Russia Watch Thread

[wjfox]

It’s all a lie, how Putin could influence the choice of millions of citizens, this is absurd

Yeah, I mean he's only one of the world's most powerful people.

[wjfox]

Russia bans anti-war candidate from challenging Putin

7 hours ago

A former TV journalist who announced she would challenge President Putin in Russia's spring election has been barred from standing.

Independent politician Yekaterina Duntsova wanted to run on a platform to end the war with Ukraine.

But the electoral commission voted unanimously to reject her candidacy three days after her application, citing 100 "mistakes" on her form.

Ms Duntsova said she would appeal the decision at the Supreme Court.

The presidential election, which will be held in March 2024, is Russia's first since President Putin launched his full-scale invasion of Ukraine nearly two years ago.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-67810463



Reuters

[firestar464]

Russian opposition believes it can still challenge Putin with elections and peaceful protests. That didn't work then, it'll be even less effective now given that Putin now enjoys popular support thanks to the war. The only certainty these days is a jail sentence.

[caltrek]

Alexei Nalvany Discovered in Siberian Penal Colony
December 25, 2023

Introduction:

(Axios) Russian opposition leader Alexei Nalvany has been located in a Siberian penal colony, two weeks after his lawyers said he was missing.
Driving the news: Nalvany has been moved to the IK-3 penal colony in Kharp, his spokesperson Kira Yarmysh said in a statement on X.

• Yarmysh did not provide details as to how the Kremlin critic was located, but added that his lawyer visited him and Navalny is "doing well."

• In a separate statement, Ivan Zhdanov, the former director of Nalvany's Anti-Corruption Foundation, said his legal team undertook hundreds of requests to locate him in the weeks he was missing.

• "A complete block was placed on information about him. Even today, the Supreme Court says it doesn't know where he is," Zhdanov said on X.

Read more here: https://www.axios.com/2023/12/25/alexe ... -colony

[caltrek]

‘Polar Wolf’: The Harsh Prison Where Navalny Was Sent and How His Team Found Him
by Robert Coalson based on reporting by RFE/RL’s Siberia.Realities
December 28, 2023

Introduction:

(RFE/RL via Eurasia Review) — Known as “Polar Wolf,” the strict-regime prison to which opposition politician Aleksei Navalny has been sent is a place where a water cannon is an instrument of torture.

“In the winter, prisoners would be hastily assembled in the courtyard in light clothing,” said prisoners’ rights activist Olga Romanova, relating the testimony given by a man who was released from Polar Wolf, more formally known as IK-3, in 2018. “They were held in formation and not allowed to clap or rub their hands together. They had to stand for 30 or 40 minutes without moving when it was -45 degrees Celsius or colder. If one person moved, the whole group was doused with water.”

“In the spring, there was a new torture,” she added. “Mosquitoes and biting flies. If you moved a hand, the water came. They would just douse the whole group with a water cannon.”

After spending 19 days incommunicado during transit from a prison in the Vladimir region, Navalny confirmed his arrival at IK-3 — in the settlement of Kharp in the Yamalo-Nenets district above the Arctic Circle in north-central Siberia — on December 26, one day after his lawyer was able to visit him there.

Navalny is serving a 19-year prison term on extremism charges that he and his supporters maintain are part of a campaign of persecution aimed at stymying his political activity. Amnesty International, the banned Russian human rights group Memorial, and others have recognized him as a political prisoner.

Read more here: https://www.eurasiareview.com/28122023 ... nalysis/

[caltrek]

Navalny Smiles and Jokes at Hearing as Court Rejects His Challenge Over Prison Treatment
January 11, 2024

Introduction:

(RFE/RL) — Russian opposition politician Aleksei Navalny, in his first court appearance since being moved to a notorious prison in the Arctic, joked and smiled at a hearing on his challenge to how he was being treated in prison, which the judge ultimately rejected.

The court said a suit filed by Navalny, who attended the January 10 hearing via video link, against his placement in a solitary confinement for 12 days at his previous prison in October was without merit as the move was legal.

In his decision, Judge Kirill Nikiforov ruled Navalny’s placement in a punitive cell was warranted because it was proven that he violated an internal order at the IK-6 prison in the Vladimir region, namely by using “offensive” words when debating with a guard.

In a light moment during the proceedings, Navalny told the judge, who has presided over several similar sessions, that “a tear is flowing down my cheek” as a sign of pleasure at getting to see him again.

A second suit also filed by Navalny against the prison’s decision not to allow his wife’s letters to reach him will be considered by the court at a later date as Navalny asked for time to get acquainted with all documents related to the case. Navalny said he needed to see the prison warden’s written order banning his wife’s letters.

Read more here: https://www.eurasiareview.com/11012024 ... eatment/

[weatheriscool]

Russia suspends operations at gas export terminal after suspected Ukrainian drone attack


January 21, 2024 11:52 AM EST

Jan 21 (Reuters) - Novatek (NVTK.MM) Russia's largest liquefied natural gas producer, said on Sunday it had been forced to suspend some operations at a huge Baltic Sea export terminal due to a fire started by what Ukrainian media said was a drone attack. The giant Ust-Luga complex, located on the Gulf of Finland about 170 km (110 miles) west of St. Petersburg, is used to ship oil and gas products to international markets.

It processes stable gas condensate into light and heavy naphtha, jet fuel, fuel oil and gasoil, according to Novatek's website. It was not clear how long the disruption would last, how many tankers would have to idle outside the port, and what the knock-on effect would be on international energy markets.

The Interfax-Ukraine news agency, citing unnamed sources, said the fire was the result of a special operation carried out by Ukraine's security services. "The Ust-Luga Oil terminal in the Leningrad region is an important facility for the enemy. Fuel is refined there, which, among other things, is also supplied to Russian troops," it cited one source as saying.

"A successful attack on such a terminal not only causes economic damage to the enemy, depriving the occupiers of the opportunity to earn money to wage war in Ukraine, but also significantly complicates the logistics of fuel for the Russian military." Reuters could not confirm that the fire resulted from a Ukrainian drone attack.

Read more: https://www.reuters.com/world/fire-erup ... 024-01-21/

[caltrek]

Russia suspends operations at gas export terminal after suspected Ukrainian drone attack

January 21, 2024 11:52 AM EST

(See post above for presentation of Reuters report)...

Read more: https://www.reuters.com/world/fire-erup ... 024-01-21/

More on that:

Russian Energy Company Suspends Some Operations at Baltic Sea Terminal After Fire
January, 2024

Extract:

(Eurasia Review) Novatek… is partially owned by Gennady Timchenko, a close associate of Russian President Vladimir Putin…

The fuel export terminal…is used to ship oil and gas products to international markets, including to Europe.

It was not clear how long the disruption would last, how many tankers would have to wait outside the port, and what the knock-on effect would be on international energy markets.

Timchenko owns 23.49 percent of Novatek, according to data quoted by Interfax at the time of the company’s annual meeting in April 2023. The largest shareholder is Leonid Mikhelson with 24.76 percent, Interfax said.
…
The Ukrainian Defense Ministry traditionally does not comment on or claim responsibility for attacks Moscow claims Kyiv carries out on Russian territory.

Read more here: https://www.eurasiareview.com/22012024 ... er-fire/

[weatheriscool]

[caltrek]

I hope that as Republican delegates from Alaska are selected through their process that somebody asks Trump what his plans are to protect Alaska. Perhaps his grand plan to achieve peace between Russia and the Ukraine is to give up Alaska?