PETTY CRIMINAL CAPITALI$M

Police raid Peruvian President Boluarte's home in luxury watch investigation

Agence France-Presse
March 30, 2024 

Peru's President Dina Boluarte speaks as she meets with foreign press, in Lima, Peru January 24, 2023. © Angela Ponce, Reuters


Peruvian authorities raided President Dina Boluarte's home on Saturday as part of an ongoing corruption investigation related to undisclosed luxury watches.



According to a police document obtained by AFP, about 40 officials were involved in the raid, which was searching for Rolex watches that Boluarte had not publicly declared.

The raid "is for the purpose of search and seizure," police said.

The embattled president did not appear to be home at the time.

Authorities launched an investigation into Boluarte this month after a news outlet drew attention to pictures of her sporting luxury watches at public events.

Saturday's raid, a joint operation between the police and the prosecutor's office, was broadcast on local television channel Latina.

Government agents could be seen surrounding the house in the Surquillo District of the capital Lima while officers blocked oncoming traffic.

The surprise, early-morning raid was requested by the public prosecutor and authorized by the Supreme Court of Preparatory Investigation.

It came after prosecutors refused Boluarte's request for more time to respond to a subpoena demanding she furnish proof of purchase for her watches.

'Clean hands'

Already facing declining approval ratings, Boluarte has been plunged into a fresh political crisis with the launch of the probe into whether she has illegally enriched herself while in office.

If she is indicted in the case, a trial could not take place until after her term ends in July 2026 or she is impeached, according to the constitution.


Dozens of journalists descended on the president's house on Saturday but prosecutors and officials at the scene did not respond to questions.

The Peruvian president's office also did not react immediately.

The scandal erupted after local news outlet "La Encerrona" reported in mid-March that Boluarte had worn various Rolex timepieces at official events.

The outlet drew attention to the watches with pictures dating from December 2022, when Boluarte took office.

The government comptroller later announced it would review Boluarte's asset declarations from the past two years to search for any irregularities.

Boluarte, 61, has staunchly defended herself.

"I entered the Government Palace with clean hands, and I will leave it with clean hands," she said last week.

Responding to questions about how she could afford such expensive timepieces on a public salary, she said they were a product of working hard since she was 18 years old.

The lawyer and former vice president became Peru's first woman president after leftist leader Pedro Castillo tried to dissolve Congress and rule by decree, leading to his quick ouster and arrest.


Violent protests demanding Boluarte step down and fresh elections be held followed, with almost 50 people killed in the ensuing crackdown.

(REUTERS)

Brazil’s former President Jair Bolsonaro indicted over Covid-19 vaccine data fraud

The Supreme Court released the police’s indictment on Tuesday that alleges Bolsonaro and 16 others inserted false information into the public health database to make it appear as though the then-President, his 12-year-old daughter and several others in his circle had received the Covid-19 vaccine

AP/PTI 

Sao Paulo 

Former Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro in Rio de Janeiro

Sao Paulo: Brazil’s federal police have accused former President Jair Bolsonaro of criminal association and falsifying his own Covid-19 vaccination data, marking the first indictment for the embattled far-Right leader with others potentially in store.

The Supreme Court released the police’s indictment on Tuesday that alleges Bolsonaro and 16 others inserted false information into the public health database to make it appear as though the then-President, his 12-year-old daughter and several others in his circle had received the Covid-19 vaccine.

During the pandemic, Bolsonaro was one of the few world leaders railing against the vaccine, openly flouting health restrictions.

His administration ignored several emails from pharmaceutical company Pfizer offering to sell Brazil tens of millions of shots in 2020 and openly criticised a move by Sao Paulo state’s then-governor João Doria to buy vaccines from Chinese company Sinovac when no jabs were otherwise available.

Brazil’s prosecutor-general’s office will have the final say on whether to use the police indictment to file charges against Bolsonaro at the Supreme Court. It stems from one of several investigations targeting Bolsonaro, who governed between 2019 and 2022.

Bolsonaro’s lawyer did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press.

