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☆ Sanctions are squeezing Russia, turning up its dependence on China and 'rogue' states, think tank says
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-09 | by ( Filip De Mott | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Read previewWestern sanctions are straining Russia's ability to fight in Ukraine, even if its war economy appears resilient and its output seems largely unfazed, a think tank expert said. Related storiesAlready, this order has put off lenders in India, China, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates from working with Russia, Blank said. Individual sanctions have also targeted vessels carrying Russian crude above the Western $60-barrel price cap, reducing the Kremlin's ability to trade. With fewer available tankers, freight costs have climbed, and the discount Russia has offered on its oil has eroded. That's caused India to increasingly look elsewhere for crude, despite being the biggest buyer of seaborne Russian oil in 2023.

Persons: —, Stephen Blank, it's, Blank Organizations: Service, Center for, Business, Foreign Policy Research Institute, Treasury Department, CEPA, United, United Arab Emirates, West Locations: Ukraine, North Korea, Iran, India, China, Turkey, United Arab, Russia, Austrian, Moscow, Beijing

☆ Opinion: Despite ISIS threat, Putin’s only concern is the politics of terrorism
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-02 | by ( Opinion Douglas London | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

Russia knows it has a terrorist problem, despite its deflection and spin to preserve Putin’s image, but his priorities are elsewhere. Russian intelligence also suffers from systemic failings in recognizing, penetrating and dismantling terrorist cells, failings that stem from doctrine and a deliberately stovepiped structure that obstructs information sharing and agility. FSB officers will coerce, threaten and intimidate potential sources with diminishing returns that will only fuel ISIS-K recruitment and fundraising, which is no doubt seeing a surge from its Moscow attack. Russian intelligence will be left to depend on the unwilling, ill-informed or duplicitous. At the Islamic State’s height, Tajik Gulmurod Khalimov commanded its Iraqi capital of Mosul.

Persons: Douglas London, ”, Vladimir Putin, Alexander Bortnikov, Douglas, Mike Pompeo, Russia’s, Sergey Naryshkin, Igor Korobov, Donald Trump, Pompeo, Russia Michael McFaul, Barack Obama, Trump, Putin, Gulmurod Khalimov, Khalimov, “ Omar al, “ Omar, ” Batirashvili, Washington, Sergei Skripal, Yulia Organizations: CIA, of American Intelligence, Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service, Global National Security Institutes, CNN, Federal Security Service, CBC, Ukraine, Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service, Russian Military Intelligence, Trump, White, ISIS, Central, Former, Terrorism, Embassy, K’s, Tajikistan’s Interior Ministry, Islamic Locations: South, Southwest Asia, London, Khorasan, United States, Afghanistan, Islamic State, Great Britain, Russia, Washington, State, Moscow, Syria, Iraq, Russian, US, Ukraine, St . Petersburg, Central Asia, Central Asian, Central, East, Turkey, Turkish, Istanbul, Mosul, Chechen, Georgian, Georgia, Iran, Kerman, Salisbury, England

☆ How ISIS has Europe and the US in sights after deadly Moscow attack
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-30 | by ( Tim Lister | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +12 min

ISIS claimed responsibility for the Moscow attack. Maxim Shemetov/ReutersHe regards the Moscow attack as a “breakthrough success” for the group, demonstrating a level of planning not previously seen beyond south Asia. Russia’s support for authoritarian regimes in central Asia – which ISIS-K has described as Russia’s “puppets” – has deepened the animus. The attitude of the Russian government, both pre- and post- the Moscow attack, may not help it confront the threat. For ISIS-K, the Moscow attack is a coup.

Persons: Erik Kurilla, “, Sanaullah Ghafari, Edmund Fitton, Brown, Fitton, Amira Jadoon, ” Jadoon, Hans, Jakob Schindler, Christine Abizaid, ” Fitton, Maxim Shemetov, –, Gabriel Attal, ”, Jadoon, Putin, Abu Bakr al, Sinai, Vladimir Putin, Assad, Shamsidin, Dalerdzhon Mirzoyev, Muhammadsobir Fayzov, Yulia Morozova, Shamil Hukumatov, ” Putin, ” Schindler, Alexander Bortnikov, they’ll, Rita Katz Organizations: CNN, Analysts, ISIS, Islamic, US Central Command, UN, Taliban, Russian, Clemson University, Counter, ”, K, US National Counterterrorism Center, –, Crocus City, US Defense Department, Paris, Central, Crocus City Hall, St, City, Tajik, Kyiv, SITE Intelligence Locations: State, Ukraine, Gaza, Moscow, Khorasan, Afghanistan, Europe, Asia, Russia, ‘, Islamic State, Pakistan, Iran, Crocus, United States, West, New York, Tajik, Kabul, Afghan, Kandahar, Central Asia, Baujur, Pakistani, Baluchistan, Iranian, Kerman, Germany, al Qaeda, Turkey, France, America, Russian, Sharm el, St . Petersburg, Syria, Kaluga, St Petersburg, Istanbul, Washington

