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☆ China is showing up big for Russia but a Cold War historian says Putin is making a 'potentially grave error' and shouldn't expect the lifeline to last
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-26 | by ( Kelsey Vlamis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

China has been a key ally and crucial trade partner to Russia during the war in Ukraine. Cold War historian Sergey Radchenko argued in a New York Times op-ed that it's unwise for Putin to rely on China. Radchenko said history shows China will flip on allies as needed if it's to their benefit. Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping have boasted about their "no limits" friendship, driven in part by a desire to curb US power. Some have argued that, at least for now, China may need Russia too.

Persons: Sergey Radchenko, Putin, Radchenko, Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping, Xi, Mao Zedong, Jonathan Ward, Insider's Tom Porter Organizations: New York Times, Service, Kremlin, Politico, Johns Hopkins University, The New York Times, Communist, USSR, Communist Party, Atlas Group Locations: China, Russia, Ukraine, Cold, Wall, Silicon, West . China, Soviet Union, United States

CNN —One fighter was shot twice, sent from the hospital back to the front, where he drank melted snow to live. Forced to assault Ukrainian positions repeatedly, until a grenade blinded him. CNN also spoke to a rare survivor of the Storm-Z units, Sergei – who was first interviewed by phone in a military hospital months earlier and last week recounted the savage and deteriorating life in the Russian trenches. While the appalling fighting conditions are well known, much Russian testimony is from prisoners of war, and provided through Ukrainian facilitators. Sergei recalls the quotidian horrors of the Russian trenches.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Wagner, Andrei, Sergei –, Sergei, CNN Sergei, amputees, ” Sergei, ”, “, Don’t, Yulia, ” Andrei, CNN Yulia, Andrei messaged, Putin, ‘, ‘ we’re, ’, ” Yulia sobbed Organizations: CNN, Nazis, Russian Ministry of Defense, Kremlin, Ministry of Defense Locations: Russian, Red Square, Ukraine, Russia

☆ A storied cathedral protected by the UN in Ukraine's key port city of Odesa has now been bombed twice — once by Putin and once by Stalin
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-23 | by ( Katie Balevic | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A Russian missile strike clobbered a Ukrainian cathedral in Odesa, killing one and injuring 19. The strike in the port city of Odesa early Sunday morning left one dead and injured 19 others. Photos from Reuters showed the devastation in the Spaso-Preobrazhenskyi Cathedral — also known as the Transfiguration Cathedral — which is Odesa's largest church building. An interior view shows the Transfiguration Cathedral damaged during a Russian missile strike on Odesa, Ukraine. The destruction of the key port city is a tactic, according to Oleksiy Honcharenko, a Ukrainian MP from Odesa.

Persons: Joseph Stalin, Oleh Kiper, —, Nina Liashonok, Andriy Palchuk, Palchuk, Oleksiy, Odesa, Honcharenko, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Zelenskyy Organizations: Russian, UNESCO, Service, Ukrainian, Reuters, Guardian, Twitter, Odesa Locations: Ukrainian, Odesa, Soviet, Wall, Silicon, Russian, Preobrazhenskyi, Ukraine

☆ Russia and Iran's 'unprecedented' military ties worried the US, but it's starting to look like Russia can't hold up its end of the deal
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-23 | by ( Paul Iddon | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Iran has supported Russia by providing it with arms to use in Ukraine. Kirby said "support is flowing both ways," with Moscow providing Tehran "an unprecedented level of military and technical support." As part of this burgeoning partnership, Iran expected to receive an unspecified number of Russian Su-35 jets, along with helicopters and even advanced S-400 air-defense systems. REUTERS/FARS NEWS/Ali ShayeganWhile Iran has never armed Russia to the extent it has in recent months, Moscow has sold Tehran considerable military hardware in the past. Paul Iddon is a freelance journalist and columnist who writes about Middle East developments, military affairs, politics, and history.

