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☆ The plot to topple Putin
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-09 | by ( Paul Starobin | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +32 min

But it was only when Putin launched his full-scale invasion of Ukraine , in 2022, that Ammosov began to plot the overthrow of his homeland. As I found in months of wide-ranging interviews, everyone aspiring to a new Russian revolution grasps the seemingly impossible odds of their bid to topple Putin. Ponomarev — who was profiled last year in The Washington Post under the headline "Could this man bring down Putin?" Most applicants live in Russia, Sokolov tells me, but submissions have come from as far away as Uruguay. "I know a lot of good officers" in the CIA, Ponomarev told me, who "sympathize" with the anti-Putin insurgency.

Persons: Vladislav Ammosov, Ukraine —, Ammosov, wondrously, Vladimir Putin, Putin, Simona Supino, Alexey Navalny —, Ilya Ponomarev, Ponomarev —, —, Sean Guillory, Denis Sokolov, Sokolov, Galina Starovoytova, Anastasia Sergeeva, Sergeeva, Valter, Putin —, Tatiana Kosinova, Yelena Bonner, Itil, Boris Nemtsov, Nemtsov, Vladimir Lenin, specter, NurPhoto, Lenin, Leon Trotsky, Mao Zedong, Fidel Castro, Boris Akunin, Ponomarev, Trotsky, Mao, Castro, Alexei Sobchenko, Sergei Chuzavkov, Ilya Ponomarev Ponomarev, Michał Kamiński, Kosinova, Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov, Nikolai Gogol's, . Barnum, Bernie, Madoff, Donald, Leonid Nevzlin, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Navalny, King George III, Khodorkovsky, Garry Kasparov, Putin's, Andrey Volna, Brian Fitzpatrick, Charlie Wilson's, Tom Hanks, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Daniel Fried, William Burns, Fried, Biden, We're, Evgenia, it's Organizations: Putin, Ukrainian, Russian Federation, The Washington Post, University of Pittsburgh, Civic Council, Kennan, Wilson Center, GRU, Russia, BI, International Republican Institute, CIA, Kremlin, Russian, Memorial, Soviet Union, of America, Civic, Ukraine's Ministry of Defense, Russian Volunteer Corps, European, Human Rights, Siberian Battalion, Ammosov, Ukrainian Armed Forces, Putin's Defense Ministry, True, Bolsheviks, of Russia Legion, People's Deputies, State Department, Justice Department, Polish Senate, Trump University, Trump, Khodorkovsky, FBI, Intelligence, Senate, Ukrainian Security Services, Bolshevik Locations: Siberia, Russia, Warsaw, Poland, Ukraine, Sakha, India, Putin Russia, Russian, Kyiv, The, restive North Caucasus, Washington, Soviet Union, Moscow, WhatsApp, Ukrainian, Soviet, Crimean, USSR, Europe, Uruguay, Armenia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, America, Canada, Great Britain, Germany, Australia, Belgorod, Kursk, Kremlin, China, Cuba, True Russia, Ponomarev, Northern Virginia, Polish, ., Lviv, Yukos, London, Pennsylvania, Texas, Afghanistan, Putin Russian, Tallinn, Estonia

☆ 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

☆ Yulia Navalnaya is raising hopes for a renewed Russian opposition. She will face huge challenges
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-20 | by ( Clare Sebastian | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

On Monday, just three days after her husband’s death, Yulia Navalnaya rebranded herself as a political force, vowing to pick up where her husband left off. And yet for those left, Navalny’s death has created some momentum to keep trying. The man who put Nadezhdin forward, Civic Initiative party leader Andrey Nechaev, a former economy minister in the 1990s, denies there’s no functioning opposition left. On Saturday, the Lithuanian foreign minister Gabrielus Landsbergis posted a photo of himself with Khodorkovsky, Kasparov, and another exiled former Russian opposition politician Dmitry Gudkov. “We shouldn’t overestimate the spread of opposition ideas, opposition moods in Russian society,” says Bondarev.

