Tag: Security Services
Half of Russians don’t trust conclusions made by British in Litvinenko case
(Interfax – January 31, 2016) Over half of Russians (53%) believe the London court had no real grounds to accuse Russian officials of involvement in the death of former Federal Security Service official Alexander Litvinenko, Levada Center has reported. The poll, which surveys 1,600 respondents, was conducted in 137 populated areas of 48 regions of Russia on Jan. 22-25. The […]
» Read moreRussians do not want authorities to have access to non-public personal data
(Interfax – January 31, 2016) Most respondents surveyed by the Public Opinion Foundation (58%) believe the state should not have access to non-public personal data and people’s correspondence on social networking sites and via email, while 24% believe it violates human rights and 22% believe it constitutes privacy invasion and is not ethical. The poll, which surveys 1,000 respondents who […]
» Read moreNEWSLINK: “Vladimir Putin’s poison tea” – Washington Post
Antony Penaud: Reflections on the Litvinenko case
Subject: Reflections on the Litvinenko case Date: Mon, 25 Jan 2016 From: Antony Penaud <antonypenaud@yahoo.fr> Antony Penaud completed his DPhil at the University of Oxford in 2000. His essays on Russia and Ukraine are on www/scribd.com/antonykharms. He is French and lives in London. I returned last Thursday from a holiday in Moscow, and on the Gatwick train I picked up […]
» Read moreNEWSLINK The Independent (UK): “Alexander Litvinenko accused Vladimir Putin of being a paedophile four months before he was poisoned”
VIDEO: What the Litvinenko assassination accusation means for the Kremlin
PBS interviews former Ambassador Mike McFaul and Steven Lee Myers of The New York Times about a British investigative report into the assassination of former Russian agent Alexander Litvinenko, including implications for the Russian government and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Video below; click here for original post and transcript. MICHAEL MCFAUL…: … it’s very important, even if nothing more comes […]
» Read moreNEWSLINK: “Mr. Putin and the Poisonous London Tea Party” – New York Times
NEWSLINK: “Putin’s most aggressive attack dog is unleashed” – Washington Post
NEWSLINK: “So Putin Killed Litvinenko. Carry On. Britain has been cozying up to Russian money for years, and a dead spy isn’t going to change that.” – Foreign Policy magazine/Peter Pomersantsev
British Inquiry Implicates Russia, Putin In Death Of Ex-Agent Litvinenko
(RFE/RL – rferl.org – January 21, 2016) A British inquiry has concluded that the Russian government was behind the 2006 poisoning death of former Russian security agent Aleksandr Litvinenko and that President Vladimir Putin “probably approved” the killing. The findings, issued on January 21, said that there is a “strong probability” that it was carried out by Russian citizens Dmitry […]
» Read moreNEWSLINK Russia Today: “UK report points to ‘probable involvement’ of Putin, Russian officials in Litvinenko death”
Interfax: Moscow dismisses findings of UK public inquiry into Litvinenko death – source
MOSCOW. Jan 21 (Interfax) – Moscow dismisses the findings of the public inquiry conducted in the United Kingdom into the death of former Russian special services officer Alexander Litvinenko, a source with knowledge of the situation told Interfax on Thursday. “Russia has every reason to declare that it will not accept any verdict handed down following this kind of inquiry,” […]
» Read moreRussian Minister: Security Concerns Justify Restricting Civil Rights
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Anna Dolgov – November 28, 2015) Russia’s interior minister said restricting civil rights is justifiable if security considerations demand it, according to a television interview that was broadcast Thursday night and prompted criticism from human rights advocates. Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev told NTV television that police and security agencies must “tighten the screws” in case […]
» Read moreActivist Says Russia Using ‘Hybrid Warfare’ In Syria
(RFE/RL – rferl.org – Tony Wesolowsky, Mark Krutov – November 11, 2015) The head of a team of Russian cybersleuths who have uncovered what they argue is a much more robust Russian military role in Syria than officially claimed, says the Kremlin seems to be following the “hybrid warfare” playbook perfected in eastern Ukraine. Activists from the Moscow-based Conflict Intelligence […]
» Read moreConfession of a Russian internet provider: A firsthand account of how the internet is monitored, regulated and blocked in the Russian Federation
(opendemocracy.net – Dmitry Okrest – November 5, 2015) Dmitry Okrest is a former staff writer with The New Times and currently works as an independent journalist. The internet is no longer free in Russia-that’s according to Freedom Net, a report recently published by Freedom House. Freedom of expression on the internet has been under threat for some time in the […]
» Read moreRussian military intelligence officers captured in eastern Ukraine change story
(Human Rights in Ukraine – khpg.org – Halya Coynash – October 27, 2015) One of the two Russian spetsnaz officers captured in eastern Ukraine in May this year is now denying that he was a serving Russian officer, and the other, whose family has just hired a different lawyer, may be planning to do the same. Any claim now that […]
» Read moreRussia’s secret treason investigations; In Russia, the number of state treason cases is rising. Secret service tactics mean we know less and less about who is under investigation
