Here on Russia's eastern edge, seven time zones from Moscow, a huge project is beginning to take shape.
Two miles worth of steel and cable will connect the mainland to a small island where there is not much besides a few thousand residents, some age-old ice fishing grounds and patches of locally prized curative herbs.
The comparison, of course, is hard to shake: the Kremlin is building its very own Bridge to Nowhere. And not even the financial crisis is putting a stop to it.
The government plans to spend well over $1 billion on the span, which is to be one of the longest suspension bridges in the world, and at least $6 billion on related projects in this thinly populated region, near China and North Korea.
The projects are supposed to spruce up Vladivostok to serve as the host for the Asian Pacific Economic Cooperation summit meeting in 2012, and come on top of another $6 billion that the government is allocating for the 2014 Winter Olympics in the southern resort city of Sochi.
The costs for both ventures are likely to soar because of inadequate planning and widespread corruption in Russia, officials acknowledged.
The government is pouring money into the Vladivostok and Sochi events despite acute pressure on the federal budget from the financial crisis and rising concerns about the overall neglect of infrastructure in Russia. Poor quality roads, ports, power plants and other facilities have long been a drag on the Russian economy, as any multinational company that tries to do business in the country can attest. The spending looms large because the government has sharply cut the rest of the infrastructure budget in response to the financial crisis. As a result, the work in Vladivostok and Sochi is drawing criticism that the Kremlin is focusing on trophy projects that might burnish national pride, but will not yield long-term economic benefits.
"Obviously, this spending on Vladivostok and Sochi doesn't make any sense," said Ivan Tchakarov, chief economist for Russia at Nomura International, a securities firm.
"If Russia wants to diversify from the oil and gas sector, the only way to create sustainable growth is to create real infrastructure - such as, for example, doing badly needed repairs to Russia's transport systems, including the dilapidated railway network, and spending on ports and the electricity grid." Before the financial crisis, Prime Minister Vladimir V. Putin proposed a $1 trillion program to modernize infrastructure, but those plans have been largely shelved, officials said, in favor of spending on social and employment programs, which are aimed at helping to soothe tensions in distressed parts of the country.
Financial analysts estimated that Russia spent roughly $42 billion for infrastructure in 2008, about 13 percent of government spending. This year and next, however, that figure is expected to drop to 5 to 7 percent, they said, and that includes the outlays for Vladivostok and Sochi. The Kremlin is eager to use the Vladivostok meeting in 2012 to demonstrate that Russia is as much an Asian power as a European one.
Yet it seems highly unlikely that the region could turn into an economic engine in the near future. It is thousands of miles from Russia's political and business core, and has less than 5 percent of the country's population. The region's manufacturing and maritime industries have been in steep decline since the Soviet Union's fall, while the area's population has plunged by 25 percent, to six million people from eight million. Still, the government hopes to impress participants at the 2012 summit meeting by holding meetings on Russki Island off the coast of Vladivostok. It is currently reachable only by ferry.
In Soviet times, Vladivostok was closed to foreigners because it was deemed a strategic port, and the island was a secret military facility. Officials intend to build a conference center, hotels and a university campus there.
Already worried about costs, they recently canceled plans for a medical center and a theater for opera and ballet in the city. The government is also renovating Vladivostok's airport, and erecting a smaller bridge between two sections of the city to ease bottlenecks. Improvements will be made to water treatment and other facilities. Yevgeny V. Khokholkov, a vice governor of the region, said federal investment was desperately needed to stem the flow of people abandoning the Far East for the European part of Russia.
Mr. Khokholkov said the bridge to Russki Island and related projects would symbolize the country's commitment to Asia. "The center of development in the world economy is shifting here," he said. "So it is important for Russia to develop this territory as much as we can." Residents of Vladivostok have long complained about neglect from Moscow, but even some supporters of an increased federal role here question the wisdom of the summit meeting master plan. "Without a doubt, it will do some good things for our city," said Alan V. Gutnov, an analyst at the Far Eastern Marine Research, Design and Technology Institute. "But personally, I believe that all that money could be spent more effectively if invested in the economy of the Far East. These projects won't create many jobs in the future." On a visit to Russki Island in February, residents expressed ambivalence about the 2012 meeting, saying that they realized that the region was suffering economically, but that they worried that the projects would destroy the environment. Standing on the deck of a ferry as it chugged through a channel in the ice, Natalya A. Andreyeva, 51, an emergency room doctor, said the island should be turned into a national park. "Visitors seriously pollute the island," Dr. Andreyeva said. "Boatfuls arrive, and after that I personally myself will go and clean the beaches. It's terrible what happens. Why is it worth spending those billions? Good ferries and boats would be enough." As the ferry approached Russki, the landscape changed.
