Note: This is my 48th special Window on Eurasia about the meaning and impact of the planned Olympiad on the nations in the surrounding region. These WOEs, which will appear each Friday over the coming year, will not aim at being comprehensive but rather will consist of a series bullet points about such developments. I would like to invite anyone with special knowledge or information about this subject to send me references to the materials involved. My email address is paul.goble@gmail.com Allow me to express my thanks to all those who already have. Paul Goble
Putin Promises
to Do Everything Necessary for Sochi Security... President Vladimir Putin said he will do
everything to provide for a secure Olympiad while trying to ensure that “the
security measures taken aren't too intrusive or visible and that they won't put
pressure on the athletes, guests and journalists.'' He added that “we will do
our best to ensure that these measures are efficient.'' ''If we allow ourselves
to show weakness and fear, display our fear, then we will be helping the
terrorists to achieve their goals” and called for international cooperation
against terrorism (sportsillustrated.cnn.com/-olympics/news/20140117/sochi-olympics-security-vladimir-putin.ap/).
... Denies Any Corruption
in Sochi and Says Price Increases Reflected Improvements ... President
Vladimir Putin said that he has not seen any “manifestation of corruption” in
the preparation for the games and that the only prices that have risen from
their original estimates were those where improvements were made along the way
(http://www.privetsochi.ru/blog/OlympicRu/40681.html and vesti-sochi.tv/olimpiada/22364-prichiny-udorozhanija-olimpijskoj-strojki-svjazany-s-kachestvom-jekspertizy-i-dejstvijami-podrjadchikov).
... Argues Sochi
Games Not about Him but About Russia’s Recovery from 1991 ... President
Vladimir Putin said that the Sochi Olympics are not “about [his] personal
ambitions.” The competition is instead “about the direct and concentrated
interest of the state and our people” who “after the collapse of the Soviet
Union, after the tough and bloody events in the Caucasus” were in “a pitiful
and pessimistic state. We need to shake that off. We need to understand and to
feel that we can ulfill large tasks.”
The Sochi Olympics are thus “a triumph of Russia” (sportsillustrated.cnn.com/-olympics/news/20140117/sochi-olympics-security-vladimir-putin.ap/
and http://blogsochi.ru/content/vladimir-putin-schitaet-fakt-provedeniya-olimpiady-v-sochi-triumfom-rossii).
... Says Gays
Will Be Welcome But Must ‘Leave Children in Peace’ ... President
Vladiimir Putin said gay athletes and fans will be welcome and can be “at ease”
in Sochi as long as they “leave children in peace, please.” He also said in his ABC interview that “acts
of protest and acts of propaganda are somewhat different things” and that those
criticizing Russia for its laws should realize that many in their own countries
agree with Moscow’s position. He
suggested that in some American states homosexuality was still a crime,
something his interviewer pointed out is not the case. And he said he had “no
reaction” about US President Barack Obama’s decision to include openly gay
people in the US delegation. At the same
time, the Russian president may have lost as much as he gained by his
statements because he lumped homosexuality and pedophilia in the same category
(therainbowtimesmass.com/2014/01/20/sochi-2014-putin-adds-fuel-controversy/ and sports.nationalpost.com/2014/01/17/sochi-2014-one-can-feel-relaxed-and-at-ease-but-please-leave-the-children-in-peace-russias-vladimir-putin-says-of-propaganda-law/).
... Not Worried
about Any Boycott or Empty Seats ... President Vladimir Putin said that he
does not think anyone believes in a boycott and that he is therefore not
concerned there will be one. He also said he is sure that he will be able to
fill all the seats at Sochi even if not all the tickets are sold. “Why should
places go empty?” Putin asked rhetorically (ria.ru/sochi2014_around_games/20140119/990051730.html).
... Urges Sochi
Volunteers to Display Humor and Patience ...