☆ Kremlin’s security services were aware of ISIS threat to Russia before concert attack, new evidence from investigative body suggests
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-29 | by ( Matthew Chance | Chris Lau | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —The Kremlin’s security services were aware of an ISIS threat days before a deadly attack on a concert hall near Moscow, Russian intelligence documents obtained by a UK-based investigative organization suggest. The Dossier Center is a Russian investigation group backed by Mikhail Khodorkovsky, an exiled former Russian oil tycoon turned Kremlin critic. “Even before the attack on Crocus City Hall, a source close to the intelligence services told the Dossier Center about this,” it added. The following year, German police arrested several people from Tajikistan accused of plotting an attack on Cologne Cathedral, according to the Dossier Center. According to the Dossier Center, Russian law enforcement was monitoring all these reports and “considered the risk” to Russia.

Persons: Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Vladimir Putin, “, ”, Adrienne Watson, Putin, ” Putin, Ilya Ponomarev, CNN’s Erin Burnett Organizations: CNN, ISIS, Crocus City Hall, Security, Crocus City, Central, Embassy, National Security, Kremlin Locations: Moscow, London, Russia, Crocus, Russian, Tajikistan, Washington, United States, Ukraine, Kabul, Cologne, Kyrgyzstan

☆ Russia claimed the West, Kyiv ordered the Moscow terror attack. Now it has the problem of proving it
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-27 | by ( Holly Ellyatt | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

Russian President Vladimir Putin at an expanded Prosecutor General's Office meeting on March 26, 2024, in Moscow. An investigation into the attack is ongoing, but the latest, outlandish accusations give Moscow a problem: It now has to find the evidence to back up its unsubstantiated claims. What's particularly awkward for the Kremlin is that the Islamic State militant group has already claimed responsibility for the attack. Ukraine denies any involvement in the attack, saying it was "absolutely predictable" that Moscow would look to blame it. The White House said Ukraine had "no involvement whatsoever" in the attack and that any claim to the contrary was "Kremlin propaganda."

Persons: Vladimir Putin, It's, Andrius, Putin, David Cameron, concertgoers, Alexander Bortnikov, Nikolai Patrushev, Sergei Karpukhin, Nikolai Patrushev —, —, Patrushev, Maria Zakharova, Dmitry Peskov, Peskov, Moscow, Margarita Simonyan, Putin's, Alexander Lukashenko, Rachabalizoda, Barotovich, Muhammadsobir, Shamsidin Fariduni, Tatyana Makeyevaolga Maltseva, Max Hess Organizations: General's, Getty, Ukraine, Crocus City Hall, Islamic State, West, Kremlin, Russia's Federal Security Service, Russian Security, AFP, Security, Islamic, RIA Novosti, Russian Foreign, U.S, Kremlin's, CNBC Wednesday, Institute for, Afp, Analysts, Foreign Policy Research Institute, CNBC, CIA Locations: Moscow, Russia, Ukraine, Crocus, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Ukrainian, Europe, Russian, U.S, Kyiv, Belarusian, Belarus, Basmanny, Soviet Union

☆ Opinion | Who Is Blowing Up Russia?
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-26 | by ( Bret Stephens | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

There are two plausible hypotheses regarding Friday’s terrorist attack at a concert hall outside Moscow, in which at least 139 people were killed. The first is that it was an inside job — orchestrated by Russian security services, or at least carried out with their foreknowledge. In closed societies, they’re a reasonable (if not always correct) way to understand political phenomena. In 1999, more than 300 Russians were killed and 1,700 injured in a series of apartment bombings for which authorities blamed Chechen terrorists. Initial tests of the powder found it contained the same explosive, hexogen, that had been used in other bombings.

