March 8, 2024: Russian Digest
Top stories I'm keeping an eye on!
March 8, 2024
Call to Action for my U.S. subscribers: Please call your Congress representatives and tell them to pass the weapons and aid package to Ukraine and to stop endangering U.S. national security by using domestic weaknesses for political purposes… This easy new site helps you send a message to your reps in Congress. Be sure to make your voice heard through helpukrainewin.com
The USA, Canada, Australia, South Korea and European countries warned their citizens about threats of terrorist attacks in Russia in the coming days
The foreign ministries of the United States, Canada, Australia, South Korea, Great Britain, the Czech Republic, Latvia, and Sweden warned their citizens who are in Russia about the threat of terrorist attacks in the coming days. This is reported on the websites of departments and embassies of countries.
On the evening of March 7, the US Embassy in Russia issued a warning that “extremists are planning to attack large gatherings of people in Moscow in the near future.” The diplomatic mission advised its citizens to "avoid large crowds for the next 48 hours."
The Foreign Ministries of Great Britain and Canada warned their citizens about the danger with reference to the US Embassy in Russia. The Australian Foreign Ministry " advises its citizens not to travel to Russia" due to the "threat of terrorism." The South Korean Embassy adds that in connection with events dedicated to March 8, “a high probability of accidents is expected” in Russian cities.
The Latvian Foreign Ministry called on its citizens to leave Russia due to the “tense situation in the field of international security.” The Swedish authorities recommend that the country's citizens not travel to Russia due to the “deteriorating security situation,” and the Czech Embassy writes about “possible attacks by extremist groups in major Russian cities.”
Via Mediazona
Ukraine ammunition drive raises enough to buy first 300,000 shells, Czech PM says
The Czech-led initiative to buy ammunition for Ukraine as it battles Russia's invasion has raised enough so far to purchase a first batch of 300,000 artillery shells, Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala said on X social media platform on Friday.
"Our goal is to deliver much more!" he said. "Our work and our help to Ukraine do not end here. We keep seeking partners so that we can continue to support Ukraine in its brave fight against the Russian aggressor."
Read More at Reuters
Media tycoon Rupert Murdoch gets engaged to Elena Zhukova
Media tycoon Rupert Murdoch has become engaged to his girlfriend, his team has confirmed.
The 92-year-old has reportedly been dating retired Russian molecular biologist Elena Zhukova, 67 for several months.
The marriage, which is expected to take place at his Moraga vineyard and estate in California this year, will be Mr Murdoch's fifth, but sixth engagement.
He stepped down as chairman of Fox and News Corp last year.
According to the New York Times, which broke the story, the nuptials are set for June and invitations have already been sent out.
The pair are said to have met at a party hosted by one of his ex-wives, Chinese-born entrepreneur Wendi Deng.
Mr Murdoch's other former spouses were Australian flight attendant Patricia Booker, Scottish-born journalist Anna Mann, Ms Deng and US model and actress Jerry Hall.
Ms Zhukova was previously married to Russian oil billionaire Alexander Zhukov, while their daughter Dasha - a socialite and businesswoman - was married to the Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich until 2017.
Read More at BBC
Russian hackers breached key Microsoft systems
Russian state-backed hackers gained access to some of Microsoft’s core software systems in a hack first disclosed in January, the company said Friday, revealing a more extensive and serious intrusion into Microsoft’s systems than previously known.
Microsoft believes that the hackers have in recent weeks used information stolen from Microsoft’s corporate email systems to access “some of the company’s source code repositories and internal systems,” the tech firm said in a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
Source code is coveted by corporations — and spies trying to breach them — because it is the secret nuts and bolts of a software program that make it function.
Hackers with access to source code can use it for follow-on attacks on other systems.
Read More at CNN
Macron says France has 'no limits' to its support for Ukraine
Speaking after the two-and-a-half-hour meeting, the party chiefs said the talks with Macron left them concerned, with some accusing him of using the conflict to boost his coalition’s standing ahead of crucial European elections this summer.
The president had last week stunned many in Europe by refusing to rule out the dispatch of Western ground troops to Ukraine, pointing to Russia’s hardening stance.
And earlier this week Macron urged Ukraine’s allies not to be “cowards” in supporting the ex-Soviet country to fight off the Russian invasion.
Some party leaders on Thursday said Macron advocated a “no limits” approach to counter Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Read More at France 24
More evidence of Russia’s bloody imperialism…
Putin ally says 'Ukraine is Russia' and historical territory needs to 'come home'
Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chairman of Russia's Security Council and an ally of President Vladimir Putin, described Ukraine on Monday as part of Russia and said what he called historical parts of Russia needed to "come home."
In a bellicose presentation that suggested Russia's military goals in Ukraine are far-reaching, Medvedev, who was Russia's president from 2008-2012, praised the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union and said Moscow would prosecute its "special military operation" until the Ukrainian leadership capitulated.
"One of Ukraine's former leaders said at some point that Ukraine is not Russia," Medvedev, a hawk who diplomats say gives a flavor of the thinking inside the Kremlin, told a youth forum in the Black Sea city of Sochi.
