THE THEFT OF THE CENTURY
What if the failure of reform in Russia in the 1990s wasn't due to corruption or incompetence, but was the result of a carefully calibrated conspiracy? What if the rise of Vladimir Putin from obscurity to the Kremlin was no accident?
Anne Applebaum asks these questions in her thoughtful review of Karen Dawisha's recently published book "Putin's Kleptocracy."
The most important story of the past twenty years might not, in fact, have been the failure of democracy, but the rise of a new form of Russian authoritarianism. Instead of attempting to explain the failures of the reformers and intellectuals who tried to carry out radical change, we ought instead to focus on the remarkable story of one group of unrepentant, single-minded, revanchist KGB officers who were horrified by the collapse of the Soviet Union and the prospect of their own loss of influence. In league with Russian organized crime, starting at the end of the 1980s, they successfully plotted a return to power. Assisted by the unscrupulous international offshore banking industry, they stole money that belonged to the Russian state, took it abroad for safety, reinvested it in Russia, and then, piece by piece, took over the state themselves. Once in charge, they brought back Soviet methods of political control—the only ones they knew—updated for the modern era.
The review is online now in the latest issue of The New York Review of Books. Read it all here.
MORNING NEWS ROUNDUP
From RFE/RL's News Desk:
RUSSIAN COURT ORDERS ARREST OF LAWYER SEEKING U.S. ASYLUM
A Moscow court has ordered the arrest of a Russian anti-corruption lawyer who is seeking asylum in the United States.
The Basmanny district court issued an in-absentia arrest order on November 28 for Andrei Stolbunov, who is accused of extortion and denies guilt.
Stolbunov told RFE/RL in October that he had applied for U.S. asylum earlier this year because Russian authorities intended to prosecute him on "fabricated" extortion charges.
Alleged victims in the case against Stolbunov accuse him of helping a defense industry eneterprise director extort millions of dollars from Pyotr Katsyv, the wealthy former minister of transportation in the Moscow region, and people close to Katsyv, according to Russian legal news agency RAPSI.
Stolbunov's best-known client was Mikhail Beketov, a journalist and environmental activist who was left with brain damage after a savage beating in the Moscow suburb of Khimki in 2008 and died last year.
(Based on reporting by RAPSI and TASS)
RUSSIAN, TURKISH PRESIDENTS TO MEET IN ANKARA
Russian President Vladimir Putin is to meet with his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in Ankara on December 1.
Putin's foreign policy adviser Yury Ushakov said the meeting would focus on the Syria conflict.
The two countries appear so far to have successfully shielded their relations from potentially damaging disputes over the crises in Syria and Ukraine.
Russia remains a key ally of Bashar al-Assad's regime, while Erdogan is pressing for the Syrian president to be ousted.
Ankara opposed Russia's annexation of Crimea in March and is worried about the situation of the Ukrainian peninsula's Turkic Crimean Tatar minority who, according to activists, are the victims of persecution by the new authorities.
Putin and Erdogan are also expected to discuss energy cooperation, with Ankara seeking a reduction in gas prices from Russia and greater import volumes ahead of the winter.
(Based on reporting by AFP and TASS)
RUSSIA EYES OIL-FOR-GOODS DEAL WITH IRAN
Russia says it hopes a controversial deal to supply grain and industrial equipment to Iran in exchange for oil will be reached soon.
Russian Economy Minister Aleksei Ulyukayev said in Tehran on November 30 that he is optimistic a deal can be finalized "in the near future."
Sources have said the oil-for-goods deal could be worth up to $20 billion.
The U.S. government has said such a deal would raise "serious concerns" and be inconsistent with talks between six world powers -- including Russia -- and Iran over its controversial nuclear program.
The Iran-Russia barter deal was revealed in January, when reports said Moscow could buy up to 500,000 barrels a day of Iranian oil in exchange for various goods.
Ulyukayev said Russia could send oil- and gas-industry equipment, agricultural machinery, cars, and planes to Iran.
(Based on reporting by Reuters, TASS, and RIA Novosti)
THOUSANDS OF RUSSIANS RALLY AGAINST HEALTH CARE CUTS
Thousands of health-care workers marched through Moscow and other Russian cities to protest plans to close hospitals and lay off thousands of doctors in a move aimed at reforming health care.
At least 4,000 doctors, health workers, and others rallied in freezing temperatures in Moscow on November 30 against plans to close 28 hospitals and clinics and to lay off some 10,000 doctors by next year.
Many protesters wore white hospital coats over their winter jackets and one banner read "Save money on war, not on doctors."
Similar demonstrations were held in St. Petersburg and Nizhny Novgorod.
Western sanctions over Russian actions in Ukraine and low oil prices have depleted state budgets, and devalued the ruble.
Russian officials say the cuts and closures are a much-needed step to modernize remnants of Soviet-era health care.
