INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
From the death of Alexei Navalny and the re-emergence of Islamic terrorism in Russia, to increasing inflation and economic concerns, 2024
has been an unstable year
The Moscow Times recalls at the six crucial stories of the year: Feb
16: The Death of Alexei NavalnyThe death of opposition leader Alexei Navalny sent shockwaves across the globe
Navalny, 47, died in the Arctic prison nest where he had been transferred less than two months in the past
He was in the middle of serving a 19-year jail sentence on trumped-up charges of extremism.Repeated arrests, jail sentences, continuous
harassment and even a near-fatal poisoning could not hinder Navalny
After months of recovery in Germany, he returned to Russia in January 2021 and was without delay arrested.Navalny was understood worldwide
for his examinations into high-level corruption that regularly targeted a few of Russias most well-known political figures and oligarchs
These investigations, which started as LiveJournal blog entries and eventually turned into feature-length films with animation and drone
footage, galvanized mass protests.Thousands gathered for his funeral in Moscow, and people were still queuing to lay flowers at his severe
days later.Crowds on their method to Borisovskoye cemetery to see Navalnys grave.Team Navalny/ TelegramThe sense of despair in the instant
consequences of his death was palpable
Meduza image editor Evgeny Feldman, who invested years photographing Navalny, described the feeling as the death of hope: I felt that my
hope in a much better Russia was personalized in him
And that hope, it almost died [when he was poisoned in 2020] And it died now The end of the greatest hope weve ever had
That belief was echoed by many normal people.March 22: The Crocus City Hall AttackOn a Friday night in March, 4 gunmen stormed Crocus City
Hall, a popular performance venue simply beyond Moscow, ahead of a sold-out program
The attack, which left 145 individuals dead and more than 500 others injured, sent shockwaves through Russian society.Islamic State
affiliate ISIS-K claimed obligation for the attack, the deadliest in Russia in twenty years, while Moscow likewise blamed Ukraine and the
West.The suspected shooters were jailed and dragged into court with contusions and cuts all over their faces
One was even rolled in on a medical gurney, making it clear they had actually been subjected to violence and even torture.Crocus City Hall
after the March attack.Denis Voronin/ Moskva News AgencyIn overall, at least 24 individuals have actually been apprehended in connection to
the incident.Mass deportations of migrants followed the attack as the suspects were from the Central Asian Republic of Tajikistan
The anti-migrant belief has actually only heightened, with the government passing a raft of anti-migrant legislation.On March 7, the United
States Embassy in Moscow stated that it was aware of impending plans by extremists to target public events in the Russian capital over the
Just 3 days before the attack, Putin publicly dismissed Western warnings of an impending attack in Moscow as propaganda developed to terrify
Russian citizens.June 23: The Dagestan attacksArmed attackers attacked Orthodox churches and synagogues in Russias majority Muslim republic
The gunmen introduced simultaneous attacks in Dagestans biggest city of Makhachkala and the coastal city of Derbent.Seventeen police
officers and 5 civilians were ultimately eliminated in the attacks.The state-run TASS news company pointed out a police source as stating
the gunmen who carried out attacks in Makhachkala and Derbent are supporters of a global terrorist company, however did not specify the
organization.Emergency employees approach a burned-out synagogue in Derbent.Gyanzhevi Gadzhibalayev/ TASSMany of the aggressors were loved
ones of the head of Dagestans Sergokalinsky district Magomed Omarov, who was immediately dismissed from his post
Another of the enemies was Gadzhimurad Kagirov, a freestyle wrestler who previously represented the Eagles MMA club, co-founded by previous
UFC Lightweight Champion and Makhachkala native Khabib Nurmagomedov.I think the greatest takeaway from the profiles of the shooters is that
the radicalization pool simply grew a lot larger, and the Russian authorities remain in a great deal of problem, Harold Chambers, an expert
focusing on nationalism, dispute and security in the North Caucasus, told The Moscow Times.Dagestan went so far as to momentarily ban the
niqab, a full-face veil worn by some Muslim ladies, following the attacks.Aug
1: The Russia-West Prisoner ExchangeAfter months of multilateral negotiations, Russia and the West performed the biggest prisoner exchange
given that the Cold War on an airport tarmac in Ankara, Turkey
Russia released 16 prisoners, while the West launched eight.Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich hugs his mother Ella Milman after
being reunited in Maryland.Oliver Contreras/ The White HouseWhen all was said and done, Russia freed the likes of reporter Alsu Kurmasheva,
opposition leaders Vladimir Kara-Murza and Ilya Yashin, Navalny deputies Ksenia Fadeeva and Lilya Chanysheva, artist Sasha Skochilenko and
more, in addition to United States journalist Evan Gershkovich and ex-Marine Paul Whelan.Russia received convicted killer and FSB officer
Vadim Krasikov, a household of illegals residing in Slovenia, entrepreneur Vladislav Klyushin and others.United States National Security
Adviser Jake Sullivan stated that Alexei Navalny, who died in a Russian jail in February, was expected to be consisted of in the swap.Aug
6: The Kursk offensiveUkraine stunned Russia and the global community when it sent soldiers into Russias Kursk region on Aug
The next day, President Volodymyr Zelensky announced that Ukraine controlled 1,250 square kilometers (almost 500 square miles) of Russian
In his words, the cross-border incursion was done to produce a buffer zone to avoid additional Russian attacks.A ruined Russian tank
outside the Ukrainian-controlled Russian town of Sudzha in the Kursk region.Yan Dobronosov/ AFPIn September, the Kursk areas guv announced
that Russia had actually left more than 150,000 civilians from Kyiv-held area along with the surrounding areas.Many think that Ukraine wants
the territory to be used as a bargaining chip in eventual peace settlements with Russia.The incursion eventually caused the statement that
North Korea would be sending 10,000 troops to Russia to help combat in the war
Much of those soldiers wound up in the Kursk region
18, a United States official declared that North Korean soldiers had suffered several hundred casualties in Kursk.Despite this, Ukraine
still holds territory in the Kursk region.December: InflationInflation has been a problem worldwide, and Russia has not been spared
Putin himself acknowledged inflation, a crucial indicator that an economy is overheating, as an issue in his end-of-year press
conference.Officially, Russias inflation is predicted to reach 8-8.5%, double its target of 4%
Other estimates recommend it may be even higher
Research company ROMIR showed a 22.1% year-on-year inflation rate in September, while official information showed a 9.67% increase
Their analysis is based upon the cost of several consumer goods.The cost of butter, for example, rose 25.7% between Jan
28, leading some supermarkets to put their butter inside plastic containers and butter imports from Belarus and Turkey.Butter at a Moscow
supermarket.Arthur Novosiltsev/ Moskva News AgencyTo fight the problem, the Central Bank raised its crucial rate to 21% in October and kept
this rate at its newest conference on Dec
20 in spite of widespread expectations that it would trek the rate to 23-25%
Sberbank CEO German Gref cautioned in December that the economy was showing substantial signs of a downturn in some sectors, consisting of
housing construction and investment
Gref cautioned the Central Bank versus overshooting its rates policy, making it harder to return to the rails of economic growth.Some
economic experts state that higher loaning expenses have less of an effect on checking cost increases due to the fact that inflation is
driven by record defense costs for the war in Ukraine.
