Francis Scarr
Watching Russia and its media for BBC Monitoring
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- The Kremlin says Putin has apologised to Azerbaijan’s President Aliyev for the "tragic incident" which led to the Azerbaijan Airlines Embraer 190 crashing in Kazakhstan on 25 December kremlin.ru/events/presi...
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- Even pro-government media in Azerbaijan are now saying that yesterday's plane crash was caused by a Russian air defence missile (Full quote in thread) caliber.az/post/pervich...
- "For the Azerbaijani side participating in the investigation, the situation is absolutely obvious. No one claims that this was done on purpose. However, taking into account the facts that have been established,...
- ...Baku expects the Russian side to admit that the Azerbaijani aircraft was shot down, make an official apology to the Azerbaijani people and conduct a full investigation, as a result of which all culprits will be brought to justice."
- "Azerbaijani government sources have exclusively confirmed to Euronews on Thursday that a Russian surface-to-air missile caused the Azerbaijan Airlines plane crash in Aktau on Wednesday." www.euronews.com/2024/12/26/e...
- Deputy Moscow mayor Vladimir Yefimov has said that the Russian capital's construction sector is short of up to 70,000 workers www.rbc.ru/business/26/...
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- Russia has placed opposition politician Ilya Yashin on its wanted list despite him being handed over to Germany in a prisoner exchange in August It seems that he's facing new criminal charges although they haven't been announced officially meduza.io/news/2024/12...
- Jackson Hinkle popped up on Russian state TV last night Described as a "member of the US Communist Party", he’s been busy helping the Russian Communists send a shipment of "humanitarian aid" to Donbas The correspondent suggested that most of it is going to soldiers on the frontline
- Hinkle was on Channel One too and told their reporter it was his "patriotic duty to help the people of Donbas in their fight against fascism just like my grandad fought against fascism together with Soviet troops during WW2. I think any respectable American should be doing this"
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- The latest episode of the #TheGlobalJigsaw is a brilliant one Listen to my colleague Vitaly Shevchenko explore the ways in which the Kremlin and its media machine exploit language in an effort to justify and rally support for the war against Ukraine www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w...
- Clearly irked by suggestions that the Oreshnik missile isn't all it's talked up to be, Putin flippantly proposes a "technological duel" in which the West puts its most advanced air defence systems in Kyiv and tries to repel an Oreshnik strike
- In front of a banner from the 155th naval infantry brigade which he says he was given as a gift, Putin says Russian forces are advancing "along the whole frontline every day" in Ukraine
- Despite the Kremlin's efforts to push "traditional values", Russia's divorce rate has now reached a record high For every ten marriages in 2024, there have been eight divorces, giving Russia the third-highest divorce rate worldwide, according to state pollster VTsIOM tass.ru/obschestvo/2...
- Chechen special forces commander Apti Alaudinov has become an honorary professor of South-West State University in Kursk Alaudinov earlier became an unofficial spokesman for the Russian operation to repel Ukraine's incursion into Kursk, constantly claiming non-existent Russian successes there
- Russian state energy giant Gazprom's shares are now trading at their lowest since January 2009 www.rbc.ru/quote/news/a...
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- Putin has decorated Yevgeny Poddubny, the state TV "war correspondent" who survived a drone attack in Kursk Region in August
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- The Rus Defence Ministry says Kyiv used Atacms in this morning's attack on a military airfield in Taganrog It claims 2 of the 6 missiles were shot down with the other 4 jammed However, it acknowledges personnel casualties (supposedly due to falling debris) and vows a response t.me/mod_russia/4...
- Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Syria: "Back then Russia accomplished its mission, and then Assad's leadership worked in its country, was engaged in developing its country" "Now we need to proceed from the realities that exist on the ground" www.interfax.ru/russia/997094
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- Russian state TV talk show host Anatoly Kuzichev: “I want to remind you that Russia has always believed, it has always believed – this is not just the position of the last couple of days - that it is Syrians who should determine the future and form of their country”
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- Ultranationalist "philosopher" Alexander Dugin weighs in on the collapsing rouble "With roubles you can buy so much of what is good, that's to say Russian... But dollars are the currency of Satan" t.me/Agdchan/19180
- Finance Minister Anton Siluanov has told Russians not to think about interest rates continuing to rise, "otherwise it will come true" In October, the central bank raised its key rate to 21%, the highest since the early 2000s www.rbc.ru/finances/26/...
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- Russia has banned another 30 UK nationals from entering the country, including members of the Cabinet, journalists and defence industry executives mid.ru/ru/foreign_p...
- Russian police face a personnel shortage of almost 20%, Interior Ministry spokeswoman Irina Volk has said According to Volk, there's now a shortage of 173,800 officers. In May, Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev put the figure at 152,000 www.kommersant.ru/doc/7328120?...
- Earlier this month, a Russian MP said that almost all the employees from two central district police departments in the city of Samara had resigned due to low pay He blamed their "dire financial situation", citing monthly wages of around 40,000 roubles (around $380) t.me/matveevkomme...
