Russia: April 2008 Archives

Former Russian Atomic Energy Minister Yevgeny Adamov was released from prison today, two months after being sentenced to five and a half years in jail for abuse of office and defrauding the Russian Government of $31 million in US aid money. Some of this aid money was intended for upgrades to Russian RBMK nuclear reactors, the same style as those at Chernobyl.

At the request of US prosecutors, Adamov was arrested in Switzerland in 2005. When authorities attempted to have Adamov extradited to the US, Russia filed their own extradition request, claiming that Adamov would be tortured to reveal nuclear secrets if sent to the US. After six months of deliberations, the Swiss courts sent Adamov to Moscow.

Adamov, who served as Russia's Atomic Energy Minister from 1998 - 2001, was found guilty in February and sentenced to serve his sentence in a Russian penal colony. Two of Adamov's partners, Vyacheslav Pismenny (former head of the Troitsky Institute of Innovation and Thermonuclear Research) and Revmir Frayshut (former director of Russian uranium enrichment giant Tekhsnabeksport) were also found guilty, but given four year suspended sentences due to their advanced age and poor health.

Adamov's attorney immediately filed an appeal, requesting his client receive the same circumstances as his co-defendents. After considering the motion, Moscow's Zamoskovorestky District Court, the same court involved in the original trial, granted Adamov a four-year suspended sentence with probation.

Believe it or not, Adamov defended himself by saying he kept the US government aid in several personal accounts to save it from falling victim to Russia's turbulent economy. Granted, there were a lot of shady things going on in Russia at that time (besides this scheme), but I can't believe this guy was a government minister and actually believed that excuse would allow him to be found innocent. Once again, you just can't make this stuff up!

In the eyes of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Ukraine is not an independent nation.

Apparently, during a private meeting with US President George W. Bush at the recent NATO summit in Bucharest, Putin said, “Don’t you understand, George - Ukraine is not even a nation! What is Ukraine? Part of her territory is Eastern Europe, and part, a considerable part, was given by us!”

The summit agenda included the consideration of Ukraine and Georgia's applications to be included in the NATO Membership Action Plan (MAP), the initial stage required to joining the alliance. The applications were blocked, at least temporarily, by Germany and France.

Putin, who feels that NATO's expansion toward Russia is a threat to his country, made it clear that if Ukraine and Georgia are included in the MAP, Russia will acknowledge the independence of Georgian regions Abkhazia and Southern Ossetia. These two autonomous Georgian republics both passed referendums in 2006 declaring their independence, but their sovereignty has yet to be recognized by any country. Putin's recognition of these republics as independent nations would create a buffer zone between NATO forces and the current Russian border with Georgia.

The real surprise was Putin's bold assertion that if Ukraine and Georgia were included in the MAP, Russia may initiate a process to incorporate the Russian-speaking regions of eastern Ukraine and Crimea into its own territory, possibly by force. Yes, that's right ... Russia would claim a large amount of Ukraine as their own! This is hilarious - inclusion in the MAP does not even guarantee NATO membership.

After hearing this statement, Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko responded by saying, "If this was really said, it indicates the utmost irritation with the fact that Ukraine began to defend its own national interests, defend its independence, and build its own strategy.” Huh? Believe it or not, Tymoshenko also noted this response was her own personal view, and not an official statement. First of all, the statement was nothing earth-shattering. Actually, it was a whole lot of nothing and a pointedly weak response. Second, I hate to break it to her, but as a high-ranking government official, anything she says in public will be considered an official statement.

So, to recap, the outgoing President of Russia has decided that his country will deny sovereignty to a fellow former Soviet republic and neighbor, possibly by force, if NATO formally considers Ukraine's application for membership, and Ukrainian Prime Minister Tymoshenko makes a weak public response, but declares it to not be official. You just can't make this stuff up - it truly writes itself!