DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ Ukraine Says It Foiled Russian Plot to Kill Zelensky
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-07 | by ( Constant Méheut | More About Constant Méheut | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Ukraine’s security services said on Tuesday that they had foiled a Russian plot to assassinate President Volodymyr Zelensky and other top military and political figures. Two Ukrainian colonels accused of participating in the plot have been arrested on suspicion of treason. According to the Ukrainian agency, the agents working at Russia’s direction were tasked with identifying people close to Mr. Zelensky’s security detail who could take him hostage and later kill him. It is not the first time that Ukraine has reported a potential assassination attempt aimed at its top leaders. Mr. Zelensky himself said in an interview with an Italian television channel earlier this year that his security services had told him of more than 10 such attempts.

Persons: Volodymyr Zelensky, —, Vasyl Malyuk, Kyrylo Budanov, Zelensky Organizations: Russia’s Federal Security Service Locations: Ukrainian, Ukraine, Italian

CNN —Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) said it has discovered a mass corruption scheme in the purchase of weapons by the country’s military amounting to nearly $40 million (1.5 billion Ukrainian hryvnia). Ukraine’s Defense Ministry paid nearly all of the funds to arms supplier Lviv Arsenal, but the SBU said the ammunition was never received. We have no place for corrupt officials.” Ukraine’s Deputy Defense Minister Dmytro Klymenkov said in a statement Saturday. Ukraine has been dogged by corruption scandals involving its defense ministry in recent years. In December, a senior Ukrainian defense ministry official was detained over allegations he had embezzled 1.5 billion hryvnia ($40 million) in a separate case involving an artillery shells contract.

Persons: SBU, Yurii Zbitnev, –, ”, Dmytro Klymenkov, Volodymyr Zelensky, Zelensky, Oleksii Reznikov, Washington Organizations: CNN, Ukraine’s Security, Ukraine’s Armed Forces, Ukraine’s Defense Ministry, Lviv Arsenal, European Union, Ministry of Defence, Defense, Officials Locations: Balkans, Ukraine, Ukrainian, United States, Kyiv

CNN —Ukraine says it has intelligence suggesting only five bodies were delivered from the crash site of a Russian military transport plane to a nearby morgue, a Ukraine military intelligence official told CNN, casting doubt on Moscow’s claim that dozens of Ukrainian prisoners of war were killed in the explosion. Moscow says the plane was transporting Ukrainian prisoners of war, while Kyiv says it was carrying Russian missiles to be used in further strikes on Ukraine. Ukraine’s military command said it regarded Russian military aircraft approaching Belgorod as legitimate target, but did not confirm it had fired at the plane. Traffic officers block off a road near the crash site of the IL-76 plane outside the village of Yablonovo, Russia, January 24, 2024. Russia has not yet provided evidence that dozens of Ukrainian prisoners of war were on board the plane that crashed.

Persons: Andriy Yusov, ”, –, Yusov, Stringer, Dmytro Lubinets, Mykola Oleschuk, Reuters Lubinets, Cross, Dmitry Peskov, Vladimir Putin, “ Organizations: CNN, Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence, Russian Aerospace Forces, Russian, Reuters, Ukraine, UN, International Committee, Ukraine’s Security Locations: Ukraine, Russian, Moscow, Russia’s Belgorod, Kyiv, Yablonovo, Russia, Belgorod, Belgorod city, Ukrainian, Kharkiv

WASHINGTON (AP) — Congress sent President Joe Biden a short-term spending bill on Thursday that would avert a looming partial government shutdown and fund federal agencies into March. House Republicans have fought bitterly over budget levels and policy since taking the majority at the start of 2023. Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., was ousted by his caucus in October after striking an agreement with Democrats to extend current spending the first time. “We’re not going to get everything we want.”Most House Republicans have so far refrained from saying that Johnson’s job is in danger. In Thursday afternoon's vote, 107 House Republicans voted to keep federal agencies funded and 106 voted against the measure.

