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☆ Who is Viktor Bout, the Russian arms dealer swapped for Griner?
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( Felix Light | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

[1/2] Suspected Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout is escorted by members of a special police unit after a hearing at a criminal court in Bangkok October 5, 2010. Russia got the jailed arms dealer back from the United States on Thursday after exchanging imprisoned U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner for him at Abu Dhabi airport. His notoriety was such that his life helped inspire a Hollywood film, 2005’s Lord of War, starring Nicolas Cage as Yuri Orlov, an arms dealer loosely based on Bout. For some experts, the Russian state's continued interest in Bout, plus his skills and connections in the international arms trade, hint strongly at Russian intelligence ties. “His case has become totemic for the Russian intelligence services, who are keen to show that they don’t abandon their own people,” Galeotti added.

On the surface, Brittney Griner and Viktor Bout are accused of ludicrously different crimes. Bout’s outsized importance to Russia has always been the bigger puzzle. I have seen videos of Bout in the Congo and across Africa, where he was pretty close to the conflicts there. There were suggestions too that he had served alongside senior Russians who are now close to President Vladimir Putin. This is a man who many ordinary Russians may have heard of, and he certainly is of mythological importance to the Russian elite.

One of the most influential voices bolstering Vladimir Putin’s decision to invade Ukraine belongs to a 71-year-old billionaire who argued that a war could prove Russia’s strength. Yuri Kovalchuk, for decades a close friend of the Russian leader, shares Mr. Putin’s vision of Russia as a powerful military and cultural counterpoint to the U.S., people who know him say. The billionaire and Mr. Putin have met frequently since the start of the war in February, and also talk by phone or video, according to a friend of the Kovalchuk family as well as to a former Russian intelligence official.

☆ Dutch prosecutors won't appeal in MH17 case, making verdicts final
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

AMSTERDAM, Dec 1 (Reuters) - Dutch prosecutors said on Thursday they would not file an appeal regarding the outcome in the trial over the 2014 downing of Flight MH17 in eastern Ukraine, making the verdicts final although the suspects remain at large. A Dutch court last month convicted three men and sentenced them to life in prison for the shooting-down of the Malaysian airliner as it flew over eastern Ukraine on its way from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur on July 17, 2014. The three convicted were former Russian intelligence agents Igor Girkin and Sergey Dubinskiy, and Leonid Kharchenko, a Ukrainian separatist leader. Prosecutors said on Thursday they were satisfied with the "clarity" the case had brought to relatives of the victims about what had happened to MH17. Reporting by Bart Meijer Editing by Mark Heinrich and Alistair BellOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ The CIA is looking for Russians who are 'disgusted' with the Ukraine war to recruit as spies
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-23 | by ( Sophia Ankel | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The CIA's deputy director of operations said last week the agency is looking for Russian recruits. Marlowe added the CIA is looking for Russians who are "disgusted" with the war in Ukraine. "He squandered every single bit of that," Marlowe said, before adding: "We're looking around the world for Russians who are as disgusted with [Putin's actions] as we are. Marlowe was speaking alongside CIA Deputy Director for Analysis Linda Weissgold in his first in-person public appearance since taking over as the CIA's espionage chief last year, according to the Journal. CIA Director William Burns appointed Marlowe as the agency's deputy director of operations in June 2021, The Wall Street Journal reported.

[1/2] U.S. President Joe Biden speaks to the media after an alleged Russian missile blast in Poland, in Bali, Indonesia, November 16, 2022. REUTERS/Kevin LamarqueWASHINGTON, Nov 18 (Reuters) - President Joe Biden has been adamant that the United States will back Ukraine in its nine-month fight to repel a Russian invasion. We will determine what happened and what the appropriate next steps would be," said White House spokesperson Adrienne Watson. Sullivan, who has been in touch with Russian officials about the risks around the Ukraine invasion, did not make contact in relation to this incident, a White House official said. "It's now just a matter of doing forensics work to determine what kind of missile it was," the official said.

