TODAY'S FEATURED POST: WATCH KAREN DAWISHA PRESENT HER BOOK, 'PUTIN'S KLEPTOCRACY,' AT THE WILSON CENTER
I had the pleasure of having Karen as a guest on the Power Vertical Podcast back in April. She's well worth listening to and I am looking forward to reading her book. So if you have a free 90 minutes, it would be well spent watching this video.
MORNING NEWS ROUNDUP
Good morning. Here are a few items from RFE/RL's News Desk:
U.S.: RUSSIA STILL GIVING SEPARATISTS WEAPONS
The United States has accused Russia of continuing to arm pro-Russian separatists after a September 5 cease-fire between the rebels and Kyiv.
"Russia continues to supply the separatists with weapons even since the cease-fire," State Department Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Victoria Nuland said on Oct. 2 at the U.S.-Central Europe Strategy Forum in Washington.
Russia has consistently denied giving the rebels weapons.
The cease-fire is still in official effect despite the fact that deadly fighting has occurred in and around Donetsk in recent days.
Nuland added, "there is not a military solution to this if the Russian Federation chooses to go in and flatten Ukraine, because the Russian military is always going to be larger."
SWISS RED CROSS WORKER KILLED BY SHELLING IN DONETSK
The International Committee of the Red Cross has confirmed that one of its Swiss employees has been killed by shelling in the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk.
A local rescue worker, Andriy Livchenko, told AFP that the Red Cross worker was killed on October 2 when a shell hit the Red Cross office building in Donetsk.
Pro-Russian separatists control Donetsk and the Defense Ministry of the so-called Donetsk People's Republic said the Red Cross worker was a Swiss national.
It was not immediately clear who launched the attack.
Fighting has intensified since October 1 near Donetsk's airport as separatists have attempted to seize control of the facility from government forces.
Ukraine's military said on October 2 that separatists were continuing an offensive they began the previous day on "a broad front."
The airport has been a focus of fighting between government forces and the separatists despite a September 5 cease-fire.
A local rescue worker, Andriy Livchenko, told AFP that the Red Cross worker was killed on October 2 when a shell hit the Red Cross office building in Donetsk.
Pro-Russian separatists control Donetsk and the self-described Defense Ministry of the so-called Donetsk People's Republic said the Red Cross worker was a Swiss national.
It was not immediately clear who launched the attack.
Fighting has intensified since October 1 near Donetsk's airport as separatists have attempted to seize control of the facility from government forces.
Ukraine's military said on October 2 that separatists were continuing an offensive they began the previous day on "a broad front."
The airport has been a focus of fighting between government forces and the separatists despite a September 5 cease-fire.
Ukrainian military spokesman Vladyslav Seleznyov said government forces repelled four attacks on the airport in the evening of October 1, destroying a tank and killing seven rebels.
Seleznyov said the separatists used tanks, multiple-launch rocket systems, artillery, and mortars during the overnight attack and when they resumed their assault on the morning of October 2.
Aleksandr Zakharchenko, who calls himself the prime minister of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic, was quoted as saying on October 1 that separatist forces control “90 percent of the airport's territory” and plan to have it fully under their control “in two or three days at most."
Three people were reported killed on October 1 when a shell exploded on a school playground, while several others died when a shell hit a minivan on a nearby street.
The blasts occurred as pupils returned to school after the start of the school year was postponed from September 1 due to fighting.
Meanwhile, diplomatic pressure on Russia continued as German Chancellor Angela Merkel told Russian President Vladimir Putin via phone on October 1 that Moscow has a duty to exert influence on the separatists in Ukraine.
According to a German government spokesman, the two leaders expressed concerned that violence was still being used in Ukraine every day.
Merkel said the border between Ukraine and Russia needed to be monitored and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) had a big role to play in that.
(Based on reporting by Reuters, AFP, and Interfax)
TATARSTAN'S OUTSPOKEN ACTIVIST GETS ONE-YEAR SUSPENDED SENTENCE
CHALLY, Russia -- A well-known Tatar writer, activist, and leader of the self-proclaimed pan-Tatar Milli Mejlis (National Assembly) has received a suspended one-year prison sentence on charges of inciting ethnic hatred.
The Chally City Court on October 2 found Fauziya Bayramova (eds: a woman) guilty and handed down its sentence.
The court also barred Bayramova from changing her residence in the city of Chally in Russia's Republic of Tatarstan for one year.
Bayramova pleaded not guilty to the charges against her, saying that the case was politically motivated.
Bayramova was charged after she posted two articles to her Facebook page in February condemning Russia's moves toward the annexation of Crimea from Ukraine.
Paul De Grauwe of the London School of Economics has a fascinating post up on his blog, "Ivory Tower" calling for the European Union to import an import tax on Russian energy -- and to use the revenues to either compensate consumers for higher prices or to develop alternative energy sources.
