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☆ Putin ally Patrushev says Russia is now fighting NATO in Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-10 | by ( Guy Faulconbridge | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/2] Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev (L) looks at President Vladimir Putin during a meeting with the BRICS countries' senior officials in charge of security matters at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, May 26, 2015. "The Westerners' plans are to continue to pull Russia apart, and eventually just erase it from the political map of the world," Patrushev said. The United States has denied Russian claims that it wants to destroy Russia, the world's biggest producer of natural resources, while President Joe Biden has cautioned that a conflict between Russia and NATO could trigger World War Three. "The American state is just a shell for a conglomerate of huge corporations that rule the country and try to dominate the world," Patrushev said. The United States, Patrushev said, had sown chaos in Afghanistan, Vietnam and the Middle East, and had been trying for years to undermine Russia's "unique" culture and language.

☆ Russia blames its soldiers' mobile phone use for deadly missile strike
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-03 | by ( Bogdan Kochubey | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

Moscow previously said 63 Russian soldiers were killed in the weekend strike. The Russian defence ministry said four Ukrainian missiles hit a temporary Russian barracks in a vocational college in Makiivka, twin city of the Russian-occupied regional capital of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine. Ukraine's military has said it launched a strike that resulted in Russian loss of equipment and possibly personnel near Makiivka. A little known patriotic group which supports the widows of Russian soldiers is calling on Putin to order a large-scale mobilisation of millions of men and to close the borders to ensure victory in Ukraine. A U.S. State Department spokesperson said Washington had seen reports "that the Ukrainian military struck a Russian military barracks that stored ammunition inside of Ukrainian territory" and led to many Russian deaths.

☆ NATO's Stoltenberg calls for more weapons for Ukraine - DPA
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BERLIN, Dec 30 (Reuters) - NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg called on NATO member states to supply more weapons to Ukraine, according to an interview published on Friday. It is in all our security interests to make sure Ukraine prevails and (Russian President Vladimir) Putin does not win," Stoltenberg told German news agency DPA. NATO's Stoltenberg told DPA that military support for Ukraine was the fastest way to peace. Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24 in what Putin calls a "special military operation" against what he perceives as threats to Russian security. Ukraine and its Western allies have denounced Russia's actions as an imperialist-style land grab and imposed sanctions to try to disrupt the campaign.

☆ Kazakhstan to deport Russian major who fled his country over war
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

ALMATY, Dec 29 (Reuters) - Kazakhstan is preparing to deport a Russian security officer who fled his country because he objected to the invasion of Ukraine and hoped to find refuge in the West, his wife said on Thursday. Hundreds of thousands of Russians fled to Kazakhstan and other neighbouring states after the war started. Many of them were civilians, crossing legally as they sought to avoid mobilisation. His wife Yekaterina travelled to Kazakhstan legally with their two children at the same time. Zhilin was detained in Kazakhstan and sentenced to deportation which he tried to preempt by flying to Armenia, only to get detained again before he could board the plane.

To Russian security agencies operating in Ukraine, he said late on Monday in comments translated by Reuters: "Yes, it is difficult for you now. The situation in the Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics, in the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions is extremely difficult." Both Putin and Lukashenko were also at pains to dismiss the idea of Russia annexing or absorbing Belarus. Russian troops that moved to Belarus in October will conduct battalion tactical exercises, Russia's Interfax news agency reported, citing the defence ministry. It also said Ukrainian air and artillery forces carried out more than a dozen strikes on Russian troops and hardware, including ammunition dumps, and shot down two helicopters.

☆ Russian security teams are scrambling to hunt down Ukrainian spies as locals in captured towns direct fire and gather critical intel
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-14 | by ( Charles R. Davis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Behind enemy lines, Ukrainian civilians are helping their country target Russian positions. In Kherson, local activists used Telegram to send photos and coordinates for Russian troops. In occupied Kherson, a man who performed at weddings before the war said he had pivoted to planting explosives under Russian soldiers' vehicles. Ukrainian forces can act on the intel in under 15 minutes, putting fire on Russian positions. Russian forces have felt the effects, and these everyday spies are becoming a priority for Russia.

