A former FBI official involved in the investigation of the Trump campaign’s possible ties to Russia was charged Monday for violating sanctions on behalf of a Russian oligarch sanctioned by the U.S. government.
Russia
Turkey: Putin’s Open Door for Harming Western Interests
Turkish Islamists, especially neo-Ottomans, have historically hated Russia — both Czarist and Soviet. Similarly, Russians and Soviets have never been great fans of the Turks — both Ottoman and republican. Today, however, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, with a big foot in NATO, is exhibiting a pro-Russian tilt never seen before, and at a time when Russian President Vladimir Putin is seen as an existential threat to Western interests. What is the secret behind this sudden marriage?
For Putin, Erdoğan’s friendship is growing ever more important — and vice versa.
What if the USSR hadn’t collapsed? History isn’t always on your side
Even if you care nothing for ballet, the very name of the Bolshoi Theatre carries a romance and glamour unmatched by any other theatre in the world. The company was founded under Catherine the Great, and first held performances in a private home before its famous white neoclassical building was opened in 1825. But it was under the Soviet Union that its international prestige reached its greatest height, as it became a touring advertisement for the virtues of the Communist system. When the Bolshoi first visited London in 1956, the excitement was such that people began queuing three days before the ticket office even opened. Three years later, when the company visited New York, touts were reportedly selling tickets for $1,200 in today’s money. Not even the Wolverhampton Grand can compete with that.
‘Wholly unremarkable’: the suburban couple in Sweden accused of spying for Russia
For the leafy Stockholm suburb of Nacka, it was a rude, pre-dawn awakening: wailing sirens, two Black Hawk helicopters clattering overhead and special forces in combat gear fast-roping through the windows of an imposing white villa – all at 6.01am.
The raid late last month by Sweden’s security service, police elite units and army, lasting little over a minute, targeted a Russian couple suspected of carrying out “illegal intelligence activities” against Sweden and the US for more than a decade.
It took place just days before the trial began in Stockholm of two Swedish brothers arrested last autumn and accused of selling secrets to Russia’s intelligence services.
Putin Wants Fealty, and He’s Found It in Africa
BANGUI, Central African Republic — In early March, as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine entered its third week, a Russian diplomat nearly 3,000 miles away in the Central African Republic paid an unusual visit to the head of this country’s top court. His message was blunt: The country’s pro-Kremlin president must remain in office, indefinitely.
To do this, the diplomat, Yevgeny Migunov, the second secretary at the Russian Embassy, argued that the court should abolish the constitutional restriction limiting a president to two terms. He insisted that President Faustin-Archange Touadéra, who is in his second term and surrounds himself with Russian mercenaries, should stay on, for the good of the country.
Germany arrests intelligence employee suspected of sharing secrets with Russia
German authorities said on Thursday they had arrested an employee of the foreign intelligence service BND, on suspicion of the person sharing state secrets with Russia this year and thereby committing treason.
Police arrested the suspect, a German citizen identified as Carsten L, on Wednesday, in Berlin, the federal prosecutors office said, adding that the police also raided his flat and workplace as well as those of another person.
“The accused is suspected of state treason,” federal prosecutors said in a statement. “In 2022, he shared information that he came by in the course of his work with a Russian intelligence agency. The content is considered a state secret.”
‘Santa Putin’ swaps child’s same-sex parents for a mother and father and gives a football, toy cars and a drum kit to boy being raised as a girl in anti-West propaganda video
Russian President Vladimir Putin has been portrayed as Santa in an anti-Western propaganda video released on the country’s social media.
The film – made by a production company called Signal – depicts ‘Santa Putin’ swapping a photograph of a child’s same-sex parents for one of a mother and father, and gifting the boy being raised as a girl a football, toy cars and a drum kit.
The video feeds into Russian prejudices about Europe and the United States which have been fuelled by pro-Kremlin propagandists during the war in Ukraine to frame the conflict as a clash of values between Russia and Ukraine’s western allies.