☆ Netherlands protests 'despicable' Russian response to MH17 verdict
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

AMSTERDAM, Nov 18 (Reuters) - The Dutch government said on Friday it had summoned the Russian ambassador in the Netherlands over what it called Moscow's "utterly despicable" response to the verdict in the trial over the 2014 downing of Flight MH17. Russia said on Thursday the Dutch court's decision to convict two former Russian intelligence agents and a Ukrainian separatist leader for shooting down the Malaysian airliner "neglected impartiality". Foreign Minister Wopke Hoekstra said these remarks by Russia, which invaded Ukraine nine months ago, were "utterly despicable" and totally removed from reality. We can't let this pass ... and have to show that we do respect the rule of law and do have an independent judiciary," Hoekstra told Dutch newspaper AD. Reporting by Bart Meijer and Stephanie van den Berg Editing by Mark Potter and Mark HeinrichOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Who is Viktor Bout, the arms dealer who could be swapped for Griner?
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-18 | by ( Felix Light | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +8 min

Russia wants the jailed arms dealer back in Moscow and is discussing a prisoner swap with the United States that could see him exchanged for Americans imprisoned in Russia including basketball star Brittney Griner. Reed was ultimately freed in return for Konstantin Yaroshenko, a Russian pilot jailed in the United States on drug trafficking charges. For some experts, the Russian state's continued interest in Bout, plus his skills and connections in the international arms trade, hint strongly at Russian intelligence ties. In interviews, Bout has said he attended Moscow's Military Institute of Foreign Languages, which serves as a training ground for military intelligence officers. “His case has become totemic for the Russian intelligence services, who are keen to show that they don’t abandon their own people,” Galeotti added.

☆ Russia beat, starved, and electrocuted people from a captured Ukrainian nuclear power plant in a web of underground prisons, escaped workers say
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-18 | by ( Charles R. Davis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Russia has been torturing workers at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, former employees say. The plant in occupied southeastern Ukraine is Europe's largest nuclear power facility. Russian forces captured the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant soon after the Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine. He and other workers described being beaten, starved, and electrocuted by their interrogators; some were also shot, with at least one employee being tortured to death. Energoatom, Ukraine's state-run nuclear power company, said at least 200 workers have been detained, the Journal reported.

☆ Judges to rule in murder trial for 2014 downing of flight MH17 over Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MH17 was a passenger flight shot down over eastern Ukraine on July 17, 2014, killing all 298 passengers and crew. At the time, the area was the scene of fighting between pro-Russian separatist and Ukrainian forces, the precursor of this year's conflict. Moscow denies any involvement or responsibility for MH17's downing and in 2014 it also denied any presence in Ukraine. They were charged with shooting down an airplane and with murder in a trial held under Dutch law. Judges will begin reading the verdict at 1:30 p.m. local time (1230 GMT) at the high-security court next to Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport.

☆ Iran plotted to kidnap or kill at least 10 people in the U.K., British domestic spy chief says
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-16 | by ( Dan De Luce | Dan De Luce Is A Reporter For The Nbc News Investigative Unit. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

Iran has plotted to kidnap or kill at least 10 British nationals or U.K.-based individuals perceived as enemies of the regime this year, Britain’s domestic spy chief said Wednesday. Iran’s “aggressive intelligence services” are prepared to take reckless action and pose a direct threat to Britain, McCallum said. “At its sharpest this includes ambitions to kidnap or even kill British or U.K.-based individuals perceived as enemies of the regime. The MI5 chief also outlined other threats to the U.K., citing Russia and China in particular. “The Chinese authorities use all the means at their disposal to monitor — and where they deem necessary intimidate — the Chinese diaspora.

☆ UK MI5 chief says expulsion of Russian spies has delivered significant blow
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-16 | by ( Michael Holden | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Summary UK spy chief says Russian aggression will last yearsMore than 400 Russian spies expelled from Europe, he saysChina playing 'long game' to influence future UK assetsLONDON, Nov 16 (Reuters) - The expulsion of more than 400 suspected Russian spies from across Europe this year has struck the "most significant strategic blow" against Moscow in recent history and taken Vladimir Putin by surprise, Britain's domestic spy chief said. McCallum said Britain had refused more than 100 Russian diplomatic visa applications on national security grounds since then. "The serious point is that the UK must be ready for Russian aggression for years to come," he said. The spy chief also said Chinese authorities were monitoring and intimidating the Chinese diaspora, with action ranging from forcible repatriation to assault. "To intimidate and harass UK nationals or those who have made the UK their home cannot be tolerated," McCallum said.