☆ Biden chose humanity over geopolitics with Griner release
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( Stephen Collinson | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

But President Joe Biden’s decision to exchange WNBA star Brittney Griner for Viktor Bout goes beyond the exchange’s bottom line. And it prompted top Republicans to charge that he had prioritized a basketball superstar over an ex-marine who benefited from a vocal political pressure campaign on Biden. This adds another layer of complication for Biden as he seeks to get Whelan free, since it involves another government and would require German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to potentially agree to supersede his country’s own legal system. While Biden is being castigated by some political opponents in Washington for doing a bad deal, administration officials insisted that he got the best one on offer. It was a choice between bringing home one particular American, Brittney Griner, or bringing home none,” a senior administration official told reporters on Thursday.

☆ Who is Viktor Bout, the Russian arms dealer swapped for Griner?
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( Felix Light | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

[1/2] Suspected Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout is escorted by members of a special police unit after a hearing at a criminal court in Bangkok October 5, 2010. Russia got the jailed arms dealer back from the United States on Thursday after exchanging imprisoned U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner for him at Abu Dhabi airport. His notoriety was such that his life helped inspire a Hollywood film, 2005’s Lord of War, starring Nicolas Cage as Yuri Orlov, an arms dealer loosely based on Bout. For some experts, the Russian state's continued interest in Bout, plus his skills and connections in the international arms trade, hint strongly at Russian intelligence ties. “His case has become totemic for the Russian intelligence services, who are keen to show that they don’t abandon their own people,” Galeotti added.

REUTERS/Evgenia Novozhenina/Pool//File PhotoWASHINGTON, Dec 8 (Reuters) - U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner has been released in a prisoner swap with Russia and is on her way back to the United States, President Joe Biden said on Thursday, ending what he called months of "hell." The Russian foreign ministry said it traded Griner for Russian citizen Viktor Bout, a former arms dealer. The swap took place at the Abu Dhabi airport in the United Arab Emirates, Russian news agencies said. Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris spoke by phone with Griner from the Oval Office, along with Griner's wife, Cherelle. For experts on the Russian security services, Moscow's lasting interest in Bout hint strongly at Russian intelligence ties.

☆ Who is Viktor Bout, the arms dealer who could be swapped for Griner?
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-18 | by ( Felix Light | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +8 min

Russia wants the jailed arms dealer back in Moscow and is discussing a prisoner swap with the United States that could see him exchanged for Americans imprisoned in Russia including basketball star Brittney Griner. Reed was ultimately freed in return for Konstantin Yaroshenko, a Russian pilot jailed in the United States on drug trafficking charges. For some experts, the Russian state's continued interest in Bout, plus his skills and connections in the international arms trade, hint strongly at Russian intelligence ties. In interviews, Bout has said he attended Moscow's Military Institute of Foreign Languages, which serves as a training ground for military intelligence officers. “His case has become totemic for the Russian intelligence services, who are keen to show that they don’t abandon their own people,” Galeotti added.

The Kremlin and Russia's defence ministry did not immediately respond to questions about Serdiuk's account or that of others Reuters spoke to in Kherson. 'PURE SADISM'Grim recollections of life under occupation in Kherson have followed the unbridled joy and relief when Ukrainian soldiers retook the city on Friday after Russian troops withdrew across the Dnipro River. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said two days later that investigators had uncovered more than 400 Russian war crimes and found the bodies of both servicemen and civilians in areas of Kherson region freed from Russian occupation. Vitaliy had been an underground resistance fighter since Russian troops seized Kherson on March 2, according to Lapchuk, and she became worried when he did not answer her phone calls. The soldiers, who identified themselves as Russian troops, threatened to smash out her teeth when she tried to berate them.

☆ Donetsk battles are 'hell', Ukraine's Zelenskiy says as Kherson mops up
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

[1/3] Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy speaks during a joint news conference with Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala (not seen), as Russia's attack on Ukraine continues, in Kyiv, Ukraine October 31, 2022. Ukraine's success in Kherson, where its troops now control more than 60 regional settlements, as well as in other places, benefited partly from resistance in the Donetsk region, despite repeated Russian attacks, Zelenskiy added. "There it is just hell - there are extremely fierce battles there every day," he said. In a telephone call, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi emphasised "further enhancing cooperation in the political, trade and economic fields, including the transport and logistics sector," the Kremlin said on Saturday. The visit followed accusations by Ukraine and the West that Russia has used Iranian drones to target Ukraine's energy infrastructure.

☆ The U.S. family who lay low during Russian occupation
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-13 | by ( Jonathan Landay | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The Hunsuckers are Christian missionaries who moved to Kherson in 2013 to work with a Ukrainian church-based organization helping local orphanages. They had lived in Russia for seven years and speak fluent Russian. But in 2008 they were forced to move back to the United States after the Russian government ordered Phyllis to leave after accusing her of being a foreign agent, the family said. The Hunsuckers considered joining evacuations of residents from Kherson after the occupation. William said the family intend to remain in Kherson.

