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☆ Russian ultranationalists think Putin's response to the Moscow drone attacks and border raids shows he's 'out of touch with reality'
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-01 | by ( Chris Panella | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Russian ultranationalists say Putin's response to recent attacks shows he's "out of touch with reality." The ISW says responses to the drone attacks and cross-border raids haven't satisfied war-hawks. To the ultranationalists Russia allows to criticize the war, it is evidence that Russian leader Vladimir Putin is "out of touch with reality." Former Russian officer and ultranationalist Igor Girkin said Putin was "out of touch with reality" and criticized "an absence of an honest conversation with" Russian society. According to ISW, both Girkin and other ultranationalists also criticized Putin's response to recent border raid attacks in the Belgorod and Kursk oblasts of Russia.

Persons: he's, Putin, —, Vladimir Putin, Igor Girkin, Girkin, ISW Organizations: Service, Institute, Twitter, Kremlin Locations: Moscow, Belgorod, Ukraine, Russia, Russian, Kyiv, Kursk

☆ Russian Wagner Group is using American social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter to recruit new members around the world, according to new report
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-31 | by ( Erin Snodgrass | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The Wagner Group has turned to Facebook and Twitter in search of new recruits, Politico reported. Job postings linked to the Wagner Group garnered nearly 120,000 views across Facebook and Twitter over the last ten months, according to Politico. A Western government official, meanwhile, told the outlet that at least two phone numbers included in the social media posts were linked to either the Wagner Group or Russian intelligence. The group boasted salaries of 240,000 rubles per month, or the equivalent of $3,192, according to Politico. Even before the Russia-Ukraine war, the Wagner Group was involved in fighting throughout Central Africa.

Persons: Wagner, —, Vladimir Putin's, Kyle Walter, — Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Prigozhin Organizations: Wagner, Facebook, Twitter, Politico, Service, Russian, Wagner Group, Meta Locations: Bakhmut, Ukraine, Russian, Russia, Central Africa

☆ Czechs cancel Soviet-era decrees giving Russian embassy free land
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

PRAGUE, May 17 (Reuters) - The Czech government on Wednesday cancelled Soviet-era decrees that granted the Russian embassy free use of land in Prague and other cities, a further step in a more than two-year diplomatic spat with Moscow worsened by the war in Ukraine. The Russian embassy in Prague did not immediately reply to a request for comment. Russia will now have to pay leases to use of the land, the foreign ministry said. Prague has been a strong supporter of Ukraine since Russia invaded on February 2022 and has supplied it with military aid. The Czech parliament designated "the current Russian regime as terrorist" in November.

☆ DOJ charges former Apple engineer with alleged theft of autonomous car tech for China
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( Rohan Goswami | In Rohangoswamicnbc | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

A former Apple software engineer was charged with allegedly stealing Apple's autonomous technology for a Chinese self-driving car company, the Department of Justice announced Tuesday. Weibao Wang worked as a software engineer at Apple from 2016 to 2018, a DOJ indictment said. Wang worked on Apple's Annotation Team, and was granted "broad access" to databases which the Justice Department said could only be accessed by 2,700 of Apple's 135,000 employees. An even smaller segment, around 2%, had access to "one or more" of the databases Wang accessed, the indictment continues. The charges were announced as part of a sweeping enforcement action led by the Disruptive Technology Strike Force.

☆ Special counsel appointed by Trump's attorney general says FBI had no basis for investigating Trump's links to Russia
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( Jacob Shamsian | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Special Counsel John Durham concluded that the FBI didn't have sufficient evidence to open its investigation into Donald Trump's connections with Russia, according to a report published by the Justice Department on Monday. For nearly four years, Durham — appointed by former President Trump's attorney general Bill Barr — investigated the origins of the FBI's investigation into links between Trump's 2016 campaign and Russia. In his 300-page report, he found that it had no basis for opening the investigation in the first place. The FBI investigation, with the code name Crossfire Hurricane, was opened in July 2016 to examine Russia's attempts to influence the 2016 election. "After extensive research, Special Counsel John Durham concludes the FBI never should have launched the Trump-Russia Probe!"

