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With help from Paul McLeary
When Russian authorities knocked on their doors in late September, SERGEY and MAKSIM knew not to reply. In the event that they did, they’d be drafted to fight in Ukraine as a part of President VLADIMIR PUTIN’s nationwide mobilization.
As an alternative, the pair launched into a dangerous five-day journey through the Bering Strait on a fishing boat, landing in Gambell, Alaska, a small village on the tip of an island where they were welcomed with open arms.
Now the primary and only known Russians to have fled their country to Alaska are in a reformatory in Tacoma, Washington, where they need to live in brutal conditions until their asylum cases are heard.
“The situation that almost all detainees are put under is analogous to prison,” said NICOLAS McKEE, a staff attorney at Northwest Immigrant Rights Project, who’s working to get them out on parole. “They didn’t want to go away Russia; these men were forced to achieve this … It’s life or death.”
Each men are referred to by their first names to guard their identities from the Russian government, at their lawyer’s request.
The story of their journey underscores the lengths that Russian migrants will undertake to flee the deadly conditions draftees are subjected to — just because the Biden administration weighs expanding its policy for Russians’ access to the U.S. refugee program as tens of hundreds flee the war to america.
Even before Moscow’s crackdown on dissenters, Russians have fled to the U.S. in hopes of finding refuge, with many coming in through the southern border. In October alone — when Sergey and Maksim arrived — greater than 3,800 Russians got here.
The mass exodus left U.S. officials at embassies worldwide and along the southern border scrambling, as POLITICO reported in May.
Some lawmakers and activists urged President JOE BIDEN to roll out a welcome mat for fleeing Russians, arguing that the gesture would send a strong signal of U.S. generosity to odd Russians and undermine Putin’s oppressive regime by accelerating brain drain from his country.
When asked if there’s any update to the administration’s migration policy, a State Department spokesperson said that officials are aware of the influx of Russians fleeing the country, but deferred asylum inquiries to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, which didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment.
FIRST IN NATSEC DAILY –– BLINKEN TO ADDRESS J STREET: Secretary of State ANTONY BLINKEN will address J Street’s national conference in Washington, D.C. this Sunday, a State Department official told NatSec Day by day.
Blinken’s speech comes at a tense moment within the U.S.-Israel relationship, especially as BENJAMIN NETANYAHU prepares to return as prime minister. The venue of the speech, at a giant event hosted by a left-leaning pro-Israel group, is definitely meant to send a message to Jerusalem.
J Street’s president and founder JEREMY BEN-AMI confirmed to NatSec Day by day that Blinken will speak on the conference.
“At a critical time for Israelis and Palestinians and for the long run of liberal democracy within the region and around the globe, our movement is looking forward to hearing about these challenges from our nation’s top diplomat,” Ben-Ami said.
The conference will happen from Dec. 3-5 on the Omni Shoreham Hotel.
E.U. TARGETS RUSSIA: The European Union is eyeing organising a U.N.-backed court to research possible war crimes committed by Russia in Ukraine and using Russian assets frozen under sanctions to rebuild parts of the country it invaded, the Associated Press’ SAMUEL PETREQUIN reports.
Investigations into war crimes are already underway around Europe, including on the Hague-based International Criminal Court. But since Russia doesn’t accept the ICC’s jurisdiction, European Commission officials said it could either enact an independent international court based on a multilateral treaty or a court integrated in a national justice system with international judges to research.
In a video message Wednesday, European Commission president URSULA von der LEYEN also estimated damage to Ukraine for the reason that invasion at 600 billion euros, and stressed her intention for the aggressor to pay for reconstruction.
“Russia and its oligarchs need to compensate Ukraine for the damage and canopy the prices for rebuilding the country,” von der Leyen said. “We have now the means to make Russia pay.”
LETTER BOMB: An explosive inside an envelope sent to Ukraine’s embassy in Spain inside detonated, injuring one diplomat and leading Kyiv to place each of its missions on high alert, the Financial Times’ CHRISTOPHER MILLER reports.
“The Embassy of Ukraine in Spain received an envelope. During an inspection, the envelope exploded within the hands of a diplomat,” Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesperson OLEG NIKOLENKO told the FT. “The diplomat suffered minor injuries and is now hospitalized, receiving the obligatory medical attention. There is no such thing as a threat to his life.”
It’s unclear who sent the letter. Ukrainian Foreign Minister DMYTRO KULEBA warned that the perpetrator “won’t achieve intimidating Ukrainian diplomats or stopping their every day work on strengthening Ukraine and countering Russian aggression.”
