1. society
2. unrest and war

NCSEJ WEEKLY NEWS BRIEF
Washington, D.C. January 21, 2015
1. U.S. Officials Say Russia Continues To Play Constructive Role In Iran Talks; Belarusian Activist
Serving Labor Sentence Starts Hunger Strike; Ukrainian Jewish businessman found shot dead;
Azerbaijan's Aliyev Brushes Off Rights Criticism, Touts Popularity; Russian Civil Rights Activists Face
Criminal Prosecution; Gazprom Says Ukraine To Pay Full Gas Price As Of April 1
Briefs, January 19 – January 23, 2015
2. Ukrainian Deaths Surge as Merkel Sharpens Rhetoric on Russia
By Daryna Krasnolutska and Rainer Buergin
Bloomberg, January 22, 2015
3. Donetsk airport: Ukraine's coveted prize
BBC, January 22, 2015
4. Lavrov Says U.S. Wants To Dominate, West Cannot Isolate Russia
RFE/RL, January 21, 2015
5. Russia's invasion of Ukraine should cause much more than a hiccup in relations
Editorial
Washington Post, January 22, 2015
6. One year later, no justice for first EuroMaidan victims
By Olena Goncharova
Kyiv Post, January 22, 2015
7. Ukraine Fatigue: To Be or Not to Be (Bailed Out)
By Balazs Jarabik
Carnegie Moscow Center, January 20, 2015
8. UN holds first conference on anti-Semitism
By Maya Shwayder
Jerusalem Post, January 22, 2015
9. Russia accuses Poles of 'mockery of history' over Auschwitz
By Vanessa Gera
AP, January 22, 2015
10. UNESCO Holocaust exhibit nixed after Latvian protests
JTA, January 22, 2015
11. Chechnya and Charlie Hebdo
By Michael Khodarkovsky
New York Times, January 22, 2015
12. Russia ends US nuclear security alliance
By Bryan Bender
Boston Globe, January 19, 2015
13. Russia and Iran Sign Military Cooperation Deal
By Nasser Karimi
AP, January 21, 2015
#1a
U.S. Officials Say Russia Continues To Play Constructive Role In Iran Talks
RFE/RL, January 21, 2015
Senior U.S. officials say that despite a recent military agreement between Moscow and Tehran and Western
sanctions over its actions in Ukraine, Russia continues to play a constructive role in the nuclear talks with Iran.
“At least as of this moment, what we have seen in the context of the negotiations with Iran, Russia continues to
play a constructive role." Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in testimony at a January 21 Senate
hearing.
Blinken said Russia had been pushing Iran in the right direction in order to reach a lasting resolution to curb its
nuclear program.
Undersecretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence David Cohen said sanctions on Russia had not "bled
over" into the negotiations with Iran.
Blinken also said negotiators hoped to reach an agreement in March on the core elements on a nuclear
agreement with Iran.
#1b
Belarusian Activist Serving Labor Sentence Starts Hunger Strike
RFE/RL, January 22, 2015
KUPLIN, Belarus -- A Belarusian civil rights activist who is serving an 18-month mandatory labor sentence at a
state-owned industrial facility says he is on a hunger strike.
Yury Rubtsou told RFE/RL that he started the hunger strike on January 22 to protest salary levels in Belarus,
where the government recently announced that the average monthly salary is the equivalent of $600.
Rubtsou contested that figure, saying he believes the actual average is substantially lower.
Rubtsou is also calling for President Alyaksandr Lukashenka's government to release all "political prisoners"
and to give its opponents at least one hour a day of airtime on the national television channel.
Rubtsou received the manual labor sentence last April for insulting a judge at hearing during which he was
jailed for 25 days after attending an unsanctioned protest in a T-shirt that said, "Lukashenka, Go Away!"
Lukashenka has tolerated little dissent or political opposition in more than 20 years as president.
#1c
Ukrainian Jewish businessman found shot dead
JTA, January 22, 2015
A Ukrainian Jewish businessman was shot dead in Lviv.
The body of Felix Vrotslavsky, 56, was found Tuesday on Zelenoy Street, on the city’s southeastern edge. The
murder was first reported by the news site zik.ua, citing an unnamed police source. A witness told police that
Vrotslavsky’s body was thrown out of a car at around 8 p.m. that day.
His funeral was scheduled to take place Friday at a local Jewish cemetery, Vrotslavsky’s friend, Meylakh
Sheykhet, told JTA.
Police do not have any suspects in custody. The assailants’ motive was not immediately clear, Sheykhet said.
Radio Svoboda reported that Vrotslavsky has complained to police that he was being pressured by criminals.
Sheykhet said he was not aware of any debts or other disputes that may have led to Vrotslavsky’s murder.
In 2012, Leon Fraifeld, a Jewish doctor, was beaten to death on a Lviv street. The following year, a Jewish
businessman, Dmitry Flekman, was arrested for no reason, beaten and tortured by police officers who offered
to release him if he gave them $10,000, Lviv law enforcement confirmed.
“The rule of law in Lviv and Ukraine in general is suffering from the aftereffects of many years under a
bureaucracy that itself engaged in criminal activity,” said Sheykhet, who is the country director in Ukraine for
the Union of Councils for Jews in the Former Soviet Union.
On Monday, the Lviv Region Prosecutor’s Office released a statement about an unrelated case in which a 59year-old man from Lviv was arrested at the city’s international airport on suspicion that he and an accomplice
had tried to traffic four women to Israel for sexual exploitation. The suspect was not named. His presumed
accomplice is still at large, the statement read.
The women were from Ukraine’s war-ravaged eastern area, it said.
#1d
Azerbaijan's Aliyev Brushes Off Rights Criticism, Touts Popularity
RFE/RL, January 21, 2015
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has dismissed criticism of his country's rights records, saying that freedom
of the press and other human rights are "guaranteed" in Azerbaijan.
Aliyev made his comments after a meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin on January 21.
Aliyev added that Azerbaijan "has no problem" with its low press-freedom ranking on lists made by
international human rights groups.
He also cited his own popularity in Azerbaijan, claiming that presidential election results "proved" that the
people approve of him, saying that "more than 90 percent of the population backs me."
Both parliamentary and presidential elections in Azerbaijan have been widely criticized by international
monitoring organizations as being neither free nor fair.
Merkel has been urged by rights groups, including Human Rights Watch, to challenge Aliyev on his record of
jailing journalists, rights advocates, and opposition activists.
Meanwhile, a lawyer for Azerbaijani journalist Khadija Ismayilova told RFE/RL that his client had been held in a
penal solitary confinement cell for 24 hours last weekend.
Ismayilova, a contributor to RFE/RL, is being held in pretrial detention on suspicion of inciting a man to attempt
suicide. Her supporters say the case is politically motivated.
#1e
Russian Civil Rights Activists Face Criminal Prosecution
RFE/RL, January 21, 2015
Russia's Investigative Committee has launched investigations against civil rights activist Mark Galperin,
accusing him of "multiple violation of the law on public gatherings."
Galperin's lawyer, Alla Frolova, told journalists on January 20 that her client was informed about the criminal
case against him the same day, but rejected the services of the lawyer provided by the authorities and refused
to answer any questions using the Constitution's 51st paragraph.
