Tag: Spies

JRL NEWSWATCH: “The Unasked FBI Question: Why? G-men rightly debunked the Steele dossier. And then peddled it anyway.” – Wall Street Journal/ Holman W. Jenkins, Jr.

JRL NewsBlog, Spies, Spy Allegations, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
FBI Headquarters File Photo

“New revelations … more emphatically underline a question nobody seems willing to ask: Why did the FBI fan a Russia collusion confabulation that it knew was unfounded, false and baseless? The obvious answer is not so much rejected as turned away from: because the FBI, and specifically … Comey, had a powerful interest in changing the subject from … Comey’s […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “What does the Russia report mean for British people and politics? Luke Harding considers the implications of the report on Moscow’s meddling” – The Guardian

Britain, UK, United Kingdom, Europe, EU, JRL NewsBlog, Spies, Spy Allegations
File Photo of British Parliament Building, Big Ben, Thames, adapted from image at loc.gov

“… The Russia report accuses the government of failing to investigate Russian interference in British politics, in particular during the 2016 EU referendum. The Commons intelligence and security committee[] … says Downing Street showed a ‘lack of curiosity’ over Kremlin meddling. … [not] say[ing] whether this complacency was deliberate or an omission[,] [e]ither way … a stunning rebuke of Boris […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “To Secure the Election: Tame the Russian Bear in Cyberspace” – Council on Foreign Relations/ Scott Jasper

Cybersecurity, JRL NewsBlog, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
File Image of Stylized Eye Surrounded by Binary Code

“As the U.S. presidential election approaches, U.S. Cyber Command will have to consider tougher measures to impose costs that change Russia’s behavior in cyberspace.” “… As it weighs its options, Cyber Command will undoubtedly conduct thorough planning and risk assessments that consider the possibility of Russian retaliation and discovery or reuse of exploits that the command uses against it. That […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “How Putin pushed aside the oligarchs and made Russia his own” – Washington Post/ Anders Åslund

Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, History, Soviet Union, JRL NewsBlog, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Vladimir Putin file photo with VOA logo; screen shot from video still

In her deeply researched new book, Catherine Belton tells a dark tale of … Putin’s rise to power and … 20 years as [Russian] leader …. ‘Putin’s People: How the KGB Took Back Russia and Then Took On the West‘ […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Russian Authorities Are Targeting Journalists, Historians and Activists. The Rest of Us Could Be Next” – Moscow Times/ Ilya Klishin

Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Human Rights, JRL NewsBlog, Media, Internet, Social Media, Television, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, Spies, Spy Allegations
Stylized Artist's Depiction of Shadowy Figures in Dark Coats and Dark Hats, One Carrying a Briefcase

What’s going on? Nobody knows, but this time it really is scary […]

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AUDIO JRL NEWSWATCH: “Russia Denies Allegations It Paid Militants To Kill U.S. Troops As ‘Nonsense'” – NPR/ Lucian Kim

Afghanistan, JRL NewsBlog, Military, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
Afghanistan Map of Ethnicities

“… The Russian Foreign Ministry said the initial … New York Times [story] demonstrated the ‘low intellectual abilities of U.S. intelligence propagandists.’ … Putin[] spokesman[] Dmitry Peskov[] called subsequent reports ‘hoaxes’ … damag[ing] the reputation of the media that publish them.  Russian officials spend a lot of time refuting allegations of malfeasance, from the poisoning of a former Russian spy […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Famous ex-defence reporter arrested, accused of treason” – bne Intellinews

JRL NewsBlog, Media, Internet, Social Media, Television, Military, Spies, Spy Allegations
FSB Building file photo

“In what appears to be an escalating crackdown on Russian journalists by the Federal Security Service (FSB), famous defence reporter Ivan Safronov was arrested … and charged with treason. He faces up to 20 years in jail if convicted. The arrest is only the latest of a series of arrests and cases brought against leading Russian journalists who have simply […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “How Kremlin’s View of U.S.’s War in Afghanistan Has Shifted” – Wall Street Journal/ Alan Cullison

Afghanistan, Military, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
File Photo of U.S. NATO Troops Atop Ridge in Afghanistan

“Deteriorating U.S.-Russian ties adversely affect a once-shared goal, leading to a U.S. intelligence assessment of bounties paid to Taliban.” “For years … the U.S. and Russia shared a goal of deposing the Taliban government and hunting down its remnants …. [T]hat … crumbled … amid mutual suspicion and U.S. plans to leave Afghanistan with the Taliban undefeated. Today… [there is] […]

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What Does Russia Want In Afghanistan?