All over the ice, heavily bundled people sat on chairs, holding small fishing rods above small holes in the surface. Some had been there many hours, as if there were no better pastime than staring into the horizon, bracing against the wind and hoping that a fish takes a bite. Among them was Yuri T. Minayenko, 78, a retired driver who moved to Russki Island from Ukraine after the fall of Communism, looking to spend his final years here. "I love the quiet," he said. "If they construct that, there will be more people, more problems, more cars, more commotion and everything else. I don't want that. As an old man, I want silence. That's all."
zondag 26 april 2009
Russki Island bridge
On the western edge of Russia, not far from the city of Vladivostok, the government is building a huge new bridge to a small island. The bridge to Russki Island is intended to be ready for the 2012 Asian-Pacific Economic Summit and will be one of the world’s longest suspension bridges. The only way to get to the island now is by ferry boat.
The new bridge will cost over US$1 billion, according to sources. Additionally, the government plans to spend an additional $6 billion on projects meant to make the area more attractive for the summit meeting. This is on top of the plans to spend at least $6 billion for the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, on the Black Sea coast.
The island was formerly home to a military facility and now has a few thousand residents. Officials intend to construct several new facilities on the island and the Vladivostok area, including a conference center, hotels and a new university campus. Also in the works are renovations to the airport, an additional bridge between two sections of the city and improvements to the water treatment facilities. Currently, there are some 6 million residents of the city and surrounding area.
The new bridge will cost over US$1 billion, according to sources. Additionally, the government plans to spend an additional $6 billion on projects meant to make the area more attractive for the summit meeting. This is on top of the plans to spend at least $6 billion for the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, on the Black Sea coast.
The island was formerly home to a military facility and now has a few thousand residents. Officials intend to construct several new facilities on the island and the Vladivostok area, including a conference center, hotels and a new university campus. Also in the works are renovations to the airport, an additional bridge between two sections of the city and improvements to the water treatment facilities. Currently, there are some 6 million residents of the city and surrounding area.
Lavrov to appeal to North Korea
Russia's foreign minister has arrived in North Korea, where he is expected to urge the leadership to return to talks on its nuclear disarmament.
The two-day trip by Sergei Lavrov is the first high-level visit since North Korea expelled international monitors from its nuclear facilities.
Pyongyang also vowed to restart its nuclear programme after UN criticism of its recent long-range missile launch.
It is not clear if Mr Lavrov will meet North Korean leader Kim Jong-il.
Mr Lavrov is expected to focus on trying to persuade Pyongyang to return to six-nation negotiations - which include North and South Korea, China, Russia, the US and Japan.
The Russian foreign minister may deliver a letter from President Dmitri Medvedev to the North Korean leader, according to media reports from Seoul and Moscow.
Monitors expelled
The visit comes at a time of heightened regional tensions due to the North's controversial rocket launch on 5 April, which was widely seen by its neighbours as a disguised missile test.
North Korea says the rocket was carrying a communications satellite.
Following criticism by the UN Security Council, Pyongyang announced it was quitting international disarmament talks and restarting its nuclear programme.
It has expelled US and UN nuclear monitors.
Russia and China have both already urged North Korea to reconsider its decision.
The BBC's John Sudworth in Seoul says that based on its Soviet past, Moscow still has some influence in Pyongyang, but there are limits.
Even North Korea's closest ally, China, was unable to prevent North Korea's 2006 atomic test, or this month's rocket launch.
The six-party talks have stalled in recent months since a landmark deal under which the North agreed to end its nuclear ambitions in return for aid and political incentives.
Last year North Korea partially disabled its Yongbyon reactor and handed over what it said was a complete declaration of its nuclear activities.
In return, the US removed North Korea from the list of countries it says sponsors terrorism.
But talks have broken down, with Washington and Pyongyang accusing each other of failing to meet obligations.
The two-day trip by Sergei Lavrov is the first high-level visit since North Korea expelled international monitors from its nuclear facilities.
Pyongyang also vowed to restart its nuclear programme after UN criticism of its recent long-range missile launch.
It is not clear if Mr Lavrov will meet North Korean leader Kim Jong-il.
Mr Lavrov is expected to focus on trying to persuade Pyongyang to return to six-nation negotiations - which include North and South Korea, China, Russia, the US and Japan.
The Russian foreign minister may deliver a letter from President Dmitri Medvedev to the North Korean leader, according to media reports from Seoul and Moscow.
Monitors expelled
The visit comes at a time of heightened regional tensions due to the North's controversial rocket launch on 5 April, which was widely seen by its neighbours as a disguised missile test.
North Korea says the rocket was carrying a communications satellite.
Following criticism by the UN Security Council, Pyongyang announced it was quitting international disarmament talks and restarting its nuclear programme.
It has expelled US and UN nuclear monitors.
Russia and China have both already urged North Korea to reconsider its decision.