Persons: John Kirby, Kirby, Russian Su, Saeed Azimi, Hassan Rouhani, Azimi, Putin, Alexei Nikolsky, Abu, Russia's, Richard Moore, Ali Shayegan, haven't, Tehran weren't, Iranian Su, ATTA KENARE, Moore, William Burns, Burns, Paul Iddon Organizations: Service, National Security, Iranian MiG, Army Day, REUTERS, Sputnik, Gulf Cooperation Council, United Arab, GCC, Intelligence Service, Tehran, Soviet Union, Getty, UN, CIA Locations: Iran, Russia, Ukraine, Russian, Moscow, Tehran, Wall, Silicon, Iranian, Egypt, Aktau, Kazakhstan, Kremlin, United Arab Emirates, Abu Musa, Greater Tunb, Persian, Hormuz, British, UAE, FARS, Iraq, Soviet, Islamic Republic, AFP

☆ After Ukraine's success with US-made HIMARS, European militaries are looking for their own rocket artillery
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-22 | by ( Michael Peck | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Other European countries are pursuing their own rocket artillery, buying HIMARS or building new systems. Sovfoto/Universal Images Group via Getty ImagesMultiple launch rocket systems have been around since World War II, when the legendary Soviet Katyusha battered Nazi forces. But Russia adapted and moved its command and supply centers out of HIMARS range, though at the price of compromising some efficiency. Rocket artillery can't replace howitzers, which offer some advantages, such as the ability to fire barrages continuously for hours. Still, rocket artillery is certain to join howitzers as the backbone of Western artillery.

Persons: Lockheed Martin, HIMARS, PATRIK STOLLARZ, Biden, ATACMS, salvoes, Jakub Porzycki Organizations: Russia, Service, Rheinmetall, Defense News, Lockheed, Getty, US State Department, Army Tactical Missile Systems, Ukraine, Storm, Nazi, Anadolu Agency, Russian, GPS Locations: Wall, Silicon, Ukraine, Germany, Munster, AFP, Poland, France, Soviet, Warsaw, Russia

☆ Opinion: In tough times, Russia turns to a Cold War comrade
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-20 | by ( Opinion Jeremi Suri | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

CNN —After decades of somewhat distant relations, Russia and Cuba are working closely together again — this time, as part of Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine. Cuba's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bruno Rodriguez, and Russian Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov, meet in Havana on April 20, in a show of deepening ties between the countries. In addition to deepened connections with Russia, Cuba has allowed China to build a secret espionage facility on the island. Washington will respond to Russian military escalation in Cuba with its own escalating force, as it already has done with the recent deployment of a nuclear submarine. Military escalation around Cuba is a dangerous temptation for Russia and a difficult trap for the US.

Persons: Jeremi Suri, Mack Brown, America’s, Vladimir Putin’s, Jeremi Suri Korey Howell, Nikolai Patrushev, Igor Sechin, Rosneft, Sergey Lavrov, —, Manuel Marrero Cruz, Putin, Alvaro Lopéz Miera, Sergei Shoigu, Shoigu, ” Shoigu, ”, Gerardo Peñalver, Bruno Rodriguez, Ramon Espinosa, Miguel Diaz, Canel, Obama, White, Nikita Khrushchev, John F, Kennedy, Khrushchev, Biden, — Khrushchev Organizations: Leadership, Global Affairs, University of Texas, History Department, LBJ School, Democracy, CNN, Russian Security Council, Cuban, Russian, Cuba's, Foreign Affairs, Russian Foreign, Getty Images, year’s, Russian Navy, Caribbean Military, Trump, Biden, Soviets, Pentagon, US, USS, Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs, US Navy, West, Washington, Hulton, Getty, White, Republican, Russia, Ukraine, Twitter, Cuban Missile Locations: Austin, Russia, Cuba, Ukraine, Russian, Havana ., — Venezuela, Nicaragua, Moscow, Caribbean, Washington, Havana, Getty Images Cuba, America, China, Lourdes, USS Pasadena, Guantanamo, American, Soviet, West Berlin, Europe, Putin, Florida, Afghanistan, Turkey

