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The Library of Congress said hackers broke into its communications systems and were able to read its email correspondence with congressional offices for most of this year. In a private notification sent Friday to some congressional offices, obtained by NBC News, the Library of Congress said that hackers “accessed email communications between congressional offices and some Library staff, including the Congressional Research Service.” The hackers had access from January until September, the notification said. The Library of Congress, the world’s largest library, offers a dedicated research staff for Congress. Last year, it gave congressional staffers more than 76,000 custom responses to inquiries, according to its most recent annual report. Bill Ryan, director of communications at the Library of Congress, told NBC News in an email that the software vulnerability the hackers used to gain access has been “mitigated.”“The Library has referred the matter to law enforcement and is also conducting its own analysis of the breach,” Ryan said.

Persons: Bill Ryan, ” Ryan, ”, Chuck Schumer Organizations: Congress, NBC News, of Congress, Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress, ., Russian Embassy, Washington , D.C, Embassy Locations: United States, China, Russia, U.S, Russian, Washington ,

☆ A worsening kind of Russian warfare was on display in the US presidential election, but it's a much bigger problem
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-09 | by ( Chris Panella | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Russia's hybrid warfare tactics against the US and Europe are reaching new levels. AdvertisementRussian disinformation and interference — hybrid warfare tactics — are on the rise and again showed up in the US presidential election, but this is a problem for more than just America. Russian tactics were on full display in the 2024 US presidential election. AdvertisementMore than an American problemThis hybrid warfare is a broader problem for other Western countries, too. Moldova's pro-EU incumbent president, Maia Sandu, won reelection despite Russian efforts to sway the election.

Persons: —, Mark Rutte, Clinton, Mikhail Svetlov, it's, Doug Livermore, Donald Trump, Lev Radin, Trump, Livermore, Russia's, Maia Sandu, Daniel MIHAILESCU, Harris, Kamala Harris, Joe Biden, aren't Organizations: Service, NATO, FBI, State, intel, Getty, Irregular Warfare, National Intelligence Council, US intel, Infrastructure Security Agency, Ukraine, Moldovan, Union, Xinhua News Agency Locations: Europe, Russia, Moscow, Russian, Washington, China, Iran, US, Republic of Georgia's, France, Germany, AFP, Beijing, North Korea, America

Hoax bomb threats targeting polling places and election offices briefly disrupted voting in five battleground states, with the FBI saying the threats in four of those states came from Russian email domains. “The FBI is aware of bomb threats to polling locations in several states, many of which appear to originate from Russian email domains,” the FBI said in a statement Tuesday night. German officials accused Russia of orchestrating bomb threats against several polling places in Moldova’s presidential elections last week. Threats to polling sites and election offices were reported across about a dozen Pennsylvania counties, where targeted polling sites were ordered to stay open late, officials said. “But I think the number of these bomb threats is, if not surprising, very concerning,” he added.

Persons: ”, Bret Schafer, “ It’s, Schafer, Wade Yates, Brad Raffensperger, “, Adrian Fontes, Fontes, Lawrence Norden Organizations: FBI, Russian Embassy, Novosti, Alliance, Democracy, German Marshall Fund, Fulton County, Fulton County Police, Court, Etris, Center, Union City, NBC News, Arizona, ” Police, Philadelphia, Brennan Center for Justice, New York University Law School Locations: Russian, Georgia , Pennsylvania, Arizona , Wisconsin, Michigan, U.S, Russia, Moldova’s, Moscow, Moldova, Georgia, Fulton, DeKalb, Gwinnett, Union, Country, Madison , Wisconsin

☆ Viral video of ripped-up Pennsylvania ballots is fake and Russian-made, intelligence agencies say
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-26 | by ( Zoë Richards | Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Brandy-Zadrozny-Circle-Byline-Template.Jpg | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

Russian actors "manufactured and amplified" a recent viral video that falsely showed a person tearing up ballots in Pennsylvania, the FBI and two other federal agencies said Friday. In the video, a person is seen destroying what are purported to be filled-out ballots in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. “The Bucks County District Attorney’s Office will not tolerate any voter suppression, intimidation, or fraud,” the statement added. Darren Linvill, co-director at Clemson University’s Media Forensics Hub, attributed the viral video to the Russian disinformation production team known to researchers as Storm-1516. The video’s quality and the use of actors who appear to have West African accents to pose as Black Americans were characteristic of the Russian campaign, Linvill said.