(opendemocracy.net – Gleb Belichenko – October 22, 2015) Gleb Belichenko is a journalist and former member of the activist group Team 29, which works to further freedom of information in Russia. Statistics for the past few years show that, in Russia, four to six people a year are put on trial for state treason. In 2014, this number rose sharply: […]
» Read moreRussian Academia Divided Over FSB Vetting of Research Papers
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Daria Litvinova – October 22, 2015) A report this week of research papers and scientific articles becoming subject to vetting by the Federal Security Service (FSB) before publication rattled Russian academics, coming on the heels of several cases in which people have been accused of espionage and treason in connection with their professional activities. The […]
» Read moreNEWSLINK UNIAN: “Odesa SBU blast has ‘Russian trace’: SBU chief”
Knocking back Russia’s nationalists
The conflict in Ukraine and the annexation of Crimea has brought the Kremlin and Russia’s ultra-nationalists closer together. Recent prosecutions show that their ideas still have the government worried. (opendemocracy.net – Vyacheslav Koslov – September 15, 2015) Vyacheslav Kozlov is a journalist for daily newspaper Kommersant. He writes on international relations, nationalism, extremism, narco-politics, the Russian opposition and the problems […]
» Read moreNEWSLINK Moscow Times/ Mark Galeotti: Museums Show Russia’s Big Security Problem
Brussels Break-In Shines Light on Putin’s European Mischief
(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Henry Meyer, Jeremy Hodges – August 23, 2015) It was an unusual delivery at the European Parliament by a pair of native Russians. They broke into the third-floor mailroom and deposited for the 751 legislators English-language copies of “Red Dalia,” a scathing biography of Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite, according to a parliamentary probe. The book, published […]
» Read moreMoscow Mulling ‘Nuclear Provocation’ Against Ukraine, Kyiv Analyst Says
(Paul Goble – Window on Eurasia – Staunton, August 4, 2015) To overcome the stalemate on the ground and to get itself out of the diplomatic corner it has painted itself into by vetoing the UN Security Council resolution on the Malaysian airliner tribunal, Moscow appears to be planning an act of “nuclear provocation” against Ukraine so as to turn […]
» Read moreEx-Ukrainian Spy Chief: Russian Camps Spreading Chaos
(Voice of America – Mark Snowiss – July 24, 2015) Ukraine’s former intelligence chief says Russia is financing and organizing training camps from within Ukraine’s rebel-controlled eastern provinces in order to destabilize the country. “Up to 30 camps in Donetsk, Luhansk and Crimea are training subversive groups, providing them with weapons and sending them on missions throughout Ukraine,” said Valentyn […]
» Read moreThe Public’s Top Picks for the Pedestal on Lubyanka Square
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Maria Naum – July 17, 2015) On Aug. 22, 1991 at the peak of euphoria over the failure of the coup against Mikhail Gorbachev, the statue of Felix Dzerzhinsky, founder of the Soviet secret police, was pulled from its pedestal on Lubyanka Square. Since then, the square has remained empty as the public and authorities […]
» Read moreAttack on Chubais Ally Marks Death of Russian Meritocracy – Experts
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Ivan Nechepurenko – July 4, 2015) The criminal case opened this week against Leonid Melamed, the founder of Russia’s flagship innovations project, is directed against its divisive current head Anatoly Chubais, and reflects Russia’s drift away from a merit-based ruling elite, pundits told The Moscow Times on Friday. Rusnano’s reformist head Chubais has long been […]
» Read moreCommunists Storm Out of Moscow Duma Hearing on Monument to Feared Secret Police Chief
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Daria Litvinova – June 25, 2015) The Moscow City Duma courted controversy Wednesday with its determination that a proposed referendum question on the restoration of a monument to feared Soviet secret police chief Felix Dzerzhinsky was consistent with the law. But Dzerzhinsky – a Bolshevik revolutionary and founder of the dreaded Cheka secret police, which […]
» Read moreMoscow Edges Closer to First Referendum Since Soviet Collapse
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Daria Litvinova – June 23, 2015) Moscow looks set to get its first referendum in post-Soviet times – and one of the burning issues on the ballot will be the restoration of a monument to the founder of the secret police to central Moscow. On June 11, the Moscow election committee approved the Communist Party’s […]
» Read moreNEWSLINK Kyiv Post: SBU Chief Fired After Flap With Poroshenko
Ukraine’s Parliament on June 18 approved President Petro Poroshenko’s request to sack Valentyn Nalyvaichenko as head of the Security Service of Ukraine, amid growing recriminations over who is to blame for the government’s faltering drive against crime and corruption. https://www.kyivpost.com/content/ukraine/sbu-chief-fired-after-flap-with-poroshenko-391460.html
» Read moreSBU head insists Surkov was in Kyiv on Feb 20-21, 2014
KYIV. April 15 (Interfax) – Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) chief Valentyn Nalyvaichenko claims that Russian presidential aide Vladislav Surkov was in Kyiv on February 20-21, 2014. “We are convinced that there is a need to investigate both crimes committed by Ukrainian officials and the role of Russian high-ranking officials in the events in Kyiv’s Maidan. I can confirm that we […]
» Read moreIs There a Feud Over a New Tsar in the Kremlin?
