This Week’s Highlights

• In July 7 comments on Ukraine, Vladimir Putin challenged Western countries “to defeat us on the battlefield,” warning that “we have not started anything in earnest yet.” He was not the only Russian leader rattling sabers this week. A day earlier Putin’s deputy at the Security Council, Dmitry Medvedev, invoked the possibility of nuclear war if the International Criminal Court punished Moscow for Ukraine, while speaker of the State Duma Vyacheslav Volodin threatened to somehow take Alaska from the U.S.
• Moscow has not announced new territory gains since July 3, prompting the Institute for the Study of War to ponder whether Russian forces are taking an operational pause. The Russian Defense Ministry seemed to indirectly confirm that proposition by announcing that “servicemen have been given the opportunity to rest.” However, Serhiy Haidai, head of Ukraine-controlled Luhansk’s regional civil administration, has disagreed, saying on July 8 that Russia was continuing its offensive into the neighboring Donetsk region. "The destiny of the whole country will be decided by the Donetsk region,” according to the Ukrainian administration of this eastern region.
• Antony Blinken refused to meet Sergei Lavrov on the sidelines of a meeting of G-20 foreign ministers in Indonesia on July 8, criticizing Russia for blocking Ukrainian grain exports. In his turn, Russia’s top diplomat walked out twice in the course of the meeting’s sessions as his German and Ukrainian counterparts prepared to criticize Russia’s conduct in Ukraine. Lavrov also met China's foreign minister Wang Yi during the gathering and both “underlined the inadmissibility of illegal unilateral sanctions in evasion of the United Nations," according to Russia’s state news agency TASS.
• Russia’s economy is coping better than expected with international sanctions triggered by its invasion of Ukraine, boosted by higher oil and gas prices and a stronger ruble, according to the Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies’ summer outlook reported in FT.
• A top European Commission official expects at least 2.5 to 3 million Ukrainian refugees to remain in the EU rather than return to Ukraine, which Kyiv believes will cost $750 billion to reconstruct. 
• “The hand of a criminal cut short the life of an outstanding statesman who ... did a lot to develop good neighborly relations between our countries,” Putin wrote in a telegram of condolence addressed to the family of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who was assassinated on July 8.

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

Nuclear security and safety:

• No significant developments.

North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs:

• No significant developments.

Iran and its nuclear program:

• Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov and Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Political Affairs Ali Bagheri Kani have discussed various aspects of the Iran nuclear deal talks, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on July 2. Russia is determined to do its part in restoring the Iran nuclear deal, Ryabkov then said on July 7. (TASS, 07.02.22, TASS, 07.07.22)

Humanitarian impact of the Ukraine conflict:

• Missile strikes slammed into a residential building and a recreation center early on July 1, killing 21 people and wounding dozens in Ukraine's Odesa region. (RFE/RL, 07.01.22)
• Russia said four people were killed and several injured in a July 3 strike in Belgorod near Russia’s border with Ukraine, the most deadly attack inside Russia since the start of the invasion of its western neighbor. (MT/AFP, 07.03.22)
• Ukraine’s top prosecutor said almost 20,000 more cases—involving accusations of torture, rape, execution-style killings and the deportation of Ukrainians to Russia—were being investigated. (NYT, 07.03.22)
• Margaritis Schinas, vice president of the European Commission, expects "at least 2.5 million to 3 million" Ukrainian refugees will stay in the EU bloc. (WP, 06.27.22)
• Wrapping up a conference in Switzerland on July 5, leaders from some 40 countries signed on to the Lugano Declaration that welcomed commitments to provide political, financial and technical support to Ukraine and launched the "Lugano principles" to guide the reconstruction effort, which Kyiv says could cost $750 billion. (FT, 04.07.22, RFE/RL, 07.05.22)
• Russian villages near the border with Ukraine were subjected to intense artillery fire early July 5, according to the governors of Russia’s Kursk and Bryansk regions. (MT/AFP, 07.05.22) 
• On July 7, Ukraine’s government summoned the Turkish ambassador to Kyiv after it said Turkey had allowed a Russian-flagged ship carrying what it has claimed was thousands of tons of stolen Ukrainian grain to leave the Turkish port of Karasu. (WSJ, 07.08.22)
• Russian forces now occupy about 22% of Ukraine's farmland, NASA said. (MT/AFP, 07.08.22)
• Soaring food and energy prices have pushed more than 71 million people worldwide into poverty after Russia launched its war on Ukraine, the U.N. said. (RFE/RL, 07.07.22)
• Three people were killed and five wounded in the Kharkiv region in an air strike, authorities in the region said on July 7. (RFE/RL, 07.08.22)
• U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken called out Russia for blocking Ukrainian grain exports in a session at a meeting July 8 of the top diplomats from G-20 countries and declined to meet Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on the sidelines of the 2-day event in Indonesia. At a morning G-20 session on July 8, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock criticized Moscow for the war, prompting Lavrov to walk out. He also left an afternoon session before Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba spoke to say the Russian naval blockade has “shredded global chains of food supply.” Foreign ministers of the G-20 countries then did not take a customary group photo after several Western leaders refused to be pictured with Lavrov. (NYT, 07.08.22, WP, 07.08.22, MT/AFP, 07.08.22, RFE/RL, 07.08.22, WSJ, 07.08.22, Politico, 07.08.22)
• The United States has identified at least 18 sites set up by Russia to detain and forcibly deport Ukrainian civilians to Russia. (NYT, 07.08.22)