Persons: ”, “, Darren Linvill, Linvill’s, Linvill, ” Linvill, CISA, Donald Trump, Sen, JD Vance, Ohio, Joe Biden's Organizations: FBI, National Intelligence, Infrastructure Security Agency, stoke, Attorney’s, Yardley Borough Police Department, Russian Embassy, Clemson University’s, Storm, NBC, United Nations Locations: Pennsylvania, U.S, Russia, Bucks County , Pennsylvania, Bucks County, Yardley, Russian, Washington, Iran, China

☆ Justice Department and Microsoft disrupt Russian hacking operations aimed at US officials and civil society
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-03 | by ( Sean Lyngaas | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Washington CNN —The Justice Department and Microsoft on Thursday announced the seizure of more than 100 web domains that a Russian intelligence agency allegedly used to try to hack current and former US officials, civil-society groups and Russians living in the US. It’s the latest in a series of moves from the Justice Department to expose alleged covert Russian operations targeting US democracy in the runup to the 2024 presidential election. The UK government last year accused the same Russian hacking group of conducting a “sustained unsuccessful attempts to interfere in UK political processes” over several years that hacked politicians, civil servants and journalists. The hackers operate on behalf of Russia’s FSB intelligence agency, the prime successor to the Soviet-era KGB, according to US officials. Another FSB-linked hacking group has posed a direct threat to US critical infrastructure by targeting energy facilities, according to US officials.

Persons: Steven Masada, “, ”, John Scott, Natalia Krapiva Organizations: Washington CNN, The Justice Department, Microsoft, Justice Department, CNN, FSB, University of Toronto’s, Russian Embassy Locations: Russian, Ukraine, United Kingdom, Eastern Europe, United States, Washington ,

Russian intelligence services are building up their presence in Mexico for spy operations targeting the United States, a return to Cold War tactics by an increasingly aggressive regime, according to U.S. officials and former intelligence officers. The Mexican Embassy and the Russian Embassy did not respond to a request for comment. “Part of this is a function of the fact that so many Russian intelligence officers have been kicked out of Europe. Those are Russian intelligence personnel, and they keep an eye very closely on their opportunities to have influence on U.S. opportunities and access,” VanHerck said. Russian intelligence could conceivably also take advantage of Mexico’s proximity to target Putin’s political enemies inside the U.S., former intelligence officers said.

Persons: Biden, William Burns, ” Burns, ”, Vincenzo Circosta, “, Paul Kolbe, Glen VanHerck, ” VanHerck, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, Trotsky, —, ideologues, Leon Trotsky, Joseph Stalin, Vladimir Lenin, Ramon Mercader, John Sipher, ” Sipher, Christopher Boyce, Andrew Daulton Lee, Lee, Boyce, Harold “ Jim ” Nicholson, Hector Cabrera Fuentes, Fuentes, Douglas London, enforcement’s, Natalia Sedova's, Claudio Cruz, ” Kolbe Organizations: U.S, NBC News, Mexican Embassy, Russian Embassy, CIA, “, Kremlin, Getty, . Air Force, U.S . Northern Command, Senate Armed Services Committee, TRW, Soviet Embassy, Bettmann, Museum Locations: Mexico, United States, Russia, Mexico City, Moscow, Washington, Ukraine, Mexican, Russian, Europe, London, Pokrovsk, Donetsk Oblast, Anadolu, Balkans, U.S, “, Cuba, Soviet Union, Spanish, Los Angeles, Soviet, manacles, Seattle, surveilling, Miami, American, AFP, Colombia

☆ Microsoft says Russian operatives are ramping up attacks on Harris campaign with fake videos
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-17 | by ( Sean Lyngaas | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —Microsoft said Tuesday that Russian operatives have in recent weeks intensified their online attacks on Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign by producing and disseminating videos promoting “outlandish conspiracy theories” aimed at stoking US racial and political divisions. One of the inauthentic videos, which Microsoft said had been viewed millions of times, claimed to show Harris supporters attacking an attendee of a Donald Trump rally. Russian operatives promoted the latter story through a website pretending to be a local San Francisco media outlet, Microsoft researchers said. CNN has requested comment on the Microsoft report from the Harris-Walz campaign and from the Russian Embassy in Washington, DC. Tehran has conducted a covert social media activity in an effort to undercut Trump’s candidacy, US officials have said.

