DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ 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

☆ Ukraine war live updates: Blinken visits Kyiv to boost morale as Ukrainian forces battle Russian onslaught in northeast border region
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-14 | by ( Holly Ellyatt | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Ukraine's security services on Monday said they had prevented "terrorist attacks" by alleged Russian agents in Kyiv that were meant to take place on May 9. Explosive devices were meant to be detonate in several locations in Ukraine's capital Kyiv, including shops, the country's security services said in a Google-translated Telegram post. Explosives were allegedly also meant to be installed in a car that was to be parked near a popular cafe, the security services said. Ukrainian security services used counter-intelligence to identify the man behind the planned attack, they said in another Telegram post. The alleged Russian agent had also planned an attack that was meant to take place in February, which was also thwarted by Ukrainian security services, they said.

Persons: — Sophie Kiderlin Organizations: Explosives, Ukraine's, Monday Locations: Russian, Kyiv, Ukrainian, Moscow

☆ A Ukrainian floating drone that is devastating Russia's Black Sea fleet can now fire missiles
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-15 | by ( Tom Porter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Ukraine has used sea drones to attack Russia's Black Sea fleet. Ukraine has had to improvise to offset Russia's naval superiority. AdvertisementUkraine claims it has fitted the floating drones it is using to devastate Russia's Black Sea fleet with missile launchers, making them even more deadly. Ukraine's intelligence service, the SBU, in early January released grainy video footage which it claimed showed its "Sea Baby" drones firing missiles at Russian vessels. One of its most striking successes in 2023 has been inflicting a series of devastating attacks on Russia's Black Sea fleet, despite its navy being a fraction of the size of Russia's.

Persons: Russia's, It's, —, it's, Nicholas Johnson, Wes O'Donnell, Johnson, Vasyl Maliuk Organizations: Service, Ukrainska Pravda, Business, RAND Corporation, BBC, CNN, BI Locations: Ukraine, Russia's, Sevastopol, Crimea, Kerch, Russian, Russia

☆ Here's the 'experimental' sea drone, called the 'Sea Baby,' that Ukraine claims has carried almost 1,900 pounds of explosives and has been attacking Russia's Black Sea Fleet
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-15 | by ( Lloyd Lee | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Ukraine intelligence officials claim that an experimental sea drone hit two Russian military ships. The drone has been dubbed the "Sea Baby," an invention of Ukraine's security services. The drone is called the "Sea Baby," which officials in Ukraine have now claimed is behind at least three covert drone operations against Russia. AdvertisementAdvertisementAround mid-September Ukrainian sources said that the sea drone attacked a small Russian missile ship that was part of the Black Sea Fleet. The other sea drone that Ukraine developed, with a 300-kg payload, can hit targets 500 miles away, CNN reported.

Persons: —, Vasyl Maliuk, Maliuk Organizations: Service, The Washington Post, Russia, Security Service, CNN, Black, Russia's, Baby Security, Reuters, Security Service of Ukraine, New Voice, New York Times, Ammo Locations: Ukraine, Crimea, Kerch, Russian, Russia, Kyiv, Ukrainian

☆ Russian missile strike on cafe and shop kills 51 in Ukraine, Kyiv says
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-05 | by ( Olena Harmash | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Firefighters work at a site of a Russian military strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in the village of Hroza, in Kharkiv region, Ukraine October 5, 2023. The attack was the deadliest in the Kharkiv region since Russia's invasion more than 19 months ago, a spokesperson for the Kharkiv regional military administration told Ukrainian public broadcaster Suspilne. It also appeared to be one of the biggest civilian death tolls in any single Russian strike since the start of the war. UKRAINIAN OFFICIAL CONDEMN ATTACKKlymenko cited preliminary information that he said showed the attack was carried out with an Iskander ballistic missile. He said the strike was clearly very targeted and that Ukrainian security services had launched an investigation into the matter.

