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☆ CIA director saw ‘genuine risk’ of Russia using tactical nuclear weapons early in Ukraine war
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-07 | by ( Rebecca Picciotto | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

CIA Director Bill Burns testifies next to Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines during a House (Select) Intelligence Committee hearing on diversity in the intelligence community, on Capitol Hill in Washington, October 27, 2021. CIA Director William Burns believed there was a real risk in the fall of 2022 that Russia could use nuclear weapons on the battlefield against Ukraine, though he said the West should not be intimidated by Russian President Vladimir Putin's threats. "There was a moment in the fall of 2022 when I think there was a genuine risk of the potential use of tactical nuclear weapons," Burns said. In the more than two years since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, the Kremlin has regularly signaled that it would consider using nuclear weapons in the war. It allows the use of nuclear weapons in response to an attack with nuclear or other weapons of mass destruction against Russia or its allies, as well as a conventional attack that threatens the existence of the Russian state.

Persons: Bill Burns, National Intelligence Avril Haines, William Burns, Vladimir Putin's, Burns, Richard Moore, Joe Biden's, Sergey Naryshkin, We've, Putin, Sergei Ryabkov, Ryabkov Organizations: National Intelligence, Capitol, CIA, Financial, Kremlin Locations: Washington, Russia, Ukraine, Russian, Russia's Kursk, Kursk

☆ 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

☆ Exclusive: US prepared ‘rigorously’ for potential Russian nuclear strike in Ukraine in late 2022, officials say
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-09 | by ( Jim Sciutto | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +12 min

Russian officials alleged Ukraine would build and detonate a dirty bomb against Russian forces and then blame the attack on Russia. Western intelligence agencies had received information that there were now communications among Russian officials explicitly discussing a nuclear strike. “It’s never a cut-and-dry, black-and-white assessment,” the first senior administration official told me. Secretary of State Antony Blinken communicated US concerns “very directly” with Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov, according to senior administration officials. “We conducted a number of quiet conversations with core allies to go through our thinking,” the first senior administration official told me.

Persons: CNN —, Biden, Powers, “, ” “, Chris McGrath, Vladimir Putin, Sergei Shoigu, “ It’s, NurPhoto, Antony Blinken, Sergey Lavrov, Mark Milley, General Valery Gerasimov, Joe Biden, Bill Burns, Sergey Naryshkin, Xi Jinping, Narendra Modi, Alexandr Demyanchuk, ”, … Organizations: CNN, US, National Security Council, Kherson City, “, UN, United Nations, Russian, Russian Armed Forces, CIA, Indian, Shanghai Cooperation Organization Locations: Russia, Ukraine, Hiroshima, Nagasaki, “, Russian, Kherson, Ukrainian, France, Turkey, ”, Kyiv, India, China, Samarkand

Maxym Marusenko/NurPhoto/Getty ImagesA Russian helicopter pilot Maxim Kuzminov who defected to Ukraine in a dramatic operation is dead, Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence Directorate (GUR) tells CNN. A source at Ukraine’s GUR confirmed to CNN the body was that of Kuzminov, but would not comment on how he had died. Spanish Civil Guard officers investigate the garage where the body of Russian pilot Maxim Kuzminov was found in Villajoyosa, Spain, on February 13. Some context: Last September, CNN reported on how the Russian pilot flew his Mi8 combat helicopter across the border – in an operation directed by Ukraine’s GUR. In an interview, carried out under the auspices of the GUR, Kuzminov explained how he planned his defection and why he did it, telling reporters he was opposed to the war.

Persons: Butenko, Andrew Carey, Al Goodman, Maxim Kuzminov, Maxym, Ukraine’s GUR, Rafa Arjones, Dmitry Peskov, Sergey Naryshkin, Kuzminov Organizations: Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence, CNN, Spanish Civil Guard, Ukraine’s, Civil Guard, Reuters, Foreign, RIA Novosti, Mi8 Locations: CNN’s, Kyiv, Madrid, Russian, Ukraine, Spain, Villajoyosa, Informacion, Russia, Moscow

☆ Russian pilot who defected to Ukraine is dead: Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-20 | by ( Victoria Butenko | Al Goodman | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —Maxim Kuzminov, a Russian pilot who dramatically defected to Ukraine by flying his helicopter across the border, is dead, according to Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence Directorate (GUR). A source at Ukraine’s GUR confirmed to CNN the body of the man found in Spain was that of Kuzminov, but would not comment on how he had died. The shooting took place in a neighborhood where some Russian and Ukrainian expatriates have settled since the war began, according to the Villajoyosa city hall press office. When Kuzminov flew into Ukraine, the two other Russian service members on board the Mi-8 helicopter with him did not know what was happening. “I contacted representatives of Ukrainian intelligence, explained my situation, to which they offered this option: ‘Come on, we guarantee your safety, guarantee new documents, guarantee monetary compensation, a reward,’” the pilot said.

Persons: CNN — Maxim Kuzminov, Ukraine’s GUR, Dmitry Peskov, Sergey Naryshkin, Russia Legion –, Kuzminov, ” “, Maxim, ‘, ’ Kuzminov, Kyrolo Budanov, Budanov, “, ” Budanov, GUR, ’, I’m, ”, ” Kuzminov, Victoria Butenko, Andrew Carey, Al Goodman, Madrid Organizations: CNN, Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence, Spanish Civil Guard, Civil Guard, Ukraine’s, Russian Foreign Intelligence, RIA Novosti, Russian TV, Russia Legion, Armed Forces of, EU, Legion, Kyiv, Radio Liberty Locations: Russian, Ukraine, Alicante, Villajoyosa, Spain, Alicante province, Russia, Moscow, ” “ Ukraine, Armed Forces of Ukraine, Kyiv

☆ Putin is facing pressure from Russia's hawkish nationalists who want all-out war in Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-07 | by ( Jason Corcoran | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +16 min

As the nationalists' most prominent figurehead, Igor Girkin has been among the most searing in his criticism of Russia's military strategy. Addressing his followers last week, Girkin said: "The war in Ukraine will continue until the complete defeat of Russia. The Smolninskoye District Court ruled that the municipal council should be dissolved and subsequently charged the deputies with "discrediting" Russia's military. The widespread purging of liberals and journalists that occurred in the early days of the Ukraine war is relatively straightforward in Russia. But cracking down on ultra- nationalists is more dangerous and may have dire consequences – especially if Russia loses the war.

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