Published May 15, 2024
It is often said that few hold as much influence over the president as Nikolai Patrushev
Vladimir Putin has appointed one of his closest allies, Nikolai Patrushev, as an official aide, in the latest reshuffle of his inner circle.
The 72-year-old was replaced as head of Russia’s Security Council by sacked defence minister Sergei Shoigu on Monday.
His friendship with the Russian president dates back to the 1970s, when the pair worked in the KGB.
It is not clear whether Mr Patrushev’s new role constitutes a demotion.
For a long time considered one of the most powerful men in Russia, and a protagonist in Mr Putin’s campaign against the West, he will likely still hold a significant role.
Indeed, in modern Russia, you do not have to have a particular job title to have the president’s ear.
But Mr Putin remains the person who has the final say. It was his decision to start the war in Ukraine and all the big calls are taken by him.
Mr Patrushev is one of three Putin loyalists who have served with him ever since the 1970s in St Petersburg, when Russia’s second city was still known as Leningrad.
Not only did he work with him in the KGB during the communist era, he replaced him as head of its successor organisation, the Federal Security Service (FSB), from 1999 to 2008. He then served as secretary of the Russian Security Council for 14 years.
This latest movement at the top of Russian politics also saw Mr Patrushev’s son, Dmitry – seen by some as a possible successor to Mr Putin – promoted to deputy prime minister.
READ FULL ARTICLE
SOURCE: www.bbc.com
RELATED: What is behind Russia’s nuclear escalation threat?
Brinkmanship in the war in Ukraine might be nearing its natural limits; this could pave the way for diplomacy.
Russian President Vladimir Putin attends the Orthodox Easter service at the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow on May 5, 2024 [Valeriy Sharifulin/Sputnik via Reuters]
Published May 14, 2024
Last week, tensions between Russia and the West appeared to escalate to a dangerous new level when President Vladimir Putin ordered military drills involving tactical nuclear weapons near the Ukrainian border. The Kremlin made clear that the drills were in response to statements by Western leaders about the deployment of NATO troops to Ukraine and the use of Western weapons to strike targets inside Russia.
On May 2, during a surprise visit to Kyiv, British Foreign Secretary David Cameron pledged to keep helping Ukraine “for as long as it takes” and suggested that Ukrainians were free to use British weapons in order to strike Russian territory. This could pertain to the Franco-British Storm Shadow missiles as well as drones the United Kingdom had pledged to supply to Ukraine in their thousands.
While Western countries have been supplying Ukraine with weapons, they have explicitly made clear that they cannot be used for attacks on Russian soil. For this reason, until now, Ukraine has been using its home-made drones and missiles against civilian and military targets inside Russia.
tially end up deploying troops to Ukraine. He reiterated it this month in an interview with the Economist published on May 2. The French president refused to provide more details, insisting that the European Union should maintain “strategic ambiguity” and leave the Russians guessing about its real intentions.
But the Kremlin has chosen not to play the guessing game. The announcement of military drills involving tactical nuclear weapons in its Southern Military District which borders Ukraine sends a clear message to the West.
And to make the point clearer, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned the British and French ambassadors and released details of the rebukes they received.
READ FULL ARTICLE
SOURCE: www.aljazeera.com
RELATED: Interview: Putin Has Not Given Up On Erasing Ukraine ‘As A State, A Concept, And A People’
Russian President Vladimir Putin delivers a speech during a military parade on Victory Day in Moscow’s Red Square on May 9.
Published May 13, 2024
Nataliya Bugayova is a nonresident fellow at the Washington-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a think tank focused on military affairs through the lens of U.S. strategic objectives.
She is the author of multiple publications on the Kremlin’s worldview and the geopolitics of Russia’s ongoing war on Ukraine and a frequent commentator on those and related topics.
Bugayova is also director of strategic intelligence at Babel Street Data, an analytics and intelligence company, and served as an adviser to a Ukrainian economy minister after the country’s Euromaidan unrest.
Bugayova spoke with RFE/RL’s Georgian Service recently about Western actions to support Ukraine in its current war, possible paths to a durable peace, and the “existential and inescapable” reality shaping Ukrainians’ will to fight.
READ FULL ARTICLE
SOURCE: www.rferl.org