Persons: Kharkiv Regional Military Administration Oleg Syniehubov, Zelenskiy, Oleh Synehubov, Ihor Klymenko, Klymenko, Rustem Umerov, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Olena Harmash, Timothy Heritage, Andrew Heavend Organizations: Kharkiv Regional Military Administration, REUTERS Acquire, Kharkiv, Suspilne, Thomson Locations: Russian, Ukraine, Hroza, Kharkiv region, Kyiv, Spain KYIV, Kupiansk, Kharkiv, Ukrainian, UKRAINIAN, Spain, Russia, Moscow

☆ Russian missile strike on Ukraine village kills 51 during memorial to fallen soldier
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-05 | by ( Vitalii Hnidyi | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

It also appeared to be one of the biggest civilian death tolls in any single Russian strike. Some of them were mourners gathering in the cafe after a service for a fallen soldier from the village. [1/3]Rescuers work at a site of a Russian military strike in the village of Hroza, in Kharkiv region, Ukraine, October 5, 2023. The missile hit during a service marking the reburial in his home village of a soldier who had died in action elsewhere. This is a terrible tragedy," Klymenko told Ukrainian television.

Persons: Zelenskiy, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Vyacheslav Madiyevskyy, Serhiy Bolvinov, Oleksandr Mukhovatyi, Mukhovatyi, Ihor Klymenko, Klymenko, Rustem Umerov, Olena Harmash, Yuliia, Timothy Heritage, Andrew Heavens, Ron Popeski David Gregorio, Rod Nickel Organizations: Suspilne, Regional, Political Community, REUTERS, Prosecutors, Thomson Locations: Kyiv, Spain HROZA, Ukraine, Russian, Ukrainian, Hroza, Kharkiv, Spain, Moscow, Kupiansk, Kharkiv region, Russia

☆ A missile strike that killed at least 15 people in a Ukrainian market was blamed on Russia. There's now growing evidence it was fired by Ukraine.
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-19 | by ( Tom Porter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A missile that hit Kostyantynivka in September was likely Ukrainian, an NYT analysis said. However, data analyzed by the NYT suggests it was an air defense missile that went off course. AdvertisementAdvertisementBut a new analysis of missile fragments, satellite imagery, witness accounts, and social media posts suggests the incident was likely caused by a misfired air defense missile, the Times said. It would not be the first time Ukrainian air defense missiles have misfired. The Ukrainian defense ministry did not immediately return a request for comment from Insider.

Persons: Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Zelenskyy Organizations: Service, New York Times, UN, Times, Rights Watch, NATO, Reuters Locations: Russia, Wall, Silicon, Kostyantynivka, Ukraine, Bakhmut, Druzhkivka, Kostiantynivka, Russian, Poland, Ukrainian

☆ Why has Ukraine stepped up its strikes on occupied Crimea?
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-14 | by ( Christian Edwards | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

CNN —Ukraine has ramped up missile and drone strikes on occupied Crimea in recent weeks, as it attempts to land both strategic and symbolic blows against Russian forces that annexed the peninsula in 2014. The next night, Russian air defenses shot down 11 Ukrainian drones over Crimea, according to the Russian Ministry of Defense. The shift in focus to Crimea occurred after Russia allowed the Black Sea Grain Initiative to lapse in July. Russia’s Black Sea Fleet has since resumed its blockade of Ukraine’s ports, preventing vital grain exports and threatening global food security. Symbolic valueYet the strikes on Crimea also have huge symbolic value and are intended to damage Russian President Vladimir Putin’s prestige.

Persons: Russia –, Russia’s, Vladimir Putin’s, “, Putin, Marilyn Monroe, Vasyl Maliuk, ”, Stringer, Rybar Organizations: CNN, Russian, Kyiv, Russian Ministry of Defense, Fleet, Kremlin, Russia, Security Service, Reuters, Ukraine’s Air Force Locations: Ukraine, Crimea, Russian, Sevastopol, Ukrainian, Kerch, Russia, Odesa, ” Russia, Europe, Novorossiysk, United Kingdom, France

☆ Putin foes who, like Prigozhin, have suffered mysterious fates
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

