This Week’s Highlights

• Trump's new special envoy for arms control, Marshall Billingslea, faces what many experts say is a nearly impossible mission: negotiating an accord that would cover all Chinese, Russian and American nuclear arms. As deputy assistant secretary of defense in the early 2000s, he argued that arms treaties and export controls could be important security tools if monitored and enforced, the Wall Street Journal reports.
• Any attack by the United States using submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs), regardless of their specifications, will prompt Russia to retaliate using nuclear weapons, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said when commenting on a U.S. State Department report, according to Interfax.
• Of organizations young Russians distrust most, NATO ranks first (56 percent) followed by political parties (50 percent) and labor unions (44 percent), according to a poll conducted by Russia’s independent Levada Center and Germany’s Friedrich Ebert Foundation.
• Russian President Vladimir Putin is reportedly insisting that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad show more flexibility in talks with the Syrian opposition on a political settlement to end the conflict, Bloomberg reports. Assad's refusal to concede any power in return for greater international recognition and potentially billions of dollars in reconstruction aid prompted rare public outbursts against the Syrian president this month in Russian publications with links to Putin, according to Bloomberg. “It is becoming increasingly obvious that the [Assad] regime is reluctant or unable to develop a system of government that can mitigate corruption and crime,” Alexander Aksenyonok, a former Russian ambassador, wrote, Financial Times reports.
• As part of the OPEC+ pact set to begin on May 1, Russia has committed to its biggest reduction ever, a cut of 2 million barrels a day, or around a fifth of its current production. All but four of Russia's 132 independent companies—representing around 4 percent of Russia's oil production, could go bankrupt, the Wall Street Journal reports.
• While 50 percent of the Levada Center pollster’s respondents said that their governors or mayors were doing their best to deal with the outbreak, 46 percent said the same of Putin and the government. Russians' disapproval was nearly evenly split, with 48 percent disapproving of Putin and the government’s response and 45 percent expressing dissatisfaction toward the governors and mayors, according to Levada’s results, The Moscow Times reports. State-owned VTSIOM polls show that the share of Russians who would entrust Putin with solving important state problems fell in March 2020 to its lowest level in 14 years: 28.3 percent.
• China's trade with Russia expanded by 3.4 percent year on year in the first quarter of this year. Trade volume between the two countries stood at $25.35 billion in the period, a spokesperson with China’s Commerce Ministry said. China's imports from Russia increased by 17.3 percent from a year earlier to $16.2 billion, the fastest growth among China's major trading partners, Xinhua reports.

 

I. U.S. and Russian priorities for the bilateral agenda

Nuclear security and safety:

• The Lepse service ship, once the most glaring nuclear hazard in Russia’s Murmansk harbor, will now be emptied of nearly all its radioactive cargo by the end of this year. (Bellona, 04.29.20)
• By April 27, the number of Rosatom employees with COVID-19 was 86. Fifty-one employees have completely recovered. The virus keeps spreading to the regions, which poses a direct threat to cities hosting Rosatom enterprises. Rosatom is particularly concerned about the situation in Sarov, Elektrostal and Desnogorsk. (Russian Nuclear Security, 04.29.20)
• More than 200 firefighters were still involved in battling fires in areas around the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, Ukrainian media reported on May 1. The U.N. said persistent and serious long-term consequences remain more than 30 years after the explosion at the plant. Radiation levels in Kyiv did not exceed safe levels, according to these reports. (Russia Matters, 05.01.20)

North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs:

• No significant developments.