Persons: —, Vladimir Putin — Organizations: Federal Security Service Locations: Moscow, Russian, Ryazan

☆ Belarus' leader undermined the Kremlin's dubious claims that Ukraine backed ISIS attackers
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-26 | by ( Ella Sherman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

President Lukashenko claims Belarus and Russian security prevented Moscow shooting suspects from entering Belarus. AdvertisementBelarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko said his country's security, with the help of Russia's Federal Security Service, tried to prevent Crocus City Hall shooting suspects from entering Belarus. "There was no chance they could enter Belarus," Lukashenko said, reported the state-run Belarusian Telegraph Agency. Lukashenko's statements on the concert hall terror suspects fleeing towards Belarus undermine the Kremlin's claims that the suspects tried to escape to Ukraine first, in an attempt to link Ukraine to the attack. No credible evidence has emerged to suggest that Ukraine was involved in the attack that killed at least 139 people.

Persons: Lukashenko, Putin, —, Aleksandr Lukashenko, Maria Zakharova, Crocus Organizations: Service, Federal Security Service, Crocus, Belarusian Telegraph Agency, ISIS, Russian Ministry of Foreign Locations: Belarus, Moscow, Ukraine, Russia, Washington

☆ In its latest terror response, Russia is no longer attempting to disguise the brutality of its state security
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-26 | by ( Tom Porter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Their state appeared designed to create an impression of aggression and brutality, showing the consequences of crossing the Russian authorities. Though the brutality of Russia's security services has long been known, never has it been so brazenly paraded, say analysts. "It was no secret that Russian security agencies torture people, mutilate suspected terrorists and generally practice all known ways of extracting information. AdvertisementThe abuse of terror suspects in Russia has been documented before. But the treatment of the Moscow terror suspects seems to mark a new milestone in the normalization of brutality by officials in Putin's Russia.

Persons: —, Mukhammadsobir Faizov, Dalerdzhon, Saidakrami Rachabalizoda, Shamsidin, Vladimir Putin, Mirzoyev, Rajabalizoda, Fariduni, mutilate, Anton Barbashin, Akram Azimov, Abror, lionized, Andrei Soldatov, Russia's Wagner, Kenneth Roth Organizations: Service, Business, CNN, Nazi, RFE, Human Rights Watch, St, New York Times, UN, Moscow ISIS, Kremlin, Human Rights Locations: Moscow, Tajikistan, Russia, St Petersburg, Ukraine, Putin's Russia

☆ Putin expected to use deadly Moscow attack to Russia's advantage, whoever's to blame
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-25 | by ( Holly Ellyatt | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

U.S. officials and defense experts agreed that it's highly likely that IS was responsible for the attack. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Saturday that "what happened yesterday in Moscow is obviously just Putin and the other scum trying to blame it on someone else." Moscow openly rebuffed and ignored a warning from the U.S. earlier in March that "extremists" had "imminent plants" to attack large gatherings in Moscow. Law enforcement officers stand guard near the Crocus City Hall concert venue following a reported shooting incident, near Moscow, Russia. Just days before the attack, Putin instructed Russia's security services to focus their efforts on supporting Russia's "special military operation" in Ukraine.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Mikhail Metzel, Vladimir Putin's, Olga Maltseva, hasn't, Ukraine —, Putin, Ali Cura, Dmitry Medvedev, Medvedev, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Maksim Blinov, Maximilian Hess, Hess, Putin's, Tatyana Makeyeva Organizations: Sputnik, Afp, Getty, Hall, Islamic State, Ukraine, West, Crocus City Hall, Anadolu, Russia's Security, NBC News, Foreign Policy Research Institute, CNBC, Islamic Locations: Russian, Moscow, Russia, Crocus, Ukraine, Kyiv, Europe, Basmanny, U.S, Chechen, Islamic State, Syria, Afghanistan

☆ 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

☆ In First Remarks on Attack, Putin Tries to Link Assailants to Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-23 | by ( Anton Troianovski | More About Anton Troianovski | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia laid the groundwork on Saturday for blaming Ukraine for the Moscow concert hall attack. And in making his first remarks on the assault more than 19 hours after it began, he pledged to punish the perpetrators, “whoever they may be, whoever may have sent them.”Mr. Putin, in a five-minute televised address, claimed that someone in Ukraine had tried to help the attackers escape across the border from Russia before they were apprehended by Russian security services. He did not definitively pin the attack on Ukraine; nor did he refer to the assessment by American officials that a branch of the Islamic State was behind it. “They were trying to hide and were moving toward Ukraine,” Mr. Putin said, referring to the four men who carried out the attack and who the Kremlin said had been captured in western Russia. “Based on preliminary information, a window for crossing the border was prepared for them by the Ukrainian side.”