The Investigative Committee said earlier that it had launched a probe against another civil rights defender,
Vladimir Ionov, also accusing him of "multiple violations of the law on public gatherings."
Galperin and Ionov were arrested on January 10 for holding up a "Je Suis Charlie" sign near the Kremlin walls,
expressing solidarity with French cartoonists murdered by Islamist terrorists in Paris.
On January 15, the two activists were among 15 protesters detained at an unsanctioned rally in support of
opposition leader Aleksei Navalny.
On January 16, a court in Moscow sentenced Galperin to 38 days in jail for both protests and fined Ionov
170,000 rubles ($2,600).
#1f
Gazprom Says Ukraine To Pay Full Gas Price As Of April 1
RFE/RL, January 20, 2015
The chief of Russian gas giant Gazprom says Ukraine's discount "winter price" for natural gas will end on April
1.
Gazprom CEO Aleksei Miller said in a meeting with Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev on January 20
that the gas price on April 1 for Kyiv would be set in accordance with a longstanding contract.
He did not specify a price, but Gazprom previously charged Ukraine $485 per 1,000 cubic meters under a 2009
contract that Kyiv long sought to change.
Russia lowered the price from that level late in 2013 as part of a reward to Kyiv for scrapping a landmark pact
with the EU, then raised again after he outster of Viktor Yanukovych as president last February.
On October 30, Russia and Ukraine agreeed to a an EU-brokered deal under which Ukrainian Prime Minister
Arseniy Yatsenyuk said Kyiv would pay Gazprom $378 per 1,000 cubic meters until the end of 2014 and $365
per 1,000 cubic meters in the first quarter of 2015.
Miller also said that Ukraine's debt to Russia for previous gas shipments is $2.44 billion.
Based on reporting by Interfax and Bloomberg
#2
Ukrainian Deaths Surge as Merkel Sharpens Rhetoric on Russia
By Daryna Krasnolutska and Rainer Buergin
Bloomberg, January 22, 2015
German Chancellor Angela Merkel slammed Russia for undermining neighboring Ukraine's sovereignty and
cited "many setbacks" in peace efforts as the death toll in the conflict jumped.
As Ukraine's army suffered its worst casualties in two weeks, an attack Thursday in Donetsk killed eight
civilians and the government accused its pro-Russian adversaries of ignoring a diplomatic push to withdraw
heavy weaponry. Merkel said Russia's annexation of Crimea can't be allowed to pass and sanctions should
remain. NATO said violence is at pre-truce levels.
"Both sides want to improve their bargaining positions for serious negotiations on the future of" eastern
Ukraine, Stefan Meister, an analyst at the German Council of Foreign Relations, said by phone from Berlin.
"I'm afraid they don't really have it under control and are starting a spiral of violence."
Standoff in Ukraine
Fighting has intensified since a previous round of negotiations collapsed last week and Ukrainian President
Petro Poroshenko warned in a Bloomberg Television interview of a "grave danger" of escalation. Ukraine and
its allies in the U.S. and the European Union blame Russia for arming and aiding the rebels, while Russia
accuses the government in Kiev of a military onslaught against its own citizens.
The conflict has sent Russia-U.S. ties to their worst since the Cold War. More than 5,000 people have died, the
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe estimates.
Bonds Decline
Ukrainian 2017 dollar debt fell 0.8 cents to a record 53.1 cents on the dollar, data compiled by Bloomberg
show. The government will approach bondholders to negotiate more favorable terms after talks with the
International Monetary Fund over aid to top up a $17 billion rescue, Finance Minister Natalie Jaresko said
Wednesday in an interview in Davos, Switzerland.
Ten servicemen died in the past day as troops pulled back from the Donetsk airport, an epicenter of clashes,
the military said Thursday. The army said it still controls parts of the facility after leaving the ruined terminals,
while 16 wounded servicemen were taken captive. One was paraded in Donetsk and beaten by onlookers,
according to rebel footage on Youtube.
In Donetsk, the conflict zone's biggest city, passengers at a transport stop in the city were killed by mortar fire.
The strike, which also wounded seven people, happened between 8 a.m. and 9 a.m., according to the Donetsk
regional government. Each side blamed the other for the attack. Russian state television showed images of
bodies near a blown-out trolleybus.
'Small Progress'
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said talks with his Ukrainian, German and French counterparts in
Berlin won a consensus to remove artillery from the 10-month conflict's front lines. Germany's Frank-Walter
Steinmeier said Russia had agreed to "exercise the necessary influence" on the separatists, and that progress
may bring a summit in Kazakhstan between the four nations' leaders "one step closer."
The rebels continue to fire artillery and Grad rockets at troops, Ukraine's Defense Ministry said Thursday
morning. Merkel said there was "small progress" at the talks, though criticized Russia for breaching the
principles of post-World War II European order by absorbing Crimea last March.
"The annexation of Crimea is a violation of something that has made up our peaceful coexistence, namely the
protection of borders and territorial integrity," Merkel said in Davos.
Russia has more than 9,000 troops in Ukraine and 50,000 along the border, officials in Kiev said this week.
While NATO's top military commander, Philip Breedlove, couldn't confirm those numbers, he said Thursday
that Russian-backed forces had renewed their capabilities. Fighting has intensified to "essentially prestanddown levels," he said in Brussels.
'Land Grab'
The conflict has deteriorated back into open war, Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite said in an interview
in Davos. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Wednesday that the rebels are undertaking a "very blatant
land grab."
Russia on Tuesday dismissed the notion its military is involved as "absolute nonsense."
Russia, Ukraine and the OSCE will hold further discussions in the near future on implementation of
agreements, including the original Sept. 5 cease-fire signed in Minsk, Belarus, according to Steinmeier. The
talks are testing the "limits of patience" of all participants, he said.
#3
Donetsk airport: Ukraine's coveted prize
BBC, January 22, 2015
Donetsk airport has been the focus of heavy fighting for months as pro-Russian separatists try to seize it from
Ukrainian government forces.
The airport is strategically important. Government forces have now abandoned the main part of it, from where
they have been able to shell rebel positions inside nearby Donetsk - the largest city held by the militants.
Its capture could help the rebels to resupply - allowing munitions, hardware and manpower to be airlifted into
the conflict zone.
But its significance is as much symbolic as it is practical. It has long been viewed in Kiev as an emblem of
"Ukrainian fighting spirit".
Ukrainian troops defending the airport were called "cyborgs" for their toughness in repulsing constant attacks,
and for many they symbolised a new Ukrainian army.
Social media users say the destruction of the airport looks like Stalingrad, the Russian city reduced to ruins in
World War Two.
The Sergey Prokofiev International Airport was built ahead of the Euro 2012 football championships co-hosted
by Ukraine and Poland.
It was estimated to have cost around $860m (£537m; €685m).
Latest footage shows the extent of the destruction, with barely the shell of the building remaining.
Some experts have pointed out that the runway could still be used for flying in supplies, which is proving
difficult for the rebels. But the airport's infrastructure is otherwise completely destroyed.
The separatists have been trying to capture the airport since May, allegedly with backing from the Russian
military.
They view the airport as part of their capital and, as long as it remained in government hands, a bridgehead for
a potential Ukrainian offensive.