The BBC's John Sudworth in Seoul says that based on its Soviet past, Moscow still has some influence in Pyongyang, but there are limits.
Even North Korea's closest ally, China, was unable to prevent North Korea's 2006 atomic test, or this month's rocket launch.
The six-party talks have stalled in recent months since a landmark deal under which the North agreed to end its nuclear ambitions in return for aid and political incentives.
Last year North Korea partially disabled its Yongbyon reactor and handed over what it said was a complete declaration of its nuclear activities.
In return, the US removed North Korea from the list of countries it says sponsors terrorism.
But talks have broken down, with Washington and Pyongyang accusing each other of failing to meet obligations.
donderdag 16 april 2009
Russia needs more political competition
Russia needs stronger political competition and a greater freedom to protest, President Dmitry Medvedev said in remarks released Thursday, sending the strongest signal yet that he may rethink the legacy of predecessor Vladimir Putin.
Medvedev, who has positioned himself as a cautious liberal during his first year in power, has until now followed the path blazed by Putin, who methodically rolled back Russia's post-Soviet freedoms during his presidency.
Medvedev's statements at a meeting Wednesday with civil society activists contained some of his most explicit criticism of Putin's policies to date. The remarks were released on the Kremlin's Web site Thursday.
Medvedev specifically criticized the 2006 law that toughened registration and accounting rules for human rights groups and other non-governmental organizations, hampering their operations.
"A significant number of officials, which I think is quite dangerous, have got a sense that non-governmental organizations are enemies of the state which must be confronted to prevent some disease from seeping through and undermining the foundations of our order," Medvedev said.
Medvedev added that the purpose of the law was not to interfere with the operations of the groups. But his remarks contrasted sharply with statements from Putin who said tightened regulation was necessary to make sure that NGOs weren't controlled by what he called puppeteers from abroad.
The 2006 law requires organizations to file highly detailed reports about activities for the previous year, such as a precise accounting of all meetings held by NGO officials, and detailed information on how they are financed.
Passage of the law reflected the Kremlin's fears of what it saw as Western encouragement of anti-government protests in other ex-Soviet nations, including Georgia and Ukraine.
Medvedev said that NGOs face undue restrictions and added that changes in the law are "possible, and even essential."
He added that the country needs more freedom.
"There must a political competition, it's irreplaceable," he said.
Responding to rights activists' complaints about official refusals to sanction opposition protests, Medvedev agreed that authorities' actions defied the law.
"Authorities obviously don't want to sanction such actions, it's understandable," he said. "But in any case such decisions aren't based on law."
He agreed with one person at the conference, who suggested that Moscow needed its own Speaker's Corner, like the one in London's Hyde Park, and added that it should not be put in a distant location.
"It mustn't be an empty spot near garages or near some industrial zone," he said.
Moscow authorities have continuously rejected appeals from opposition groups to hold their rallies in central areas and offered alternative spots away from downtown.
Medvedev, who has positioned himself as a cautious liberal during his first year in power, has until now followed the path blazed by Putin, who methodically rolled back Russia's post-Soviet freedoms during his presidency.
Medvedev's statements at a meeting Wednesday with civil society activists contained some of his most explicit criticism of Putin's policies to date. The remarks were released on the Kremlin's Web site Thursday.
Medvedev specifically criticized the 2006 law that toughened registration and accounting rules for human rights groups and other non-governmental organizations, hampering their operations.
"A significant number of officials, which I think is quite dangerous, have got a sense that non-governmental organizations are enemies of the state which must be confronted to prevent some disease from seeping through and undermining the foundations of our order," Medvedev said.
Medvedev added that the purpose of the law was not to interfere with the operations of the groups. But his remarks contrasted sharply with statements from Putin who said tightened regulation was necessary to make sure that NGOs weren't controlled by what he called puppeteers from abroad.
The 2006 law requires organizations to file highly detailed reports about activities for the previous year, such as a precise accounting of all meetings held by NGO officials, and detailed information on how they are financed.
Passage of the law reflected the Kremlin's fears of what it saw as Western encouragement of anti-government protests in other ex-Soviet nations, including Georgia and Ukraine.
Medvedev said that NGOs face undue restrictions and added that changes in the law are "possible, and even essential."
He added that the country needs more freedom.
"There must a political competition, it's irreplaceable," he said.
Responding to rights activists' complaints about official refusals to sanction opposition protests, Medvedev agreed that authorities' actions defied the law.
"Authorities obviously don't want to sanction such actions, it's understandable," he said. "But in any case such decisions aren't based on law."
He agreed with one person at the conference, who suggested that Moscow needed its own Speaker's Corner, like the one in London's Hyde Park, and added that it should not be put in a distant location.
"It mustn't be an empty spot near garages or near some industrial zone," he said.