[1/2] Russian President Vladimir Putin addresses participants of the international military-technical forum Army-2023 via a video link in Moscow, Russia, in this picture released August 14, 2023. Prigozhin, 62, spearheaded a mutiny against Russia's top army brass on June 23-24, which President Vladimir Putin said could have tipped Russia into civil war. Moscow denied involvement. Russia denied involvement. Russia denied any involvement.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Mikhail Klimentyev, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Putin, ALEXEI NAVALNY Russia's, Alexei Navalny, Novichok, Navalny, SERGEI SKRIPAL, Sergei Skripal, Yulia, VLADIMIR KARA, MURZA, Vladimir Kara, Murza, ALEXANDER LITVINENKO Alexander Litvinenko, Andrei Lugovoy, Dmitry Kovtun, Litvinenko, ALEXANDER PEREPILICHNY, Alexander Perepilichny, Perepilichny, VIKTOR YUSHCHENKO Viktor Yushchenko, Viktor Yanukovich, Yanukovich, ANNA POLITKOVSKAYA Anna Politkovskaya, Politkovskaya, Lisa Shumaker, Cynthia Osterman Organizations: Sputnik, REUTERS, Russia's, Reuters, Kremlin, Russia's Federal Security Service, Moscow, Russia, Ukraine's, Thomson Locations: Moscow, Russia, Kremlin, Germany, Siberia, Russian, English, Salisbury, Soviet, Britain, British, London, Ukrainian

CNN —Russia temporarily shuttered all four major Moscow airports early on Friday morning following an alleged drone strike on the capital city, its civil aviation authority said. Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin said Friday that Russian air defenses shot down a drone over the capital city overnight. The incident on Friday was the third time in the past month that this district of Moscow has been struck by drone debris. “The Kiev regime launched another terrorist attack using a drone against facilities in Moscow and Moscow region on August 18 at 4:00 Moscow time,” the ministry said in a statement, using the Russian spelling of the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv. Last month, Kyiv said Ukrainian forces carried out a drone strike in Moscow and warned more strikes were to come.

Persons: Sergey Sobyanin, “, Shamil Zhumatov, Mykhailo Fedorov, Volodymyr Zelensky, Rosaviatsiya Organizations: CNN, Russia, Moscow, Russian Defense Ministry, Reuters, Kyiv, Transformation Ministry, “ Army, Drones, Russian Association of Tour Locations: Moscow, Sheremetyevo, Zhukovsky, Expocentre, Ukraine, Kiev, Kyiv, Krasnopresnenskaya Embankment, Russia, Reuters Ukraine, Crimea, Ukrainian, Nizhny Novgorod, St, Petersburg, Minsk, Belarus

☆ Crimean Bridge attack: The moment Ukraine used an experimental drone to strike Russia's Kerch Bridge
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-15 | by ( Nick Paton Walsh Victoria Butenko Florence Davey-Attlee | Nick Paton Walsh | Victoria Butenko | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Dnipro, Ukraine CNN —Ukrainian security services have released to CNN exclusive footage showing the moment in July when they used an experimental sea drone to attack Russia’s bridge to annexed Crimea, providing new details on the attack and warning more such assaults will follow. The attack on July 17 caused damage to the road lanes of the bridge, and, according to Russian officials, killed two civilians. A view of the Crimean Bridge, also known as the Kerch Bridge, the only direct link between Russia and the Crimean peninsula. Maliuk also claimed responsibility for the first Ukrainian attack on the bridge, on October 8, but declined to provide details. He said the July drone attack was the product of months of preparation.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, It’s, Vasyl Maliuk, ”, Olengorskiy, Maliuk, Oleksiy Neizhpapa, “, ” Maliuk Organizations: Ukraine CNN, CNN, Security Service, SIG, Ukraine Security Service, coy, Naval, Reuters “, Ukrainian Locations: Dnipro, Ukraine, Crimea, Russia, Kerch, Crimean, Novorossisk, Ukraine Security Service Ukraine, Moscow, Ukrainian

Two Ukrainian missiles were shot down on Saturday afternoon, the Russia-appointed Head of Crimea Sergey Aksyonov wrote in a post on Telegram, adding that the bridge was undamaged. “Another enemy missile was shot down over the Kerch Strait. Meanwhile, traffic has resumed on the Crimean bridge, according to the Crimean bridge operative information Telegram account, after it was temporarily blocked. The Kremlin was quick to blame Kyiv for that explosion, and Putin alleged that it was an act of “sabotage” by Ukrainian security services. The bridge was also hit by two strikes in July in an attack a Ukrainian security official told CNN Kyiv was responsible for.