AP/PTI

 GLOW IN THE DARK GREEN ENERGY 

$1.52B loan guarantee issued in effort to restart Michigan nuclear power plant


The Energy Department Wednesday announced a $1.52 billion loan guarantee for Holtec Palisades to finance the restoration and restart of Michigan's Palisades nuclear power plant near Lake Michigan. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said it will support 100,000 jobs nationwide.  (MORE LIKE 10,000)

Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI | License Photo


March 27 (UPI) -- The Energy Department Wednesday announced a $1.52 billion loan guarantee for Holtec Palisades to finance restoration and restart of the Palisades nuclear power plant in Michigan.

The plant's reopening is subject to Nuclear Regulatory Commission approval.

"Nuclear power is our single largest source of carbon free electricity, directly supporting 100,000 jobs across the country and hundreds of thousands more indirectly," said U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm in a statement. "President Biden's Investing in America agenda is supporting and expanding this vibrant clean energy workforce here in Michigan with significant funding for the Holtec Palisades nuclear power plant."

According to the Energy Department, the project will create 600 good-paying, high-quality jobs.

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The plant stopped operating in May 2022.

"Once open, Palisades will be the first successfully restarted nuclear power plant in American history, driving $363 million of regional economic impact and helping Michigan lead the future of clean energy," Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said in a statement. "I am so grateful to my bipartisan partners in the Michigan Legislature, the Biden-Harris administration, Holtec, and labor for coming together to get this done."

During the plant's projected additional operation once back online, the Energy Department said the project will "avoid 4.47 million tons of CO2 emissions per year for a total of 111 million tons of CO2 emissions during the projected 25 years of operations-an amount roughly equivalent to the annual emissions of removing more than 970,000 gasoline-powered cars from the road."

Whitmer added that the plant will power 800,000 homes.

Holtec Palisades already has signed power purchase agreements for the rejuvenated plant's power output with rural electric co-ops Wolverine Power Cooperative and Hoosier Energy in Michigan, Illinois and Indiana.

This is the first project with a conditional commitment under the Energy Infrastructure Reinvestment program under the Biden administration's Inflation Reduction Act.

In 2007 the NRC authorized the Palisades plant in Covert near Lake Michigan for 20 more years operation.

Nuclear waste is stored at the plant near Lake Michigan, prompting safety concerns from environmental groups. A coalition of local, state and national organizations had petitioned to stop the NRC from allowing Palisades to operate for 20 more years due to those safety concerns.

New EPA rules to curb heavy-duty vehicle emissions starting with 2027 models


New heavy-duty vehicles like freight trucks and buses will now be subject to new greenhouse gas pollution standards, the Environmental Protection Agency announced Friday. 

File Photo courtesy of Wikimedia

March 29 (UPI) -- New heavy-duty vehicles like freight trucks and buses will be subject to enhanced greenhouse gas pollution standards, the Environmental Protection Agency announced Friday.

The standard will apply to vehicles beginning in the 2027 model year, running through 2032 and will avoid producing 1 billion tons of greenhouse gas emissions or the equivalent of the emissions from more than 13 million tanker trucks' worth of gasoline, according to the EPA.

"In finalizing these emissions standards for heavy-duty vehicles like trucks and buses, EPA is significantly cutting pollution from the hardest working vehicles on the road," EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan said in a statement released by the agency.

"Building on our recently finalized rule for light- and medium-duty vehicles, EPA's strong and durable vehicle standards respond to the urgency of the climate crisis by making deep cuts in emissions from the transportation sector."

The agency also estimates the new regulations will "provide $13 billion in annualized net benefits to society related to public health, the climate, and savings for truck owners and operators."

The third and final phase of the EPA's Greenhouse Gas Emissions Standards for Heavy-Duty Vehicles aligns with its ​​Clean Trucks Plan announced in 2021. The agency's plan represents the most protective set of EPA regulations ever for the on-road sector.

The EPA unveiled the second phase of the standards in 2016.

The transportation sector is the single largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States with heavy-duty vehicles accounting for 25% of all emissions in that sector.

"EPA's standards complement President Biden's unprecedented investment in our workers and communities to reduce harmful emissions, while strengthening our manufacturing capacity for the transportation technologies of the future," national climate adviser Ali Zaidi said in the EPA statement issued Friday.