☆ Yevgeny Prigozhin: Wagner boss denies Washington Post report that he offered intelligence to Kyiv in exchange for territory
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( Kostan Nechyporenko Victoria Butenko Anna Chernova Sana Noor Haq | Kostan Nechyporenko | Victoria Butenko | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Ukrainian soldiers, pictured in Bakhmut on Friday, fire a cannon near the eastern city, where a fierce battle for control against Russian forces rages. Prigozhin made the offer to Ukraine’s military intelligence directorate, known as HUR, in January, the Post alleged. It quoted one leaked document as stating that Prigozhin met HUR officers in an unspecified country in Africa. “Therefore, I simply could not meet with anyone there physically.”In his message, Prigozhin asked rhetorically, “Who is behind this? Kyiv also said it was operating “effective counterattacks” in the Bakhmut area, matching remarks by Prigozhin that Kyiv had recaptured some territory.

☆ Leaked details of Wagner boss Prigozhin's dealings suggest he was ready to throw Russia's war 'under the bus' just to win a battle, Russia expert says
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( Sinéad Baker | Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

The Wagner Group has frequently feuded with Russia's military leadership over its war in Ukraine. A new report suggests the group leader took it farther than previously known, offering to give Ukraine Russian troop locations. The report indicates that Yevgeny Prigozhin was ready to derail Russia's war for his own aims, an expert told Insider. And according to a new report, amid these tensions, Prigozhin attempted derail Russia's battlefield operations in a major way. Ukrainian soldiers walk in the position close to Bakhmut, Ukraine, Thursday, Jan. 12, 2023.

☆ Special counsel issues report criticizing FBI for launching Trump-Russia investigation
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( Ken Dilanian | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

The special counsel who spent four years investigating the Trump-Russia probe accused the FBI of acting negligently by opening the investigation based on vague and insufficient information in a sweeping 300-page report made public Monday. The FBI responded to the report, indicating that the missteps identified by Durham have already been addressed. Durham's report examines in painstaking detail various aspects of the now infamous FBI investigation code-named "Crossfire Hurricane," which led to the appointment of Special Counsel Robert Mueller. Durham's investigation found that at the time, neither the FBI nor CIA had any intelligence suggesting an improper relationship between Trump and Russia. Durham appears to suggest that the intelligence information should have given the FBI pause in its pursuit of allegations involving the Trump campaign.

☆ FBI disrupts hacking tool that Russian spies used to steal information from foreign governments
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( Sean Lyngaas | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —The FBI announced Tuesday that it has disrupted a network of hacked computers that Russian spies have used for years to steal sensitive information from at least 50 countries, including NATO governments. It’s the latest move by the Justice Department to more aggressively target foreign spying and criminal rings using custom-built FBI tools. The Russian hacking group that the FBI targeted, known as Turla, is widely believed by experts to be one of the most elite cyber-espionage units in the Russian intelligence services. In 2018, Turla hijacked an Iranian hacking tool to gain access to the network of an unnamed Middle Eastern government, according to researchers. The US and allies’ advisory confirmed that daily Turla hacking operations occur at an FSB facility in Ryazan.

☆ FBI takes down Russian malware network that attacked allies, journalist computers
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( Rohan Goswami | In Rohangoswamicnbc | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Taxis move past the headquarters of Russia's Federal Security Service, known as the FSB, in central Moscow, May 12, 2022. The Federal Bureau of Investigation disrupted a Russian government-controlled malware network that compromised hundreds of computers belonging to NATO-member governments and other Russian targets of interest, including journalists, the Justice Department said Tuesday. The unit, called Turla, used the malware to selectively target high-value devices used by allied foreign ministries and governments. Disrupting the malware was part of an effort by U.S. law enforcement to protect victims around the world. Snake's targeted capacities fed Russian intelligence huge amounts of information until U.S. law enforcement took down the network on Monday.

☆ FBI says it is coordinating with city of Dallas over ransomware incident
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

WASHINGTON, May 5 (Reuters) - The FBI said on Friday it was coordinating with the city of Dallas, Texas, over a ransomware incident that disrupted several public services, closing courts and knocking emergency services websites offline this week. "The FBI is aware of the incident and coordinating with the city of Dallas. Courts were closed on Wednesday and Thursday, the city said in a series of statements posted online. Although the statements said emergency services to residents were unaffected, the home pages of the police and fire service were unavailable on Friday, and a police spokesperson said the city's computer-aided dispatch system had been hit. The ransomware operation behind the Dallas hack is called Royal, according to two security researchers familiar with the incident.

☆ 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.