"Ukraine's control of Donetsk International Airport not only ensures Ukrainian presence on the outskirts of the
city, but also might prove crucial in preventing the spread of instability to other areas of Ukraine," warned
Euromaidan, Ukraine's pro-Europe protest group, in October 2014.
"A pro-Russian territory with an international airport of Donetsk's size would be a valuable asset for the
territory's smuggling capabilities... de-stabilising other parts of Ukraine because of the unchecked flow of illicit
weapons, drugs, and fighters."
Dr Mark Galeotti, Clinical Professor of Global Affairs at New York University, highlighted the combination of
both strategic and symbolic significance in a January blog post.
"Kiev's forces have, to be charitable, a mixed record in fighting this conflict," he says.
"For them to have lost the airport, that advance intrusion into the heart of the rebellion, would have been a
serious blow to their morale and the credibility of the government."
#4
Lavrov Says U.S. Wants To Dominate, West Cannot Isolate Russia
RFE/RL, January 21, 2015
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said that the United states wants to "dominate" the world and
warned the West that attempts to isolate Russia would fail.
Speaking at an annual news conference in Moscow on January 21, ahead of planned talks in Berlin on the
conflict in eastern Ukraine, Lavrov also said Russia supports territorial integrity for Ukraine and will do all it can
to stop the fighting but put the blame on Kyiv and the West.
In line with remarks by President Vladimir Putin at closely watched forums in recent months, Lavrov used the
traditional event in Moscow to portray the United States as an "aggressive" but misguided giant that is
undermining global security instead of ensuring it.
He said U.S. President Barack Obama's State of the Union speech on January 20 "showed that Americans
again want to say that 'We are Number One' and the world has to acknowledge it."
"This is not a modern approach," he said, adding that "it will go away" and "is already changing," citing U.S.
efforts to build "alliances and associations" to tackle global problems the United States cannot handle on its
own, such as the threat from Islamic State militants.
Lavrov said it is "in Americans' blood" to seek to influence Europe, adding: "It is very difficult to change their
genetic background."
He said that Obama had echoed Western calls for the isolation of Russia in his speech, and warned, "All these
attempts will bring no result."
NATO's 'Path Of Confrontation'
In the address on January 20, Obama said that the United States "stands strong and united with our allies,
while Russia is isolated, with its economy in tatters."
The United States, European Union, and other countries including Canada, Japan, and Australia have imposed
sanctions on Russia over its annexation of Crimea from Ukraine in March 2014 and its support for pro-Russian
separatists who control parts of eastern Ukraine.
Lavrov said that Russia did not want "and won't allow" a new Cold War and called on the United States to
return to cooperation, but complained that efforts to work together were hindered by "one-sided pressure" on
Russia from the West.
He said that "NATO has chosen a path of confrontation" with Russia.
Russia denies involvement in the conflict in eastern Ukraine, which has killed more than 4,800 people since
April, despite what NATO and Kyiv say is incontrovertible evidence of direct military involvement.
Ukraine said government forces came under attack from regular Russian troops in eastern Ukraine on January
20.
Lavrov said Moscow has been presented with no evidence of Russian soldiers and weapons entering eastern
Ukraine, and accused Western nations of supplying Ukraine with weapons in violation of "international norms."
"Before you ask us to stop doing something, first show us proof that we are doing it," he said.
New Cease-Fire Talks
Lavrov spoke hours before he was to meet with the foreign ministers of Ukraine, Germany, and France in
Berlin in an effort to advance peace efforts following a resurgence of fierce fighting in recent days.
Lavrov said Russia will do all it can to end the conflict and said Ukraine's territorial integrity should be
preserved -- a signal that the Kremlin will not bring rebel-held territories into Russia or formally recognize their
independence.
But he repeated Russia's calls for constitutional reform that would grant strong powers to Ukraine's regions
and portrayed Kyiv as the aggressor in the conflict, saying "bombardments must stop immediately."
Lavrov said he would "push for an immediate cease-fire" and suggested he would use the meeting in Berlin to
advance Russia's calls for direct talks between Kyiv and the separatist leaders in Ukraine's Donetsk and
Luhansk regions.
He said Germany, France, and other "Western partners" of Ukraine should " raise their voice and appeal to the
Ukrainian leadership not to allow a fallback to a military scenario again."
In Kyiv, Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk said a law was being drafted that would increase the size
of the Ukrainian armed forces by 68,000 personnel to a total of 250,000, including 204,000 soldiers.
The United States and EU accuse Russia and the separatists of failing to adhere to terms of a deal signed on
September 5 in Minsk that called for a cease-fire and others steps toward peace.
Lavrov said the rebels hold more territory than assigned to them under the cease-fire agreement but that
Russia has received assurances from them that they will retreat to a previously agreed separation line.
"We used our influence on the [separatist] leadership and they agreed," he said, but he added that Ukraine
must immediately cease fire and pull back its heavy weapons.
He said Putin had proposed that heavy weapons be withdrawn from the separation line set in the Minsk deal
rather than the actual front line.
Fighting has been fierce in recent days, and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin said on January 20 that
the rebels had seized more than 500 square kilometers of land previously held by government forces.
Russia's interference in Ukraine has brought its ties with the West to post-Cold War lows.
Praise For Iran, Criticism For Israel
Asked about Putin's plan to skip ceremonies in Poland this month marking the 70 years since the Soviet Army
liberated the Auschwitz death camp, Lavrov said no formal invitation had been sent but gave no specific
reason for the decision.
He expressed condolences to relatives of seven members of an Armenian family massacred in an attack
authorities say a soldier from Russia's military base in the ex-Soviet republic has confessed to carrying out.
Lavrov said any efforts to "make use of this tragedy to gain geopolitical advantages" were "disgusting" and
"unacceptable."
Lavrov also praised Iran, saying no regional issue in the Middle East can be resolved without input from
Tehran, and that a deal to curb Iran's nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief could be reached before
a June 30 deadline set by world powers and Tehran.
He criticized Israel over an air strike on Syrian territory that killed an Iranian general and a Hizballah militant
commander on January 18, saying conducting such strikes without the permission of the target country's
government violates international law.
#5
Russia's invasion of Ukraine should cause much more than a hiccup in relations
Editorial
Washington Post, January 22, 2015
European foreign ministers met Monday to consider proposals for resuming diplomatic contacts and
cooperation with Russia in a range of areas - a strategy pressed by several governments that wish to paper
over the breach opened by Moscow's invasion of Ukraine. Unfortunately for the doves, the discussion came
just as Russian forces, after several weeks of relative calm, launched a new offensive in eastern Ukraine.
By Tuesday, the Ukrainian government and the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine were reporting that fresh Russian
army units were crossing the border and attacking Ukrainian positions north of the city of Luhansk and at the
Donetsk airport. "The situation," European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini told us shortly after
arriving in Washington, "is not going in the right direction." Appropriately, the European ministers concluded
there were no grounds for altering the existing sanctions on Russia, some of which will come up for renewal at
a summit meeting in March - and the plan for detente came under heavy criticism.