"By tackling pollution from heavy-duty vehicles, we can unlock extraordinary public health, climate, and economic gains."

The news is the latest move by President Joe Biden's administration to curb emissions generated by traditional combustion engines and promote green technology.

Earlier in March, the White House finalized a new EPA rule leaning heavily on the automotive sector to bring more electric and hybrid cars to market.

The new rule pushes the auto industry to have electric vehicles make up 56% of new cars or trucks entering the market with hybrids constituting another 13%.

Arizona lawmakers sue Biden administration over EPA pollution rule

March 27 (UPI) -- Arizona's Republican legislative leaders and the state's Chamber of Commerce sued the Environmental Protection Agency over new pollution standards.

The filing in a Washington appeals court on Monday said the new EPA standards were "arbitrary, capricious and an abuse of discretion" that would damage the economy and called on the court to vacate it. Arizona's Senate President Warren Peterson, released a statement saying it is being joined by House Speaker Ben Toma and the chamber in the lawsuit.

"The Biden administration should be rewarding American businesses for being the most environmentally friendly in the world," Peterson said in a statement. "Instead, they are doubling down on their left-wing agenda. Their rule will create unnecessary hardships for job creators and hardworking Arizonans."

Peterson said new construction that would improve safety would be stopped, permits in Maricopa, Pinal and Pima counties would be blocked and small businesses would be forced to pay for expensive new equipment and

Report: Bangladesh, India, Pakistan have highest levels of air pollution globally

He added that eight counties would be now ruled out of compliance with EPA guidelines and it would force jobs to go overseas.

"The EPA should focus on mitigating wildfires, the primary source of pollution," Peterson said. "It will detrimentally impact our power grid and create even more red tape for both small and large businesses. We have no choice but to ask the courts to provide relief from this tyrannical, arbitrary and illegal move by the EPA."

The EPA's new rule targets PM 2.5, which researchers say can get into the bloodstream and cause everything from strokes to heart attacks and asthma. The 2.5 microns particles can come from wildfires, fireplaces, wood-burning ovens, burning coal and other manufacturing processes,

The EPA finalized the new rule in February, saying it would prevent 4,500 premature deaths and 290,000 lost workdays, to $46 billion in health benefits by 2032.

Biden administration tightens restrictions on imports of African elephants

WHAT ABOUT ASIAN ELEPHANTS?!


Illegal ivory trinkets and creations are on display along with a tun of ivory before being destroyed as an ode to end the illegal trafficking and brutal mistreatment of elephants in Central Park, New York City in Aug. 2017. On Friday, the federal government took steps to protect the African elephant in dwindling decline. 

Photo by John Angelillo/UPI | License Photo


March 29 (UPI) -- The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on Friday finalized a rule to improve conservation and other protections of African elephants imported to the United States.

Friday's rule change "will strengthen protections of internationally traded live African elephants, increase transparency of the Service's permit decision-making, and more closely align U.S. requirements with guidance from the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Fauna and Flora," the agency said in a news release.

"The Service values collaborative conservation of wildlife all around the world and is committed to improving implementation of international conservation law," U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director Martha Williams said.

The changes require that countries that import elephants to the United States implement laws to increase conservation and protection including barring illegal trade and that authorized imports of both live elephants and "trophies" will contribute to conservation efforts and not cause the species to decline.

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It also requires that elephants only be sent to facilities that are equipped to house and care for them when they arrive in the United States.

Lastly, the rule clarifies import regulations on sport hunting and permit requirements.

In 2017, the Trump administration lifted an Obama-era ban on the import of endangered elephant remains from Africa. This comes as the Biden administration has been taking steps to strengthen many animal conservation policy reversals under Trump.

"Our actions today will help support range countries' efforts to manage and conserve African elephant populations and will further protect African elephants that are imported to the United States," Williams added. "We are optimistic that with this final rule and by continuing to work in partnership with range countries, wild African elephant populations will be sustainable into the future."

The agency says the African elephant in the wild has been reduced down to an estimated 415,000 from roughly 26 million at the end of the 18th century.

Cesar Chavez family members endorse Biden for president


Images of Cesar Chavez are seen as thousands of supporters turn out at the Cesar E. Chavez National Monument in Keene, California on October 8, 2012. 