Iran and its nuclear program:

• U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says the U.S. will not allow Iran to buy or sell conventional arms after a U.N. embargo expires in October, in a move that could prompt Tehran to pull out of the 2015 nuclear deal and a major nonproliferation treaty. To circumvent China and Russia's veto power, Pompeo said the U.S. was prepared to argue that it is still a participant in JCPOA. Russia’s Permanent Representative to international organizations in Vienna Mikhail Ulyanov claimed Pompeo’s reasoning on the issue is “laughable.” China and Russia, both part of JCPOA, are likely to exercise their veto at the Security Council to oppose extending the U.N. arms embargo. (RFE/RL, 04.29.20, New York Times, 04.28.20, Kommersant, 04.28.20)

New Cold War/saber rattling:

• Any attack by the U.S. using submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs), regardless of their specifications, will prompt Russia to retaliate using nuclear weapons, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said when commenting on a report published on the U.S. Department of State website concerning the construction of low-yield nuclear warheads and arming some U.S. SLBMs with them. (Interfax, 04.29.29)

NATO-Russia relations:

• The world’s military expenditure is estimated to have been $1,917 billion in 2019, the highest level since 1988, according to a new SIPRI report. The total was 3.6 percent higher in real terms than in 2018 and 7.2 percent higher than in 2010. U.S. military spending (which ranks first) increased by 5.3 percent to $732 billion, accounting for 38 percent of global expenditures. That sum is almost as much as the next 10 highest spenders combined.  Russia (ranked 4th) continued two decades of rising military expenditures at $65.1 billion in 2019, a 4.5 percent increase from 2018. Five of the world’s 15 largest military spenders are in Europe. (SIPRI, 04.27.20, RFE/RL, 04.27.20)
• NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has accused China and Russia of spreading disinformation regarding the organization’s response to the coronavirus pandemic. (RFE/RL, 04.27.20)
• The S-400s remain unpacked at Murted Airfield Command in Turkey. The way Ankara chose to disclose the “delay” was a low-key statement to Reuters. “There is no going back on the decision to activate the S-400s, [but] due to COVID-19 … the plan for them to be ready in April will be delayed,” an anonymous official said. (Al Monitor, 04.23.20)
• Young Russians were most likely to express distrust toward international organizations like NATO (56 percent), political parties (50 percent) and labor unions (44 percent), according to a poll conducted by Russia’s independent Levada Center and Germany’s Friedrich Ebert Foundation cited by Vedomosti. The survey was conducted among 1,500 Russian respondents between the ages of 14 and 29 in May-June 2019. (The Moscow Times, 04.30.20)

Missile defense:

• No significant developments.

Arms control:

• As Trump's new special envoy for arms control, Marshall Billingslea faces what many experts say is a nearly impossible mission: negotiating an accord that would cover all Chinese, Russian and American nuclear arms. The Trump administration is increasingly set on trying to bring China into a key nuclear arms deal with Russia, according to documents obtained by Foreign Policy, amid fears by arms control experts that the effort is futile and the U.S. is running out of time to recommit to the New START treaty. According to a report by the State Department that was provided to Congress in February, the administration is worried a potential reauthorization of New START could impact a trilateral arms deal with China and Russia. It also expresses concern that China’s nuclear stockpile will double if the current pact is extended, as it does not cover Beijing. (Foreign Policy, 04.29.20, Wall Street Journal, 04.26.20)
• There are no obstacles to U.S. President Donald Trump announcing that he is extending the New START Treaty without any preliminary conditions, but the treaty's non-extension will bring the world closer to an unprecedented level of nuclear danger, Russian Ambassador to the U.S. Anatoly Antonov and U.S. diplomat Rose Gottemoeller said in a commentary published by Kommersant. (Interfax, 04.30.20)
• The U.S. presented its written grievances over the Treaty on Open Skies to Russia, according to Kommersant. A document on the matter was handed over to the Russian delegation during talks that took place in Vienna back in January. Moscow deemed that the document was made "in a peremptory manner." Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said last week that judging by the signals from Washington, U.S. officials were about to announce their withdrawal from the Treaty on Open Skies. (TASS, 04.27.20)

Counter-terrorism:

• Albania says it has arrested a Tajik citizen sought by Germany for suspected membership in an Islamic State (IS) cell. The announcement on April 30 comes two weeks after German authorities announced they had detained five Tajik nationals suspected of forming an IS cell that plotted attacks on German soil. (RFE/RL, 04.30.20)

Conflict in Syria:

• Russian President Vladimir Putin is reportedly insisting that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad show more flexibility in talks with the Syrian opposition on a political settlement to end the conflict. Assad's refusal to concede any power in return for greater international recognition and potentially billions of dollars in reconstruction aid prompted rare public outbursts against the Syrian president this month in Russian publications with links to Putin.  “It is becoming increasingly obvious that the [Assad] regime is reluctant or unable to develop a system of government that can mitigate corruption and crime,” Alexander Aksenyonok, a former Russian ambassador and deputy chairman of the Russian diplomats association, wrote. (Financial Times, 02.28.20, Bloomberg, 04.28.20)
• The sanctions imposed on Syria may be disastrous to the country amid the coronavirus pandemic, Russian Ambassador to Syria Alexander Yefimov said. Russia provided 200 ventilators, 10,000 tests and 2,000 hazmat suits to the Syrian Health Ministry in April, he said. (Interfax, 04.27.20)
• The Black Sea Fleet’s Project 636.3 diesel-electric submarine Rostov-on-Don has embarked on its deployment in distant waters and will soon join the Russian navy’s permanent Mediterranean task force. (TASS, 04.27.20)

Cyber security:

• NATO said it will involve Georgia in its regional security program to help protect the Black Sea country from Russia’s “aggressive” cyber- and misinformation threats. (The Moscow Times, 05.01.20)

Elections interference:

•  No significant developments.

Energy exports from CIS:

• As part of the OPEC+ pact set to begin on May 1, Russia has committed to its biggest reduction ever, a cut of 2 million barrels a day, or around a fifth of its current production. But Russia's oil infrastructure isn't geared to quick and deep production cuts, analysts say. According to Russia's Association of Independent Oil and Gas Producers, all but four of Russia's 132 independent companies—representing around 4 percent of Russia's oil production, could go bankrupt. (Wall Street Journal, 04.29.20)
• Poland said Gazprom continues to overcharge it for deliveries in violation of a recent European court ruling. (RFE/RL, 04.25.20)

U.S.-Russian economic ties:

• No significant developments.

U.S.-Russian relations in general:

• Trump issued a symbolic joint statement April 25 with Putin, in a move that has stirred debate within the Trump administration and spawned concern among some lawmakers on Capitol Hill. The unusual declaration is intended to commemorate the 75th anniversary of a meeting between American and Soviet troops at the Elbe River on April 25, 1945. “The ‘Spirit of the Elbe’ is an example of how our countries can put aside differences, build trust and cooperate in pursuit of a greater cause.,” the statement said. (Wall Street Journal, 04.25.20, The White House, 04.25.20)
  • U.S. Ambassador to Russia John Sullivan said the events of 75 years ago were a reminder that the world is a "safer and more stable place" when the U.S. and Russia "reach across that bridge and work together." (RFE/RL, 04.25.20)
• “I want to be clear that the United States recognizes that Russia has legitimate Arctic interests. It’s an Arctic Council member. It’s cooperated with the United States and other Arctic states in a number of areas, including oil spill response, search and rescue, pollution issues. That work is continuing; it’s ongoing; it’s welcome. We have no concerns about it or no objections to it, and we want it to continue. But we also have concerns about Russia’s military buildup in the Arctic,” a senior U.S. State Department official said. (U.S. State Department, 04.23.20) 
• Russia’s ambassador to Denmark on April 27 accused the U.S. of pursuing a “policy of confrontation” in the Arctic region in a bid to “achieve dominance.” Ambassador Vladimir Barbin also objected to a recent statement by U.S. Ambassador to Denmark Carla Sands, who described Russia’s activity in the Arctic region as “aggressive” and an obstacle to the West’s efforts to promote peaceful development. (RFE/RL, 04.29.20)
• Russia billed the U.S. nearly $660,000 for its medical aid flight in April that included thousands of pieces of equipment not typically used by hospitals, including chemical warfare-style gas masks and household cleaning gloves, according to a government record of the shipment. (ABC News, 05.01.20)
• The Trump administration announced new export control actions to prevent efforts by entities in China, Russia and Venezuela to acquire American technology that could be used for weapons development. Trump has also banned the purchase and installation of some foreign parts and gear for power plants and the transmission system, boosting U.S. efforts to protect the grid from attacks from China and Russia. (Press Trust of India, 04.28.20, Wall Street Journal, 05.01.20)
• A Russian spacecraft loaded with fresh supplies has successfully docked with the International Space Station. (RFE/RL, 04.25.20)
• The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom said Russia—which remains on the State Department's special watch list—saw a deterioration of religious freedom in 2019 with raids on Jehovah's Witnesses and the abuse of vague laws and counterextremism justifications to target religious minorities. (RFE/RL, 04.28.20)
• A U.S. federal judge on April 29 unsealed new documents in Michael Flynn's criminal case that his lawyers say are evidence the government tried to set him up in a 2017 interview that led to his departure from the Trump administration and subsequent indictment on a charge of lying. The documents include one page of handwritten notes by an unidentified official that appeared to involve FBI preparations for Flynn's interview. In the handwritten notes, which are dated Jan. 24, 2017 the author writes: "What is our goal? Truth/Admission or to get him to lie, so we can prosecute him or get him fired?" On April 27, U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan ordered the government to respond to Flynn's allegations of government misconduct by May 11. (Wall Street Journal, 04.30.20)
  • “It looks to me like Michael Flynn would be exonerated based on everything I see,” Trump told reporters April 30. "I’m not the judge, but I have a different type of power. But I don’t know that anybody would have to use that power. I think he’s exonerated.” (RFE/RL, 05.01.20)
• Investigators for John Durham, the U.S. attorney in Connecticut leading the investigation, have asked witnesses about news articles published in early 2017 that former administration officials blame for prompting the chaos that dominated the early days of the Trump presidency. Among them was a Washington Post column about Michael Flynn. Durham's inquiry is broader than previously known—not just examining intelligence on Russia and how it was handled or investigative decisions by the FBI, but whether sources spoke to The Post intending to damage Trump's presidency. (New York Times, 04.25.20)
• The prosecution has concluded the presentation of its case in the Moscow trial of U.S. citizen Paul Whelan on espionage charges that he denies. Whelan’s lawyer, Vladimir Zherebenkov, told Russian state media on April 27 that “the evidence for the prosecution is unconvincing.” The trial is scheduled to resume on May 13 with defense questioning of witnesses. (RFE/RL, 04.27.20)

 

II. Russia’s domestic policies

Domestic politics, economy and energy:

• Putin on April 28 extended the national “non-working” month through May 11, warning that Russia has yet to see the peak of its coronavirus outbreak as Russia overtook China to rank eighth in the world for coronavirus infections. Russia confirmed 7,933 new coronavirus infections May 1, bringing the country’s official number of cases to 114,431 and marking a new one-day record increase. In total, 1,169 people have been killed by the virus in Russia. At least 69 Russian doctors have died from coronavirus-related complications as of April 27, according to the unofficial tally. (The Moscow Times, 04.27.20, The Moscow Times, 05.01.20, The Moscow Times, 04.28.20) Here’s a link to RFE/RL’s interactive map of the virus’ spread around the world, including in Russia and the rest of post-Soviet Eurasia. For a comparison of the number and rate of change in new cases in the U.S. and Russia, visit this Russia Matters resource.
• Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin says he will self-isolate after testing positive for the coronavirus. Mishustin suggested that First Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Belousov should temporarily perform his duties, but the prime minister insisted he would remain in touch on key issues. Putin supported his proposal. (RFE/RL, 04.30.20)
• Sergei Kiriyenko, Putin’s first deputy chief of staff who’s in charge of the constitutional reforms vote, tested positive for COVID-19 in mid-April, Proekt said. Before that, the presidential administration’s domestic policy bloc, which is responsible for elections and voting, had actively opposed introducing quarantine measures that would disrupt its fully formed plan for the April 22 vote. (The Moscow Times, 04.29.20)
• Russia on April 29 extended an entry ban for foreigners to slow the coronavirus as the country registers a steep rise in the number of new infections until Russia has the virus under control. (AFP, 04.29.20)
• State-owned VTSIOM polls show that the share of Russians who would entrust Putin with solving important state problems fell in March 2020 to its lowest level in 14 years: 28.3 percent. (Russia Matters, 04.27.20)
• While 50 percent of the Levada Center pollster’s respondents said that their governors or mayors were doing their best to deal with the outbreak, 46 percent said the same of Putin and the government. Russians' disapproval was nearly evenly split, with 48 percent disapproving of Putin and the government’s response and 45 percent expressing dissatisfaction toward the governors and mayors, according to Levada’s results released April 30. (The Moscow Times, 04.30.20)
  • Putin “is afraid—afraid for his ratings and for the system he has spent 20 years creating,” said Gleb Pavlovsky, a disenchanted former Kremlin adviser. Faced with a viral enemy that he cannot easily vanquish, “Putin understands that the best thing to do is stand to the side,” Pavlovsky added. “He gives an impression of being tired, even bored,” Yekaterina Schulmann, a former member of the Kremlin’s advisory council for civil society and human rights, said of Putin. (New York Times, 04.30.20)
• Only 19 percent of Russian respondents aged between 14 and 29 expressed an interest in politics, according to a poll conducted by Russia’s independent Levada Center and Germany’s Friedrich Ebert Foundation cited by Vedomosti. The survey was conducted among 1,500 Russian respondents between the ages of 14 and 29 in May-June 2019. (The Moscow Times, 04.30.20)
• Television remains the main source of information for Russians and the most trusted resource, show the results of a survey conducted by the Levada Center. According to the study, 74 percent of respondents learn news on TV. In second place are social networks (39 percent), which overtook online media (they are a source of news for 38 percent). Television remains the source of information with the highest level of trust (50 percent). (Levada Center, 04.29.20)
• Real disposable income of Russians was down by 0.2 percent in the first quarter of 2020, according to the latest data by the Rosstat statistics agency. As reported by bne IntelliNews, real disposable income has been in decline since 2013, finally recovering to only 1 percent growth in 2019, but incomes are expected to dive again in 2020 by up to 5 percent. (bne IntelliNews, 04.27.20)
• The Russian Agriculture Ministry announced on April 26 that it was suspending its export of most grains until July 1, seemingly shrugging off warnings from international organizations who are asking countries not to disrupt global food supply chains during the current COVID-19 pandemic. (RFE/RL, 04.26.20)
• Rosatom subsidiary FSUE Atomflot and shipbuilder Zvezda LLC have signed a contract on the construction of the Leader nuclear icebreaker. Part of Project 10510 and the first LC-110 icebreaker to be built, Leader will be capable of breaking through ice more than 4.5 meters thick. (World Nuclear News, 04.24.20)
• A mosaic featuring Putin will no longer be displayed in a grand military church being built outside Moscow after Putin objected, a cleric said on May 1. Russian Orthodox Bishop Stefan of Klin told Interfax the committee in charge of the church's interior decoration "decided not to display it" because it was "the wish of the head of the country." (AFP, 05.01.20)
• The World Anti-Doping Agency has completed an investigation into nearly 300 Russian athletes, with almost half showing evidence of manipulation of anti-doping test results. (RFE/RL, 04.30.20)

Defense and aerospace:

• For Russia, the question of robots taking over the role of soldiers on the battlefield is a matter of when, not if. “Living fighters will gradually begin to be replaced by their robotic ‘brothers’ who can act faster, more accurately and more selectively than people,” Vitaly Davydov, deputy director of Russia's Advanced Research Foundation, told RIA Novosti. (Forbes, 04.30.20)
• An undisclosed number of chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear protection troops have been decontaminating hundreds of square kilometers daily in all of Russia’s four military districts, the Defense Ministry reported in a series of announcements since April 24. From March through April 26, 874 servicemen have tested positive for COVID-19, the Defense Ministry said April 26, adding that most of them were either isolated at home or in military hospitals. (Jane’s, 04.29.20, CNN, 04.27.20)
• The construction of the green-water Leader-class nuclear-powered destroyer has been postponed for a long time. The conclusion comes from the documentation of the designer. The Vzglyad business newspaper explains the decision of the Defense Ministry. (TASS, 04.28.20)
• Russia is designing electronic warfare against hypersonic aircraft. It will jam their sights at the final flight section to prevent a precision strike with optical, radar and satellite homing warheads. (TASS, 04.29.20)
• The Russian armed forces are preparing for the Caucasus 2020 strategic exercise, which will involve the airborne forces, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said at a meeting of the Defense Ministry's board on April 29. The Caucasus 2020 exercise would be held in September. (Interfax, 04.29.20)
• Servicemen from Russia’s Central Military District held an online air parade and a concert under the window of 99-year-old WWII veteran Lazar Yoffe who resides in Yekaterinburg. (TASS, 04.30.20)

Security, law-enforcement and justice:

• Russia's National Anti-Terrorist Committee (NAK) says security forces have "liquidated" three suspected extremists in Yekaterinburg. The NAK asserted that the men were members of the Islamic State and were planning terrorist attacks in the city, but did not give details. (RFE/RL, 04.30.20)
• Russia's Second Western District Military Court has sentenced Dagestani blogger Alibek Mirzekhanov, charged with involvement in the activities of Islamic State, to ten years in a high-security penitentiary. (Interfax, 04.29.20)

 

III. Russia’s relations with other countries

Russia’s general foreign policy and relations with “far abroad” countries:

• The mayor of Prague, Zdenek Hrib, has confirmed police are guarding him after a Czech news magazine reported that he and another Prague official were likely targets of a Russian poisoning plot. Hrib’s confirmation came after the Czech weekly Respekt reported Hrib and Prague 6 district Mayor Ondrej Kolar had been singled out by Russian intelligence for poisoning with ricin. Kolar was criticized by the Kremlin for the recent removal in that district of a statue of a Soviet-era marshal. Kolar, too, said he is under police protection. Russia has rejected the media report as slander, with Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov calling it a “hoax.” (RFE/RL, 04.28.20, RFE/RL, 04.27.20, The Moscow Times, 05.01.20)
• Russia supports calls for a humanitarian truce in Libya during the holy month of Ramadan observed by Muslims, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement. Russia is “surprised” by Libyan National Army commander, Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar’s proclamation of himself as Libya’s sole ruler, an official source in the Russian Foreign Ministry said. (TASS, 04.30.20, MEMO, 04.29.20)
• Russian military Nuclear, Chemical and Biological Protection Troops are helping fight the coronavirus in 111 towns in Italy and Serbia, Shoigu said. (Interfax, 04.29.20)
• Only 16 percent of young Russians expressed a “strong” or “very strong” desire to migrate, compared with 49 percent who said they wouldn’t like to travel abroad for more than six months at a time. Only one-third of young respondents identified Russia as a European country, while slightly over half (52 percent) said they believe Russia could maintain friendly relations with the West, according to a poll conducted by Russia’s independent Levada Center and Germany’s Friedrich Ebert Foundation cited by Vedomosti. The survey was conducted among 1,500 Russian respondents between the ages of 14 and 29 in May-June 2019. (The Moscow Times, 04.30.20)

China-Russia: Allied or Aligned?

