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☆ Russian oil refinery partially suspends operations after drone attack, as thermal energy plants are damaged in Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-27 | by ( Lauren Said-Moorhouse | Olga Voitovych | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —A Russian oil refinery in the southern Krasnodar region was impacted by a suspected Ukrainian drone attack on Saturday, according to local officials. Meanwhile in Ukraine, four thermal energy plants were “severely damaged” after Russian attacks overnight, according to a statement from DTEK, Ukraine’s largest private energy company. DTEK said that its thermal power plants have been attacked more than 170 times since the beginning of the war. A video surfaced online showing the head of the Belarusian KGB security service alleging the two medical facilities were housing soldiers. Videos shared online showed medical personnel hurrying to move patients and equipment to ambulances that were awaiting to receive them.

Persons: Veniamin Kondratyev, Eduard Trudnev, Trudnev, ”, Kondratyev, Herman Halushchenko, Halushchenko, Serhii Lysak, Lysak, ” Svitlana Onyshchuk, DTEK, Mykola Oleshchuk, Ivan Tertel, Vitali Klitschko, hurrying, Klitschko Organizations: CNN, Regional, Kyiv, TASS, Slavyansk ECO Group, Russia’s Ministry of Defense, Ukraine’s Energy, Facebook, Frankivsk, Ivano, Ukrainian Air Force, Ukraine, Hospitals, Belarusian KGB, ”, Security Service of Ukraine Locations: Krasnodar, Ukrainian, Slavyansk, Kuban, Krasnodar Krai, Russia’s, Ukraine, DTEK, Dnipropetrovsk, Ivano, Lviv, Dnipro, Kryvyi, Rih, ”, Russia, Belarus, Belarusian, Kyiv, “

☆ Ukraine isn't the only country Russia is trying to topple
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-11 | by ( Michael Peck | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Even as Russian bombs pound Ukraine, Moscow's mercenaries and spies are busy trying to set much of the rest of the world afire. To Russia, the conventional warfare waged in Ukraine, and unconventional "gray zone" warfare waged around the world, are two sides of the same coin. Human intelligence operations are used to attempt elite capture through the offer of assistance to politicians who support Russian interests. "As the war in Ukraine protracts, Russia has an interest in creating crises further afield," said RUSI. "As a lot of Russia's unconventional operations are self-defeating, countering Russian unconventional warfare must be premised on careful, selective, and intelligence- driven targeting," the study emphasized.

Persons: —, RUSI, Vladimir Putin, Jack Watling, Oleksandr Danylyuk, Nick Reynolds, Britain —, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Putin, Ramzan Kadyrov, Kadyrov, Michael Peck Organizations: Service, Britain's Royal United Services Institute, Business, Kremlin, Soviet Union, NATO, Directorate, Staff of, Armed Forces, Getty, Russian, Central African, Wagner, GRU Expeditionary Corps, Convoy, Defense, Foreign Policy, Rutgers Univ, Twitter, LinkedIn Locations: Ukraine, Russia, Europe, Africa, Central Asia, Soviet, Montenegro, Moscow, Moldova, Russian, Britain, Ukraine protracts, Balkans, Russia's, Libya, Mali, Sudan, Central African Republic, Chechnya, Forbes

☆ Kaspersky: Biden administration preparing to prevent Americans from using Russian-made software over national security concern
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-09 | by ( Sean Lyngaas | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

US government agencies are already banned from using Kaspersky Lab software but action to prevent private companies from using the software would be unprecedented. It’s the latest US government effort to use its vast regulatory powers to prevent Americans from using popular technology that US officials consider a national security risk. A Kaspersky Lab spokesperson did not respond to questions about a potential prohibition or about how big the company’s market share is in the US. Commerce Department officials have to carefully consider how practical any such regulation would be for the department to enforce and for users to comply with. But the expected move from the Biden administration would go a step further by using Commerce Department authorities to prevent private companies from using Kaspersky Lab software.