The episode illustrates a pervasive disconnect in Western thinking about the regime of Vladi¬mir Putin. As
Kadri Liik of the European Council on Foreign Relations pointed out recently , many Western leaders persist in
seeing the Ukraine invasion as a hiccup in relations with Russia that can be smoothed over, rather than as a
demonstration that Mr. Putin's agenda is fundamentally at odds with Europe's security interests and its values.
Because of their attachment to the hiccup theory, governments - including the Obama administration - have
refused to take steps, such as providing the Ukrainian government with defensive weapons, that could help
stop Mr. Putin's aggression. Instead, they concoct futile schemes for "reengaging" the Russian ruler.
Ms. Mogherini, a former Italian foreign minister often described as a leading advocate of this soft line, told us
that she did not foresee "a return to business as usual" with Moscow. She stressed that European ministers
were committed to the principle that any alteration of sanctions must be linked to Russia's full implementation
of the Minsk agreement, an accord signed in September that requires the removal of Russian forces from
Ukraine and international monitoring of the border. Meeting those terms would require an unprecedented
reversal from Mr. Putin, who has never allowed a Russian retreat from occupied territories in Eurasia.
Nevertheless, the renewed fighting in eastern Ukraine underlines the reality that the European Union and the
Obama administration need a more coherent strategy for answering Mr. Putin's actual - as opposed to wishedfor - behavior. While sanctions have had an impact on the Russian economy, they clearly have not deterred
Mr. Putin from continuing the war. As a start, there must be a stronger commitment to the government in Kiev,
which is in worse shape than the Russian regime. Struggling to hold the military line, it may soon be forced to
default on its foreign debts because of a lack of Western support. So far, U.S. and E.U. pledges for this year
amount to $4 billion against a $15 billion funding gap.
Rather than debating when they can resume trade discussions with Moscow, Western leaders should be
deciding whether they are willing to do what will be necessary to preserve Ukraine's independence.
#6
One year later, no justice for first EuroMaidan victims
By Olena Goncharova
Kyiv Post, January 22, 2015
On Jan. 22, snipers from behind police lines took the first lives of the EuroMaidan Revolution -- those of
Belarussian Mykhailo Zhyznevsky, Armenian native Serhiy Nihoyan and Ukrainian Roman Senyk from Lviv
Oblast.
Those deaths, and the murders of more than 100 other demonstrators from Feb. 18-20, ultimately drove a
frightened President Viktor Yanukovych from power on Feb. 22.
But a year later, there is still no justice - and the killers may still be on the police force.
Nina Zhyznevska, a mother of Mykhailo Zhyznevsky, still has no answers about who killed her son, the 25year-old activist who lived in Ukraine since 2005.
Ukraine's police and prosecutors say they are still investigating, that more than 2,000 people have been
questioned and at least 1,167 criminal proceedings opened.
In written comments to the Kyiv Post, the prosecutor's office said two members of Berkut riot police are held in
pre-trial detention as suspects. Another suspect, Dmytro Sadovnyk, the former head of Berkut police unit, has
an arrest warrant against him.
Sadovnyk was earlier arrested in connection with the organizing mass killings on Feb. 18-20 and then released
by the Pechersky district court placed under house arrest. Sadovnyk fled the country on Oct. 3.
Nina Zhyznevska says the family's life is much more difficult without her son.
"It's so painful for us to know that our son's killer is still out of prison a year after," she told the Kyiv Post in a
phone conversation from the Belarussian city of Homel. "We merely don't know what they investigated, we
know nothing."
Yevhenia Zakrevska, a lawyer representing alleged victims of police brutality, is certain the Interior Ministry and
prosecutors are stalling the investigation.
"They didn't investigate anything until March, even though many Maidan activists were ready to testify,"
Zakrevska said, adding that Berkut police officers are the prime suspects.
"Without their evidence we won't have much progress in the investigation," Zakrevska explains. "Also those
former police officers won't feel free to witness as long as there are no real changes in the law enforcement
sphere. Because the information may be used against them."
She says that many police officers involved in the mass killings of the protesters are still working their jobs.
Zhyznevska and her husband plan to visit her son's grave on Jan. 22. She has photographs of him, but says a
crucifix and cell phone that he used are still in the possession of prosecutors.
Zhyznevska hopes that her son will be given a status of Hero of Ukraine. "It's the only thing that can protect his
memory now as many people still treat my son as a bandit and Nazi," she explains, noting that hooligans
vandalize his grave.
On the anniversary of the start of the EuroMaidan Revolution on Nov. 21, Ukrainian President Petro
Poroshenko signed a decree to award the honors to the murdered activists also known as Heavenly Hundred.
Tamara Shevchuk, an activist from Kyiv and a friend of Zhyznevsky, plans to go to Hrushevshoho Street on
Jan. 22 to commemorate. It's still hard for her to recall the day she heard the tragic news. Shevchuk also has
little hope that they will ever find out the truth about the killings.
"Mykhailo dreamt to buy an apartment for his parents," Shevchuk, the 19-year-old Kyivan, recalls. "He never
did that, but with the help of his friends and EuroMaidan activists his parents now live in a new apartment."
In the meantime, Diana Gebre, 22-year-old Kyivan, left for Dnipropetrovsk to take part in a memorial service for
another EuroMaidan Revolution victim, Nigoyan, in his native village of Bereznuvativka. They met in
December, a month before his death, and spent most of their time on EuroMaidan.
"I passed by the barricade once and his eyes just caught my attention," Gebre recalls. "He stopped me and
warned that I couldn't go further because I'm 'very beautiful.' It was on Dec. 26." Later, when activists asked
him who she is, he answered "that's my wife."
Gebre said he was ready to stay until the victorPy of the EuroMaidan Revolution. His parents, however, didn't
believe the protests would be successful, Gebre said, but that Nihoyan was "truly Ukraine's patriot."
The year for her hasn't been easy.
"When I knew he was killed I couldn't do anything, I just went to St. Michael's Cathedral. I came back to
Maidan only a couple of days later," Gebre explained. "But despite the hardship there were good moments too,
as I met lots of new friends also because of the revolution."
#7
Ukraine Fatigue: To Be or Not to Be (Bailed Out)
By Balazs Jarabik
Carnegie Moscow Center, January 20, 2015
The winter holidays passed without much celebration in Kyiv. The usually boisterous Ukrainians didn't even set
off New Year's fireworks, leaving Ukraine's capital unusually dark and quiet, while a German-style holiday
market on the square opposite the St. Sofiya cathedral was a pleasant exception. The government decided
against putting up Christmas lights, and many private citizens followed suit. Amid a surge of unity and
patriotism, many Ukrainians felt they had no right to celebrate during wartime. An intense foreboding about the
future means that many were genuinely not looking forward to 2015. Although there seems to be no remaining
capacity or desire for a "third Maidan," nationwide polls capture the disaffection and radicalization of the
population. One third of Ukrainians see capital punishment as the proper answer to corruption.
Recent economic data help explain popular frustration. Ukraine's foreign currency reserves are plummeting,
and currently stand at only $7.5 billion. According to Standard Bank's Timothy Ash, the reserves are equivalent
to only five weeks of imports. (The IMF's rule of thumb is that a country should maintain at least three months
of import cover.) Inflation has hit 24.9 percent, and this year's budget shortfall is expected to exceed 36 billion
hryvnia, or about 8.2 percent of GDP. Having imposed capital controls, the authorities are struggling to control
a growing currency black market. Kyiv faces the additional pressure of having to pay off Russian and other
creditors, and the IMF has projected that this creates a $15 billion financing shortfall in 2015, which someone
will have to fill. In a nutshell, Ukraine has little room to maneuver-or to misstep.