(Institute of Modern Russia – imrussia.org – Donald N. Jensen – April 1, 2015 – article also appeared at imrussia.org/en/analysis/politics/2217-is-there-a-feud-over-a-new-tsar-in-the-kremlin) Vladimir Putin’s ten-day absence from the public eye has become the most discussed event in Russia this past month, and also highlights the country’s crisis of governance. According to Donald Jensen, resident fellow of the Center for Transatlantic Relations, keeping the increasingly […]
» Read moreNEWSWATCH Interfax-Ukraine: All terrorist attacks in Ukraine coordinated by Russian special forces – Nalyvaichenko
[“All terrorist attacks in Ukraine coordinated by Russian special forces – Nalyvaichenko” – Interfax-Ukraine – April 1, 2015] Citing a published account by the “Den” (Day) newspaper, Interfax-Ukraine reports on declarations by the head of Ukraine’s SBU security service that Russian special forces are coordinating terrorist attacks out of headquarters in Luhansk and Donetsk. Russian special forces and their representatives have […]
» Read moreNEWSLINK Wall Street Journal: How Russian Spy Games Are Sabotaging Ukraine’s Intelligence Agency. Ukraine’s security agency, the SBU, has been riddled with Russian spies, sympathizers and turncoats
When Moscow-backed separatists were starting their war in east Ukraine last spring, the country’s main security agency sent a covert team to capture a rebel leader. But word of the classified mission leaked out, and three Ukrainian operatives were themselves captured and thrown into a separatist jail. Rebels stripped them to their underwear, bound their wrists and blindfolded them, then […]
» Read moreRussia Beyond the Headlines: New evidence sheds doubt on ‘Islamic’ motive in Nemtsov killing
Experts say that conflict between Russia’s security services and the president of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, likely played a role in the murder. (Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Yekaterina Sinelschikova, RBTH – March 12, 2015) New details in the Feb. 27 murder of opposition leader Boris Nemtsov have cast doubt on the claim of the investigators that Nemtsov was […]
» Read moreFSB-Kadyrov Power Struggle Eclipsing Nemtsov Murder Probe, Media Says
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Anna Dolgov – March 11, 2015) Russian media has reported that the investigation into the murder of Boris Nemtsov is suffering under a power struggle between President Vladimir Putin’s protege Ramzan Kadyrov and the FSB. The claim that Nemtsov was shot dead by a devout Muslim who reportedly felt insulted by the politician’s support for […]
» Read moreExperts See Dark Plot in Spate of Mystery Bombings in Ukraine
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Allison Quinn – February 26, 2015) As the latest blast in a recent string of mysterious bombings in eastern Ukraine claimed another victim Wednesday, experts warned that there would be more to come – and they could spread the conflict further from the front lines. A Donetsk grocery store became the latest scene of carnage […]
» Read morePutin Aide Linked to Maidan Killings
(Window on Eurasia – Paul Goble – Staunton, February 20, 2015) In the classic film about Watergate, “All the President’s Men,” Deep Throat warns that in unmasking a conspiracy, it is important not to go too fast but rather to build from the outer rings into the center. Otherwise, the conspirators will feel protected, and the possibility that anything will […]
» Read moreAnalyst Provides Insider View of Russian Government Think Tank
(Eurasia Daily Monitor: Volume 12, Issue 11 – Jamestown Foundation – jamestown.org – Valery Dzutsev – January 20, 2015) The revelations of Alexander Sytnik, who recently left his position as a senior fellow at the Russian Institute for Strategic Research, a government-funded think tank, provides a rare glimpse into the inner mechanisms of policymaking in Russia. In his personal account of the […]
» Read moreStratfor: A Struggle Over Russia’s Interior Ministry Could Emerge
(Stratfor.com – November 11, 2014) Summary In recent weeks, rumors that Russian Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev will be replaced have been circulating among Russian media and pundits who watch Moscow. Stratfor has been monitoring the Russian government’s coherence and the strength of its leader, President Vladimir Putin, as the country faces a series of crises involving its faltering economy and tensions […]
» Read moreWhat the FSB is doing in Russian universities