Afghanistan, Assassinations, Beatings, Threats, Central Asia, Spies, Spy Allegations, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
Afghanistan Map of Ethnicities

… Trump tweeted that the intelligence reports were not deemed credible and the Kremlin and the Taliban have rejected reports alleging that officers of the GRU – Russia’s foreign military intelligence — either paid or offered money for killing American soldiers […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Russian Criminal Group Finds New Target: Americans Working at Home” – New York Times/ David E. Sanger, Nicole Perlroth

Cybersecurity, JRL NewsBlog, Spies, Spy Allegations, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
File Image of Laptop Computer, Tables and Mobile Device, adapted from image at energy.gov

A hacking group calling itself Evil Corp., indicted in December, has shown up in corporate networks with sophisticated ransomware. American officials worry election infrastructure could be next […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Russian disinformation operation relied on forgeries, fake posts on 300 platforms, new report says” – Washington Post/ Ellen Nakashima, Craig Timberg

JRL NewsBlog, Media, Internet, Social Media, Television, Spies, Spy Allegations, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
Montage of Instagram, Twitter and Facebook Logos, adapted from image at nps.gov

“The report underscores the ambition, sweep and scale of Russian disinformation operations” “Russian operatives used online forgeries, fake blog posts and more than 300 social media platforms to undermine opponents and spin disinformation about perceived enemies throughout the world, including in the United States, according to a new report ….  The list of figures that operatives targeted over six years […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “FBI spread claim Trump worked with Russia, declassified document shows” – New York Post/ Steven Nelson

Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
File Photo of White House with South Lawn and Fountain

“A newly declassified document reveals FBI officials circulated sensational claims that … Trump ‘worked with’ Russia in 2016 and that his campaign was offered ‘financial compensation’ to drop U.S. sanctions, but didn’t disclose that the claims came from an opposition researcher for the Democrats. … former British spy Christopher Steele … detailed by the FBI in a classified annex to […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Russia, Seeking to Bolster its Influence, Steps Up Intervention in Libyan Conflict” – CNSNews/ Dimitri Simes

Arms Trade, Military Aid, Middle East, North Africa
U.S. Africa Command Screenshot from Defense Department Video of Russian Fighter Jet in Flight

“Russia is reportedly stepping up … involvement in the Libyan civil war … in recent years … a heated proxy conflict drawing in numerous foreign players … [with] a range of motives. … U.S. Africa Command issued a statement, … with satellite imagery, accusing Russia of deploying 14 fighter jets to Libya in support of the Wagner Group, a Russian […]

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RUSSIALINK: “Skripals Relocate to New Zealand Following Russian Poisoning Attempt – Reports” – Moscow Times

Assassinations, Beatings, Threats, Chemical Weapons, Biological Weapons, ChemBio
Artist Rendition of Barrel with Poison Symbol on It, Oozing Green Material

Former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia have relocated to New Zealand two years after suffering a near-fatal poisoning attempt that Britain pins on Russia […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “The Vindication of Michael Flynn; Justice drops its prosecution with new evidence about the FBI” – Wall Street Journal Editorial

JRL NewsBlog, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
Department of Justice Headquarters Building file photo, adapted from image at justice.gov

“… Justice … dropped its case against Michael Flynn … ‘with prejudice[]’ …. [E]vidence … undermines the credibility of James Comey’s FBI, special counsel Robert Mueller, and the entire ‘Russia collusion’ investigation. [R]etired Army general [Flynn] … initially pleaded guilty to making false statements … when two agents interviewed him at the White House shortly after he took over as […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Made men; The enduring grip of the men-and mindset-of the KGB” – The Economist