Moscow authorities have continuously rejected appeals from opposition groups to hold their rallies in central areas and offered alternative spots away from downtown.
vrijdag 10 april 2009
Yet a new gas conflict
Russia-Turkmen gas conflict looms: report
MOSCOW (AFP) — A blast on the main gas pipeline between Turkmenistan and Russia reflects rising tensions between the two countries and could signal a Ukraine-style "gas war," a Russian newspaper said.
The Kommersant broadsheet pointed to growing problems between Russia and its ex-Soviet gas partner ahead of Thursday's explosion on the main gas export pipeline from the Caspian Sea state to Russia.
Russia generally sources Turkmen gas in order to boost its own reserves and help meet European demand.
"Russia could start a new gas war, but this time on the southeastern front," Kommersant said. "Russia has decided to use the same weapon as in the gas war with Ukraine," the paper added, referring to a dispute with Kiev in January.
The blast was the result of a decision by Russian gas giant Gazprom to sharply cut gas purchases from Turkmenistan -- leading to strain on the Turkmen section of the pipeline.
Kommersant said the cut amounted to 90 percent. The controversy came as Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was in the Turkmen capital for a regional foreign ministers' meeting.
Whereas Russia in the New Year cut off supplies to Ukraine, a gas war with Turkmenistan would follow the reverse pattern with Moscow drastically scaling down its imports of Turkmen gas.
There is commercial logic to reducing the purchases as demand drops in Europe, particularly from crisis-hit Ukraine, and Kommersant said that Gazprom stood to profit from selling its own reserves.
The Vedomosti newspaper, in an article headlined "The Welcome Accident", said that Gazprom would be easily able to compensate customers with its own supplies.
"Russia is not receiving Turkmen gas because of the pipeline explosion. But that could even be advantageous for Gazprom whose production has fallen in line with demand," it said
Gas demand in Europe has fallen sharply due to the economic slowdown and as a consequence gas reservoirs are full.
Gazprom's deputy chief executive, Valery Golubev, said on Thursday that the crisis will force Gazprom to maintain a 10 percent cut in output over the next 4-5 years from its peak last year.
He said that output would reach only 492 billion cubic metres this year compared with 549.7 billion cubic metres in 2008.
But Turkmenistan had angered Russia since a notably unproductive visit by President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov to Moscow last month that the Kremlin hoped would strengthen its grip on Turkmen energy, the paper said.
MOSCOW (AFP) — A blast on the main gas pipeline between Turkmenistan and Russia reflects rising tensions between the two countries and could signal a Ukraine-style "gas war," a Russian newspaper said.
The Kommersant broadsheet pointed to growing problems between Russia and its ex-Soviet gas partner ahead of Thursday's explosion on the main gas export pipeline from the Caspian Sea state to Russia.
Russia generally sources Turkmen gas in order to boost its own reserves and help meet European demand.
"Russia could start a new gas war, but this time on the southeastern front," Kommersant said. "Russia has decided to use the same weapon as in the gas war with Ukraine," the paper added, referring to a dispute with Kiev in January.
The blast was the result of a decision by Russian gas giant Gazprom to sharply cut gas purchases from Turkmenistan -- leading to strain on the Turkmen section of the pipeline.
Kommersant said the cut amounted to 90 percent. The controversy came as Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was in the Turkmen capital for a regional foreign ministers' meeting.
Whereas Russia in the New Year cut off supplies to Ukraine, a gas war with Turkmenistan would follow the reverse pattern with Moscow drastically scaling down its imports of Turkmen gas.
There is commercial logic to reducing the purchases as demand drops in Europe, particularly from crisis-hit Ukraine, and Kommersant said that Gazprom stood to profit from selling its own reserves.
The Vedomosti newspaper, in an article headlined "The Welcome Accident", said that Gazprom would be easily able to compensate customers with its own supplies.
"Russia is not receiving Turkmen gas because of the pipeline explosion. But that could even be advantageous for Gazprom whose production has fallen in line with demand," it said
Gas demand in Europe has fallen sharply due to the economic slowdown and as a consequence gas reservoirs are full.
Gazprom's deputy chief executive, Valery Golubev, said on Thursday that the crisis will force Gazprom to maintain a 10 percent cut in output over the next 4-5 years from its peak last year.
He said that output would reach only 492 billion cubic metres this year compared with 549.7 billion cubic metres in 2008.
But Turkmenistan had angered Russia since a notably unproductive visit by President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov to Moscow last month that the Kremlin hoped would strengthen its grip on Turkmen energy, the paper said.
dinsdag 7 april 2009
Dubai vs Russia
Authorities in Dubai said Sunday that they believed the murder of Sulim B. Yamadayev, a former Chechen general, had been planned by a member of Russia’s lower house of Parliament who is a well-known ally of the Chechen president.
