Russian Blockchain-Based Analog of SWIFT Ready for Testing
Dhaka July 12 2022 :
Inside Russia : Outside Russia : News Digest by the Embassy of Russian Federation in Bangladesh on July 12 2022.
INSIDE RUSSIA
Putin expands simplified Russian citizenship acquisition on all residents of Ukraine
MOSCOW, July 11. /TASS/. The option to obtain Russian citizenship via simplified procedure
has been expanded to cover all residents of Ukraine, according to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s
decree published Monday.
“Declare that citizens of Ukraine, Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) or Lugansk People’s
Republic (LPR) and people without citizenship permanently living in DPR, LPR or Ukraine […] are
entitled to appeal for admission to citizenship of the Russian Federation via simplified procedure in
accordance with the […] law ‘On citizenship of the Russian Federation,” the decree says.
The previous version of the decree only covered residents of DPR, LPR and Kherson and
Zaporozhye Regions of Ukraine.
Meanwhile, service in armed forces or law enforcement of Donbass republics will not be an
obstruction for acquisition of Russian citizenship, the decree says.
“Military service, service in national security or law enforcement agencies of Donetsk and
Lugansk People’s Republic cannot be considered an reason for denying Russian citizenship,” the
document said.
Under Russian legislation, the simplified procedure makes it possible to apply for Russian
citizenship without fulfilling a number of preconditions, such as living in Russia for five years, have a
source of income and undergoing a Russian language examination.
The simplified procedure has been introduced for DPR and LPR residents by Putin’s decree in
2019 (back then, the republics were still considered parts of Ukraine). The decree said it was signed “in
order to protect the rights and freedoms of a man and a citizen, under universally recognized principles
and norms of international law.” In late May this year, the decree was expanded to cover Zaporozhye and
Kherson Regions of Ukraine.
Putin, Lukashenko discussed joint response to blockade of Kaliningrad transit — Kremlin
MOSCOW, July 11. /TASS/. The presidents of Russia and Belarus, Vladimir Putin and
Alexander Lukashenko, discussed a possible joint response the blockade of transit to Kaliningrad by
Lithuania, the Kremlin said on Monday.
“Emphasis was placed on the situation relating to the illegal restrictions imposed by Lithuania on
the transit of goods to the Kaliningrad Region. In this context, some possible joint steps were discussed,”
the Kremlin said in a statement.
The talks also concerned some pressing issues of bilateral trade and economic cooperation. The
mutual intent for a consistent strengthening of Russian-Belarusian relations of partnership and alliance
was reaffirmed. It was agreed that close contacts should be maintained.
Duma committee seeks full ban on LGBT propaganda in Russia
MOSCOW, July 11. /TASS/. The State Duma Committee on Information Policy, Information
Technologies and Communications is pursuing a ban on LGBT propaganda in the media, on the net and in
movies regardless of the audience’s age, head of the committee Alexander Khinshtein said on Monday.
“I fully support the stance of [State Duma Speaker] Vyacheslav Volodin on prohibiting
propaganda for non-traditional values. Earlier, the State Duma committee on information policy has
already begun working out corresponding initiatives,” he wrote on his Telegram channel.
“We propose, in general, to introduce a ban on such propaganda regardless of the audience’s age
(offline, in media outlets, on the Internet, along social networks as well as in online movie theaters),” he
added. According to the legislator, the committee also proposed introducing administrative liability for
such propaganda, expanding Article 6.21 of the Administrative Offenses Code which currently only
stipulates punishment for disseminating LGBT propaganda among minors.
Additionally, the lawmakers seek to impose an even stricter liability for the propaganda of
pedophilia as well as “to ban the dissemination among children of not just propaganda, but any other
information displaying non-traditional sexual relations or perversions,” he noted.
“During the fall session we will be ready to hold an open discussion. <…> Previously, these
initiatives have already been worked out with the media watchdog and the Ministry for Digital
Technology, Communications and Mass Media,” the politician noted.
Earlier, Volodin took to his Telegram channel to say that he backed the idea of introducing a ban
on non-traditional values in Russia.
Russian Blockchain-Based Analog of SWIFT Ready for Testing
MOSCOW (Sputnik) – A pilot version of Russia’s blockchain-based SWIFT analog is ready for
testing and can be used in Russian banks, the National Technology Initiative Platform (NTI), told Sputnik
on Monday.
“A pilot version of a decentralized system for exchanging interbank financial messages is ready
for testing and can be used in banks. The project was developed by the NTI Center of Competences
‘Distributed Registry Technologies of St. Petersburg State University,'” the operator said.
According to the center’s technical director, Alexander Kireyev, the load testing shows good
performance, with the product’s design speed reaching over 25,000 messages per second on one node, and
there is a possibility of further growth.
The technology does not use classic blockchain but rather a three-tiered architecture in which a
distributed register is signed and distributed in a certain way. For this reason, the system is able to scale
up, connecting a large number of new users, the NTI said.
The NTI also said that it is impossible to create restrictions or disconnect any country or bank
from the new system as every user has the same rights and possibilities. The exchange of interbank
financial messages using blockchain allows for creating a safe and secure environment for all participants,
the NTI added.