Persons: Kamala Harris ’, Harris, Donald Trump, denigrate, ”, haven’t, Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton, Walz, ‘, Biden, “, ” Clint Watts Organizations: CNN, Microsoft, Russian, Ukraine, National Intelligence, Russian Embassy, Democratic, The, Department, Justice Department, Tenet Media, Monday, Trump, FBI Locations: San Francisco, Russia, Moscow, Russian, Washington , DC, Iran, Tehran

☆ Speculation mounts that a US-Russia prisoner swap is in the works
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-01 | by ( Kelsey Vlamis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

There is speculation about a potential prisoner swap between the US and Russia. The potential prisoner swap could include Evan Gershkovich and Vladimir Kara-Murza, reports say. AdvertisementSpeculation about a potential major prisoner swap between the US and Russia bubbled up this week. Russian and US officials have not confirmed or commented on a potential prisoner swap. The US State Department and the Russian embassy in the US did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Business Insider.

Persons: Evan Gershkovich, Vladimir Kara, Murza, —, Putin Organizations: Service, US State Department, Business, Reuters Locations: Russia, Russian, Ukraine, Siberia

☆ Russia considers legalizing crypto for global payments as it faces ongoing sanctions
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-30 | by ( Ryan Browne | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Illustrative image of two commemorative bitcoins seen in front of the national flag of Russia displayed on a computer screen. Russia is considering legalizing the use of cryptocurrency for international payments as the country faces ongoing financial pressure from Western sanctions. The State Duma, which is the lower house of the Russian Parliament, will on Tuesday consider a law that permits making international payments via cryptocurrencies, Elvira Nabiullina, the governor of Russia's central bank, said Tuesday. Russia's central bank is also itself looking to move money across borders using crypto, with its chief saying crypto-based payments will take place before the end of 2024. In January 2022, the Russian central bank proposed banning the use of crypto for transactions, as well as the mining of digital currencies, citing threats to financial stability, citizens' wellbeing and monetary policy sovereignty.

Persons: Elvira Nabiullina, Nabiullina Organizations: Duma, State Duma, Russian Federation Council, RIA Novosti, Reuters, Russian Embassy, CNBC Tuesday Locations: Russia, Russian, Russia's, State, cryptocurrencies, London

☆ Iran using covert influence campaign to undermine Trump candidacy, US intelligence says
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-29 | by ( Sean Lyngaas | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —Iran is using covert social media activity and related influence operations in an effort to undercut the candidacy of former President Donald Trump, a US intelligence official said Monday in an updated assessment of threats to the November election. Iran’s preference for a US presidential candidate has not changed since 2020, the ODNI official said. In the 2020 election campaign, Iran “carried out a multi-pronged covert influence campaign intended to undercut former President Trump’s reelection prospects,” according to a declassified US intelligence report. The Russian government regularly denies US allegations of election influence. China “probably does not plan to influence the outcome” of the US presidential election, but US intelligence is monitoring the possibility that China-linked propagandists and influence actors could “denigrate down-ballot candidates,” the updated assessment says.

Persons: Donald Trump, ODNI, Iran “, Trump’s, haven’t, Joe Biden, “, Trump, Qasem Soleimani, Thomas Matthew Crooks, of National Intelligence Avril Haines, ” ODNI, China “, Xi Jinping, Biden Organizations: CNN, National Intelligence, Trump, United Nations, Service, stoke, of National Intelligence, Russian Embassy Locations: Iran, Tehran, United States, Moscow, U.S, Iranian, Pennsylvania, Israel, Gaza, Russia, Russian, Washington ,, China

☆ Australia PM tells Russia to 'back off' after claims over espionage arrests
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-13 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Russia accused Australia of inciting "anti-Russian paranoia" for charging a Russian-born couple with espionage, prompting Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Saturday to tell Moscow to "back off." Albanese, speaking to reporters on Saturday, said Russia needed to "stop interfering in domestic affairs of other sovereign nations." Russia engages in espionage here and around the world," Albanese said in Brisbane, the capital of Queensland state, according to a transcript. The wife, 40, an information systems technician in the Australian Army, travelled to Russia and instructed her husband in Australia to log into her official account to access defense materials, police said. Canberra has been supplying defense equipment to Kyiv, banned exports of aluminium ores to Russia and sanctioned more than 1,000 Russian individuals and entities.

