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☆ During the last attempted coup in Russia, ballet dancers alerted citizens of the turmoil. As the Wagner mercenary boss turns on the Russian military, Tchaikovsky's swans may dance again.
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-24 | by ( Katherine Tangalakis-Lippert | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

On Friday a new attack on the Russian military began, led by Wagner mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin. But instead of Yanayev taking control, one of Gorbachev's political rivals, Boris Yeltsin, urged the Soviets to resist the attempted coup and fight back. Three protesters died in a tense, three-day standoff against the army, but Yanayev and the others behind the attempted coup eventually relented. On Friday, Prigozhin appeared to openly declare taking up arms against the Russian military. The infighting between the mercenary leader and the Russian military comes after months of Prigozhin feuding with Putin over the treatment of his for-hire army.

Persons: Swan, Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, —, Leonid Brezhnev, Gennady Yanayev, Mikhail Gorbachev, Gorbachev, Boris Yeltsin, Putin, Prigozhin, Russia's, Prigozhin's, GeoConfirmed Organizations: Swan Lake, Russian, Service, NPR, Soviet Union's Communist Party, Treaty, Wagner Group, Wagner Locations: Russia, Soviet, Moscow, Russian, Swan, USSR

☆ These secret US Navy underwater microphones built to detect Soviet submarines may be what caught the sounds of the Titan submersible imploding
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-23 | by ( Ryan Pickrell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

A Navy system detected what is believed to have been the implosion of the Titan submersible lost touring the Titanic. That system, a naval expert said, is likely the undersea hydrophones of the Integrated Undersea Surveillance System. That system, which was initially just the Sound Surveillance System, has been listening for enemy submarine activity for decades. This system, first constructed in the early 1950s, is called the Sound Surveillance System (SOSUS). Clark said the reporting indicated that the SOSUS hydrophones are likely what detected the final moments of the Titan submersible.

Persons: —, Bryan Clark, they've, Clark Organizations: Navy, Titan, Undersea Surveillance, Service, US Navy, US Coast Guard, Expeditions, Street, Atlantic, Soviet, Hudson Institute, NPR, New York Times Locations: West, Russia, China, sonobuoys

☆ Draining of Ukraine's Kakhovka reservoir offers a reminder of past and present wars
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-12 | by ( Max Hunder | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

On a drizzly morning near the southern city of Zaporizhzhia, a team of divers and underwater demining experts from Ukraine's State Emergency service grappled on Monday with the steering element of a S-300 missile. He said the amount of explosive or dangerous items the unit had been called out to deal with had grown several times since the Kakhovka dam was destroyed last Monday. Ukraine's environment minister said the Kakhovka reservoir, which was the body of water contained by the dam, had lost nearly three-quarters of its volume. REUTERS/Alina SmutkoThe S-300, used by both Russia and Ukraine, is a Soviet-era missile built to intercept aerial targets, such as larger missiles. The destruction of the Kakhovka dam has provided other historical echoes: In 1941, retreating Soviet forces blew up Zaporizhzhia's huge Dnipro Dam to slow a German assault.

Persons: ZAPORIZHZHIA, Oleksandr Chechko, Alina Smutko, Chechko, UNIAN, Max Hunder, Timothy Heritage, William Maclean Organizations: REUTERS, Nazi, Soviet, Thomson Locations: Nazi, Ukraine, Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine's, Norway, Russia, Dnipro, Soviet, Ukrainian

☆ Reports say China plans to set up a spy base in Cuba. The Pentagon says no, but it's closely watching what Beijing is up to.
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-09 | by ( Ryan Pickrell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

China is reportedly in talks with Cuba about setting up a spy base on the island roughly 100 miles from Florida. It's a move that would follow in the footsteps of the Soviet Union, which operated a spy base on the island for decades. The Soviet spy facility in Lourdes was operational until 2001, when it closed down. The Pentagon responded to the reports of China's plan for a spy facility in Cuba Thursday afternoon, with spokesman Brig. Update: 6/9/2023 — This article has been updated with new statements from the Pentagon, the White House National Security Council, Cuba, and China.

