The Real Russia. Today. Facebook goes to war against trolls, London tracks down Russia's novichok supplier, and Moscow's airports ain't ready

Thursday, April 5, 2018

• Facebook blocks hundreds of Russian trolls and troll-connected media projects, and they're not happy about it
• Russians put a price tag on a normal life
• The British press says London has tracked down Russia's novichok manufacturer
• A Russian banker accused of stealing millions is apprehended in the Czech Republic
• Moscow's airports won't have shiny new runways in time for the World Cup
• Meet the most dangerous poet in Russia

Story of the day: Facebook goes to war against the trolls 👾

On April 3, Facebook announced that it deleted 138 Russian-language pages, as well as 70 accounts associated with these pages and another 65 accounts on Instagram. According to the company, all these pages and accounts were controlled by the “Internet Research Agency,” better known as “Russia’s troll factory.” Facebook says it’s also deleted all promoted content purchased by the banned troll accounts. The company says this amounted to $167,000 in ads, which first started appearing in January 2015.

In March 2017, the magazine RBC reported on ties between Evgeny Prigozhin’s “troll factory” and The Federal News Agency media group, which emerged next-door to the Internet Research Agency. There are at least 16 publications in The Federal News Agency, and 10 of these outlets have formal accreditation with Roskomnadzor, Russia’s federal media regulator. The Facebook pages of many of these publications were targeted in this week’s crackdown.

The reactions in Russia. Accusing Facebook of “political censorship,” The Federal News Agency has asked both houses of Parliament, the Attorney General’s Office, and the Federal Security Service to respond by blocking Facebook and Instagram completely in Russia. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has defended the media outlets blocked by Facebook, asking the company to specify its allegations and explain further why the network decided to block these publications. On Thursday, Vladimir Putin’s spokesman said the Kremlin is monitoring the situation, as well.

It turns out that Facebook also blocked the official Facebook page for Moscow City Hall’s Department of Economic Policy and Development. Moscow officials say Facebook’s actions are “puzzling,” but the magazine RBC learned that the page might have been deleted because it was possibly managed in part by Gleb Vasilchenko — one of the 13 “Russian trolls” indicted by the U.S. Justice Department. Moscow City Hall denies ever employing Vasilchenko for social media marketing services. After RBC presented officials with evidence that an account with Vasilchenko’s name uploaded videos to the city department’s page on Vkontakte, the videos suddenly disappeared. (They’re still listed in Yandex’s archives, however.)

What does a family of three need to survive in Russia? 👨‍👩‍👧

According to a new poll by Romir, Russians on average say an annual salary of at least 910,800 rubles ($15,820) is needed to provide a “normal standard of living” for a family of three. Roughly a fifth of respondents (21 percent) said this standard of living was attainable on annual incomes below 540,000 rubles ($9,400); two-thirds of Russians said families need between 540,000 and 1.4 million rubles ($23,320); and another 13 percent of respondents said a normal living standard requires more than 1.4 million rubles a year. Answers were naturally different in larger and smaller settlements. In cities with more than 1 million people, respondents said annual income needs to be above 1.1 million rubles ($19,100), and in rural areas this figure dropped to 738,000 rubles ($12,850).

What is Russia’s actual average income? According to Rosstat, the average nominal gross income in Russia, as of January 2018, was just 468,200 rubles ($8,140) a year.

Tracking down Russia's novichok manufacturer 🔍

The Times reports that British security officials have “pinpointed the location of the covert Russian laboratory” that made the weapons-grade nerve agent used to poison Sergey and Yulia Skripal in Salisbury, England, on March 4. The Sun previously reported that a lab run by the Foreign Intelligence Service on the outskirts of Moscow was one of the few labs manufacturing the “novichok” nerve agent. According to The Daily Mail, Russian intelligence agencies previously tested using novichok in assassinations by placing the poison on door handles. British police say novichok was found smeared on Sergey Skripal’s front door.

Nabbing a very naughty banker 🏦

Police in the Czech Republic have detained Alexander Bugaevsky, the former chairman of the failed “Intercommerz” bank. In Russia, Bugaevsky is wanted for embezzling the bank’s assets before its license was revoked. The Russian Attorney General’s Office has reportedly already started the process of seeking Bugaevsky’s extradition.

Russia’s Central Bank revoked Intercommerz’s license in February 2016 for failing to meet capital requirements and inadequately evaluating risks. In terms of assets, Intercommerz was Russia’s 67th biggest bank at the time, and it ranked 34th in retail deposits. The bank was also involved in “dubious transit operations,” according to the Central Bank. Russia’s Deposit Insurance Agency paid out 64.3 million rubles ($1.1 million) to Intercommerz’s clients — a record at the time.

What are the charges against this guy? In March 2016, police charged Bugaevsky with large-scale embezzlement. Before Intercommerz went bust, he allegedly transferred 45 million euros ($55.2 million) to the accounts of companies under his control. He’s also accused of stealing almost 8 billion rubles ($139 million) in federal bonds that belong to Intercommerz. From abroad, Bugaevsky previously tried to dispute his arrest in absentia and wanted status. The former head of Intercommerz even said he would return to Russia voluntarily to testify to the authorities, but he never followed through on that promise.

Not ready for soccermania 🛫

The new runways at Moscow’s two biggest airports, Sheremetyevo and Domodedovo, likely won’t be ready in time for the FIFA World Cup this summer, according to a March report from Russia’s Federal Air Transportation Agency. Multiple anonymous sources also confirmed the delay to the newspaper Vedomosti.

As of March, a third runway at Sheremetyevo was only 55-percent complete, and a new taxiway was somewhere between 39- and 90-percent ready. This construction work, which began in 2011 and has cost 55.7 billion rubles ($967.5 million), was supposed to be finished by May 2018. The reasons for the delay? Problems with moving a gas pipeline and buying new real estate, as well as the complex structure of the construction site.

Domodedovo, meanwhile, has been building its new runway (to replace its existing second runway, which will become a taxiway) since 2014. The airport has already spent almost 13 billion rubles ($226 million) and the runway is 80-percent done, but its main construction contractor went bankrupt, stalling the project, which now isn’t expected to wrap up until after 2018.

The most dangerous poet in Russia 👮‍♂️

For his first poem about Crimea, Alexander Byvshev was sentenced to 300 hours community service and a lifetime ban on working as a teacher. Investigators couldn’t find anything criminal about a second poem by Byvshev, but the authorities added his name to the federal list of terrorists and extremists, regardless. For a third poem, prosecutors charged Byvshev with hate speech. And then with obstruction of justice. Byvshev is being tried for hate speech in a fifth case for another two poems.

• Read the full story: “Investigators have opened five separate criminal cases against a Russian school teacher because of his poems about Ukraine”