(Based on reporting by AP and AFP)
GALEOTTI ON CRIMEA, CROOKS, AND THE KREMLIN
New York University's Mark Galeotti, a co-host of the Power Vertical Podcast, speaks to Voice of America about organized crime in Crimea:
SIBERIAN AVIATION FOLLIES
So by now, we've all seen how passengers in Krasnoyarsk had to get out and push their flight out of the snow...
...and we've all seen the snarky Twitter memes this has inspired...
...but have you heard about onboard drunken onboard brawl that grounded a flight in Novosibirsk?
MIKHAIL ZYGAR OF DOZHD-TV HONORED
A SECRET MIGRANT DETENTION CAMP OUTSIDE MOSCOW?
Watch the report on Sottnik TV:
NO MISTRAL, NO FRENCH WINE!
Via The Moscow Times:
A lawmaker on the State Duma's Defense Committee has proposed banning the import of French wines in response to Paris' decision to suspend delivery of the first of two helicopter carriers to Russia.
"Let's ban the sale of French wine in Russia," Deputy Vladimir Bessonov told Russian News Service radio on Tuesday. "Even talking about this can bring about desired results," he said, without specifying what these would be.
France, under pressure from its Western allies to cancel a 1.2 billion euro contract ($1.58 billion) with Russia for Mistral-class warships, said earlier Tuesday that it was suspending delivery of the first of two carriers because of Russia's meddling in eastern Ukraine.
MEANWHILE, IN UKRAINE...
MASTERING THE ART OF DOUBLESPEAK
BAD NEWS AT SBERBANK
MORNING NEWS ROUNDUP
From RFE/RL's News Desk:
INDEPENDENT JOURNALIST ESCAPES RUSSIA, SEEKS ASYLUM IN U.S.
By RFE/RL's Russian Service
The editor-in-chief of an independent Russian news website says he will seek political asylum in the United States.
Oleg Potapenko told RFE/RL on November 26 that he has arrived in the United States despite efforts by Russian authorities to prevent him from leaving the country.
Potapenko is editor of Amurburg.ru, a news site in the Far Eastern city of Khabarovsk that has reported about the presence of Russian troops in eastern Ukraine.
On November 12, the openly gay Potapenko and his partner were prevented from boarding a flight from Khabarovsk to Hong Kong after border guards said a page was missing from Potapenko's passport.
Potapenko says the page was cut out by a police officer who requested his passport for a check earlier that day.
He told RFE/RL that he had managed to leave Russia from another city, Vladivostok, on November 16.
MERKEL SAYS RUSSIA TRAMPLING ON INTERNATIONAL LAW
German Chancellor Angela Merkel says Russia's actions in Ukraine are a violation of international law and a threat to peace in Europe.
Speaking bluntly in an address to Germany's parliament on November 26, Merkel said, "Nothing justifies the direct or indirect participation of Russia in the fighting in Donetsk and Luhansk."
She told the Bundestag that Russia's actions have "called the peaceful order in Europe into question and are a violation of international law."
But she suggested there was no swift solution, saying, "Our efforts to overcome this crisis will require patience and staying power."
Germany has become increasingly frustrated over Moscow's refusal to heed Western calls to stop supporting pro-Russian separatists who have seized control of large parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk provinces in eastern Ukraine.
Close ties between Russia and Germany have been strained by the Ukraine crisis.
(Based on reporting by Reuters)
UKRAINE SAYS MORE RUSSIAN MILITARY IN EAST
Ukraine has leveled fresh charges that Russia is sending military support to pro-Russian separatists in the east.
A foreign ministry spokesman said five columns of heavy equipment were spotted crossing into Ukrainian territory on November 24.
Evhen Perebyinis told journalists on November 25 that a total of 85 vehicles had been detected in the five columns that entered at the Izvaryne border crossing point from Russia.
"The Russian side is continuing to provide the terrorist organizations of the Donetsk and Luhansk people's republics with heavy armaments," said Perebynisis.
Separately, the Ukrainian military said one soldier had been killed and five others wounded in the past 24 hours as a shaky cease-fire declared on September 5 continued to come under pressure.
The six-month conflict in the east of Ukraine has left more than 4,300 people dead, according to the United Nations.
(Based on reporting by AFP and Reuters)
RUSSIA SAYS IT WON'T ANNEX ABKHAZIA, SOUTH OSSETIA
By RFE/RL
Russia has rejected accusations that it is planning to annex Georgia’s breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin told RFE/RL’s Current Time program on November 25: “There can be no question about any annexations.”
Georgia and the West have criticized a "strategic partnership" agreement between Russia and Abkhazia signed on November 24.
Tbilisi condemned the pact as an attempt by Moscow to annex the region.
Karasin also said Russia will “continue sparing no effort, nerves, financial expenses” to make sure its neighbors “do not feel endangered.”
"As a large state and a powerful country, Russia is constantly responsible for stability on its borders and everything that is under way along its borders," he added.
Under the "strategic partnership," Russian and Abkhaz forces in the territory will turn into a joint force led by a Russian commander.