CRIMEA'S LGBT COMMUNITY FLEES IN FEAR
Simon Shuster has a dispatch in Time Magazine about the plight of the gay and lesbian community in Crimea after the Russian annexation.
For the gay community in Crimea, the most worrying piece of legislation was the Russian ban on “homosexual propaganda,” which Putin signed in 2012. Although the law is billed as an effort to protect Russian children from learning about “non-traditional sexual relationships,” its critics say the law encourages homophobia, signaling to Russians that gays are somehow inferior and should not be allowed to insist on their equality in public.
Since March, the new leaders of Crimea have embraced these principles with gusto.
Read it all here.
MORNING NEWS ROUNDUP
Some items from RFE/RL's News Desk:
CRIMEA'S MOSCOW-BACKED LEADER ADMITS SOME TATARS MISSING
Crimea’s Moscow-backed leader Sergei Aksyonov has admitted that four Crimean Tatars are missing on the annexed peninsula.
Aksyonov said on October 16 that the missing Crimean Tatars had not been abducted, adding that some of them "had fought in Syria."
Aksyonov's statement comes amid media reports saying that several Crimean Tatars disappeared in recent days, some of them allegedly kidnapped by unknown men in military uniform.
At least three Crimean Tatar men have been found dead since Moscow's annexation of the peninsula from Ukraine in March.
Pressure on Crimean Tatars, the Turkic-speaking Muslim minority group that largely opposed the annexation, has increased in recent weeks.
In mid-September, Russian authorities seized the Crimean Tatar assembly, the Mejlis, and searched homes of leading members of the Tatar community.
(Based on reporting by TASS and Interfax)
IN PERM, RUSSIA TRIES MEMBER OF BANNED ISLAMIC GROUP
Six suspected members of a banned Islamic movement went on trial in the Russian city of Perm on October 16.
Local authorities say the defendants are members of an organization called Nurcular. The seventh member of the group has received a suspended one-year term in June.
In May last year several alleged members of Nurcular were arrested in Perm, near the Ural mountains east of Moscow; St. Petersburg; and the southern city of Rostov-on-Don.
Nurcular was founded by Turkish Islamic cleric Said Nursi, who died in 1960.
It has been banned in Russia since 2008.
Authorities say it propagates the idea of creating an Islamic state on lands where indigenous peoples speak Turkic languages.
(Based on reporting by rapsinews.ru and Interfax)
RUSSIA TO SPEND RECORD AMOUNT ON DEFENSE IN 2015
Russia will allot some 3.3 trillion rubles (about $80 billion) from the state budget for defense spending in 2015, according to the chairman of the defense committee in the State Duma, the lower house of parliament.
Vladimir Komoyedov told Russian news agency Interfax on October 16 defense spending for next year would be some $20 billion more than this year, but he added that his committee foresees slight reductions in spending for 2016 and 2017.
Komoyedov said the amount to be spent on defense in 2015 was some 4.2% of Russia's GDP.
Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said on October 7 that Russia's defense spending plans needed to be "more realistic" in light of international sanctions imposed on Russia over its actions in Ukraine.
A three-year draft budget reportedly calls for a 5.3 percent cut in defence spending in 2016, the first reduction since 1998.
(Based on reporting by Interfax and FT)
PUTIN PRAISES SERBIA, LAMBASTES WEST AHEAD OF BELGRADE VISIT
By RFE/RL
Russian President Vladimir Putin has praised Moscow's "Serbian friends" and lashed out at the West in remarks published ahead of a state visit to Belgrade on October 16.
Criticizing sanctions the United States and European Union have imposed on Moscow over its actions in Ukraine, Putin told the Serbian daily "Politika" that isolating Russia was an "absurd, illusory goal" and that attempts to do so could severely damage Europe's economy.
In a pointed reminder of Russia's nuclear might, Putin said: "We hope our partners will realize the futility of attempts to blackmail Russia and remember what consequences discord between major nuclear powers could bring for strategic stability."
