International exercises with NATO participation kicked off in Latvia | News from Germany about Russia

The annual international military exercises Winter Shield 2021 kicked off in Latvia on Monday, November 22, the Latvian Defense Ministry reported. Soldiers of a mechanized infantry brigade of the ground forces, military militias, military personnel, the combat group of the expanded NATO presence in Latvia and the command of the US armed forces in Europe take part in the maneuvers. The exercises will last until December 4.

Peskov: NATO must stop pushing Kiev to “crazy actions”

On the eve of the press secretary of the President of Russia Dmitry Peskov in a program on the channel “Russia-1” said that “the United States, its allies must stop concentrating a military fist on our borders.” On the air of the state channel, Dmitry Peskov also dismissed the fears expressed by the alliance in connection with the “significant and unusual” concentration of Russian forces near the borders of Ukraine. In his opinion, NATO countries “should stop pumping up Ukraine with modern weapons” and thereby push Kiev to “crazy actions.”

Despite the Kremlin’s repeated statements that the movement of Russian military equipment across the country is an exclusively internal affair of the Russian Federation, fears are growing in the West that they are used to prepare aggression against Ukraine.

Bloomberg reports plans for Russian invasion of Ukraine

On November 21, Bloomberg announced a plan for a possible “rapid and large-scale” Russian invasion of Ukraine. Citing intelligence data provided by the United States to its European allies in NATO, the agency wrote about the planned participation in a possible invasion of 100 battalion-tactical units with a total number of about 100 thousand people. At the same time, the invasion can be carried out in three directions – from the territory of Russia, from Belarus and from the annexed Crimea, it was indicated in the publication below.

The European Union has repeatedly expressed concern about the reports of the movements of Russian troops in the regions bordering with Ukraine. “We continue to monitor the situation, and the information that we have collected so far is alarming,” said, in particular, on November 12, EU foreign policy spokesman Peter Stano, adding that the EU “is ready to explore further steps” together with partners including the US and the UK.

Information about the activity of the Russian army near the border with Ukraine appeared on October 30 in the American newspaper The Washington Post. The publication said that recently videos have been posted on social networks that show the movement of Russian military equipment in the border areas. Later, on November 1, Politico magazine published satellite images of the area near the village of Yelnya in the Smolensk region, possibly confirming information about the concentration of Russian army units there.

See also:

What are the US and EU sanctions against Russia
US sanctions in connection with the poisoning of Navalny
10 Russian, 3 German and 1 Swiss companies came under trade sanctions in connection with the poisoning of Alexei Navalny. Washington suspects firms on the US Department of Commerce blacklisted March 3, 2021 of involvement in the creation and distribution of chemical weapons. Additional licensing requirements for export, re-export and technology transfer to these companies will be introduced.

What are the US and EU sanctions against Russia
EU against Russian siloviki
On March 2, 2021, the EU officially entered into force sanctions against the Russian security officials responsible for the criminal prosecution of Alexei Navalny and human rights violations during the dispersal of peaceful protests in the Russian Federation. Under EU sanctions were the head of the Investigative Committee Alexander Bastrykin, the head of the Russian Guard Viktor Zolotov, the head of the Federal Penitentiary Service Alexander Kalashnikov and the Prosecutor General of Russia Igor Krasnov.

What are the US and EU sanctions against Russia
US added Kremlin officials to sanctions lists
The United States also imposed personal sanctions for the poisoning and prosecution of Navalny. The list includes not only security officials, but also officials: FSB Director Alexander Bortnikov, Prosecutor General Igor Krasnov, Deputy Defense Ministers Pavel Popov and Alexei Krivoruchko, head of the Federal Penitentiary Service and representatives of the Russian presidential administration Sergey Kiriyenko and Andrei Yarin.

What are the US and EU sanctions against Russia
Ban on defense exports to Russia
In addition to personal and trade sanctions, the United States imposed a ban on the export of defense products, technologies and services to Russia. This was also a reaction to the use of chemical weapons against Alexei Navalny and Sergei Skripal. An exception is made only to support intergovernmental space cooperation. Commercial cooperation in space will be limited after a six-month transition period.

What are the US and EU sanctions against Russia
For a cyberattack on the Bundestag
On October 22, 2020, the EU imposed sanctions for a cyberattack on the German Bundestag in April-May 2015. Penalties were introduced against the head of the Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces Igor Kostyukov, officer Dmitry Badin and the 85th Main Center of the Special Service of the General Staff. They are subject to visa bans, their property in the EU is subject to freezing.

