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Ukraine Invasion
Defense Policy / Programs
Foreign Policy
News Reports

Ukraine Invasion

• The total combat losses of the enemy from 24.02.2022 to 31.03.2023 Ukraine MOD 31 Mar 2023
• Ukraine Marks Bucha Massacre Anniversary As Russia Shells Cities In East RFE/RL 31 Mar 2023 -- Ukraine on March 31 marked one year since Russian forces withdrew from Bucha, leaving behind hundreds of bodies of murdered civilians on the streets of the commuter town near the capital in what Kyiv said was a massacre and a Russian war crime.
• Russia to Consider 'NATO Peacekeepers' as Targets if Deployed in Ukraine, Medvedev Says Sputnik 31 Mar 2023 -- Russia will consider so-called NATO peacekeepers as legitimate targets if they get deployed in Ukraine on the front line, Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev said on Friday.

Defense Policy / Programs

• Meeting with permanent members of the Security Council President of Russia 31 Mar 2023 -- The President held, via videoconference, a briefing session with permanent members of the Security Council to discuss the updated version of the Russian Federation Foreign Policy Concept and other current issues.
• General Staff of Russian Armed Forces Says Not Planning Second Wave of Mobilization Sputnik 31 Mar 2023 -- There are no plans to hold a second wave of mobilization by the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces spokesman for the Main Organizational and Mobilization Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces Vladimir Tsimlyansky said on Friday.
• Lukashenka Defends Placement Of Russian Tactical Nuclear Weapons In Belarus RFE/RL 31 Mar 2023 -- The authoritarian ruler of Belarus, Alyaksandr Lukashenka, has defended a Russian plan to place tactical nuclear weapons -- including intercontinental ballistic missiles if necessary -- on Belarusian territory, saying the country is coming under increased threats from the West.
• Lukashenko Says May Agree With Putin to Deploy Strategic Nuclear Arms in Belarus If Needed Sputnik 31 Mar 2023 -- Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said on Friday that he could reach an agreement with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the deployment of strategic nuclear weapons in Belarus, if deemed necessary for the protection of the country.
• Top UN official urgently calls for de-escalating nuclear tensions over Belarus UN News 31 Mar 2023 -- Urgent efforts must be made to de-escalate the situation following Russia's announcement last weekend that it plans to station tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, the UN disarmament chief warned the Security Council on Friday.

Foreign Policy

• The Concept of the Foreign Policy of the Russian Federation Russia Ministry of Foreign Affairs 31 Mar 2023
• Press release on the publication of the Concept of the Foreign Policy of the Russian Federation on the official website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia Russia Ministry of Foreign Affairs 31 Mar 2023
• Executive Order approving Russia's Foreign Policy Concept President of Russia 31 Mar 2023 -- Vladimir Putin signed Executive Order On Approving the Foreign Policy Concept of the Russian Federation.
• Putin approves new foreign policy to confront West's 'hybrid war' Press TV 31 Mar 2023 -- Russian President Vladimir Putin has approved a new foreign policy in a bid to confront the Western "hybrid war" against Russia.
• Russia's New Foreign Policy Concept Marks Global South Renaissance & End of West-Centered Order Sputnik 31 Mar 2023 -- On March 31, the Kremlin issued an updated foreign policy doctrine which revises Russia's international role and sets a priority of facilitating the establishment of a multipolar and equitable system of international relations that would guarantee security and equal opportunities for the development for all states.
• Why Russia's New Foreign Policy Concept is Fully Consistent With Global Political Reality Sputnik 31 Mar 2023 -- Moscow's foreign policy recalibration has been caused by realistic adjustment to the world that's in front of Russia and the Washington establishment's leading role in instigating anti-Russia policies across the world, Professor Joe Siracusa, US political expert and Dean of Global Futures, Curtin University, told Sputnik.
• Russia Set to Take Helm of UN Security Council, to Critics' Dismay VOA 31 Mar 2023 -- On Saturday, in what some critics say sounds more like an April Fools' joke than reality, Russia will take over the rotating presidency of the U.N. Security Council for the month, and no one can prevent it.
• Russia's Presidency in UN Security Council Will Be Eventful, Kremlin Says Sputnik 31 Mar 2023 -- Russia's presidency in the UN Security Council will be eventful, and Moscow will exercise all its rights, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday.
• Indonesia, Russia Sign Extradition Agreement VOA 31 Mar 2023 -- Indonesia and Russia signed an extradition agreement Friday to strengthen cooperation against transnational crimes. It is the first extradition agreement Indonesia has reached with a European country.
• No other country has raised the prospect of nuclear use, no one is threatening Russia's sovereignty: UK Statement at the Security Council UK FCDO 31 Mar 2023 -- Statement by Ambassador James Kariuki at the UN Security Council meeting on President Putin's announcement of basing nuclear weapons in Belarus

News Reports

• Russian National "Illegal" Charged with Acting as Agent of a Russian Intelligence Service in the United States DoJ -US Attorney - DC 31 Mar 2023 -- Sergey Vladimirovich Cherkasov ("Cherkasov"), 37, a national of the Russian Federation who operated as an "Illegal" agent for a Russian Intelligence Service ("RIS") under the Brazilian alias of Victor Muller Ferreira, was charged today for acting as an agent of a foreign power, visa fraud, bank fraud, wire fraud, and other charges stemming from his illegal activities in the United States. Cherkasov started acting as an Illegal agent in 2012 in Brazil using the Ferreira name, and he moved to the United States in 2018 after obtaining admission to a graduate school program at a University 1, a university located in the District of Columbia.
• The Week In Russia: Tough Talk, Tactical Weapons, And An Unprecedented Arrest RFE/RL 31 Mar 2023 -- President Vladimir Putin threatens to station tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus. An American journalist is arrested on spy charges, a post-Soviet first. A father is separated from his daughter and sentenced to prison after the child is reported for drawings lamenting Russia's war against Ukraine.
• 'Let Him Go,' Biden Says as Russia Orders American Journalist Held Until May VOA 31 Mar 2023 -- President Joe Biden on Friday urged Russia to release American journalist Evan Gershkovich from custody.
• 'Sending A Signal': Russian Spy Accusation Against U.S. Journalist Further Escalates Soaring Tensions RFE/RL 31 Mar 2023 -- A Moscow court on March 30 authorized the detention of U.S. journalist Evan Gershkovich of The Wall Street Journal for two months on suspicion of espionage. The Federal Security Service (FSB) claimed he had been seeking information about Russia's military-industrial complex at the behest of the U.S. government -- accusations The Wall Street Journal and the United States firmly rejected.
• Former Putin Speechwriter Gallyamov Accused Of Discrediting Russian Armed Forces RFE/RL 31 Mar 2023 -- A self-exiled former speechwriter of Vladimir Putin, Abbas Gallyamov, whose name appeared in the Russian Interior Ministry's online registry of wanted persons last week, is suspected of discrediting Russia's armed forces, a charge Russian authorities have been using to stifle any criticism of Moscow's war in Ukraine.
• How Chinese Private Security Companies in Africa Differ From Russia's VOA 31 Mar 2023 -- The killing of nine Chinese gold mine workers in conflict-ridden Central African Republic this month highlighted the risks some Belt and Road development projects face in volatile areas.