Persons: Anthony Albanese, Kira, Igor Korolev, Albanese, " Albanese Organizations: Australian Federal Police, Labor Party, Kyiv, NATO, Australian Broadcasting Corp, Australian Army Locations: Russian, Australia's, Canberra, Russia, Australia, Moscow, Brisbane, Queensland, Ukraine, Washington, Brisbane magistrate's, Kyiv

☆ Finland passes law to block migrants crossing from Russia
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-12 | by ( Story Reuters | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

Finland has accused neighboring Russia of weaponizing migration by encouraging scores of migrants from countries such as Syria and Somalia to cross the border, an assertion the Kremlin denies. Helsinki believes Moscow is promoting the crossings in retaliation for Finland joining NATO, which backs Ukraine against Russia’s invasion. Finnish border guards and migrants with bicycles are pictured at the international border crossing at Salla, Finnish Lapland on November 21, 2023. Orpo urged migrants who were considering coming to Europe through Russia not to embark on the journey. The access to the borders orchestrated by Russia will not lead to access to Finland or Europe.”Moscow has denied such an intention.

Persons: Reuters —, Petteri Orpo, ” Orpo, Jussi Nukari, Mari Rantanen, Finland’s, Orpo, “ Don’t, ”, ” Moscow Organizations: Reuters, Helsinki, NATO, Russia’s, Getty, Finnish Border Guard, ” Locations: Russia, Helsinki, Finland, Syria, Somalia, Moscow, Ukraine, EU, Salla, Finnish Lapland, AFP, Poland, Lithuania, Belarus, Europe, Russian

For more than six months, Russia has been carrying out a sabotage campaign across Europe, largely by proxy. “We’re seeing sabotage, we’re seeing assassination plots, we’re seeing arson. Russia’s sabotage campaign has, at times, smacked of a shotgun approach carried out by amateurs. In London in March, several men were charged with working with Russian intelligence services to set fire to a Ukrainian-linked warehouse. And French authorities last month detained a Russian-Ukrainian man who was allegedly building bombs as part of a sabotage campaign orchestrated by Moscow.

Persons: Armin Papperger, Olaf Scholz, Boris Pistorius, Fabian Bimmer, “, ”, Adrienne Watson, “ Russia’s, Oliver Hoffman, ” Hoffman, Donald Tusk, Papperger, Dariusz Borowicz, Agencja Wyborcza.pl, Reuters “, ” CNN’s Zachary Cohen Organizations: CNN, Kyiv, Rheinmetall, NATO, National Security, NATO Allies, Embassy, intel, US, Reuters, Ukraine Locations: Ukraine, Europe, Kyiv, Germany, Berlin, Russia, West, Moscow, Papperger, Unterluess, United States, Washington, Russian, Polish, Lithuania, Poland, Ukrainian, London, Warsaw

☆ Justice Department says it disrupted Russian ‘bot farm’ used to spread propaganda in US
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-09 | by ( Sean Lyngaas | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN has requested comment on the Justice Department announcement from the Russian Embassy in Washington, DC, the Kremlin, the FSB and RT. X voluntarily suspended the bot accounts identified in court documents, the Justice Department said. It wasn’t just the FBI that helped expose the alleged bot farm. But the outlet has looked for new ways to reach audiences, including, the Justice Department alleges, through an army of fake X accounts. The RT employee, an FSB officer and others had access to the bot farm, which included X accounts that purported to be interested in cryptocurrency, according to the Justice Department.

