Russian Deputy Defense Minister Arrested on Corruption Charges.

Last week, the former Deputy Defense Minister of Russia, Dmitry Bulgakov, was ordered to be held in pretrial detention on corruption charges. According to the Washington Post, Bulgakov is accused of embezzlement by supplying low-quality ration packs to Russian soldiers in Ukraine at vastly inflated prices. He was the deputy defense minister from 2008 to 2022 but was demoted because he was seen to have created a flawed logistical system for Russian troops on the front line. This is not the first time a high-ranking Russian military official has been arrested on corruption charges. According to a report in The Guardian, Russian policy observers believe this new Anti-Corruption policy aims to streamline the production of weapons and tanks. As for Bulgakov, I would guess he probably won’t see the light of day for a very long time, if ever.

Protests Continue to Fuel Uncertainty in Georgia (the Country).

Last week, protests in Georgia erupted over a controversial new law stating that NGOs and any independent media organizations that receive at least 20 percent of their funding from foreign entities must register as foreign agents. According to a report on the BBC, the main reason that has sparked such a furious reaction is that it is very similar to a law President Putin enacted in Russia several years ago. Last year, Georgia was awarded candidate status by the EU. Many people, especially young Georgians who favor closer ties with Europe, fear that hopes of joining the EU could be dashed if the law goes ahead. While the Georgian president Salome Zourabichvili, vetoed the law, prime minister Irakli Kobakhidze, a political opponent of Ms. Zourabichivili, had enough votes in the Georgian parliament to override the veto. A battle for the future of Georgia is ongoing; as of right now, it is still being determined if the country will politically ally itself with the EU or if near neighbor Russia gains more influence in the region.

Slovakian Prime Minister Fico gravely injured in Assassination Attempt.

Today, the Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico was seriously injured in an attempted Assassination. According to a report in The Guardian, Fico was attending a political event in Handlova 90 miles northeast of Bratislava. Fico is viewed as a right-wing populist with a pro-Russian stance that is not dissimilar to Viktor Orban of Hungary. According to an article in the New York Times, Fico rose to power in the 1990s, leading the Smer Party, which started on the left of the political spectrum, to shift course and, after several years in opposition, adopted Anti-immigrant and anti-LGBT policies that were more in line with Putin and Orban. As of writing this, Fico’s status is unclear, but whether or not he survives attempted assassinations of European leaders is never good, despite how one may feel about their politics.

Shoigu’s Deputy Caught Up in Corruption Probe.

On Tuesday, a close ally and deputy of the Russian defense minister, Sergei Shoigu, was detained on corruption charges. According to a report by NBC News, Timur Ivanov was detained after it was alleged that he had accepted bribes on a massive scale. Ivanov has been a minister since 2016 and has been involved in property management and housing at the Russian Defense Ministry, among other portfolios. According to a report by CNN, a Russian construction magnate, Alexander Fomin, attempted to bribe Ivanov with a million Rubles (roughly $10,000) and was subsequently arrested as well. If I were Ivanov and Fomin, I would be planning for an extended “holiday” in Siberia.

Russian journalist Connected to Navalny Detained.

Last Friday, a Russian journalist who filmed the last video of Alexi Navalny was detained in Moscow, and according to a report by The Guardian, Russian authorities accused Antonia Forskaya of being part of an “Extremist Organization” which the Russian government uses to refer to Navalny’s organization. According to an article in the AP, she is accused of producing and editing videos for Navalny’s organization. In an even more worrying development, two other journalists, Alexandra Astakhova and Anastasia Musatova, were detained simply for going to visit Forskaya while she was imprisoned. Given recent events, I fear for Forskaya and all of the other brave Russian journalists, both inside and outside of the country, who are exposing the corruption embedded within Putin’s regime.

Navalny pronounced dead by Putin’s Regime.

(A disclaimer for this article: I was at an event this morning held by the U.S Institute of Peace (USIP), an international relations think tank here in Washington DC, discussing the future of Russia post Putin).

The Russian prison authorities announced this morning that Alexi Navalny, the prominent critic of President Putin, was found dead in his cell. It has been reported that as of yesterday, Navalny was displaying his usual sense of humor, which is remarkable considering his situation. It has been well-known that Navalny was gravely ill and was being denied proper healthcare by the Russian government. According to a report by the Washington Post, fears for Navalny grew after he was arrested in January 2021 upon returning to Russia after recovering in Germany from an attempt on his life by the use of Novichok, a banned nerve agent. The response to Navalny’s death has been swift, according to a report by the New York Times. Navalny’s wife strode into the conference room where the Munich Security Conference (a well-known gathering of world leaders discussing international security issues) was held. She denounced Putin’s regime, openly reporting those in the audience spellbound. All of this raises the question: why does this matter?