History, Soviet Union, JRL NewsBlog, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, Spies, Spy Allegations
Vladimir Putin file photo with VOA logo; screen shot from video still

A meticulous account of Vladimir Putin’s consolidation of power in Russia. “… as [Catherine] Belton shows [in Putin’s People], the continuity between the Soviet agency that nurtured … Putin as a young officer, and the security-based behemoths that bestride today’s Russia lies less in institutions than in mentality. … that believes anybody can be turned; that advantage can be sought […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Senate panel backs assessment that Russia interfered in 2016” – AP/ Mary Clare Jalonick, Eric Tucker

JRL NewsBlog, Spies, Spy Allegations, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
American Flag and Partial View of U.S. Capitol Dome, adapted from image at aoc.gov

“A [heavily redacted] bipartisan Senate report … confirms the U.S. intelligence community’s conclusions that Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election to sow chaos. Senators warned that it could happen again …. This is the fourth of five reports the Senate panel will release …. Previous reports reviewed Russian efforts to breach state election systems and manipulate social media, and […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Putin’s Long War Against American Science” – New York Times/ William J. Broad

Coronavirus, Covid-19 Pandemic, Europe, EU, Health, Epidemics, Substance Abuse, JRL NewsBlog, Media, Internet, Social Media, Television, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
File Image of Stylized Eye Surrounded by Binary Code

A decade of health disinformation promoted by President Vladimir Putin of Russia has sown wide confusion, hurt major institutions and encouraged the spread of deadly illnesses. “… the pandemic has swept the globe … accompanied by a dangerous surge of false information – an ‘infodemic,’ according to the [WHO] …. Analysts say … Putin … has played a principal role […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “AG Barr just signaled that things are about to get ugly for the Russia collusion team” – The Hill/ Kevin R. Brock

JRL NewsBlog, Spies, Spy Allegations, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
Department of Justice Headquarters Building file photo, adapted from image at justice.gov

“… The AG is logically being briefed on the progress and findings of U.S. Attorney John Durham’s investigation, which he commissioned to examine how the empty Russia collusion case got started in the first place and if it involved any wrongdoing on the part of the government. It is a safe bet that … Durham is collecting evidence beyond the […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “The Cold War roots of Putin’s digital-age intelligence strategy” – Washington Post/ Greg Myre

Spies, Spy Allegations, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
Stylized Artist's Depiction of Shadowy Figures in Dark Coats and Dark Hats, One Carrying a Briefcase

“Spying may be the world’s second-oldest profession, but … Putin has certainly given it a fresh makeover. To fully grasp what Russia did in the 2016 U.S. presidential election – and hopes to replicate … – … look back to the end of the Cold War. Putin was a young Soviet KGB officer in Dresden, East Germany … as the […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Barr Says Russia Probe Was Started ‘Without Basis'” – AP

JRL NewsBlog, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
Department of Justice Headquarters Building file photo, adapted from image at justice.gov

“Attorney General William Barr believes the Russia investigation that shadowed President Donald Trump for the first two years of his administration was started without any basis and amounted to an effort to ‘sabotage the presidency’ …. Barr, who has appointed a U.S. Attorney to scrutinize the origins of the Russia probe, said the Justice Department has evidence there was ‘something […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Beware of Bad Samaritans; China and Russia are sending medical aid to Italy and other coronavirus-stricken countries, but their motives aren’t so altruistic” – Foreign Policy/ Elisabeth Braw

China, Coronavirus, Covid-19 Pandemic, Europe, EU, Italy
Medical Symbol with Pole, Serpents, Wings, adapted from image at lanl.gov

“… ‘Of those Russian supplies, 80 percent were completely useless or of little use to Italy. In other words, the delivery was more like a pretext’ …. for example, equipment for bacteriological disinfection and a field laboratory for chemical-biological sterilization—not the ventilators and personal protective equipment so desperately needed …. The Kremlin’s aid is indeed rather unusual. The medical experts […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Can Russia Use the Coronavirus to Sow Discord Among Americans?” – New York Times/ Thomas Rid