☆ Zelenskiy says he would have fought to the death had Russians attacked his headquarters
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-29 | by ( Nick Starkov | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

LVIV, Ukraine, April 29 (Reuters) - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy carries a pistol and would have fought to the death with his inner circle had the Russians stormed his Kyiv headquarters at the start of the war, he said in an interview shown on Saturday. Could you imagine (a headline like) 'The President of Ukraine is taken captive by Russians?' Other Russian units launched an attack on the outskirts of Kyiv, but were unable to advance. "I think if they had gone inside, into the administration, we would not be here," Zelenskiy said. It was not clear which Russian units he was referring to.

☆ Russia wanted a quick victory in Ukraine, and it sent its spies after Ukrainian nuclear power plant workers to make it happen
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( Stavros Atlamazoglou | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Ukraine's nuclear power plants were a central part of Russia's plan to force Kyiv's capitulation. So when Russia started planning its invasion, Ukraine's nuclear energy infrastructure was a top target. According to the RUSI report, Ukraine's nuclear energy infrastructure "played a significant role" in Russia's invasion plan and in the Kremlin's public narratives about the conflict. Moscow's big planRussian military personnel at Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in May 2022. Although Russian forces still control the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, the largest nuclear power plant in Europe, that has not won the Kremlin any leverage over Kyiv.

☆ Russian mercenary group Wagner tried and failed to get weapons from China earlier this year, according to a leaked US intel report: FT
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( Mia Jankowicz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Leaked US intelligence documents say the Wagner Group approached China for weapons, per the FT.China reportedly rebuffed the group's request earlier this year for lethal aid in Ukraine. The infamous Wagner Group "sought munitions and equipment" from China in "early 2023," the leaked documents reportedly say. But as of January, China had not sent weapons, "not even for testing, and had no contact with [Wagner] regarding weapons deliveries," the FT reported the documents as saying. China has long professed neutrality in the conflict in Ukraine, and has publicly rebuffed the idea that it would send lethal aid to Russia. The US has increasingly signaled concern over the potential for China to aid Russia with weapons.

That man was the military commandant of Balakliia, a key figure in Russia’s six-month occupation of the eastern Ukrainian town. Town residents knew the commandant only by his call sign of “Granit,” the Russian word for granite, as Reuters reported in an October investigation into Moscow’s withdrawal from the town. One of the documents listed Valery Sergeyevich Buslov as among the Russian officers present in Balakliia, stating his role was military commandant. He has served as the Kaliningrad garrison’s military commandant, responsible for maintaining discipline among troops and sailors stationed there, according to a 2019 military newspaper article. By May, the military commandant had arrived in Balakliia, according to Oleksandr, one of the two female residents and another local woman.

☆ Russian hackers are targeting cameras at Ukrainian coffee shops to spy on convoys of Western military aid, top NSA official says
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-14 | by ( Isobel Van Hagen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Russian hackers are using "creative" ways to tap into cameras in Ukraine, according to a US official. US defense manufacturers are also under "daily pressure" from Russian hackers, said NSA's Rob Joyce. "We're watching the Russian hackers log into public-facing webcams to watch convoys and trains delivering aid," the NSA official said. He added that while hackers are logging into closed-circuit cameras in public, they are also hacking into cameras on private properties. On both sides of the conflict in Ukraine, hacking efforts and electronic warfare are significant, although Russian hacking has been an increasing concern for the US military, Insider previously reported.

CNN —A fresh leak of classified US intelligence documents suggests broad infighting between Russian officials, including some within the Federal Security Service (FSB) and Defense Ministry, the New York Times reported Thursday. The NYT report says the documents detail US monitoring of Russian intelligence and apparatus and military command. The Kremlin said it doubts the “reliability” of reports of broad infighting between Russian officials, in response to a CNN question about the NYT article. A litany of highly classified documents leaked online related to the Pentagon, pictured in Arlington, Virginia on April 6, 2023, has rattled US officials. The Pentagon has also stood up an “interagency effort” to assess the impact of the leak, Pentagon deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh said Sunday, while the Department of Justice opened an investigation into the leaks last week.

☆ A former Russian military intelligence officer has defected to Ukraine and is setting up his own battalion of dissidents
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-11 | by ( Mia Jankowicz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A former Russian intelligence officer has defected and says he's setting up a pro-Ukrainian unit. Ethnic minorities in Russia are treated like second-class citizens, he said, according to Ukrainian outlet Focus. Ammosov served in the GRU — the military intelligence wing of Russia's army — for 15 years before moving to Europe, Radio Free Europe reported. None have had a formal explanation, which has led to speculation that they were targeted by Ukrainian commandos or Russian dissidents. According to Focus, Ammosov's unit is the fourth such dissident unit to be formed.