"That concept needs to disappear forever. Ukraine is definitely Russia," he said to applause. "Historic parts of the country need to come home."
Read More at Reuters
After the elections, Putin may dismiss the leadership of Gazprom and Rosneft
Russian President Vladimir Putin is considering at least one high-profile resignation at the top of the country's largest oil and gas companies.
The candidates for elimination were the Chairman of the Board of Gazprom, Alexey Miller, and the Chief Executive Officer of Rosneft, Igor Sechin. As Kommersant reports, citing sources familiar with the situation, Boris Kovalchuk, the son of billionaire Yuri Kovalchuk, the main shareholder of Rossiya Bank, whom the American Ministry of Finance called Putin’s “personal cashier,” can head Gazprom or Rosneft.
Since 2009, Kovalchuk Jr. has headed Inter RAO, one of the largest energy companies in the country, which manages 22 power plants, generating almost 10% of all electricity in the country.
Kovalchuk may take up a new position soon after the presidential elections, which are scheduled for March 15–17. The day before the vote - March 14 - a meeting of the board of directors of Inter RAO will be held, at which Kovalchuk's resignation will be considered, the company announced on Wednesday.
Kovalchuk “will be promoted,” Kommersant’s sources say. However, they do not know what new position the son of Putin’s longtime ally will occupy.
In addition to posts in Gazprom and Rosneft, the post of governor of St. Petersburg is being considered for Kovalchuk with the resignation of the current head of the city, Alexander Beglov. The fourth scenario for Kovalchuk is the post of Deputy Prime Minister in charge of the energy sector. It is now occupied by Alexander Novak, the former head of the Ministry of Energy, one of the architects of the OPEC+ oil deal and the main negotiator for Russia with the oil powers.
Read Moscow Times
Trouble ahead
Russia’s exploitation of ethnic divisions in Moldova to destabilise Europe only makes it even more vital Moscow is defeated
As we enter the third year of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and the 10th year of its occupation of Ukrainian territory, Transnistria has once again emerged as a strategic weapon in Russia’s arsenal for use against Ukraine, Moldova and Europe.
My latest via Novaya Gazeta
Europe kicked out Vladimir Putin’s spies. Now they’re back
Russia has aggressively relaunched its spy war with the West, and Moscow’s publication of a phone call in which senior German air force officers discussed sending cruise missiles to Ukraine is only the latest chilling example. “The game of cat and mouse has returned,” said one Western intelligence officer. “Russian activities . . . are as high or even higher than during the Cold War,” said another. “Russian intelligence is a huge machine and is back doing what it always did,” said a third official. Almost every week, it seems, another covert operation comes to light, showing how far Russia’s intelligence agencies have penetrated Europe since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine two years ago. On February 27, Tihomir Ivanov Ivanchev became the sixth Bulgarian to be charged with being part of a suspected Russian spy ring in the UK. Two weeks before that, Maksim Kuzminov, a Russian military pilot who defected to Ukraine last year, was found dead in Spain, his body riddled with bullets — including a shot through his heart. The week before that, France uncovered a network of 193 websites designed to spread misinformation ahead of European elections this year. And two weeks before that, the European Parliament opened a probe into whether a Latvian MEP might be an agent for the Russian secret service.
Read More at Financial Times
India says it uncovers trafficking racket duping people into fighting for Russia in Ukraine
India said it had uncovered a "major human trafficking network" which lured young men to Russia with the promise of jobs only to force them to fight in the war in Ukraine.
About 35 men have been sent to Russia in the scheme so far, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) said late on Thursday, an increase from the 20 men that the Indian foreign ministry had earlier mentioned.
At least two men who went to Russia expecting to work as "helpers" in the army have died while fighting at the front, their families have said. The Indian Embassy in Russia confirmed one of those deaths.
Read More at Reuters
Russians began to be kicked off flights to Argentina en masse after a surge in emigration
At least ten Russians were removed from the Istanbul-Buenos Aires flight without explanation, writes Baza. And this is not the first time. Since the beginning of March, complaints about refusals to fly to Latin America have appeared on travel forums, but the cases have not been widespread.
All cancellations from flights took place at Turkish Airlines. Passengers from Russia were not allowed on board, citing additional checks. According to the Russians, many were pointed out that there was no return ticket.
As one of the passengers told Baza, she and her husband spent a long time preparing for the trip, prepared all the necessary documents, and spent more than five thousand dollars, but were unable to fly - they had to urgently look for a hotel in Istanbul. Upon landing, upon seeing the Russian passport, the couple was simply told: “You are not flying.”
The Turkish Airlines website has information that passengers undergo additional checks on flights to Latin America.
The company is likely to reduce its risks of forced deportation of passengers and respond to new demands from migration authorities in the region.
The country became popular for Russian migration after the start of the war, often attracting pregnant Russian women hoping to obtain citizenship for their child “by right of the land.” So, in February last year, 33 Russian women in late pregnancy flew to Argentina on one Ethiopian Airlines flight via Addis Ababa. From the beginning of 2022 to March 2023, more than 22,000 Russians arrived in Argentina, Bloomberg reported.
Via The Moscow Times