Putin is to attend Serbia's first military parade in some 30 years as Belgrade marks the anniversary of its liberation from the Nazis in 1944, a celebration Serbia moved forward four days to accommodate Putin's schedule.
"Seventy years ago, our peoples together crushed the criminal ideology of misanthropy that threatened civilization," said Putin.
In a veiled swipe at the United States, he said "it is important today that people in various countries, on various continents remember what terrible consequences certainty in one's own exceptionalism can bring."
Putin did not mention the United States, but a speech in May in which President Barack Obama said he believes in "American exceptionalism" raised hackles in Russia.
The Belgrade visit is likely to shower Putin with positive attention before he faces Western leaders angry over Russia's role in the Ukraine crisis at an October 16-17 Europe-Asia summit in Milan.
Soviet Army troops helped Yugoslav partisans liberate Belgrade and Serbian officials have welcomed Putin's decision to attend the parade.
More recently, Russia gave Serbia moral support by angrily criticizing the NATO bombing of the rump Yugoslavia in 1999 and backed Belgrade's opposition to independence for mostly ethnic Albanian Kosovo, which has been recognized by the United States but not by Moscow and has been unable to get a seat at the United Nations.
The two mostly Slavic nations are linked by the Orthodox Christian faith and Russia has championed the rights of Serbs in ethnically mixed Bosnia.
"We have joint roots, language, faith, customs and culture," Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic told Russian television before the visit. "In all wars we were always on the same side."
Despite Serbia's desire to become a member of the European Union, ties between Belgrade and Moscow have become stronger since the EU started imposing sanctions on Russia for the Kremlin's annexation of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula and support for separatists in eastern Ukraine.
Putin is due to meet with Nikolic and Prime Minister Aleksandr Vucic for talks on military cooperation and economic ties, including Serbia's participation in Russia's South Stream gas pipeline project, which the EU has suspended in member states.
The European Commission released a report on candidate countries earlier this month that warned Belgrade's plans to build a portion of the South Stream pipeline and its refusal to follow the EU's lead on sanctions against Russia could jeopardize Serbia's bid for EU membership.
In the "Politika" interview, Putin promoted the South Stream project, saying its implementation would bring Serbia more than 2 million euros in new investment and "substantially strengthen the country's energy security."
"It is necessary to unblock the situation with South Stream," Putin said. "I am convinced that this project will make a palpable contribution to Europe's overall energy security. Everyone wins from this: Both Russia and European consumers, including Serbia."
Putin said the volume of trade between Russia and Serbia had risen by 15 percent last year, to nearly $2 billion, and that he expects it to reach that mark this year.
In comments to RFE/RL's Balkan Service, Vucic pointed to the complications his country is facing as it balances its foreign policy between the EU and Russia.
"We are not part of the EU and nobody asked us about sanctions against Russia so why should we have to accept them now?" Vucic asked.
Vucic said Serbia respects what EU stands for and what EU membership offers but rejects Brussels' recent habit of telling Belgrade about changes it must make to be admitted.
Vucic pointed out that within the EU there are five countries that have not recognized the independence of Serbia's former republic of Kosovo.
However, he told reporters last week that "Putin will hear that Serbia is on the European path. We have other relations we are developing with the Russian Federation, but the strategic goal is not in question – Serbia is on the EU path."
That may not always be evident to the naked eye.
In anticipation of the Russian leader's visit, shops around Belgrade have been selling T-shirts with Putin's face printed on them.
People around the city pointed to the long friendship between Serbs and Russians as reason to welcome Russia's leader.
Belgrade resident Vukan Baricanin, a retired economist, welcomed Putin's visit.
"Nothing better could happen to us. Putin is a famous personality. He turned a country that was on the verge of bankruptcy into a world power."
But Dragan Sutanovac, who was Serbia’s defense minister between 2007 and 2012, denounced “a desire for idolatry in regard to Putin.”
Construction engineer Predrag Markovic saw it as natural that Putin would attend a celebration marking the liberation of Belgrade.
"We wouldn't mind if other leaders came too, but I think that Russia and the former Soviet Union were the most important in the liberation of Belgrade."