What are the US and EU sanctions against Russia
EU sanctions for the poisoning of Navalny
On October 15, 2020, the EU and the UK imposed sanctions for the poisoning of Navalny against Kremlin administration officials Andrei Yarin and Sergei Kiriyenko, Putin’s plenipotentiary in the Siberian Federal District Sergei Menyailo, head of the FSB Alexander Bortnikov, Deputy Defense Minister Alexei Krivoruchko and Pavel Popov. Sanctions were also imposed against the institute where a substance from the Novichok group could be produced.

What are the US and EU sanctions against Russia
The second package of sanctions for the Skripal poisoning
On August 26, 2019, the United States introduced the second package of sanctions for the poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal. Washington has banned its banks from participating in the initial sale of sovereign debt not in rubles and providing non-ruble loans to Moscow. The restrictions also affected the licensing of the export of goods and technologies controlled by the US Department of Commerce as part of the fight against the proliferation of chemical weapons.

What are the US and EU sanctions against Russia
The first sanctions in the history of the European Union for the use of chemical weapons
On January 21, 2019, the EU introduced sanctions for the use of chemical weapons for the first time. The list includes the Russians involved in the poisoning of the former double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia with the Novichok nerve agent: Chief of the Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Federation Igor Kostyukov, his first deputy Vladimir Alekseev, as well as the alleged perpetrators, GRU officers Anatoly Chepiga and Alexander Mishkin.

What are the US and EU sanctions against Russia
The first package of sanctions for the Skripal poisoning
On August 27, 2018, new US sanctions for Russia’s use of chemical weapons came into force. These penalties include a ban on the sale of weapons and other defense products to Russia, a denial of access to American goods and technologies that are particularly important from a national security standpoint, as well as the provision of US government loans, loan guarantees and other financial support.

What are the US and EU sanctions against Russia
US punished oligarchs for Moscow’s interference in elections
In April 2018, the US Treasury Department struck for the first time on Russian private companies. He imposed sanctions on 24 Russian businessmen from the previously published “Kremlin report”. Among them were such influential oligarchs as Oleg Deripaska and Viktor Vekselberg. The assets of their companies in the United States are frozen, and the Americans are prohibited from doing business with them.

What are the US and EU sanctions against Russia
US sanctions against security officials
In December 2016, the United States imposed sanctions in connection with possible cyberattacks by Russian hackers during the American election campaign. This time, the General Intelligence Directorate and the Federal Security Service were blacklisted.

What are the US and EU sanctions against Russia
MIC at gunpoint
Sanctions in the military-industrial complex include a ban imposed by the European Union on arms trade with Russia in the summer of 2014 and a ban on the export of dual-use goods to Russia for the defense sector. The United States, in turn, introduced penalties against 11 manufacturers of electronics that can be used for the needs of the military industry. The reason for the imposition of sanctions was the conflict in Donbass and the annexation of Crimea.

What are the US and EU sanctions against Russia
Russian oil industry under sanctions
Both the United States and the EU imposed sanctions on the Russian oil industry in 2014, limiting the work of their companies in the Russian Arctic. Brussels also banned the supply of high-tech equipment for the oil sector to the Russian Federation in response to the actions of the Russian Federation in Ukraine.

What are the US and EU sanctions against Russia
EU introduced restrictive measures against sectors of the Russian economy
On July 31, 2014, the EU imposed sectoral sanctions in response to the actions of the Russian Federation in Ukraine. They covered the five largest Russian banks – Sberbank, VTB, Gazprombank, Rosselkhozbank and VEB, which had limited access to the EU capital markets. Later, Brussels imposed the same restrictions on three oil companies – Rosneft, Transneft and Gazprom Neft – and three defense enterprises.

What are the US and EU sanctions against Russia
Sectoral sanctions in connection with the events in Ukraine
On July 16, 2014, the United States imposed sanctions against Rosneft and Novatek, as well as Gazprombank and VEB. They cannot receive US debt financing for more than 90 days. Transactions with VEB and Gazprombank are prohibited. Subsequently, the Bank of Moscow, VTB, Rosselkhozbank and the United Shipbuilding Corporation were added to this list.

What are the US and EU sanctions against Russia
Entry ban and asset freeze
In March 2014, following Russia’s annexation of Crimea, the United States and the EU imposed sanctions on Russian officials and State Duma deputies. They were denied entry and their American and European assets were frozen. The sanctions lists, which were subsequently expanded several times, included the speaker of the Federation Council Valentina Matvienko, deputy Leonid Slutsky and adviser to the Russian president Sergei Glazyev.
Author: Irina Filatova, Vitaly Kropman