Persons: Alexey Navalny, “ You’re, Navalny’s, Yulia, Yulia Navalnaya, ”, “, Putin, Alexey, ” Yulia Navalnaya, Boris Bondarev, ” Bondarev, Navalnaya, ” Navalny, Grigory Yavlinsky, Yavlinsky, Ilya Yashin, Navalny, Vladimir Kara, Murza, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Garry Kasparov, Russia’s, Boris Nadezhdin, Andrey Nechaev, Nechaev, Boris Nemtsov’s, Evgeny Feldman, ” Khodorkovsky, Gabrielus Landsbergis, Khodorkovsky, Kasparov, Dmitry Gudkov, …, Putin’s Organizations: CNN, CNN Films, Navalnaya, Munich Security, Corruption, Putin, Civic Initiative Locations: Tomsk, Germany, Russian, Ukraine, Brussels, Russia, British, Moscow, Kirov , Russia, Lithuanian

The sudden death of Russian President Vladimir Putin's most formidable antagonist has left an open wound in Russia's political opposition. Navalny also was the first opposition leader in Russia to receive a lengthy prison sentence in recent years. In the three years since Navalny lost his freedom, multiple prominent dissidents were imprisoned, while others fled Russia under pressure. MIKHAIL KHODORKOVSKYMikhail Khodorkovsky, 60, is a former tycoon turned Russian opposition figure in exile. Kara-Murza was an associate of Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov, another fierce Putin critic who was assassinated near the Kremlin in 2015.

Persons: Vladimir Putin's, Alexei Navalny, Navalny, Leonid Volkov, Maria Pevchikh, Ivan Zhdanov, Kira Yarmysh —, “ Alexei, ” Volkov, MIKHAIL KHODORKOVSKY Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Khodorkovsky, Putin, Andrei Pivovarov, Garry Kasparov, Dmitry Gudkov, VLADIMIR KARA, MURZA, Vladimir Kara, Murza, Boris Nemtsov, Kara, Nemtsov, Sergei Magnitsky, Yevgenia, ILYA YASHIN Ilya Yashin, Navalny's, Yashin's, Yashin, ” Yashin Organizations: YouTube, Putin, TEAM, Corruption Foundation, Olympics, Kremlin, Putin's Russia —, U.S, Associated Press Locations: Russia, Ukraine, Germany, Black, Sochi, London, Putin's Russia, Washington, Moscow

Kremlin political critics, turncoat spies and investigative journalists have been killed or assaulted in a variety of way s. The Russian opposition has lost its brightest star with Navalny's sudden death in a prison colony. “This is a very difficult loss for the Russian opposition,” he told The Associated Press after his death. While Navalny was the first leader to build a national Russian opposition, there were other opposition factions who didn’t like him or his organization. While Navalny’s team continued to publish successful investigative reports, they ultimately suspended the protests and said they would switch to different tactics. OPPOSITION IN EXILEIn the meantime, the Russian opposition faces a future largely in exile without one of its brightest leaders.

Persons: — Alexei Navalny, Vladimir Putin, “ You’re, ”, Navalny, turncoat, Putin, “ Alexei Navalny, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Graeme Robertson, ” Khodorkovsky, Garry Kasparov, Mikhail Kasyanov, Vladimir Kara, Murza Jr, PUTIN, “, Nigel Gould, Davies, PUTIN Putin, Robertson, Khodorkovsky, Navalny’s, “ Putin Organizations: Kremlin, Associated Press, University of North, Chapel Hill, Corruption Foundation, Corruption, International Institute for Strategic Studies Locations: Russia, University of North Carolina, London, Russian, Ukraine, British, Belarus, Eurasia, Moscow, Germany

TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — World leaders and Russian opposition activists wasted no time Friday in blaming the reported death of imprisoned opposition leader Alexei Navalny on President Vladimir Putin and his government. Navalny was “brutally murdered by the Kremlin,” said Latvian President Edgars Rinkēvičs in a post on X, formerly Twitter. Other Russian opposition activists echoed him. “If it is confirmed, the death of Alexei is a murder. Organized by Putin,” opposition politician Dmitry Gudkov said on social media.

Persons: Alexei Navalny, Vladimir Putin, Putin, ”, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, “ Putin, —, ” Zelenskyy, Olaf Scholz, ” Scholz, Navalny, “, Edgars Rinkēvičs, Ivan Zhdanov, hasn’t, Alexei, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Dmitry Gudkov, Garry Kasparov, ” Kasparov, Pyotr Verzilov, “ Navalny, Verzilov, Ursula von der Leyen, Jens Stoltenberg, ” Stoltenberg, Jake Sullivan Organizations: Kremlin, EU, NATO, National, NPR Locations: TALLINN, Estonia, Russian, Berlin, Russia, Navalny, Germany

☆ 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

In the past, leading opposition figures in Putin’s Russia who stood up to him and who questioned his authority have tended to be dealt with harshly. Life in Putin's Russia View All 14 ImagesThe liberal Boris Nemtsov was killed, for instance, in 2015 outside the Kremlin (supposedly by agents linked to Putin’s FSB). He needs the election to be seen as “clean” as a means of cementing his legacy as Russian state leader. As leader, Putin has regularly been recorded as enjoying popular support. While Putin does appear now to enjoy a high degree of popularity in Russia (albeit largely media-engineered), this may not last.

