“A secret-service overlord’s delusional outlook becomes the party line in Russia—with global implications.” “… Nikolai Patrushev … second-most powerful man in Moscow … [c]urrently … head of Russia’s Security Council … has been a colleague of … Putin’s since … the Leningrad KGB in the 1970s and is now the president’s confidant and top adviser. A general of the army […]
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“Intelligence sources are concerned about the country, which is surrounded by Italy” “… San Marino has long had close ties to Russia … explained by … its traditional neutrality. It did not … impos[e] sanctions after [Russia’s 2014] annexation of Crimea … [F]ive years later … the microstate’s then foreign minister invited … Sergei Lavrov, to … an official visit. […]
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“If true, the hack would be the first-ever disruption of a U.S. water system by Russia Others like Iran and China have already been accused, and feds are investigating A hacking group allied with the Russian government took credit for the scandal” “Russian hackers claiming to be backed by the Kremlin are believed to have remotely accessed a … water […]
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“… At the start of the war, when Ukraine lost access to its deep-water ports in the Black Sea, the EU temporarily exempted Ukrainian lorry drivers from a permit system …. upset[ting] Polish drivers, who had dominated .. local freight …. [A] suspension of import duties and quotas on Ukrainian farm goods, produced by larger, more efficient outfits, posed competition […]
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“… Moscow’s initial plan was to have … agents infiltrate the highest levels of Ukrainian society ahead of its invasion and … seize power from within. … [M]ost … were … weeded out by Ukrainian law enforcement or fled … after Russia’s invasion. … [Today] there are fewer Ukrainians with pro-Russian sympathies, especially in positions of influence, willing to help […]
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“In an unusual move, U.S. officials shared highly specific information about a terrorist plot with an adversary country” “More than two weeks before terrorists staged a bloody attack in the suburbs of Moscow, the U.S. government told Russian officials that Crocus City Hall, a popular concert venue, was a potential target, according to U.S. officials familiar with the matter. The […]
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(Moscow Times – April 2, 2024) Russia’s spy chief said Tuesday that U.S. warnings of a possible extremist attack were too broad to have prevented the deadly concert hall attack outside Moscow late last month. “The Federal Security Service [FSB] received some information from the U.S. intelligence services that such a thing was unfortunately possible,” Sergei Naryshkin, who heads Russia’s […]
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“A just-published investigation … has unearthed startling new information about … Havana syndrome, or ‘Anomalous Health Incidents’ … unexplained bouts of painful disorientation [impacting] U.S. diplomats and intelligence officers …. The new information suggests but does not prove that Russia’s military intelligence agency is responsible. Earlier, agencies in the U.S. intelligence community had concluded … ‘it is very unlikely a […]
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(Russia Matters – russiamatters.org – Simon Saradzhyan) One of the multiple factors that propelled the then relatively unknown apparatchik Vladimir Putin to the pinnacle of power in Russia in late 1999/early 2000, was his ability to convince many members of the Russian elite and the public that he was the kind of leader who not only promised to protect them […]
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“Moscow has found better ways to conceal influence operations that spread arguments for isolationism, officials and experts say.” “Russia has intensified … online efforts to derail military funding for Ukraine in the United States and Europe, largely by using harder-to-trace technologies to amplify arguments for isolationism ahead of the U.S. elections, according to disinformation experts and intelligence assessments. … [I]ntelligence […]
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“… [T]he glaring failure of Putin’s security state to prevent the gruesome assault — despite the U.S. warning of March 7 that a strike on a concert hall could be imminent — may endanger the Russian government’s social contract with its people. The attack, which underscored the country’s continuing vulnerability to terrorist acts, came just days after Putin’s victory in […]
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“Authoritarian system promised security. Now the Kremlin confronts Islamist terrorism at home and a costly war abroad.” “Last week, … Putin dismissed American warnings of an imminent terrorist attack and urged leaders of the country’s security services to focus on catching Ukrainian spies instead. Three days later, Islamic State gunmen rampaged through a concert hall outside Moscow, killing more than […]
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Senate Select Committee on Intelligence March 11, 2024 Director Avril D. Haines Office of the Director of National Intelligence 2024 Annual Threat Assessment of the U.S. Intelligence Community [Excerpt] [PDF: intelligence.senate.gov/sites/default/files/hearings/unclassified_2024_ata_report_0.pdf] RUSSIA Regional and Global Activities Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine has resulted in enormous damage at home and abroad, but Russia remains a resilient and capable adversary across […]