Persons: CNN —, Biden, Joe Biden, Donald Trump, Kaspersky, Trump, ”, ” Henry Young, Young, Eugene Kaspersky, ” Kaspersky, hasn’t, Harold Martin, ” CNN’s Zachary Cohen, Phil Mattingly, Evan Perez Organizations: CNN, Commerce Department, Kaspersky, Commerce, Trump, Emergency Economic, Street, Companies “, Business Software Alliance, Department, McAfee, Symantec, Lab, —, Russian Ministry of Defense, West, National Security Agency, Politico, NSA, Wall Street Locations: Russian, America, Commerce, Moscow, Russia, Israel, Eugene, Ukraine

☆ Meet the woman who engineered Russia's wartime economy and helped secure another term for Putin
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-02 | by ( Huileng Tan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

Russian central bank governor Elvira Nabiullina has played a key role in stabilizing Russia's sanctions-hit economy. It's also aimed at the woman behind him: Elvira Nabiullina, the country's central bank governor, who plays a chief role in keeping Russia's wartime economy ticking. At the time, she was the first woman to lead a Group of Eight, or G8, central bank. In 2015, Euromoney, a finance trade publication, named Nabiullina Central Bank Governor of the Year. In December, she issued a warning that Russia's economy was at risk of overheating.

Persons: Elvira Nabiullina, —, Putin, It's, Nabiullina, Daniel McDowell, McDowell, wined, Christine Lagarde, Nabiullina —, Richard Portes, Portes —, Portes, Anders Åslund, Åslund, Leo Tolstoy, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Franz Kafka, Yaroslav Kuzminov, Kuzminov, Nabiullina's, Alan Harvey, Herman Gref —, Central Bank Governor Elvira Nabiullina, Maxim Shemetov, Michel Camdessus, she's, isn't, Sergei Aleksashenko, Alexei Makarkin, Vladimir Pesnya, Nabiulina, let's Organizations: Ukraine, Service, Russian, KGB, Syracuse University, Kremlin, International Monetary Fund, US, London Business School, Moscow Times, Bloomberg, Higher School of Economics, —, Moscow State University, SNS, USSR, Industrial Union Board, Gref, Central Bank Governor, Nabiullina Central Bank Governor, Banker, Central Banker, IMF, Monetary Fund, Financial Times, Government, Political Technologies, Wall Street Journal, RBC, Politico Europe Locations: Russian, Ukraine, Russia, Brussels, Nabiullina, Swedish, Moscow, Ufa, Central Russia, Tatars, Crimea, Euromoney, Europe, steadying

☆ Opinion: The heroism of Ukraine and the nihilism of Mike Johnson
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-28 | by ( Opinion Amelia Glaser | Marci Shore | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +12 min

Yevhenii Zavhorodnii/Global Images Ukraine/Getty ImagesIn Ukraine the air raid alerts are incessant. Kyiv has the best air defense in Ukraine; the country lacks the resources to defend other cities this way. He noted that Ukrainian air defense had done a spectacular job that morning intercepting every single missile launched at Kyiv. The United States has essentially cut off Ukraine, and Ukrainian air defense is quickly running out of ammunition. After we landed back in JFK, we turned off the air raid sound on our phones.

Persons: Amelia Glaser, Marci Shore, Read, Mike Johnson, Vladimir Putin’s, Covid, ” –, Andrii, you’re, Oleksandr Roytburd, Roytburd, Alla Horska, Tymofiy Mylovanov, Amelia, Iya Kiva, Marci, Tetyana Ogarkova, Volodymyr Yermolenko, Putin, Tucker Carlson, Bohdan Khmelnytsky, Carlson, Khmelnytsky, Oleksandr Halenko, Gleb Garanich, texted, ”, Sergii, “, Alina Smutko, Sergii’s, Mark Hamill –, Luke Skywalker, Agiya Zagrebelska, Arad, “ Pessimists, Rob Bauer, ” Bauer, “ I’m, Iaroslava Strikha, beholden, Donald Trump, Johnson, Arseniy Yatsenyuk, ” Putin Organizations: UC San Diego, Yale University, CNN, of Decorative, Applied Arts, Design, Warsaw —, Kyiv School of Economics, KGB, Ukrainian, Fulbright, NATO, National Agency on Corruption, Kyiv Security, United, Kyiv, National, Security Forum Locations: Russia’s, Crimea, Kyiv, New York, JFK, Warsaw, Polish, Chelm, Bucha, Russian, Yevhenii, Ukraine, Sens, Ukrainian, Crimean Tatar, KSE, Muscovy, Russia, Poland, Syria, Murmansk, Kyiv oblast, Austrian, texted, United States

☆ Opinion: Watch carefully what Putin does next
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-27 | by ( Opinion Frida Ghitis | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

Literally and figuratively, Putin was telling Russians — who would soon vote in a presidential election — that he was the man to protect them. Once in office, attack after attack gave him the pretext to dismantle democracy brick by brick. Once in office, attack after attack gave him the pretext to dismantle democracy brick by brick. Patrushev, incidentally, now heads the national security council, and as I recently wrote, is a possible successor to Putin. The terrorist attack was a glaring failure by the president and his regime.

