Amid heightened tensions over access to Kaliningrad, Russia’s Ministry of Finance has this week published a draft bill to create a new ‘Reserve Fund’ of gold and precious metals within the existing State Fund of Russia (Gosfund). This Reserve can be used in the event that the Russian government moves to a state of ‘mobiliziation’ (i.e. if Russia moves to a general war footing). The draft amendment bill is to the existing law “On mobilization and mobilization training in the Russian Federation”. As a reminder ‘Mobilization’ in the context of a military means: “the organization of the armed forces of a nation for ... (full story)