File Photo by Phil McCarten/UPI | License Photo

March 29 (UPI) -- The family of iconic civil rights and labor leader Cesar Chavez on Friday endorsed President Joe Biden in the 2024 U.S. presidential election.

The iconic Hispanic labor leader's sons, Fernando and Paul Chavez, told CBS News they would endorse Biden, who already employs Julie Chavez Rodriguez, the granddaughter of the late labor leader, as his campaign manager.

"The bonds of affection and respect for a president who by his character and actions consistently reflects the genuine legacy of my father, Cesar Chavez," Paul Chavez said.

The announcement comes ahead of Kennedy's event at Union Station on Saturday, where the independent candidate highlights historical ties between his late father, late President John F. Kennedy, and Chavez.

Robert F. Kennedy, Sr., in one well-known gathering in 1967 with Chavez called the labor leader "one of the heroic figures of our times."

An announcement about the Kennedy event invites those who are interested to "celebrate the life and legacy of Cesar Chavez, a good friend of RFK and RFK, Jr.

"Cesar was a legendary organizer of farmworkers and voters, who exercised their citizen power. Today, we have an opportunity to take back our government with people power."

Courting Latino voters will be a key for Biden winning re-election. The president opened a national program last week in Arizona to specifically target Hispanic voters.

First Lady Jill Biden speaks on LBGTQ+ rights at Human Rights Campaign dinner in California

“They want to take our victories away but we won’t let them,” said Jill Biden, referencing Republican attacks on LGBTQ+ rights

First Lady Jill Biden (AP file photo)

By CLARA HARTER | charter@scng.com
PUBLISHED: March 24, 2024

First Lady Jill Biden and her daughter Ashley Biden highlighted the Biden administration’s efforts to fight on behalf of the LGBTQ+ community at the Human Rights Campaign’s 2024 Los Angeles dinner on Saturday evening, March 23.

“Thanks to our president, marriage equality is now a law, he ended the ban on bisexual and gay men donating blood, he made it possible for trans Americans to serve openly and honorably in the military and he’s standing firmly against conversion therapy,” said Jill Biden.

HRC is the nation’s largest LGBTQ+ civil rights organization and selected the first lady as their keynote speaker due to her record of advocating on behalf of the queer community. The private event was hosted at the Fairmont Century Plaza hotel in Century City and attended by approximately 650 people.

Biden used her speech to underscore the importance of reelecting her husband in November noting that “MAGA extremists” are trying to “unwind all the progress we’ve made” on LGBTQ+ rights and equality.

“Just last night we had to fend off more than 50 anti-gay amendments that Republicans tried to force into the government funding bill,” she said. “These were extreme measures aimed directly at this community, measures that would have limited health care, eroded protection for same sex couples and more.”

“And they serve only one purpose: to spread fear.”

According to the Human Rights Campaign, more than 50 proposed anti-LGBTQ+ provisions were stripped from the final version of the $1.2 trillion funding package that was approved by the Senate on Saturday morning.

“They want to take our victories away but we won’t let them,” she said. “We will win tomorrow and on the days after, until all the people in all of the places can live freely surrounded by love. I love you. Your President loves you.”

Ashley Biden also referenced ongoing attacks on the LGBTQ+ community during her speech, including the recent death of transgender teen Next Benedict who was fatally attacked in a school bathroom in Oklahoma.

“We know it’s not just Next, LGBTQ students deserve to feel safe at school and no one should have to endure violence just because of who they are,” she said. “My parents know that.”

Last October, President Biden and the First Lady, spoke at HRC’s national dinner in Washington, D.C, which marked the president’s fourth time keynoting the event.

The first lady is in town for a four-day fundraising and speaking swing through Los Angeles and Palm Springs. On Friday, she attended a campaign reception in Hancock Park and on Monday she is scheduled to deliver a speech on the White House Initiative on Women’s Health Research at the Getty Center.

Earlier on Saturday, Biden delivered a speech to around 125 people at a private fundraiser in the Rancho Mirage home of James Costos and Michael Smith.

Will Rollins, the Democratic nominee for California’s 41st Congressional District, introduced the first lady and thanked her for her advocacy on behalf of the LGBTQ+ community.