At a meeting with Russian volunteer workers in Sochi, President Vladimir
Putin called on them to display “humor, patience, professionalism and perseverance”
because “these emotions form the very atmosphere of the games” (blogsochi.ru/content/vladimir-putin-vstretilsya-s-volonterami-predstoyashchei-olimpiady-v-sochi).
... And Adds He
Won’t Make a Bet about the Games with Obama.
President Vladimir Putin said that he and US President Barack Obama will
not be making any bets over the outcome of the games. “We never make bets like
that,” he said (olympictalk.nbcsports.com/2014/01/19/vladimir-putin-barack-obama-olympic-bets-sochi/).
Medvedev Says
Security Threats to Sochi No Greater than at Other Olympiads. Russian Prime
Minister Dmitry Medvedev says that “threat at the Sochi Olympiad are no greater
than they have been at Olympic Games in other places.” He adds that Russian officials are
“absolutely certain that we will be able to defend all sportsmen ... and we are
tryingto conduc the Olympic Games in a very good way.” Medvedev says that
Russia has a great deal of experience in fighting terrorism and that for the
games it is using not only that background but is cooperating “with our
partners,” including the Americans . “We inite everyone to watch the Games and
those who hve purchased a ticket to come to Russia as see everything in
person” (itar-tass.com/politika/906655).
Email Threats to Olympic Countries
Dismissed as Hoax.
IOC officials said that emails sent to at least five European countries
threatening them with violence if they take part in the Sochi Olympics were a
hoax sent by someone outside of Russia who has sent similar messages before.
Nonetheless, various commentators suggested that even if these messages
were a hoax, they have put many people
on edge and may cut attendance at the Sochi Olympiad (uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/news/sochi-2014-hungary-olympic-committee-gets-sochi-terrorist-091847624--spt.html, kavkaz-uzel.ru/articles/237058/, and
bigstory.ap.org/article/hungary-nations-get-threat-about-sochi-attacks).
Russian
Officials Search for ‘Black Widow’ Terrorists in Sochi. Russian security officials said they
were searching for three or four female Islamist terrorists who may be
operating in Sochi. There were
discrepancies in Russian reporting about how many such “black widows” may be
there, how long they have been operating, and whether the photographs the
Russian officials released were new and accurate (blogsochi.ru/content/terroristka-smertnitsa-razyskivaetsya-v-olimpiiskom-sochi , blogsochi.ru/content/ob-otbytii-iz-dagestana-terroristki-smertnitsy-v-gorod-sochi, blogsochi.ru/content/v-sochi-est-veroyatnost-nakhozhdeniya-terroristki-smertnitsy and kavkaz-uzel.ru/articles/237040/).
Obama Offers
Putin Assistance for Sochi Security.
US President Barack Obama in a telephone call offered Russian President
Vladimir Putin American assistance to promote security at Sochi. US and Russian officials discussed what that
aid might look like but Moscow has not yet indicated that it is prepared to
accept any such assistance beyond intelligence sharing. Many US officials have
expressed skepticism that Moscow would ever agree to any on-the-ground aid.
Several US congressmen have expressed equal skepticism about how much
information Moscow is prepared to share with the West on terrorism and Sochi (kavkaz-uzel.ru/articles/237041/, kavkaz-uzel.ru/articles/237039/, nytimes.com/2014/01/22/world/europe/us-offers-russia-high-tech-aid-to-thwart-sochi-terror.html, kavkaz-uzel.ru/articles/236907/,
and mobile.nytimes.com/2014/01/20/world/europe/us-congressmen-raise-concerns-about-security-at-sochi-olympics.html?emc=edit_tnt_20140120&tntemail0=y&_r=0&referrer=).
US to Send Two Ships to Black Sea for Sochi Evacuation in
the Event of Need. The US
Department of Defense says that Washington is sending two navy ships to a
location in the Black Sea near Sochi so that they would be available to
evacuate Americans in the event of a terrorist attack or other emergency (kavkaz-uzel.ru/articles/236973/, utro.ru/articles/2014/01/21/1169868.shtml and theguardian.com/world/2014/jan/20/us-plans-evacuation-sochi-olympics-terror-attack).
