WASHINGTON, January 28 (RIA Novosti) – A senior U.S. lawmaker said Tuesday that she has seen no evidence that intelligence leaker Edward Snowden was working with Russia when he disclosed troves of documents on classified US spying programs. “I have no information to that effect. I have never seen anything to that effect,” Senator Dianne Feinstein, chairwoman of the Senate […]
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(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Gevorg Mirzayan, special to RBTH – January 23, 2014) Russian experts say Obama’s initiatives to reform the U.S. surveillance do not go far enough. President Barack Obama has announced reforms at the National Security Agency. He unveiled several changes, which he believes will redress the balance between civil liberties and the need to […]
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ATHENS. Oct 30 (Interfax) – Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov believes most of the key world political leaders were aware of being tapped by U.S. special services. “I even feel somewhat bored to comment on this. In fact, I am sure that everyone knew everything or at least had such suspicions. And all this fuss is being made now just […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Andrew McChesney – October 24, 2013) Moscow has angrily denied that one of its diplomats in Washington tried to recruit young Americans to spy for Russian intelligence agencies, calling the allegations a “horror story” reminiscent of the Cold War. The spy flap centering around the 59-year-old head of a Kremlin-funded cultural exchange program raises the […]
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(Interfax – MOSCOW, July 16, 2013) A decision on granting asylum to ex-CIA employee Edward Snowden will be made within three months, a highly-placed official with the Federal Migration Service told Interfax on Tuesday. “A decision will be made in compliance with the legal timeframe, within three months,” he said. Federal Migration Service spokeswoman Zalina Kornilova has confirmed to Interfax […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Ivan Nechepurenko – July 2, 2013) President Vladimir Putin on Monday reiterated his stance that former U.S. intelligence analyst Edward Snowden needs to choose a country to seek asylum in and leave, amid reports that the American fugitive had officially applied for safe haven in Russia and more than a dozen other countries. In only […]
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(Interfax – June 28, 2013) Russian Human Rights Commissioner Vladimir Lukin does not think Russia should grant political refuge to CIS intelligence leaker Edward Snowden, and he sees his emergence at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport as not accidental. “Should we grant him political refuge? I can’t answer this question by saying ‘Yes’ or ‘No.’ I have doubts,” Lukin told Interfax on […]
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(RIA Novosti – Karin Zeitvogel – WASHINGTON, June 26, 2013) The Kremlin has practiced a homegrown technique called disinformation for centuries, including using it to slander the United States, fan the flames of anti-Semitism and convince “much of the world” that US government was behind the assassination of President John F. Kennedy 50 years ago, a new book by […]
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(Interfax – ST. PETERSBURG. June 26, 2013) An ad hoc commission of the Federation Council commission will investigate whether foreign security services have been really monitoring the private life of citizens in social networks, Federation Council Chairperson Valentina Matviyenko said. “We have set up a working group, a commission entrusted with holding parliamentary inquiries. It will find out whether human […]
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(RIA Novosti – MOSCOW, June 26, 2013) Fugitive former CIA employee Edward Snowden, who is wanted by the United States for leaking state secrets, is not collaborating with Russia’s Federal Security Service, the FSB, anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks said on its Twitter feed Wednesday. “Mr. Snowden is not being ‘debriefed’ by the FSB. He is well, and WikiLeaks’ Harrison is […]
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(Moscow News – themoscownews.com – Natalia Antonova, Acting Editor-in-Chief – June 24, 2013) Whatever you think about whistleblower Edward Snowden’s future plans (or, indeed, his whereabouts) – you may be falling for a neat trick all of the same. While all of us have been busy discussing Snowden – why he did what he did, his personality, whether or not […]
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(RIA Novosti – MOSCOW, June 26, 2013) US whistleblower Edward Snowden, stuck in a Russian airport since Sunday, appeared to have a transit visa but even if he does not, he may get away with just a small fine, a Russian border guards spokesman told RIA Novosti on Wednesday. “Looks like he’s got a visa, that’s why he’s […]
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(Interfax -MOSCOW. June 26, 2013) Alexei Pushkov, the head of the State Duma committee on international affairs, considers former CIA official Edward Snowden, who is wanted by the U.S. authorities, a dissident. “Assange, Manning and Snowden were not spies and released secret information because of their convictions, not for money. They are new dissidents, fighters against the system,” Pushkov said […]
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(RIA Novosti – MOSCOW, June 25, 2013) Russia said on Tuesday that Edward Snowden, the former CIA employee wanted by the US for leaking state secrets, had not crossed the Russian border. Snowden, who leaked details of a US surveillance program to newspapers in the US and UK earlier this month, was widely reported to have flown from Hong […]
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(RIA Novosti – Carl Schreck, WASHINGTON, June 24, 2013) Former U.S. intelligence contractor Edward Snowden’s reported sojourn in Moscow this week is the latest in a series of cases in recent years to rattle U.S.-Russia ties over cooperation in politically tinged criminal investigations. “Both sides have tended to regard as a purely criminal investigation [what] the other side thinks […]
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(Russia Beyond the Headlines/Interfax – rbth.ru – Interfax, Combined report – June 23, 2013) Russian officials are puzzled in what country former CIA officer Edward Snowden is going to apply for political asylum. Amid media reports about former CIA officer Edward Snowden’s arrival to Moscow, some Russian officials comment on the consequences of granting political asylum to him. Chairman of […]