Persons: Frida Ghitis, Vladimir Putin, Boris Yeltsin, Putin, —, ”, Yeltsin, Nikolai Patrushev, Alexander Litvinenko, Denis Sinyakov, Moscow’s, beholden, Oleg Nikishin, Crocus Organizations: CNN, Washington Post, Politics, Frida Ghitis CNN, Crocus City Hall, ISIS, Putin, FSB, European Court, Human Rights, Kremlin, Chechen, Getty Locations: Crocus, Moscow, Ukraine, Washington, Chechnya, Russian, Ryazan, AFP, Russia, Beslan, ”

☆ Russia’s political class is taking a dark and vengeful turn
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-25 | by ( Nathan Hodge | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Now comes another shock to the system, with the appalling murder of at least 139 people in a terror attack at a concert hall just outside Moscow. And with its brutal official response to the attack, Russia seems to have taken an even darker turn. But after Friday’s Crocus City attack, the brutality of Russian security services appeared on naked display. It sends a message to ordinary Russians – and the world – that Russian state security forces are capable of anything. “Everyone asks me, what is to be done?” Medvedev said, according to Russian state news agency TASS.

Persons: Alexey Navalny, Vladimir Putin, Putin, – implausibly, ”, Dmitry Peskov, ” Peskov, ” Putin, Tatyana Makeyeva, Saidakrami Rachabalizoda, Margarita Simonyan, approvingly, Simonyan, “, Alexander Zemlianichenko, Dmitry Medvedev, Russia’s, ” Medvedev, Vladimir Vasiliev Organizations: CNN, ISIS, “ Intelligence, Kremlin, KGB, Getty, VK, Putin, “, United Russia, Novosti Locations: Russia, Ukraine, Moscow, Kyiv, United States, Chechnya, Crocus, Basmanny, AFP, Russian

☆ An MIT professor devised a 'Fortress Ukraine' plan in 1994 that proved remarkably right about the Russian invasion
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-23 | by ( Michael Peck | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

An MIT professor envisioned a defensive strategy in 1994 for Ukraine to survive a Russian attack. AdvertisementIn 1994, an American professor came up with a plan for Ukraine to defend against Russian invasion. Rather than seizing all of eastern Ukraine, Russia currently occupies about 18 percent of Ukrainian territory, mainly in the southeast and along the Black Sea coast. AdvertisementA member of 120th Independent Brigade of the Territorial Defense Forces of Ukraine takes part in training exercises on March 16. "The Ukrainian force can cover about 60 percent of the front with no reserves.

Persons: Barry Posen, —, Posen's, Posen, Vladimir Putin, Gian Marco Benedetto, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, envelopments, didn't, Ukraine hadn't, George Barros, Barros, Michael Peck Organizations: MIT, Service, Russia —, NATO, Ukraine —, 120th Independent Brigade, Territorial Defense Forces, Russia, Mechanized, Russian, Institute for, Defense, Foreign Policy, Rutgers Univ, Twitter, LinkedIn Locations: Ukraine, American, Russia, Ukrainian, Russian, Dnipro, Posen, Soviet Union, Soviet, Moscow, America, Britain, Crimea, Donetsk, Nazi Germany, Washington ,, Kharkiv, Luhansk, Forbes

☆ How Putin and Xi both bent their nations to their will to become presidents for life
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-19 | by ( Tom Porter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

In the past decade, Putin and Xi have crushed what little remained of domestic opposition on their paths to absolute power. Advertisement"Both Putin and Xi's careers were forged as highly effective backroom operators forging relationships of dependency and patronage," he said. GREG BAKER via Getty ImagesDover said it would be a mistake to see Putin and Xi simply as dictators operating by arbitrary fiat. Both, he said, had built effective networks of loyalists capable of responding to crises and enacting their ambitious strategies to seize more global power. Xi and Putin bond over hatred of Western powerIt's on the global stage that the synergy between the leaders is of growing significance and growing alarm to Western leaders.