Persons: Vladimir V, Putin, Mr, “, ” Mr, ” Organizations: Ukraine, Islamic Locations: Russia, Moscow, Ukraine, Islamic State, Ukrainian

☆ What we know about the Moscow concert hall attack
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-23 | by ( Lauren Said-Moorhouse | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

Nearly a dozen people have been detained in connection with the attack, which saw armed assailants storm a popular concert venue complex on the outskirts of the capital, killing more than 130 people. An unnamed male witness who survived the attack said the gunmen entered the concert hall and “started shooting everyone.”“I was sitting in the hall upstairs where the balconies were. Law enforcement officers outside the burning Crocus City Hall concert venue following the attack on Friday. The United States had previously warned Moscow that ISIS militants were determined to target Russia in the days before assailants stormed the concert hall. Video Ad Feedback ISIS claims responsibility for attack in busy Moscow-area concert hall 05:22 - Source: CNNWhat else is Russia saying?

Persons: “, ”, Molotov, Yulia Morozova, Andrey Vorobyov, ” Vorobyov, Olga Maltseva, Amaq, Adrienne Watson, Putin, people’s, Alexander Bortnikov, Maria Zakharova, David Cameron, Olaf Scholz, Emmanuel Macron, Narendra Modi, Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Xi Jinping, Antonio Guterres Organizations: CNN, Attackers, Ostorozhno Novosti, Reuters, Crocus City, Russian Emergencies Ministry, Hall, Russia’s, Authorities, Getty, ISIS, SITE Intelligence Group, Islamic, SITE, United, US National Security, RIA Novosti, RIA, Russian Security Service, Russian Foreign, ”, Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, Kremlin, Ukrainian Defense Intelligence, British, India’s, Saudi Arabia’s Crown, United Nations Security Council Locations: Russia, Crocus, Moscow, AFP, Islamic State, United States, ”, Ukraine, ” Ukraine

☆ Death toll from Moscow concert hall attack rises to 115. The FSB confirmed 11 suspects have been arrested.
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-23 | by ( Cameron Manley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Read previewThe death toll from the attack on Moscow's Crocus City Hall Friday night has risen to 115 as Russia's Federal Security Bureau confirmed eleven suspects had been arrested in connection with the attack. Emergency services vehicles are seen outside the burning Crocus City Hall concert hall following the shooting incident in Krasnogorsk, outside Moscow on March 22, 2024. ArrestsRussia's FSB confirmed that 11 people had been arrested in connection with the attack on the concert hall. AdvertisementA woman lays flowers at a makeshift memorial in front of Moscow's Crocus City Hall a day after terrorist attack. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also condemned the terrorist attack "in the strongest possible terms," his spokesman said.

Persons: —, STRINGER, Andrey Vorobyov, OLGA MALTSEVA, Vladimir Putin, Dmitrii Peskov, Mykhailo Podolyak, Amaq, Daniel Byman, Hamid Karzai, Byman, Putin, Antonio Guterres Organizations: Service, Moscow's, Federal Security, Russia's, Business, Islamic, Kremlin, TASS, Associated Press, Getty, Health, Moscow Crocus City, Getty Images, Russian Federation, Novosti, State, Hall, Kyiv, ISIS, CNN, The New York Times, AP, Russian, CSIS, Central, UN, Council Locations: Moscow's Crocus, Islamic State, Russian, Crocus, Krasnogorsk, Moscow, AFP, Ukraine, Khorasan Province, Afghanistan, Kabul, Russia

☆ Vladimir Putin set to win 2024 Russian presidential election
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-17 | by ( Christian Edwards | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

Minutes after polls closed on Sunday, the head of the Russian Central Election Commission (CEC) said Putin was in the lead with 87.9% of the vote, with 24.4% of the count in. More constitutional changes in 2020 removed presidential term limits, potentially allowing Putin to stay in power until 2036. Russia also held the presidential election in four Ukrainian regions it annexed during its full-scaled invasion. APThe election comes after more than two years of war which have exacted huge costs on the Russian population. After the election, Russia is set to continue to press home its growing advantage in Ukraine.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Putin, Russia’s, Joseph Stalin, – Putin, ”, Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Alexey Navalny, Navalny, Novichok, “, Navalny’s, Yulia Navalnaya, Molotov, Ella Pamfilova, Dmitri Lovetsky, Levada Organizations: CNN, Kremlin, Russian, Election Commission, Russian Security Service, Sunday, CEC, West Locations: Soviet, Russia, Ukraine, Moscow, St . Petersburg, Germany, China, North Korea, Iran, Avdiivka, United States, Europe