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“For more than a decade, the United States has nurtured a secret intelligence partnership with Ukraine that is now critical for both countries in countering Russia.” “… [T]he intelligence partnership between Washington and Kyiv is a linchpin of Ukraine’s ability to defend itself. The C.I.A. and other … [U.S.] agencies provide intelligence for targeted missile strikes, track Russian troop movements […]
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“… But it wasn’t getting bogged down in historical minutiae that most hurt Putin’s case. He undermined his claim to be ready for practical diplomacy by endlessly parading his ethno-nationalist obsessions. And not all of these were matters of distant history. Blaming Poland rather than Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin for starting World War II was only the most egregious […]
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“… In a world in which the United States’ principal rivals — China and Russia — are led by personalistic autocrats operating within small and insular circles of advisers, gaining insight into leaders’ intentions is both more important and more difficult than ever. Just as 9/11 ushered in a new era for the CIA, so did Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. […]
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(Russia Matters – russiamatters.org) 6 Things to Know The Pentagon has failed to properly track at least $1 billion in weapons that the U.S. has provided to Ukraine since the beginning of the Russian invasion, according to a report by the Defense Department’s inspector general, FT reports. The high rate of weapons that were missing or otherwise immediately unaccounted for in government […]
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“Roman Chervinsky, a colonel in Ukraine’s special operations forces, was integral to the brazen sabotage operation, say people familiar with planning.” “… Roman Chervinsky, a decorated 48-year-old colonel who served in Ukraine’s special operations forces, [reportedly] was the ‘coordinator’ of … Nord Stream [sabotage] operation … logistics and support for a six-person team that rented a sailboat under false identities […]
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“A lawyer for Donald Trump has told a London judge that the ex-president plans to prove that a ‘shocking and scandalous’ report by a former British spy was wrong and harmed his reputation” “… Trump has sued [Orbis Business Intelligence,] founded by Christopher Steele, who created a dossier in 2016 …[with] rumors and uncorroborated allegations about Trump …. Trump allegedly […]
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“… [DIA Director Trent] Maul … notes that Sergei Surovikin, the Russian general who built [Russia’s] defensive lines [in Ukraine], and Yevgeny Prigozhin, whose Wagner Group mercenaries achieved Russia’s most tangible gains of the past year, are both off the battlefield — the former sacked and the latter dead …. [] Maul … says … Ukraine’s recent successes are ‘significant’ […]
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7 Things to Know G-20 leaders began arriving in New Delhi on Sept. 8 for their annual gathering as negotiators struggled to bridge differences over the war in Ukraine in the group’s joint statement. While it remains unclear whether a final consensus can be reached, China appears to have dropped its initial opposition to language on Ukraine and Russia, according […]
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“[According to] General Mark Milley, … Chairman[,] … Joint Chiefs of Staff[,] … Ukraine’s forces have … 30 to 45 days left … before … fall weather … stop[s] their advance. … ‘There’s still heavy fighting going on,’ Milley said, adding that Ukraine was ‘still plugging away with steady progress.’ … [W]ith progress slow, and the counteroffensive launched later than […]
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“Its agents have become expert in dark revenge. But some worry a clear strategy is absent.” “… Over 18 months of war, dozens of people like [Yevhen ] Yunakov have been targeted in clinical operations across occupied Ukraine and inside Russia itself. They have been shot, blown up, hanged and even, on occasion, poisoned with doctored brandy. Ukraine is tight-lipped […]
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“CIA Director William Burns said that a recent uprising by a mercenary group in Russia exposed ‘signs of weakness’ in … Putin’s regime and contributed to growing discontent among Russians. … The spy chief said this turbulence in Russia, and growing disaffection with the war in Ukraine was creating fertile ground for the CIA to recruit Russians to spy on […]
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“… For an intelligence chief running Ukraine’s spy operations during war with Russia, Kyrylo Budanov, 37, has built up an unusually public profile … to get his message out and … menace Russia from afar. These days, a spy boss cannot stay in the shadows, he says. … In parts of his interview … he said … mutinying Russian mercenaries […]