Persons: —, Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping, Putin, It's, Xi, Graeme Thompson, Robert Dover, Li, notionally, Korea's, GREG BAKER, Getty Images Dover, Xi's, Thompson Organizations: Service, Business, Reuters, Eurasia Group, Hollywood, Getty, University of Hull, Communist Party, US, National People's, of, People, Getty Images, Central, Putin, Beijing Locations: China, Russia, Soviet Union, Moscow, Hong Kong, Beijing, Dover, Ukraine, Ukrainian, Taiwan, Putin Russia, East Asia

WASHINGTON (AP) — Astronaut Thomas P. Stafford, who commanded a dress rehearsal flight for the 1969 moon landing and the first U.S.-Soviet space linkup, died Monday. He died in a hospital near his Space Coast Florida home, said Max Ary, director of the Stafford Air & Space Museum in Weatherford, Oklahoma. Photos You Should See View All 60 ImagesThe Apollo 10 mission in May 1969 set the stage for Apollo 11’s historic mission two months later. He volunteered for the Air Force and had hoped to fly combat in the Korean War. After the Apollo-Soyuz mission, Stafford returned to the Air Force and worked in research and commanded the Air Force Flight Test Center before retiring in 1979 as a three-star general.

Persons: Thomas P, Stafford, Max, Tom Stafford, Bill Nelson, “ Tom, Gene Cernan, John Young, Charlie Brown, ” Stafford, Alexei Leonov, Tom, Gerald Ford, Leonid Brezhnev, “, you’re, Neil Armstrong, Frank Borman, Pete Conrad, Wally Schirra, Stafford’s, Cernan, didn’t, Get, Linda Organizations: WASHINGTON, Air Force, Coast, Stafford Air & Space Museum, NASA, Apollo, Soviet Union, Disney World, Soyuz, Russian, Space, U.S . Naval Academy, Air, Gemini, Gene, Stafford's Air Force, Pentagon Locations: U.S, Stafford, Coast Florida, Weatherford , Oklahoma, Soviet, Soviet Union, Russia, Oklahoma, Florida, Cape Canaveral

☆ Putin scores a resounding win, but what’s next for Russia?
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-17 | by ( Nathan Hodge | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +17 min

Sovfoto/Universal Images Group via Getty Images Putin poses for a picture with his wife, Lyudmila, and daughters, Yekaterina and Maria. Brooks Kraft LLC/Corbis via Getty Images Putin rides a horse during a vacation in Southern Siberia in August 2009. Dmitry Astakhov/RIA Novosti/AFP via Getty Images Putin plays with his dogs Yume, left, and Buffy at his home in Novo-Ogaryovo, Russia, in March 2013. Chris McGrath/Getty Images Putin and Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman attend the G20 summit in Buenos Aires in November 2018. Getty Images Putin speaks with American right-wing pundit Tucker Carlson during an interview in February 2024.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Putin, ”, Dmitry Kiselyov, Mikhail Mishustin, Ukraine –, Kiselyov, “, Maria Putina, Archivio GBB, ZUMA Press Wire Putin, Laski, Maria, Vladimir, Anatoly Sobchak, Lyudmila, Yekaterina, Boris Yeltsin, Yeltsin, Fidel Castro, Reuters Putin, George W, Bush, Stephen Jaffe, Camp David, Brooks Kraft, Alexey Druzhinin, Alexey Nikolsky, Mikhail Metzel, Ivan Sekretarev, AP Putin, Dmitry Medvedev, Dmitry Astakhov, Buffy, Angela Merkel, Jochen Lübke, Thomas Bach, Medvedev, Vladimir Konstantinov, Alexei Chalyi, Sergei Aksyonov, Sergei Ilnitsky, Kirill Kudryavtsev, Alexander Lukashenko, Merkel, Francois Hollande, Petro Poroshenko, Mykola Lazarenko, Barack Obama, Ban, Chip Somodevilla, Turkey Andrei Karlov, Karlov, Donald Trump, Chris McGrath, Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, LUDOVIC MARIN, Emmanuel Macron, Volodymyr Zelensky, Eliot Blondet, Joe Biden, Antony Blinken, Biden, Sergey Lavrov, Denis Balibouse, Macron, Sergey Ponomarev, Mikhail Gorbachev, —, Alexander Nemenov, Alexey Danichev, Xi Jinping, Pavel Byrkin, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Wagner, Prigozhin, Pavel Bednyakov, Kim Jong Un, Kim, Tucker Carlson, Zuma Press Putin, Maxim Shemetov, – what’s, Alexey Navalny, Navalny, ” Putin Organizations: CNN, coy, Kremlin, Getty, Russian, ZUMA Press, Putin, KGB, ZUMA Press Wire, Getty Images, Reuters, US, White House, Camp, Brooks, Brooks Kraft LLC, RIA Novosti, AP, AFP, International Olympic, Crimean, Ukrainian, United Nations, UN, Assembly, Russian Foreign Ministry, Sputnik, World, Saudi Arabia's Crown, Macron, SPUTNIK, New York Times, Central Clinical Hospital, AP Putin, Belarus, State Russian Museum, AP North Korean, Vostochny, Tucker Carlson Network, Zuma Press Locations: Russia, Ukraine, Putin Russia, Russian, Bakhmut, St . Petersburg, Leningrad, Germany, Moscow, AFP, Kazan, Cuba, Soviet Union, Southern Siberia, Russia's Tver, Novo, Ogaryovo, Hanover, Sevastopol, Crimea, Belarusian, Minsk, Belarus, France, Turkey, Helsinki, Finland, Buenos Aires, Ukrainian, Paris, Geneva, Switzerland, Taganrog, Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Tsiolkovsky, Russia's, North Korea, United States