“Thanks to the work that the first lady and the president have put in throughout their careers, America is now a place where you can serve the country you love, regardless of who you love,” said Rollins, “So thank you, Dr. Biden.”

During the ten minute address Biden hit upon many of the same points she shared at Friday evening’s L.A. campaign reception. This includes the strength of her relationship with Joe Biden, his major accomplishments as President and the urgency of reelecting him in November.

“These are tumultuous times for the world — Russia’s brutal campaign in Ukraine, war in the Middle East — and they require the steadiness and the expertise of a tested, proven leader like my husband,” she said.

“With his judgment and his experience and his relationship with leaders across the globe, Joe isn’t just the right person for the job,” she continued. “He’s the only person for the job.”

USNS Harvey Milk completes maiden voyage to San Francisco

Vessel first one for U.S. Navy to be named after openly gay person

By Ehren Wynder

UPI

MARCH 29, 2024 

The USNS Harvey Milk is the first Navy ship to be named after a gay person. Milk served in the navy during the Korean War and was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1977, becoming the first openly gay person to be elected to public office in the United States. 

Photo courtesy U.S. Navy

March 29 (UPI) -- The U.S. Navy ship named after gay rights icon Harvey Milk made its first voyage through the Golden Gate Bridge and docked in San Francisco Thursday.

The USNS Harvey Milk is the first Navy ship to be named after an openly gay person. It is an oiler ship that resupplies Navy ships at sea with diesel fuel, lubricating oil and jet fuel, as well as some provisions

Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus in 2016 told Congress of his plan to name the John Lewis-class oilers after prominent civil rights leaders, with this particular ship to be named after Milk, who was a gay rights activist.

Milk served as a lieutenant in the Navy during the Korean War aboard USS Kittiwake. His career ended with an other-than-honorable discharge, and he was forced to resign rather than face a court martial because of his homosexuality.

Milk became the first openly gay person elected to public office in the country when he won a San Francisco supervisor seat in 1977. He and Mayor George Moscone were shot and killed in 1978 by a disgruntled former supervisor who was upset that Moscone did not reappoint him after he resigned.

"To have that ship visit San Francisco on its very first port visit -- not only its first port visit to San Francisco, but its first port visit ever to be San Francisco, is so significant," said U.S. Navy Media Officer Brian O'Rourke. "This was Harvey's chosen city; very important to him. To have this ship come to San Francisco is a testament to his legacy."

San Francisco supervisor Bevan Dufty, who served in what was Milk's former board seat, toured the ship Thursday. He said, "It's beautiful that it is here ... This being the first Navy ship being named after someone who wasn't honorably discharged, it's poetic."

An LGBTQ San Diego advisory group first called for a Navy ship to be named after Milk in 2012. The ship was officially named at a ceremony in San Francisco in 2016 prior to its construction.

It was christened and launched from San Diego Bay in November 2021.

Officials will hold a ceremony to honor the ship and its namesake on Friday. There also will be a National Vietnam War Veterans Day awards presentation for Bay Area veterans that afternoon.

CRIMINAL CAPITALI$M

Court sentences 2 to prison for $9 million hospice fraud scheme

Two California men, Gayk Akhsharumov and Karen "Kevin" Sarkisyan, were sentenced in a $9 million hospice fraud case.

 File Photo by Simaah/Pixabay


March 29 (UPI) -- A California hospice owner and his biller were sentenced to jail time for bilking Medicare out of more than $9 million in false and fraudulent claims for hospice services.

Gayk Akhsharumov, 40, who owned two hospice companies, and Karen Sarkisyan, 45, both of Glendale, both were sentenced to one year and one day in prison for the scheme. Sarkisyan, also known as Kevin Sarkisyan, also served as Akhsharumov's consultant.

Prosecutors said Akhsharumov was the manager and beneficial owner of San Gabriel Hospice and Palliative Care Inc., and Broadway Hospice Care. Investigators said he hid his ownership of the facilities from Medicare, put in false owners and paid kickbacks to patient recruiters. Sarkisyan submitted the false applications.

On March 23, 2023, Akhsharumov entered a guilty plea to conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud and Sarkisyan pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud the United States on April 3, 2023.