Slobodan Knezevic said Putin's attendance at the anniversary was appropriate.
"It is really a good that they invited the Russians and Putin. Serbia should thank them for many things. They were always helping us, but it doesn’t mean that we have to stand only by their side. But it is great that they invited them."
(With reporting by TASS, Reuters, AFP, and AP)
NATO COMMANDER SEES NO 'MAJOR' RUSSIAN WITHDRAWAL NEAR UKRAINE
NATO's top military commander says the alliance has not seen "major movement" so far of Russian troops from a region bordering eastern Ukraine.
On October 11, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered about 17,600 Russian troops to return to their bases after what Moscow described as training drills in the southern Rostov region.
U.S. Air Force General Philip Breedlove, the Supreme Allied Commander Europe, told AP news agency on October 15, “Now we will watch to see if there is delivery on the promise."
NATO has refuted previous Russian claims of troop withdrawals from the regions bordering eastern Ukraine, where separatists have been battling government troops since April.
Moscow has consistently denied Ukrainian and Western allegations that it has deployed Russian troops and heavy military equipment in eastern Ukraine to support pro-Russian separatists there.
(Based on reporting by AP and Reuters)
NAVALNY ASSOCIATE'S HOUSE ARREST EXTENDED
By RFE/RL's Russian Service
The house arrest of an associate of outspoken Kremlin critic Aleksei Navalny has been extended.
A court in Moscow ruled on October 15 that Konstantin Yankauskas's house arrest must be prolonged until December 10.
Yankauskas was placed under house arrest on June 11. The previous term was to expire on October 17.
Yankauskas and two other Navalny associates, Nikolai Lyaskin and Vladimir Ashurkov, are accused of election-law violations and fraud related to funding of Navalny's campaign for Moscow mayor last year.
Yankauskas calls the case politically motivated.
Navalny and his brother Oleg have been accused of stealing and laundering $756,500 from the French cosmetics company Yves Rocher.
Navalny, a leader of anti-government protests in 2011-2012, is also serving a five-year suspended sentence on a $500,000 theft conviction.
He calls all the cases against him politically motivated.
HOW LOW CAN IT GO? PART II
HEY! WHO'S THIS GUY?
One of my colleagues has some fun at my expense:
AFTERNOON NEWS ROUNDUP
Some items from RFE/RL's News Desk:
UKRAINE TO DOMINATE PUTIN'S TALKS WITH EU LEADERS
The Ukraine crisis is expected to be the focus of meetings between Russian President Vladimir Putin and European leaders this week.
An October 16-17 Europe-Asia summit in Milan is the first chance for Putin and European leaders to discuss Ukraine face-to-face since D-Day aniversary ceremonies in in France in June.
Kremlin foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov said Putin will meet on October 16 with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and attend a dinner involving other leaders.
Ushakov said the "accent " would be on Ukraine at an October 17 breakfast meeting that the leaders of Germany, France, Britain, Italy, and the European Union are expected to attend, along with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko.
A bilateral Putin-Poroshenko meeting is also possible, as is a four-way meeting with Poroshenko, Merkel and French President Francois Hollande.
The White House said U.S. President Brack Obama would discuss the Ukraine crisis, among other pressing issues, in a videoconference with Cameron, Hollande, Merkel and the Iralian leader later in the day.
The Kremlin said earlier on October 15 that Putin and Poroshenko had discussed possible measures restore peace to eastern Ukraine during a telephone call.
A brief Kremlin statement said the two leaders had also expressed readiness to meet on the sidelines of the Milan summit and discuss issues including natural gas.
State-controlled Russian exporter Gazprom cut gas supplies meant for internal consumption in Ukraine in June after Kyiv failed to pay its gas debts following acrimonious disputes and politically charged Russian price hikes.
The gas disputes and the conflict between Ukrainian forces and pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine have caused concern about supplies to the European Union, which gets one-third of the gas it needs from Russia.
About half of that is pumped across Ukraine.
The Kremlin statement gave no details about the telephone talks.