☆ Putin seen winning an expected landslide 88% of Russian election vote
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-17 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

President Vladimir Putin won a record post-Soviet landslide in Russia's election on Sunday, cementing his grip on power. The election comes just over two years since Putin triggered the deadliest European conflict since World War Two by ordering the invasion of Ukraine. War has hung over the three-day election: Ukraine has repeatedly attacked oil refineries in Russia, shelled Russian regions, and sought to pierce Russian borders with proxy forces - a move Putin said would not be left unpunished. As noon arrived across Asia and Europe, hundreds of people gathered at polling stations at Russian diplomatic missions. Putin says the West is engaged in a hybrid war against Russia and that Western intelligence and Ukraine are trying to disrupt the elections.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Putin, Josef Stalin, Putin's, Alexei Navalny, Yulia, Ruslan Shaveddinov, Leonid Volkov, Navalny, Joe Biden, Nikolas Gvosdev, Biden, Donald Trump, William Burns, China Organizations: Soviet, Research, National Security, KGB, Corruption, Criminal Court, Hague, Kremlin, Research Institute, Trump's Republican, Kyiv, CIA Locations: United States, Russia, Ukraine, Moscow, St Petersburg, Yekaterinburg, Asia, Europe, Russian, Berlin, Vilnius, West, Philadelphia, Congress, Ukrainian, Crimea, Kyiv

☆ Russia election is set to tighten Putin's grip on power despite noon protest
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-17 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Russian President Vladimir Putin is seen on a screen during a meeting with his confidants for the 2024 election at Gostiny Dvor in Moscow, Russia January 31, 2024. President Vladimir Putin is poised to tighten his grip on power on Sunday in a Russian election that is certain to deliver him a landslide victory, though some opponents staged a symbolic noon protest at polling stations against his rule. The election comes just over two years since Putin triggered the deadliest European conflict since World War Two by ordering the invasion of Ukraine. War has hung over the three-day election: Ukraine has repeatedly attacked oil refineries in Russia, shelled Russian regions and sought to pierce Russian borders with proxy forces — a move Putin said would not be left unpunished. Russia is not Putin."

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Putin, Josef Stalin, —, Putin's, Alexei Navalny, Alexei, Yulia Organizations: Gostiny Dvor, KGB Locations: Moscow, Russia, Ukraine, Budapest

☆ Don't want Russia to successfully invade your country? Then do this.
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-02 | by ( Michael Peck | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Even though Russia may dwarf a small state, that doesn't guarantee a successful airport seizure. AdvertisementHere's some advice for nations who don't want Russian troops as uninvited guests: Guard your airport. However, other Russian airport takedowns have been largely successful. Stringer points to a special airport defense regiment that Switzerland stationed at Zurich Airport during the Cold War, as a good model. "Understanding and delineating the sequence of events Russia has historically used to initiate a coup and devising countermeasures to thwart these actions may prove critical in defending against the next Russian invasion."

Persons: —, Russia's, Kevin Stringer, Heather Gregg, Stringer, Hafizullah Amin, Amin, playbook, Michael Peck Organizations: Service, Guard, Kremlin, West, Institute ., Air, US Army, Russian, Spetznaz, Russian Defense Ministry Press Service, Rapid, Brigade, National Guard, Antonov, Zurich Airport, United States, 75th Ranger Regiment, Air Force, CIA, Hostomel, Defense, Foreign Policy, Twitter, LinkedIn Locations: Hostomel, Russia, Kyiv's Hostomel, Ukraine, Institute . Moscow, Prague, Kabul, Sevastopol, Kyiv, Ukrainian, Warsaw, Czechoslovakia, Baltic States, Moldova, Georgia, Russian, Switzerland, Zurich, Europe, Finland, Sweden, Forbes

☆ Opinion: In Ukraine’s swelling cemeteries, a lost generation of young men
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-29 | by ( Opinion Michael Bociurkiw | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Lviv CNN —Few places ooze the pain Ukrainians have been subjected to over the decades more than Lychakiv Cemetery in the western city of Lviv. These days, Lychakiv has become the burial ground for hundreds of service men and women killed in the most recent wave of Russian aggression. I’ve been coming to Lychakiv since the early weeks of the war to get a better sense of the human cost. “There are such cemeteries as Lychakiv all over Ukraine,” Lviv resident and community activist Lesia Krepyakevych told me. (Under Ukrainian law, men between the ages of 18 to 26 can’t be drafted, though they can volunteer).