Authorities said even after closing one of his facilities, he filled out an application for COVID-19 relief funds from the Paycheck Protection Program and received funds. Prosecutors said Akhsharumov received $50,000 from the relief plan even though the hospice was not in operation

Akhsharumov was ordered to pay $9.18 million in restitution while Sarkisyan was ordered to pay back $3.68 million in restitution.

French high school principals rally in Paris over death threats targeting colleague

Principal asked student to remove headscarf because of ban on religious signs in schools; student said she was hit, subjected to violence

Nur Asena Ertürk |30.03.2024 

ANKARA

French high school principals rallied Friday in Paris following death threats targeting one of their colleagues, according to the Franceinfo broadcaster.

A group of principals and MPs gathered in front of the Maurice Ravel High School, whose principal resigned last week for security reasons and death threats via the internet, after he asked a student to take her headscarf off in February, due to the ban on religious signs at school, it said.

The student told reporters earlier the month that she was subjected to violence and the principal hit her arm when she refused to remove her scarf.

The Paris prosecutor’s office dismissed her complaint for “insufficiently grounded offense.”

The principal filed a complaint against the threats and a 26-year-old suspect was arrested.

Prime Minister Gabriel Attal backed the principal Wednesday in an interview and criticized the student for defamatory allegations.

Then-Education Minister Attal announced the ban on the abaya -- a loose full-length robe worn by Muslim women -- as of Sept. 4, 2023, the start of the new school term.

The controversial move sparked a backlash against the government, which has been criticized in recent years for targeting Muslims with statements and policies, including raids on mosques and charitable foundations, and an "anti-separatism" law that imposes broad restrictions on the community.

ANALYSIS:

 Russian Orthodox Church Hails Moscow’s Imperialist Expansionism as a ‘Holy War’

Moscow Patriarchate calls for the conquest and absorption of the Ukrainian and Belarusian nations into an ultranationalist ‘Russian world'.

By ISW
March 30, 2024

President Vladimir Putin and Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill. AFP

The Russian Orthodox Church Moscow Patriarchate (ROC MP), a Kremlin-controlled organization and a known tool within the Russian hybrid warfare toolkit, held the World Russian People’s Council in Moscow on March 27 and 28 and approved an ideological and policy document tying several Kremlin ideological narratives together in an apparent effort to form a wider nationalist ideology around the war in Ukraine and Russia’s expansionist future.

ROC MP Head Patriarch Kirill, reportedly himself a former Soviet Committee for State Security (KGB) officer and a known staunch supporter of Russian President Vladimir Putin, chaired the congress of the World Russian People's Council that approved the document, and Kirill likely coordinated the document’s ideological narrative and policy recommendations with the Kremlin.

The document, "The Present and Future of the Russian World,” addresses Russian legislative and executive authorities with specific calls to amend Russian policy documents and laws. These calls are likely either attempts to socialize desired Kremlin policies among Russians before their implementation or to test public reactions to policies that Kremlin officials are currently considering.

Putin and Kremlin officials have gradually attempted to elaborate on amorphous ideological narratives about the war in Ukraine and their envisioned geopolitical confrontation with the West since the start of the full-scale invasion, and the ROC MP appears to be offering a more coherent ideological framework for Russians.

The ROC MP released the document a week after the Crocus City Hall terrorist attack and roughly a month before the start of the Orthodox Easter Holy Week, and likely aims to seize on heightened anxieties following the terrorist attack and increased Russian Orthodoxy observance to garner support for its desired ultranationalist policies and ideological vision.


The ROC MP intensified Kremlin rhetoric about Russia’s war in Ukraine and cast it as an existential and civilizational “holy war,” a significant inflection for Russian authorities who have so far carefully avoided officially framing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as any kind of “war.” The ROC MP called Putin’s “special military operation” a holy war (Svyashennaya Voyna) and a new stage in the Russian people’s struggle for “national liberation...in southwestern Russia,” referencing eastern and southeastern Ukraine.

The ROC MP claimed that the Russian people are defending their lives, freedom, and statehood; their civilizational, religious, national, and cultural identity; and their right to live within the borders of a single Russian state by waging Putin’s war of conquest in Ukraine.