☆ ‘Welcome to Hell’: U.N. Panel Says Russian War Crimes Are Widespread
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-15 | by ( Nick Cumming-Bruce | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Two years after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, United Nations investigators say they have uncovered new evidence of systematic and widespread torture of Ukrainian prisoners held by Russian security forces. A United Nations Commission of Inquiry on Friday detailed a range of what it described as Russian war crimes, including summary executions, sexual violence and forced transfer of Ukrainian children into Russia. The commission paid special attention to “horrific” treatment of Ukrainian prisoners by Russian security services at detention centers in Russia and occupied Ukraine. The commission will deliver a report to the Human Rights Council in Geneva next week, detailing accounts of torture from four locations in Russia and seven in occupied Ukraine, strengthening previous findings that the use of torture had become widespread and systematic. “We are concerned at the scale, continuation and gravity of violations and crimes that the commission has investigated and the impact on victims,“ Erik Mose, chairman of the three-person panel, said in a statement.

Persons: Russia’s, “ Erik Mose Organizations: United Nations, United Nations Commission, Human Rights Locations: Ukraine, Russia, Geneva

☆ Russia presidential election: Putin set to sweep to fifth term in power
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-14 | by ( Christian Edwards | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Russia’s Central Election Commission (CEC) approved only three candidates to oppose Putin: Leonid Slutsky of the Liberal Democratic Party, Vladislav Davankov of the New People Party and Nikolay Kharitonov of the Communist Party. “A vote for Slutsky and LDPR is absolutely not a vote against Putin,” he said. Although the ruling United Russia party has declared its “full support” for the president, Putin is running as an independent candidate, placing himself above party politics. A local election commission member prepares a polling station for early voting in the Republic of Karelia, March 10, 2024. Polls are set to open in Russia’s far eastern Kamchatka at 8 a.m. local time on Friday (4 p.m.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Putin, Joseph Stalin, Leonid Slutsky, Vladislav Davankov, Nikolay Kharitonov, Slutsky, “, ”, Stringer, Yekaterina Duntsova, Boris Nadezhdin, Alexey Navalny, Navalny “, Navalny, “ Putin, Yulia Navalnaya, Don’t, Natalia Kolesnikova, Dmitry Peskov, Peskov, Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin’s, Dmitry Serebryakov Organizations: CNN, Kremlin, Commission, Liberal Democratic Party, New People Party, Communist Party, Liberal Democratic Party of Russia, United, Getty, CEC, Russian Security Service, The New York Times, TASS, Russia Locations: Alaska, Kaliningrad, Ukraine, Russia, Soviet, United Russia, AFP, Moscow, Republic of Karelia, Avdiivka, Russia’s, Kamchatka

☆ Analysis: As Putin sails to re-election, Russia’s leader has a succession problem
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-11 | by ( Nathan Hodge | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

CNN —Russian President Vladimir Putin is widely expected to sail to re-election in a nationwide vote that begins on March 15, securing a fifth term in office and a full third decade as Russia’s paramount leader. As Kremlin chairman, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin would become the country's leader temporarily if Putin were to die or be incarcerated while in office. In 2008, Putin reached the end of his second presidential term, and stepped aside for a handpicked placeholder, Dmitry Medvedev. Some Russian political observers speculate that the real competition to succeed Putin is not likely until the 2030s, when Putin reaches his sixth term. Even the former president Medvedev, who lost the number two slot in 2020 when he stepped down in a government shakeup, may still have aspirations.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Alexey Navalny, Joseph Stalin, Putin, Dmitry Peskov, Putin “, Joe Biden, Putin’s, …, ”, Andreas Umland, “ Putin, ” Umland, Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin –, “ It’s, Umland, Mikhail Mishustin, Gleb Schelkunov, Dmitry Medvedev, Medvedev, Irina Buzhor, Leonid Brezhnev, Alexander Lukashenko, Xi Jinping, Nursultan Nazarbayev, Nazarbayev, President Kassym, Tokayev, Andrey Pertsev Organizations: CNN, Stockholm Centre, Eastern European Studies, Russian, Russian Federation, Soviet, Air Force One, United Russia, Russian Security Council, AP, Chinese Communist Party, country’s Security, Kremlin Locations: Soviet, Ukraine, Moscow, Russia, Russian, Belarusian, Kazakhstan