Persons: Michael Bociurkiw, Michael Bociurkiw Chrystia, Ivan Franko, Volodymyr Ivasiuk, Lychakiv, I’ve, Pavlo Palamarchuk, Volodymyr Zelensky, Lesia Krepyakevych, it’s, who’ve, can’t, Mike Johnson, Donald Trump, Johnson, Biden, Putin, Emmanuel Macon didn’t, David, Goliath Organizations: Atlantic Council, Organization for Security, Cooperation, CNN, Lviv CNN, Getty, West, ”, Senate, Republican, Ukraine – Locations: Europe, Lviv, Ukraine, Anadolu, ” Lviv, Red, Iranian, Russia, Kyiv, Washington, America

☆ Tourists have returned to North Korea for the first time since the pandemic
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-27 | by ( Lilit Marcus | Mayumi Maruyama | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

American college student Otto Warmbier was detained on a North Korea trip in 2016, allegedly for stealing a propaganda poster. Courtesy Elena BychcovaRussia and North Korea’s relationshipBefore the pandemic, the largest source of inbound tourists to North Korea wasn’t Russia – it was China. The Russian ski trippers were the first tourists allowed into the hermit kingdom since the pandemic, a sign of Russia’s increasing popularity in North Korea. Now, both say they would consider going to North Korea again someday – but only if the political situation changes. “I hope traveling will save the world.”Another Russian ski trip in North Korea is slated for March 2024.

Persons: Lena Bychcova couldn’t, —, kingdom’s, Kim Jong Un, Otto Warmbier, Bychcova, Ilya Voskresensky, grandpa, Voskresensky, “, KIM, JIN, Kim Won Jin, Kim Il Sung, Kim Jong Il, ” Bychcova, Lena Bychcova, Elena Bychcova, Vladimir Putin, –, Bychcova doesn’t, ”, Kim, Putin, Anna Chernova, Mariya Knight Organizations: CNN, Koryo, ”, Getty, Intelligence, Ukraine, Korean, United, Russia, North Locations: Korea, Russian, North Korea, Tourism, United States, Pyongyang, Korean, Vladivostok, Soviet Russia, AFP, Elena Bychcova Russia, North, Russia, China, United Nations, Ukraine, Yekaterinburg, Ukrainian

☆ An ex-KGB agent says every American that Putin can imprison is 'an asset that you can trade' as Moscow detains a US ballerina
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-27 | by ( Matthew Loh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: 1 min

AdvertisementEvery US citizen detained by Russia gives the Kremlin an "asset that you can trade," ex-KGB agent Jack Barsky said. Barsky, a former sleeper agent for Soviet intelligence in the 1970s and 1980s, told Fox News' Martha MacCallum on Monday that the practice of arresting Americans for this purpose is "nothing new." "That happened during Stalin's time, all the way through today. Because, you know, an American in prison is an asset that you can trade," said Barsky on MacCallum's "The Story." This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers.

Persons: Jack Barsky, Martha MacCallum Organizations: Fox News, Business Locations: Russia

☆ Opinion: What is Putin afraid of?
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-24 | by ( Opinion Frida Ghitis | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

She is a weekly opinion contributor to CNN, a contributing columnist to The Washington Post and a columnist for World Politics Review. But in its attempt to exercise and display its strength, Putin is showing his fear. Security forces have arrested Russians questioning the war in Ukraine, let alone questioning Putin. According to rights organization Freedom House, Russia has become one of the world’s top perpetrators of transnational repression. Criticism of the war or of Putin can lead to death in a Russian prison camp.