The West seems unenthusiastic about the prospect of having to bail out Ukraine once again. Default has never
looked so real. The new $15 billion package the IMF says is needed to prevent default, however, is coming
together rather slowly. The United States recently guaranteed Kyiv $2 billion in additional loan guarantees
(contingent on reforms), the EU has pledged $2.1 billion (contingent on approval from EU governments), and
Germany has offered $500 million (to be delivered only after planned expenditures are approved by Berlin).
The loudest advocate for an even bigger bailout is George Soros, who suggested that as much as $50 billion
might be necessary to "save" Ukraine. He called for using untapped EU resources that had been earmarked
for CEE member states during the 2008/2009 crisis. Regardless of the merits of individual elements of Soros's
suggestion, the enormity of this figure betrays the fact that Ukraine's economy is spiraling out of control faster
than expected. According to the governor of the Central Bank, economic output could already have fallen by as
much as 10 percent, and the Financial Times estimates that Ukraine's debt-to-GDP ratio could approach 90
percent in 2015. This is more than double the 2013 ratio, and is likely unsustainable. At a minimum, some form
of debt re-structuring will be necessary.
Soros's argument would be much stronger if the Ukrainian government had implemented a stellar reform
program. Instead, Kyiv to date has mostly only muddled through. More of the same half-measures is beginning
to look like the most realistic scenario for the future. Though further IMF support might help stave off
bankruptcy, it will also represent another illustration of moral hazard. If the West prevents Ukraine from
enduring the shock of serious reform, how confident can we be that the country will actually pursue a fresh
start? Muddling through certainly will not be enough to raise confidence in the government or create the
political impetus for serious structural reforms. If anything, it may only prolong the political and social agony.
The current Western approach to the crisis is in step with Kyiv's reform dance: one step forward, one step
back. Ukraine's new budget, adopted after an 18-hour marathon session in parliament at the end of December,
is a case in point. It was rubber-stamped through parliament in order to put Kyiv back in the good graces of the
IMF. Yet as a fresh scandal has revealed, someone secretly added a billion hryvnia to the budget at the last
minute. Although the budget includes various positive elements, it unfortunately further increases the role of
the state. Once again, it is clear that the political elite wants to maintain their monopoly on money and power,
while expecting ordinary people (and foreigners!) to pick up the tab. All this comes at a time when poor
households are reportedly unaware of how to apply for new social benefits aimed at providing cushioning from
the impact of various reforms. There is a reason why we now see the government devoting more energy to
public relations than actual reforms: the former is easier under the current conditions.
It should come as no surprise that the most significant inhibitor of reforms is the development of "monopolies"
of power, which investigative journalist-turned-lawmaker Serhiy Leshchenko has described in great detail.
President Poroshenko, Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk, and Dnipropetrovsk Governor Ihor Kolomoiskiy (the
biggest oligarch beneficiary of the Maidan) are emerging as a powerful triumvirate, though their personal
animosity and feuding may ultimately derail policymaking. There is already a tactical alliance forming between
Yatsenuk and Kolomoiskiy against President Poroshenko, who has managed to increase his grip on power
beyond the gates of the presidential administration building. The newly created Anti-Corruption Bureau is likely
to include a foreigner, which should further strengthen Poroshenko's leverage vis-a-vis the two other centers of
power.
The question is how long the current status quo-teetering on the edge of default while receiving delayed
infusions of Western support-can continue. The lack of social cohesion may worsen as will the threat of lowlevel terrorism or conflicts among competing oligarchic clans and security officials.
If no bail out is forecoming, the risk of a resumption of (limited) war in Donbas is greater. The People's
Republic of Donetsk (DNR)-whose population keeps dropping-is fighting for its own survival and needs a
bailout from Moscow just as much as Kyiv needs one from the West. The renewed fighting at the Donetsk
airport is likely another manifestation of Russia's pressure campaign against Ukraine, although it is hard (by
Western logic) to imagine what Moscow hopes to gain ahead of the debate on whether to extend EU sanctions
due to expire on March 31. By most accounts, the EU is divided over Russia. But Moscow seems as
committed to a long conflict as the West is focused on quick fixes. One of the answers may lie with local
factors: there are simply too many weapons and too little central control in Donbas. The Donetsk airport has
become a symbol of Ukrainian heroism and could prove to be a test of President Poroshenko's capabilities as
a commander in chief. Throw in Russia's deepening economic problems and growing nationalism, and the
recent announcement of new rounds of mobilization in Ukraine, and it is clear that we are witnessing
developments likely to fuel the creation of a new black hole in Europe.
#8
UN holds first conference on anti-Semitism
By Maya Shwayder
Jerusalem Post, January 22, 2015
It was a meeting that never should have been called, but on Thursday morning in New York prominent
European ministers and diplomats gathered for the first-ever informal discussion on the rising tide of antiSemitism around the world. Perhaps indicative of how much the UN cares about anti-Semitism, the conference
was sparsely attended by member states.
The headlining speakers included French philosopher Bernard Henri Lévy, who gave an impassioned speech
tracing the history of anti-Semitism to its modern roots, touching on everything from blood libels and Christ
killings to the present antipathy against Israel, and how all societies could be affected by this vindictiveness.
“In Paris, just a few days ago, we heard once again the infamous cry 'Death to the Jews' and cartoonists were
killed because of cartooning, police for policing and Jews just for shopping and being Jews,” Lévy said. “In
other capitals in Europe and elsewhere, faulting the Jews is once again becoming the rallying cry of a new
order of assassins, unless it is the same but cloaked in new habits.
“This assembly was given the sacred task of preventing those terrible spirits from re-awakening, but they have
returned and that is why we are here,” Lévy continued, turning to Israel, he said that the nation of the Jews will
never be free from blame.
"Even if Israel was exemplary -- a nation of angels -- even if they granted the Palestinians a state which is their
right, even then, this enigmatic and old hatred would not dissipate one iota," he said. “When a Jew is struck
humanity falls to the ground. A world without the Jews would not be a world. This hate against Israel will not
dissipate.”
The idea of anti-Semitism as a figurative gateway drug to other forms of racism and discrimination was a
common thread through all of the speeches that morning, including the Saudi Arabian ambassador Abdallah
al-Mouallimi, speaking on behalf of the Organization of Islamic Countries, who began his speech by
condemning “all discrimination, including based on religion or religious beliefs,” and ended his speech by
saying, “Colonization and occupation fuels anti-Semitism…occupation is an act of anti-Semitism. It threatens
human rights and human kind.”
This utterance effectively counteracted the message that UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon had delivered
merely an hour before, in which he stressed that, “Grievances about Israeli actions must never be used as an
excuse to attack Jews. In the same vein, criticisms of Israeli actions should not be summarily dismissed as
anti-Semitism. This only suppresses dialogue and hinders the search for peace.”
Speaking to the Jerusalem Post after the morning session of the conference, the Anti-Defamation League’s
Michael Salberg pointed specifically to this discrepancy as an example of how much work still has to be done.