US Participation
at Sochi Would Be Threatened by Combination of Three Things, Former NSC Aide
Says.
Juan Zarate, a former US deputy national security advisor for combating
terrorism who now serves as senior advisor at the CSIS in Washington, says that
no one wants to see Olympic disrupted and that only a combination of three
conditions would lead the US to consider pulling out: “a very serious, credible
set of threats directed at U.S. athletes or at venues that U.S. athletes
would be attending, combined with a sense that the Russians aren’t sharing
enough information about what’s being done to counter it and a sense that
we have an inability to counter it ourselves.” In that event “and so if
there’s a real sense of serious risk to our athletes that is
imminent, that is material, and that can’t be countered, then you would
start to see a discussion in the Situation Room around what is to be done”
(csis.org/files/attachments/142101_TS_csis-sochi.pdf).
Medvedev Says He
has ‘No Data’ about Sochi Corruption.
Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev says that he has no information
about corruption in Sochi, adding that one can assess whether there is any
onlyif evidence is presented. He says
that he does not think there will be any indication of massive corruption,
although he said there may have been some problems. On another subject, he
indicates that the total cost of the Sochi Games is close to 56 billion US
dollars, 50 billion for infrastructure
and six billion more for the Games themselves.
Those figures are higher than the ones Russian President Vladimir Putin
has been citing (itar-tass.com/politika/906623).
Washington Post
Says IOC Put Athletes and Fans at Risk by Awarding Games to Sochi. Sally Jenkins, a sports columnist for “The
Washington Post” says that the IOC “jeopardized the safety of athletes and fans
in awarding the Games to Putin’s Russia.”
The Sochi Games, she continues, are “already a catastrophe and if [they]
become a tragedy too, it will be because the IOC has become the tool of
‘colossal authoritarian branding,’ to borrow a phrase from Russia scholar Leon
Aron. The choice is an ugly one: Removing the Games at this late date would
devastate Russians who have invested national self-worth in them, and the
athletes who have trained for them. Therefore the only option is to watch Sochi become a contest for prestige between two warring
parties:
a corrupt strongman who wants to flex his political authority, and the
murderous jihadists who have vowed to strike in Sochi. Why should the Olympics
lend its prestige to either? But that’s exactly what’s happening” (washingtonpost.com/sports/olympics/sochi-2014-ioc-jeopardized-safety-of-athletes-and-fans-in-awarding-games-to-putins-russia/2014/01/22/3c5427a8-83aa-11e3-8099-9181471f7aaf_print.html).
Sochi Receiving
‘Harsher’ Judgments than Putin Expected, NY Times Says. Steven Lee Myers of “The New York Times” says
that “if, as Putin has said, hosting the Olympics is ajudgment on Russia, then
so far the judgment has been a harsher one than he expected” (nytimes.com/2014/01/26/magazine/putins-olympic-fever-dream.html?_r=1).
Most Countries Participating in Sochi Relying on
Russia for Security But Some are Taking Steps Themselves. Most of the countries sending teams to Sochi say they
are worried about security but are relying on Russian officials to take care of
the situation. A few, however, are
developing their own security plans or hiring special security contractors,,
including the US and the United Kingdom (themoscowtimes.com/sochi2014/Olympic-Teams-Prepare-for-Possible-Security-Crisis-in-Sochi.html).
German Olympic
Uniforms Called ‘Silent Protest’ Against Moscow’s Anti-LGBT Law. German
competitors at Sochi will wear rainbow-colored uniforms, something that many
commentators are describing as “a silent protest” against Russian anti-gay
legislation especially since many German athletes have openly condemned the
Russian law (ftw.usatoday.com/2013/10/german-olympians-will-wear-rainbow-colored-uniforms-in-sochi/).