• China's trade with Russia expanded by 3.4 percent year on year in the first quarter of this year, the Ministry of Commerce said April 30. Trade volume between the two countries stood at $25.35 billion in the period, Gao Feng, spokesperson with the ministry, said. China's imports from Russia increased by 17.3 percent from a year earlier to $16.2 billion, the fastest growth among China's major trading partners. (Xinhua, 04.23.20)
• China has complained that U.S. laboratories in former Soviet states could pose a public health risk, one day after a Russian official made the same allegation. (Newsweek, 04.29.20)
• Servicemen of the Russian and Chinese armies will not take part in the military parade in Minsk on May 9 to mark the 75th anniversary of the end of WWII. (TASS, 04.30.20)

Ukraine:

• A monitoring mission from the OSCE has recorded daily cease-fire violations, with Ukraine's military and the rebel forces each blaming the other for the breaches. On April 30, the foreign ministers of Ukraine and Russia, along with those of France and Germany, held a videoconference on how to move the talks on the Ukraine conflict forward. But the meeting produced no progress, Lavrov said. Lavrov earlier said Russia does not see a possibility of holding another Normandy-format summit until the decisions made by the leaders at December's meeting in Paris have been implemented. (Interfax, 04.27.20, Wall Street Journal, 04.30.20, Interfax, 04.30.20)
• Dutch-led investigators of the downing of Flight MH17 appealed for witnesses last fall to help name a key figure identified as “Vladimir Ivanovich” in intercepted calls with separatist commanders. Bellingcat and The Insider identified “Vladimir Ivanovich” as Col. Gen. Andrei Ivanovich Burlaka, the FSB Border Service’s chief of operational staff. Bellingcat said that Burlaka was “in a crucial position to supervise the movement of weapons from Russia to Ukraine, and thus would have had to authorize the transfer of the Russian Buk missile launcher that shot the Malaysian airliner after crossing the border.” (The Moscow Times, 04.28.20)
• Energoatom will temporarily withdraw from service three of its 15 nuclear power units in line with forecasts of reduced electricity demand during the coronavirus pandemic. The projected balance of electricity production by Ukraine's nuclear power plants this year has decreased by 8.6 percent to 73.7 terawatt hours. (World Nuclear News, 04.30.20)
• A total of 1,794 medical workers have been diagnosed with coronavirus in Ukraine as of April 27, which is 19.4 percent (or a fifth) of the total number of cases, the Public Health Center of Ukraine’s Health Ministry said on Facebook on April 27. (Xinhua, 04.27.20)
• State-owned China Oil and Foodstuffs Corp. has signed a memorandum to inject $50 million into upgrading Mariupol's port, while the U.S. Agency for International Development has launched projects to support small businesses in the emerging IT sector and improve local government services. (Wall Street Journal, 04.30.20)
• Mikhail Saakashvili said that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy had instructed him to deal with negotiations with the International Monetary Fund. (Interfax, 04.26.20)
• Ukrainian Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko fired on April 24 the heads of the new State Customs Service and of the State Tax service and their top deputies. Max Nefyodov, the fired head of customs, is an internationally respected anti-corruption fighter. He worked for five years at Dragon Capital. (Ukraine Business News, 04.27.20)

Russia's other post-Soviet neighbors:

• Tajikistan has confirmed its first coronavirus cases, the Central Asian nation’s healthcare ministry said on April 30, saying 15 infections had been recorded. (bne IntelliNews, 05.01.20)
• Many governments in Eastern Europe and Central Asia are viewing the coronavirus pandemic as "a free pass to trample" on human rights, Amnesty International says, insisting that any strict measures to stop the spread of the virus must be "temporary, proportionate and in line with human rights standards." (RFE/RL, 04.29.20) 
• The U.S. and EU have welcomed the full acquittal in Azerbaijan of a leading human rights defender and an opposition leader. Ilqar Mammadov, chairman of the Republican Alternative Party (ReAL), and Rasul Cafarov, a prominent human rights defender and board member of ReAL, were acquitted by the Azerbaijani Supreme Court on April 23 after serving years in prison on charges that they and their supporters said were politically motivated. (RFE/RL, 04.24.20)
• Turkmenistan has marked its national Horse Day, an annual holiday particularly loved by authoritarian President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov. In a statement issued on state media, Berdymukhammedov said that the staggering sum of $680 million had been allocated to improve the living conditions of horses and their breeders. (RFE/RL, 04.26.20)

IV. Quoteworthy

• No significant developments.