“It is appropriate that the UN, which is the center of the international community, address this issue separately
and distinctly, it’s long overdue,” Salberg said. “This idea that anti-Semitism has to be dealt with in the place
where it is most needed to be dealt with — in Arab and Muslim world — is probably greatest challenge that we
face.”
Israel’s ambassador Ron Prosor, who revealed that he was about the become a grandfather for the first time,
said he was saddened that his granddaughter would be born into a world “still stained by anti-Semitism.”
“Violent anti-Semitism is casting a shadow over Europe,” he said, and called out UN member states for antiSemitic statements made at the UN. “This summer, disguised as humanitarian concern, delegates have used
this podium to commit anti-Semitism, accusing Israel of behaving like Nazis,” he said. “It doesn’t matter how
much you’re angered or frustrated by our conflict. There is no excuse for statements like that.”
Prosor invoked Israeli writer Amos Oz, who pointed out that in the 1930s, anti-Semites in Europe were calling
for the Jews to go to Palestine. “Now they shout Jews out of Palestine. They don’t want us to be here, they
don’t want us to be there. They don’t want us to be.”
US Ambassador Samantha Power noted that it was historic that the UN was taking the step to hold the
conference, but that "government cannot do this along" -- that is, routing anti-Semitism -- " we have to rally civil
society partners. Attacks on Jews are attacks on us all."
French Secretary of State for European Affairs Harlem Désir and German Minister of State for Europe Michael
Roth also both spoke, and addressed reporters after the talks about what the future of European security and
cooperation might look like, especially in the wake of the attacks in Paris earlier in January, especially
pertaining current laws on hate speech. “We need a new legal framework concerning internet companies and
the diffusion of racist and anti-Semitic speech,” Désir said. “We would like this to be discussed at the global
level.”
“Europe an immigration continent, Germany is a immigration country,” Roth said. “Most of those who have
come to Germany have enriched our country and our good for our country. But we still need them to adhere to
our European values.”
Michael Gourary, the CEO of the Israeli-Jewish Congress, told the Post he hopes that today is not just about
“words, words, words.” He had come to the UN with a clear proposal for how EU states could go about
implementing stronger laws, including a comprehensive definition of anti-Semitism, better regulation of the
Internet, not allowing radicalized Jihadis who travel to Yemen or Syria or Iraq to come back, and stronger
protection for Jewish communities. “Instead of speaking about what they can do concretely, all the discussion
right now is about freedom of speech, and spying versus not-spying,” Gourary said. “But the real main issue is
that in Europe there are so many terror attacks directly targeting Jews.”
Thursday afternoon featured a panel discussion with US representative Theodore Deutsch, Canadian Member
of Parliament Professor Irwin Cotler, and the heads of several human rights NGOs.
#9
Russia accuses Poles of 'mockery of history' over Auschwitz
By Vanessa Gera
AP, January 22, 2015
Russia has accused Poland of engaging in a "mockery of history" after the Polish foreign minister credited
Ukrainian soldiers, rather than the Soviet Red Army, with liberating Auschwitz 70 years ago.
The exchange underlines the deep tensions between Russia and Poland, which is hugely critical of Russian
actions in Ukraine. Those strains are casting a shadow over the 70th anniversary commemorations of the
liberation of the Nazi death camp, which will be held Tuesday in Poland.
Poland has apparently snubbed Russian President Vladimir Putin, who will not attend even though he was at
the 60th anniversary event in 2005. The situation is particularly awkward since Auschwitz was liberated by
Soviet troops on Jan. 27, 1945, and some of the more than 1.1 million victims were Soviet citizens, including
Jews and prisoners of war.
In a radio interview Wednesday, Polish Foreign Minister Grzegorz Schetyna was challenged over what the
journalist called the "pettiness" of not inviting Putin, given that he is the inheritor of the Soviet Union and that
the Red Army freed Auschwitz.
Schetyna replied that "maybe it's better to say ... that the First Ukrainian Front and Ukrainians liberated
(Auschwitz), because Ukrainian soldiers were there, on that January day, and they opened the gates of the
camp and they liberated the camp."
In Russia, Schetyna's comments were seen as a cynical insult and drew an avalanche of angry official
comments. The Foreign Ministry accused Schetyna of "anti-Russian hysteria" and disrespecting the memory of
those who died liberating Europe from Hitler.
"It's common knowledge that Auschwitz was liberated by the Red Army, in which all nationalities heroically
served," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement. "We believe that the mockery of history needs to be
stopped."
The group of forces involved in the liberation of Auschwitz was called the First Ukrainian Front after it pushed
the Nazis back across the territory of then-Soviet Ukraine before moving into Poland.
Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov called Schetyna's comments "sacrilegious and cynical."
"Auschwitz was liberated by the Red Army, which included Russians, Ukrainians, Chechens, Tatars and
Georgians, among others," Lavrov said.
At the United Nations, Russia's envoy Vitaly Churkin addressed the Polish envoy, telling him that the First
Ukrainian Front, like other Red Army forces, contained representatives of the Soviet Union's more than 100
ethnic groups and asking him to convey the information to Schetyna.
The organizers of the ceremonies, the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum and the International Auschwitz
Council, did not issue specific invitations to national leaders this year, but asked nations contributing funds to
the site — including Russia — if they were going to attend.
Poland appears to have used this form of protocol as a way of avoiding a direct invitation to Putin. Some Poles
have been critical of this, saying politics should not intrude on such a major Holocaust commemoration, the last
one where a significant number of Auschwitz survivors can still be expected to attend.
Schetyna, though, put the blame on Putin for not attending, saying it was his decision.
The Nazis operated the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp in occupied Poland from 1940 to 1945. Most of the
victims were Jews, but Roma and other groups were also killed there.
#10
UNESCO Holocaust exhibit nixed after Latvian protests
JTA, January 22, 2015
Latvian officials prevented the opening of an exhibition about the Holocaust that Russia wanted to host at a
United Nations building.
The exposition, titled “Stolen childhood: Holocaust victims Seen by Child Inmates of Salaspils Nazi
Concentration Camp,” was canceled following objections by Latvian officials to its scheduled opening on
Sunday at the Paris seat of UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, a
UNESCO spokesman told JTA on Wednesday.
The exposition’s curator, historian Alexander Dioukov, told RIA Novosti that Latvia’s chief delegate to
UNESCO, Sanita Pavluta-Deslandes, said the exposition risked damaging her country’s image during its
presidency of the European Union, which the Baltic country assumed on January 1 and will hold until July 1.
Dioukov, who heads the Historical Memory association, said the exposition was co-sponsored by the UNESCO
missions of Russia and Belarus.
UNESCO policy gives member states veto powers over events organized by other member states, a UNESCO
spokesman told JTA.
“It wasn’t UNESCO’s decision to cancel, it was simply protocol,” spokesman Roni Amelan said. “Latvia
opposed an exhibition by the Russian Federation that included photos from a concentration camp in Latvia.”
In an unsigned email to JTA, Latvia’s delegation to UNESCO said it offered to its Russian counterpart “to
cooperate in order to organize in the future the event devoted to Holocaust remembrance, including by
showing the film ‘The Controversial History’ about Latvia’s inhabitants, Holocaust survivors, Salaspils
concentration camp survivors [and] Soviet deportation survivors.”