IOC Says
Circassian Culture to be Part of Sochi Festivities. In an email to Circassian organizations, te
IO says that “elements of Circassian culture are already part of Sochi’s 2014
cultural festival.” Circassian activists
welcome that if it is true but note that Moscow has yet to talk about these
elements or to indicate just how they will be incorporated in the Olympic
celebration (huffingtonpost.com/merissa-khurma/the-sochi-connection_b_4046063.html).
United Russia
Deputy Comes Close to Acknowledging Genocide, Admits Most Circassians Oppose
Sochi Games. In a wide-ranging interview in which he
praised the Circassians for their unique ability to resist Russia’s military
advance in the Caucasus and noted their continuing problems with Moscow, Adalbi
Shkhagohev, a United Russia deputy in the Russian State Duma, said that he did
not want to use the word “genocide” to describe “the human and historical
tragedy” that happened in 1864 because of current considerations. But his
comments leave no doubt that he puts the blame for the ethnically specific
tragedy of tsarist Russian forces. He also acknowledged that the majority of
Circassians oppose staging the Olympiad on the site of that tragedy although he
said he was not among their number (kavpolit.com/ya-ne-otnoshu-sebya-k-tem-kto-schitaet-chto-olimpiadu-provodit-ne-nuzhno/#comment-359463 ).
Circassians Made
Great Progress as a Nation Last Year, Analyst Says. Despite Russian policies “infected by
imperialism and colonialism,” the Circassians made progress during 2013 in
coming together as a people and advancing their interests, according to
Tamerlan Urusov, a legal specialist.They have not yet won the war, he
continued, but they did win at least some of the battles and are now better
positioned to move forward after Sochi (echo.msk.ru/blog/civilt/1240740-echo/).
Circassians
Attracting More Western Media Attention.
Although Circassian organizations did not succeed in getting any country
to boycott the games, they have been receiving far more attention from the
Western media in recent weeks, with ever more journalists discussing the
genocide and Russia’s unwillingness to face up to its history (businessinsider.com/photos-of-sochi-russias-forgotten-circassian-people-2014-1 , yahoo.com/photos/sochi-s-indigenous-people-1390329883-slideshow/, cnn.com/2014/01/23/opinion/martin-olympics-circassians/index.html?hpt=op_t1 and blogs.reuters.com/photographers-blog/2014/01/21/searching-for-circassians/).
German Greens
Leader Urges World Not to Forget What Happened to Circassians at Sochi. Cem
Ozdemir, the leader of the Greens faction in the German Bundestag, says that
the international community must not allow the euphoria of Olympic competition
to cause them to forget the horrific crimes inflicted by Russian authorities on
the Circassian nation there in 1864 (aheku.org/news/diaspora/5066 ).
Sochi Officials
Launch Campaign to Kill Homeless Animals. Concerned that homeless animals will
be a problem for visitors and having let a 2.5 million ruble (90,000 US dollar)
contract for their removal, Sochi officials have begun shooting homeless dogs
and cats in the streets. Animal rights activists and ordinary people are
horrified and have launched a counter-effort to adopt or to find at least
temporary homes for these unfortunates.
What makes this situation especially appalling is that the Sochi city
government had earlier promised to build a shelter for animals: that has not
happened (privetsochi.ru/blog/dogs/40731.html and etp-micex.ru/auction/catalog/view/auctionId/277283/backurl/L2F1Y3Rpb24vY2F0YWxvZy9hbGw5NC8jL3NlYXJjaC8lMjVEMSUyNTgxJTI1RDAlMjVCRSUyNUQxJTI1ODclMjVEMCUyNUI4L3BhZ2UvNC8=/).