The ROC MP argued that the war in Ukraine is a holy war because Russia is defending “Holy Russia” and the world from the onslaught of globalism and the victory of the West, which has fallen into Satanism.

The ROC MP asserted that the war in Ukraine will conclude with Russia seizing exclusive influence over the entire territory of modern Ukraine and the exclusion of any Ukrainian government that the Kremlin determines to be hostile to Russia.

The ROC MP’s description of Russian goals is in line with repeated Kremlin statements indicating that Putin retains his objective to destroy Ukrainian sovereignty and statehood. The ROC MP’s use and description of the holy war in Ukraine is also consistent with Kremlin efforts to frame the war as an existential national struggle against Ukraine and the collective West but notably expands the alleged threats that defeat in Ukraine poses for Russians.

The term “holy war” may also conjure allusions to the Great Patriotic War (the Second World War), as the Soviet Union’s unofficial war anthem shared the same name, and the Kremlin has routinely invoked the mythos of the Great Patriotic War to generate domestic support for the war in Ukraine.

The Kremlin has continued to stress that the war in Ukraine is a “special military operation,” however, and the ROC MP’s direct acknowledgment of the conflict as a holy war may elicit support from Russians who have found the Kremlin’s comparatively restrained rhetoric uninspiring. The ROC MP did not define the holy war as a purely Orthodox concept and instead tied it to the Kremlin’s purposefully broad conception of who is a part of the Russian nation and Russkiy Mir (Russian World).

Ukrainian victory does not pose these existential threats, however, as Ukraine’s struggle to restore its territorial integrity, return its people, and defend its national identity does not infringe on Russian identity, statehood, or territorial integrity.

The ROC MP called for the codification of elements of the Russkiy Mir and may be gauging public support for the formal inclusion of ethnic Ukrainians and Belarusians in the Kremlin’s concept of the Russian nation. The ROC MP stated that Russia is the “creator, support, and defender” of the Russkiy Mir and that the Russkiy Mir is a “spiritual, cultural, and civilizational phenomenon” that transcends the borders of the Russian Federation and historical Russian lands and encompasses everyone that values Russian traditions and culture.

The ROC MP claimed the Russkiy Mir’s mission is to destroy and prevent efforts to establish “universal hegemony in the world” and that the reunification of the “Russian nation” should be one of the priorities of Russian foreign policy.

The ROC MP stated that Russia should return to the “trinity doctrine” of the Russian nation, which falsely asserts that the “Russian nation” is comprised of sub-groups of ethnic Russians, Belarusians, and Ukrainians whom Russia should reunify.

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The ROC MP called on Russia to codify the “trinity doctrine” in law, make it an “integral part” of the Russian legal system, include it in the “normative list” of Russian spiritual and moral values, and give the concept legal protection.

Putin and other Kremlin officials have consistently invoked similar claims about the “Russian people” and Russkiy Mir since before the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine as a means to justify Russian aggression against Ukraine while undermining Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and denying the existence of a Ukrainian ethnic identity. The ROC MP may be gauging the response to the idea of codifying the “trinity doctrine” on the Kremlin’s orders. The Kremlin may codify this doctrine as official Russian policy.

The ROC MP heavily emphasized Russia’s need for traditional family values and an updated migration policy to counter Russia’s ongoing demographic crisis. The ROC MP labeled Russia’s demographic crisis as Russia’s main existential threat and characterized steady demographic growth as a critical national security priority. The ROC MP asserted that Russia should aim to grow its population to 600 million people (a roughly 450 million increase) in the next 100 years and laid out a series of measures that it envisions would allow Russia to achieve this monumental task.

The ROC MP called for the revival of the “traditional large family” and traditional family values in Russia – echoing Russian President Vladimir Putin’s emphasis on 2024 as the “Year of the Family” in recent major national addresses. The ROC MP claimed that the Russian government should recognize the family and its well-being as Russia’s “main national development goal” and a “strategic national priority” and should amend Russia’s main strategic planning documents to reflect this. The ROC MP called on Russian popular culture to create a “cult of the family” in society and suggested various economic benefits the state should enact to encourage larger families.