Persons: Tom Cruise, Long, Vladimir Putin, Putin, “, Lisa Monaco Organizations: CNN, US Justice Department, Justice Department, RT, Kremlin, Microsoft, Justice, Russian Embassy, FBI, US Cyber Command, Department, Russian, The Locations: Ukraine, Russian, Russia, United States, Paris, Washington , DC, Poland, Germany, Netherlands, Spain, Israel, Arizona, cryptocurrency, Minneapolis, Lithuania

☆ Biden to ban U.S. sales of Kaspersky software over ties to Russia, source says
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-20 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Kaspersky Internet Security software is seen at the store in Krakow, Poland on December 30, 2021. A spokesperson for the Commerce Department declined to comment, while Kaspersky Lab and the Russian Embassy did not respond to requests for comment. Previously, Kaspersky has said that it is a privately managed company with no ties to the Russian government. The new restrictions on inbound sales of Kaspersky software, which will also bar downloads of software updates, resales and licensing of the product, kick in on Sept. 29, 100 days after publication, to give businesses time to find alternatives. If it only adds the Russian entity, the impact will be largely reputational.

Persons: Biden, Trump, Kaspersky, Donald Trump Organizations: Commerce Department, Russian Embassy, Biden, Department of Homeland Security, Kyiv, U.S, Reuters, Piaggio, Qatar Olympic Committee Locations: Krakow, Poland, United States, U.S, Russian, Moscow, Ukraine, Russia, China, New U.S, Massachusetts, Spain

☆ Fake Tom Cruise documentary is part of a Russian influence campaign aimed at Paris Olympics, report finds
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-03 | by ( Sean Lyngaas | Donie O'Sullivan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

The IOC has placed restrictions on Russian athletes’ participation in the Paris Olympics because of Russia’s war on Ukraine. French President Emmanuel Macron’s refusal to rule out the possibility of sending French troops to Ukraine has infuriated the Russian government. Hany Farid, a digital forensic expert and professor at UC Berkley, said the video had hallmarks of being manipulate using AI. But Lee Foster, another information operations expert, expressed skepticism that the imagery in the video was made using AI. Officials at the Paris Olympics are bracing for a similar threat next month.

Persons: denigrate, Tom Cruise’s, Gavin Wilde, irrelevance, ” Wilde, Emmanuel Macron’s, Matthew Miller, Miller, Hany Farid, Farid, ” Farid, Lee Foster, ” Foster, Russia’s, ”, John Hultquist, ” Hultquist Organizations: CNN —, Ukraine, CNN, International Olympic Committee, IOC, National Security Council, “, Netflix, New York Times, Microsoft, Telegram, Paris Olympics, CIA, Russian Embassy, US State Department, State Department, BBC, UC Berkley, US Justice Department, Paris, Olympics, Google, Olympic Locations: Ukraine, Paris, Russia, Russian, Washington , DC, ”, South Africa, deepfakes, South Korea, France

☆ US says Russia used choking agents against Ukrainian troops, breaching chemical weapons ban
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-01 | by ( Jessie Yeung | Brad Lendon | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

“The use of such chemicals is not an isolated incident, and is probably driven by Russian forces’ desire to dislodge Ukrainian forces from fortified positions and achieve tactical gains on the battlefield,” it said. Russia has previously denied using chemical weapons. The US has previously warned Russia against chemical warfare in Ukraine; in March 2022, a month after the invasion began, President Joe Biden said that NATO would respond if Russia used chemical weapons in Ukraine. The use of chemical weapons is banned by international law. Russia has signed those treaties and claims it doesn’t have chemical weapons, but the country has already been linked to the use of nerve agents against critics in recent years.

Persons: Ukraine’s, Chloropicrin, Joe Biden, Mallory Stewart, Sergei Skripal, Alexey Navalny –, Vladimir Putin, Navalny Organizations: CNN, US State Department, Ukrainian, Chemical Weapons Convention, CWC, Russian Embassy, CDC, State Department, United, United Arab Emirates, US, NATO Locations: United States, Russia, Ukraine, Russian, Netherlands, China, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Slovakia, Turkey, United Arab, Moscow, Ukrainian, Siberia

☆ Putin likely did not directly order Navalny’s killing, U.S. intelligence agencies conclude
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-27 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Floral tributes, portraits of late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny and messages are seen left outside the former Russian Embassy in Tbilisi on March 1, 2024. U.S. intelligence agencies have concluded that Russian President Vladimir Putin probably didn't directly order the killing of Alexei Navalny at a remote penal colony in February, according to three sources familiar with the matter. As Russia's most high-profile and popular dissident, Navalny's death dealt a severe blow to the country's opposition movement, which has been brutally suppressed by the Kremlin. Before Navalny's death, there had been tentative discussions about a possible prisoner exchange with Russia involving Navalny and Americans detained in Russia, NBC News previously reported. Navalny's allies allege that Putin had the dissident killed to thwart the proposed prisoner swap that would have freed him.