(opendemocracy.net – ALEKSANDR CHORNYKH – September 2, 2014) Aleksandr Chornykh writes for the Russian newspaper Kommersant. He specialises on education in Russia, and is one of the leading experts in his field. In Soviet times, the KGB kept a close watch on intellectuals – they might turn out to be dissidents. Today, the FSB still skulks on university corridors… In the Soviet […]
» Read moreUkraine Looks To Stalin Era To Root Out Spies
(RFE/RL – rferl.org – Luke Johnson – September 03, 2014) Kyiv appears to have taken a page from Stalin’s book in a bid to root out pro-Russian spies looking to weaken Ukraine’s defenses from within. Ukrainian Defense Minister Valeriy Heletey has announced the creation of a Special Service, similar to a counterintelligence organization that existed during Josef Stalin’s rule, to deal with subversive […]
» Read moreAnders Aslund: RE: Response [re: Ukraine, Russia, Putin, Media, JRL]
Subject: RE: Response Date: Tue, 26 Aug 2014 From: Anders Aslund <AAslund@PIIE.COM> Dear David, Thank you for your inordinate attention you have given to my personal words to you. I appreciate your kind consideration. At the same time, I am surprised that anybody can object to me calling your list biased in favor of Putin. Whenever you get a chance, […]
» Read moreRIA Novosti: Russia Deploys Mobile Border Guard Teams to Border With Ukraine – FSB
MOSCOW, August 15 (RIA Novosti) – Russia has deployed mobile teams of border guards to the vicinity of the border with Ukraine, but they are to operate strictly on the Russian side, a spokesman for Russia’s FSB Border Guard Service said Friday. The spokesman said that residents of the border territories are under threat due to increased numbers of Ukrainian […]
» Read moreBritain Announces Well-Timed Litvinenko Inquiry in Open Snub to Russia
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – July 22, 2014) Britain is planning to hold a public inquiry into the death of former FSB officer Alexander Litvinenko while in exile in Britain, news agencies reported Tuesday. Home Secretary Theresa May confirmed that the public inquiry will be held, Reuters reported. The inquiry will open the way for an investigation of whether the […]
» Read moreInterfax: Russian official hopes Ukraine crisis will not end security cooperation with USA
(Interfax – June 17, 2014) First deputy director of the Federal Security Service (FSB), Sergey Smirnov, has expressed hope that the events in Ukraine will not disrupt cooperation between the Russian and US security services, privately-owned news agency Interfax reported on 17 June. “We have always been cooperating, though sometimes, when some events are taking place, cooperation calms down. We […]
» Read moreInterfax: Snowden must apply for extension if he decides to stay in Russia – head of Federal Migration Service council
MOSCOW. June 2 (Interfax) – Former CIA analyst Edward Snowden will have to ask for extension of his temporary asylum if he decides to stay in Russia, Vladimir Volokh, the head of the Public Council of the Federal Migration Service, told Interfax on Monday. “He has to request an extension of his temporary stay. No additional documents are filed if […]
» Read moreMedia Regulator Could Block Foreign Websites for Failing to Reveal Data
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Anna Dolgov – May 27, 2014) Russia’s media watchdog has drafted a resolution that would allow it to block foreign websites in the country for failing to register with the Kremlin’s monitors, a news report said. The proposed government resolution, drafted by media regulator Roskomnadzor, would cover all websites that allow their users to exchange […]
» Read morePutin’s envoy denies Russia coordinates Ukrainian separatists’ actions
(RIA Novosti – Slovyansk, May 3, 2014) The Russian president’s special envoy Vladimir Lukin has commented on an audio recording, posted online by the Security Service of Ukraine [SBU], which, according to the SBU, was Lukin’s telephone conversation with leader of the Slovyansk defence forces Igor Strelkov. According to Lukin, this conversation did take place but its content has nothing […]
» Read moreIs Putin at Risk of Being Overthrown by a Coup?
(Window on Eurasia – Paul Goble – Staunton, April 28, 2014) Many in Russia and the West have speculated that the combination of Vladimir Putin’s policies against Ukraine, Moscow’s increasing isolation internationally, and deteriorating economic conditions at home will eventually lead to a Maidan-style challenge to his rule. That is possible, of course, but a man identified as a former […]
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