I came across this little gem thanks to a tweet by Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves.
De Grauwe notes that Russian oil accounts for 34 percent of EU imports, while the figure for gas is 32 percent. The EU accounts for 84 percent of Russian oil exports and 80 percent of its gas exports.
"In fact the sales of Russian oil and gas to the EU provide for more than half of all Russian government revenue. Thus it can be said that Russia is more dependent on its exports to the EU than the EU is dependent on Russian oil and gas imports," he writes.
"That creates an opportunity to put pressure on Russia in order to increase the economic cost of aggression.
Here are the money grafs:
"Here's what I would do if I were European policymaker. I would impose a tax on oil and gas from Russia. Such a tax would have the following effects. First, EU importers would have to pay more for Russian oil and gas and would therefore look for alternative sources of supply. This would reduce the demand for Russian oil and gas. Since the EU is a very big player this effect would be big also. Second, and this follows immediately from the first effect, Russia would have to lower the price of its oil and gas so as to find other buyers in the world. This would create an important shortfall in Russian government revenues, reducing the capacity of Russia to wage wars.
One may object here that this tax would also hurt us because it would raise the price the EU consumers would have to pay for oil and gas. This is not the case, however. The import tax generates revenues for the EU-governments. These revenues could be used to compensate the EU-consumers. Alternatively, they could be used to promote policies aiming at making us less dependent on fossil fuel. Whatever we chose to do with the tax revenue, we would not be harmed by it.
This is an application of what economists call an “optimal tariff”. By the very fact that we are more important for Russia than the other way around, we can exploit our strong economic power and impose an import tax that maximizes our welfare and reduces Russia’s. We should do just that."
De Grauwe concludes that: "The European Union has the economic power to confront and to stop Russian aggression. It must use this power."
Read the whole brilliant thing here.
RBK'S LIST OF SOLDIERS KILLED IN UKRAINE
HUMAN SHIELD TACTICS IN DONETSK
PUTIN SAYS HE WON'T INTERFERE IN BASHNEFT CASE
Of course he won't. Everybody already knows how this movie is supposed to end...
AFTERNOON NEWS ROUNDUP
From RFE/RL's News Desk:
PUTIN SEEKS TO CALM INVESTORS' WORRIES OVER SANCTIONS
Russian President Vladimir Putin has told potential investors in Moscow that "unwarranted" Western sanctions won’t stop the economy from developing.
In a bid to calm investors, Putin told an investment conference on October 2 that Russia remains committed to developing an economy that is “strong, flourishing, free, and open to the world."
Prospects for foreign investors in Russia have been dampened by Western sanctions over Moscow's role in the Ukraine crisis.
Putin said Russia aims to “actively” use national currencies in trade deals with China and other countries -- implying a shift away from the U.S. dollar.
He also said Moscow doesn’t plan to introduce restrictions on cross-border capital and currency movements after a dramatic decline of the value of the ruble.
Putin also said the state is prepared to support economic sectors and companies that are being hit by sanctions.
(Based on reporting by Reuters, AFP, TASS, and Interfax)
RUSSIA LANUCHES PROBE AGAINST UKRAINIAN MILITARY LEADERSHIP
Russian authorities say they have launched an investigation against Ukraine's defense minister and other senior military officials.
The spokesman for the Russian Investigative Committee, Vladimir Markin, announced on October 2 that Ukraine's military leadership, including Defense Minister Valeriy Heletey and General Staff chief Viktor Muzhenko, is facing genocide and war crimes charges.
On September 29, Russia accused top Ukrainian political and military leaders as well as nationalist organizations of committing "genocide" against Russian-speaking people in eastern Ukraine.
Ukrainian authorities dismissed the accusations and opened a criminal investigation against officials of Russia's Investigative Committee.
Ukrainian forces and pro-Russian separatists have been fighting for six months in eastern Ukraine, leaving at least 3,000 people dead and causing hundreds of thousands to flee their homes.
(Based on reporting by TASS and Interfax)
PRO-RUSSIAN SEPARATISTS PUSH TO SEIZE DONETSK AIRPORT
Rebel forces in eastern Ukraine are pushing to capture the government-held airport in the city of Donetsk.
The Ukrainian military said on October 2 that pro-Russian separatists continued an offensive begun the previous day, on "a broad front."
Army spokesman Vladyslav Seleznyov said Ukrainian forces repelled four attacks on the airport in the evening of October 1, destroying a tank and killing seven rebels.
The rebels used tanks, multiple-launch rocket systems, artillery, and mortars, Seleznyov added, resuming their attacks on the morning of October 2.