A previous Putin-Poroshenko phone call preceded a September 5 cease-fire agreement between Kyiv and the separatists that has raised hopes for peace despite near-daily violations and the death of more than 330 people in eastern Ukraine during the truce.
Ukraine and NATO accuse Russia of sending troops and weapons into eastern Ukraine to support the rebels during the conflict, which has killed more than 3,660 people and driven Moscow's ties with the West to post-Cold War lows.
Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said in remarks published on October 15 that a new "reset" in Russian-U.S. ties was "absolutely impossible" as long as sanctions the United States has imposed on Moscow over its role in the Ukraine crisis remain in place.
Medvedev said Putin's recent order to move troops that have been deployed near Russia's border with the conflict zone in eastern Ukraine was a purely domestic matter and should not be interpreted as a signal to Washington.
Analysts say Russia supported the Ukraine cease-fire because it followed after rebel gains that left the separatists in control over large portions of Ukraine's Donetsk and Luhansk regions, giving Moscow a platform to influence Ukraine and keep it destabilized - and out of NATO - for years to come.
In an interview posted on the Russian tabloid Komsomolskaya Pravda's website on October 15, Putin's chief of staff repeated the Kremlin's denials of involvement in the conflict in eastern Ukraine, saying Russia provides only moral support to government opponents in eastern Ukraine.
Sergei Ivanov said it was up to Kyiv to ensure there is no "resumption of war" but that Russia could be a "guarantor" of a final peace deal.
"If final agreements are reached, Russia could be a guarantor in some form. There is such a practice in international affairs," Ivanov said.
(With reporting by Reuters, AP, TASS, Interfax, and RIA Novosti)
MEDVEDEV SAYS NEW RESET WITH U.S. IS 'ABSOLUTELY IMPOSSIBLE'
By RFE/RL
Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has told an American television channel that a new "reset" in U.S.-Russian relations is "absolutely impossible" while sanctions against his country are in effect.
"Of course not. It is absolutely impossible," Medvedev said when asked during an interview with CNBC whether a reset was possible with U.S. sanctions in place.
In a transcript posted on the Russian government website on October 15, Medvedev said the U.S. sanctions were "destructive."
The United States has imposed several rounds of sanctions to punish Russia for its annexation of Crimea in March and its role in the conflict in eastern Ukraine, where Kyiv and NATO says Moscow has sent troops and weapons to help pro-Russian separatists fight government forces.
Russia denies involvement in the conflict.
The original "reset" was U.S. President Barack Obama's first-term drive to improve relations with Russia, which had been badly strained by Moscow's war with ex-Soviet Georgia in 2008.
Obama and Medvedev, the Russian president at the time, signed a landmark nuclear arms control treaty in 2010, but the "reset" unraveled amid disputes about human rights, security and other issues once Putin made clear he would return to the presidency in 2012.
Ties have been driven to post-Cold War lows by the conflict in Ukraine.
Medvedev, who had warm ties with Obama during his presidency, criticized the U.S. president in the CNBC interview over his address at the UN General Assembly last month.
According to Medvedev, Obama placed Russia second on a list of three major threats or challenges to humanity, after the Ebola virus and before the Islamic State militant group.
However, he said that Russia was not "closing the door" on anyone, suggesting that ties could improve but that the onus was opn the United States to make it happen.
In his September 24 speech, Obama said Russia’s annexation of Crimea recalled an era "when large nations trampled small ones in pursuit of territorial ambition,” and vowed that the United States would "impose a cost on Russia for aggression."
Obama also expressed hope the cease-fire could lead to a lasting peace and said the United States would lift its sanctions if Russia changed its behavior.
Medvedev said in the interview that Putin's recent order to move troops that have been deployed near Russia's border with the conflict zone in eastern Ukraine was a purely domestic matter and should not be interpreted as a signal to Washington.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, who met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on October 14, said that Russian "troops are pulling back" but that "heavy (military) equipment still has to be pulled back and the border is yet to be properly monitored and secured."