☆ How the Latest Leaked Documents Are Different From Past Breaches
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-09 | by ( David E. Sanger | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

It is the freshness of the “secret” and “top secret” documents, and the hints they hold for operations to come, that make these disclosures particularly damaging, administration officials say. The 100-plus pages of slides and briefing documents leave no doubt about how deeply enmeshed the United States is in the day-to-day conduct of the war, providing the precise intelligence and logistics that help explain Ukraine’s success thus far. It is coordinating the long, complex logistical train that delivers weapons to the Ukrainians. In fact, the documents released so far are a brief snapshot of how the United States viewed the war in Ukraine. They are a combination of the current order of battle and — perhaps most valuable to Russian military planners — American projections of where the air defenses being rushed into Ukraine could be located next month.

☆ Ukraine says data leak is Russian effort to sow doubt about counter-offensive
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

KYIV, April 7 (Reuters) - A leak of classified documents detailing secret U.S. and NATO plans to help Kyiv looks like a Russian disinformation operation to sow doubts about Ukraine's planned counter-offensive, a Ukrainian presidential official said on Friday. Mykhailo Podolyak told Reuters that the leaked data reported by the New York Times contained a "very large amount of fictitious information" and that Russia was trying to seize back the initiative in its invasion. "To try to influence the scenarios for Ukraine's counteroffensive plans. Ukrainian troops have faced for months a Russian onslaught in its east concentrated around the city of Bakhmut. It hopes to launch a counter-offensive in the coming weeks or months to wrest back territory held by Russia.

WASHINGTON, April 7 (Reuters) - Russia or pro-Russian elements are likely behind the leak of several classified U.S. military documents posted on social media that offer a partial, month-old snapshot of the war in Ukraine, three U.S. officials told Reuters on Friday. "We are aware of the reports of social media posts and the Department (of Defense) is reviewing the matter," Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh said. One document posted on social media said 16,000 to 17,500 Russian forces had been killed since Russia's Feb. 24, 2022, invasion of Ukraine. The United States believes that actual figure is much higher, at around 200,000 Russians killed and wounded, officials say. Still, the document leak came as speculation mounts about what offensives Kyiv and Moscow might attempt in the war's second year.

☆ Ukraine discusses preventing military leaks after report of breach
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] Ukrainian servicemen prepare to fire a mortar, as Russia's attack on Ukraine continues, near the city of Bakhmut, Donetsk region, Ukraine April 6, 2023. REUTERS/Oleksandr KlymenkoKYIV, April 7 (Reuters) - Ukraine's president and top security brass discussed ways to prevent leaks of military information at a meeting on Friday, Kyiv said, after secret documents detailing Western help for Ukraine reportedly ended up online. It also did not refer to a New York Times report that said documents about U.S. and NATO plans to build up the Ukrainian military had been leaked online. A spokesperson for Ukrainian military intelligence said it was possible the information in the posts was entirely fictitious, and that there had been no leak. One part offered an estimate for Ukrainian military losses that was far higher than Western estimates made available so far.

☆ Ukraine seeks to prevent military leaks after NATO assistance plans reportedly appear on social media
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-07 | by ( Pavel Polityuk | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

"The participants of the meeting focused on measures to prevent the leakage of information regarding the plans of the defence forces of Ukraine," it said. One document posted on social media said 16,000 to 17,500 Russian forces had been killed since the invasion. The Ukrainian military said it was holding on in the city but the situation was difficult. Ukrainian military expert Vladyslav Selezniov has said Ukraine will have to pull back if the route for getting supplies in and wounded out is threatened. Eastern Military Command spokesperson Serhiy Cherevatyi told Reuters Ukraine controlled the situation in Bakhmut and understood Russian intentions.

☆ China has not provided extensive assistance to Russia as part of its war against Ukraine even as the two countries forge closer ties, senior Treasury officials say
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-07 | by ( Sam Fossum | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

One senior Treasury official said that China is, as of now, unwilling to provide material support to Russia at scale and in a significant way, pointing instead to Russian efforts to source material from North Korea and Iran. The US and its allies have also taken more direct action, sanctioning a Chinese satellite company providing intelligence to Russian forces in January and putting some Chinese companies on the US export control list. But in recent months officials have also begun to see some results from their public and private efforts. Turkish officials told the US last month that their government has been taking further action to block the transit of sanctioned goods directly to Russia, according to a source familiar with the discussion. In a speech earlier this year on the anniversary of Russia’s invasion, US Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo publicly warned Russian intelligence services that the US is monitoring their efforts and is cracking down.

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