Military aspects of the Ukraine conflict and their impacts:

• DNI Avril Haines recently outlined three plausible scenarios in Ukraine:
  • In the first, Russia’s continuing progress in eastern Ukraine would break Ukrainians’ will to fight and allow the Russian military to take over even more of the country.
  • In the second scenario—the most likely one—Russia would dominate the east but would not be able to go much farther.
  • In the third scenario, Ukraine would halt Russia’s advance in the east and also succeed in launching counterattacks. (NYT, 07.06.22) 
• Washington will send two advanced air defense systems produced by the U.S. and Norway to Ukraine as part of a new $800 million military aid package approved by U.S. President Joe Biden. The U.S. will also supply Ukraine with counter-artillery radars and more ammunition for its high-mobility artillery rocket systems. (FT, 07.01.22)
• During a visit to Kyiv, Australian PM Anthony Albanese said Australia will provide 14 armored personnel carriers, 20 Bushmaster armored vehicles and drones, worth a total of $68 million. (RFE/RL, 07.03.22)
• Ukraine’s military said on July 3 that it had withdrawn from the eastern city of Lysychansk. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said that day that Moscow's forces now control the entire Luhansk region. Putin then said July 4 that Russia will continue pressing forward in eastern Ukraine. “I hope that everything in their fields of operations will continue as it happened in Luhansk,” he told Shoigu. (MT, 07.04.22, FT, 07.03.22, NYT, 07.03.22, MT/AFP, 07.03.22)
• Russia has not announced new territory gains since July 3 in what suggests that Russian forces are taking an operational pause, according to the Institute for the Study of War. Ukrainians still control the Donetsk region cities of Slovyansk, Kramatorsk and Bakhmut with tens of thousands of troops. Capturing the entire Donetsk region would require Russian forces to advance toward these heavily fortified cities 50 to 70 kilometers west of Lysychansk, and about the same again to reach the administrative border. Russian forces were about 16 kilometers north of Slovyansk as of July 6, making it likely to be the next key battleground, according to Britain's Defense Ministry.   (WSJ, 07.06.22, FT, 07.05.22, WP, 07.07.22, WSJ, 07.07.22, NYT, 07.07.22)
  • “In the units carrying out combat missions during the special military operation, measures are being taken to replenish combat capabilities. Servicemen have been given the opportunity to rest, and receive letters and parcels from home,” the Russian Defense Ministry’s spokesman said on July 7. (Meduza, 07.07.22)
  • Russia is continuing its offensive into Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region after capturing almost the entire neighboring Luhansk region, according to the head of Ukraine-controlled Luhansk’s regional civil administration. Serhiy Haidai told Ukraine’s United News he did not agree with recent western assessments that Russia had paused its offensive and was resting to regroup. (Guardian, 07.08.22)
• In the prison colonies of St. Petersburg, prisoners are being recruited as "volunteers" to fight in Donbas as part of the Wagner PMC. (Istories, 07.04.22)
• Russia's military said a Russian jet attacked Snake Island overnight, after Ukrainian troops claimed to have raised their flag on the strategic Black Sea outpost. (RFE/RL, 07.07.22)
• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Western heavy weapons are starting to have an effect on the battlefield but urged speedier deliveries, particularly of antiaircraft systems. (WSJ, 07.07.22)
• The BBC managed to identify more than 4,500 Russian soldiers killed in action in Ukraine. One in five reported deaths served in the Airborne Forces, and 17% of the KIA are officers. (BBC, 07.08.22)

