From [TBC] To The Polar Lands - Rolling Russia / "Near Abroad" News Thread

Looks like he hasn’t made it to Berlin...

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/21/world/europe/russia-navalny-poison-hospital.html

It was delayed but the plane apparently landed in Germany a couple of hours ago.

Khabarovsk protests continuing, and it seems still very little crackdown?

The German government has released a statement suggesting Navalny was poisoned with something similar to Novichok.

Poisoning someone with a deadly nerve agent in a busy-ish airport doesn't seem like something that'll go down particularly well with the public.

Azerbaijan have released a military music video, featuring their soldiers playing guitars in front of APCs and other military hardware. This is truly is bizarre. pic.twitter.com/FjHCzjw4Za

— Julian Lacey 🕊️ (@simulacrax) October 1, 2020

We have modern weaponry and high fighting spirit. We showed who’s who and proved that Armenia’s ”invincible army” was a myth. They have already admitted defeat. This is an acknowledgment of their military defeat and our victory.

— Ilham Aliyev (@presidentaz) November 4, 2020

The "this" referred to is a request from Armenia to Russia for military assistance. Realistically, it seems virtually inconceivable that Russia could send troops / commanders to offer the same kind of assistance that Azerbaijan has received from Turkey.

Nikol Pashinyan, PM of Armenia, has said via Facebook that he has signed an ‘unspeakably painful’ peace declaration to end the war tonight - almost inevitably ceding control of Karabakh to Azerbaijan.

1. Armenia implements UN resolutions, different districts hand over to Azerbaijani authorities before 15th November, 20th November, 1 December,
2. Current frontlines halt as of Moscow midnight
3. Russian Federation peacekeepers to protect 5kms Lachin corridor for 5 years pic.twitter.com/2q9Q7Df1Zn

— Liveuamap (@Liveuamap) November 9, 2020

It turns out the President of Armenia only found out about the ceasefire treaty via Facebook as well and has said the PM can’t sign anything without it being based on a ‘national consensus’.

"If it Hadn't Been for the Prompt Work of the Medics": FSB Officer Inadvertently Confesses Murder Plot to Navalny

this seems significant?

Russia braces for latest Navalny protests

It’s honestly hard to tell at this stage whether it’s going to be any more significant than the 2019 protests but we’ll see. There is a clear individual injustice that a lot of people can agree needs to be remedied - Navalny should be released - but idk where this goes when that does / doesn’t happen.

Anyway just wanted to showcase this happening tomorrow!

Sign up now for the Zoom-Panel with Soviet Rock 'n' Roll Musicians with Joanna Stingray 🎸 March 5 from 12pm - 1pm Pacific Time, hosted by the Wende Museum of the Cold War and moderated by music journalist @NedRaggett https://t.co/6NoNtmwyOh pic.twitter.com/zMtREYEg6V

— DoppelHouse Press (@DoppelHouse) February 25, 2021

Can anyone explain what just happened at the Ukrainian border?

This piece from the Carnegie Moscow Centre has some background on the situation:

https://carnegie.ru/commentary/84250

The announcements yesterday were that the bulk of the Russian divisions taking part in the exercise would withdraw, either to their home bases or to a temporary midpoint until pre-planned drills later in the year. It sounds like a smaller division will probably remain in Crimea and convert to a permanent regiment there.

Michael Kofman is usually worth following for updates on this stuff.

Russian MoD shows signs of beginning a troop withdrawal - looks like they're redeploying. Will continue to watch this space. Questions remain on what units besides elements of the 41st CAA might be left forward deployed in the region.

— Michael Kofman (@KofmanMichael) April 23, 2021

Thanks, that Carnegie piece links to this, which I got a lot out of: https://foreignpolicy.com/2021/04/02/biden-putin-killer-kremlin-propaganda-crimea-approval-rating-economy/

For Putin, this fall from grace was totally avoidable. His ratings nosedive can be traced directly back to June 2018, when the Russian government announced a proposal to raise the retirement age from 55 to 63 for women and from 60 to 65 for men. (The unpopular bill, which was enacted that October, ended up raising the retirement age for women to just 60.) It was a violation of the core, unwritten social contract of Putin’s Russia: We vote for you, and you don’t touch our social benefits.