The European Union, the United States and their allies have rolled out a comprehensive
sanctions campaign against Russia since the country started a military operation in Ukraine in late
February, including cutting off Russian banks from SWIFT and imposing strict trade and logistics
controls.
OUTSIDE RUSSIA
Russian companies launch regular sea transportation to India, China — newspaper
Freight turnover between Russia and India surged by 46.5% in 2021
NEW DELHI, July 11. /TASS/. Russian companies launched regular seaborne freight
transportation to deliver critical commodities to India and China amid Western sanctions, The Economic
Times newspaper said on Monday, citing sources.
According to them, the first batch of cargo from Russia via Iran arrived at an Indian port over the
North-South transport corridor (INSTC) under construction, the newspaper said.
Freight turnover between Russia and India surged by 46.5% in 2021.
Former Polish president demands break up of Russia
The West should either change the Russian “political system” or instigate a massive uprising,
Lech Walesa believes
The world will never be safe as long as modern-day Russia exists, former Polish president Lech
Walesa told French broadcaster LCI on Friday, claiming that Russia is “imperial” in nature and will “keep
annexing peoples.”
Even if Western nations would help Ukraine to win its ongoing conflict with Moscow, they
would still fail to make the world a safer place, Walesa argued, adding the international community would
potentially see another conflict involving Russia “in five years.” “In ten years, we will see another Putin
arise,” he added, referring to Russian president Vladimir Putin, who is increasingly portrayed as an
autocratic strongman by Western officials and the media.
To avoid such a development, the West “must force [a] change of political system” in Russia, the
former Polish president believes. If it proves to be impossible, “organizing an uprising” would be another
option, he said.
According to Walesa, Russia still has “60 peoples, who have been annexed like Ukrainians [are
being annexed] today.” It would be “necessary to stir those peoples … to action” to bring Russia’s
population “back to less than 50 million,” the former president said, pointing to a potential forceful
disintegration of the modern-day Russia. According to the latest population census held in 2021, Russia’s
population currently amounts to around 147 million people, the state statistical agency, Rosstat, said in
April.
Walesa, who was a co-founder of the Solidarity movement that brought down the socialist
government in Poland, also argued that the West should have “brought Russia down” but it eventually fell
for the last Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev’s positive image and wasted its chance.
“We should have brought Russia down. But Gorbachev was too smart. We said to ourselves at
the time: ‘There was Stalin, Brezhnev, but Gorbachev is nice’,” Walesa said, adding that “it was our
mistake then.” According to the former Polish leader, Russia was allowed to “wait out” the hard times and
to “carry on like they have done for centuries and keep annexing people into their empire.”
The former Polish president also defended NATO and EU expansion by saying that, although the
West has its own interests and seeks to exert its influence and power, it does so “in a democratic way.”
“There are two systems now: … the democracies and NATO, which want to expand but [do so]
through democratic means, by seeking approval of the peoples, [and] … Russia and China, who have
resorted to the old methods of annexation,” he said.
Walesa, who was president between 1990 and 1995, has recently emerged as one of Russia’s
fiercest critics. In early February, even before the start of the Russian military action in Ukraine, the
former Polish leader called on the world to “mobilize” for an “immediate response” to Russia’s attack on
Ukraine. At that time, he said an attack on Kiev by Russia should be followed by “an attack on Moscow.”
Back in early February, Walesa still called Russia “a great country” that just “has problems.” He
also admitted that he “respected Putin very much and supported him.”
EU laments losing ‘battle of narratives’ on Ukraine
The ‘Global South’ won’t join the West in its punitive action against Russia, the EU’s top
diplomat said
Many G20 diplomats are more concerned with their own national interests than punishing Russia
with economic sanctions for attacking Ukraine, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell has said. He
claimed the West was being accused of double standards and had failed to win a “battle of narratives” in
relation to Ukraine.
“The global battle of narratives is in full swing and, for now, we are not winning,” Borrell
remarked on Sunday in a blog post describing his participation in last week’s meeting of G20 foreign
ministers in Indonesia. The solution, he said, is to “engage further to refute Russian lies and war
propaganda.”
Some G20 diplomats, Borrell lamented, were more concerned about “the consequences of the
war for themselves” than in going after the supposed culprit.
Others “complain about ‘double standards’ or simply want to preserve their good bilateral
relationship with Russia.”
He said G20 ministers from the “Global South” agreed in principle with the goal of protecting
Ukraine’s territorial integrity, but declined to support the Western response. The anti-Russian campaign
led by the US involves arming Ukraine with increasingly heavy weapons, and sanctioning Russia with the
expectation that it will cave in to pressure due to military and economic damage. Washington has declared
a “strategic defeat” of Moscow as its ultimate goal in Ukraine.
Russia said its military operation was a matter of national security and would be continued.
Sanctions have so far failed to trigger a collapse of the Russian economy, contrary to what some Western
politicians had hoped for.
Borrell reiterated claims that Russia was responsible for surging global energy and food prices –
which Moscow denies – and stated that use of force should not be normalized or tolerated.