ISIS LEADER DEAD: An ISIS spokesperson said that its leader, ABU AL-HASSAN AL-HASHIMI AL-QURAYSHI, died in battle, the Associated Press reports. He’s now the second ISIS leader to be killed this yr.
U.S. Central Command confirmed the news. “The death of Abu al-Hassan al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi in mid-October is one other blow to ISIS. This operation was conducted by The Free Syrian Army in Dar’a province in Syria. ISIS stays a threat to the region,” CENTCOM spokesperson Col. Joe Buccino said in a press release.
TURN IT UP: Today is Spotify Wrapped Day, akin to Christmas for buffs of the streaming service. Here’s a breakdown of what tunes fuel the NatSec Day by day crew:
Alex’s top artists include the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Slipknot, Arctic Monkeys, Kings of Leon and — the odd one out — Doja Cat. “Vegas is a bop,” he swiftly explained.
Matt listened to Elliott Smith, The whole lot The whole lot, Mitski, Arctic Monkeys and Belle & Sebastian essentially the most. Are you okay?
Lawrence nodded along to Gunna, Drake, Playboi Carti, Future and Lil Uzi Vert this yr, contributing to a whopping 101,538 minutes on Spotify. Should we be concerned?
IT’S WEDNESDAY: Thanks for tuning in to NatSec Day by day. This space is reserved for the highest U.S. and foreign officials, the lawmakers, the lobbyists, the experts and the people such as you who care about how the natsec sausage gets made. Aim your suggestions and comments at [email protected] and [email protected], and follow us on Twitter at @alexbward and @mattberg33.
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ROK SCRAMBLES JETS: South Korea scrambled fighter jets after Chinese and Russian warplanes flew on the sting of South Korea’s “air defense zone,” an area where countries ask foreign aircraft to discover themselves, Reuters HYONHEE SHIN reports.
Two Chinese H-6 bombers repeatedly entered and exited South Korea’s zone along its southeastern and northeastern coasts. China and Russia claimed the flights were a part of joint exercises and neither countries’ planes violated South Korean airspace.
Russia doesn’t recognize Seoul’s air defense zone, and China claims the zone isn’t territorial airspace, meaning countries should have the ability to freely navigate the realm.
Japan also scrambled jets after Chinese bombers entered through the Sea of Japan. The incursions come as South Korea and Japan have participated in joint drills alongside the U.S. in response to North Korean missile tests.
‘SPILLOVER’ OF RUSSIAN CYBERATTACKS: NATO is tracking potential Russian cyberattacks geared toward Ukraine spilling over into other European nations amid the continuing conflict, our own MAGGIE MILLER reports (for Pros!).
“We have now seen what looks like some sustained attempts to disrupt Ukrainian government military systems, and we’ve seen what looks like some spillover affecting some surrounding countries,” NATO’s assistant secretary general for its Joint Intelligence and Security Division, DAVID CATTLER, told reporters during a virtual briefing.
Cattler declined to call the countries where NATO is seeing attacks, but noted that the alliance is working with 4 NATO-allied nations that border Ukraine to strengthen their cyber defenses: Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and Romania.
NATO can be seeing increasing attempted cyberattacks against its own critical networks by “malicious actors,” Cattler said.
CANADA’S INDO-PACIFIC STRATEGY: The Canadian government dropped a latest five-year, $2.3 billion technique to bolster its presence and ties within the Pacific on Wednesday. Like all such plans, it’s a wide-ranging set of initiatives with mostly vague guarantees and goals for the subsequent half-decade. But there are some key details.
About half of that $2.3 billion will fall into two pots of cash that aim to examine Chinese economic and military expansion within the region. The most important slice — $750 million over three years — is earmarked for infrastructure support across Asia. The outline doesn’t go into detail, nevertheless it’s most certainly a move to maintain small countries from turning to Beijing for economic support, which frequently comes with strings attached that bind the country in have to China and its foreign policy goals. The Canadian strategy says the cash will go to constructing “sustainable infrastructure, and in addition provides alternative options to developing economies exploring infrastructure development.”
The following largest funding stream — $493 million over five years — will go toward increase Ottawa’s naval presence within the Pacific and increasing the military’s participation in regional military exercises. A few of that cash will go toward deploying a further frigate to the Pacific every year, joining the 2 already based in Western Canada. It’s a giant ask, because the Canadian frigate fleet has been stretched thin lately between back-to-back Atlantic and Pacific deployments and the Navy is brief about 1,300 sailors to crew its ships, but that’s what the a whole lot of thousands and thousands of dollars are for.