Olympic Torch
Travails Continue. The Sochi Olympic torch continued its passage
with all the same problems it has had in the past, but this week, people along
the path were especially disturbed by the extent to which they were discommoded
by official behavior and security arrangements in Volgograd, by the detention
of a leading television journalist in Taganrog, by the arrest of opposition
figures in Rostov before the torch passed, and by the detention of a gay
activist who tried to hold up a rainbow pride flag (kavkaz-uzel.ru/articles/236985/, kavkaz-uzel.ru/articles/236911/, kavkaz-uzel.ru/articles/237066/, kavkaz-uzel.ru/articles/237013/, kavkaz-uzel.ru/articles/236950/, buzzfeed.com/rachelzarrell/russian-lgbt-activist-detained-after-unfurling-pride-flag, olympictalk.nbcsports.com/2014/01/18/gay-protester-sochi-olympic-torch-relay-russia/, kavkaz-uzel.ru/articles/236915/ and kavkaz-uzel.ru/articles/236852/).
Kozak Says
Almost Everything is Ready But Photographs Show Otherwise. Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak says that
11 of the 13 Olympic venues is ready, with the other two awaiting certification,
but he did not say that Fisht Stadium where the opening ceremony is to slated
to be held is in fact near completion.
Photographs posted online, however, show that much of the infrastructure
is still incomplete or so badly installed that it is likely to create problems
even before the end of the competitions (themoscowtimes.com/sochi2014/Not-a-Single-Complaint-About-Sochi-Preparations.html, privetsochi.ru/blog/sitiproblem/40614.html, privetsochi.ru/blog/Flood/40609.html, privetsochi.ru/blog/auto_sochi/40587.html, blogsochi.ru/content/tsentr-sochi-za-16-dnei-do%E2%80%A6, blogsochi.ru/content/pozemnyi-perekhod-u-tts-%C2%ABnovyi-vek%C2%BB-v-adlere and blogsochi.ru/content/predolimpiiskii-sochi).
HRW Says Moscow
Will Launch Even Harsher Crackdown after Sochi. As horrific as Moscow’s moves against the
civil and human rights of its people in the run-up to Sochi, Human Rights
Watch’s Tatyana Lokshina says, her organization expects the crackdown to
intensify after international attention turns away from Russia at the
conclusion of the games. She expressed
particular concern about theNorth Caucasus where Moscow, having failed to pacify
the situation so far, is likely to adopt even more violent and punitive
measures (kavkaz-uzel.ru/articles/237068/).
Moscow Bank Restructuring
of Sochi Debt. Russia’s Vneshekonombank is restructuring
more than half of the debt incurred by companies involved in Sochi
construction, extending the loan period and thus reducing the burden on these
institutions. The owners of many of them
had been complaining and this restructuring should keep them quiet until after
the games when the Russian authorities may either be forced to forgive much of
the debt or otherwise allow the companies who were involved to escape full
repayment for what arebecoming non-performing loans (kavkaz-uzel.ru/articles/237054/).
Sochi Organizing
Committee Publishes Rules for Olympic Fans.
The Sochi 2014 Olympic Organizing Committee has posted online a list of
rules that fans must follow while at the games. Most are quite ordinary for
major events, but some are intended to stifle any possibility of dissent.
Officials say that violators will be removed from the venue and in severe cases
stripped of their fan passports and thus of the possibility of attending any
future events at Sochi (kavkaz-uzel.ru/articles/237044/).
Moscow Wants to
Extend Ban on Liquids on Planes Past Olympiad.
In an indication that many of the rules Moscow has imposed in advance of
the games may continue well after it, the Russian transportation ministry as
that it wants to extend the unpopular ban on passemgers carrying any liquids,
including medicines, at least until April 1 (kavkaz-uzel.ru/articles/236919/).
Gref Seeks a Las
Vega Future for Sochi. German Gref,
head of Moscow’s Sberbank, is pushing to develop casinos and other gambling
facilities in the southern Russian city as a way to attract visitors and thus
help those who have invested in Sochi recoup their money and make a profit.
Many Russians are asking whose “pocket” Gref is in or most worried about (news.mail.ru/economics/16607311/).