☆ Ukraine may be close to surpassing Russia in active tank numbers, but Russia has a near endless supply of Soviet tanks in storage, military experts say
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-14 | by ( Erin Snodgrass | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

But Russia has a near indefinite supply of older tanks to replace its losses, military experts said. Ukraine's tanks, however, give the country a qualitative edge. The most recent estimates from Bloomberg put Ukraine's tank count at 1,500 active tanks compared to approximately 1,400 for Russia. It's unclear how many tanks Russia has already pulled from storage, as well as how many vehicles it has in storage to keep drawing upon. "Ukraine's tank fleet probably has as much combat power as the Russians," Cancian said.

Persons: Mark Cancian, Cancian, it's, Mick Ryan, —, Ryan, aren't Organizations: Service, Ukraine, Bloomberg, International Institute for Strategic Studies, Soviets, US Marine Corps, Center for Strategic, Studies, Australian Army, NATO Locations: Ukraine, Russia, Wall, Silicon, Ukrainian

☆ If Biden Wanted to Ease U.S.-China Tensions, Would Americans Let Him?
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-27 | by ( Ian Prasad Philbrick | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Americans still worry more about terrorism and other foreign policy issues than about China. “That’s percolated into the general public,” said Richard Herrmann, an Ohio State University professor who studies international relations and public opinion. A feedback loopSouring public opinion, in turn, may worsen U.S.-China relations. That might seem surprising; most Americans don’t pay that much attention to foreign policy, which is typically far removed from their daily lives. And once public opinion on a foreign policy issue calcifies, as it increasingly has on China, political leaders often pay attention to it.

Persons: ” —, Biden, ”, Richard Herrmann, Dina Smeltz, ” Joshua Kertzer Organizations: Soviets, Ohio State University, Chicago Council, Global Affairs, Democrats Locations: China, U.S, Taiwan, Washington, Harvard

☆ China is looking all over the world for help building and flying its fighter jets
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-25 | by ( Michael Peck | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

A British Royal Air Force Eurofighter Typhoon fighter jet at RAF Coningsby in May. Daniel Duggan, a former US Marine Corps pilot, has been accused of violating the Arms Export Control Act by training Chinese military pilots. "Currently, Chinese jet engines can at best achieve one-fourth the life span of Western engines," the report says. To manufacture engines, China still needs to import complex machine tools, including equipment made in Germany, Japan, Italy, and South Korea. A J-20 stealth fighter jet at Airshow China 2022 in Zhuhai in November.

Persons: —, Der Spiegel, Christopher Furlong, Daniel Duggan, Duggan, Chen Jimin, Deng Hua, John Paul Jones, walling, Michael Peck Organizations: Service, Privacy, China, NATO, Taiwan, British Royal Air Force Eurofighter, Coningsby, US, Chinese headhunters, US Marine Corps, Western, China News Service, Getty, Center for Strategic, International Studies, CSIS, Nations, Soviets, Defense, Foreign Policy, Twitter, LinkedIn Locations: China, May, Australian, Zhuhai, US, Germany, Japan, Italy, South Korea, Xinhua, Constantinople, Byzantine Empire, Hungarian, Russia, Russian, Nazi, Forbes

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

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

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

☆ Opinion: What Putin must be dreading
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-24 | by ( Peter Bergen | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Russian President Vladimir Putin made a speech Saturday condemning the mutiny by the Wagner group, comparing the uprising to the events sparked by Russia’s 1917 revolution. Putin claimed that the Russians were stabbed “in the back” by nameless enemies towards the end of World War I, which he said is why the Russians lost that war and that in turn led to “a civil war” in Russia, Putin said. The Russians were not stabbed in the back during World War I, as Putin suggested during his remarks on Saturday. During the 1917 revolution, a Marxist party known as the Bolsheviks seized power. A year later, Nicholas II and other members of the ruling Romanov family ended up on the wrong end of a firing squad.