Adam S. Delimkhanov
At a news conference, Dubai’s chief of police, Lt. Gen. Dahi Khalfan bin Tamim, said that he would ask Interpol to arrest the member of Parliament, Adam S. Delimkhanov, and that it was “Russia’s responsibility in front of the world to control these killers from Chechnya.”
General Tamim’s allegation was striking because Mr. Delimkhanov is so close to Ramzan A. Kadyrov, Chechnya’s Kremlin-backed president. Mr. Yamadayev, who was shot in Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates, on March 31, was the latest in a series of Chechen figures to be killed after challenging Mr. Kadyrov.
Though the recent murders of Chechen dissidents have attracted wide attention, investigators had identified only low-level suspects — until Sunday, said Grigory Shvedov, the editor of the Web-based news service Caucasian Knot.
“Those were people no one knew,” Mr. Shvedov said of the suspects. “Today, we are talking about a person who is very well known, with a key position in the regional government and a very high position on the federal level.”
A person in the Russian prosecutor general’s office told the Interfax news agency that Mr. Delimkhanov could not be extradited under Russian law, but that prosecutors would consider pressing charges if they saw convincing evidence.
Mr. Delimkhanov vigorously denied the accusation, saying it was “a provocation and an attempt to destabilize conditions in the Chechen Republic.”
“I am a politician who has dedicated most of my life to the war against terrorism, and even in this case I am ready to help any justice system, among them Dubai’s,” Mr. Delimkhanov said in a statement released by his spokesman.
He also criticized the United Arab Emirates for giving an entry visa to Mr. Yamadayev, “a criminal who ran from the judicial system in his own country.”
“As regards the dead man, he had enemies all around the world,” the statement said.
Authorities in Dubai released new details about the murder.
General Tamim said the killer had surprised Mr. Yamadayev outside the Jumeirah Beach apartment complex and shot him in the head, then threw away the weapon not far from the crime scene. He said the weapon resembled guns carried by Mr. Delimkhanov’s bodyguards, and that a witness in police custody had said the weapon was given to assassins hired to kill Mr. Yamadayev.
The general was scathing about the spillover of violence outside Russia’s borders.
“Russia must take a strong and powerful step to stop this, to make sure that Chechen dirty payback doesn’t spread outside,” General Tamim said. “We will give Russian authorities the case file. It is up to Russia whether or not to hand” Mr. Delimkhanov to authorities in Dubai, he said.
The police arrested two suspects, an Iranian and a Tajik, shortly after the murder, and four other suspects were in Russia, General Tamim said.
Mr. Delimkhanov, 39, rose under Mr. Kadyrov to become a top Chechen official. After heading the police division that protected Chechen oil facilities, he was appointed deputy prime minister overseeing security forces in 2006. The next year he was appointed to the Russian Parliament as a representative of United Russia, the party headed by Prime Minister Vladimir V. Putin. A spokesman for Mr. Delimkhanov described him as “a friend” of the Chechen president.
His name arose in written legal complaints by a Chechen exile, Umar S. Israilov, who was shot to death in Vienna in January. Mr. Israilov described a scene in which Mr. Delimkhanov beat him with a shovel handle in Mr. Kadyrov’s presence. Mr. Delimkhanov declined requests for comment on the allegation.
Michael Schwirtz contributed reporting from Moscow, and an employee of The New York Times from Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
Adam S. Delimkhanov
At a news conference, Dubai’s chief of police, Lt. Gen. Dahi Khalfan bin Tamim, said that he would ask Interpol to arrest the member of Parliament, Adam S. Delimkhanov, and that it was “Russia’s responsibility in front of the world to control these killers from Chechnya.”
General Tamim’s allegation was striking because Mr. Delimkhanov is so close to Ramzan A. Kadyrov, Chechnya’s Kremlin-backed president. Mr. Yamadayev, who was shot in Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates, on March 31, was the latest in a series of Chechen figures to be killed after challenging Mr. Kadyrov.
Though the recent murders of Chechen dissidents have attracted wide attention, investigators had identified only low-level suspects — until Sunday, said Grigory Shvedov, the editor of the Web-based news service Caucasian Knot.
“Those were people no one knew,” Mr. Shvedov said of the suspects. “Today, we are talking about a person who is very well known, with a key position in the regional government and a very high position on the federal level.”
A person in the Russian prosecutor general’s office told the Interfax news agency that Mr. Delimkhanov could not be extradited under Russian law, but that prosecutors would consider pressing charges if they saw convincing evidence.
Mr. Delimkhanov vigorously denied the accusation, saying it was “a provocation and an attempt to destabilize conditions in the Chechen Republic.”
“I am a politician who has dedicated most of my life to the war against terrorism, and even in this case I am ready to help any justice system, among them Dubai’s,” Mr. Delimkhanov said in a statement released by his spokesman.