Persons: Rod Thornton, Vladimir Putin, Putin, Tsar Peter the Great, Nikolai Kharitonov, Putin –, Yekaterina Duntsova, Boris Nemtsov, Alexei Navalny, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, –, Alexander Lukashenko Organizations: Communist, Kremlin, St, International Studies , Defense, Security, King's College Locations: Russia, Soviet, Ukraine, Putin’s Russia, Siberia, Navalny, London, Russian, Moscow, St Petersburg

CNN —Boris Nadezhdin, an anti-war candidate vying for the Russian presidency, said Wednesday he had submitted the signatures required to be listed on the presidential election ballot, potentially allowing him to stand against Vladimir Putin in March. Nadezhdin announced he had delivered 105,000 signatures, the maximum allowed by law, to the Central Election Commission in Moscow, which now has 10 days to review the signatures. Many thanks to those dozens, even hundreds of thousands of people who stood in queues throughout our huge country, in 75 regions of the country, in more than 120 or 130 cities, collecting signatures,” Nadezhdin said at a press conference. Dozens line up to give their signatures in support of Nadezhdin, who hopes to run against Putin in the Russia's March presidential election. He has garnered the support of other prominent Russian opposition figures, including members of jailed Kremlin critic Alexey Navalny’s team and exiled oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who urged Russian citizens to add their signatures for Nadezhdin.

Persons: Boris Nadezhdin, Vladimir Putin, Nadezhdin, ” Nadezhdin, Putin, ”, Anatoly, Evgenia Novozhenina, “, I’m, Alexey Navalny’s, oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Yekaterina Duntsova, Duntsova Organizations: CNN, Commission, Putin, Duma, Civic Initiative Party, Russia’s CEC, CEC, Central Locations: Moscow, Russia, Europe, London, Paris, Georgia’s, Tbilisi, Ukraine, Russian

☆ Putin has a secret palatial home near Finland with yachts, 2 helipads, and a private waterfall: report
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-30 | by ( Tom Porter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

download the appSign up to get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in markets, tech, and business — delivered daily. Read previewA secret palatial home belonging to Russian President Vladimir Putin has been discovered in northern Russia, according to investigative outlet The Dossier Center. The Dossier Center posted a video on YouTube of what it claimed was drone footage of Putin's secret getaway. AdvertisementThe Center said the property is located on the shore of Lake Lagoda, part of a national park, and includes a picturesque waterfall. The report cited locals saying Putin visits the property once a year after making a trip to the nearby Valaam Monastery.

Persons: —, Vladimir Putin, oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Putin, Yury Kovalchuk Organizations: Service, Business, YouTube, Center Locations: Russia, Marialakhti Bay, Karelia, Finland, Lake Lagoda, Valaam, Russian

☆ Boris Nadezhdin: Anti-war presidential candidate ignites Russian anger
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-25 | by ( Clare Sebastian | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Dozens, if not hundreds of people lining up in freezing conditions to try to ensure an anti-war presidential candidate has enough signatures to get on the ballot for the vote in March. Key endorsements from other Russian opposition figures, including associates of jailed Kremlin critic Alexey Navalny have helped. The candidate is Boris Nadezhdin, on the surface an unlikely opponent for Vladimir Putin. People give their signatures in support of Boris Nadezhdin, who plans to run for Russian president in the March 2024 election, outside his campaign office in Moscow on January 23. Evgenia Novozhenina/ReutersHe went on to become an adviser to opposition leader Boris Nemtsov, assassinated within view of the Kremlin in 2015.