Punitive measures related to Ukraine and their impact globally:

• Japan's government warned on July 1 that its "interests must not be undermined" after a Moscow decree ordered a transfer of the operations of the Sakhalin-2 multibillion-dollar joint oil and gas project to a new Russian entity. (RFE/RL, 07.01.22)
• A poll of Muscovites by the Levada Center has revealed that 42% of respondents worry about Western sanctions. At the same time 70% of respondents do not believe that sanctions will have a negative impact on the development of Russia, including 47% that think the sanctions will lead to the strengthening of their country and will serve as stimuli for its development, according to Levada's May poll in the Russian capital. (RM, 07.01.22)
• U.S. authorities have allowed the Daytona oil tanker from a Russian port to unload its cargo in New Orleans, concluding that it hadn't breached sanctions. (WSJ, 07.01.22)
• Germany will begin operation of two temporary terminals for the import of LNG by early 2023, Economy Minister Robert Habeck said. (RFE/RL, 07.02.22)
• German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that “the [economic] crisis won’t pass in a few months” because Russia’s war in Ukraine “has changed everything, and supply chains are still disrupted by the pandemic.” Germany posted a trade deficit for the first time in more than three decades in May. (FT, 07.04.22, WSJ, 07.04.22)
  • Germany paved the way this week for injecting billions of taxpayer money into embattled energy suppliers. (WSJ, 05.07.22)
  • Europe’s largest buyer of Russian gas, Uniper has formally requested a rescue package from Berlin, in a move likely to lead to the government owning a substantial share of the utility brought to the brink of insolvency by a drastic reduction in gas deliveries from Russia. (FT, 07.08.22)
  • A typical German family’s monthly expenditures on gas could go up sixfold, according to Jens Südekum, a professor of economics at Heinrich Heine University. (WSJ, 07.05.22)
• U.S. company MSD is halting the supply of vaccines against chicken pox, rubella, measles and mumps, also produced by other manufacturers, to Russia, but will continue sales of its drugs, which have no analogues. (Kommersant, 07.04.22)
• Norilsk Nickel has started talks with Rusal over a deal to forge a $60 billion industrial metals champion better positioned to withstand the impact of western sanctions. (FT, 07.05.22)
• ArcelorMittal has resumed shipments to Russia just a month after suspending deliveries. ArcelorMittal removed Russian materials from its supply chain in March in response to Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. (MT/AFP, 07.05.22) 
• The disciplinary board of the International Ice Hockey Federation has dismissed the appeals of Russia and Belarus against the IIHF's decision to ban them from competition over Moscow's invasion of Ukraine. (RFE/RL, 07.05.22) 
• One of the world's largest restaurant companies, Yum Brands Inc., announced July 5 it is “in advanced talks” to sell its KFC restaurants and franchise in Russia. (MT/AFP, 07.06.22)   
• Russia’s economy is coping better than expected with international sanctions triggered by its invasion of Ukraine, boosted by higher oil and gas prices and a stronger ruble, according to Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies’ summer outlook. The report predicted Russia’s GDP would shrink 7% this year, down from a 9% contraction it had forecast in April. (FT, 07.06.22)
• Only two international brands entered the Russian market in the first half of 2022, according to data from the Knight Frank Russia consulting company. A Vilhelm Parfumerie boutique was opened in Moscow in the first quarter, and the first Li-Ning sportswear store opened in Krasnodar in the second quarter. (Interfax, 07.07.22)
• Of the two-thirds of the Russian-German Chamber of Commerce surveyed on their intensions in April, only 4% announced they were leaving the Russian market completely. The rest plan to continue, RBC was told by the Russian-German Foreign Trade Chamber. (BNE, 07.08.22)
• “The further use of sanctions could lead to even more severe consequences, even, without exaggeration, catastrophic consequences on the global energy market,” Putin warned July 8. (FT, 07.08.22)
• SMBC Capital Aviation, one of the world’s biggest aircraft lessors, took a $1.6 billion write-off to cover the loss of its planes stuck in Russia. (FT, 07.08.22)
• The U.S. has called on Japan to step up pressure on the country’s cryptocurrency exchanges and miners, urging them to sever ties with Russia in a bid to further financially isolate the country from the outside world. (FT, 07.08.22)
• Canada has imposed sanctions on 30 citizens of Russia, including, among others, Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova and Interior Ministry spokesperson Irina Volk. (Interfax, 07.08.22)