Persons: Peter Bergen, Peter Bergen ”, Vladimir Putin, Wagner, Putin, “, Nicholas II, Romanov, Josef Stalin’s, Mark Twain, Putin doesn’t Organizations: CNN, New, Arizona State University, Apple, Spotify, Peter Bergen CNN, Communist, Russo, Marxist, Communist Party, KGB, Soviet, Twitter, Facebook Military, Romanovs Locations: New America, Russian, Russia, Ukraine, Europe, Soviet Union, Dresden, East Germany, Afghanistan, Japanese, Soviet

☆ Russian troops still build battlefield defenses like they did in World War II, and it's one of their rare successes in Ukraine, experts say
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-22 | by ( Michael Peck | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Russian troops have spent the past several months constructing intricate fortifications in Ukraine. Ukrainian troops now have the tough task of fighting their way through those trenches and barriers. Current Russian fortification doctrine has seen "little methodological change" since the Cold War, according to the RUSI report. BEN STANSALL/AFP via Getty ImagesClearing minefields is difficult because Russian mines have multiple triggers and anti-tampering devices. In addition, Russia did not sign the 1997 Ottawa Treaty banning anti-personnel mines, which has allowed its forces to "freely utilize victim-initiated" anti-personnel mines, RUSI said.

Persons: —, Doce, BEN STANSALL, Ukraine isn't, Dominika Zarzycka, RUSI, Obama, Trump, Biden, Michael Peck Organizations: Service, Red Army, Britain's Royal United Services Institute, Technologies, Russian, REUTERS, Bradley, Getty, US, Pentagon, Defense, Foreign Policy, Twitter, LinkedIn Locations: Ukraine, Stalingrad, Velyka Blahovischenka, Kherson Oblast, Russia, Luhansk, Crimea, Posad, Kherson, Ukrainian, England, AFP, Russian, Finland, Nemishaieve, Bucha, Ottawa, North, South Korea, Forbes

☆ Canada just seized one of Russia's dwindling supply of massive heavy-lift cargo planes
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-16 | by ( Michael Peck | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

The aircraft was an Antonov An-124, one of the biggest transport aircraft in the world. It was one of the few heavy-lift transport aircraft that Russia's military still has in operation. This month, Canada confiscated an Antonov An-124, one of the biggest transport aircraft in the world. Soon afterward, Canada closed its airspace to Russian aircraft in response to Moscow's attack on Ukraine on February 24. A Volga Dnepr Airlines Antonov An-124 grounded at Canada's Pearson International Airport in May 2022.

Persons: Antonov, —, Canada's, Steve Russell, Putin's, Ruslan Kaniuka, Jan Woitas, Antonov —, Michael Peck Organizations: Service, Pearson Airport, Volga Dnepr, Volga Dnepr Airlines Antonov, Canada's Pearson International Airport, Toronto Star, Getty, Wall Street, Dnepr Airlines LLC, Dnepr Group, Canada, Crown, Government, Kyiv, Antonov, Publishing, Soviet, Royal United Services Institute, International Institute for Strategic Studies, Russian Air Force, NASA, SpaceX, NATO, Soviets, Defense, Foreign Policy, Twitter, LinkedIn Locations: Canada, Russian, Toronto, Ukraine, Volga Dnepr Airlines, Volga, Hostomel, Soviet, British, Russia, Afghanistan, Iraq, Ukrainian, Crimea, Forbes

☆ US sends stealth F-22 Raptors to deter 'unsafe' Russian pilots stirring up trouble in the Middle East
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-15 | by ( Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The US military has deployed F-22 stealth fighters to positions in the Middle East. US Central Command indicated the move is to deter aggressive actions by Russian aircraft. Officials have noted several instances in recent months where Russian jets made "unsafe" maneuvers. In recent months, US officials have called attention to several instances in which Russian aircraft appear to have executed aggressive maneuvers around American assets and interests across the Middle East. While the jets send a message, an AFCENT spokesperson told Insider that the "primary purpose" of the fighter jets is to contribute to the ongoing defeat-ISIS mission.

