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☆ Putin replaces Russia's defense minister with civilian economist in unexpected move
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-13 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

In this pool photograph distributed by the Russian state agency Sputnik, Russia's President Vladimir Putin attends the Victory Day military parade in central Moscow on May 9, 2024. Mikhail Klimentyev | Afp | Getty ImagesRussian President Vladimir Putin tapped a civilian economist as his surprise new defense minister on Sunday in an attempt to gird Russia for economic war by trying to better utilize the defense budget and harness greater innovation to win in Ukraine. More than two years into the conflict, which has cost both sides heavy casualties, Putin proposed Andrei Belousov, a 65-year-old former deputy prime minister who specializes in economics, to replace his long-term ally, Sergei Shoigu, 68, as defense minister. That, said Peskov, meant it was vital to ensure such spending aligned with and was better integrated into the country's overall economy, which was why Putin now wanted a civilian economist in the defense ministry job. Putin's move, though unexpected, preserves balance at the top of the complex system of personal loyalties that make up the current political system.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Mikhail Klimentyev, Putin, Andrei Belousov, Sergei Shoigu, Nikolai Patrushev, Patrushev, Dmitry Peskov, Peskov, Belousov, Alexander Baunov Organizations: Sputnik, Victory Day, Afp, Getty, Security, Putin, West, Defence, Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center Locations: Russian, Moscow, Russia, Ukraine, Soviet Union

Russia has issued carefully calibrated criticism of both sides in the war between Israel and Hamas. It also expects the Israel-Hamas war to distract attention from the fighting in Ukraine and erode support for Kyiv. Russian President Vladimir Putin has condemned the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas militants on towns in southern Israel. Unlike Putin, who carefully balanced his statements, other Russian officials were more blunt in their criticism of Israeli strikes on Gaza. But this position also threatens Russia's friendly ties with Israel, which hasn’t joined Western sanctions against Moscow or given weapons to Ukraine.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Israel, ”, Putin, Joe Biden, Rishi Sunak, Benjamin Netanyahu, Netanyahu, Konstantin Kosachev, Ramzan Kadyrov, assailing, hasn’t, Andrei Kortunov, Amir Weitmann, “, Dmitry Peskov, Vladimir Solovyov, Yevgeny Satanovsky, Mikhail Bogdanov, Maria Zakharova detests, ” Alexander Baunov, ” Izabella Tabarovsky Organizations: Kyiv, Washington, Security, U.S, British, Palestinian Authority, Hamas, Moscow, Russian International Affairs Council, The, Likud, Kremlin, RT, Ukraine, Foreign, Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center, Kennan Institute Locations: Russia, Israel, Moscow, Ukraine, Russian, Gaza, Nazi, Leningrad, Palestinian, China, Beijing, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Chechnya, assailing Israel, Maria Zakharova detests Israel, israel, russia, ukraine

[1/2] Vehicles of Russian peacekeepers leaving Azerbaijan's Nagorno-Karabakh region for Armenia pass an Armenian checkpoint on a road near the village of Kornidzor, Armenia September 22, 2023. Images of fleeing Armenians at Russia's own peacekeeping base at an airport in Nagorno-Karabakh have been harder for them to watch. But its handling of the Karabakh crisis has forced it into a blame game with Armenia and obliged it to defend its foreign policy in the region. It now accuses him of triggering the crisis by saying - after Russian peacekeepers were deployed to Karabakh in 2020 following Armenia's defeat in a 44-day war - that he recognised Azerbaijan's territorial integrity. Baku has long argued that Karabakh falls within its own borders, but Karabakh Armenians wanted Pashinyan to recognise their independence and unify them with Armenia.

Persons: Irakli, Alexander Baunov, Russia's, Sergei Markov, Pashinyan, Dmitry Medvedev, Medvedev, Margarita Simonyan, Andrew Osborn, Gareth Jones Organizations: REUTERS, Armenian, Soviet, Carnegie, Karabakh, Protesters, Kremlin, Russian, Security Council, NATO, Thomson Locations: Karabakh, Armenia, Kornidzor, Russia, Azerbaijan Moscow, Kabul, U.S, Afghanistan, Nagorno, Turkish, Moscow, Azerbaijan, Soviet Union, Turkey, Iran, Ukraine, South Caucasus, Stepanakert, Russian, America, Baku ., Yerevan, Baku, Pashinyan

☆ Analysis: Kremlin drone incident gives Putin cover to deepen Ukraine war
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( Andrew Osborn | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

[1/3] The Russian flag flies on the dome of the Kremlin Senate building, while the roof shows what appears to be marks from the recent drone incident, in central Moscow, Russia, May 4, 2023. Inside Russia, it helped reinforce the Kremlin-backed narrative that its war in Ukraine is an existential one for the Russian state and people. "It's an attempt to gather all the sacred things in one statement," Alexander Baunov, a former Russian diplomat and Kremlin watcher, said of the Kremlin's response. Former president Dmitry Medvedev and Vladimir Solovyov, one of the most prominent pro-Kremlin TV commentators, both argued for precisely such action in the aftermath of the drone incident. An investigation into the drone incident is certain to uncover shortcomings in Russia's own air defences.

☆ Opinion | I Wrote a Book About the End of Dictatorships, and It Became a Best Seller in Russia
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Alexander Baunov | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Those who remain in Russia have lost the opportunity to engage in an open dialogue on the country’s future. in Moscow, placed copies of “The End of the Regime” right next to “Putin’s Path,” a hagiography devoted to the Russian leader, and a book on Stalin. Most important, the book gives readers a new, more accurate perspective on the country they live in. It is difficult to imagine a defeat along the lines of that suffered by Germany being experienced by a nuclear power such as Russia. Similarly, the collapse of the Soviet regime came about first and foremost because of its sclerotic economic system, which left the population behind the Iron Curtain without food and consumer goods.

Sergei Surovikin, nicknamed "General Armageddon" by the Russian media for his reputed ruthlessness, on Nov. 9 recommended Moscow's forces quit Kherson and the west bank of the River Dnipro where they were dangerously exposed. Simonyan urged Surovikin, a hulking shaven-headed figure who has been shown on TV speaking in clipped Russian military language, to ignore "nonsense" from critics, a reference to influential military bloggers unhappy about his retreat. Nor is taking new ground in the east against a highly motivated and Western-equipped Ukrainian military an easy task, especially in the winter. The appointment of Surovikin on Oct. 8 was the first time Russia had publicly named an overall commander for its forces in Ukraine. With the exception of the city of Lysychansk, in eastern Ukraine, he said all the territory Russia held looked defensible.

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