Persons: Vladimir Putin’s, Crimea Sergey Aksyonov, Aksyonov, Oleg Kryuchkov, ” “, Maria Zakharova, ” Zakharova, Vladimir Putin, Putin, Vasyl Maliuk, ” Maliuk, ” Organizations: CNN, Ukrainian, Kyiv, CNN Kyiv, Ukrainian Security Service Locations: Crimea, Russia, Kerch, Ukraine, Russian, Moscow, Ukrainian

Multiple sea drone attack carried out on Russian assets in Crimea and the Black Sea have grabbed recent headlines, with dramatic videos posted online. These sea drones are targeting the Russians in the Black Sea. “The speed of these drones exceeds any sea craft in the Black Sea region at the moment.”The speed and difficulties in detection may go some way to explaining how the drones that attacked the bridge traveled undetected in the dark across the Black Sea to the bridge. Especially since the Admiral Makarov was newly installed as the Black Sea flagship after the Moskva was famously sunk by Ukrainian forces in April 2022. Russia claimed it was responding to an area it says was housing sea drones.

Persons: Makarov, Putin, ”, menacingly, Admiral Makarov, “ Organizations: Ukraine CNN —, Boston Whaler, CNN, “, UNESCO, Heritage Locations: Ukraine, Boston, Crimean, Russia, Crimea, Kerch, Crimea’s Sevastopol, Sevastopol, Moskva, Russian

☆ Russia hits Ukraine targets in 'mass retaliatory strike' after bridge attack
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-18 | by ( Andrew Osborn | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/2] A view shows a building damaged during a Russian missile and drone strikes, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Odesa, Ukraine July 18, 2023. The ministry said it had struck Odesa, where the Ukrainian navy has its headquarters, and Mykolaiv, near Ukraine's Black Sea coast. It said it had struck a ship repair plant near Odesa where such boats - thought to be naval drones of the kind Russia believes were used to attack the Crimean bridge - were being built. Ukrainian media said Ukrainian security services had used naval drones to attack the bridge, which had only recently returned to full operation after suffering severe damage in a similar attack last October. Peskov confirmed that the overnight strikes had been revenge for the bridge attack.

Persons: Dmitry Peskov, Peskov, Alexander Kots, Kots, Russia's, Andrew Osborn, Conor Humphries, Mike Harrison Organizations: Press Service, Operational Command, Ukrainian Armed Forces, Kremlin, Russia's Defence, Ukrainian, Russian Federation, Russian, Komsomolskaya Pravda, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Russian, Ukraine, Odesa, Russia, MOSCOW, Kyiv, Mykolaiv, Ukraine's, Ukrainian, Moscow, Crimea, Crimean, Sevastopol

☆ Crimea Bridge: why is it important and what happened to it
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] A cargo ship sails next to the Crimea bridge in the Kerch Strait, Crimea, March 14, 2023. The RBC-Ukraine news agency reported that explosions were heard on the bridge, with Russian military bloggers reporting two strikes. The bridge is a crucial supply route for Russian forces in Ukraine. In October, the bridge was damaged in a powerful blast, with Russian officials saying the explosion was caused by a truck that blew up while crossing the bridge, killing three people. CRIMEA AND RUSSIA LINKThe 19-km (12-mile) Crimea Bridge over the Kerch Strait is the only direct link between the transport network of Russia and the Crimean peninsula, which Moscow annexed from Ukraine in2014.

Persons: Alexey Pavlishak, Sergei Aksyonov, Vladimir Putin, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Putin, Arkady Rotenberg, Lidia Kelly, Michael Perry Organizations: REUTERS, RBC, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Crimea, Kerch, Russia, Ukraine, Ukrainian, Kyiv, CRIMEA, RUSSIA, Moscow, Sevastopol, Ukraine's Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Melbourne