Ukraine-related negotiations:

• Lavrov said on July 8 that Moscow is ready to negotiate with Ukraine and Turkey about grain exports but it is unclear when such talks might take place. (WSJ, 07.08.22)
• Zelensky reiterated on July 7 that he is not considering ceding territory in a potential peace deal with Russia. “Ukrainians are not ready to give up their lands as new territories of the Russian Federation,” Zelensky said. (WP, 07.08.22)
• Zelensky adviser Mykhailo Podolyak recently listed Ukraine’s conditions for peace with Russia, including a cease-fire, the return of kidnapped citizens and the withdrawal of Russian troops throughout the country. (WP, 07.08.22)
• In comments made on July 7 Putin referred to the possibility of negotiations, saying, “We don't reject peace talks. But those who reject them should know that the further it goes, the harder it will be for them to negotiate with us." (Kremlin.ru, 07.07.22, RFE/RL, 07.07.22)

Great Power rivalry/new Cold War/NATO-Russia relations:

• U.S. Army Gen. Christopher Cavoli—who speaks Russian and has a master’s degree from Yale in Russian studies—has taken over as NATO's new supreme allied commander in Europe. (RFE/RL, 07.04.22)
• NATO Ambassadors signed the Accession Protocols for Finland and Sweden at NATO Headquarters on July 5. (NATO, 07.05.22)
• Finland moved toward fortifying its border with Russia, as lawmakers authorized barriers and allowed the closure of the entire 1,300-kilometer border under exceptional circumstances. (RFE/RL, 07.07.22)
• In comments made on July 7, Putin warned that Russia has barely started its military action in Ukraine and challenged Western countries supporting Kyiv to try to defeat Russia on the battlefield. "Today we hear that they want to defeat us on the battlefield. Well, what can I say? Let them try.” “We have not started anything in earnest yet,” he said. “We hear some people say that we started the war in Donbas, in Ukraine. No, the war was unleashed by the collective West,” Putin claimed. (Kremlin.ru, 07.07.22, RFE/RL, 07.07.22)

China-Russia: Allied or aligned?

• Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov denied Western media reports alleging that Chinese President Xi Jinping has declined Putin's invitation to visit Russia. (Interfax, 07.05.22)
• Lavrov met Chinese counterpart Wang Yi on the sidelines of the G-20 foreign ministers’ meeting. "The ministers exchanged views on the actions of Western countries in the context of the Ukraine situation. Both sides underlined the inadmissibility of illegal unilateral sanctions in evasion of the United Nations," the Russian foreign ministry said. Lavrov also met with his Brazilian, Indian and Argentine counterparts while at the G-20. (WSJ, 07.08.22, TASS, 07.07.22, Interfax, 07.07.22)
• Russian Federation Council Chairperson Valentina Matviyenko plans to visit Uzbekistan, Indonesia and China in the fall. (Interfax, 07.07.22)

Missile defense:

• No significant developments.

