Russian Digest
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F.B.I. Arrests National Guardsman in Leak of Classified Documents
Authorities say Jack Teixeira, a 21-year-old member of the Massachusetts Air National Guard, posted sensitive materials in an online chat group.
The F.B.I. arrested a 21-year-old member of the Massachusetts Air National Guard on Thursday in connection with the leak of dozens of highly classified documents containing an array of national security secrets, including the breadth of surveillance the United States is able to conduct on Russia.
Airman First Class Jack Douglas Teixeira was taken into custody to face charges of leaking classified documents after federal authorities said he had posted batches of sensitive intelligence to an online gaming chat group, called Thug Shaker Central.
As reporters from The New York Times gathered near the house on Thursday afternoon, about a half-dozen F.B.I. agents pushed into the home of Airman Teixeira’s mother in North Dighton, with a twin-engine government surveillance plane keeping watch overhead.
Some of the agents arrived heavily armed. Law enforcement officials learned before the search that Airman Teixeira was in possession of multiple weapons, according to a person familiar with the investigation, and the F.B.I. found guns at the house.
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https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/13/world/documents-leak-leaker-identity.html
Deputy Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation said that the exchange of Gershkovich can be discussed only after the trial
The issue of exchanging Evan Gershkovich, a correspondent for the American newspaper The Wall Street Journal accused of espionage, can only be considered after a court verdict. This was announced to TASS on Thursday by Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov.
He added that the issues of possible exchanges between Gershkovich and American Paul Whelan convicted of espionage in the Russian Federation are being dealt with by the special services of the two countries. "The issue of exchanging anyone can be considered after the court issues its verdict specifically on this or that charge. Now putting these two characters on the same level, let's say, even from a formal point of view, is wrong. As for the exchange , then we have a special channel for this, the special services are engaged in this, and they will continue to deal with this issue," he said.
At the same time, Ryabkov noted that The Wall Street Journal is trying "day by day to escalate on this topic."
According to the Center for Public Relations of the FSB, Gershkovich, "acting on instructions from the American side, was collecting information constituting a state secret about the activities of one of the enterprises of the military-industrial complex of Russia." In this regard, the journalist was detained in Yekaterinburg. The Investigation Department of the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation initiated a criminal case against him under Art. 276 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation ("Espionage"). According to the press secretary of the President of Russia Dmitry Peskov, the journalist was caught red-handed. On March 30, the Lefortovo Court of Moscow chose a preventive measure for Gershkovich in the form of detention until May 29.
Source: TASS News Agency
Catch and Exchange. FSB goes after foreigners
Evan Gershkovich, a journalist for The Wall Street Journal, was detained by the FSB in Yekaterinburg on March 30, on charges of collecting state secrets. The journalist had been under surveillance before his arrest. It is expected that his detainment will contribute to Putin's “exchange fund,” which is used to secure the return of Russian spies who have been arrested. This practice of taking foreign hostages for the purpose of later exchange has been adopted by Putin for quite some time. There have been previous instances of such exchanges, such as the arrest of four Qatari athletes by the FSB in response to the detention of two GRU officers in Doha on suspicion of murdering Zelimkhan Yandarbiyev. Another example is the exchange of arms dealer Viktor Bout for American basketball player Brittney Griner. The Insider has found out that Bout was originally supposed to be exchanged for Kevin Nersesian, a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) representative in Moscow, but he detected the surveillance and left Russia. The Department of Counterintelligence Operations (DCRO) of the FSB is primarily responsible for monitoring foreigners. However, as the documents show, it has not been very successful in catching actual spies.
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https://theins.ru/en/politics/260940
Russia says China agreed to secretly provide weapons, leaked documents show
China approved the “provision of lethal aid” to Russia in its war in Ukraine earlier this year and planned to disguise military equipment as civilian items, according to a U.S. intercept of Russian intelligence revealed in leaked secret documents.
The intercept, apparently obtained through U.S. eavesdropping on Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR), was included in a top-secret summary, dated Feb. 23, of recent Ukraine- and Russia-related “products” compiled by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. It was among a number of previously unreported documents that The Washington Post obtained from a trove of images of classified files posted on a private server on the chat app Discord.
According to “signals intelligence,” the intelligence summary said, the SVR reported that China’s Central Military Commission had “approved the incremental provision” of weapons and wanted it kept secret. The report did not indicate the source of the SVR’s information.
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Norway: 15 employees of Russian embassy suspected of espionage and declared personae non gratae
The Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated in a press release on Thursday that 15 employees of the Russian Embassy in Oslo have been declared personae non gratae.
“The 15 intelligence officers have been involved in activities that are not compatible with their diplomatic status”, said Minister of Foreign Affairs Anniken Huitfeldt. The activities of these intelligence officers have allegedly been monitored over time.
The persons concerned will have to leave Norway shortly. The country will not issue visas to intelligence officers seeking entry.
This is not the first such case in Norway. Last April, three Russian intelligence officers were expelled from the country.
As the Ministry points out in its press release, Norway is not the only country that is taking steps to curtail covert Russian intelligence activity. “Many European countries have recently reduced the number of Russian intelligence officers operating under diplomatic cover, and have tightened the rules for issuing visas to Russian intelligence officers”, he wrote.