He also criticized the United Arab Emirates for giving an entry visa to Mr. Yamadayev, “a criminal who ran from the judicial system in his own country.”
“As regards the dead man, he had enemies all around the world,” the statement said.
Authorities in Dubai released new details about the murder.
General Tamim said the killer had surprised Mr. Yamadayev outside the Jumeirah Beach apartment complex and shot him in the head, then threw away the weapon not far from the crime scene. He said the weapon resembled guns carried by Mr. Delimkhanov’s bodyguards, and that a witness in police custody had said the weapon was given to assassins hired to kill Mr. Yamadayev.
The general was scathing about the spillover of violence outside Russia’s borders.
“Russia must take a strong and powerful step to stop this, to make sure that Chechen dirty payback doesn’t spread outside,” General Tamim said. “We will give Russian authorities the case file. It is up to Russia whether or not to hand” Mr. Delimkhanov to authorities in Dubai, he said.
The police arrested two suspects, an Iranian and a Tajik, shortly after the murder, and four other suspects were in Russia, General Tamim said.
Mr. Delimkhanov, 39, rose under Mr. Kadyrov to become a top Chechen official. After heading the police division that protected Chechen oil facilities, he was appointed deputy prime minister overseeing security forces in 2006. The next year he was appointed to the Russian Parliament as a representative of United Russia, the party headed by Prime Minister Vladimir V. Putin. A spokesman for Mr. Delimkhanov described him as “a friend” of the Chechen president.
His name arose in written legal complaints by a Chechen exile, Umar S. Israilov, who was shot to death in Vienna in January. Mr. Israilov described a scene in which Mr. Delimkhanov beat him with a shovel handle in Mr. Kadyrov’s presence. Mr. Delimkhanov declined requests for comment on the allegation.
Michael Schwirtz contributed reporting from Moscow, and an employee of The New York Times from Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
The enemies of Kadyrov are not safe
The enemies of the Chechen president, Ramzan A. Kadyrov, keep turning up dead.
In September, it was Ruslan B. Yamadayev, shot while his car was stuck in Moscow traffic. In January, a former Kadyrov bodyguard named Umar S. Israilov was shot in Vienna when he stepped out to buy yogurt. Then, last week, Sulim B. Yamadayev — a brother of Ruslan’s — was shot in the parking garage of his apartment complex in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
This time, though, something unusual happened: Dubai’s police chief called a news conference and publicly excoriated Russian authorities for allowing the violence to continue.
The chief, Lt. Gen. Dahi Khalfan bin Tamim, said investigators had traced the killing to one of Mr. Kadyrov’s closest associates, Adam S. Delimkhanov. Mr. Delimkhanov denied any involvement.
The allegations pose a problem for leaders in the Kremlin, who installed Mr. Kadyrov as president of Chechnya and have relied on him to stamp out an insurgency that threatened to wrest the republic from Moscow’s control.
While prime minister and now president, Mr. Kadyrov has virtually eliminated the insurgency; human rights organizations and journalists have documented his regime’s use of brutal tactics, among them abduction and torture.
Authorities in Moscow apparently put few restraints on Mr. Kadyrov. And on Monday, as the accusations against Mr. Delimkhanov made headlines, observers wondered whether Russian leaders were willing, or able, to do so.
“They need him,” said Mark Galeotti, an expert on Russian crime at New York University’s Center for Global Affairs. “They’ve actually created a kind of Frankenstein’s monster. In the name of fighting Chechen nationalism, they’ve basically created an autonomous Chechen state.”
Sulim Yamadayev, the man killed in Dubai, was once a powerful Chechen military commander and had posed an increasing threat to Mr. Kadyrov.
After a clash between his troops and Mr. Kadyrov’s guards last year, federal authorities stripped him of his command and he left Russia for Dubai in December. Mr. Kadyrov’s government has denied responsibility for that clash.
Russian federal authorities have made no comment on the Dubai case. Because Mr. Delimkhanov was elected last year to Parliament, he has immunity from prosecution, and Russian law does not allow its citizens to be extradited.
An official in the general prosecutor’s office said Sunday that Russia would prosecute him if Dubai police provided convincing evidence.
On Monday, Mr. Kadyrov issued an angry defense of Mr. Delimkhanov.
“I must say that Adam Delimkhanov is my close associate, a friend, a brother or even my right hand,” Mr. Kadyrov said in a statement. “I take any statements concerning him personally. We will take all measures provided by Russian and international laws to hold responsible those who make slandering insinuations.”
In comments to reporters in Grozny on Monday, Mr. Kadyrov said that Sulim Yamadayev had repeatedly tried to assassinate him, at one point by poisoning a lake.