☆ Russia says Ukrainian attack on Crimea Bridge kills two, orphaned daughter injured
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Blasts were reported before dawn on the 19-km (12-mile) road and rail bridge linking Russia to Crimea, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014. Russia blamed Ukraine for an attack on the bridge last October, saying it was organised by Ukrainian military intelligence and its director, Kyrylo Budanov. After the October attack, Russia launched strikes against Ukrainian cities including power supplies in retaliation. Crimea was transferred from Soviet Russia to Soviet Ukraine in 1954 by then Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev and recognised by Russia in 1994 after the collapse of the USSR. Footage taken from a train crossing the bridge showed passengers gasping as they saw the damage to the road.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Putin, Vyacheslav Gladkov, Kyrylo, Sergei Mironov, Arkady Rotenberg, Nikita Khrushchev, Vladimir Saldo, Lidia Kelly, Guy Faulconbridge, Kim Coghill, Michael Perry, Lincoln, Nick Macfie Organizations: UN, Ukraine's Security Service, Mercedes, Russia, Thomson Locations: Russia, Ukrainian, Ukraine, KERCH, Crimea, Belgorod, Kyrylo Budanov, Russia's, Moscow, Soviet Russia, Soviet Ukraine, Soviet, USSR, Russian, Kherson, Melbourne

Blood seeps from the door into a puddle on the road as an occupants of another car implores the girl to keep still. The video was verified by Reuters as having been filmed on the Crimean Bridge. The damaged car’s colour, alloy wheels and open fuel cap matched video from the scene shot in daylight, which showed the same car on the damaged bridge. "Two civilians were killed – a man and a woman driving a car on the bridge. "At about 3 o'clock in the morning, the family heard the first bang, after which the lights went out on the bridge," the relative said.

Persons: Vladimir Putin's, Angelina, Alexei, Nataliya, Vyacheslav Gladkov, –, Guy Faulconbridge, Lidia Kelly, Kevin Liffey, William Maclean Organizations: Reuters, Russia's, Thomson Locations: MOSCOW, Moscow, Ukrainian, Belgorod, Russian, Ukraine, Russia, Crimea, Europe, Melbourne

☆ Why the Crimean Bridge is so important to Vladimir Putin
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-17 | by ( Lauren Kent | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Also known as the Kerch Bridge, it holds personal value for Russian President Vladimir Putin. Here’s what you need to know:Why is the bridge so important to Russia? The Kerch Bridge is strategically important because it links Russia’s Krasnodar region with Crimea, which was illegally annexed by Russia from Ukraine in 2014. Rail traffic across the Crimea bridge is continuing to operate on Monday, albeit with delays, according to video on social media, a Russian official and Russian state media. A widely circulating video, which appears to have been captured this morning from a train passing on the parallel rail bridge, shows significant damage to one of the bridge’s road spans.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Putin, Staff, ” Vladimir Konstantinov, Boris Rozhin, “, ” Putin, Dmitry Peskov, Marat Khusnullin, Ukraine Andrii Yusov, ”, ” Yusov Organizations: CNN, CNN Kyiv, Kyiv, Ukrainian military’s, State Council of, Novosti, TASS, Russian, Ukraine’s Security, Defense Intelligence Locations: Russia, Ukrainian, Ukraine, Moscow, Kerch, Crimea, Russian, Kyiv, Krasnodar, Europe, Kherson, Republic of Crimea

☆ Putin: Russian Defence Ministry preparing response to bridge attack
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

July 17 (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Monday his defence ministry was preparing proposals for a response to an overnight attack that damaged the road bridge linking Crimea to southern Russia, for which he blamed Ukraine. At the end of a televised video meeting with national and regional officials to assess the consequences of the attack, Putin called it a cruel and senseless act, as he said the bridge "has not been used for military transportation for a long time". Russian authorities had said a couple driving over the bridge to go on holiday in Crimea had been killed, and their 14-year-old daughter had been injured. Kyiv did not officially claim responsibility, but Ukrainian media said Ukrainian security services had deployed maritime drones against the bridge. Kyiv says Russians have no business holidaying on seized territory, especially while Moscow is bombing Ukraine.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Putin, Marat Khusnullin, Kevin Liffey, Sandra Maler Organizations: Thomson Locations: Crimea, Russia, Ukraine, Ukrainian, Moscow, Kyiv