JRL NewsBlog, Spies, Spy Allegations, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
File Photo of White House with South Lawn and Fountain

Conditions are ripe: The pandemic is sweeping right into campaign season, and Trump’s response is highly contested. “Close observers of Russian disinformation tactics in electoral interference have two big questions as the 2020 election approaches: How large is the appetite for escalation among Russian intelligence agencies this time around? And where was, and is, S.V.R., Russia’s counterpart to the C.I.A.? […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “What’s being done to stop Russia’s election interference?” – PBS

JRL NewsBlog, Media, Internet, Social Media, Television, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
Multilingual Polling Place Sign from U.S. Election Polling Place

“Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election has been well documented, and evidence shows Russia is again trying to undermine the 2020 election. But what is the federal government doing to stop it? Richard Hasen, founder of the Election Law Blog and author of “Election Meltdown: Dirty Tricks, Distrust, and the Threat to American Democracy,” joins Hari Sreenivasan to […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Russia Trying to Stoke U.S. Racial Tensions Before Election, Officials Say” – New York Times/ Julian E. Barnes, Adam Goldman

JRL NewsBlog, Media, Internet, Social Media, Television, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
File Photo of White House with South Lawn and Fountain

Russian intelligence services are trying to incite violence by white supremacist groups to sow chaos in the United States, American intelligence officials said “The Russian government has stepped up efforts to inflame racial tensions in the United States as part of its bid to influence November’s presidential election, including trying to incite violence by white supremacist groups and to stoke […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “U.S. intelligence briefer appears to have overstated assessment of 2020 Russian interference” – CNN/ Jeremy Diamond, Jake Tapper, Zachary Cohen

JRL NewsBlog, Spies, Spy Allegations, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
Vladirmir Putin and Donald Trump Sitting in Chairs with Flags Behind, adapted from image at whitehouse.gov

“The U.S. intelligence community’s top election security official …, Shelby Pierson, told lawmakers on the House Intelligence Committee that Russia is interfering in the 2020 election with the goal of helping … Trump get reelected. [But while t]he US intelligence community has assessed that Russia is interfering in the 2020 election and has separately assessed that Russia views Trump as […]

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RUSSIALINK: “Alexander Galitsky: From Soviet Engineer to Libertarian Investor; The father of the Russian internet tells The Moscow Times he wants to kill all borders and warns that society is falling behind technology.” – Moscow Times

Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Media, Internet, Social Media, Television, Spies, Spy Allegations
File Image of Stylized Eye Surrounded by Binary Code

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Jake Cordell – February 21, 2020) “If you ask me, I would say ‘kill borders’ – they don’t need to exist at all,” says Alexander Galitsky, pushing his closed notebook to the side as he warms to his topic. “All these borders and all these rules exist only for politicians. We don’t have borders with […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Ex-MI6 spy ‘fabricated dossier on Trump and prostitutes'” – Sunday Times (UK)/ Tim Shipman

JRL NewsBlog, Spies, Spy Allegations, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
File Photo of British Parliament Building, Big Ben, Thames, adapted from image at loc.gov

“The dossier on Donald Trump … by … former MI6 spy Christopher Steele …accus[ing Trump] … of being compromised by Russia, was a … ‘fabrication,’ according to … leading British spy writer[] Nigel West [who] … revealed he was hired by a … Republican law firm to assess the dossier in 2017 and concluded that large parts of it were […]

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Musings II … The “Intelligence Community,” “Russian Interference,” and Due Diligence

Spies, Spy Allegations, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
DNI Seal and Smaller Seals of Agencies Related to DNI

Did the U.S. “Intelligence Community” judge that Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election? (Jackmatlock.com – Jack Matlock – June 29, 2018) Most commentators seem to think so. Every news report I have read of the planned meeting of Presidents Trump and Putin in July refers to “Russian interference” as a fact and asks whether the matter will be discussed. […]