He also said there was “objective evidence” that implicated Mr. Yamadayev in a 2004 bombing that killed his father, Akhmad Kadyrov, who was then the president of Chechnya.
“We did all that we could to bring Sulim Yamadayev, who was involved in a series of killings, kidnappings and other severe crimes, to trial in Russia,” Mr. Kadyrov said, according to the news agency Interfax.
The scandal comes at a difficult moment for Russia’s president, Dmitri A. Medvedev, who has vowed to make rule of law the foundation of his presidency. It also coincides with a much-discussed “reset” of relations between Russia and the United States, as Western leaders set aside, at least for the moment, criticism of human rights abuses in Russia.
Sergei Markedonov, head of the interethnic relations department at the Institute of Political and Military Analysis in Moscow, said that he was not convinced that Mr. Kadyrov had ordered the murder, but that the case had already raised “a lot of unpleasant questions for Russia as a whole and for Medvedev.”
“Why was Ruslan Yamadayev killed, and then Sulim Yamadayev?” Mr. Markedonov asked. “Why is there no opposition to Kadyrov? What is this regime that Moscow supports? And to what extent is Moscow able to influence it?”
Hints of a shift in the relationship came after Sulim Yamadayev died on March 31. That day, the Kremlin had seemed prepared to grant Mr. Kadyrov’s longstanding request to withdraw thousands of federal troops from Chechnya. The act would remove shipping and transportation restrictions imposed as part of a counterterrorist operation when the second Chechen war began nearly a decade ago.
Less than a week later, however, as news of Mr. Yamadayev’s death began to circulate, Russia’s National Antiterrorist Committee announced that the restrictions and troops would remain in place, citing a continuing danger of violence in the region. Officials said the murder had nothing to do with the committee’s decision.
“It does appear that at this point in time the Kremlin does want to keep some control over Kadyrov and his team,” said Tatyana Lokshina, a Chechnya expert with Human Rights Watch in Moscow. “Ending the counterterrorist operation, getting multitudes of troops out and removing all the restrictions would give Kadyrov even more freedom — and he certainly does have enough.”
But in recent years, she added, Moscow has made little attempt to interfere with Mr. Kadyrov’s tactics, “as long as he kept the insurgency suppressed.”
With Kremlin backing, Mr. Kadyrov has accomplished in just a few years what few independent experts thought would be possible in decades. He has winnowed the insurgency by killing off most of the rebel leaders and granting amnesty to militants in exchange for loyalty. Chechnya’s capital, Grozny, has been largely rebuilt. Cafes and restaurants are bustling, electricity is more or less regular and people stroll along newly built avenues.
“They built up Kadyrov, and from their point of view, he’s doing what he is supposed to be doing,” Mr. Galeotti, of N.Y.U., said. “Considering the rise of chaos in the rest of the North Caucasus, the irony is that Chechnya is a haven of peace.”
International attention has drifted away from Chechnya since then. Mr. Markedonov, a specialist in the north Caucasus, said he had not heard the republic discussed so avidly in the international news media for years.
He compared the Yamadayev case to the furor that resulted in 2007 when British authorities pressed Russia to extradite Andrei K. Lugovoi, a former K.G.B. agent, in the killing of a former spy, Alexander V. Litvinenko, who died in London after ingesting polonium 210, a rare and toxic radioactive isotope.
“Already, in our media,” Mr. Markedonov said, “they have started to call it ‘Litvinenko 2’ or ‘Lugovoi 2.’ ”
In September, it was Ruslan B. Yamadayev, shot while his car was stuck in Moscow traffic. In January, a former Kadyrov bodyguard named Umar S. Israilov was shot in Vienna when he stepped out to buy yogurt. Then, last week, Sulim B. Yamadayev — a brother of Ruslan’s — was shot in the parking garage of his apartment complex in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
This time, though, something unusual happened: Dubai’s police chief called a news conference and publicly excoriated Russian authorities for allowing the violence to continue.
The chief, Lt. Gen. Dahi Khalfan bin Tamim, said investigators had traced the killing to one of Mr. Kadyrov’s closest associates, Adam S. Delimkhanov. Mr. Delimkhanov denied any involvement.
The allegations pose a problem for leaders in the Kremlin, who installed Mr. Kadyrov as president of Chechnya and have relied on him to stamp out an insurgency that threatened to wrest the republic from Moscow’s control.
While prime minister and now president, Mr. Kadyrov has virtually eliminated the insurgency; human rights organizations and journalists have documented his regime’s use of brutal tactics, among them abduction and torture.
Authorities in Moscow apparently put few restraints on Mr. Kadyrov. And on Monday, as the accusations against Mr. Delimkhanov made headlines, observers wondered whether Russian leaders were willing, or able, to do so.