- Russian MP Sergei Mironov has turned up for work at the State Duma wearing a Putin Oreshnik missile t-shirt over his shirt The shirt says "krepky oreshnik", an attempted pun on the Russian name for the Die Hard films ("krepky oreshek" - tough cookie, literally tough nut)
- Ukraine says Russia attacked it with a record 188 drones last night t.me/kpszsu/23621
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- Last week Putin made out that the decision to let Ukraine fire Atacms and Storm Shadow missiles at targets inside Russia was a major escalation This week it's just another Defence Ministry "statistic" shown on TV: "In the past 24 hours, air defence has shot down eight Ukrainian ballistic missiles"
- This morning on Russian state TV, talk show host Olga Skabeyeva is telling her viewers with relish how long it would take the "Oreshnik" missile to reach various European capitals
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- Looks like the Kremlin is doing all it can to avoid another (very unpopular) wave of mobilisation at home
- Russia recruits Yemeni mercenaries to fight in Ukraine ft.com/content/da966006-88…
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- Earlier this week (i.e. before Putin’s address) Solovyov and his cronies on Russian state TV were fantasising about launching an ICBM at Trafalgar Square and "washing away" the UK with the Poseidon nuclear torpedo (also a favourite threat of fellow propagandist Kiselyov)
- As Natasha says, it’s all about the Western reaction on Russian state TV today This was the start of this morning’s edition of 60 Minutes on Rossiya 1
- About half of the Airbus A320 neo and A321 neo airliners in Russia are now grounded due to lack of servicing related to sanctions, Kommersant says The paper says that almost all A320/321 neo - around 10% of foreign airliners in Russia - will be out of action by 2026 www.kommersant.ru/doc/7312839
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- There is finally some official Russian reaction to Ukraine's use of Storm Shadow missiles, and they appear keen to downplay it Buried deep into its daily war update, the Defence Ministry says that two missiles were shot down Nothing was said about any hitting their target t.me/mod_russia/4...
- After all of yesterday’s bellicose rhetoric surrounding 🇷🇺’s new nuclear doctrine, tonight’s evening TV news paid surprisingly little attention to the Storm Shadow and Atacms strikes Channel One took 47 mins to mention them, while Rossiya 1 only did in the 2nd hour of its show
- Russian Telegram channel Mash says the target was the Baryatinsky estate in Maryino It also says that Ukraine hit it on 11 October, so presumably the Russian army are using it for something t.me/mash/59353
- The Kremlin is passing off old Putin meetings for new ones, independent journalist Farida Rustamova says His last confirmed public appearance was almost two weeks ago at the Valdai Club (This is not the first time that the Kremlin has been accused of using "canned" footage) t.me/faridaily24/...
- In a meeting with United Russia's parliamentary leader Vladimir Vasilyev supposedly on 12 Nov, Putin was told that the party was "actively taking part" in the preparation of the new budget, when it was in fact tabled in the Duma on 30 Sept and approved in its first reading on 24 Oct
- On 14 Nov Putin supposedly met LDPR leader Leonid Slutsky. Slutsky told him about the outcomes of regional elections, which in fact happened in September
- And yesterday Putin supposedly met New People leader Alexei Nechayev. Nechayev told him that his party had backed Russia's new budget in its *first* reading in the Duma, when the *second* reading in fact took place on 14 Nov, almost a week ago. The first took place on 24 Oct!
- ICYMI - my colleagues and I recently took a look at Russia’s demographic problems and the (often bonkers) solutions that officials are constantly coming up with Here’s a thread by @fulelo.bsky.social to accompany our episode of The Global Jigsaw podcast on the topic
- #Russian Duma MP Alexander Iltyakov has discovered one of the reasons for the war in Ukraine: 'women having abortions' - hear for yourself: t.me/chtddd/80451 This, after Vladimir Putin has made the increase of human capital a priority. So Why is the #Kremlin worried about population decline? 1/n
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- Reposted by Francis Scarr#BBCNews - Russia's nuclear rhetoric won't dent UK support for Ukraine - PM www.bbc.com/news/article... #UkraineWar
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- Putin has just approved Russia's updated nuclear doctrine, which expands the conditions for the use of nuclear weapons, including as a response to an attack by a non-nuclear state (read: Ukraine) supported by a nuclear one (read: US, UK, France) www.rbc.ru/politics/19/...
- Reposted by Francis ScarrRussian media report an attack on a Russian ammunitions depot in Karachev, Bryansk region of Russia. Multiple detonations were heard at the 67th GRAU arsenal, where ammunition and military equipment are stored. This depot has already been under attack in October.
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- Russian state TV's lead US correspondent Valentin Bogdanov says that Donald Trump's rare silence on Biden's permission for Ukraine to use missiles against targets inside Russia suggests he's on the same page as the outgoing president t.me/valentinbogd...
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- Meanwhile on Russian state TV, call sign "Granny" proudly wears her Z badge This daytime tabloid talk show is called "Nashi" ("Our people") and features stories from what Russia calls its "new territories", i.e. occupied Ukraine