Suffering of Sochi
Residents Epitomized by Tragedy of One Older Woman. Many residents of Sochi have suffered during
the construction of Olympic facilities, but perhaps none has done so more that
Nadezhda Kukharenko, an older woman who has had to choose to give up heat in
order to be able to buy food and has not been able to get to stores because of
her infirmity and the collapse of public transit in her part of the city. Her case, portrayed on a video clip, has
attracted attention from around Russia. She is, as the video says, truly
“outside the games” (blogsochi.ru/content/babushka-vne-igr).
Kozak’s Claims
on Air Quality Belied by Official Russian Statistics. Deputy Prime
Minister Dmitry Kozak’s claims that Olympic construction had improved air
quality in Sochi by a factor of two are false as will be clear to anyone who
looks around. But they are also undercut by official Russian government
statistics which show that air quality in the Olympic city has in fact deteriorated
and in some cases now represents a clear threat to public health (blogsochi.ru/content/sochi-2014-mif-ob-%C2%ABochishchennom%C2%BB-olimpiiskom-vozdukhe ).
Sochi isn’t
Ready for Visitors, Valov Says.
Aleksandr Valov, the editor of Blogsochi.ru, says that anyone who walks
through Sochi will see that official claims of readiness of the games are
overstated. Many facilities are either
unfinished or slapped together in a sloppy and unsafe way, roads and sidewalks
are either incomplete or already disintegrating because they were not built
properly, and piles of trash have been left in public places without any sign
that they are going to be hauled away in the two weeks left before opening
ceremonies (blogsochi.ru/content/olimpiada-cherez-zadnitsu
).
Sochi Doesn’t
Have Local or Self-Administration, Residents Complain. Sochi does not have “local government” or
“self-administration” despite what the Russian Constitution promises. Instead,
they insist, it is run from the outside without their interests ever being
taken into accout (blogsochi.ru/content/sochinskoe-ne-mestnoe-ne-samoupravlenie-0).
Moscow’s
Spending on Power Backups for Games Infuriates Sochi Residents Living without
Power. Russian
officials say they are spending 20 million US dollars to provide back up power
supplies in case the power grid fails during the games. Residents are outraged because these same
officials have done nothing to keep the power on regularly in their neighborhoods.
Most have suffered some power outages over the last two years, and many have
not had power, heat or water for long periods (blogsochi.ru/content/energiya-olimpiady-polmilliarda-rublei-v-topku).
Georgia to Send Delegation to
Sochi But Continues Criticism of Moscow on Abkhazia. Georgia announced its plans
to send a delegation of 19 to the Sochi Olympiad, but Tbilisi officials took
the occasion to denounced the latest illegal move of the border between Russia
and Georgia 11 kilometers deeper into Georgian territory and said that Georgian
sovereignty represented a red line that it was not prepared to cross in order
to improve relations with Moscow (kavkaz-uzel.ru/articles/237008/ and kavkaz-uzel.ru/articles/236939/).
Lavrov ‘Values’ Tbilisi’s
Offer of Security Assistance but Condemns Its Refusal to Recognize Post-2008
‘Realities.’ Russian
Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov says that Moscow “values” Georgia’s offer of
security assistance for Sochi but adds that Georgia’s continuing refusal to
recognize “the realities” that emerged after August 2008 “constrains” the
improvement of relations (civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=26877).
Investigators
Call for BlogSochi Editor to Appear January 27. Angry at
Aleksandr Valov’s reporting about official malfeasance, government
investigators in Sochi have ordered the BlogSochi editor to appear before them
on January 27. They say he is being questioned about possible criminal charges.
Whether that is true or not, the timing of this notice suggests it is intended
as an act of intimidation designed to keep him from working as more attention
turns to the Olympic city (blogsochi.ru/content/glavred-saita-aleksandr-valov-vyzvan-v-sledstvennyi-komitet-v-krasnodar-na-280114-goda ).