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AUDIO: JRL NEWSWATCH: “In New Book, Journalist Alleges Russian Links To Mysterious Deaths Abroad” – NPR/ Dave Davies

Assassinations, Beatings, Threats, Spies, Spy Allegations
File Photo of Kremlin Tower, St. Basil's, Red Square at Night

“In 2006, as Russia was preparing to host the G-8 summit in St. Petersburg, its parliament passed a law legalizing extrajudicial killings of accused ‘extremists’ abroad. … [Journalist Helen] Blake maintains that Russia subsequently engaged in an assassination program that targeted exiled Russian oligarchs, security officials and others critical of the Kremlin. … Her new book From Russia with Blood, […]

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Maria Butina’s New Job? Maybe Advocating For Other Russians Held In U.S. Prisons

Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Human Rights, Spies, Spy Allegations, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
Stylized Russian and U.S. Flags, 200, 1807-2007

(Article text ©2019 RFE/RL, Inc., Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty – rferl.org – Mike Eckel – Nov. 19, 2019 – article text also appeared at rferl.org/a/maria-butina-s-new-job-russians-u-s-prisons/30281107.html) During and after the 15-month prison sentence she served after admitting to working as an unregistered foreign agent, Maria Butina complained about both her sentence — “this is absolutely absurd” — and her treatment in […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Top Secret Russian Unit Seeks to Destabilize Europe, Security Officials Say” – New York Times/ Michael Schwirtz

Assassinations, Beatings, Threats, Chemical Weapons, Biological Weapons, ChemBio, Europe, EU, JRL NewsBlog, Spies, Spy Allegations, Terrorism
Stylized Artist's Depiction of Shadowy Figures in Dark Coats and Dark Hats, One Carrying a Briefcase

“… a destabilization campaign in Moldova … the poisoning of an arms dealer in Bulgaria …. a thwarted coup in Montenegro. … an attempt to assassinate a former Russian spy in Britain using a nerve agent. … Western security officials have … concluded that these operations, and potentially many others, are part of a coordinated and ongoing campaign to destabilize […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “All Roads Lead to Mueller; The Russia collusion morass threatens to spoil the Democrats’ impeachment drama” – Wall Street Journal/ Holman W. Jenkins, Jr.

JRL NewsBlog, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
American Flag and Partial View of U.S. Capitol Dome, adapted from image at aoc.gov

“… Numerous press accounts claimed falsely, even with the evidence in hand, that … Trump … asked for a ‘favor’ from Ukraine’s president in the form of ‘dirt’ on Joe Biden. The plain words of the available transcript show the ‘favor’ he sought was cooperation with the Justice Department’s perfectly proper investigation of the 2016 election. Now come reports … […]

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RUSSIALINK: “Kremlin denies that man identified by U.S. media as spy and defector ever worked at Presidential Affairs Directorate” – Interfax

Media, Internet, Social Media, Television, Spies, Spy Allegations, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
Stylized Artist's Depiction of Shadowy Figures in Dark Coats and Dark Hats, One Carrying a Briefcase

MOSCOW. Sept 10 (Interfax) – Oleg Smolenkov, who some media have described as a former high-ranking Russian official who spied and ultimately defected for the United States, has never served at the Russian Presidential Affairs Directorate, Yelena Krylova, the directorate’s spokesperson, told Interfax. “Such a person hasn’t worked for us,” Krylova said when asked by Interfax to comment on the […]

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Protest technologies: can innovation change the balance of power in Russia? Russian civil society is becoming more effective with the help of technology. But how far does the solidarity created online go?

Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Media, Internet, Social Media, Television, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, Science, Technology, Engineering, Spies, Spy Allegations
File Image of Laptop Computer, Tables and Mobile Device, adapted from image at energy.gov

(Opendemocracy.net – Gregory Asmolov – August 23, 2019) Gregory Asmolov is a Leverhulme Early Career Fellow at King’s College London’s Russia Institute. He researches the role of information technology in crisis situations. Crisis situations, whether natural disasters, armed conflicts or political protests are often accompanied by a cycle of technical innovation. And if it’s a question of political conflict, each […]

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Mission: Impossible? Ukraine’s New President Ventures To Reform Powerful State Spy Agency [Excerpt]

Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Spies, Spy Allegations, Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian War
File Photo of Zelenskiy Extending Handshake, adapted from image at a subdomain of senate.gov

(Article text ©2019 RFE/RL, Inc., Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty – rferl.org – Christopher Miller – KYIV, Aug. 17, 2019 – full article text appeared at rferl.org/a/ukraine-zelenskiy-reform-state-spy-agency-sbu-/30114589.html) When Ukraine’s domestic security service revealed last year that it had faked the death of a dissident Russian journalist to expose a team of hit men allegedly hired by Moscow to destabilize the country […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Cold War in Cyberspace; Western military hackers have penetrated Russian targets, from tech giants to the nationwide power grid, reports say” – Transitions Online/ Ky Krauthamer

Cybersecurity, JRL NewsBlog, Media, Internet, Social Media, Television, Spies, Spy Allegations, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
File Image of Stylized Eye Surrounded by Binary Code

“… a U.S. Senate report on Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election … relayed intelligence assessments that Russian government hackers scanned electoral systems in all 50 states, looking for weaknesses …. Russian meddling reportedly continued as the 2018 midterm elections neared … [DHS indicated that there were] ‘numerous actors … regularly targeting election infrastructure, likely for different purposes, including […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Some thoughts on the security side of Saturday’s Moscow crackdown” – In Moscow’s Shadows/ Mark Galeotti

Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, JRL NewsBlog, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Aerial View of Kremlin and Environs

“… 1. There seems to have been something of a split between the police and the National Guard. …  2. … gas and guns were absent. … an entirely old school shield-and-baton operation …. [without] even … armed snatch squads … behind the lines as backup, suggesting [authorities] knew … they weren’t going to face serious trouble …. 3. Who […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “NSA Forms Cybersecurity Directorate Under More Assertive U.S. Effort; Anne Neuberger, tapped as head, warns against ‘not engaging in the fight'” – Wall Street Journal/ Dustin Volz

Cybersecurity, JRL NewsBlog, Spies, Spy Allegations, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
File Image of Stylized Eye Surrounded by Binary Code

“[NSA] will create a cybersecurity directorate later this year as part of a wider effort to more closely align the agency’s offensive and defensive operations, U.S. officials said. Anne Neuberger has been tapped to lead the new directorate, slated to become operational Oct. 1. The creation of the directorate and selection of … Neuberger coincide with a broader fusion of […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “‘Accountability’? The Mueller Hearing Is How Trump Escapes” – The New Yorker/ Susan B. Glasser

Cybersecurity, JRL NewsBlog, Spies, Spy Allegations, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations

“After so much waiting – a hundred and twenty-four days, to be precise, since Robert Mueller’s report was delivered – perhaps it was bound to be a disappointment. Still, three hours after the former special counsel took the witness stand on Wednesday to testify about his investigation of President Trump and Russian interference in the 2016 election … MSNBC anchor […]

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RUSSIALINK: “Ukraine Seizes Russian Tanker Over Kerch Incident, Frees Crew” – Moscow Times

Military, Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian War
Map of Ukraine, Including Crimea, and Neighbors, Including Russia

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – July 25, 2019) Ukraine has seized a Russian oil tanker in the Ukrainian port of Izmail over a November 2018 incident between the two countries in a strategic strait near Crimea. The Ukrainian security services (SBU) said that the tanker had been involved in the Kerch Strait incident in which Russia captured a Ukrainian ship […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Mueller gave a warning on Russian meddling. Congress – and America – should listen” – Washington Post

Cybersecurity, JRL NewsBlog, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations

“… Mueller said Russia’s interference is continuing and will be repeated in the 2020 presidential election. ‘Over the course of my career, I have seen a number of challenges to our democracy,’ … Mueller said. ‘The Russian government’s effort to interfere in our election is among the most serious.’ He added: ‘They’re doing it as we sit here, and they […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Russia in the Gray Zone” – Aspen Institute/ Kathleen Hicks