☆ Putin speaks to Iranian president with emphasis on deepening ties, Kremlin says
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Nov 12 (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin has spoken to Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, with both leaders placing emphasis on deepening political, trade and economic cooperation, the Kremlin said in a statement on Saturday. It did not say when the phone call took place and made no mention of Iranian arms supplies to Moscow. A senior Russian security official met Iranian leaders in Tehran on Wednesday and the two countries pledged closer ties. The visit took place following accusations by Ukraine and the West that Russia has used Iranian drones to target Ukraine's energy infrastructure. Last month, two senior Iranian officials and two Iranian diplomats told Reuters that Iran had promised to provide Russia with surface-to-surface missiles.

☆ Russia, Iran Pledge to Deepen Ties Amid Ukraine War
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-09 | by ( Sune Engel Rasmussen | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Nikolai Patrushev, secretary of the Russian security council, shook hands with Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi, in a photo released by Mr. Raisi’s office. Russia and Iran’s security chiefs pledged Wednesday to deepen the military cooperation between the two countries, further cementing ties that have seen Tehran supply drones to bolster Moscow’s war effort in Ukraine. During a meeting in Tehran, Russian security council secretary Nikolai Patrushev and his Iranian counterpart Ali Shamkhani said they would jointly fight what they called Western interference in their countries, and expand economic ties in a mutual effort to evade sanctions.

☆ Iran calls for deeper energy, trade ties with Russia -Nournews
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

DUBAI, Nov 9 (Reuters) - Iran's top security official Ali Shamkhani called on Wednesday for deeper ties in energy, transportation, agriculture, trade and banking with Russia, according to NourNews, affiliated with the country's top security body. Shamkhani spoke after a meeting with Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev in Tehran. The two also discussed the situation in Ukraine and measures to combat "Western interference" in their internal affairs, Russian state media reported. Patrushev, a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, also met Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi in Tehran. Reporting by Dubai Newsroom; Editing by Jon Boyle and Mark HeinrichOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ U.S. confirms it held talks with Kremlin over nuclear threat; Russians being pushed back in parts of Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-08 | by ( Holly Ellyatt | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Jake Sullivan, White House national security advisor, in Washington, D.C. on April 14, 2022. Sullivan met with Oscar Stenstrom, State Secretary for Foreign Affairs to the Prime Minister of Sweden, to discuss the security situation in Europe in view of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. White House national security advisor Jake Sullivan confirmed Monday that lines of communication between the U.S. and Russia remain open, confirming a report that the U.S. has held talks with the Kremlin recently in a bid to dial down tensions around the potential use of nuclear weapons in Ukraine. The comment came after the Wall Street Journal reported Sunday that Sullivan had held undisclosed talks with top Russian officials in a bid to de-escalate tensions over the possible use of nuclear weapons. The WSJ newspaper cited U.S. and other Western officials as saying that Sullivan held confidential conversations recently with Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov and Russian Security Council secretary Nikolai Patrushev that were not disclosed publicly.

☆ Russia's war on Ukraine latest news: Fears ease of conflict widening
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

* NATO's secretary-general said Tuesday's blast in Poland was likely caused by a Ukrainian air defence missile but that Russia was ultimately responsible because it started the war. * Ukraine wants access to the site of the explosion, a senior Ukrainian defence official said. Oleg Danilov said Ukraine has evidence of a "Russian trace" in the incident, without giving any details. DIPLOMACY* Ukrainian President Zelenskiy said he met U.S. Central Intelligence Agency Director William Burns, who is in the region to discuss the war in Ukraine. Burns also met Russian President Putin's spy chief in Turkey this week.

☆ Biden aide held talks with Russian officials amid nuclear tensions, the Wall Street Journal reports
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON, Nov 6 (Reuters) - National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan has held undisclosed talks with top Russian officials in hopes of reducing the risk the war in Ukraine spills over or escalates into a nuclear conflict, the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday. The newspaper cited U.S. and allied officials as saying that Sullivan, President Joe Biden's top aide on national security, held confidential conversations in recent months with Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov and Russian Security Council secretary Nikolai Patrushev, Sullivan's counterpart, that were not disclosed publicly. The White House declined to comment on the report, responding to questions about the story only with a statement attributed to National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson: "People claim a lot of things." The Wall Street Journal said the officials did not provide the dates or the number of calls. Few high-level contacts between U.S. and Russian officials have been made public in recent months as Washington has insisted that any talks on ending the war in Ukraine be held between Moscow and Kyiv.