The email author did not answer JTA’s question as to why Latvia opposed the “Stolen childhood” exhibition.
Speaking to the LETA news agency on Wednesday, Karlis Eihenbaums, a spokesman for the Latvian Foreign
Ministry, confirmed Riga’s opposition to the exhibition, adding that Dioukov “expressed openly hostile and
unfriendly statements about Latvia and its people.”
Long burdened by bitter memories of Russia’s occupation of Latvia and Latvian complicity in Nazi war crimes
during World War II, the two countries have had a tense relationship. Latvian leaders often have accused
Moscow of expansionism and equated Nazism to communism despite protests by the Simon Wiesenthal
Center and other Jewish groups.
In turn, Moscow hit back at what it called government support for the popular glorification of Nazi Latvians,
including some who murdered Jews.
#11
Chechnya and Charlie Hebdo
By Michael Khodarkovsky
New York Times, January 22, 2015
On Jan. 10, a protester holding a sign “I am Charlie” was arrested in Moscow and later sentenced to eight days
in jail. A few days later, the federal media watchdog ordered the St. Petersburg edition of the Business News
Agency to remove the new cover of Charlie Hebdo from its website. The same agency was warned that
reprinting the cartoon depicting the Prophet Muhammad could be considered a criminal offense, and that it
would violate the “ethical and moral norms formed in Russia through the centuries of different peoples and
faiths living side by side.”
On Monday, Ramzan A. Kadyrov, whom Vladimir V. Putin appointed president of Chechnya in 2007, held a
mass rally in Grozny, the regional capital, against “the enemies of Islam.” It was reportedly attended by tens of
thousands of people, many of them sporting slogans that read “We love Muhammad,” in Russian, Arabic and
English. The largest banner quoted Mr. Putin: “Islam is a vital part of Russia’s cultural makeup.” In his speech,
Mr. Kadyrov pledged to defend Russia and denounced Western journalists and politicians.
To a certain extent, the rally shows how adept — at least so far — Mr. Putin has been at mixing religion and
politics. It is well known that he relies heavily on the Russian Orthodox Church to bolster his support whenever
he needs to draw public attention away from his country’s troubling economic and social ills. But Russia also
has a large Muslim population — nearly one-sixth of its people are Muslim. Moscow alone has two million
Muslim residents, and according to some estimates, an equal number of Muslim migrant workers. Mr. Putin
wants to keep them in his camp, and this requires pragmatism and the utmost delicacy. The brutal war in
Chechnya may have ended, but Islamist rebels, some of them professing loyalty to the Islamic State, still roam
the Caucasus, and Moscow is fearful that their influence can easily spread northward.
Though the Kremlin was quick to express solidarity with France and condemn terrorism in the aftermath of the
Paris attack, the pro-government media placed equal blame at the feet of the Charlie Hebdo journalists for their
provocative cartoons, and at the Western liberalism that allows such publications.
Mr. Putin’s Russia is not a friendly place for irreverent humor. Early in his presidency the Kremlin banned the
widely popular satirical television show “Kukly,” or “Dolls,” which mercilessly mocked Russian politicians. In
2012, several members of the punk group Pussy Riot were sent to prison for their protest in Moscow’s largest
cathedral. In 2013, the Duma adopted a law that criminalized insulting one’s religious sensibilities.
Behind the purported wish to protect the feelings of the faithful lies a pragmatic attempt to maintain the support
of conservative Christian, Muslim and Nationalist groups, and to keep Islamic extremists at bay. After all,
Russia has been the target of numerous attacks by Chechen and other terrorist groups from the North
Caucasus. Neither military actions nor economic policies in the 15 years since Mr. Putin came to power have
succeeded in completely stamping out insurgency in that restless Islamic land. Russian media reports indicate
that attacks on police and government officials are still common.
When Mr. Kadyrov assumed power in Chechnya, the war-ravaged region lay in ruins. Using ruthless methods,
he suppressed any opposition, whether from Islamists, other political rivals, or human rights advocates.
Counterterrorism operations were formally declared over in 2009. With massive Kremlin aid, he rebuilt
Chechnya.
Mr. Kadyrov has proven a fierce Putin loyalist, bragging of his readiness to send Chechen “volunteers”
wherever the Russian president needs them. Several hundred have been fighting on the side of the rebels in
eastern Ukraine, and Mr. Kadyrov recently offered to dispatch more.
But the price of peace and order has been the emergence of an Islamic state within Russia. Chechnya’s
nominally secular institutions are now thoroughly Islamicized. Public schools have instructors who teach Islam.
Each district administration has a qadi, or Islamic judge, who wields de facto power in the district. Shariah
courts function in the guise of state courts. Women are ordered to keep covered in public places, and the
consumption of alcohol is prohibited. During his “virtue campaign,” Mr. Kadyrov openly declared that a woman
is a man’s property and defended “honor killings.”
Tellingly, Mr. Kadyrov never condemned the massacre at Charlie Hebdo. Instead he denounced the
publication’s cover as a provocation against Muslims and declared that anyone who supported Charlie Hebdo
was his enemy — apparently no idle threat from a man who is widely believed to be behind the assassinations
of many of his opponents.
Despite his vigorous protestations of loyalty to Moscow, it is not clear how comfortable the Kremlin is with such
shows of force like the rally on Monday. At one point, Mr. Kadyrov boasted that he could easily get a million
Muslims to protest on the streets of Moscow. According to Russian news reports, Muslim leaders had planned
to hold a demonstration in Moscow on Sunday, but city officials denied permission for the rally, citing security
concerns.
It is also telling that the pro-government media’s coverage of the rally in Chechnya on Monday was light. This
could have been because the demonstration coincided with celebrations of the Epiphany in Russian Orthodox
tradition. But it is also likely that the Kremlin is increasingly concerned with losing control of a man whose job
was to bring Chechnya into Russia’s fold and who instead created an Islamic state within the Russian
Federation.
Mr. Kadyrov, a member of the council of Russia’s ruling United Russia party and a decorated Hero of the
Russian Federation, admitted several years ago that, for him, Shariah was above any other law. For the
moment, President Putin seems to find Shariah more palatable than freedom of speech.
Michael Khodarkovsky is a professor of history at Loyola University Chicago and the author of “Bitter Choices:
Loyalty and Betrayal in the Russian Conquest of the North Caucasus.”
#12
Russia ends US nuclear security alliance
By Bryan Bender
Boston Globe, January 19, 2015
The private diplomatic meetings took place over two days in mid-December in a hotel overlooking Moscow's
Red Square.
But unlike in previous such gatherings, the sense of camaraderie, even brotherhood, was overshadowed by an
uncomfortable chill, according to participants.
In the previously undisclosed discussions, the Russians informed the Americans that they were refusing any
more US help protecting their largest stockpiles of weapons-grade uranium and plutonium from being stolen or
sold on the black market. The declaration effectively ended one of the most successful areas of cooperation
between the former Cold War adversaries.
"I think it greatly increases the risk of catastrophic terrorism," said Sam Nunn, the former Democratic senator
from Georgia and an architect of the "cooperative threat reduction" programs of the 1990s.
