Thread by @RALee85

The FSB has published a list of defense topics that can get Russians labeled as a foreign agent if they collect it including:
-methods of combat training
-moral and psychological climate in the army
-location of units
-forecasts of the strategic situation
publication.pravo.gov.ru/Document/View/…

Other topics include: information on R&D results for military equipment and information on the use of quantum technologies and artificial intelligence in the creation of new weapons and special equipment. 2/
lenta.ru/news/2021/09/3…
kommersant.ru/doc/5009357

The FSB says this list contains topics that aren't state secrets but could be used against Russia's security if transferred abroad. Anyone who purposefully collects such info could be labeled a foreign agent. Who knows how it will be applied but it will have a chilling effect. 3/

Since 2014, the Russian government has used Western sanctions as an excuse for increasing classifications over the military and defense industry while reducing transparency but this takes it a step even further. 4/

Does this mean independent Russian social media accounts will have to stop posting about defense topics? Will Russian defense experts be allowed to speak to Western media? If not, Western analysis of Russian defense issues will suffer, which won't make anyone safer. 5/

Notably, Russia's top defense journalist, Ivan Safronov, was arrested by the FSB last summer and has been held in prison for more than a year on clearly fabricated treason charges. He was working for Roscosmos after being forced out of journalism. 6/

https://twitter.com/RALee85/status/1280413451504975873

Basically all of these steps are making it increasingly difficult, if not impossible, for independent Russian defense experts who don't work in the MoD, MID, or OPK. Russian defense policy will suffer as a result (as well as corruption). 7/

Another issue is how this could become an FSB/MoD turf war. The Russia MoD clearly is fine with outside defense experts (it has a public council of civilian experts who regularly meet with Shoigu), but the FSB could label people close to the MoD as foreign agents now. 8/

I wonder what this means for Track II diplomacy as well. Aside from the Russian military, most of the list concerns Roscosmos, which has been plagued with corruption and other issues. 9/

https://twitter.com/RALee85/status/1131601205833154561

10/

https://twitter.com/alxgraef/status/1443938165019000841