☆ Russian oligarch went to Moscow in effort to broker complex prisoner exchange that included Navalny, sources say
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-08 | by ( Sebastian Shukla | Alex Marquardt | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

CNN —A multi-country prisoner exchange that might have freed Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny was being discussed and progressing when he died last month, multiple sources have told CNN, and included the direct involvement of a Russian oligarch, Roman Abramovich. However, a source close to Navalny’s team told CNN that on the evening of February 15 they had received word that a message had been delivered to Putin. Clinton “initially passed on the message” to US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, Grozev told CNN. “We had to find a way to package the German asset [Krasikov] into an American negotiation,” the source close to the Navalny team said. Getting the message to Putin was one of the greatest challenges, the individual close to the Navalny team told CNN.

Persons: Alexey Navalny, Roman Abramovich, Navalny, Abramovich, Hillary Clinton, Vladimir Putin, Putin, Maria Pevchikh, “, ”, Dmitry Peskov, it’s, Christo Grozev, Clinton, Grozev, Biden, Viktor Bout, Brittney Griner, Clinton “, Jake Sullivan, Sullivan, Pevchikh, Vadim Krasikov, Krasikov, Tucker Carlson, Evan Gershkovich, Paul Whelan, Whelan, Gershkovich, Whelan –, Sergey Vladimirovich Cherkasov, ” Abramovich Organizations: CNN, United Arab, Kremlin, IK, Aspen Ideas, FSB, US National, National Security, Wall Street, Krasikov, Navalny, US Department of Justice Locations: Russian, Moscow, United Arab Emirates, Ukraine, Siberia, Western, Russia, Aspen, Colorado, Berlin, Chechen, Europe, Germans, Brazil

☆ Everyone is angry at Germany after a series of snubs and screw-ups
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-06 | by ( Mia Jankowicz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Leaked German military discussions about sending Taurus missiles to Ukraine have caused discord. It's the latest diplomatic spat related to Germany and aid to Ukraine. After the US, Germany is the country sending the most military aid to Ukraine, at least in terms of volume. A mortifying leakPart of this anger was triggered by Russian state broadcaster RT publishing a 38-minute leaked recording of four German officials discussing how Ukraine could deploy German Taurus missiles. Taurus missiles are — very broadly speaking — Germany's equivalent to the Storm Shadow: powerful, long-range weapons with a strong ability to evade air defenses.

Persons: Olaf Scholz, —, Emmanuel Macron, Le, Ben Wallace, Scholz, Germany —, Der Westen, Dmitry Medvedev, Vladimir Putin, It's, Edward Hunter Christie, — Scholz, Antoine Gyori, Macron, Le Monde, Rafael Loss Organizations: Taurus, Service, RT, German Taurus, Associated Press, Storm, France, Politico, MOD, government's Foreign, France's Ministry of Defence, NATO, Russian Security, Finnish Institute of International Affairs, Macron, Ukraine Challenger, Ukraine, European Council, Foreign Relations Locations: Ukraine, France, Germany, allyship, German, Kerch, Crimea, Korea, Russia, Europe, Macron Germany

☆ After recent gains, Russia signals it could try to seize Kyiv again — saying the 'regime must fall'
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-22 | by ( Holly Ellyatt | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

A senior Russian official has signaled that Russian forces could make another attempt to capture Kyiv, after a failed attempt to seize the Ukrainian capital early in the war. Deputy chairman of the Russian Security Council, Dmitry Medvedev, told Russian media agencies that Russia could "reach Kiev," using the Russian spelling of the city, saying it could happen later, if not now. Russia claims that the partially occupied regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson are now a part of Russia, a claim roundly rejected by Ukraine and its allies. In his latest interview, Medvedev commented that "this regime must fall, it must be destroyed, it must not remain in this world." Kyiv was a "Russian city," he claimed, warning that in Ukrainian hands it was "a threat to the existence of the Russian Federation."