This feels like an escalation: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/may/24/belarus-seizure-blogger-ryanair-flight-us-outcry

Yes, and difficult to imagine it won’t lead to repercussions for Belarus, though it’s not completely clear what those are going to be, given that the leadership is already under sanction. Could possibly mean ending flights in to / over the country,

The press release from RyanAir was a fucking disgrace.

Belavia has been banned from operating via the U.K.

The Belarusian authorities have, rather optimistically, tried to blame Hamas.

BA flight from London to Islamabad now bypassing Belarus following Raab's announcement
https://www.flightradar24.com/BAW261/27cff638

What the fuck is going on in Belarus right now? Is this accurate?

Bonkers... Belarussian authorities have granted thousands of migrants from the Middle East visas to visit, and then escorted them to the borders of Poland, Lithuania and Latvia, under watchful eye of Belarussian authorities, and stranded them in the cold. https://t.co/ySzHmk7n0l

— Vivian Salama (@vmsalama) November 11, 2021

Belarus dictator is the pits, but this is some real passive-aggressive shit-stirring.

This is a good piece on the use of ‘weaponised migration’ as a concept:

https://www.statewatch.org/news/2021/november/eu-the-weaponised-migration-discourse-dehumanises-asylum-seekers/

Both sides are behaving appallingly. Belarus is, at minimum, profiteering from people’s desperation to reach the EU, financially and politically. Poland and Lithuania have blocked routes, had guards violently attack people trying to cross and are preventing NGOs from coming within 2km of the border to offer food and medical aid. This has been going on for months and is only going to get worse as the temperatures drop.

Heavy artillery fire being reported from Azerbaijan towards Armenia. pic.twitter.com/q3uNO4mJHi

— Moshe Schwartz (@YWNReporter) September 12, 2022

unsurprising timing

I am not a military or 'border conflict' expert. I am a political analyst with years of fieldwork research in Kyrgyzstan. Since there is a need to explain what's going b/n Kyrgyzstan & Tajikistan, I thought to collect here some analysis by my colleagues & myself.
A long thread🧵

— Asel Doolotkeldieva (@ADoolotkeldieva) September 18, 2022

Any recommendations for reading on the Turkey/Greece situation? Elections next year and inflation in Turkey eye-watering

https://www.swp-berlin.org/en/publication/post-2023-election-scenarios-in-turkey

Starting to look at possible scenarios for 2023 here with election 7 months away

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opinion_polling_for_the_2023_Turkish_presidential_election

This has ome around pretty fast, looks like going to a run-off which would presumably then be advantage Kilicdaroglu

Seems a bit like Brazil except the ominous upswing for Erdogan now has me thinking he will squeak it (because people looovveee jailing journalists and hyperinflation?).

Less than a week to go, bit of a kerfuffle with a bus and some stones in Erzurum.

Read a suggestion that because parliament is Erdogan controlled, after the run off Erdoğan’s line will be “vote me to avoid split government with Kılıçdaroğlu”. Be v interesting to see what happens. You certainly wouldn’t want to bet against Erdoğan - experienced and has the media and state control to generate his preferred outcome.

not sure this is exactly the right thread for ongoing turkey conversation but as we’re here, roll out the barrel:

Erdoğan gives public workers 45 percent pay rise in Turkey’s tight election race

Greece 's elections following on from this week after next, but its the upcoming Slovak elections in September that look most concerning, Slovakia been heading in a bad direction for a while now

Not sure whats happening here with delays in certain districts, but looks like it will go to second round as predicted?

Looks like Erdogan has this now in the run off

https://english.nv.ua/nation/lukashenko-pardons-belarusian-journalist-sentenced-to-eight-years-in-prison-50326284.html

That guy on the Ryanair flight Belarus forced to land a couple of years ago unexpectedly released!

damn what's the catch

Not really sure! like a lot of things of late