Persons: —, Laura Richardson, Mike Waltz, Brig, Pat Ryder, he'd, John Kirby, Kirby Organizations: Pentagon, Service, Privacy, Department of Defense, White, Politico, Central Command, Cape Canaveral, Wall Street Journal, CNN, The New York Times, Senior, US Southern Command, Florida Republican, House Intelligence, Armed Services, Chinese Communist Party, Soviet Union, National Security, Cuban, White House National Security Council Locations: China, Cuba, Florida, Soviet Union, Beijing, Havana, Cape, America, Soviet, Lourdes

MOSCOW, June 8 (Reuters) - For more than 15 months Russia has been fighting a war in Ukraine that the Kremlin refused to call a war - but that is changing: President Vladimir Putin is using the word "war" more often. The Russian media was ordered not to use the word war - and has either complied or shut down. But in response to what Russia said was a major Ukrainian drone attack on Moscow, Putin last week used the word "war" four times in relation to Ukraine, according to a Kremlin transcript of his remarks. "What is more important is what is says about the future: does war mean a more serious approach and what will Russia at war look like?" Attacks far inside Russia that Moscow blamed on Ukraine have stiffened opinion within the Kremlin, emboldening hawks who propose a much tougher approach to a war in which Putin has said Russia has not got even got serious yet.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Putin, Pavel Zarubin, Sergei Shoigu, Dmitry Peskov, Sergei Lavrov, Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Vyacheslav Gladkov, Lyndon B, Johnson, George W, Bush, Leonid Brezhnev, Abbas Gallyamov, Nikita Yuferev, Yuferev, Prigozhin, Putin's, General Augusto Pinochet, Guy Faulconbridge, Philippa Fletcher Organizations: Kremlin, Nazi, Red, Motherland, U.S, Soviet, West, Russia, Reuters, Thomson Locations: MOSCOW, Russia, Ukraine, Russian, Ukrainian, Moscow, Ukraine's, Crimea, Soviet, Nazi Germany, Russia's Belgorod, Europe, U.S, Vietnam, Afghanistan, St Petersburg, RUSSIA, Chile, Pinochet

☆ China's working on a secret deal with Cuba to set up a spy base about 100 miles off the coast of Florida: reports
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-08 | by ( Ryan Pickrell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

China is reportedly in talks with Cuba about setting up a spy base on the island roughly 100 miles from Florida. The Soviet Union operated a signals intelligence base in Cuba for decades. It's a move that would follow in the footsteps of the Soviet Union, which operated a spy base on the island for decades. US officials told The Wall Street Journal that China and Cuba have reached a multi-billion-dollar agreement in principle on the establishment of the base. China officially only has one overseas military base, an installation in Djibouti that it has expanded since it first opened in 2017.

Persons: —, Laura Richardson, Mike Waltz, China's Organizations: Soviet Union, Service, Privacy, Politico, US Central Command, Cape Canaveral, Wall Street Journal, Senior, US Southern Command, Florida Republican, House Intelligence, Armed Services, Chinese Communist Party, CIA, State Department, National Security Locations: China, Cuba, Florida, Soviet Union, Beijing, Havana, Cape, America, Soviet, Lourdes, Djibouti, Cuban, People's Republic, United States

☆ Vladimir Putin was never the Soviet super spy he'd like us to believe. He was merely a KGB 'errand boy,' report says
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-04 | by ( Nathan Rennolds | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Russian President Vladimir Putin has been portrayed as an elite KGB intelligence officer in the 1980s. But a new report from Der Spiegel suggests he was never the super spy he was thought to be. Horst Jehmlich, a former Stasi officer who also worked in Dresden, told Der Spiegel that Putin was nothing more than an "errand boy." Putin worked for the KGB, the Soviet Union's intelligence service, for nearly two decades. Officially he retired from active KGB service with the rank of lieutenant colonel.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Der Spiegel, —, Spiegel, Der, Putin, Horst Jehmlich, Oleg Kalugin Organizations: Service, Red Army, Dresden University, KGB, RFE Locations: Soviet, West Germany, Dresden, East Germany, Germany, Russia