Official word came in a terse, three-page agreement signed on Dec. 16. A copy was obtained by the Globe,
and a description of the Moscow meeting was provided by three people who attended the session or were
briefed on it. They declined to be identified for security reasons.
Russia's change of heart was not unexpected.
The Globe reported in August that US officials were concerned about the future of the programs, because of
increased diplomatic hostilities between the United States and Russia. The New York Times reported in
November that it appeared likely many of the programs would end.
On hand for the Moscow meeting were nearly four dozen of the leading figures on both sides who have been
working to safeguard the largest supplies of the world's deadliest weapons, according to the three-page
agreement.
The group included officials from the US Department of Energy, its nuclear weapons labs, the Pentagon, and
the State Department, and a host of Russian officials in charge of everything from dismantling nuclear
submarines to arms control.
Specialists said the final meeting was a dismaying development in a joint effort that the United States has
invested some $2 billion in and had been a symbol of the thaw between East and West and of global efforts to
prevent the spread of doomsday weapons. An additional $100 million had been budgeted for the effort this
year and many of the programs were envisioned to continue at least through 2018.
Since the cooperative agreement began, US experts have helped destroy hundreds of weapons and nuclearpowered submarines, pay workers' salaries, install security measures at myriad facilities containing weapons
material across Russia and the former Soviet Union, and conduct training programs for their personnel.
Officials said estimates of how much bomb-grade material has either been destroyed or secured inside the
former Soviet Union is classified but insist the stockpiles are enough to make many hundreds of atomic bombs.
The work has been driven by deep concern that large supplies of nuclear material could be stolen by terrorists
seeking weapons of mass destruction or diverted by underpaid workers susceptible to bribes.
Russian President Vladimir Putin's decision last year to invade the Ukrainian territory of Crimea and then back
an armed rebellion in eastern Ukraine prompted a series of US and EU sanctions against Russia, which stirred
fears that the era of nuclear cooperation was at risk.
Now security upgrades have been cancelled at some of Russia's seven "closed nuclear cities," which contain
among the largest stockpiles of highly enriched uranium and plutonium, according to the official "record of
meeting" signed by the sides in December.
The Russians also told the Americans that joint security work at 18 civilian facilities housing weapons material
would cease, effective Jan. 1. Another project at two facilities to convert highly enriched uranium into a less
dangerous form also has been stopped.
Lack of US funding and expertise also jeopardizes planned construction of high-tech surveillance systems at
13 buildings that store nuclear material, as well as a project to deploy radiation detectors at Russian ports,
airports, and border crossings to catch potential nuclear smugglers.
A limited amount of cooperation will continue in other countries that have highly enriched uranium that
originated in Russia. The two sides also will continue working on ways to secure industrial sources of
radioactive material, which could be used to make a "dirty bomb.'' The Russian decision will not affect
inspections that both sides regularly conduct of each other's active nuclear arsenals as part of arms control
treaties.
But that is little consolation for those like Siegfried S. Hecker, one of the nation's premier experts on nuclear
weapons. Hecker, a former head of the Los Alamos National Laboratory, has traveled more than 40 times to
Russia since 1992 as part of the joint security efforts. While he said vast improvements have been made in
Russia's atomic security since the end of the Cold War, "you're never done."
"They need continuous attention and international cooperation," he said in an interview. "You cannot afford to
isolate your country, your own nuclear complex, from the rest of the world."
The Russian embassy in Washington, and the Russian State Atomic Energy Corporation in Moscow, did not
respond to requests for comment. In the December document, the Russians said they are capable of securing
their own nuclear facilities, out of Russia's federal budget.
But a number of former US government officials and nuclear experts expressed doubts about the Russian
pledge, pointing to recent economic troubles.
"The Russians say they are going to put a lot more of their resources into this," said Nunn, who is cochairman
of the Nuclear Threat Initiative, a Washington nonprofit that works to reduce the dangers of nuclear, biological,
and chemical weapons. "That would be good news if they do, but with their economic challenges now and with
the huge distrust built because of Ukraine and the deterioration of the ruble, the proof will be in the pudding."
Another key architect of the programs, former Republican senator Richard Lugar of Indiana, who last visited
some of the facilities in 2012, said he wonders if the Russians have the expertise needed to keep track of the
vast amount of nuclear bomb material.
"The housekeeping by the Russians has not been comprehensive," Lugar said in an interview. "There had
been work done [with the United States] hunting down nuclear materials. This is now terminated."
Some warn that the distrust on both sides could bleed into other areas, including arms control treaties.
"It's important for the US and Russia to have nuclear security, but it is also important for us to believe we have
nuclear security," said Matthew Bunn, a weapons proliferation specialist at the Belfer Center for Science and
International Affairs at Harvard University. "That's hard to do just by saying so."
US government officials, for their part, insist they are trying to make the best of it.
"We are encouraged that they stated multiple times that they intend to finish this work," said David Huizenga,
who runs the nonproliferation programs at the National Nuclear Security Administration, an arm of the
Department of Energy. Huizenga led the US delegation to Moscow last month.
But he said US officials still hope that the Russians will change their mind and restart a partnership that by
most accounts has significantly strengthened global security.
"[It will be] harder to resurrect if we don't actually engage in any meaningful way," Huizenga said.
#13
Russia and Iran Sign Military Cooperation Deal
By Nasser Karimi
AP, January 21, 2015
Iran and Russia signed an agreement Tuesday to expand military ties in a visit to Tehran by the Russian
defense minister.
Sergei Shoigu, in remarks carried by Russian news agencies, said Moscow wants to develop a "long-term and
multifaceted" military relationship with Iran. He said that the new agreement includes expanded counterterrorism cooperation, exchanges of military personnel for training purposes and an understanding for each
country's navy to more frequently use the other's ports.
Iran's Defense Minister Hossein Dehghan urged greater cooperation as a means of opposing American
ambitions in the region. Moscow and Tehran have staunchly supported Syrian President Bashar Assad
throughout Syria's civil war, while Washington advocates regime change and supports rebel groups.
"Iran and Russia are able to confront the expansionist intervention and greed of the United States through
cooperation, synergy and activating strategic potential capacities," Dehghan said. "As two neighbors, Iran and
Russia have common viewpoints toward political, regional and global issues."
Russia has maintained friendly ties with Iran and has built its first nuclear power plant. Last fall, it signed a deal
to build two more reactors in Iran.
Shoigu did not the mention ongoing controversy over a deal to deliver a sophisticated air defense missile
system to Iran. In 2007, Russia signed a $800-million contract to sell Tehran the S-300 missile system, but the
weaponry was never delivered amid strong objections by United States and Israel.
Iran has filed a lawsuit with a court in Geneva seeking $4 billion in damages over the breach of the contract,
but the court hasn't yet made any ruling. Russia has insisted that its decision to freeze the S-300 delivery was
based on the United Nations Security Council's sanctions against Iran.
Iran's state TV reported Tuesday that Iran and Russia have agreed to settle their differences over the missile
deal, without offering further details.
Last year, Russian media reports said that Moscow had sought to end the dispute by offering Iran a different,
slightly inferior version of the S-300 system, but Tehran had rejected the proposal.