Footbridge May
Not Be Save But It’s Not Our Problem, City Officials Say. In November, BlogSochi.ru pointed out that a
footbridge many visitors to the city may use is unsafe because it has been
improperly constructed. Now officials have responded with an official letter
saying that the bridge may not be safe but that they are not responsible for
ensuring that it is (blogsochi.ru/content/%C2%ABvykhodit-za-predely-polnomochii-gosudarstvennogo-stroitelnogo-nadzora%C2%BB).
Not All Sochi Signs are Properly Transliterated into
English. Many Russians involved in making road signs
for Sochi clearly do not know English and thus are transliterating the Cyrillic
alphabet into Latin script incorrectly. One sign pointing to an Olympic venue,
for example, renders Krasnaya Polyana in Russian as Krasnaya lolyana in English
(privetsochi.ru/blog/bred_sochi/40778.html).
Sochi
Contractors Put Obstacles on Tacticle Paths for Those with Sight Problems. More than any other Russian city although far
less than many non-Russian ones, Sochi has installed facilities for handicapped
people in preparation for the Paralympics which follow the Olympiad. One of the
biggest efforts has been to put down tacticle strips to guide those who are
blind or have difficulty seeing. Unfortunately, some Sochi contractors have
shown no respect for these strips, scraping them off or even putting physical
obstacles on them which would block anyone using them to guide his or her way (privetsochi.ru/blog/bred_sochi/40823.html).
Yarst Now
Reporting for URA.ru.
Nikolay Yarst, an embattled Sochi journalist, has prepared a report on
conditions in Sochi for the URA.ru news agency, detailing what visitors to the
city can expect and warning them against doing certain things. He says that
visitors should know that “local residents for a long time have been waiting
not for the Olympics but for the time when they will be able to return to their
accustomed way of life and they hope that bureaucrats will fulill their
promises” and actually bring gas and electricity to their houses. Yarst’s next
court date is January 29 (blogsochi.ru/content/%C2%ABvidish-vse-eto-i-ponimaesh-gostyam-zdes-ne-rady%C2%BB and blogsochi.ru/content/v-krasnodarskom-krae-sledstvie-po-delu-zhurnalista-nikolaya-yarsta-prodleno-do-29-yanvarya).
Moscow is
‘Prepared for Beslan But Not Smaller-Scale Attacks.’ Mark Galleoti, an NYU, specialist on Russian
crime and security, says that Russian officials in Sochi “are prepared for Beslan but not a smaller-scale attack.” His words echo those of Andrey Soldatov,
Russia’s leading independent expert on that country’s intelligence services,
who says that Moscow has transformed Sochi
“into a fortress” because officials have “confused control with security.”
To counter terrorism, they should be focusing on intelligence instead. No
matter how many troops are on the ground, he suggests, terrorists can find a
way around them (washingtonpost.com/world/europe/russian-olympic-terrorist-search-sets-nerves-jangling-despite-putin-assurances-of-safety/2014/01/21/c0bd2a1a-82cb-11e3-bbe5-6a2a3141e3a9_story.html).
Ukrainian
Violence Linked to Sochi Games. Jiri and Leni Valenta, two American
specialists on foreign affairs, says that “linkages exist between the ongoing
peaceful-turned violent demonstration in Ukraine and Chechen threats to the
Olympics.” At the very least, concerns
about Sochi security have distracted the attention of many from what is going
on in Ukraine and thus opened the way for the crackdown there (linkedin.com/groups/UKRAINE-TURNS-VIOLENT-AMIDST-TERRORIST-4473529.S.5831041383892267008?view=&gid=4473529&type=member&item=5831041383892267008&trk=eml-anet_dig-b_nd-pst_ttle-cn).
In Advance of
Sochi, Adygeya Sets Up Special Security Group.
The
police in the Republic of Adygeya have established a special group to ensure
law and order in the mountainous portions of that Circassian republic. Because the terrain is so rough, the group
will be using helicopters and drones to monitor the situation there (vestikavkaza.ru/news/V-Adygee-zarabotala-gornaya-politsiya.html).
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