Russian authorities have decided to close all temporary placement centers for refugees from war-torn areas of Ukraine by December 31
Welcome to our column, Russia Update, where we will be closely following day-to-day developments in Russia, including the Russian government’s foreign and domestic policies.
The previous issue is here.
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UPDATES BELOW
In the early morning of October 13, Yunusova and her infant son along with Daler Nazarov, her brother-in-law, age 17, was arrested in a raid by the Federal Migration Service. They were taken to the Admiralteysky Police Precinct no. 1 where the mother and baby were separated. Yunusova was taken to a holding cell at 15:00 to await a court hearing and was released only at 21:00, whereupon she found that her baby had died. Police had taken the infant to the police station, where he was put aside, until they noticed he was ill and rushed him to the hospital at 13:30, where he died that night.
Tseytlina outlined all the violations in the case, and pointed out that there were no grounds for seizing the baby, as there was no evidence that he was neglected. The honorary consul of Tajikistan has filed a complaint with the Russian court.
Every year, tens of thousands of Tajiks migrate to Russia seeking menial work; the remittance economy is a big part of Tajikistan’s GDP. Since the economic crisis in Russia began last year, the numbers of labor migrants have dropped dramatically causing more poverty in Tajikistan. In a wave of nationalist extremism that preceded even the invasion of Ukraine, there have been more attacks on migrants, many of whom come from Central Asia, and efforts to get them deported from major cities.
The Russian media has been avidly discussing the news that the Bank of Russia, or Central Bank as it is known is printing 3 million rubles, showing images such as currency printing presses and a parachutist in freefall.
Translation: #Central Bank dared to make a real emission? They are printing a trillion rubles.
At a press conference in Russian-occupied Crimea, Georgy Luntovsky, first deputy chairman of the Bank of Russia said that “about a trillion rubles” would be issued by the end of the year. The percentage of cash in the Russian economy is currently 78.6%, he added, according to a TASS report.
Yevgeny Gavrilenkov, managing director of Sberbank, told RBC.ru that this is a “seasonal increase in the volume of cash, characteristic for the end of the year” and that “it is not a question of increasing the volume of cash.”
Russians receive end-of-year bonuses and gifts and spend them on New Year’s presents, then cut back at the start of the year. In January, the volume usually reduces, he added.
Luntovsky said that a 100-ruble note would soon be issued to commemorate the annexation of the Crimea, polit.ru reported, and denied the 10,000 ruble denomination would be created.
But these announcements paled compared to the mention of the trillion to be issued, which sparked memories of the government’s printing of cash in the Yeltsin era, which led to rampant inflation in the 1990s, polit.ru commented. The ruble crashed in 1998, setting the stage for the coming to power of Vladimir Putin.
Luntovsky tried to calm fears by saying the 3 million wouldn’t be created by literally printing ruble notes at the state plant in Perm, but transfering non-cash accounts to credit organizations or government accounts.
Polit.ru believes that the infusion of cash now is not the pumping into the economy of cheap cash, which has been proposed by conservative presidential advisor Sergei Glazyev and his supporters, but financing the deficit of the federal budget from the reserve fund.
— Catherine A. Fitzpatrick
Oleg is serving a 2.5 year sentence in a labor colony in Orlov Region on charges of fraud related to a mail-order business that had contracted with the French company Yves Rocher. The case was widely seen as fabricated in retaliation for the anti-corruption work of Alexey Navalny, who was given a suspended sentence of 2.5 years in the same case. Yves Rocher had no claims against the brothers.
Oleg has not been involved in opposition activity, and his brother declared his arrest last December as “hostage-taking” to put pressure on himself.
At the time, Kornienko said confusingly that he couldn’t allow Masyuk into the camp because she was a member of the presidential council in Moscow, but the colony was in Vladimir Region. The fact is that Babushkin was at that time a member of the same council so the claim didn’t make sense. Now it seems as if the same pretext is being used to keep a journalist out of the colony despite Russian law that allows for inspections of places of detention by public groups.
— Catherine A. Fitzpatrick
ISIS had released a video threatening to attack Russia “very soon,” the Jerusalem Post reported, citing the SITE intelligence group.
According to a news item today on SITE:
Al-Hayat Media Center, the foreign language media division of the Islamic State (IS), released a Russian-language video chant threatening attacks in Russia and featuring gory scenes from beheading and gunshot execution productions.
— Catherine A. Fitzpatrick
Government officials are working on a plan to create an alternative to savings accounts which would enable citizens to invest in federal securities through their banks which would help lower the deficit.
In October, an increased demand for CDs was observed, as more people invested in them. Russians spent 25.5 billion rubles ($385 million) on CDs during the past month; they produce higher interest but cannot be withdrawn or accessed via ATMs.
The Bank of Russia dismissed rumors that they were printing bank notes with a new denomination of 10,000 ruble, Gazeta.ru reported. A representative said that until inflation fell to 2-3% there would be no sense in such a denomination.
— Catherine A. Fitzpatrick
— Catherine A. Fitzpatrick
Russia has been eager to solve the enormous refugee problem Moscow itself has generated through launching the military offensive in the Donbass last year.
Konstantin Romodanovsky, head of the FMS, says a million people have fled from Ukraine, mainly ethnic Russians or Russian-speakers. Of these, more than 400,000 of them have obtained temporary refugee status and another 200,000 have permission for temporary residence. The number of refugees who plan long-term stays in Russia who have no status or papers is over 600,000, he says.
“The impression is formed that the authorities’ logic is the following: the authorities waged a propaganda campaign for several months, trying to portray what a humane country Russia is, and now the refugees have fulfilled their function and therefore they can be shown the door.”
She said that more than 60,000 people were in the temporary centers, and officials have been gradually closing them down in recent months.
— Catherine A. Fitzpatrick