(With reporting by AFP)
PUTIN SIGNS LEGISLATION CURBING FOREIGN MEDIA OWNERSHIP
Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a bill into law that limits foreign ownership in Russian media to 20 percent.
Media reports in Russia on October 15 said the law signed by Putin also prohibits media outlets from being funded or run by foreign groups or individuals, including Russians with dual nationality.
The law requires owners of media companies with foreign-owned stakes of more than 20 percent to lower these stakes by February 2017.
Duma deputy Vadim Dengin, one of the authors of the bill, said last month that some 30 media outlets operating in Russia, including "Vedomosti," "Kommersant," and "Forbes," will be affected by the law.
Some media investors have criticized the bill as the Kremlin's latest attempt to stifle media freedom.
(Based on reporting by rapsinews.ru and Interfax)
KREMLIN SAYS PUTIN AND POROSHENKO DISCUSS PEACE MEASURES
The Kremlin says that the presidents of Russia and Ukraine, Vladimir Putin and Petro Poroshenko, have discussed possible measures to restore peace to eastern Ukraine.
The Kremlin said in a statement that the two leaders had also expressed readiness to meet on the sidelines of an Asia-Europe summit in Milan on October 16-17 and discuss issues including natural gas.
State-controlled Russian exporter Gazprom cut gas supplies meant for internal consumption in Ukraine in June after Kyiv failed to pay its gas debts following acrimonious disputes and politically charged Russian price hikes.
The gas disputes and the conflict between Ukrainian forces and pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine have caused concern about supplies to the European Union, which gets one-third of the gas it needs from Russia.
About half of that is pumped across Ukraine.
The Kremlin statement gave no details about the telephone talks.
A previous Putin-Poroshenko phone call preceded a September 5 cease-fire agreement between Kyiv and the separatists that has raised hopes for peace despite near-daily violations and the death of more than 330 people in eastern Ukraine during the truce.
Ukraine and NATO accuse Russia of sending troops and weapons into eastern Ukraine to support the rebels during the conflict, which has killed more than 3,660 people and driven Moscow's ties with the West to post-Cold War lows.
Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said in remarks published on October 15 that a new "reset" in Russian-U.S. ties was "absolutely impossible" as long as sanctions the United States has imposed on Moscow over its role in the Ukraine crisis remain in place.
Medvedev said Putin's recent order to move troops that have been deployed near Russia's border with the conflict zone in eastern Ukraine was a purely domestic matter and should not be interpreted as a signal to Washington.
Analysts say Russia supported the Ukraine cease-fire because it followed after rebel gains that left the separatists in control over large portions of Ukraine's Donetsk and Luhansk regions, giving Moscow a platform to influence Ukraine and keep it destabilized - and out of NATO - for years to come.
In an interview posted on the Russian tabloid Komsomolskaya Pravda's website on October 15, Putin's chief of staff repeated the Kremlin's denials of involvement in the conflict in eastern Ukraine, saying Russia provides only moral support to government opponents in eastern Ukraine.
Sergei Ivanov said it was up to Kyiv to ensure there is no "resumption of war" but that Russia could be a "guarantor" of a final peace deal.
"If final agreements are reached, Russia could be a guarantor in some form. There is such a practice in international affairs," Ivanov said.
(With reporting by Reuters and RIA Novosti)
BUREAUCRAT-LAND!
Russia has 102 bureaucrats for every 10,000 citizens - making Russia the 5th most bureaucrat-heavy countries in the world. And their salaries are increasing at a much higher rate than for those in the private sector - a trend that has accelerated since Vladimir Putin returned to the Kremlin in 2012. And guess which state employees have seen the largest salary increases? That would be the security services, of course.
Check out RBK's excellent analysis here.
NEWS FLASH! NATIONALISTS DON'T REALLY LOVE PUTIN
Over at Global Voices, the always insightful Kevin Rothrock (a regular guest on the Power Vertical Podcast), has an interesting piece about the flagship nationalist website "Sputnik & Pogram" and its editor Yegor Prosvirnin. And guess what, despit the Crimea annexation, they're no fans of Vladimir Putin.