Persons: —, CENTCOM, Alexus Grynkewich, Chris Drzazgowsk, Michael Kurilla Organizations: Command, Russian, Service, Raptors, Central, Air Forces Central, ISIS, . Air Force, REUTERS, Russian Forces, Soviets, Islamic, Air Force, US Locations: East, Europe, North Africa, Central, South Asia, Syria, China

☆ Draining reservoir from Ukraine's destroyed dam is revealing World War II weapons
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-12 | by ( Sam Fellman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

The draining reservoir is revealing weapons that date back to World War II. The lurking dangers are also a reminder of the heavy fighting Ukraine saw in World War II. "The water area of the reservoir is contaminated with ammunition. S-300s are Russian-made surface-to-air missiles, and Smerch rockets are heavy rockets fired from mobile launchers. The older dangers lurking in the area are a reminder of the heavy fighting Ukraine saw in World War II.

Persons: —, Oleksandr Chechko, Julian Borger Organizations: Authorities, Service, Soviet, Nazi, Ministry, Internal Affairs, Ukrainian, Nazi Wehrmacht, Red Army Locations: Ukraine, Russia

☆ Cuba’s Spy Deal With China Has Echoes of Cold War Tensions
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-08 | by ( José De Córdoba | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The Soviets for years operated an eavesdropping facility at Lourdes near Havana. Photo: Getty ImagesCuba’s deal to allow China to set up an electronic surveillance facility on the island in exchange for cash is the latest high-stakes twist in decades of strained relations with the U.S. as Havana struggles with its worst economic crisis since the breakup of the Soviet Union.

Locations: Lourdes, Havana, China, Soviet Union

He said the United States has had "real concerns" about China’s relationship with Cuba and was closely monitoring it. Brigadier General Patrick Ryder, a U.S. Defense Department spokesperson, said: "We are not aware of China and Cuba developing a new type of spy station." If such a facility is built, the Chinese will use Cuba "as a beachhead for collection against the United States," said Daniel Hoffman, a former senior CIA undercover officer. Cuba, an old Cold War foe of the United States, has long been a hotbed of espionage and spy games. It backed down and removed the missiles, but it is widely regarded as the moment when the United States and the Soviet Union came closest to a nuclear confrontation.

Persons: Fort Bragg, John Kirby, General Patrick Ryder, Jose Cabanas, Washington, Joe Biden's, Antony Blinken, Washington's, House's Kirby, Bob Menendez, ”, Daniel Hoffman, Biden, Vladimir Putin, Matt Spetalnick, Jonathan Landay, Doina Chiacu, Trevor Hunnicutt, David Brunnstrom, Patricia Zengerle, Dave Sherwood, Michael Martina, Kanishka Singh, Phil Stewart, Idrees Ali, Nick Zieminski, Alistair Bell, Daniel Wallis Organizations: Wall Street, White House, Pentagon, U.S, U.S . Central Command, Tampa . Fort Liberty, Fort, White House National Security Council, Reuters, U.S . Defense Department, Embassy, Senate Foreign Relations, CIA, Taiwan’s National Security Bureau, Cuban, Moscow, Soviet Union, Thomson Locations: China, Cuba, Florida, Beijing, U.S, Tampa . Fort, North Carolina, United States, Washington, Cuban, America's, Coast, South, Taiwan, South China, Havana, Soviet, Lourdes, Russian

☆ Nova Kakhovka: Ukraine dam collapse serves neither side well as war enters next crucial phase
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-08 | by ( Sam Kiley | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