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“Long focused on security, the Russian resident is rewarding loyalty among the ruling elite and showering his most important constituency — the men with guns — with cash.” “… Putin appears to be scrambling to coup-proof his system once more. … rewarding loyalty among the ruling elite and showering his most important constituency — the men with guns — with […]
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“The head of Ukraine’s main intelligence directorate (GUR)[, Major-General Kyrylo Budanov,] has said … Russia is on the brink of civil war …. [He said that] [h]is spy agency examined a secret internal study by Russia’s Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVD)… [that] focused on levels of public support for the [Wagner Group] mutiny … a direct challenge to … Putin’s […]
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(Russia Matters – russiamatters.org) The U.S. has included cluster munitions in its latest $800 million package of military aid to Ukraine. More than 100 countries have signed onto the Convention on Cluster Munitions, vowing to never use them, but the U.S. is not one of them. A significant percentage of the submunitions often fail to detonate, effectively turning them into […]
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(Voice of America – voanews.com – Jeff Seldin – July 1, 2023) If you logged onto social media over the past few months, you may have seen it – a video of the Russian Embassy on a gray, overcast day in Washington with the sounds of passing cars and buses in the background. A man’s voice asks in English, “Do […]
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“… 37-year-old General [Kyrylo] Budanov, a former commando, is Ukraine’s youngest-ever spymaster. … [A]rchitect of increasingly brazen operations within Russia, he is also a big irritant for the Kremlin. Aides say there have been ‘at least ten’ attempts on his life. … Western partners describe [him] as a straightforward and incorruptible player. He is now [reportedly] privy to more American […]
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“Ukraine’s domestic security service[, The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU),] said on Friday it had intercepted a telephone call proving a Russian ‘sabotage group’ blew up the Kakhovka hydroelectric station and dam in southern Ukraine. … [The explosion] unleashed mass flooding, forcing thousands of residents to flee and wreaking environmental havoc. [The SBU] posted a one-and-a-half minute audio clip on […]
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“The United States learned of a Ukrainian plan to attack the Nord Stream natural gas pipelines three months before they were damaged … The Washington Post reported … citing [online] leaked information …. [washingtonpost.com/national-security/2023/06/06/nord-stream-pipeline-explosion-ukraine-russia/] The CIA [reportedly] learned last June, through a European spy agency, that a six-person team of Ukrainian special operations forces intended to blow up the Russia-to-Germany […]
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(Moscow Times – June 1, 2023) As many as 30% of employees in the Russian presidential administration continue to use iPhones for personal communication, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Thursday. Peskov’s comments came after Russia’s Federal Security Services (FSB) announced that it had detected “anomalies” in some iPhones in Russia caused by “malicious software” that it linked to “surveillance operations […]
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“If the crime is promoting distrust in institutions, the evidence is strongest against the FBI and media.” “… In response to fake and possibly planted Russian intelligence, the FBI improperly and insubordinately meddled in the Clinton email case (as per the inspector general) in a way that accidentally helped elect [] Trump. This story, still hidden in a classified appendix […]
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“… [Recently] two militias … oppos[ing] … Putin — the Russian Volunteer Corps and the Free Russia Legion — claimed to have ‘liberated’ several border villages [in the Russian region of Belgorod]. The groups appear to be based in Ukraine …. [and] Russia says … the militias are a front for the Ukrainian army; [but] Ukraine insists … they are […]
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“Special counsel John Durham’s report on the Russia collusion fiasco deserves more attention … [C]ritics are dismissing it for one big reason: The 306 pages describe the great failure of original special counsel Robert Mueller. … [who] hunted for evidence that [] Trump was a Russian mole but couldn’t find it. Now the Durham report makes clear … the Mueller […]
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“Recent Pentagon leaks reveal that the shadow war between Russia and the U.S. over Ukraine is becoming more overt — and far more dangerous.” “On the eastern wall of the Kremlin, Spasskaya Tower rises high above the old gray paving stones of Red Square. Beneath its hipped roof are the ‘Kremlin Chimes,’ a 500-year-old clock with four broad 20-foot faces. […]
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“The deluge of satellite imagery, drone footage, social media and smart phones has generated enough information to support any story you want to tell about what’s happening on the ground.” “… [T]wo relatively new contributions to the transparency of the Russo-Ukrainian conflict are widely available satellite imagery and social network posts. … [S]atellite data from private Western providers has lent […]
