Current Digest of the Russian Press, Vol. 77, No. 12 – Table of Contents

GRUSHKO: NATO, EU TOO HOSTILE FOR TALKS, BUT U.S. IS FINALLY ADDRESSING RUSSIA’S PREWAR SECURITY CONCERNS; RUSSIAN DEMANDS FOR PEACE THE SAME

(By Kirill Fenin. Izvestia, March 17, 2025, p. 1. Condensed text:) Editors’ Note. – Russia will demand security guarantees from the US and NATO in an agreement on Ukraine, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Aleksandr Grushko said in an interview with Izvestia.. . …

U.S., RUSSIAN PRESIDENTS REPORT ON PHONE CALL TO DISCUSS BILATERAL ISSUES, UKRAINE, WEIGH HALT TO BLACK SEA FIGHTING, STRIKES ON ENERGY FACILITIES

(By Roman Romanov. Vedomosti, March 19, 2025, https://www.vedomosti.ru/politics/articles/2025/03/19/1098805-putin-i-tramp-pogovorili-vo-vtoroi-raz. Condensed text:) The [telephone] conversation between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump on the evening of March 18 (Moscow time) lasted for more than an hour, the American TV channel NBC reported, citing sources in the White House. Shortly after the talks, the Kremlin’s and the White House’s press services published official statements on their results. Notably, the Russian statement was twice as long and more detailed [than the American one]…

PRIKHODKO: AS DISCREPANCY ARISES BETWEEN U.S. AND RUSSIAN INTERPRETATIONS OF DEAL, UKRAINE SENDS COMBATIVE SIGNAL BY RAIDING BORDER AREA

(By Natalya Prikhodko. Nezavisimaya gazeta, March 20, 2025, p. 5. Condensed text:). .. Ensuring defense support for Kiev; investing in Ukrainian arms production; studying Finland’s expertise in building a civil defense system and shelters; tightening sanctions against Russia and coordinating efforts to bring the military conflict with Russia to a just conclusion – these were the issues that Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky mentioned among the main topics of his talks with Finnish President Alexander Stubb. [On March 19, Zelensky] and his wife Yelena arrived in Helsinki, where, at the final press conference after a meeting with his Finnish counterpart, he avowed that Ukraine will prevail in the conflict with Russia. At the same time, Zelensky stressed that he will not accept any compromise in the recognition of Russia-controlled territories (whose populations voted in referendums for integration into Russia). According to him, there must not be any compromises on [military] aid to Kiev, either, which is meant to serve as a signal to Moscow…

MEDUZA: RUSSIA RENEWS ITS OFFENSIVE IN KURSK PROVINCE, DRIVING UKRAINIAN SOLDIERS BACK TO BORDER; UKRAINE’S INCURSION INTO PROVINCE DID NOT ULTIMATELY HELP IT MAKE BATTLEFIELD GAINS

([No author indicated.] Meduza, March 17, 2025, https://meduza.io/en/feature/2025/03/17/a-costly-gamble. Complete text:) Editors’ Note. – The seven-month battle for control of a slice of Russia’s Kursk Province is ending in a Ukrainian defeat. As has often happened over the past two years of the war, Ukrainian forces withdrew under the threat of encirclement – likely later than they should have. Some equipment was left behind, and many soldiers were killed or captured, but most managed to escape. From a political perspective, the incursion into Kursk Province[see Vol. 76, No. 32, pp. 3 – 6] seemingly brought Ukraine no gains. [Ukrainian] President Vladimir Zelensky had repeatedly said the goal was to use occupied territory as leverage for a future exchange, but now Kiev has nothing left to trade. Militarily, the outcome is harder to assess. For seven months, Ukraine’s presence in the region tied down a large Russian force, but Kiev also committed some of its most battle-ready brigades to Sudzha – troops that might have been used more effectively had they withdrawn as soon as Russia launched its counteroffensive in the fall. Meduza analyzes how Russia’s counteroffensive in Kursk Province unfolded, and what losing its foothold in Sudzha means for Ukraine…

FIRST RUSSIANS EVACUATED FROM OUTSIDE SUDZHA; EVACUEES SAY THEY MAINTAINED A SEMBLANCE OF NORMAL LIFE, BUT UAF HAS COMMITTED ‘ATROCITIES’