Persons: Joe Biden, “, Karine Jean, Pierre, ” Jean, Mike Johnson, Chuck Schumer, Chip Roy, ” Roy, Johnson, Rosa DeLauro, ” DeLauro, Kevin McCarthy, ” Johnson, “ We’re, Bob Good, McCarthy, Schumer, ” Good, ”, Andy Barr, Biden, Russia, Farnoush Amiri, Lisa Mascaro, Darlene Superville Organizations: WASHINGTON, —, Republican, Caucus, White, Republicans, “, Rep, House Republicans, . Virginia, Kentucky, GOP, Democratic, Associated Press Locations: Texas, Ukraine, Israel, U.S, Mexico

☆ The War in Gaza Is Giving Russia’s Putin What He Wants - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-26 | by ( Hanna Notte | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

Mr. Biden has vowed that the United States can support both Israel’s and Ukraine’s security needs, and is asking Congress for $105 billion in emergency funding to cover them. But Israel may eventually need weapons that are now running short in Ukraine, including armed drones and artillery rounds. Trapped in a war of attrition of its own making, Russia must be relishing the appearance of a new and demanding conflict for the United States, draining the strength of its adversaries. What’s more, the war in Gaza threatens to postpone — if not derail — the Biden administration’s efforts to normalize relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia. The Kremlin’s response to the war in Gaza, putting distance between itself and Washington’s unequivocal pro-Israel stance, is designed to exploit those feelings further.

Persons: Biden, What’s, —, David, Israel Organizations: Abraham Accords, Kremlin Locations: United States, Israel, Ukraine, Russia, Gaza, Saudi Arabia, Washington, Saudi, Moscow, American, Iran, Europe

CNN —Ukraine has claimed it killed the commander of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, in one of Kyiv’s boldest attacks yet on the occupied peninsula of Crimea. The Ukrainian Special Operations Forces said in an update that Friday’s attack killed Viktor Sokolov along with 33 other officers. “After the hit of the headquarters of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, 34 officers were killed, including the commander of the Russian Black Sea Fleet,” the Ukrainians said Monday, adding that more than 100 other Russian servicemen were wounded. Moscow has said that one serviceman is missing as a result of Ukraine’s attack on Sevastopol. Ukraine has increasingly been hitting strategic Russian targets in Crimea, the Black Sea region of southern Ukraine that has been occupied by Moscow since 2014.

Persons: Viktor Sokolov, “, Andrii Yusov, ”, Sokolov Organizations: CNN, Ukrainian Special Operations Forces, Fleet, The, 744th Communications Center, Command, Black, Ukrainian Defense Intelligence, Special Operations Forces, Navy, Naval Academy, Northern Fleet, Ukraine’s Security Locations: Ukraine, Crimea, Russian, Moscow, Sevastopol, Verkhniosadove, Russia, Ukrainian Crimea, ”, ” Russia, Saky

☆ Black Sea Fleet: Ukraine has Russian targets in Crimea in its sights. Here's why
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-22 | by ( Tim Lister | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

The seizure earlier this month of oil platforms in the Black Sea by Ukrainian commandos has given them another jumping-off point and affected the Russian Black Sea fleet’s freedom of navigation. The Russian Black Sea Fleet has been involved in hundreds of cruise missile attacks against Ukraine and threatens merchant shipping using Ukrainian ports. This image taken from UGC video, uploaded to Telegram with a watermark, shows smoke rising from the headquarters of Russia's Black Sea Fleet. The Black Sea Fleet is still a powerful element of Russia’s offensive capability, but becoming less so by the week. “The Black Sea Fleet is more than its naval assets, and the Ukrainian attacks on the Black Sea Fleet will likely achieve effects beyond the degradation of Russian naval capabilities,” concludes the ISW.

Persons: “, Joseph Richter, Andrii Yusov, It’s, it’s, ” Organizations: CNN, Crimea –, Ukraine’s Security, The, 744th Communications Center, Command, Black, Russia’s Ministry of Defense, Ukrainian Defense Intelligence, Ukrainian, Initiative, Ukrainian Neptune, UGC, Fleet, 810th Naval Infantry Brigade, Fleet’s, Army Corps Locations: Ukrainian, Russian, Ukraine, Crimea, Saky, Sevastopol, Verkhniosadove, “, Russia, Ukrainian Crimea, ”, Crimean, Moscow, Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk, Luhansk, –, Zaporizhzhia Oblast, Kherson Oblast

CNN —Ukraine’s Security Service says it has identified a Russian commander who is accused of giving orders to shoot civilians. “The Security Service has established the identity of another Russian occupier who is involved in mass murders of civilians during the occupation of Kyiv region. The SBU alleges Ovchinnikov “took direct part in the capture of the villages of Severynivka, Motyzhyn, and Kopyliv of the Bucha district,” and rode around the territory in armored vehicles “in order to intimidate local residents” accompanied by his subordinates. According to the Ukrainian prosecutor general’s office, the Russian army committed thousands of war crimes in the Bucha district, and hundreds of people were killed in the town of Bucha alone before it was liberated in March 2022. CNN has reached out for comment on Ukrainian allegations to the Russian Defense Ministry.

