Russia in Syria: More Footprint Than Boot
A September 14th, 2022 report of the U.N.’s Commission of Inquiry on Syrian Arab Republic found conditions similar to those that led to the wider Syrian Civil War eleven years ago. Moscow has borrowed heavily on its credited strategic gains in Syria to pay off its deep deficits in its war of aggression against Ukraine…
Putin’s Serial Murders of Russian Energy Executives
Sundry falls suffered by Russian energy executives and CEOs may go beyond punishing criticism of Putin’s “special military operation” in Ukraine. The targeted energy executive critics may also have had knowledge of officers, insiders, technologies, and intelligence assets acquired through Russian energy firm relationships in Western nations, energy companies, and OPEC states. The above is likely given the facility with…
Update: Turkey
In late August 2022, Haluk Bayraktar, the CEO of Bayraktar drone company Baykar, reportedly pledged that the company would not sell its drones to Russia “no matter how much money we are offered.” This, while expressly continuing to sell them to Kyiv in solidarity with Ukraine. Yet in March, Turkish Deputy Foreign Minister Yavuz Selim Kiran…