☆ Wagner Group leader is criticizing Putin's botched war plans in Ukraine again because he didn't get a reward for capturing Bakhmut, Western intel says
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-29 | by ( Chris Panella | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Wagner Group chief Prigozhin criticized Putin after not receiving a reward for capturing Bakhmut. Prigozhin has feuded with both Putin and the Russian Ministry of Defense regarding Bakhmut, ISW said. Russian state media has effectively banned reporting on Wagner, Prigozhin said. While it's not clear what reward Prigozhin would have received, the complications around his capture of Bakhmut may indicate a reluctance from Putin and Russian military leaders to reward him, according to the ISW. Prigozhin said Wagner troops took control of Bakhmut on May 10, and cleared the city on May 21, later blaming the delay on the lack of ammunition provided by the Russian Ministry of Defense, ISW stated.

☆ Lauren Boebert says President Biden's plan to fight antisemitism is a plot 'to go after conservatives'
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-27 | by ( Bethany Dawson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

President Biden has announced a new plan to tackle record-high antisemitism in the USA. The White House responded: "If anyone finds opposition to hate threatening, they need to look inward." The gun-rights activist described the newly-announced "tactics" —which include encouraging social media companies to tackle antisemitism and to "build cross-community solidarity" — as "straight out of the USSR's playbook." In another Twitter response, White House press secretary Andrew Bates said, "Congresswoman Boebert is mistaken; antisemitism is not 'conservative' — it is evil." Bates added, "If anyone finds opposition to hate threatening, they need to look inward.

☆ Russian parliament chief proposes Polish truck ban, says Warsaw owes Moscow billions
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MOSCOW, May 21 (Reuters) - Russia's top lawmaker on Sunday called for a ban on Polish trucks transiting Russian territory and for Poland to compensate Moscow financially for what he said was the Soviet rebuilding of the east European country after World War Two. He said Poland should also hand back territory it received after the war. Volodin said a parliamentary committee would begin considering a ban on Polish trucks entering Russian territory as soon as Monday. Strained Russian-Polish relations have deteriorated further since the war in Ukraine - something Moscow calls "a special military operation" with Warsaw positioning itself as one of Kyiv's key allies. In March 2022, Poland said it was expelling 45 Russian diplomats suspected of working for Moscow's intelligence services.

☆ Belarus PM replaces Lukashenko at ceremony, sparks speculation
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Lukashenko also did not speak at an event in Minsk marking the anniversary for the first time in his long presidency. According to the opposition news outlet Euroradio, Lukashenko was taken to an elite Minsk clinic on Saturday. Russian media rarely publish stories about the health of the leaders of Russia or its allied neighbours. Belarus' foreign minister Sergei Aleinik is expected on Monday to start this three-day visit to Moscow, Russia's foreign ministry said last week. Reporting by Ron Popeski and Lidia Kelly; Writing by Ron Popeski; Editing by Gerry DoyleOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Putin's Victory Day speech was as extreme as ever, claiming a 'real war' was being waged against Russia, even as his military had a measly showing at the celebration
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-11 | by ( Kelsey Vlamis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Vladimir Putin said the West was waging a "real war" against Russia in his Victory Day speech. Victory Day is celebrated on May 9 every year in Russia to commemorate the Soviet Union's victory over Germany in World War II. Leading up to Victory Day, officials in several Russian cities canceled their parades. "He almost acts as if the world is no different than it was in World War II," Norris explained. He also said Ukraine would replace Russia's Victory Day with a new holiday to be celebrated annually on May 9 — Europe Day.

☆ Putin's 'one-tank' military parade was an embarrassment for Russia, analysts say
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( Holly Ellyatt | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

A Soviet T-34 tank, the only tank on display in Russia's Victory Day parade on May 9, 2023, rolls through Red Square. Russia's scaled-down Victory Day military parade showed not only Moscow's insecurities over possible Ukrainian attacks but also highlighted the country's depleted military resources due to the conflict, political analysts said. May 9 is a public holiday in Russia when it commemorates the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany in World War II. The fact that only one Stalin-era tank was on display in the military parade through Red Square was particularly eye-catching, analysts noted. This year, however, the only tank on display was a T-34 model dating back to World War II."