“They need him,” said Mark Galeotti, an expert on Russian crime at New York University’s Center for Global Affairs. “They’ve actually created a kind of Frankenstein’s monster. In the name of fighting Chechen nationalism, they’ve basically created an autonomous Chechen state.”
Sulim Yamadayev, the man killed in Dubai, was once a powerful Chechen military commander and had posed an increasing threat to Mr. Kadyrov.
After a clash between his troops and Mr. Kadyrov’s guards last year, federal authorities stripped him of his command and he left Russia for Dubai in December. Mr. Kadyrov’s government has denied responsibility for that clash.
Russian federal authorities have made no comment on the Dubai case. Because Mr. Delimkhanov was elected last year to Parliament, he has immunity from prosecution, and Russian law does not allow its citizens to be extradited.
An official in the general prosecutor’s office said Sunday that Russia would prosecute him if Dubai police provided convincing evidence.
On Monday, Mr. Kadyrov issued an angry defense of Mr. Delimkhanov.
“I must say that Adam Delimkhanov is my close associate, a friend, a brother or even my right hand,” Mr. Kadyrov said in a statement. “I take any statements concerning him personally. We will take all measures provided by Russian and international laws to hold responsible those who make slandering insinuations.”
In comments to reporters in Grozny on Monday, Mr. Kadyrov said that Sulim Yamadayev had repeatedly tried to assassinate him, at one point by poisoning a lake.
He also said there was “objective evidence” that implicated Mr. Yamadayev in a 2004 bombing that killed his father, Akhmad Kadyrov, who was then the president of Chechnya.
“We did all that we could to bring Sulim Yamadayev, who was involved in a series of killings, kidnappings and other severe crimes, to trial in Russia,” Mr. Kadyrov said, according to the news agency Interfax.
The scandal comes at a difficult moment for Russia’s president, Dmitri A. Medvedev, who has vowed to make rule of law the foundation of his presidency. It also coincides with a much-discussed “reset” of relations between Russia and the United States, as Western leaders set aside, at least for the moment, criticism of human rights abuses in Russia.
Sergei Markedonov, head of the interethnic relations department at the Institute of Political and Military Analysis in Moscow, said that he was not convinced that Mr. Kadyrov had ordered the murder, but that the case had already raised “a lot of unpleasant questions for Russia as a whole and for Medvedev.”
“Why was Ruslan Yamadayev killed, and then Sulim Yamadayev?” Mr. Markedonov asked. “Why is there no opposition to Kadyrov? What is this regime that Moscow supports? And to what extent is Moscow able to influence it?”
Hints of a shift in the relationship came after Sulim Yamadayev died on March 31. That day, the Kremlin had seemed prepared to grant Mr. Kadyrov’s longstanding request to withdraw thousands of federal troops from Chechnya. The act would remove shipping and transportation restrictions imposed as part of a counterterrorist operation when the second Chechen war began nearly a decade ago.
Less than a week later, however, as news of Mr. Yamadayev’s death began to circulate, Russia’s National Antiterrorist Committee announced that the restrictions and troops would remain in place, citing a continuing danger of violence in the region. Officials said the murder had nothing to do with the committee’s decision.
“It does appear that at this point in time the Kremlin does want to keep some control over Kadyrov and his team,” said Tatyana Lokshina, a Chechnya expert with Human Rights Watch in Moscow. “Ending the counterterrorist operation, getting multitudes of troops out and removing all the restrictions would give Kadyrov even more freedom — and he certainly does have enough.”
But in recent years, she added, Moscow has made little attempt to interfere with Mr. Kadyrov’s tactics, “as long as he kept the insurgency suppressed.”
With Kremlin backing, Mr. Kadyrov has accomplished in just a few years what few independent experts thought would be possible in decades. He has winnowed the insurgency by killing off most of the rebel leaders and granting amnesty to militants in exchange for loyalty. Chechnya’s capital, Grozny, has been largely rebuilt. Cafes and restaurants are bustling, electricity is more or less regular and people stroll along newly built avenues.
“They built up Kadyrov, and from their point of view, he’s doing what he is supposed to be doing,” Mr. Galeotti, of N.Y.U., said. “Considering the rise of chaos in the rest of the North Caucasus, the irony is that Chechnya is a haven of peace.”
International attention has drifted away from Chechnya since then. Mr. Markedonov, a specialist in the north Caucasus, said he had not heard the republic discussed so avidly in the international news media for years.
He compared the Yamadayev case to the furor that resulted in 2007 when British authorities pressed Russia to extradite Andrei K. Lugovoi, a former K.G.B. agent, in the killing of a former spy, Alexander V. Litvinenko, who died in London after ingesting polonium 210, a rare and toxic radioactive isotope.
“Already, in our media,” Mr. Markedonov said, “they have started to call it ‘Litvinenko 2’ or ‘Lugovoi 2.’ ”
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