Persons: Alexey Navalny, Boris Nadezhdin, Vladimir Putin, He’s, oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Evgenia Novozhenina, Boris Nemtsov, “, Putin, ”, Russia’s, I’m, Nadezhdin, Elizaveta, Yulia Morozova, Ivan, Elena, Anna Chernova Organizations: CNN, Reuters, Kremlin, Civil Initiative Locations: Russia, London, Paris, Georgia’s, Tbilisi, Moscow, Ukraine, Bryansk, “, Russian

☆ Russian opposition group report says it's identified another superyacht belonging to Vladimir Putin
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-24 | by ( Katherine Long | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A Russian military plant built Vladimir Putin a 71-meter superyacht, according to a new report. The report was written by the Dossier Center, a Russian opposition group funded by an exiled oligarch. AdvertisementVladimir Putin's newest known superyacht is 71 meters long, cost an estimated $50 million to build, and can carry up to 28 people, according to a new report from Russian opposition group the Dossier Center. Construction on the yacht began in 2005 at a Russian military facility that typically produces nuclear submarines, according to the report, citing unnamed sources close to Putin. Spokespeople for the Russian president and the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, oligarch, Putin's, —, Vladimir, Putin, Mikhail Khodorkovsky –, Russia –, lina K Organizations: Dossier, Service, NATO, ust Locations: Russian, Victoria, Sochi, Istanbul, Russia

☆ Russia mistakenly doxed its own spies and secret bases by uploading their addresses on a public city hall website: investigative outlet
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-03 | by ( Matthew Loh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Russia accidentally exposed the locations of its secret bases and spy homes, per the Dossier Center. AdvertisementAdvertisementMoscow's city hall accidentally leaked the addresses of government safehouses, undercover facilities, and the homes of state operatives, the Dossier Center reported on Monday. When Insider checked the Moscow city hall website on Monday, the document was no longer available online. In one case, the document even included the apartment numbers of two homes used by spies in Moscow, the Dossier Center reported. Many of these locations have already been identified as Russian intelligence facilities by investigative outlets such as Bellingcat, the Dossier Center noted.

Persons: —, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Sergey Sobyanin Organizations: Service, Federal Protective Service, Foreign Intelligence Service, Federal Security Service, Kremlin Locations: Russia, Moscow's, Russian, Moscow, Leningrad, Primorsky, St, Petersburg, Bryansk

☆ Russian Putin critics like Prigozhin who met an early death
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-24 | by ( Lauren Said-Moorhouse | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +14 min

No evidence has been presented that points to the involvement of the Kremlin or Russian security services in the crash. 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. ANDREY SMIRNOV/AFP/AFP/Getty ImagesRussian lawyer Sergei Magnitsky died in a Russian prison in 2009. The most prominent voice of dissent in Putin’s Russia, the lawyer, politician and corruption activist for years orchestrated massive street protests.

Persons: Yevgeny Prigozhin’s, Wagner, –, Bill Browder, “ Putin, Boris Nemtsov, Boris Yeltsin, Ilya Yashin, Nemtsov, Vladimir Putin, ”, Nemtsov’s, Boris Berezovsky Boris Berezovsky, Warrick Page, Boris Berezovsky, Putin, Berezovsky, Alexander Perepilichnyy, Perepilichnyy, Sergei Magnitsky, ANDREY SMIRNOV, Magnitsky, Browder, Alexander Litvinenko Alexander Litvinenko, 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 “, Alexey Navalny, Navalny, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Sergei Skripal, Skripal, Yulia Organizations: CNN, Kremlin, Getty, Republican Party of Russia, Party, Newsweek, of Justice, Royal Botanic, AFP, Getty Images, Hermitage Capital, KGB, Authorities, The, Protect Journalists, RIA Novosti, Russia’s, Science, Higher Education, Gazprom, Lukoil, Reuters, Moscow Aviation Institute, TASS, Putin’s United, “ Locations: Russia, Boris Nemtsov Russian, AFP, Moscow, Ukraine, Russian, London's, Europe, England, Soviet Union, Britain, Surrey, London, Kew, American, Chechnya, Leipzig, Germany, The New York, Chechen Republic, Washington, Gelendzhik, ”, Cuba, India, Putin’s Russia, Putin’s United Russia, United States

☆ Live updates: Russia's war in Ukraine, upcoming NATO Summit in Vilnius
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-10 | by ( Helen Regan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

Images from amateur Russian trainspotting websites appear to show Putin's train. The train is painted to look like an ordinary Russian Railways train. Among the parts of the train detailed is car number 021-78630, with a gym and spa for Putin, according to the Dossier Center. The Dossier Center is backed by Mikhail Khodorkovsky, an exiled former Russian oil tycoon turned Kremlin critic. A glossy brochure made by Zircon itself shows a luxurious gym and spa on wheels designed for Putin, the Dossier Center says.

