Russia and the CIS News Digest
Putin Re-elected as President of Russia
The turnout in the March 14 Russian Presidential election surpassed 64% of eligible voters, well over the 50% necessary for the election to be valid. President Vladimir Putin was re-elected with over 71% the vote. In second place was the Communist Party candidate, Nikolai Kharitonov, with 13.7%. Independent Sergei Glazyev had 4.1%, former Union of Right Forces co-leader Irina Khakamada had 3.9%, the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia candidate Malyshkin had 2%, and Federation Council speaker Sergei Mironov, less than 1%. The line for "against all" received 3.5%.
On March 12, the campaign staff chiefs for Glazyev, Khakamada, and Kharitonov gave a joint press conference to warn against "massive vote fraud," on top of their having been deprived of equal access to the media. The same day, Glazyev was unable to hold a scheduled campaign meeting in St. Petersburg, when the venue was cancelled at the last minuteas had also occurred during his visits to Siberia and Nizhny Novgorod. The same tactic was used against Khakamada in Nizhny Novgorod.
Pattern of Suspicious Destructive Events in Russia
Russian media and public attention are focussed on a string of violent events that occurred simultaneous with the Madrid bombing and the Russian Presidential election. Although the official line on two of them is that "terrorism is ruled out," questions have been raised about both.
*Just as the polls closed at 9:00 p.m. in the March 14 Presidential election, a spectacular disaster broke out in central Moscow: The beautiful, colonnaded Manezh building next to the Kremlinthe former Imperial Riding School stables, built in 1817 to commemorate the fifth anniversary of victory over Napoleoncaught fire, and burned to the ground. Five hundred firefighters were mobilized to douse the fire and prevent sparks from igniting fires in other historic buildings nearby. Two firemen died. Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov, Emergencies Minister Sergei Shoigu, and Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov rushed to the scene.
While Luzhkov and others cited the probability of a short circuit in the building's ventilation system, the usually cautious head of the Central Electoral Commission, Alexander Veshnyakov, termed the fire "a provocation." According to St. Petersburg television, specialists at a similar building in that city are convinced that the Moscow Manezh fire was arson, timed with the Presidential elections. With flames shooting high into the air, it looked from many vantage points in Moscow as if the Kremlin were on fire.
*A gas explosion in an apartment building in Arkhangelsk killed at least 50 people on March 15. Initially two homeless men were blamed for having stripped fittings from a gas line in order to sell the brass for scrap. But RFE/RL Newsline reported doubts raised by Russian sources: "Moscow Anti-Explosives Center Director Adolf Mishuyev told NTV on 16 March that the Arkhangelsk explosion could be the result of 'new tactics by terrorists.'... The only thing saboteurs need to do is to remove fittings from a gas pipe and light a candle on an upper floor of the building. When the building fills with gas, it will explode, Mishuyev said. Newsinfo.ru on 16 March reported a detail that could support Mishuyev's suspicions. The building that exploded belongs to the Internal Affairs Ministry, the website reported, saying that it served as a residence for active and retired local Interior Ministry personnel and their families. Strana.ru on 17 March reported that the building housed veterans of the Ministry's special forces, including veterans of the war in Chechnya."
A local Internal Affairs Ministry spokesman, however, said that building ownership was transferred to the city of Arkhangelsk in the 1990s and only a few police still lived there.
*Kommersant of March 13 reported indications that an election-day terrorist act was prevented in Stavropol, southern Russia, when a group of terrorists was eliminated by the combined forces of the regional police and special units of FSB (Federal Security Agency). On March 10, two policemen were killed at a highway checkpoint near Mineralnyye Vody (in the vicinity of Chechnya), by passengers of two cars, which tried to escape the checkpoint. Another group was detected in the Sovetskoye district, close to Kabardino-Balkaria, another North Caucasus region. There, the besieged terrorists opened fire on the FSB spetsnaz. Six of the potential terrorists were killeda Russian and three from the North Caucasus. In one of the cars were detailed maps of Stavropol city.
Russian Intercontinental SLBM Tests Succeed on Re-Test
On March 17, Russian Navy Commander-in-Chief Admiral Kuroyedov observed successful test-firings of intercontinental submarine-launched ballistic missiles, of the type that failed during last month's major exercises. A Navy spokesman said that the nuclear-powered submarine Novomoskovsk fired two RSM-54 long-range missiles in the space of a few hours from a point in the Barents Sea. Both missiles hit their target range in Kamchatka peninsula on the Pacific, 4,500 miles away.