Persons: Vadym Ovchinnikov, Ovchinnikov “, ”, Ovchinnikov, general’s Organizations: CNN, Ukraine’s Security Service, SBU, Security Service, Motorized Rifle Brigade, Arms Army, Eastern Military District of, Russian Federation, Kremlin, Russian Defense Ministry Locations: Russian, Bucha, Kyiv, Severynivka, ”, Uman, Cherkasy, Ukraine

☆ Russia Is Replicating Iranian Drones and Using Them to Attack Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-10 | by ( John Ismay | More About John Ismay | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Russia has begun making copies of attack drones it acquired from Iran last year and is using them in combat against Ukrainian forces despite sanctions imposed to cripple the country’s weapons production, according to a report issued Thursday by a weapons research group. The researchers traveled to Kyiv in late July and inspected the wreckage of two attack drones that were used in combat in southeastern Ukraine. Both appeared to be Iranian Shahed-136s, but they contained electronic modules that match components previously recovered from Russian surveillance drones, according to the report. The investigation was conducted by Conflict Armament Research, an independent group based in Britain that identifies and tracks weapons and ammunition used in wars. It is the group’s 10th published account of its work in Kyiv, where researchers have analyzed Russian military hardware collected on the battlefield by Ukraine’s security services.

Organizations: Ukrainian, Armament Research Locations: Russia, Iran, Kyiv, Ukraine, Iranian, Britain

The Russian-backed leader of Crimea, Sergey Aksyonov, said on Telegram that “a fire occurred at a military training ground.” Askenov said residents of four surrounding villages – more than 2,000 people – were being evacuated. Smoke and flames billow over a military training ground following an explosion in the Kirovske district, Crimea, on July 19, 2023. Kyiv has not commented on Wednesday’s explosions at the Crimea training ground. Ukraine’s attack on the Crimea bridge dealt a logistical and symbolic blow to Moscow’s faltering military campaign. The $3.7 billion-dollar corridor, which is 12 miles long, is a critical artery for supplying the peninsula with both its daily needs and supplies for the Russian military, in addition to fuel and goods for civilians.

Persons: Sergey Aksyonov, ” Askenov, Vladimir Putin, Odesa, Volodymyr Zelensky, Hennadii Trukhanov, ”, Denis Pushilin Organizations: CNN, Reuters, Russian Grey Zone Telegram, Ukrainian, Shadow, Atesh, Ukrainian Air Force, Russian Defense Ministry, Monday, Russian, Presidential Press Service, Reuters Odesa, Facebook, Donetsk People’s, DPR, Ukraine’s Security Locations: Crimea, Stary Krym, Crimea’s Kirorvsky, Russian, Kirovske district, Ukrainian, Russia, Ukraine, Odesa, Iran, Moscow, Donetsk, Donetsk People’s Republic

☆ Why the Crimean Bridge is so important to Vladimir Putin
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-17 | by ( Lauren Kent | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Also known as the Kerch Bridge, it holds personal value for Russian President Vladimir Putin. Here’s what you need to know:Why is the bridge so important to Russia? The Kerch Bridge is strategically important because it links Russia’s Krasnodar region with Crimea, which was illegally annexed by Russia from Ukraine in 2014. Rail traffic across the Crimea bridge is continuing to operate on Monday, albeit with delays, according to video on social media, a Russian official and Russian state media. A widely circulating video, which appears to have been captured this morning from a train passing on the parallel rail bridge, shows significant damage to one of the bridge’s road spans.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Putin, Staff, ” Vladimir Konstantinov, Boris Rozhin, “, ” Putin, Dmitry Peskov, Marat Khusnullin, Ukraine Andrii Yusov, ”, ” Yusov Organizations: CNN, CNN Kyiv, Kyiv, Ukrainian military’s, State Council of, Novosti, TASS, Russian, Ukraine’s Security, Defense Intelligence Locations: Russia, Ukrainian, Ukraine, Moscow, Kerch, Crimea, Russian, Kyiv, Krasnodar, Europe, Kherson, Republic of Crimea

The Kerch Strait Bridge that links the Crimean Peninsula to mainland Russia, in March. Russian officials blamed Ukraine for the attack on the Kerch Strait Bridge. Ukrainian officials offered no comment on the incident. Video and photographs verified by The Times showed damage to both sides of the road bridge, with the most significant being along a span of the bridge heading into Russia. The attack came as Ukrainian forces were engaged in an ambitious and grinding counteroffensive aimed at driving Russian forces from southern Ukraine.