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“Russian-language video on Telegram aims at Russians ‘on the fence’” The Wall Street Journal reports: “The [CIA’s] semipublic campaign to convince Russians disaffected by the war in Ukraine to spy for Washington has borne fruit, CIA officials said … as the spy agency released a new video aimed directly at Russian government officials. Since last fall, the CIA and [FBI] […]
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(Russia Matters – russiamatters.org) Moscow blaming West at every turn: Vladimir Putin attacked the West on May 9, claiming that Russia’s future depended on the outcome of the war in Ukraine, as he attended a slimmed-down military parade to mark victory over Nazi Germany in WWII, MT reports. “A real war has once again been unleashed against our motherland,” he […]
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“The Biden administration [reportedly] is scouring the globe for offers that could entice Russia to release two wrongfully detained Americans, Evan Gershkovich and Paul Whelan …. The U.S. [reportedly] does not currently have any high-level Russian spies in its custody … [and therefore is] approaching allied countries [holding] Russian spies …. U.S. officials [reportedly] have also been surveying allies without […]
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“… It seems … [Joe] Biden … [on election day] owed thanks not only to a cabal of former intelligence officials, but [also] to the [CIA][,] … [according to the] [U.S.] House committees detailing the origins of the October 2020 disinformation letter about Hunter Biden’s laptop. … Joe Biden’s campaign helped engineer a statement from 51 former U.S. spies that […]
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“The stark conclusion buried in the documents is that Vladimir Putin’s army has made little progress. Since last July, it has gained an average of just 2.7 kms (1.6 mi) of territory “per month” in its attack around Bakhmut. An equally startling disclosure is that the number of Russian mercenaries fighting around Bakhmut exceeds the number of regular soldiers. According […]
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“The additional documents also suggest the breach of American intelligence agencies could contain far more material than previously believed.” “… [I]nfighting inside the Russian government appears broader and deeper than previously understood, judging from … classified [U.S.] intelligence documents … leaked online. … [For example,] American intelligence officials say … [the] F.S.B.[] has ‘accused’ [Russia’s] Defense Ministry ‘of obfuscating Russian […]
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“The secret documents were first posted in January to a small group on a messaging channel that trafficked in memes, jokes and racist talk.” “One of the most significant leaks of highly classified U.S. documents in recent history began among a small group of posters on … [the] [Discord] messaging channel that trafficked in memes, jokes and racist talk. Sometime […]
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“The move comes amid a major schism between Ukraine’s Orthodox churches..” “… Wednesday is the deadline for the monastery’s 1,000 inhabitants to leave what was their home amid heightened political concerns that some of them were too close to Moscow, and were Russian fifth columnists. … [T]he spiritual head of the world’s Orthodox Christians, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew [of Constantinople], hardened […]
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“Inside the pain, purges and persecution that have decimated the country’s once-flourishing theatre scene” “… Hours after Russia’s invasion … [Moscow’s experimental] Meyerhold Centre … became the first theatre to protest. … [A]ctors, directors, ballet dancers and conductors followed suit. … [A]bout 2,000 Russian cultural workers … signed an open letter … opposing the war. Some went into the streets […]
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“Last September, when explosions damaged Nord Stream 1 and 2 … evidence of a culprit was scant. Some European governments suspected Russia. … Putin had been threatening to cut off energy supplies to Europe in retaliation for sanctions …. Russia … blamed America and Britain. Six months later American intelligence officials … [and] German and British news organisations[] have suggested […]
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“China’s intent cited in annual assessment of worldwide threats ‘Growing pessimism’ in Beijing is cited by intelligence chief” “Russia is likely to downgrade its ambitions in Ukraine for the time being to hanging onto territory seized after the start of its invasion, even as it enjoys deepening economic and defense support from China, U.S. intelligence chiefs told a Senate committee. […]
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“While both Ukrainians and Russians say the pitched battle for the city of Bakhmut could determine whether Russia can pursue more of an offensive, Western officials are skeptical.” “Even as Ukrainian and Russian leaders predicted that the fall of Bakhmut could open the way for a broader Russian offensive, the U.S. intelligence chief said Wednesday that the Kremlin’s forces were […]
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