Prosvirnin’s animosity toward the Kremlin might strike many outside Russia as mysterious. Wouldn’t a self-avowed Russian nationalist revere Putin for sacrificing Moscow’s reputation with the West to deliver Crimea and rescue the Donbas? Isn’t Putin a nationalist?
“Putin is no nationalist—he’s just a spectator,” Prosvirnin told RuNet Echo. “He was put there [in the Kremlin] by the ruling corporation to manage the political process, while the noble members of the secret police buy villas and mansions in Cote d'-Azur.”
MORNING NEWS ROUNDUP
Some items from RFE/RL's News Desk:
KREMLIN SAYS PUTIN, POROSHENKO DISCUSS UKRAINE PEACE MEASURES
The Kremlin says that the presidents of Russia and Ukraine, Vladimir Putin and Petro Poroshenko, have discussed possible measures to restore peace to eastern Ukraine.
The Kremlin said in a statement that the two leaders had also agreed to discuss gas supplies during a summit in Milan on October 16-17.
Russia's Gazprom cut gas supplies to Ukraine in June after Kyiv failed to pay its gas debts.
Europe gets one-third of its gas needs from Russia, with around half of that being pumped via Ukraine.
(Based on reporting by Reuters and RIA Novosti)
U.S. AND RUSSIA VOW INTEL SHARING ON ISLAMIC STATE
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said October 14 that he and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov have agreed to step up intelligence-sharing over the Islamic State (IS) militant group.
The two held a three-hour meeting in Paris during which they mainly discussed the situation in Ukraine.
But Kerry said after the meeting that he and Lavrov had also discussed "whether Russia could do more to support Iraqi security forces" fighting IS.
The militant group has seized large swathes of territory in Iraq and Syria.
Kerry said Lavrov "indeed acknowledged their preparedness to help with respect to arms, weapons, they are doing that now, they already have provided some, and also potentially with the training and advising aspects."
He said he and Lavrov recognised "that (Islamic State) has absolutely no place in the 21st century."
(Based on reporting by AFP and AP)
CRIMEAN MUSLIMS ORDERED TO GET RID OF 'BANNED ISLAMIC LITERATURE'
By the Crimean Desk of RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service
The pro-Russia leadership in Crimea is urging Muslim residents of the annexed territory to get rid of "banned Islamic literature" by January 1, 2015.
The Moscow-backed leader of the region, Sergei Aksyonov, told reporters in Simferopol on October 14 that the authorities "will not confiscate for three months Islamic literature that was allowed by Ukrainian authorities and is banned by Russian legislation."
Aksyonov added that the list of Islamic literature banned by Russian law will be made public by the local media.
Aksyonov initially said authorities would stop confiscating banned printed materials from Muslims at his meeting with Crimean Muslims on October 13.
Muslims in Crimea are mainly Crimean Tatars, the majority of whom opposed Russia's annexation of the peninsula in March.
Leading members of the Crimean Tatar community have been targeted by police for possessing so-called "banned Islamic books" in recent weeks.
PUTIN SAYS RUSSIA AND CHINA ARE NATURAL ALLIES
Russian President Vladimir Putin has met with Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang for high-profile talks in Moscow.
Putin told Li at the Kremlin on October 14 that "we are natural partners, natural allies, we are neighbors."
The Russian president praised growing economic ties with China, expressing confidence that bilateral trade will reach $100 billion next year.
Li praised the "inexhaustible" potential for cooperation between Moscow and Beijing.
The two leaders spoke a day after Russian and Chinese officials signed more than 30 deals ranging from energy to banking.
Li's three-day visit to Russia comes amid a row between the Kremlin and the West over the crisis in Ukraine.
China and Russia have close economic and diplomatic links, and Beijing has said it won’t take sides with the West or Russia over Ukraine.
(Based on reporting by AFP, TASS, and Interfax)
PUTIN'S TIGER SUSPECTED IN CHINA HENHOUSE ATTACK
Chinese authorities have yet to track down Vladimir Putin's tiger, but they have run across what they suspect are the results of its actions: five chickens killed in a henhouse attack.