Persons: Frida Ghitis, Vladimir Putin, Ksenia, Putin, Karelina, Alexey Navalny, Navalny, Chris Van Heerden, didn’t, Boris Nemtsov, Anna Politkovskaya, There’s Navalny, Brittney Griner, Paul Whelan, Evan Gershkovich, —, Gershkovich, Vadim Krasikov, ”, Maxim Kuzminov, Russia “, Alexander Litvinenko, Sergei Skripal, “ Organizations: CNN, Washington Post, Politics, Frida Ghitis CNN, Kremlin, Russia’s Federal Security Service, KGB, Security, US, Wall Street, House, Police Locations: Russia, Russian, Los Angeles, Ukraine, Yekaterinburg, Germany, Chechen, Alicante, Kuzminov, London, Salisbury, England, Moscow, Ukrainian

☆ Exclusive: Russia-linked smear campaign against Hunter Biden began earlier than previously thought
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-23 | by ( Mattathias Schwartz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

The man pushing the thumb drive was a citizen of an Eastern European country and a guest of Claremont. That evening, Rollie passed a thumb drive containing disinformation about Hunter Biden and Burisma to a Pompeo aide. Smirnov was indicted last week for lying to the FBI about Hunter Biden. The revelation about Rollie's thumb drive comes shortly after the indictment of Smirnov, for allegedly making false statements about Hunter Biden in June 2020. Like Smirnov, Rollie's materials accuse Hunter Biden of involving his father in Burisma's business and committing a vast off-the-books fraud.

Persons: Mike Pompeo, Hunter Biden, Rollie, Pompeo, Burisma, BI Rollie, I'm, Rollie's, Biden's, Josef, Johnathan Buma, Donald Trump, Joe Biden's, Peter Schweizer, Rudy Giuliani, John Solomon, Hunter, Giuliani, Alexander Smirnov, Smirnov, Biden, David Weiss, Smirnov's, Joe Biden, GOP Sen, Charles Grassley, MAGA, Jack Posobiec, Buma, Anastasiia Carrier Organizations: Claremont Institute's, Claremont, Business, BI, KGB, Department, Claremont Institute, FBI, New York Times, Prosecutors, GOP, State Department, Justice Department, Anastasiia Locations: Russia, Ukrainian, Beverly Hills, Eastern, Soviet, Los Angeles, Russian, Delaware, Ukraine, The Hill, East, West, Eastern Europe

☆ Putin looms over a third successive US election
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-22 | by ( Stephen Collinson | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +12 min

CNN —“Russia, Russia, Russia.”Ex-President Donald Trump’s scathing catch phrase for a torrent of investigations during his administration also serves as an apt catch-all for the current meltdown over Moscow roiling US politics. But Russia and its leader, whom President Joe Biden described as a “crazy S.O.B.” at a Wednesday fundraiser, won’t go away. All the ways Putin is playing in US politicsPutin is advancing Russian interests against the US on multiple fronts. Putin recently formalized his warming ties with North Korean tyrant Kim Jong Un by presenting him with a new limousine. The Russian leader was particularly incensed by the US-led operation to topple Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi in 2011.

Persons: CNN —, ”, Donald Trump’s, Joe Biden, won’t, Vladimir Putin, Putin, Ukraine –, –, Alexander Smirnov, “, Trump, Smirnov, Biden, it’s, Putin can’t, ” Douglas, Alexey Navalny, Biden lambasts Trump, ” Biden, Volodymyr Zelensky, Ronald Reagan, Mikhail Gorbachev, he’s, he’d, Mike Turner, Ksenia, Paul Whelan –, Evan Gershkovich, Geopolitically, Kim Jong Un, George W, Bush, Barack Obama, Moammar Gadhafi, Hillary Clinton, Robert Mueller, “ We’ll, Mueller Organizations: CNN, Kremlin, United States, European NATO, ”, Moscow, House Republicans, GOP, CIA, NATO, Republican Party, Republicans, Republican, Trump, Marine, Wall Street, Putin, Biden, US, Democratic Locations: Russia, Moscow, United States, China, Soviet, East Germany, United, Ukraine, Russian, European, Washington, Asia, Sweden, Finland, Berlin –, Europe, Ukrainian, California, North Korea, Iran, Crimea, Helsinki, Geneva

☆ Ukraine war live updates: Russian military chief visits Ukraine after gains; Belarus signals armed patrols could take to streets
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-21 | by ( Holly Ellyatt | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko called on law enforcement agencies on Tuesday to organise patrols with small arms on the streets of Belarusian cities to ensure the safety of people. Lukashenko said that while the crime rate in Belarus was decreasing, the country was at risk of crimes of an "extremist nature." Our patrol guys must be on the streets...Patrols must be armed with small arms, at least pistols." Lukashenko backed Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 by allowing Moscow to use its territory to launch the war and agreed last year to deploy Russian tactical nuclear weapons in his country on Russia's western border. In power since 1994, Lukashenko staged a new crackdown on dissent after stamping out unprecedented demonstrations against what his opponents say was his rigged re-election in 2020.