#Santa #Putin' swaps child's same-sex parents for a mother and father and gives a football, toy cars and a drum kit to boy being raised as a girl in #anti-West #propagandavideo #santapuntin #christmas pic.twitter.com/RmfGUNCzV9
— 6IX WORLD NEWS (@6ixworldnews) December 22, 2022
Moscow accuses Ottawa of leading effort to undermine soldiers, summons ambassador – Cites destruction of CAF as proof of expertise
OTTAWA — Russia’s ambassador to Canada says Ottawa is at the vanguard of a social media effort he argues is meant to demoralize Russian soldiers.
In an interview with Russian state media, Oleg Stepanov chided Canada’s foreign affairs department for frequently posting unflattering information about the war in Ukraine, particularly recent tweets about Russian men fleeing a military draft.
US charges seven with military technology plot on Russian orders
The US has charged five Russians and two Americans with conspiracy related to procurement and money laundering on behalf of the government in Moscow.
The justice department said they were suspected of trying to obtain military-grade and dual-use technologies from US firms for Russia’s defence sector.
They are also believed to have conspired to smuggle sniper ammunition in violation of US sanctions.
One of the Russians is thought to be a Federal Security Service (FSB) officer.
Brittney Griner Freed From Russia In Exchange For ‘Merchant Of Death’, Ex-Marine Left Behind
Russia has released jailed WNBA star Brittney Griner in exchange for notorious arms dealer Viktor Bout, known as the “Merchant of Death” after months of negotiations and hostility on both sides.
‘Alarming escalation’ of espionage, foreign interference in Canada since pandemic: CSIS
OTTAWA — Canada’s spy agency has noted an “alarming escalation” of espionage and foreign interference since the beginning of the pandemic, with countries like China threatening or intimidating people in Canada into namely supporting a specific electoral candidate.
“These activities are real, they’re persistent, they’re increasing, and it’s not hypothetical, we see it everyday in our work. And these activities will be targeting all level of governments, whether it’s federal, municipal, provincial,” veteran CSIS intelligence analyst Noura Hayek told attendees of the Council on Governmental Ethics Laws conference Monday.
Can’t they identify the perps?
Can’t they deport them?
Why do CSIS’ hands seem to be tied?
Or is Canada’s China class preventing that action be taken?
License to kill: How Europe lets Iran and Russia get away with murder
BERLIN — On a balmy September evening last year, an Azeri man carrying a Russian passport crossed the border from northern Cyprus into southern Cyprus. He traveled light: a pistol, a handful of bullets and a silencer.
It was going to be the perfect hit job.
Then, just as the man was about to step into a rental car and carry out his mission — which prosecutors say was to gun down five Jewish businessmen, including an Israeli billionaire — the police surrounded him.
Russkies Whack ‘Race-Baiting’ Pope Francis
Perhaps they’re most upset that in a remarkable new interview the pope still wouldn’t mention Vladimir Putin by name.
Pope Francis has walked on eggshells to avoid the wrath of Vladimir Putin and, likewise, of the Russian Orthodox Church, which has long presented an altogether intractable if not impossible set of challenges for the Roman Catholic Church, recently rearing its ugly head yet again in the Ukraine war (that’s a separate column altogether). Francis has repeatedly and delicately prayed for the people of Ukraine and of Russia, each step of the way carefully avoiding poking a stick at the bear in the living room: Vladimir Putin.
That appears to have changed.
The Russian-Turkish Bond to Harm the West
If they had met as presidents of other countries, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Russian President Vladimir Putin would probably have hated each other. Historically, Turkish Islamists have hated both Tsarist and Soviet Russia. Similarly, Russians have never been fond of the Turks. Today, however, Erdogan, with a foot in NATO, is exhibiting a pro-Russian tilt never seen before. What is the secret of this ostensible marriage?
MH17: Three guilty as court finds Russia-controlled group downed airliner
A Dutch court has found three men guilty of murder for shooting down a passenger jet over eastern Ukraine in 2014, killing 298 people.
The court found that a Russian-made missile supplied from Russia and fired by an armed group under Russian control brought down flight MH17.
The men – two Russians and one Ukrainian – were found guilty in absentia and sentenced to life in jail. A third Russian was acquitted.
The missile attack was one of the most notorious war crimes in Ukraine before allegations of atrocities there became an almost daily reality.