A Siberian tiger nicknamed Kuzya, one of three the Russian president released into the wild in May, was reportedly seen across the border in a Chinese nature reserve last week.
On October 14, TASS said Chinese border guards responding to villagers' reports of an attack on chickens "spotted a big animal's tracks, feathers and blood near the broken henhouse fence."
Citing Xinhua, it reported that forestry officials said that the tracks belonged to a Siberian tiger, most likely Kuzya.
More than 60 cameras have been set up in the nature reserve.
The Siberian tiger is a threatened species, with some 450 left in the world.
Russia launched a plan in 2010 to protect Siberian tigers.
(Based on reporting by TASS and Xinhua)
MISSING CRIMEAN TATAR REPORTEDLY FOUND DEAD
By the Crimean Desk of RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service
SIMFEROPOL, Crimea -- Media reports in Crimea say the body of a missing Crimean Tatar was found in the annexed region's capital, Simferopol, on October 14.
Reports cite the Kryminform website as reporting that Belyal Belyalov, who was university student, died after smoking an unspecified substance.
According to the Moscow-backed Kryminform, the second missing young Crimean Tatar, Artyom Dayrabekov, who also reportedly smoked the substance, was saved by doctors.
Dayrabekov's relatives, who had reported the two young men's disappearance, refused to comment on Kryminform's report.
Crimea's pro-Russia Interior Ministry also refused to comment on the situation.
Crimean Tatar Edem Asanov, 25, was also found dead last week after being reported missing.
Most Crimean Tatars -- a Turkic-speaking Muslim minority native to Crimea -- opposed Russia's annexation of the peninsula.
PUTIN'S PEOPLE'S COMMISARS
Ove the past 18 months, Vladimir Putin has been quietly bringing a a new cadre of officials to Moscow, historian Vladimir Pastukhov wrote in a recent article in Polit.ru. (A big h/t to Paul Goble at Window on Eurasia for flagging.)
According to Pastukhov, this new nomenklatura is young, from 25-35 years-old, from the regions, and relatively poor. They are "people without deep roots" who are "ready for anything." They are also "directly or indirectly connected to the security services."
And they are being selected on the basis of their loyalty to the regime and for being "psychologically closer to Putin" than their predecessors.
This all suggests that Putin intends to leave a legacy that will linger long after he leaves the scene. And taken together with the formation of the youth group "Set," or "Network," it illustrates the Kremlin's emerging youth strategy in the post-Bolotnaya era.
AFTERNOON NEWS ROUNDUP
From RFE/RL's News Desk:
PUTIN LAMENTS 'ESTRANGEMENT' OF RUSSIAN AND UKRAINIAN PEOPLE
Russian President Vladimir Putin says the "main tragedy" of the Ukraine crisis is the "estrangement of the Ukrainian and Russian people".
Putin spoke about Ukraine at a Kremlin meeting of his advisory council on human rights and civil society on October 14.
He said that "the main tragedy unfolding before our eyes is the estrangement of the Ukrainian and Russian people."
Putin said that "it is necessary to seek a way to overcome this situation."
Many Ukrainians blame Russia and Putin himself for the crisis and the animosity it has generated.
Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine in March, and Kyiv and the West accuse Moscow of sending troops and arms into eastern Ukraine to help pro-Russian separatists fighting government forces in a conflict that has killed more than 3,660 people.
Russia denies involvement.
Fighting has lessened since a September 5 cease-fire, but more than 330 people have been killed during the truce.
(Based on reporting by Interfax)
PROTEST ERUPTS OUTSIDE UKRAINIAN PARLIAMENT
By RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service
Demonstrators clashed with police outside the Ukrainian parliament during a raucous protest that prompted the legislature to go into recess.
Some of the protesters tried to push past police and enter parliament during the demonstration on October 14.
The approximately 500 protesters were demanding the Verkhovna Rada include on its agenda a draft law recognizing controversial World War II-era guerrilla resistance groups -- the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN) and Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) -- as national heroes.