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(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Igor Rozin, based on Interfax – June 24, 2013) Russian experts ask how U.S.-Russia relations will be affected by the Snowden case. While the U.S. demands that Russia detain former C.I.A. agent Edward Snowden, Russian experts ask how U.S.-Russia relations will be affected by the case. Russian human rights ombudsman Vladimir Lukin argues […]
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(Interfax – June 24, 2013) Russian law enforcers have no reasons so far to detain and subsequently extradite former CIA employee Edward Snowden who disclosed information about the operations of U.S. special services, a well-informed Moscow source told Interfax on Monday. “Snowden has not committed any crimes in the territory of Russia. Neither have Russian law enforcement bodies received any […]
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(Interfax – MOSCOW, June 19, 2013) The leak of personal data requested by U.S. security services will be discussed at bilateral meetings of Russia and the United States, Russian Foreign Ministry Representative for Human Rights Konstantin Dolgov said. “We have questions to ask the United States and these issues will not be overlooked in bilateral contacts with the U.S. This […]
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(RIA Novosti – June 17, 2013) The revelations about eavesdropping on foreign delegations during a G20 summit in the UK in 2009 could seriously affect international relations, a Russian senator said on 17 June, although another believes they will have only a limited impact. “The Russia-US reset was called in 2009, while at the same time US intelligence was listening […]
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(RIA Novosti – MOSCOW, June 17, 2013) There would have been few technical difficulties for US spies wanting to listen to the secret communications of then-Russian President Dmitry Medvedev during the 2009 G20 summit in London, a former head of Russia’s security services said Monday. A report detailing the surveillance of Medvedev by British and US intelligence organizations was […]
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(Interfax, combined report – June 17, 2013) The Russian Federal Protective Service is taking necessary measures to ensure confidentiality of communication between state leaders, the service told Interfax. “The Federal Protective Service is taking every necessary measure to provide the appropriate level of confidentiality of information for top-ranking officials of the country,” service spokesman Sergei Devyatov said on Monday. “Protection […]
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(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Mark Galeotti, special to RBTH – May 27, 2013) New York University’s Professor of Global Affairs Mark Galeotti reflects on the long-term consequences of the recent spy scandal and whether it will affect U.S.-Russia cooperation on security during the 2014 Olympics. The Moscow spy case, with its cheap wigs, compasses and cash, initially […]
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(Window on Eurasia – Paul Goble – Staunton, May 16, 2013) The way in which media controlled by the Russian government have played up the recent spy case makes one feel that the country has “returned to the 1980s model of the USSR,” an Russian opposition figure says, but the briefest of reflections leads to the conclusion that the regime […]
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(RIA Novosti – MOSCOW, April 26, 2013) Anatoly Chubais, who oversaw Russia’s mass privatization drive in the 1990s, said on Friday he had always treated allegations that his US advisers at the time were operatives of the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) as rumors – until President Vladimir Putin said so out loud yesterday. “I often heard those claims and […]
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(RIA Novosti – MOSCOW, April 25, 2013) Officers of the United States’ Central Intelligence Agency operated as consultants to Anatoly Chubais, the Russian deputy prime minister who oversaw the privatization of the country’s economy in the early 1990’s, President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday. “In Chubais’ entourage, it has now turned out, CIA officers worked as consultants,” Putin said […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Nikolaus von Twickel – November 20, 2012) Although much-debated amendments for nongovernmental organizations go into force this Wednesday, do not expect foreign-funded NGOs to rush to re-register as “foreign agents” with the Justice Ministry. Prominent rights activists have announced they would boycott the new law, which they have lambasted as imposing an insulting title that makes […]
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WASHINGTON November 14 (By Suleiman Wali for RIA Novosti) – A controversial new law that expands the definition of treason in Russia is being decried by critics in the United States as the Kremlin’s continuing effort to return the country to a “darker criminal code.” “Over the past six months, a series of laws have been passed in Russia that […]
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MOSCOW, November 14 (Marc Bennetts, RIA Novosti) A controversial law on state treason that critics fear could be used to stamp out political dissent came into force in Russia on Wednesday, two days after President Vladimir Putin told human rights workers he was ready to “review” it. The law, initiated by the Federal Security Service (FSB), and signed by […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Natalya Krainova – November 14, 2012) Valentin Danilov, a Siberian physicist jailed on charges of espionage and treason amid a spying frenzy that swept the country in President Vladimir Putin’s first term, was granted parole Tuesday and could be freed next week. Human rights campaigners praised the ruling, saying Danilov should never have been imprisoned […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Alexander Bratersky – November 1, 2012) The Federation Council on Wednesday passed amendments to the law on treason that could make it possible for law enforcement officials to target people collaborating with international organizations. The changes, which were passed by the State Duma earlier this month, were approved by 138 of 166 senators, despite appeals […]
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