Aleksandr Zakharchenko, prime minister of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic, was quoted as saying on October 1 that separatist forces control “90 percent of the airport's territory” and plan to have it fully under their control “in two or three days at most."
The airport has been a focus of fighting between government forces and the insurgents despite a September 5 cease-fire in the conflict which has killed more than 3,000 people since April.
Meanwhile, shelling has repeatedly been reported in the rebel-held city of Donetsk.
On October 2, Interfax reported that the city became the target of an artillery strike a day after about 10 people were killed in shelling in the rebel-held city.
Three people were reported killed on October 1 when a shell exploded on a school playground, while several others died when a shell hit a minivan on a nearby street.
The blasts occurred as pupils returned to school after the start of the school year was postponed from September 1 due to fighting.
Meanwhile, diplomatic pressure on Russia continued as German Chancellor Angela Merkel told Russian President Vladimir Putin via phone on October 1 that Moscow has a duty to exert influence on the separatists in Ukraine.
According to a German government spokesman, the two leaders expressed concerned that violence was still being used in Ukraine every day.
Merkel said the border between Ukraine and Russia needed to be monitored and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) had a big role to play in that.
Earlier, new NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said the cease-fire in Ukraine offers an opportunity but Russia still has the power to destabilize the country.
Stoltenberg also had conciliatory words for Russia, saying he saw no contradiction between aspiring for a constructive relationship with Moscow and being in favor of a strong NATO.
(With reporting by Interfax and the BBC)
PUTIN SAYS HE HOPES UKRAINIAN ELECTION WILL BRING STABILITY
Russian President Vladimir Putin has expressed hope that Ukraine's parliamentary election later this month will help bring stability to the country.
Addressing the annual "Russia Calling" investment conference in Moscow on October 2, Putin said economic and political stability in Ukraine was in Russia's interests.
The Russian president said Moscow wants a "predictable" and "reliable" relationship with Ukraine and that he regards the former Soviet republic as Russia's "most brotherly" nation.
The elections to the Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada are scheduled for October 26.
Government forces and Pro-Russian separatist continue to battle in eastern Ukraine despite a September 5 cease-fire in the conflict which has killed more than 3,000 people since April.
(Based on reporting by Reuters and Interfax)
And here are some comments by Putin at the annual VTB Capital investment forum in Moscow.
On Ukraine:
"Russian national interests will be met if Ukraine exits its political and economic crisis -- and this country has indeed plunged into a deep political and economic crisis -- restores its economy, political, social spheres. We are interested in having a reliable and predictable partner and neighbor."
"I hope that both Ukrainian parliamentary election is conducted with dignity and a long awaited political stability sets in. However, I cannot fail to mention that we expect all people living in any part of Ukraine to be able to fully enjoy their rights enshrined both in the international and Ukrainian law, that no one is discriminated either for the language they speak, or ethnicity they belong to, or religion they follow. This is the only way to preserve the country's territorial integrity and the only way to return it its unity."
On charges of money laundering in a deal to acquire a regional oil company against one of Russia's richest businessmen Vladimir Yevtushenkov:
"There will be no review of the results of privatization [in Russia] on a massive scale. At the same time, one case always differs from another both systematically and qualitatively. Thus if law enforcement authorities found either [privatization matters] or asset movements questionable, we have no right to deny them their duty to investigate this particular case and make a decision."
"I hope all pending decisions will be made in the realm of civic laws and arbitration rather than that of the criminal code. In any case, I am not going to interfere and I am not going to issue any policy directives."
MUSTAFA DZEMILEV HAS SOME CHOICE WORDS FOR THE CZECH PRESIDENT
CEASEFIRE,WHAT CEASEFIRE?
From RFE/RL's News Desk:
PRO-RUSSIAN SEPARATISTS PUSH TO SEIZE DONETSK AIRPORT
Rebel forces in eastern Ukraine are pushing to capture the government-held airport in the city of Donetsk.
A Ukrainian military spokesman said on October 2 that pro-Russian separatists continued an offensive begun the previous day, on "a broad front."
A rebel leader said on October 1 that separatist forces control “90 percent of the airport's territory” and plan to have it fully under their control “in two or three days at most."
The airport has been a focus of fighting between government forces and the insurgents despite a September 5 cease-fire in the six-month conflict.
Also on October 2, Interfax reported that the rebel-held city of Donetsk became the target of an artillery strike a day after about 10 people were killed in shelling in the rebel-held city.
(Based on reporting by Interfax and the BBC)
BEER IS SO 2013...
Via The Moscow Times:
RUSSIANS RETURN TO VODKA AS BEER PRICES RISE
"Brewers in Russia are streamlining operations and decreasing production volumes amid high excise duty, government overregulation and decreased consumer spending caused by the overall economic slump."
Read it all here.