☆ Europe has kicked out over 400 suspected Russian spies this year alone, British intelligence chief says
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-16 | by ( Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Europe booted over 400 Russian officials suspected of being spies this year, the MI5 chief said. Ken McCallum said this gave a "most significant strategic blow" to Russia's intelligence agencies. "Alongside the wave of expulsions, the other part of that template is staying the course and preventing Russian intelligence restocking," McCallum said. "In the UK's case, since our removal of 23 Russian spies posing as diplomats, we have refused on national security grounds over 100 Russian diplomatic visa applications." Russian spies and operatives have been suspected of carrying out attacks like bombings, poisonings, sabotage, and assassination attempts for years, and Europe has tried to combat Moscow's increasingly hostile activities in other countries.

☆ Ukraine hails China's opposition to nuclear threats
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( Jonathan Landay | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

Zelenskiy, who had earlier visited Kherson, the biggest prize his troops have recaptured since the invasion began in February, welcomed Monday's remarks. "It is important that the United States and China jointly highlighted that the threats of using nuclear weapons were unacceptable," Zelenskiy said in a late Monday address. Zelenskiy said Ukraine had gathered evidence of at least 400 war crimes committed by Russian troops during their occupation of the area, including killings and abductions. Mass burial sites have been found in other parts previously occupied by Russian troops, including some with civilian bodies showing signs of torture. Russia says it is waging a "special military operation" in Ukraine to rid it of nationalists and protect Russian-speaking communities.

☆ CIA chief in Ankara meeting with Russian counterpart, U.S. official says
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

WASHINGTON, Nov 14 (Reuters) - U.S. Central Intelligence Agency Director William Burns is in Ankara to speak with his Russian intelligence counterpart to convey a message on consequences of any use of nuclear weapons by Russia, a White House official said on Monday. He is not discussing settlement of the war in Ukraine," said the official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, adding that Burns will also raise the cases of detained Americans in Russia. It cited an unidentified source as saying that Sergei Naryshkin, head of Russia's SVR foreign intelligence service, would attend the talks. Ties between Washington and Moscow have fallen to their worst in decades since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine in February. Threats by Russian President Vladimir Putin to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine war have fueled worries about escalation.

After learning about its Russian roots from Reuters, it removed Pushwoosh software from seven public-facing apps, citing security concerns. The U.S. Army said it had removed an app containing Pushwoosh code in March because of the same concerns. Pushwoosh code has been embedded into almost 8,000 apps in the Google and Apple app stores, according to Appfigures, an app intelligence website. "We haven't found any clear sign of deceptive or malicious intent in Pushwoosh's activity, which certainly doesn't diminish the risk of having app data leaking to Russia," he added. The CDC apps that contained Pushwoosh code included the agency's main app and others set up to share information on a wide range of health concerns.

States are working to shore up what might be the most public and vulnerable parts of their election systems: the websites that publish voting results. One of its victims last month was Hawaii.gov, which also hosts the state’s election night reporting. That means avoiding even the perception of hackers’ changing votes, which makes election results websites all the more crucial. Historically, election results websites have been ripe targets for malicious hackers who want to sow chaos. Some U.S. officials emphasized that even accurate results on websites should be taken for what they are — preliminary indications of election results.

☆ More than 100 election jurisdictions waiting on federal cyber help, sources say
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-02 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Julia-Ainsley-Circle-Byline-Template.Jpg | Julia Ainsley | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +5 min

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, known as CISA, offers the services on a voluntary basis. But some election information does run through the internet, like voting registration, official information about how and where to vote, and election officials’ email systems. The sources declined to say which states and election jurisdictions have not received the help they asked for, or how many. State and local election officials sought to beef up their security software after the 2019 report from special counsel Robert Mueller revealed Russian interference in the 2016 election. “And we have made this the top priority at CISA over the past year to ensure that we are supporting those election officials.”

A suspected Russian spy was arrested in a Norwegian Arctic town this week, adding to fears about Moscow’s activity in the region after a string of recent incidents. “The person concerned was an intern at UiT The Arctic University of Norway, and thus not employed by the university,” the statement said. He said both he and the arrested man were part of a research network for students and researchers working on different types of security. It said that the “spy mania against Russia has been actively promoted in Norway lately.”“Everything Russian, whether it be state bodies, private companies or individual citizens, is suspicious and smacks of espionage,” it added. The latest incident comes after Norwegian media reported at least eight arrests of Russian nationals in recent weeks, suspected of flying drones and taking photos in restricted areas in northern and central Norway.