☆ Factbox: Why does Russia celebrate Victory Day on May 9, and what does it mean for Putin?
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Victory Day is one of Russia's most important public holidays. WHEN WAS THE FIRST VICTORY DAY? In Moscow it was already May 9, which became the Soviet Union's "Victory Day". The Soviet Union celebrated the 20th and 40th anniversaries of Victory Day with Red Square parades in 1965 and 1985. Under Putin, Victory Day increasingly became a muscular display not only of marching battalions but also of Russia's latest weaponry, including warplanes, tanks, and nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missiles.

☆ Putin says a 'real war' is being waged against Russia in Victory Day speech
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] Russian President Vladimir Putin delivers a speech during a military parade on Victory Day, which marks the 78th anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany in World War Two, in Red Square in central Moscow, Russia May 9, 2023. Sputnik/Gavriil Grigorov/Pool via REUTERSMOSCOW, May 9 (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday said a "real war" was again being waged against Russia as he invoked the Soviet Union's victory in World War Two to say the West was trying to destroy his country. In a speech on Red Square as part of Russia's Victory Day celebrations, Putin said Russia wanted to see a peaceful future, and said the entire country was behind what Russia calls the "special military operation" in Ukraine. Putin said the West had forgotten the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany in 1945. Reporting by Reuters; editing by Guy FaulconbridgeOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Putin accuses the West of creating Nazis while comparing the war in Ukraine to WWII, in what experts are calling a perversion of history
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( Tom Porter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

He sought to portray the war in Ukraine as part of a plot to destroy Russia. Putin has sought to portray the war in Ukraine as a battle against Western powers who he claims are determined to destroy Russia. A real war has been unleashed against our Motherland," he said during a parade in Moscow on Tuesday. During the war, Russia was allied against fascist powers with Western powers including the UK and US. "They've even said that the West created Nazis," he added, calling it a "grotesque perversion of and distortion of history".

☆ Russia’s Victory Day in pictures: Putin watches on during scaled-back parade
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( Holly Ellyatt | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Russia's annual Victory Day parade is underway in Moscow with thousands of military personnel and weaponry filing past Russia's President Vladimir Putin, his top military officials and allies. The sun has been shining in Moscow today for the high-profile event marking the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany in 1945. The Victory Day parade sees Putin and other heads of state of allied countries, as well as military personnel and war veterans, watch on as massive missile launchers, battle tanks and troops parade through Red Square in the capital. Victory Day parades have been canceled in a number of regions and cities in Russia due to those security concerns, and the traditional air display did not take place in Moscow today. Nonetheless, more than 10,000 people and 125 units of weapons and military equipment were reportedly involved in the parade.

☆ Belarus leader Lukashenko avoids stroll, skips lunch after Moscow parade
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Lukashenko, a close Putin ally, looked tired and a little unsteady on his feet, and a bandage was visible on his right hand. His appearance sparked speculation online about his health, though he otherwise showed no obvious sign of being unwell. In a rare departure from custom, the Belarusian president then missed the state lunch hosted by Putin in the Kremlin and attended by the other leaders. Lukashenko later on Tuesday resurfaced for the Victory Day wreath-laying ceremony in Minsk but in another departure from tradition he wore civilian clothes - not a military uniform - and made no speech. At Tuesday's Victory Day parade Putin said Russia was engaged in a "sacred" fight with the West over Ukraine.

☆ Ukraine war live updates: Russia's Victory Day military parade overshadowed by security fears; Kyiv targeted again overnight
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( Holly Ellyatt | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Russian soldiers march during a rehearsal of the Victory Day military parade in Moscow, Russia, on May 7, 2023. All eyes are on Russia's Victory Day parade on Tuesday, an annual event marking the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany in 1945. This year is expected to be a smaller affair, however, with the ongoing war in Ukraine involving much of Russia's military personnel and hardware. Victory Day parades have been canceled in a number of places in Russia. Russia has launched a wave of attacks on Ukrainian cities Kyiv, Odesa and Kherson in the last few days.