Ukrainian news agency UNIAN reported some of the protesters were armed with sticks or clubs and fireworks were thrown at the parliament building and at police who were present in large numbers.
Some of the protesters were reportedly from the nationalist Svoboda party but party leader Oleh Tyahnybok denied Svoboda was involved.
Another nationalist group, Right Sector, posted a message on Twitter denying its members were involved.
Parliament was able to confirm a new defense minister before adjourning.
Deputies endorsed Stepan Poltorak, who is currently chief of the National Guard, in a 245-1 vote.
Poltorak replaces Valeriy Heletey, who was criticized over the Ukrainian military's performance in combating pro-Russian separatists who continue to hold large portions of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions after fighting that has killed more than 3,660 people since April.
Heletey handed in resignation on October 12 after only three months on the job.
When announcing his candidate to replace Heletey on October 13, Poroshenko praised Poltorak for his "professionalism and patriotism" and said Poltorak had turned the National Guard into a formidable fighting force in a short time.
Before the confirmation vote, Poroishenko said Poltorak and forces under his command had driven pro-Russian separatists from the regional administration building in Kharkiv, a major eastern city that has remained under government control along with the surrounding province.
During his swearing-in after the vote, Poltorak pledged "to strengthen the sovereignty and independence of Ukraine."
Parliament also passed a bill to create a National Anticorruption Bureau, an attempt by the new Ukrainian government to fight a problem that has long plagued the country.
Poroshenko signed a lustration law on October 9.
Under that law, up to 1 million public servants, including cabinet ministers, are to be screened for loyalty to root out the corrupt practices of previous pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych's administration.
(With additional reporting by UNIAN and AP)
KAZAKH PRESIDENT SIGNS RATIFICATION OF EURASIAN UNION TREATY
Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev has signed a law on the ratification of the treaty creating the Eurasian Economic Union (EES), his office said on October 14.
Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka signed a similar law last week, and Russian President Vladimir Putin did so on October 3.
Under the treaty, the EES will begin functioning as of January 1, 2015.
The project builds on the existing Customs Union linking Russia, Belarus, and Kazakhstan.
Moscow, which is facing Western sanctions over its role in the Ukraine crisis, has been pressuring former Soviet republics to join the EES.
Armenia's president signed an agreement to join the EES during a summit in Minsk on October 10.
Kyrgyzstan's president expressed hope that his country would join by year's end.
(Based on reporting by KazTAG and Kazinform)
LAVROV SAYS SANCTIONS NOT BRINGING PEACE TO UKRAINE
Russia's foreign minister has told European businesspeople that Western sanctions imposed on Moscow are not helping to resolve the Ukraine crisis.
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told a meeting of the Association of European Businesses (AEB) that the sanctions "do not contribute to de-escalation of the situation in Ukraine."
Lavrov told the October 14 meeting in Moscow that the sanctions are "harmful" and "unlawful" and would end up costing Europe some 40 billion euros this year and some 50 billion euros next year.
He did not explain the basis for these figures.
Lavrov said Russia laments the disruption in ties with the European Union that have accompanied the sanctions.
He assure the delegates Russia was interested in building energy cooperation with the EU, saying it would be beneficial to both sides.
(Based on reporting by TASS and Interfax)
TWO MORE CRIMEAN TATARS REPORTED MISSING
By the Crimean Desk of RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service
SIMFEROPOL, Crimea -- Two young Crimean Tatars have been reported missing in the capital of the annexed region, Simferopol.
Relatives of university student Artyom Dayrabekov told RFE/RL on October 14 that he and his friend Belyal Bilyalov had been missing for more than 24 hours.
They said they have asked police for help and visited the city's hospitals and morgues.
Human Rights Watch said earlier this month that at least five people, including three Crimean Tatars, remained missing after “hostile encounters” and that other Crimean Tatars have been found dead, with signs of torture, since the peninsula's annexation by Russia in March.
A 25-year-old Crimean Tatar man, Edem Asanov, was found dead last week after going missing.
Most Crimean Tatars - a Turkic-speaking Muslim minority native to Crimea - opposed the annexation.