Persons: Yusov, ”, Vladimir Rogov, Vladimir Konstantinov, Sergei Aksyonov, —, Vyacheslav Gladkov, Aksyonov, Mazaeva, Ivan Nechepurenko Organizations: The Times, Ministry, Transport, Russian Federation, Ukrainian, Crimean Locations: Kerch, Crimean, Russia, Ukraine, Russian, Moscow, Crimea, Sevastopol, Belgorod

☆ Analysis: Why Ukraine's plea for NATO membership is such a profound dilemma for the West
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-10 | by ( Stephen Collinson | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +11 min

The president said that the alliance needed to lay out a “rational path” for Ukraine’s membership but that it was still short of some requirements for joining, including over democratization. NATO membership would also boost Ukraine’s bid to cement a democracy that was vulnerable before the war and fulfill the desire of many of its people to join the West. Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican, and Richard Blumenthal, a Connecticut Democrat, last week introduced a resolution calling for a roadmap to Ukraine’s NATO membership as soon as it is practicable. “Guaranteeing Ukraine’s security would erode US security by increasingly the risk, obviously, of war with Russia,” he said. Even if Biden were to amend his position on accelerating NATO membership for Ukraine, he cannot ensure a successor would honor treaty obligations.

Persons: Joe Biden, Biden, ” Biden, CNN’s Fareed Zakaria, Volodymyr Zelensky, Vladimir Putin, ”, –, Putin, stiffen, Lindsey Graham, Richard Blumenthal, “, We’re, Michael McCaul, Ben Friedman, ” Friedman, Donald Trump, Zelensky Organizations: CNN, NATO, Ukrainian, ABC News, Kremlin, Warsaw, South Carolina Republican, Connecticut Democrat, Ukraine, GOP Rep, House Foreign Affairs Committee, Texas Republican, Defense, American, Soviet, Russia Locations: Europe, Ukraine, Moscow, Russia, Lithuania, Eastern Europe, Poland, Hungary, Romania, Baltic, Latvia, Estonia, Soviet Union, Bucharest, Sens, Connecticut, Russian, United Kingdom, “ State, Western Europe, Israel, Taiwan, United States, Eastern

☆ NATO chief visits Kyiv: Jens Stoltenberg says Ukraine's "rightful place" is in the alliance
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( Sana Noor Haq Luke Mcgee Alex Hardie Zahid Mahmood Victoria Butenko | Sana Noor Haq | Luke Mcgee | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

CNN —NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Thursday “Ukraine’s future is in NATO,” in his strongest remarks reaffirming ties with Kyiv since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg visits the Wall of Remembrance to pay tribute to fallen Ukrainian soldiers in Kyiv on April 20, 2023. Gleb Garanich/ReutersStoltenberg (left) and President Volodymyr Zelensky (right) meet during the alliance chief's historic trip to Ukraine on Thursday. Finnish public support for accession snowballed following the invasion of Ukraine, and also reignited calls from Kyiv to join. Speaking at a joint conference in Kyiv, Zelensky said he valued the support from the alliance but pressed Stoltenberg on when Ukraine would be invited to join NATO.

☆ Ukraine Warns Against Russian Threat to Put Nuclear Weapons in Belarus
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-26 | by ( Ian Lovett | Ann M. Simmons | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

A top Ukrainian defense official accused the Kremlin of trying to make Belarus a “nuclear hostage” after Russian President Vladimir Putin announced plans to put tactical nuclear weapons in the country. Oleksiy Danilov , Ukraine’s security council secretary, wrote on Twitter on Sunday that putting nuclear weapons in Belarus, a key Russian ally, would be “a step toward internal destabilization of the country.”

Zelenskyy has called the Russian attacks on infrastructure “energy terrorism” and vowed the assault won’t change the course of the war. People sit in a dark cafe during a blackout after Russian strikes Dec. 29 in Lviv, Ukraine. Company officials believe Russian engineers who know the vulnerable points in Ukraine’s electricity system most likely advised the Russian military on its targeting. Water and cellphonesThe attack on the country’s electricity grid has had a knock-on effect for other infrastructure, including water supplies and mobile phone service. Although the assault on Ukraine’s infrastructure hasn’t damaged Ukraine’s position on the battlefield or broken the country’s will to fight, it has inflicted “huge damage” on the economy, he said.

Search resuls for: "Ukraine’s Security"

16 mentions found