Persons: Alexei Navalny, Vladimir Putin, Putin, Navalny, Joe Biden, Sergei Skripal, Navalny's Organizations: Russian Embassy, Kremlin, Washington, Russia's Federal, Service, CIA, National Intelligence, NBC Locations: Tbilisi, Russia's, Russia, Russian, United Kingdom, Western

CNN —A Polish man has been charged over claims he assisted an alleged Russian plot to assassinate Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky, according to authorities in Poland and Ukraine. Prosecutors said the man agreed to provide information to Russian spies about security at Rzeszów-Jasionka airport, in southeastern Poland, about 100 kilometers (62 miles) from the border with Ukraine. Ukrainian authorities said they uncovered the plot and handed key evidence to Polish officials, who then detained the accused on Polish territory. “Our security authorities have prevented possible explosive detonations that were intended to affect and undermine our military aid to Ukraine. The Russian Embassy in Berlin dismissed the accusations as an “outright provocation,” Russian state news agency TASS reported.

Persons: Volodymyr Zelensky, “, Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky, Prosecutors, Zelensky, Nancy Faeser Organizations: CNN, Ukrainian Security Service, Federal Public Locations: Poland, Ukraine, Jasionka, Zelensky, Ukrainian, Europe, Russia, Mykolaiv, Russian, Bavarian, Bayreuth, Karlsruhe, Germany, Berlin

☆ Russia-linked hacking group suspected of carrying out cyberattack on Texas water facility, cybersecurity firm says
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-17 | by ( Sean Lyngaas | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

CNN —A hacking group with ties to the Russian government is suspected of carrying out a cyberattack in January that caused a tank at a Texas water facility to overflow, experts from US cybersecurity firm Mandiant said Wednesday. Muleshoe officials replaced the hacked software system and took other steps to secure the network, Sanchez said. “Regulations have not required this low-hanging fruit to be addressed,” Serino told CNN. “I’ve never experienced this before but … we’re aware that those threats are out there,” Poling told CNN by phone. “The haphazardness is part of their pathological emphasis on psychological impact,” Dan Black, a Mandiant analyst, told CNN.

Persons: Mandiant, Jake Sullivan, Sullivan, Ramon Sanchez, Sanchez, ”, Gus Serino, ” Serino, ” Anne Neuberger, ” The, Harris, Neuberger, Buster Poling, Mike Cypert, Poling, “ I’ve, ” Poling, Nick Conger, Sandworm, ” Dan Black Organizations: CNN, FBI, Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, White, ” The Biden, Hale Center, Russian Embassy, State of, GRU, “ Locations: Texas, US, Muleshoe, Pennsylvania, Iran, United States, Russian, Ukraine, Lockney’s, Hale, Washington ,, State of Texas

☆ How ISIS has Europe and the US in sights after deadly Moscow attack
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-30 | by ( Tim Lister | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +12 min

ISIS claimed responsibility for the Moscow attack. Maxim Shemetov/ReutersHe regards the Moscow attack as a “breakthrough success” for the group, demonstrating a level of planning not previously seen beyond south Asia. Russia’s support for authoritarian regimes in central Asia – which ISIS-K has described as Russia’s “puppets” – has deepened the animus. The attitude of the Russian government, both pre- and post- the Moscow attack, may not help it confront the threat. For ISIS-K, the Moscow attack is a coup.