They were to blow up the Zaporizhzhia hydroelectric dam that bisected the eponymous industrial city, which stands 200 kilometers (125 miles) upriver from today’s Nova Kakhovka barricade). Local residents stand on the Dnipro embankment after the Nova Kakhovka dam breach on June 6. Rescue workers evacuate an elderly woman and her husband from a flooded neighborhood in Kherson, Ukraine, on Wednesday, June 7. Vladyslav Musiienko/Reuters Flooded streets are seen in Kherson on June 7 following the collapse of the Nova Kakhovka dam. Alina Smutko/Reuters In pictures: The collapse of Ukraine's Nova Kakhovka dam Prev NextUkraine’s armed forces have insisted that their counter-offensive included contingency planning for a disaster at the dam.

Persons: Ukraine CNN — Fish, ecocide ”, unawares, Ivan Antypenko, Volodymyr Zelensky, Zelensky, General’s, ”, Ukraine’s, It’s, who’ve, Vladimir Putin, Andrei Pidlisnyi, –, Evgeniy, Angelina Kopayeva, Alex Babenko, Vladyslav Musiienko, Muhammed Enes Yildirim, Tetiana, Alexey Konovalov, Felipe Dana, Musiienko, Nina Lyashonok, Oleksandra, Alina Smutko Organizations: Ukraine CNN —, Nazi, NKVD, Reuters, International, Criminal, Kherson City, Ukrainian, CNN, AP, Anadolu Agency, Planet Labs PBC, Reuters Red Cross, AP Local, Culture, Reuters Local Locations: Kyiv, Ukraine, Nova, Dnipro, Russia, Moscow, Russian, today’s, Reuters Ukrainian, Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk City, Kharkiv, Kherson . Roman, Vladyslav, Nova Kakhovka, Libkos, Crimean, Crimea, Russia’s

Such a spy installation would allow Beijing to gather electronic communications from the southeastern United States, which houses many U.S. military bases, as well as monitor ship traffic, the newspaper reported. The countries have reached an agreement in principle, the officials said, with China to pay Cuba "several billion dollars" to allow the eavesdropping station, according to the Journal. The intelligence on the plans for a Cuba station was gathered in recent weeks and was convincing, the Journal reported. Cuba, an old Cold War foe of the United States, has long been a hotbed of espionage and spy games. It backed down and removed the missiles, but it is widely regarded as the moment when the United States and the Soviet Union came closest to a nuclear confrontation.

Persons: Fort Bragg, John Kirby, Biden, Antony Blinken, Washington's, Bob Menendez, ”, Vladimir Putin, Doina Chiacu, Matt Spetalnick, David Brunnstrom, Patricia Zengerle, Dave Sherwood, Jonathan Landay, Nick Zieminski, Alistair Bell Organizations: Wall Street, U.S, U.S . Central Command, Tampa . Fort Liberty, Fort, White House National Security Council, Embassy, Senate Foreign Relations, Capitol, Reuters, Taiwan’s National Security Bureau, Cuban, Moscow, Soviet Union, Thomson Locations: China, Cuba, Florida, Beijing, United States, Tampa . Fort, North Carolina, People’s Republic, Washington, Cuban, U.S, America's, Coast, South, Taiwan, South China, Havana, Soviet, Lourdes, Russian

☆ Convicted spy Robert Hanssen dies in prison
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-05 | by ( Michelle Watson | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

CNN —Robert Philip Hanssen, who received payments of $1.4 million in cash and diamonds for the information he gave the Soviet Union and Russia, has died, the Federal Bureau of Prisons announced Monday. Hanssen had been in custody at Colorado’s USP Florence ADMAX since July 17, 2002. “On Monday, June 5, 2023, at approximately 6:55 am, inmate Robert Hanssen was found unresponsive at the United States Penitentiary (USP) Florence ADMAX in Florence, Colorado,” a release from the Federal Bureau of Prisons said. In 2001, Hanssen pleaded guilty to 15 counts of espionage and conspiracy in exchange for the government not seeking the death penalty. Investigators accused him of compromising dozens of Soviet personnel who were working for the United States, some of whom were executed.