The ROC MP claimed that a new state migration policy is also key to an “effective” demographic policy. The ROC MP complained that migrants who do not speak Russian, do not understand Russian history and culture, and cannot integrate into Russian society are “deforming” Russia’s unified legal, cultural, and linguistic space. The ROC MP alleged that the “uncontrolled” influx of migrant labor decreases the “indigenous” population’s wages and access to jobs and that “closed ethnic enclaves” are “breeding grounds” for corruption, organized crime, extremism, and terrorism.

The ROC MP offered a series of policy recommendations that Russia should prioritize in a new migration policy, including “significant” restrictions on low-skilled foreign laborers, guarantees of employment and high incomes for Russian citizens, protections of the rights and interests of ethnic Russians, and other indigenous peoples of Russia, the mass repatriation of "compatriots” to Russia, and the relocation of highly-skilled foreign specialists who are loyal to Russia and ready to integrate into Russian society.

The ROC MP’s demographic and migration policy suggestions continue to highlight how the Kremlin struggles with inconsistent and contradictory policies concerning migrants and the interests of its ultranationalist population. Select Russian officials and ultranationalist voices have recently called for Russia to enact anti-migrant policies following the Crocus City Hall terrorist attack, but ISW continues to assess that Russia is unlikely to introduce any restrictions that would reduce the number of migrants in Russia given that Russia continues to heavily rely on migrants to offset domestic labor shortages and for force generation efforts.

Putin asserted in December 2023 that Russia’s “compatriots abroad” are those who have historical, cultural, or linguistic ties to Russia, and the ROC MP appears to suggest that the repatriation of such “compatriots” to Russia could be a large resource Russia could tap into to solve its demographic crisis. Some of the ROC MP’s other policy recommendations, however, contradictorily seek to restrict some of the very migrants that would fall under Putin’s definition of “compatriots abroad.” The ROC MP’s approach to the Russkiy Mir appears to be at odds with Putin’s previous definition of Russkiy Mir which posits a diverse and inclusive Russian civic nationalism.

The ROC MP appears to be combining previously parallel Kremlin narrative efforts into a relatively cohesive ideology focusing on national identity and demographic resurgence that promises Russians a period of national rejuvenation in exchange for social and civic duties.

The ROC MP highlighted that “the restoration of the unity of the Russian people” through the war in Ukraine is a key condition for Russia’s survival and successful development throughout the 21st century. This call for restoration amounts to the full-scale destruction of the Ukrainian nation and its envelopment into Russia.

The ROC MP aims to also envelop ethnic Belarusians into the Russian nation through its conception of the “trinity doctrine” while also massively repatriating other “compatriots” abroad. The ROC MP’s calls for Russians to assume the responsibility for steadily increasing birth rates and averting demographic catastrophe similarly promises Russians that Russian sovereignty and identity will persist in the 21st century.

These efforts to expand Russia’s control over those it considers to be a part of the Russkiy Mir, whether through mass repatriation or forceful means like Russia’s war of conquest in Ukraine, serve the same purpose as the calls for Russians to increase birth rates — increasing Russia’s overall population with people that ultranationalists consider to be “Russian.”

The ROC MP argued that the establishment of a stable and sovereign Russkiy Mir under the Russian state will lead to economic opportunity and Russia’s role as one of the leading centers of a multipolar world order. The ROC MP stated that the typical embodiment of the Russkiy Mir after the promised national rejuvenation would be a Russian family with three or more children and their own single-family home, offering ordinary Russians future socioeconomic benefits in exchange for sacrifices made now in backing the ROC MP’s suggested ultranationalist ideology and achieving Russia’s “unification” with Ukraine and Belarus.

The ROC MP’s suggested ideology explicitly ties Russian national security to the preservation of an imagined and disputed Russian nation and Russian demographic growth, offering the Kremlin expanded justifications for acts of aggression against neighboring countries and the West in the name of protecting the overall size and growth of the imagined Russkiy Mir.

The Kremlin may choose not to fully align itself publicly with the ultranationalist ideology that the ROC MP has proposed at this time but will highly likely borrow from and leverage it to generate support for the war effort in Ukraine and any future acts of aggression against Russia’s neighbors and the West.

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