Persons: Vladimir Putin’s, ”, “, Putin, Yevgeny Prigozhin’s, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Zircon Organizations: Russian Railways, CNN, Transportation Administration, Kremlin, Süddeutsche Zeitung, NDR, WDR, Service Locations: Russian, Ukraine, Mykolaiv, Moscow, London

☆ Why Wagner chief Prigozhin's absence is so damaging to Putin
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-10 | by ( Nick Paton Walsh | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Instead, the Kremlin on Monday tried to provide some clarity, after French newspaper Liberation reported a meeting between Putin and Prigozhin on June 29. Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin spokesman, confirmed in a conference call with journalists the meeting had taken place. I can’t tell you more.”It is important to pause and conjure just how surreal the meeting Peskov is describing sounds. But this is in keeping with the Kremlin’s bid to contain the fallout from Putin’s most dangerous weekend yet. If Prigozhin has been forgiven – as the Kremlin meeting might suggest - then why is there no public acknowledgement of that, a bid to at the least file down the fangs of stray Wagner fighters?

Persons: Yevgeny Prigozhin’s, Alexander Lukashenko’s, Putin, Prigozhin, Dmitry Peskov, ” Peskov, –, Wagner, Lukashenko, Mikhail Khodorkovsky –, Sergey Surovikin, Valery Gerasimov Organizations: CNN, Kremlin, Russia’s, French, Liberation, Defense Ministry Locations: Russia’s Rostov, Belarusian, St . Petersburg, Belarus, Russian, Derbent, Kremlin, Russia, Ukraine

A glossy brochure made by Zircon itself shows a luxurious gym and spa on wheels designed for Putin, the Dossier Center says. The room itself, documents from the Dossier Center suggest, is outfitted to help prevent the use of listening devices. The train is painted to look like an ordinary Russian Railways train. “There is a ghost train on the railways of our country,” one trainspotter wrote alongside an image of what appears to be Putin’s train he posted on rutrain.com. It is through the image of those domes that we know that Putin’s train carries the ordinary external markings of a Russian train.

Persons: Vladimir Putin’s, ”, “, Putin, Yevgeny Prigozhin’s, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Zircon, –, Dmitry Pegov, Oleg Klimentiev, ” Pegov, Oleg Ateistovich, ” CNN’s, Gleb Karakulov, Karakulov, ” Karakulov, trainspotter, trainspotters, Abbas Gallyamov, ” Gallyamov, Putin's, Gallyamov, Wagner, It’s Organizations: CNN, Transportation Administration, Kremlin, Süddeutsche Zeitung, NDR, WDR, Service, Russian Railways, “, Dossier, Zircon Service, Federal Security Service, FSO Locations: Ukraine, Mykolaiv, Moscow, London, Russian, Russia, Valdai, St . Petersburg, Kerch, Crimea, Israel

☆ German police investigate possible poisoning of two Russian exiles
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

BERLIN, May 21 (Reuters) - German police said they are investigating the possible poisoning of two Russian exiles who attended a conference in Berlin at the end of April, organised by Russian Kremlin critic Mikhail Khodorkovsky. Berlin police told Reuters "a file had been opened" after German newspaper Welt am Sonntag, citing Russian investigative media group Agentstvo, said two women reported symptoms that suggested possible poisoning. Police gave no further details. Reporting by Maria Martinez Editing by Alexandra HudsonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Russia has 110 official billionaires in the list, up 22 from last year, according to Forbes' Russian edition, which said their total wealth increased to $505 billion from $353 billion when the 2022 list was announced. "Last year's rating results were also influenced by apocalyptic predictions about the Russian economy," Forbes said, adding that the total wealth of Russia's billionaires was $606 billion in 2021, before the war began. The price of Urals oil, the lifeblood of the Russian economy, averaged $76.09 per barrel in 2022, up from $69 in 2021. Many Russian billionaires cast Western sanctions as a clumsy, and even racist, tool. New Russian names in the Forbes list include billionaires who made their money in snacks, supermarkets, chemicals, building and pharmaceuticals, indicating that Russian domestic demand has remained strong despite the sanctions.