The answer is that it matters a great deal. According to an article in the Post, Navalny was the main figurehead for anti-Putin opposition in Russia and worldwide, leading many protests within the country. However, more importantly, Navalny had a pioneering YouTube channel and organization that focused on the rampant corruption within Putin’s Russia. It is unclear what will happen next; at the event I attended today, several of the panelists stated that it is a fool’s errand to predict what might happen post-Putin and that it is likely that either Putin will have to die or that Ukraine will have to win the war decisively for Putin to be deposed. One can only hope that Navalny’s death, while tragic, can spur a new generation of Russian civil society to take on Putin and that the West will continue to fund Ukraine’s war effort.

Ukraine’s ongoing crusade against Corruption.

This week, the Ukrainian government under President Zelensky has been making further efforts to eradicate societal Corruption in Ukraine. Several outlets, including Reuters, have reported that a delegation of Ukrainian officials has met with Jake Sullivan, the U.S. national security advisor, about improving anti-corruption efforts. Along with that is a report from the BBC that Ihor Kolomoisky, a well-known Ukrainian oligarch, is to be held in custody for two months on fraud and money laundering charges. Arguably, the most critical corruption story to come out of Ukraine is that President Zelensky has fired his defense minister, Oleskii Reznikov, because of allegations of Corruption. A report by the Washington Post suggests that Rustem Umerov, the former head of the State Property Fund of Ukraine, will take over. While there is a long way to go, it is clear that the Ukrainian government is making strides in stamping out governmental malfeasance.

The Death of Prigozhin.

Yesterday, a private jet traveling from Moscow to St. Petersburg carrying Wagner PMC leader Yevgeny Prigozhin and several of his henchmen plummeted to earth outside of the village of Kuzenhiino in Russia’s Tver region. According to a report by the AP, an early assessment by the U.S. intelligence community suggests that the plane crash was caused by an explosive device on board the plane. Despite this, a report in the New York Times suggests that it is too early to know for sure what happened; Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, indicates that it will be challenging to gain a complete picture of what happened due to the reliability of any information released by the Russian government. It is assumed that President Putin was behind the crash, more likely as retaliation for Prigozhin’s aborted coup attempt in June. It was only a matter of time before Prigozhin would meet an untimely demise; one doesn’t attempt a coup against Putin and usually lives to tell the tale. In the last few hours, an article by The Guardian reports that Putin has acknowledged Prigozhin’s death by saying he was a “talented businessman” but made some “serious mistakes.”

Another fascinating aspect of this incident is who else was onboard the plane with Prigozhin. According to an article by The Washington Post, Dmitry Utkin, who was Prigozhin’s second in command, also died. According to various reports, Wagner was so named because of Utkin’s love of the German composer Richard Wagner, a favorite of Hitler. Also on board were several other high-ranking Wagner officials who maintained close ties to Prigozhin. We may never know how exactly this plane came down, but if I were Sergey Surovikin, a close friend of Prigozhin, I would make sure my passport was up to date.

Ukrainian Military Officers Fired Over Bribery Allegations.

Last Week President Zelenskyy fired officials who led Ukraine’s military recruitment drive over bribery allegations. Under Zelenskyy’s leadership, Ukraine has started to crack down on corruption, partially to improve its prospects of joining the EU and NATO. According to a BBC article, Zelenskyy announced that 30 people would face bribery allegations, including all the regional heads of the military conscription effort. The charges allege that these officials took bribes in cash and cryptocurrency and aided non-disabled men to leave the country. Current Ukrainian law states that all men over 18 able to fight up to 60 can be conscripted. It is admirable to see Zelenskyy clamp down on corruption after years of unchecked greed by other Ukrainian leaders.

A follow-up on Navalny.

Last week Alexei Navalny was sentenced to 19 years in a Russian prison camp on extremism charges. According to ABC, Navalny is already in prison on other charges that are politically driven. These charges are related to Navalny’s efforts to expose endemic corruption in the Russian state. According to VOAnews, Russian prosecutors asked for a 20-year sentence. It is abundantly clear that Navalny will never get out of prison and that the Putin regime doesn’t want him to give any opportunities to fuel protests that could bring down Putin.