Nuclear arms:

• Dmitry Medvedev invoked July 6 the possibility of nuclear war if the International Criminal Court moves to punish Moscow for alleged crimes in Ukraine. "The idea to punish a country that has the largest nuclear arsenal is absurd in and of itself," Medvedev, said on Telegram. "And potentially creates a threat to the existence of mankind." (MT/AFP, 07.06.22)

Counterterrorism:

• No significant developments.

Conflict in Syria:

• The month of June saw multiple instances of what U.S. military officials have decried as "provocative," "escalatory" or "unsafe and unprofessional" acts by Russia and Iran in Syria. In addition to the strike at Tanf, U.S. officials said they documented Russian aircraft menacing U.S. military planes over Syria through maneuvers that failed to adhere to long-established deconfliction protocols requiring that both sides assent to, not simply warn each other of, planned operations that could put either country's personnel or interests in danger. (WP, 07.03.22)

Cyber security:

• Pro-Russia hackers claimed responsibility for a cyberattack that briefly interrupted access to a website for U.S. Congress on the night of July 7. (CNN, 07.08.22)

Energy exports from CIS:

• Russia became India’s top oil supplier. Analysts estimate that Indian refiners, who currently import an average of about 1.1 million barrels each day from Russia, have the capacity to add about 300,000 more to that number. (NYT, 07.01.22)

• Kazakhstan’s president called for diversifying the country’s oil supply routes after a Russian court ordered the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC), which brings oil from Kazakhstan to the Black Sea, to suspend activity for 30 days. (RFE/RL, 07.07.22, RFE/RL, 07.06.22)  
• Natural gas storage tanks in Europe were just shy of 60% full on July 4 as non-Russian supplies of gas appear to have surged in the last weeks. The race is to collect enough gas so that the storage tanks are 80% full by Oct. 1, ensuring Europe’s needs for the coming winter. (BNE, 07.07.22)

Climate change:

• No significant developments.

U.S.-Russian economic ties:

• No significant developments.

U.S.-Russian relations in general:

• The goalkeeper of the Russian national hockey team, Ivan Fedotov, was detained during a training session in St. Petersburg and then conscripted to serve in the Russian armed forces. Ivanov has earlier signed a contract with the American club Philadelphia Flyers and was going to move to the United States to play in the NHL. (Zona Media, 07.04.22)
• U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner pleaded guilty to drug possession and smuggling charges in a Russian court. Griner faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted of the charges. Moscow will not discuss swapping Griner in a potential exchange with the United States until her formal conviction, Ryabkov said. Blinken said he would not relent until “wrongfully detained” Griner is freed from Russian detention. (MT/AFP, 07.07.22, RFE/RL, 07.07.22, RFE/RL, 07.06.22, WP, 07.08.22)  
• The speaker of Russia’s lower house of parliament Vyacheslav Volodin threatened July 6 to “claim back” Alaska if the United States froze or seized Russian assets as punishment for its invasion of Ukraine. (MT/AFP, 07.07.22)
• The U.S. space agency, NASA, issued a rare rebuke of its Russian counterpart after three cosmonauts on the International Space Station posed with the flags of separatist forces in eastern Ukraine. (RFE/RL, 07.08.22)

II. Russia’s domestic policies

Domestic politics, economy and energy:

• The Russian ruble extended a recent slump on July 7, declining 17% against the U.S. dollar in 48 hours to reach its lowest level since late May, 64.5 rubles per 1 USD, as the Russian authorities apparently intervened in currency markets to stop the ruble from strengthening and energy exports to Europe declined. (MT/AFP, 07.07.22)
• When asked by Levada in mid-June to identify what they found most problematic about Moscow, the residents of the Russian capital pointed to: “many visitors, migrants” (18%), “traffic jams, lots of cars” (16%) and “rising prices, inflation” (14%). (RM, 07.07.22)
• Russian officials have announced the end of all anti-COVID restrictions on the public, including mask requirements. The country's consumer authority, Rospotrebnadzor, said 93% of infected patients were mild or asymptomatic. (RFE/RL, 07.01.22)
• Russian journalist Maria Ponomarenko, who was detained in St. Petersburg in April on accusations of discrediting the Russian armed forces in Ukraine, has been transferred to a Siberian psychiatric hospital. Ponomarenko will be evaluated at the Altai Clinical Psychological Hospital for 28 days. (RFE/RL, 07.03.22)
• Russia's parliament on July 6 introduced harsh prison terms for calls to act against national security and criminal liability for maintaining "confidential" cooperation with foreigners. Public calls to act against Russia's security will be punished by up to seven years in prison. (MT/AFP, 07.06.22)  
• Russian lawmakers have approved the creation of a modern-day youth organization in the style of the Soviet pioneers. (MT/AFP, 07.06.22)
• Russian lawmakers have advanced new legislation to block the public from accessing information from the country’s state real estate register, a move that could hinder independent journalists from investigating the hidden wealth of the country’s elite. (MT/AFP, 07.07.22)
• A Russian court has sentenced Moscow city lawmaker Alexei Gorinov to seven years in prison after finding him guilty of “knowingly distributing false information” about Russia’s military. (RFE/RL, 07.08.22)

Defense and aerospace:

•  See section Military aspects of the Ukraine conflict and their impacts above.

Security, law-enforcement and justice:

• More than a decade after prominent journalist Khadzhimurad Kamalov was gunned down in Russia's North Caucasus republic of Dagestan, a court sentenced four men to lengthy prison terms after finding them guilty of his murder in the high-profile case. (RFE/RL, 07.01.22)
• Novosibirsk scientist Dmitry Kolker who was detained by the FSB on June 30 on suspicion of treason, has died while in custody. Kolker had given lectures at Chinese universities. He was also engaged in the design of unmanned aerial vehicles. (RFE/RL, 07.03.22, Mk.ru, 07.06.22)
• Three Russian police generals, including an assistant to the country’s Interior Minister, have been detained on charges of misappropriating funds. (MT/AFP, 07.06.22)
• Yury Voronov, a Russian businessman with ties to Gazprom, has died outside St. Petersburg. Voronov is believed to be at least the fourth Gazprom-linked executive and the sixth figure linked to Russia’s gas industry to die in mysterious circumstances this year. (MT/AFP, 07.06.22)  
• The Gagarinsky Court of Moscow sentenced Aeroflot Deputy General Director Vladimir Alexandrov to seven years in prison. Alexandrov was found guilty of fraud on an especially large scale. The damage in the case was estimated at 250 million rubles. (Meduza, 07.08.22)
• Vice-rector of the Russian Customs Academy Zalim Kerefov, who was detained a few days ago on drug trafficking charges, allegedly used his office computer for running a drug business since 2020. According to the FSB, Kerefov used “cryptographic internet messengers” to purchase drugs for subsequent sale, administer five stores on the dark web, coordinate the work of “bookmarkers” and inform buyers about the location of “bookmarks.” (Meduza, 07.08.22)

III. Russia’s relations with other countries

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

• Russian prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin on July 1 signed a decree to terminate Moscow’s participation in several agreements within the Council of Europe Framework. These agreements relate to drug control, law, technology, sports and culture, among others. (Republic World, 07.02.22)
• Pope Francis hopes to visit Russia and Ukraine this year. (RFE/RL, 07.04.22)
• Austrian national Egisto Ott—who managed undercover agents in the Austrian domestic security service—is suspected of having sold state secrets to Russia, as well as providing information on perceived enemies of the Kremlin in the West, according to European security officials and Austrian investigative documents. (WP, 07.05.22)
• Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said July 6 that the publication of a call between French President Emmanuel Macron and Putin was a breach of "diplomatic etiquette." The details of the confidential call days before Moscow's military operation in Ukraine were revealed in a documentary on the French president's handling of the conflict. (MT/AFP, 07.06.22)  
• The Kremlin’s Dmitry Peskov says it hopes that the U.K.’s next leader will be "more professional," after Prime Minister Boris Johnson resigned as the country's ruling Conservative Party leader July 7. In contrast, Zelensky told Johnson in a phone call that news of his resignation had been received with “sadness” in his country. (MT/AFP, 07.07.22, FT, 07.07.22)
  • Britain’s conservative party grandees intend to install a new U.K. prime minister by early September. (FT, 07.08.22)
• Russian officials have allegedly ordered the Jewish Agency for Israel to stop all activity inside the country in a measure that could impact thousands of Russian Jews who want to repatriate to Israel. (MT/AFP, 07.05.22) 
• Moscow’s chief rabbi, who left Russia over his opposition to the war, has stepped down after almost three decades, saying he does not want to endanger the city’s Jewish community. (WP, 07.08.22)
• Russian officials joined leaders from around the world in expressing shock over the assassination of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on July 8. “The hand of a criminal cut short the life of an outstanding statesman who ... did a lot to develop good neighborly relations between our countries,” Putin wrote in a telegram of condolence addressed to Abe's family. (MT/AFP, 07.08.22)
• Representatives of an unnamed Russian oil company reportedly arrived in Sri Lanka on July 7 after Colombo asked Moscow for credit support to import fuel amid Sri Lanka’s economic crisis. (Ada Derana, 07.07.22)

