted, Putin had little to say about Donald Trump, other than to deny that Russian hackers had interfered in US elections and say that Trump will probably be fine when he leaves office because he has so many supporters. Asked which foreign leader he gets along best with, Putin mentioned Xi Jinping.
In response to a question from a female Chechen journalist, who started by telling him how much the people of Chechnya love him, Putin said that US sanctions on Ramzan Kadyrov are just like the sanctions on Russia – they are all aimed at restraining the country. Putin never reminds Russians about the actual reasons for sanctions, such as Kadyrov’s torture and murder of LGBT people. He also blamed “world prices” for an increase in food prices in Russia, but added that the domestic increases were unacceptable.
The coming year will hardly be much easier for most countries than 2020 was, and Russia is no exception. Will Putin be able to calmly repeat his lies in a year’s time with no response from the people of Russia? We shall see.
You can receive this newsletter once a month for free, or sign up here for a weekly subscription for just £3.99 ($5) a month or £45 a year. I’m keen to hear what you’re interested in, so if you have tips or questions please contact me at sarahnhurst@gmail.com. You can follow me on Twitter at @XSovietNews.
Bellingcat and partners identify Navalny poisoners
A joint investigation by Bellingcat, The Insider, Der Spiegel and CNN has revealed that the FSB was following Alexei Navalny from 2017, shortly after he announced his intention to run for president of Russia, and has identified the people who poisoned Navalny during his trip to Siberia last August. “Throughout 2017, and again in 2019 and 2020, FSB operatives from a clandestine unit specialized in working with poisonous substances shadowed Navalny during his trips across Russia, traveling alongside him on more than 30 overlapping flights to the same destinations,” Bellingcat wrote.
Bellingcat named Alexei Alexandrov, Ivan Osipov – both medical doctors - and Vladimir Panyaev as the three FSB operatives who travelled alongside Navalny to Novosibirsk and then on to Tomsk, where they poisoned him with novichok. They were supported by at least five more FSB operatives, some of whom travelled to Omsk, where Navalny was first hospitalised. CNN’s Clarissa Ward visited the Moscow flat of another FSB operative named by Bellingcat, Oleg Tayakin, after the investigation was published. Tayakin opened the door and hurriedly closed it again.
Commenting on the investigation Navalny, who is still in Germany, repeated his assertion that Putin gave the orders to the FSB operatives. "The operation of such skill and for such a long time cannot exist without a ruling from the chief of FSB, Mr. Bortnikov. And he would never dare it without the direct order of President Putin,” Navalny said in an interview with CNN’s Christiane Amanpour. He has also said that German prosecutors have questioned him at the request of Russia.
Pandemic still raging in Russia
Coronavirus continues to take a heavy toll in Russia, with 28,552 new cases reported in the past day this morning and another 611 deaths. Well-known human rights lawyer from St. Petersburg Arkady Chaplygin, 42, has died after saying that he thought he had the virus but was having difficulty getting tested. Moscow opposition activist Konstantin Yankauskas says he has tested positive. Yevgeny Khoroshevtsev, known as the “voice of the Kremlin” for being an announcer at ceremonial events, has died from the virus at the age of 76. Duma speaker Vyacheslav Volodin says five MPs have already been infected for a second time. And a criminal case has been opened into the deaths of 14 coronavirus patients at a hospital in Kursk due to a failure of oxygen equipment.
Russian hackers infiltrate US government
Russian hackers have targeted US federal networks in a sophisticated attack that enabled them to monitor internal emails at the US Treasury and Department of Commerce. Many other federal agencies are thought to have been hit by the hackers, who are linked to Russian intelligence. The group is reportedly Cozy Bear, which tried to steal coronavirus vaccine information from Western researchers earlier this year. They compromised a corporate software management tool called SolarWinds, inserting their own code from March onwards. Organisations outside the US may also have been affected by the attacks.
Russian men jailed for Euro 2016 attacks
A court in Aix-en-Provence has sentenced two Russian men to prison terms for an attack on a British fan during the Euro 2016 football tournament in France. Pavel Kosov, 34, was jailed for 10 years and Mikhail Ivkin, also 34, for three years. Andrew Bache, 55, from Portsmouth was left disabled following the attack in Marseille. Russian hooligans “mounted an urban guerrilla offensive, like paramilitaries,” the trial was told. Ivkin threw a metal chair at Bache, while Kosov knocked him down with a punch to the back of the head. Kosov and another attacker then kicked him while he was on the ground. The two men were arrested in February 2018 while they were on their way to a Spartak Moscow match in Spain, the BBC reported.
Russia’s sports ban reduced
The Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne has halved the four-year ban on Russia’s participation in the Olympics proposed last year by the World Anti-Doping Agency. Russia is accused of state-ordered tampering of a testing laboratory database in Moscow. Russia will not be able to use its name, flag or anthem at the next two Olympics or at any world championships for the next two years. Russian athletes will be allowed to compete if they are not banned or suspected of doping. The judges said their decision to impose a less severe punishment “should not, however, be read as any validation of the conduct of [Russian anti-doping agency] Rusada or the Russian authorities.” The ruling allows Russian officials, including Putin himself, to attend major sporting events if invited by the host nation’s head of state.
ICC prosecutor announces Ukraine investigation
International Criminal Court Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda has announced in a statement that a preliminary examination of documents has given grounds to open an investigation into war crimes in Ukraine. “Throughout the preliminary examination, my Office has benefitted from the cooperative engagement of the Ukrainian authorities, including the provision of detailed information on investigations and judicial proceedings at the national level with regard to crimes of relevance to ICC jurisdiction initiated by the national authorities in relation to alleged crimes by all parties to the conflict. Information available regarding national proceedings relevant to the situation in Ukraine initiated by the Russian Federation has also been considered in our assessment,” Bensouda wrote.
Jehovah’s Witness gets six-year prison sentence
Yuri Saveliev, a 66-year-old Jehovah’s Witness, has been sentenced to six years in prison by a Novosibirsk court for his membership of the banned group. The prosecutor had asked for eight years. Saveliev was charged with forming an extremist organisation. He was arrested and jailed ahead of trial in November 2018 after his flat had been placed under surveillance. He and 17 other people applied to the Justice Ministry to register a Jehovah’s Witnesses group in 1999. The group was officially liquidated along with 395 other groups by Russia’s Supreme Court in 2017.
Khabarovsk protesters jailed
In Khabarovsk Yevgeny Kozlov was given a 10-day jail sentence after being detained coming out of jail having served a 15-day sentence for encouraging people to protest on Instagram. Previously he had already served separate 15-day, two-day and 10-day sentences. Kozlov’s latest sentence was allegedly due to his calls for people to protest on a YouTube video. Yelena Donda was also jailed for seven days for participating in protests, and Yekaterina Prishchepova was jailed for five days. People in the far eastern city continue to demand the return of their former governor Sergei Furgal, who was removed by Putin and is charged with murder.