(By Dmitry Sotak in Kursk Province. Kommersant, March 15, 2025, p. 1. Complete text:) Editors’ Note. – In recent days, Russian troops advancing in Kursk Province have liberated the city of Sudzha and a number of localities in its vicinity. Last summer, Kursk Province authorities announced that approximately 2,000 residents remained in 28 localities seized by the UAF and that nothing was known about their fate at that time. With the return of territory to Russian control, the authorities have started to evacuate civilians from the area of ongoing hostilities. Kommersant correspondent Dmitry Sotak spoke with several civilians who spent seven months under occupation…

VEDOMOSTI: UAF GENERAL STAFF CHIEF OUT AFTER SUDZHA WITHDRAWAL, BUT MOVE MAY HAVE BEEN PLANNED IN LATE FEBRUARY, BEFORE THE DEFEAT

([No author indicated.] Vedomosti, March 16, 2025, https://www.vedomosti.ru/politics/news/2025/03/16/1098276-zelenskii-smenil-genshtaba. Complete text:) Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky has replaced the chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces (UAF) General Staff, appointing Maj. Gen. Andrei Gnatov to the position. The decree was published on the Ukrainian leader’s Web site…

DEPETRIS: ZELENSKY’S GAMBLE ‘DIDN’T PAY OFF,’ COST IRRETRIEVABLE LOSSES WITHOUT INFLUENCING PUTIN OR RELIEVING PRESSURE ON EASTERN FRONT

(By Daniel DePetris. Originally published in The American Conservative. Sovetskaya Rossia, March 18, 2025, p. 3, Complete text:) Aug. 6, 2024, will forever live in the minds of Russians and Ukrainians as a moment of great consequence. On that day, Ukrainian troops embarrassed Moscow’s army yet again by conducting a mini-blitzkrieg into Kursk [Province], a region in Russia. In the opening days of the operation, Kiev sent between 10,000 and 12,000 troops into Kursk, according to an estimate by Russia expert Dara Massicot. The surprise incursion marked the first time a foreign army had invaded Russian territory since Hitler’s armies stampeded toward Stalingrad in World War II…

(By Alyona Nefyodova. Izvestia, March 20, 2025, p. 3. Condensed text:) Editors’ Note. – The political party Noviye Lyudi [New People] has established itself as a constructive political force that expresses the interests of a significant number of voters with a responsible civic position. This was expressed in a telegram from [Russian President] Vladimir Putin to the delegates and guests of Noviye Lyudi’s fifth Congress, which was held on March 19.. . This Izvestia article covers the party’s proposed plan on AI, as well as new party members.

On March 19, a congress for one of Russia’s parliamentary political forces, the Noviye Lyudi party, was held in central Moscow. The party’s story began relatively recently: It was created in 2020, with “politics with a human face” as its main slogan. The party became widely known in 2021, garnering 15 seats in the elections to the eighth convocation of the State Duma [see Vol. 73, No. 38 – 39, pp. 3 – 6]. Thus, it became the first new party in over 20 years to make it into parliament, supplementing the traditional political forces already present there: United Russia, the Russian Federation Communist Party, the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia and A Just Russia – For Truth…

(By Darya Garmonenko. Nezavisimaya gazeta, March 21, 2025, p. 3. Condensed text:) The Russian Federation Communist Party’s Political Training Center (PTC) has begun intensively training leftist orators: In today’s circumstances, there is a need for speakers who can defend the party’s positions and honor.. . .

As part of the Red Tribune project, four-day courses to prepare orators are being held at the PTC facility in the Snegiri resort hotel near Moscow. The curriculum includes theoretical training in ideology and practical workshops. The former focus on “breaking down and refuting key anti-Soviet myths relating to the work of Lenin and Stalin and critically analyzing the liberal ‘reinterpretations’ of the outcome of the Great Patriotic War.”, According to a post on the party’s Web site, there is also “a particular focus on exposing current attacks on the RFCP and its leader, [Gennady] Zyuganov.”…

(By Alyona Nefyodova. Izvestia, March 19, 2025, p. 2. Condensed text:). .. The annual congress of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs [RUIE] was held at the Moscow International House of Music. RUIE represents the interests of business circles: The organization has brought together over 320,000 Russian companies in every region. The companies represented in RUIE together produce over 60% of Russia’s gross domestic product.