Russia sent troops into Ukraine on February 24, citing Kiev’s failure to implement the Minsk
agreements, designed to give the regions of Donetsk and Lugansk special status within the Ukrainian
state. The protocols, brokered by Germany and France, were first signed in 2014. Former Ukrainian
president Petro Poroshenko has since admitted that Kiev’s main goal was to use the ceasefire to buy time
and “create powerful armed forces.”
In February 2022, the Kremlin recognized the Donbass republics as independent states and
demanded that Ukraine officially declare itself a neutral country that will never join any Western military
bloc. Kiev insists the Russian offensive was completely unprovoked.
SPECIAL MILITARY OPERATION IN UKRAINE
Russian Hacker Groups Have Obtained Ukrainian Army’s Secret Operational Files
MOSCOW (Sputnik) – The RaHDIt Russian hacker group and the Ukrainian Beregini female
hacker team have obtained secret documents relating to the operation of the Ukrainian armed forces, a
member of the RaHDIt Russian hacker group told Sputnik.
“Yes, we have access to operational documents of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, we have data on
the operational situation, we are working with our friends, the Beregini female hacker group, we work
very well together. We are getting very large amounts of data, but, unfortunately, right now we cannot
reveal all the cards to you, because then it will be clear exactly what we know, what we see,” the hacker
said on condition of anonymity.
He specified that the Beregini hackers received some of their information from their friends who
are in service in the Ukrainian army, adding that said hackers have established channels for obtaining
details on the evolving situation.
“We have very good channels for obtaining information, channels that representatives of the
Armed Forces of Ukraine themselves consider safe and secure. The girls from the Beregini group are very
good technical specialists, and they managed the almost impossible,” they noted.
At Least 50,000-70,000 Ukrainian Troops Killed Since Start of Russia’s Operation
The casualties among the Ukrainian armed forces since the start of Russia’s special military
operation currently stand between at least 50,000-70,000, a member of the RaHDIt Russian hacker group
told Sputnik.
“The losses of the Ukrainian army are really very high, much higher than what the office of the
president officially declares… They are greatly underestimated, there are clearly not 10, but at least 50-70
thousand losses,” the hacker said on condition of anonymity.
Oleksiy Arestovich, an adviser to the head of Ukraine’s presidential office, said at the start of
June that up to 10,000 Ukrainian troops have been killed since the start of Russia’s special operation.
UN Under Secretary-General for Political Affairs Rosemary DiCarlo said at the end of last
month that a total of 4,731 civilians have been killed during the conflict in Ukraine and 5,900 others have
been injured.
Last week, the RaHDit hacker group released personal data of 2,500 officers of the Main
Intelligence Directorate (GUR) of the military department of Ukraine. The hackers said that the published
data contains information about the relatives of the said officers and people living together with them, as
well as individuals who have been receiving payments from the GUR bank accounts.
Among the GUR officers, there are drug addicts and former criminals convicted of robbery,
illegal trafficking of weapons and drugs, infliction of grave bodily injuries, and rape, according to the
group.
RaHDit said that it had handed over the data to law enforcement bodies. A source in one of the
Russia special services confirmed to Sputnik the authenticity of the data leaked by the RaHDit hackers
about Ukrainian intelligence officers.
Russia launched its special military operation in Ukraine on February 24, after the Donetsk and
Lugansk People’s Republics (DPR and LPR) appealed for help in defending themselves against Ukrainian
provocations. Russia said that the aim of its special operation is to demilitarize and “denazify” Ukraine. In
response to Russia’s operation, Western countries have rolled out a comprehensive sanctions campaign
against Moscow and have been supplying weapons to Ukraine.
US-supplied HIMARS kill three civilians in Donbass – authorities
A Ukrainian strike on Donbass that used US-supplied М142 HIMARS multiple launch rocket
systems has claimed the lives of three civilians and injured 39 others, the fatalities being part of a
humanitarian mission, authorities in the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) reported on Monday.
“It should be noted that all the victims are volunteers of the public organization ‘Young
Republic’ and came under fire as they carried out a humanitarian mission to assist the local population,”
the authorities said, offering condolences to the families of the deceased and wishing speedy recovery to
the injured.
According to the DPR’s representatives from the Joint Centre for Control and Coordination on
ceasefire (JCCC), the Ukrainian missile strike in question hit Amvrosievsky district on July 10. In
addition to the killed and wounded, four persons are reported missing.
Amid the Ukraine conflict, the US and its allies have been supplying Kiev with financial,
humanitarian and military aid to help it fight off Russia’s offensive. The recent deliveries included
medium-range M142 HIMARS and ammunition that, according to the US, would be a boon for the
Ukrainian military, given its lack of firepower.
According to the Pentagon, the US provided Kiev with eight HIMARS systems since the
beginning of the conflict. Last week, however, Russian authorities claimed they destroyed two of these
rocket systems in the DPR.
Moscow has repeatedly condemned Western efforts to support Ukraine’s military, with Kremlin
spokesman Dmitry Peskov saying in June that “flooding” Ukraine with foreign weapons will not change
the course of the conflict and will only lead to more suffering and destruction in the country.