Persons: Dmitry Medvedev, Medvedev, Vladimir Putin, Volodymyr Zelenskyy Organizations: Russian, Russian Security, RIA Novosti, Russian Federation Locations: Kyiv, Russian, Russia, Kiev, Moscow, Ukraine, Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, United States of America

☆ 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

CNN —A US-Russian dual citizen has been arrested in Russia on charges of treason for allegedly collecting funds for Ukrainian organizations and openly supporting Kyiv. It also accused the woman of taking part in “public actions in support of the Kyiv regime” while in the US. The court chose a preventive measure in the form of detention for the accused,” the statement added. Moscow has detained several US citizens in recent years, some of whom have been exchanged for Russian prisoners held in Western countries. The Moscow City Court on Tuesday rejected Gershkovich’s lawyers appeal and has upheld his pretrial detention until March 30.

Persons: Evan Gershkovich, “, Gershkovich, Vladimir Putin, Vadim Krasikov, Natalia Kolesnikova, ” Putin, Tucker Carlson, ”, Brittney, Viktor Bout, Griner, US Marine Paul Whelan Organizations: CNN, Russia’s Federal Security Service, Ukrainian Armed Forces, Embassy, US State Department, Wall Street, Court, Getty, Fox News, basketball, US Marine Locations: Russian, Russia, Los Angeles, Yekaterinburg, Moscow, “, Lefortovo, Germany, Chechen, Berlin, AFP, United States

☆ Opinion: Alexey Navalny, one man who stood up to a dictatorship
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-18 | by ( Richard Galant | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +18 min

We’re looking back at the strongest, smartest opinion takes of the week from CNN and other outlets. “In his courageous and too short life,” wrote Russia scholar Daniel Treisman, “Navalny became a symbol of hope for the younger generations of his compatriots. “He never gave up on the prospect of what he called ‘the beautiful Russia of the future,’” Treisman noted. “For a ‘beautiful Russia of the future’ to emerge in coming years, Putin must lose the war he started. Navalny understood this.”“Navalny’s death represents the extinguishing of all hope for Russia’s turnaround,” wrote Sasha Vasilyuk.

Persons: Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Joseph Stalin “, “, ”, you’ve, Alexey Navalny, Vladimir Putin’s, Navalny, fearlessly, Putin, Daniel Treisman, “ Navalny, Navalny’s, ’ ” Treisman, Sasha Vasilyuk, Alexey Navalny’s, Peter Bergen, Andrei Sakharov, ” Putin, Bergen, Nick Anderson, Joe Biden, Donald Trump, Trump, authoritarians, Bill Bramhall, James Mattis, ” Peter Bergen, Frida Ghitis, Fidel Castro’s playbook, Patrick Mahomes, Andy “, Amy Bass, New York Democrat Tom Suozzi, George Santos, ” Suozzi, CNN Suozzi didn’t, Biden, isn’t, Long, Max Burns, ” “, Alejandro Mayorkas, ” “ Suozzi, Burns, Robert Hur’s, Norm Eisen, Richard Painter, Joshua Kolb, Hur, ” Joel Pett, Lawrence C, Levy, Julian Zelizer, Dean Obeidallah, Mark Dent, Dent, Saw, Clay Jones, David Orentlicher, ” Orentlicher, Will Cooper, Fani, Willis, Nathan, Wade, ” “ Willis, Antony Blinken, Batniji, Blinken, Fatah, Hussein, Don’t, David Horsey, Agency Jill Filipovic, Lynda Gorov, Taylor Swift, Jim Parrott, Mark Zandi, Brigid Schulte, Yuliya, Kara Alaimo, Frankie de la, Jackie Robinson’s, Jon Stewart’s, Jon Stewart, Matt Wilson, Jon Stewart skewered Trump, Bill Carter, Stewart, ” “ Stewart Organizations: CNN, IK, Moscow Times, Kremlin, Twitter, Facebook, Soviet, Tribune, Agency, Republican, Senate, Agency Former US Defense, Trump, , Kansas City Chiefs, Chiefs, nab, New, New York Democrat, Democratic, GOP, Joel Osteen’s Lakewood Church, Super Bowl, Kansas, West Bank Locations: Soviet, Germany, Ukraine, Russia, New York, Washington, Georgia, ,, York, Glen Cove, Joel Osteen’s, Houston, Kansas City, America, ”, Kansas, Gaza, San Francisco, Israel, Iran

☆ Jailed Russian opposition figure Alexey Navalny had long been a thorn in Putin’s side
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-16 | by ( Laura Smith-Spark | Zamira Rahim | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +13 min

From prison, Navalny denounced Russia’s invasion of Ukraine via social media and encouraged anti-war protests across the country. Navalny was detained and sent to a Russian prison in 2021 after he had returned to Russia from Germany, where he was recovering from Novichok poisoning he blamed on the Russian government. Navalny took up Nemtsov’s mantle, becoming Russia’s most prominent opposition figure. Alexey Navalny was given a suspended sentence and his brother was sentenced to a prison term. Russia launched a new fraud accusation and jail threat against Navalny at the end of 2020, increasing pressure on him.