Persons: Robert Philip Hanssen, Hanssen, USP Florence ADMAX, “, Robert Hanssen, Florence ADMAX, ”, Mr Organizations: CNN, Federal Bureau of Prisons, USP Florence, United States, Staff Locations: Soviet Union, Russia, USP, Florence , Colorado, United States, Soviet

☆ Robert Hanssen, FBI agent who spied for the Russians, dies in Supermax prison
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-05 | by ( Corky Siemaszko | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

FBI Agent Robert Philip Hanssen is shown in this undated file photo, released by the FBI February 20, 2001. FBI Agent-turned-traitor Robert Hanssen, who spied for the old Soviet Union and later the Russians, died Monday in the cell where he was serving 15 consecutive life sentences for betraying his country, federal prison officials said. Hanssen, 79, was "found unresponsive" around 6:55 a.m. at the federal "Supermax" prison in Florence, Colorado, the Bureau of Prisons said in a statement. Hanssen began spying for the Soviets in 1979, three years after he joined the FBI. "He ultimately became the most damaging spy in Bureau history," the agency said.

Persons: Robert Philip Hanssen, Robert Hanssen, Hanssen Organizations: FBI, Soviet Union, of Prisons Locations: Florence , Colorado, Supermax

☆ The Russian navy's biggest warships are becoming its biggest headaches
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-24 | by ( Benjamin Brimelow | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

Ongoing problems with the Russian navy's biggest warships illustrate that trend. This seems most evident with Russia's largest surface warships: its Kirov-class nuclear-powered battlecruisers, Admiral Nakhimov and Pyotr Velikiy, and the Admiral Kuznetsov, Russia's sole aircraft carrier. Admiral Kuznetsov in a floating dry dock in a shipyard in Murmansk in August 2010. Other Russian navy sources quickly denied the report to another state media outlet. Izvestia has also reported that the Russian navy is reforming the Kuznetsov's crew, which was mostly disbanded when the ship began its refit.

☆ The Reagan Lesson for the Trumpian Right on Ukraine and China
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-20 | by ( Kate Bachelder Odell | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. Distribution and use of this material are governed by our Subscriber Agreement and by copyright law. For non-personal use or to order multiple copies, please contact Dow Jones Reprints at 1-800-843-0008 or visit www.djreprints.com. https://www.wsj.com/articles/theres-a-lot-we-can-learn-from-reagan-inboden-foreign-policy-ukraine-china-soviets-506f0bf8

Victory Day, celebrating the Soviet Union’s vanquishing of Nazi Germany in 1945, is Russia’s most important secular holiday, although it is toned down this year as the war in Ukraine drags on. More than 20 cities, some thousands of miles from the battle lines, said they would forgo military parades, and organizers canceled a popular nationwide march honoring veterans. Here’s a look at the significance the holiday has taken on during President Vladimir V. Putin’s two decades in power. Why does Victory Day matter so much? Mr. Putin has helped transform Victory Day — meant to honor the 27 million Soviets who died in World War II — into one of the most important holidays on the Russian calendar, a nostalgic ritual that buttresses national pride and unifies a sometimes divided society.

“This is the second train, there was one like it just before.”The video, seemingly filmed in late March, shows old Soviet tanks being transported, somewhere in Russia. Moscow has been known to bring out older military equipment from storage to help it prosecute the war in Ukraine, but these are different. The tanks are T-55s, a model first commissioned by the Soviet Union’s Red Army in 1948, shortly after the end of World War II. Soviet T-54/T-55 tanks form a threatening ring round the Parliament buildings in Hungary on November 12, 1956. T-55 tanks drive through the streets of Prague, capital of what was then Czechoslovakia, in 1968.

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