☆ Russian travelers say they fear one question: ‘Where are you from?’
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-10 | by ( Monica Pitrelli | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

Another Russian traveler, Lana, also asked that we not use her full name over fears of retaliation from Russian authorities. "Back then, when you say 'I'm from Russia,' the first thing people say is vodka, bears, Matryoshka [dolls], and all that innocent stuff," she said. Anna said telling new people she's Russian has "always been tricky, to be honest, even before the war." Source: Julia AzarovaSince leaving Russia, Azarova said she's not had any confrontations over her nationality. Now she's now no longer afraid to say she's Russian, she said, namely because she can't do anything about it.

☆ Putin built identical offices across Russia to conceal his location, a Russian intelligence officer who defected says
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-06 | by ( Alia Shoaib | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Vladimir Putin has replicas of his offices across Russia, a former intelligence officer said. The officer, who defected from Russia, shed light on Putin's paranoia and obsession with safety. Karakulov told the Dossier Center that offices in Putin's residences in St. Petersburg, Sochi, and Novo-Ogaryovo had been designed to look identical. Karakulov said that Putin sometimes further obscured his location by sending his motorcade to the airport despite remaining at home. While in actual fact, he would stay in Sochi," Karakulov said.

☆ Putin lives in an 'information vacuum' and never uses a cellphone or the internet, a Russian intelligence officer who defected says
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-04 | by ( Joshua Zitser | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Vladimir Putin lives in an "information vacuum," a Russian defector who accompanied him on trips said. Gleb Karakulov told the Dossier Center that Putin doesn't use a cellphone or the internet. Putin instead gathers information from secret service reports and Russian TV news channels, he said. "He only receives information from his closest circle, which means that he lives in an information vacuum." Putin generally gathers information from secret service intelligence reports, as well as Russian TV news channels, according to Karakulov.

How Putin and Friends Stalled Climate Progress A handful of powerful world leaders rallied around Russia and undercut global cooperation. Mr. Putin has gained from this as the increasingly autocratic Mr. Xi finds common cause with the Kremlin. “Much depends on whether authoritarian leaders perceive climate action to be in their self-interest.”Though their actions help Mr. Putin, their track records on climate are mixed. Mr. Xi called Mr. Putin his “best friend.”He was returning the favor from a year earlier, when Mr. Putin hosted Mr. Xi at the Grand Kremlin Palace and awarded him one of Russia’s highest medals for foreign dignitaries. At a news conference with Mr. Putin, Mr. Bolsonaro thanked his “dear friend,” saying that Mr. Putin had offered him support when other world leaders were criticizing his Amazon policy.

That the WNBA star, who lost her appeal Tuesday, is a gay Black woman could add unknown variables to a penal system that is known to be remote and harrowing. “Conditions in prisons and detention centers varied but were often harsh and life threatening,” a 2021 State Department report on Russian human rights abuses said. “Russian prisons are grim, even relative to prisons in other countries. Prisoners were used for farming, mining or logging in sparsely populated areas of the country or worked in sweatshop conditions. It can often take weeks for prisoners to arrive at the prisons on prison trucks and specially designed train carriages called Stolypins.

☆ Analiză DW: Moscova continuă arestările politicienilor din opoziție, iar partidul lui Putin scade în sondaje
▼ + stars: | 2021-06-02 | by ( ) www.jurnal.md time to read: +2 min

Sursa foto: ria.ruAnaliză DW: Moscova continuă arestările politicienilor din opoziție, iar partidul lui Putin scade în sondajeMoscova continuă arestările politicienilor din opoziție, în contextul în care urmează alegeri legislative în septembrie, iar partidul lui Putin scade în sondaje, se arată într-o analiză DW, citată de Biziday. În 2017, Moscova a catalogat grupul drept “nedorit”, dar organizația din Rusia a continuat să funcționeze ca o entitate separată. Opozantul a fost transferat, în urma arestării, în Krasndoar, un oraș din partea sudică a Rusiei, unde va fi judecat. De asemenea, proprietățile lui Dmitry Gudkov, un politician din opoziție și fost deputat și ale lui Alexander Solovyev, un alt fost șef al “Rusiei Deschise”, au fost percheziționate marți. Sondajele recente arată că partidul Rusia Unită al lui Vladimir Putin a scăzut la aproximativ 30%.

Persons: Putin, Andrei Pivovarov, Vladimir Putin, Mihail, Alexei Navalny, Dmitry, Alexander Solovyev, Duma, Khodorkovsky Organizations: Deutsche Welle, Pivovarov, Open Russia, YouTube Locations: Moscova, Sankt Petersburg, Polonia, Minsk, Roman, Rusia, Rusiei, Moscovei, Rusia Unită

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