☆ Russia launches fresh wave of strikes on Ukrainian cities; Wagner boss ditches threat to leave Bakhmut
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-08 | by ( Natasha Turak | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Russia launched a new wave of attacks on Ukrainian cities Kyiv, Odesa and Kherson, just one day ahead of Moscow's planned Victory Day celebrations on Tuesday, which feature a large military parade and commemorate the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany in 1945. The Victory Day parade has come to encapsulate Russian President Vladimir Putin's vision of his country, and is set to go ahead despite some concern over a recent alleged drone attack on the Kremlin. Meanwhile, Wagner Group leader Yevgeniy Prigozhin has backtracked on his threat to pull his fighters out of the war-torn city of Bakhmut after he announced that Russian military officials agreed to send his group ammunition he said was badly lacking. Wagner Group combatants have spearheaded Russian fighting in Bakhmut, which has become the scene of the war's longest and bloodiest battle.

☆ Oliver Stone says you should be more worried about the climate crisis than the risks of using nuclear power
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( Catherine Boudreau | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Oscar-wining director Oliver Stone released a documentary calling for more use of nuclear power. And nuclear power kills far fewer people than fossil fuels — the main cause of the climate crisis — in terms of air pollution and accidents. These events distorted the safety risks of nuclear energy, Stone argues, noting that beyond the 1986 Chernobyl disaster, few people have died from nuclear accidents. Stone told Insider he didn't know that Ralph Nader, who famously campaigned against nuclear power plants, described the documentary as a "propaganda boomerang." "I'd rather not," Stone told Insider.

☆ Russia is using the supposed Kremlin drone strike as an excuse to scale back its Victory Day celebrations and hide its military losses, experts say
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( Sinéad Baker | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Russia is reducing its large-scale Victory Day parades, which are used to show its military strength. Experts said it is using an alleged Kremlin drone strike as an excuse to scale them back. But Russia likely wants to conceal its military losses in Ukraine, the ISW said. The ISW said the Kremlin "likely hopes to limit typical May 9 events to conceal the degradation of the Russian military." Russian T-90M and T-14 Armata tanks parade through Red Square during the rehearsal of the Victory Day military parade on May 7, 2022.

☆ False flag? Analysts says Russia 'likely staged' Kremlin drone attack it blamed on Ukraine and the West
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( Holly Ellyatt | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +9 min

Ukraine denied any involvement in the incident, with officials saying it more likely signaled that Russia was planning a large-scale terrorist attack against Ukraine in the coming days. The Kremlin went further in its accusations on Thursday, claiming that Washington had helped Ukraine to plot and orchestrate the drone attack. CNBC contacted the Kremlin for a response to claims that it was likely behind the drone attack itself. A view of the roof of Senate Palace of the Kremlin from Red Square on May 3, 2023 in Moscow, Russia. The Kremlin said the drone attack had taken place "on the eve of Victory Day, the May 9th Parade, at which the presence of foreign guests is also planned."

☆ Surprise resort trips and empty hotel rooms reveal how Russia's plan for an easy victory in Ukraine fell apart
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-30 | by ( Stavros Atlamazoglou | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

While Russian intelligence services ramped up operations, the US intelligence community started declassifying intelligence about Russian plans. In an unprecedented move, the US revealed Russia's intentions and informed Kyiv about the Russian intelligence operations inside Ukraine. Once Russia's military secured the city, its special-operations forces would begin what the report calls "repressive operations." The Kremlin even compiled a target deck full of unwanted people to be "liquidated" once the Russian forces were in control of the country. Preparing the battlefieldA member of the Ukrainian military in front of a destroyed Antonov An-225 at the airport in Hostomel in July 2022.

☆ Russia's top spy agency is worried that domestic banks don't have enough foreign currency, report says
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( Filip De Mott | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Russia's top spy agency is worried that domestic banks don't have enough foreign currency. Russia's FSB also urged that any business deals with Chinese firms be kept secret. The Federal Security Service, or FSB, is worried that domestic banks don't have enough foreign currency, the leaked intel assessment said. After Vladimir Putin launched his war on Ukraine last year, Western sanctions froze Russia's foreign-currency reserves. The leaked documents also said that US intelligence officials believe Russia can continuing paying for its war on Ukraine for at least another year.

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