Cybersecurity, JRL NewsBlog, Military, Spies, Spy Allegations, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
File Photo of Kremlin Tower, St. Basil's, Red Square at Night

“… Russia is waging campaigns … [to influence world affairs with a] significant number of … tactics … [falling] between routine statecraft and direct and open warfare …. Americans … familiar with Russia’s disinformation efforts in the United States and its use of ‘little green men’ in Ukraine … may be less attuned to stepped-up Russian political and economic coercion […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “It’s been more than a month since Ivan Golunov was framed, charged, and released. What’s happened to his story since?” – Meduza

Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, JRL NewsBlog, Media, Internet, Social Media, Television, Spies, Spy Allegations
FSB Building file photo

“… thirty leading Russian and international news outlets … published the report Ivan Golunov was working on … before his arrest. Journalists from seven Russian media sources had already begun working to complete the report …. Golunov’s exposé … shed light on corruption and FSB ties in the Moscow funeral industry. … [and] includes allegations of misconduct committed by intelligence […]

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Putin has Always Opposed Liberalism, Moscow Commentators Say

History, Soviet Union, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, Spies, Spy Allegations
File Photo of Kremlin Tower, St. Basil's, Red Square at Night

(Paul Goble – Window on Eurasia – Staunton, June 29, 2019) Many in the West were taken aback by Vladimir Putin’s attacks on liberalism in his recent Financial Times interview, but two Russian commentators have pointed out what should have been obvious to everyone: Putin has been fighting against what he defines as liberal values his entire professional life. Petr […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “The new musketeers; The improbable careers of Vladimir Putin’s bodyguards; Proximity is power” – The Economist

Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, Regions, Cities, Municipalities, Spies, Spy Allegations
Stylized Artist's Depiction of Shadowy Figures in Dark Coats and Dark Hats, One Carrying a Briefcase

“… Putin has become closer than most to the men of Russia’s Federal Protective Service (fso). Since 2016, four fso officers from his personal guard have been appointed regional governors …. A fifth became head of the newly formed National Guard. … [Alexey] Dyumin was elevated in 2013 to a post in the defence ministry … command[ing] special forces … […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Russian internet giant Yandex takes rare stand against state snooping” – Christian Science Monitor/ Fred Weir

Cybersecurity, JRL NewsBlog, Media, Internet, Social Media, Television, Spies, Spy Allegations
File Image of Laptop Computer, Tables and Mobile Device, adapted from image at energy.gov

“The primacy of Russia’s security state is beginning to crimp the global growth of the country’s information technology sector. That could foretell hard choices for the government over what it will prioritize.” “Russia has always been some version of a national security state, in which individuals, companies, and other group interests are expected to unquestioningly submit to the needs and […]

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Fred Weir: “[Re NYT ‘Potential Clash Over Secrets Looms Between Justice Dept. and C.I.A.’]” – facebook/fred.weir

Media, Internet, Social Media, Television, Spies, Spy Allegations, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
File Photo of Kremlin Tower, St. Basil's, Red Square at Night

(Fred Weir, Christian Science Monitor Correspondent – Facebook post – May 30, 2019 – facebook.com/fred.weir/posts/10218476254873823) “Here is one of those stories, in this case a huge NYT exclusive, that make my jaw drop with disbelief. I don’t know much about the intelligence biz — it’s not really my beat — but I do know that there is virtually no chance […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “American Hustle; What Mueller Found – and Didn’t Find – About Trump and Russia” – Foreign Affairs/ Stephen Kotkin

Cybersecurity, Media, Internet, Social Media, Television, Spies, Spy Allegations, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
File Photo of White House with South Lawn and Fountain

“… Russian intelligence organizations … could manage entirely on their own to hack e-mail accounts, line up cutouts such as WikiLeaks to disseminate damaging material, impersonate Americans on social media, and study elementary research available in open sources about battleground states and swing voters. * * * … The sections of the report that treat what Russia intended and achieved […]

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