Minister: Russia Is World, Not Regional Power
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Trubnikov, a veteran of the Soviet and Russian intelligence services, and close associate of former Prime Minister Yevgeni Primakov, gave an interview to Vremya Novostei newspaper on March 17, about Russia's role within the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). Besides issues of NATO and EU expansion, Trubnikov spoke emphatically on Russia's identity as a world power. Asked if he agreed "with political consultants who propose that Russia, as a regional power, should reorient itself exclusively towards the post-Soviet area," Trubnikov replied:
"I disagree. Due to its historical and geopolitical significance Russia cannot be confined within the regional framework.... I'm certain our country will take a proper position by becoming a pole in the multi-polar world order. We already have the formal attributes for that: affiliation with the nuclear club, permanent membership in the UN Security Council. Undoubtedly, Russia's economic might will determine its role of a great power. Slowly but surely we are increasing our economic potential. This is the Euro-Asian Economic Community within the framework of the CIS, the common economic area. Russia has been the driving force for integration processes across post-Soviet territory, which is a very difficult and responsible occupation."
At the same time, he criticized people within Russia who believe Moscow's involvement with other CIS members is too costly, for "little in return." If Russia were to abandon its role in the CIS, Trubnikov said, "our niche would be filled immediatelythis is reality. It would be a rash move."
CIA Warns of 'Greater Assertiveness' by Russia
A CIA assessment made public in mid-March warns of a "greater assertiveness" on the part of Russia after President Vladimir Putin's re-election. The report, together with a Defense Intelligence Agency assessment that Russia is "attempting to reclaim great power status" under Putin, was played up in a March 14 article in the New York Times.
Russian Deputy Chief of Staff in China
General Yuri Baluyevsky, first deputy chief of the Russian Armed Services General Staff, visited China the week of March 15, for meetings with Liang Guanglie, chief of the General Staff of the Chinese People's Liberation Army. This is the eighth round of Sino-Russian military consultations. The two sides discussed issues of strategic stability, and current and future cooperation between the militaries of China and Russia. Baluyevsky met with Chinese Defense Minister Cao Gangchuan, to discuss regional security, Korea, West Asia, international terrorism, and non-proliferation. Also scheduled was a tour of a number of military facilities throughout China.
Georgian President in Talks on Ajaria Crisis
Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili travelled to Batumi, capital of the Ajaria region, on March 18, for talks with Ajaria's leader Aslan Abashidze. Speaker of the Georgian Parliament Nino Burjanadze had negotiated with Abashidze for six hours, to arrange the meeting. Relations between Ajaria and the central government in Tbilisi have deteriorated since Saakashvili's election last December, which Abashidze strongly opposed, while Saakashvili attacked Abashidze (who has nationwide influence) during the campaign.
Saakashvili said March 17 that he was ready to lift an economic blockade imposed on Ajaria, if Abashidze agreed to hold democratic legislative elections. "If the negotiations are successful, the economic sanctions will be lifted," he said. Saakashvili accused Ajaria of trying to secede from Georgia. But after the talks on March 18, he did pledge to lift the blockade.
The crisis escalated earlier in the month, when the Georgian leader tried to enter the autonomous republic with a group of special forces troops and several dozen bodyguards, but was stopped by the national guard of Ajaria. Then, Saakashvili issued an ultimatum, that he be recognized as sovereign of all Georgia, and be guaranteed free passage. In order to prevent the return of Abashidze from Moscow, where he was at the time, Saakashvili blocked air space, and mobilized armed units at the borders of Ajaria, as well as blockading the port of Batumi. The port blockade immediately hit Georgia's trade with Azerbaijan and Turkey, as Batumi is a key port for Eurasian trade. Itar-Tass reported, however, that the blockade, which has cut rail traffic too, did not affect the construction of the Baku-Tblisi-Erzum gas pipeline.
The EU's special envoy for the South Caucasus, Finnish diplomat Heikki Talvitie, flew to Georgia March 16 to discuss the crisis with Saakashvili. Also attempting to mediate was Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov, who also arrived in Batumi March 16 and, on urging from former Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov, Saakashvili agreed to meet with the Mayor.
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