Ukraine:

• The U.N.'s cultural agency on July 8 inscribed the culture surrounding beetroot soup known as borshch in Ukraine on its list of endangered cultural heritage, a recognition sought urgently by Kviv after its invasion by neighboring Russia. (RFE/RL, 07.01.22)
• Britain's Foreign Office has condemned what it called the “exploitation” of prisoners of war and civilians for political purposes following the capture of two British men, Dylan Healy and Andrew Hill, by Russian forces in Ukraine. (RFE/RL, 07.02.22)
  • British officials are making little effort to free two of its citizens sentenced to death by eastern Ukrainian separatists for fighting alongside Kyiv’s forces, Russia’s ambassador to Britain said. (MT/AFP, 07.08.22)
• Four mathematicians have been awarded prestigious Fields medals, including Ukrainian Maryna Viazovska, the International Mathematical Union jury said on July 5. (RFE/RL, 07.05.22) 
• Ukraine International Airlines has filed a lawsuit against Iran over the 2020 shooting down of a Ukrainian passenger jet by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps. (RFE/RL, 07.06.22)  
• A growing number of Russian officials have been handed senior jobs in occupied parts of Ukraine in what analysts said was an attempt to strengthen ties to Moscow ahead of a possible annexation process. This week alone, appointments included a former deputy from the Russian parliament, regional government officials and high-ranking FSB officer Sergei Yelisyev. (MT/AFP, 07.07.22, MT/AFP, 07.05.22)
• In total, more than 40 Russian regions have announced they are assuming patronage over areas of Ukraine seized by Russia since the “twin cities” program was unveiled in May. (MT/AFP, 07.08.22)

Russia's other post-Soviet neighbors:

• “The unprecedented political and sanction pressure from the so-called ‘collective West’ is pushing us to accelerate the unification processes,” Putin said in a video address to the annual Forum of Russian and Belarusian Regions. (RFE/RL, 07.01.22)
• U.N. rights chief Michelle Bachelet and the United States have called for an independent investigation into the deaths in protests in Uzbekistan's Karakalpakstan region. Authorities in Uzbekistan said on July 4 that 18 people died in clashes in Karakalpakstan when demonstrations erupted over planned constitutional changes affecting the territory's autonomous status. Following the protests, Uzbek President Mirziyoev backed off the plans. (RFE/RL, 07.05.22) 
  • Uzbekistan's president dismissed his chief of staff Zainilobiddin Nizomiddinov in what appeared to be fallout from last week’s spasm of violence in northwestern Karakalpakstan. (RFE/RL, 07.08.22)
• The Uzbek Foreign Ministry has said that five missiles fired on July 5 from Afghanistan at a city in southeastern Uzbekistan caused no injuries but slightly damaged four homes. (RFE/RL, 07.06.22)  
• Latvia plans to reintroduce national military service, starting next year initially on a voluntary basis. (BNE, 07.07.22)

 

IV. Quotable and notable

• "The destiny of the whole country will be decided by the Donetsk region,” the head of Donetsk region’s Ukrainian administration Pavlo Kyrylenko said. (WP, 07.07.22)