Persons: Erik Kurilla, “, Sanaullah Ghafari, Edmund Fitton, Brown, Fitton, Amira Jadoon, ” Jadoon, Hans, Jakob Schindler, Christine Abizaid, ” Fitton, Maxim Shemetov, –, Gabriel Attal, ”, Jadoon, Putin, Abu Bakr al, Sinai, Vladimir Putin, Assad, Shamsidin, Dalerdzhon Mirzoyev, Muhammadsobir Fayzov, Yulia Morozova, Shamil Hukumatov, ” Putin, ” Schindler, Alexander Bortnikov, they’ll, Rita Katz Organizations: CNN, Analysts, ISIS, Islamic, US Central Command, UN, Taliban, Russian, Clemson University, Counter, ”, K, US National Counterterrorism Center, –, Crocus City, US Defense Department, Paris, Central, Crocus City Hall, St, City, Tajik, Kyiv, SITE Intelligence Locations: State, Ukraine, Gaza, Moscow, Khorasan, Afghanistan, Europe, Asia, Russia, ‘, Islamic State, Pakistan, Iran, Crocus, United States, West, New York, Tajik, Kabul, Afghan, Kandahar, Central Asia, Baujur, Pakistani, Baluchistan, Iranian, Kerman, Germany, al Qaeda, Turkey, France, America, Russian, Sharm el, St . Petersburg, Syria, Kaluga, St Petersburg, Istanbul, Washington

☆ 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

☆ ISIS-K, Group Tied to Moscow Attack, Has Grown Bolder and More Violent
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-24 | by ( Christina Goldbaum | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Few know better than the Taliban what a relentless foe the Islamic State’s affiliate in Afghanistan can be. Much of the West considers the Taliban, which reclaimed power in the country in 2021, to be an extremist Islamic movement. But the Islamic State Khorasan, the affiliate that took responsibility for a terrorist attack in suburban Moscow on Friday, has slammed the Taliban government, calling the group’s version of Islamic rule insufficiently hard-line. The Islamic State Khorasan, or ISIS-K, is one of the last significant antagonists that the Taliban face in Afghanistan. In the months after the Taliban seized power, ISIS-K carried out near daily attacks on their soldiers at roadside checkpoints and in neighborhoods that are home to the country’s Hazara ethnic minority.

Persons: Pakistan’s Organizations: West Locations: Afghanistan, State Khorasan, Moscow, Hazara, Russian, Kabul

“All of us decent people are hostages here.” Like other voters interviewed, she declined to provide her last name, for fear of reprisal. “It is so important to see people who think like you, who don’t agree with what is happening,” she said. More broadly, the muted, purely symbolic form of civil disobedience envisioned by the initiative underscores just how little the Russian opposition can do to influence events in the country amid the pervasive repression. Noon Against Putin has been expected to be particularly large-scale abroad, because dissident voters faced lower risks outside Russia. Ms. Navalnaya was seen standing in a long line outside the Russian Embassy in Berlin on Sunday afternoon.

Persons: Vladimir V, Putin, Aleksei A, Navalny, Mr, Navalny’s, ”, Lena, Noon, Yulia Navalnaya, “, ” Leonid Volkov, Nanna Heitmann, Volkov, Kristina, Navalnaya, Valerie Hopkins, Tomas Dapkus, Anton Troianovski Organizations: Sunday, The New York Times, YouTube, Russian Embassy Locations: Russian, Ukraine, Moscow, Russia, Lithuania, Lane, Berlin, Riga, Latvia

☆ Putin seen winning an expected landslide 88% of Russian election vote
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-17 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

President Vladimir Putin won a record post-Soviet landslide in Russia's election on Sunday, cementing his grip on power. The election comes just over two years since Putin triggered the deadliest European conflict since World War Two by ordering the invasion of Ukraine. War has hung over the three-day election: Ukraine has repeatedly attacked oil refineries in Russia, shelled Russian regions, and sought to pierce Russian borders with proxy forces - a move Putin said would not be left unpunished. As noon arrived across Asia and Europe, hundreds of people gathered at polling stations at Russian diplomatic missions. Putin says the West is engaged in a hybrid war against Russia and that Western intelligence and Ukraine are trying to disrupt the elections.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Putin, Josef Stalin, Putin's, Alexei Navalny, Yulia, Ruslan Shaveddinov, Leonid Volkov, Navalny, Joe Biden, Nikolas Gvosdev, Biden, Donald Trump, William Burns, China Organizations: Soviet, Research, National Security, KGB, Corruption, Criminal Court, Hague, Kremlin, Research Institute, Trump's Republican, Kyiv, CIA Locations: United States, Russia, Ukraine, Moscow, St Petersburg, Yekaterinburg, Asia, Europe, Russian, Berlin, Vilnius, West, Philadelphia, Congress, Ukrainian, Crimea, Kyiv

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