☆ Russian tourists flee Crimea after attack on landmark bridge
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-17 | by ( Andrew Osborn | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/4] A train moves along the Crimean Bridge, a section of which was damaged by an alleged overnight attack, as seen from the city of Kerch, Crimea, July 17, 2023. State-run news agency RIA said a tailback of more than 5 km (3 miles) had formed as Russian tourists made for home - using the Chonhar bridge, which was briefly put out of action by a missile attack last month. Moscow blamed the attack on the Crimean bridge, the second since Russia sent its armed forces into Ukraine, on Kyiv. HOLIDAY CANCELLATIONS MOUNT UPKyiv says Russian tourists - more than 9 million of whom visited in 2021 - have no business holidaying on seized territory, especially while Ukraine is being bombed. The 19-km (12-mile) Crimean Bridge, a prestige project for President Vladimir Putin, is the route most Russian tourists choose to reach the peninsula, as well as a supply route for the Russian army in Ukraine.

Persons: Alexey Pavlishak, RIA, Vladimir Saldo, Elena Bazhenova, Crimea's, Ilya Umansky, Vladimir Putin, Andrew Osborn, Kevin Liffey Organizations: REUTERS, Kyiv, Russian Union of Travel Industry, Thomson Locations: Kerch, Crimea, Ukraine, Russia, MOSCOW, State, Moscow, Kyiv, Ukrainian, Russian, Ukraine's Kherson, Simferopol

☆ Ukraine has a network of sabotage agents in Russia and is sending them drone for attacks, report says
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-05 | by ( Mia Jankowicz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

US officials believe Ukraine is fostering a network of anti-Putin rebels in Russia, CNN reported. They also believe that such groups were behind the drone explosion over the Kremlin in May. Ukraine has not claimed any connection to such groups, but is reaping the military benefits. Several unnamed US officials believe the May 3 drone incident above the Kremlin was among several attacks carried out by such agents, the outlet reported. But, CNN reported, some US officials believe that pro-Ukraine partisans could have launched the drone from within Russia, bypassing such defenses.

Persons: —, Vasyl Malyuk, Cotton, Malyuk, Russia's, Kyrylo, Vladimir Putin Organizations: Putin, CNN, Kremlin, Service, Liberty of Russia Legion, UK's Ministry of Defense, coy, for Locations: Ukraine, Russia, May, Belgorod, Putin Russian, Russia's, Ukrainian, Zelenskyy, Moscow

☆ 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.

☆ A Ukrainian mother whose son was executed in Bakhmut said there's no choice but to continue fighting even as Russia regains momentum
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-07 | by ( Erin Snodgrass | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The mother of a Ukrainian soldier who was executed said Ukraine must continue to defend Bakhmut. Paraska Demchuk told NBC News that the thousands of casualties in Bakhmut can't have been "in vain." But he had these words," Demchuk told NBC from her home outside Kyiv. "We have no other option but to continue fighting," Demchuk told NBC News. The Ukrainian military said in a Friday update that battles in and around Bakhmut continue even as Russia tries to take "full control."

☆ Russia spent vast sums paying a network of collaborators before the Ukraine war. Most simply took the money and ran, report says.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-23 | by ( Mia Jankowicz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Russia sent masses of cash to pay off officials in Ukraine ahead of the war, the FT reported. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has long said that Medvedchuk was Putin's pick to become his puppet leader in Ukraine. With that supposed wellspring of pro-Russian support in Ukraine, the Kremlin envisioned installing Medvedchuk as leader the moment Kyiv had fallen. But none of it was enough to produce the groundswell that Medvedchuk so confidently depicted to Putin, the FT reported. Medvedchuk was arrested by Ukrainian security services in April last year and handed to Russia in a prisoner swap.

CNN —Russian President Vladimir Putin has made a visit to the Kerch Bridge, a key link between the annexed Crimean peninsula and mainland Russia which was partially destroyed by an explosion in October, according to Russian state media. In another video Putin is seen walking along a section of the bridge. The Kerch Bridge pictured after the explosion on October 8. The 11-mile Kerch Bridge is the longest in Europe and carries both road and rail traffic. In 2018, Putin symbolically drove a truck across the Kerch Bridge to mark its opening, which was greeted with great fanfare on Russian state TV.

Search resuls for: "Ukrainian Security Services"

25 mentions found