A total of about 1,300 delegates attended the congress. These included major entrepreneurs and government officials. For example, [Russian] Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said that his ministry is working with the Central Bank to take measures to cool the economy to reduce inflation. The minister called on the business community to work harder to reduce costs…

(By Aleksandr Tikhonov. Krasnaya zvezda, March 21, 2025, p. 1. Complete text:) Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov has checked up on the development of the naval flotilla in the Caspian.

During his trip, the minister was briefed by Russian Navy Commander in Chief Adm. Aleksandr Moiseyev and Caspian Flotilla Commander Rear Adm. Oleg Zverev. Their reports covered the organization of combat training programs for the flotilla’s military service personnel, the development of port infrastructure, and the work to put new mooring facilities into operation…

(By Dmitry Taratorin. Nezavisimaya gazeta, March 21, 2025, p. 5. Condensed text:) A scandal is brewing among the community of Belarussian émigrés. Belarussian television recently broadcast the film “Beneath Another’s Sky” [Chuzhoye nebo], which is about how difficult life has been for members of the opposition who left the country. But participants in the film who complained about their difficult lives abroad say they did not expect their interviews to be used in such a way.. . .

The film “Beneath Another’s Sky” had three screenings. The first was a private screening at [Minsk’s] Pobeda [Victory] cinema on Tuesday [March 18]. Only afterward was it shown on [the state-owned television channels] Belarus 1 and, after that, ONT. This triple informational whammy had an unexpected effect – a scandal broke out in the émigré community. Participants in this documentary film – “fugitives,” as [Belarussian] President Aleksandr Lukashenko calls them – began stating one after another that they never expected their revelations to be used in such a product…

(By Svetlana Gamova. Nezavisimaya gazeta, March 20, 2025, p. 1. Condensed text:) The Moldovan Defense Ministry has announced that it will hold exercises for reservists to familiarize them with the Army’s weapons. At the same time, the European Union announced the delivery of a new batch of military equipment worth 40 million euros.. . .

EU countries confirmed this decision on Tuesday [March 18]. At a meeting of ambassadors in Brussels that day, the EU decided that the nonlethal equipment would consist of infantry armored vehicles and air defense systems. This refers to 33 “highly mobile tactical vehicles” that will replace similar Soviet equipment and provide better mobility for three infantry brigades…

(By Eilish Hart. Meduza, March 21, 2025, https://meduza.io/en/feature/2025/03/21/there-has-to-be-a-cost. Complete text:) Editors’ Note. – Russia intensified its sabotage efforts in Europe last year as part of a violent campaign against both European and US targets on the continent, according to a new report from the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). Tracking sabotage and subversion activities from January 2022 until March 2025, the study produced a database of verified Russian attacks across Europe, ranging from warehouse explosions and undersea cable cutting to assassinations. Kremlin officials have repeatedly denied Russian involvement in such attacks, though they appear to complement Moscow’s ongoing war against Ukraine. With this in mind, Western countries have taken a defensive approach to countering this covert campaign so far. But according to the report’s author, former US defense official Seth G. Jones, going on the offensive would be the most effective form of deterrence.

The number of Russian sabotage attacks in European countries almost tripled between 2023 and 2024, increasing from 12 to 34, according to a report released by the CSIS. These incidents were largely concentrated in NATO’s eastern flank, namely in the Baltic countries, Finland, Poland and the Baltic Sea. But proximity to Russia isn’t the only common denominator…

(By Mikhail Shevchuk. Republic.ru, March 22, 2025, https://republic.ru/posts/115362. Complete text:) Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan does not yet know how [he is going to circumvent the constitutional rules] to seek reelection in the next presidential race three years from now, but he is doing everything he can to stop his top political opponent from running. It seems that leaders like Erdogan cannot imagine their countries surviving without them at the helm.

The Republican People’s Party (CHP) was expected to nominate Istanbul mayor Ekrem Imamoglu as its candidate this weekend. Imamoglu is popular with voters, and it was widely believed that he could present a serious challenge to Turkey’s long-time leader Recep Erdogan in 2028. Not anymore. A few days before the party convention, Imamoglu was detained by police and arrested shortly after…