☆ EXCLUSIVE Russia seeks sanctions exemptions for state bank in Ukraine grain deal talks-sources
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

This would allow the bank, which has not had a major role in the international grain trade so far, to process payments for Russian grain and other foodstuffs, two of the sources added. Before the latest sanctions, such payments were handled by international banks and subsidiaries of other Russian banks in Switzerland. The U.N. has said it "remains committed to removing the remaining obstacles to the exports of Russian food and fertilizer". BANK'S ROLE MAY EXPANDMoscow has said its consent to extend the Black Sea grain deal depends on support for its own grain and fertiliser exports. Should Russia's request be granted, Rosselkhozbank's role in Russia's grain trade could expand significantly.

☆ Amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, iconic arms-maker Kalashnikov is churning out a record number of guns
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-04 | by ( Michael Peck | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Kalashnikov, maker of the legendary AK-47, is reporting a huge increase in small arms sales. Many of the new rifles these reluctant conscripts will inevitably need will come from Kalashnikov, which manufactures most Russian small arms. SERGEI SUPINSKY/AFP via Getty Images"The Kalashnikov Concern increased the production of small arms by 40 percent," the company said. Already in September, actual exports of civilian weapons were equal to the total figure for 2021." Kalashnikov, which comprises a group of manufacturing firms, provides 95% of Russian small arms.

☆ Russia says movement of ships in Black Sea corridor is 'unacceptable'
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-31 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Oct 31 (Reuters) - Russia said on Monday it was "unacceptable" for shipping to pass through a Black Sea security corridor after it suspended its participation in a Turkish- and U.N.-brokered deal that had allowed Ukraine to resume grain exports. "The movement of ships along the security corridor is unacceptable, since the Ukrainian leadership and the command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine use it to conduct military operations against the Russian Federation," the Russian defence ministry said in a statement. The ministry did not say what Russia would do if ships continued to sail the route. On Monday a record volume of 354,500 tonnes of agricultural products left Ukrainian ports under the grain deal, despite Moscow's weekend announcement, a spokesperson for Odesa's military administration said. The Kremlin said earlier on Monday that without Russian security commitments, the grain deal was "hardly feasible, and it takes on a different character - much more risky, dangerous and unguaranteed".

☆ Putin introduces martial law in illegally annexed Ukrainian regions
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-19 | by ( Holly Ellyatt | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday introduced martial law in the four regions of Ukraine that Russia illegally annexed last month. The decision, announced as Putin addressed a meeting of the Russian Security Council on Wednesday, will likely mean that the regions' civil administrations will be replaced by military ones. "Constitutional laws on the admission of four new regions into the Russian Federation have come into force. Putin said he had signed a decree on the introduction of martial law in these four regions and this will now be sent for approval by the Federation Council, or Senate. Martial law is often introduced as a temporary measure when civil authorities are deemed to be in crisis and struggling to function.

☆ Russian commander admits situation is 'tense' for his forces in Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-19 | by ( Tom Balmforth | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

"The situation in the area of the 'Special Military Operation' can be described as tense," Sergei Surovikin, the Russian air force general now commanding Russia's invasion forces, told the state-owned Rossiya 24 news channel. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterOn Kherson, Surovikin said: "The situation in this area is difficult. Russian forces in Kherson have been driven back by 20-30 km (13-20 miles) in the last few weeks and are at risk of being pinned against the western bank of the 2,200-kilometre-long Dnipro river that bisects Ukraine. Both Ukraine and Russia have denied targeting civilians, although Kyiv has accused Moscow's forces of war crimes. The Russian military was preparing to repel the offensive, he said, and "where the military operates, there is no place for civilians".

Arne Schoenbohm came under scrutiny in recent weeks after a satire TV show highlighted his ties with a cybersecurity consultancy which counted as a member a German subsidiary of a Russian firm founded by a former KGB employee. He told Reuters he was no longer active in the council and had only delivered the keynote speech at its 10th anniversary in September as an exception after receiving the green light from the interior ministry. The consultancy last week protested it had not known of the alleged ties to Russian services of Protelion GmbH, which it expelled after the TV programme was aired. The consultancy said the interior ministry knew of the allegations since at least spring but "no information was provided to associations or potential customers by official bodies". The head of Protelion GmbH was not immediately available for comment.

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