DIVISIONS OVER TURKEY: When Sen. CHRIS COONS (D-Del.) was asked if he viewed Turkey as a beneficial NATO ally, he responded by saying, “They are a NATO ally,” reports Foreign Policy’s ROBBIE GRAMER. Alrighty then.
Russia’s war with Ukraine has highlighted brewing transatlantic dissatisfaction with Turkey’s efforts to stop the alliance from forming a united front against VLADIMIR PUTIN. Turkish President RECEP TAYYIP ERDOĞAN has held a series of calls with Putin, a few of which have yielded diplomatic progress but stymie efforts to punish Russia’s economy.
Frustration has grown amongst U.S. lawmakers, a few of whom say they recognize the good thing about Ankara’s contributions to the alliance but wish to hold the country accountable for when it acts in a way that counters NATO’s objectives, like by slowing Finland and Sweden’s admission to the alliance.
“We’ve got to acknowledge that [Turkey] could make essential contributions, and it’s higher to have them in NATO than out of NATO,” said Sen. JEANNE SHAHEEN, (D-N.H.) “But in addition they have been a nasty actor in some ways. And we’d like to have a look at how we will … encourage them and hold them accountable when President Erdogan is a nasty actor.”
ZELENKSYY CALLS OUT MUSK: Ukrainian President VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY criticized SpaceX founder and Twitter CEO ELON MUSK for his peace proposal to finish the country’s war with Russia, The Latest York Times’ MATTHEW MPOKE BIGG reports.
“If you desire to understand what Russia has done here, come to Ukraine, and you will note this along with your own eyes,” Zelenskyy said on Wednesday at The Latest York Times’ DealBook Summit. “After that, you’ll tell us how one can end this war, who began and when we will end it.”
Zelenskyy criticized Musk last month for proposals that included ceding territory to Russia. Each men also took to Twitter using polls to ask users which scenarios they’d prefer with the intention to facilitate an end to the conflict.
— FIRST IN NATSEC DAILY: DIMITRI SIMES will retire as president of the Center for the National Interest and publisher of The National Interest on Dec. 31, NatSec Day by day has learned. CFNTI has yet to announce a successor.
— CHRIS JOHNSON has been promoted to senior adviser at Eurasia Group. He previously served as an Asian affairs expert for the firm.
— HEATHER WILLIAMS, POLITICO: Don’t Tell Your Non-Work Friends In regards to the Decapitations
— ANUJ CHOPRA, The Guardian: ‘The Godfather, Saudi-style’: contained in the palace coup that brought MBS to power
— MYKHAYLO ZABRODSKYI, JACK WATLING, OLEKSANDR DANYLYUK and NICK REYNOLDS, Royal United Services Institute: Preliminary Lessons in Conventional Warfighting from Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine: February–July 2022
— The Center for Strategic and International Studies, 9:30 a.m.:“The Capital Cable #60: Nuclear Weapons and Kim Family”
— United States Institute of Peace, 9:30 a.m.:“Beyond the 2001 Paradigm: Counterterrorism and the U.N. Security Council Since 9/11”
— The Foundation for Defense of Democracies, 9:45 a.m.: “Rogue Proliferators: Nonproliferation Threats Posed by Iran, Syria, Russia, and North Korea.”
— The Arab Center, 10 a.m.: “Iraq at a Crossroads: Challenges and Prospects Facing the Latest Government.”
— The Hudson Institute, 10 a.m.: “Tips on how to Overcome the Military Recruitment and Retention Crisis”
— The Hudson Institute, 10 a.m.: “The Importance of US Alliances in Europe: A Conversation with Senator JONI ERNST”
— The Henry L. Stimson Center, 11 a.m.: The Chairman’s Forum: A Conversation with Space Force leader General John “Jay” Raymond (ret.)
— The Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, 2 p.m.: “Moving Pieces: Near-Term Changes to Pacific Air Posture”
— The Center for Strategic and International Studies, 3 p.m.: “Growing Challenges, Rising Ambitions: AUSMIN 2022 and Expanding U.S.-Australia Cooperation”
Have a natsec-centric event coming up? Transitioning to a latest defense-adjacent or foreign policy-focused gig? Shoot me an email at [email protected] to be featured in the subsequent edition of the newsletter.
Because of our editor, Heidi Vogt, who would fairly flee the country than keep working with us.
And we thank our producer, Kierra Frazier, who we might follow anywhere.