A sprawling online propaganda campaign that pushes pro-China messaging has been trying to influence American voters, researchers say. Two companies that study large-scale online influence operations published research this week showing that a pro-China campaign was active and targeting the U.S. midterm elections as recently as this month. But such efforts show that pro-China influence operations targeting the West are experimenting with new tactics and are increasingly aimed at shaping American elections. The other report, from social media analytics firm Alethea, found 165 Twitter accounts that misled users about who they were and posted pro-China messages in English. “Speculating or accusing China of using social media to interfere in the US midterm elections is completely groundless and malicious speculation.

☆ Analyst who provided Trump-Russia dossier information acquitted of lying to FBI
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-18 | by ( Julia Jester | Julia Jester Is A Producer For Nbc News Based In Washington | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +5 min

Prosecutors alleged Danchenko provided false information to the FBI in 2017 when the agency was trying to verify information in a dossier detailing Trump’s alleged ties to Russia that was compiled by former British spy Christopher Steele. The largely unsubstantiated dossier was used by the FBI to support its surveillance of former Trump campaign aide Carter Page. Millian has denied being a source of information for the dossier. When asked by the FBI whether he had talked to Dolan for the information, Danchenko said he had not. Trump had called the dossier fake news and evidence of a political witch hunt against him.

WASHINGTON, Oct 14 (Reuters) - The United States on Friday warned it can impose sanctions on people, countries and companies that provide ammunition to Russia or support its military-industrial complex, as Washington seeks to increase pressure on Moscow over the war in Ukraine. Muir was also set to warn that Russian intelligence services are tasked with illicitly acquiring Western technology and parts barred from being exported to Russia under U.S. measures. The Commerce Department has previously warned that semiconductors produced by Western companies have turned up in Russian military drones and other uses. Asked how much more Western allies could do to increase pressure on Russia, one European finance official said, "We can extend the list of people who are under sanctions. "But I think clearly the sanctions will show their impact in terms of industrial value chains in Russia," the European official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Russia’s domestic intelligence service said Wednesday it arrested eight people in connection with a blast that damaged a key bridge to the annexed Crimean Peninsula, blaming Ukraine for an incident that dealt a high-profile blow to President Vladimir Putin. In a press release Wednesday, the FSB said Ukraine’s military intelligence and its chief, Kyrylo Budanov, were behind the attack. The explosive was detonated as it was being carried in a truck toward Crimea on Saturday, the FSB said. A press officer for Ukraine's military intelligence service, Andrii Yusov, declined to comment, telling NBC News: "We are not commenting on the statements made by terrorists." Putin swiftly labeled the bridge blast “terrorism” and boasted that the deadly aerial barrage his military unleashed on Ukrainian cities earlier this week was an act of revenge.

Putin knew a war would be unpopular and had kept all of his previous military interventions limited before the current invasion of Ukraine. Right now, the Russian military is in no condition to fight NATO, and it is unclear to what extent the partial mobilization will solve Russia’s military problems. Moreover, the finger on the nuclear button is still that of Vladimir Putin rather than Patrushev or other hardliners. At the same time, the Ukrainians, the most likely victims of any tactical Russian nuclear strike, remain committed to fighting despite the risk. The fight is not only about Ukraine alone: For Putin and the hardliners alike, it’s about the West.

☆ Russia's Positive Technologies launches secondary share offer
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Positive Technologies will not be offering any new shares in the SPO, it said, setting a price in the range of 1,200 roubles to 1,320 roubles ($19.90 to $21.89) per share. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterThe exercise will run between Sept. 19 and 27, with the final price expected to be announced by Sept. 28, it added. Positive Technologies owner Positive Group (POSI.MM) listed shares on the Moscow Exchange in December with the price rising about 69% since trading began at 770 roubles, despite a slump in February. In April the U.S. Treasury blacklisted Positive Technologies and other IT firms for supporting Russian intelligence services, which the company called "groundless accusations". Positive Technologies has said 98% of its revenue comes from Russia.

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