Persons: Lukashenko, Alexander Lukashenko, — Organizations: of Internal Affairs, KGB Locations: Belarus, Ukraine, Moscow, Ukrainian

☆ Estonia thwarts ‘shadow war’ attack, Prime Minister Kaja Kallas tells CNN
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-20 | by ( Jim Sciutto | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —Estonia has thwarted a Russian-directed influence operation on its territory, Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas has told CNN. The Estonian Internal Security Service arrested 10 individuals, including both Russian and Estonian nationals. “There’s a shadow war going on against our societies,” Prime Minister Kallas told CNN. “The aim of Russia’s influence operations is to influence our democratic decision making. The Kremlin is also directly involved in shaping Russian influence operations in neighboring countries, according to Presidential Administration documents leaked last year.

Persons: Kaja Kallas, Kallas, ” Kallas Organizations: CNN, Estonian, Estonian Internal Security Service, ”, Intelligence, SVR, Administration, Moldovan, NATO, European Union Locations: Estonia, Russian, Russia, –, NATO, Europe, Baltic States, Moldova

☆ More than 400 detained in Russia at events in memory of Navalny, rights group says
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-18 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

A demonstrator carries a placard with a picture of late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny as people gather to attend a rally in front of the Russian Embassy in Warsaw on Feb. 16, 2024. More than 400 people have been detained at events across 32 Russian cities since the death of Alexei Navalny, President Vladimir Putin's most formidable opponent, according to rights group OVD-Info, as Russians continued to gather and lay flowers. As of 2000 GMT on Saturday, more than 200 people were detained in St. Petersburg. But there was no mention of the events on Russian state news agencies, which are under full Kremlin control. Footage filmed by Reuters on Saturday in St Petersburg showed dozens gathering by a monument to the victims of repression.

Persons: Alexei Navalny, Vladimir Putin's, Navalny, Putin Organizations: Russian Embassy, KGB, Reuters Locations: Russian, Warsaw, Russia, Ukraine, Navalny, St Petersburg, Moscow, St . Petersburg

☆ Navalny's Wife Should Keep His Voice Alive, Litvinenko Widow Says
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-17 | by ( Feb. | At P.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON (Reuters) - The wife of Alexei Navalny, Yulia Navalnaya, needs to keep her husband's voice alive, the widow of Alexander Litvinenko said on Saturday following the death of the prominent Kremlin critic. Photos You Should See View All 33 ImagesLitvinenko said she was shocked by the news of Navalny's death. Many Western leaders expressed outrage over Navalny's death, in what Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov called an unacceptable response. British foreign minister David Cameron said Britain would take action over Navalny's death, although he did not say what such action would entail. "When we see even tiny protest, even tiny reaction to death of Alexei Navalny, I think it's very serious.

Persons: Alexei Navalny, Yulia Navalnaya, Alexander Litvinenko, Vladimir Putin, Putin, Alexei, Marina Litvinenko, Marina Litvinenko's, Litvinenko, Putin's, Dmitry Peskov, David Cameron, Kristian Brunse, Farouq Suleiman, Frances Kerry Organizations: Kremlin, Reuters, KGB, of Human Rights Locations: Munich, Russia, London, Britain

☆ Navalny's Death Leaves Despair and Apathy in Moscow
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-17 | by ( Feb. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +5 min

"Navalny's death is terrible: hopes have been smashed," Nikitin said. The West, including U.S. President Joe Biden, blamed President Vladimir Putin for the death. "Navalny's death is very beneficial to Putin's opponents," said Sergei Markov, a former Kremlin adviser. WEST 'NOT OUR FRIEND'At "Patriki", or Patriarch's Ponds, the centre of Moscow nightlife, many young Russians revelled away Friday night just hours after news of Navalny's death. "It is sad of course when anybody dies," Olga Kazakova, a Russian, told Reuters in central Moscow on Saturday.

Persons: Guy Faulconbridge MOSCOW, Alexei Navalny, Navalny, carnations, Vladimir Nikitin, Nikitin, Joe Biden, Vladimir Putin, Dmitry Peskov, Putin, Navalny's, Africa's Nelson Mandela, Kira Yarmysh, Yulia, Sergei Markov, revelled, Olga Kazakova, Boris Nemtsov, Guy Faulconbridge, Frances Kerry Organizations: KGB, Reuters, CIA, DEATH, Munich Security Conference, Putin, Kremlin, Ukraine, WEST Locations: Moscow, Russia, Russia's, St Petersburg, Navalny, Avdiivka, West, Ukraine, Kremlin, Basil's

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