Persons: CNN — Alexey Navalny, Vladimir Putin, Navalny, Alexei Navalny, Dmitry Lovetsky, “, Putin, ”, Kira Yarmysh, Dmitry Peskov, Alexander Litvinenko, Novichok, Sergei Skripal, Russia’s, Boris Nemtsov, Alexey Navalny, ‘ Putin, Oleg, Yves Rocher, “ Putin, ” Navalny, Dasha Navalnaya, Margarita Kotova, gaunt, Alexey, –, Putin –, Alexander Nemenov, vociferously, I’m, Yulia Navalnaya Organizations: CNN, United, Kremlin, CNN Former, Getty, Corruption, Navalny, “, Moscow’s, Peoples University, Transneft, Court, of Human Locations: United Russia, Russia, Ukraine, Siberia, Germany, Moscow, CNN Former Russian, Britain, Russian, English, Salisbury, Siberian, Tomsk, Omsk, France, Sweden, Anadolu, Melekhovo, Vladimir Region, Butyn, AFP, Moscow’s

☆ Navalny is the latest in a long line of Putin critics who met an early death
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-16 | by ( Lauren Said-Moorhouse | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +15 min

CNN —When Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny returned to Russia in 2021, there were many who feared he would face an untimely end. The Kremlin has said it is investigating the critic’s death, the circumstances of which were not immediately clear. After his death, opposition leader Ilya Yashin said his friend had been working on a report about Russian troops and their involvement in Ukraine. Nemtsov’s death came two days before he was set to lead an opposition rally in the Russian capital. Alexander PerepilichnyyOver the years, suggestions have emerged of the possible use of a rare plant poison in the death of Russian financier Alexander Perepilichnyy.

Persons: Alexey Navalny, Vladimir Putin’s, ”, Navalny, Yegveny Prigozhin Yevgeny Prigozhin, Wagner, Reuters Yevgeny Prigozhin, –, Bill Browder, “ Putin, ” Boris Nemtsov, Boris Nemtsov, Dmitry Korotayev, Boris Yeltsin, Ilya Yashin, Nemtsov, Vladimir Putin, Nemtsov’s, Boris Berezovsky Boris Berezovsky, Yelena Gorbunova, Peter Macdiarmid, Boris Berezovsky, Putin, Berezovsky, Alexander Perepilichnyy, CNN Alexander Perepilichnyy, Perepilichnyy, Sergei Magnitsky, ANDREY SMIRNOV, Magnitsky, Browder, Alexander Litvinenko Alexander Litvinenko, Natasja Weitsz, Alexander Litvinenko, Litvinenko –, Robert Owen, Putin “, Litvinenko, Marina Litvinenko, Anna Politkovskaya, JENS SCHLUETER, Lom, Ali Gaitukayev, Politkovskaya, Chechen Republic …, ” Drownings, Prigozhin, Gennady Lopyrev –, “, Lopyrev, Pyotr Kucherenko, Pavel Antov, Vladimir Budanov, Budanov, Alexander Buzakov, Anatoly Gerashchenko, Ravil Maganov, Lukoil, Maganov “, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Sergei Skripal, Skripal, Yulia Organizations: CNN, Putin’s United, “, Kremlin, PMC Wagner, Reuters, Republican Party of Russia, Party, Newsweek, Royal Botanic, Getty Images, Hermitage Capital, KGB, Getty, Authorities, The, Protect Journalists, RIA Novosti, Russia’s, Science, Higher Education, Gazprom, Lukoil, Moscow Aviation Institute, TASS Locations: Russia, Vladimir Putin’s Russia, Putin’s United Russia, Ukraine, ” Boris Nemtsov Russian, Kremlin, Moscow, Russian, London's, England, Soviet Union, Britain, Surrey, London, Kew, American, Chechnya, Leipzig, Germany, AFP, The New York, Chechen Republic, Washington, Gelendzhik, ”, Cuba, India, United States

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