In late March, Poland's military counterintelligence detained a man suspected of spying for Russia. The Polish secret service claimed he was gathering intelligence about critical infrastructure facilities in two northern provinces, as well as about “the activities of the services and bodies responsible for security”.
In mid-February, the Foreign Ministry of the Netherlands announced the expulsion of several Russian diplomats. The reason for this decision was Russia's policy of sending in intelligence officers under the guise of embassy staff as well as its refusal to issue visas to Dutch diplomats, the ministry said.
The State Duma exempted the Russian Orthodox Church from the ban on money laundering
The State Duma on Thursday in the second, main, reading adopted a bill that exempts the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) from the requirements of anti-money laundering legislation.
According to the document, which was prepared by the government back in 2020 and passed the first reading in 2021, religious organizations are excluded from the list of persons subject to the norms of Law 115-FZ (“On countering the legalization (laundering) of proceeds from crime, and financing of terrorism).
The reason is that the risks of money laundering by religious organizations are assessed as “low”, according to the explanatory note to the law.
At the same time, the business of religious organizations - the legal entity where they are the owners - is exempted from the obligation to provide information about their beneficial owners. Now banks, as well as Rosfinmonitoring, have the right to request such information.
Companies that produce or sell religious items and religious literature will be exempted if their sole founder is a religious organization.
The operations of companies covered by the anti-money laundering law are required to check banks, and in case of suspicious activity, such as misuse, they must respond by blocking the account until an explanation is received.
According to the Ministry of Justice, more than 30,000 religious organizations are now registered in Russia, of which 80% are under the control of the Russian Orthodox Church.
https://www.moscowtimes.ru/2023/04/13/gosduma-osvobodila-rpts-ot-zapreta-na-otmivanie-deneg-a39997
Company associated with Prigozhin suspected of smuggling gold from Africa
The Sudanese authorities accused a Russian citizen, the head of the security service of the local company Al-Sawlaj, of illegally exporting 5 kilograms of gold. The company is associated with PMC "Wagner". It is reported by Bloomberg with reference to the company's legal adviser Huved Mursal.
The investigation also became interested in the activities of the company itself. They interrogated 58 Al-Sawlaj employees, of which about 30 are Russian citizens. However, upon completion of the investigation, the company resumed processing gold at the enterprise. Only the head of the security service was charged. He denies his guilt.
EU authorities link Al-Sawlaj to Meroe, which is controlled by Wagner PMC. In February, the European Union imposed sanctions against Meroe and called it "a cover for the operations of the Wagner group in Sudan." Restrictions against it were also introduced by the US Treasury. However, Al-Sawlaj was not included in the sanctions lists.
Al-Sawlaj acquired the Meroe-owned property in 2021 for $1.8 million. According to Mursal, it houses a gold processing facility located in Al-Sawlaj, about 280 km north of the Sudanese capital Khartoum. The enterprise resumed work about two weeks ago, the lawyer said.
The Al-Sawlaj investigation highlights the Kremlin's failure to consolidate its influence in Sudan. In addition, it may be a signal of a new escalation between the ruling elite and militias collaborating with Russia.
Officially, Sudan exported about 34.5 tons of gold in 2022. However, most of it, according to local authorities, is smuggled out.
Last summer, CNN reported that Wagner mercenaries were illegally exporting gold from Sudan to Russia. At his expense, the Russian authorities finance the war in Ukraine. According to the channel, the ruling junta in Sudan receives powerful political and military support from Moscow in exchange for cooperation and gold.
Wagner began operations in Sudan in 2017 when Omar al-Bashir was president. However, in 2021, he lost power in a military coup. Nevertheless, the Russian PMC kept its business in the country.
Hungary withdraws from sanctioned Russia-linked bank
Hungary is withdrawing from a Russia-linked investment bank a day after it was sanctioned by the United States.
The International Investment Bank (IIB) moved its headquarters from Moscow to Budapest in 2019, fanning fears in Western capitals that it could be used as a cover for Russian intelligence operations inside Europe.
On Wednesday, Washington sanctioned IIB and its top managers — including a Hungarian citizen — after Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s government repeatedly dismissed American concerns about its activities.
And while Hungarian officials have criticized U.S. policy toward Hungary, on Thursday the country’s ministry for economic development said Budapest is withdrawing from the IIB and pulling its representatives from the institution.
“The government discussed the situation and found that although the International Investment Bank played an important development role in Central and Eastern Europe, the operation of the bank lost its meaning as a result of the imposed American sanctions,” the Hungarian ministry said in a statement.
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https://www.politico.eu/article/hungary-withdraws-from-sanctioned-russia-linked-bank/
Danilov: UN Security Council has ‘lost its meaning’
“It is incompatible with any logic, let alone justice, that an aggressor country and a terrorist country that has killed and is killing children preside over the UN Security Council,” National Security and Defense Secretary Oleksii Danilov said on April 13.
Danilov specifically brought up the video of the alleged execution of a Ukrainian prisoner of war that was posted on Russian Telegram channels on April 11.
“When people in the 21st century cut off the head of a living person, and their representatives preside over the UN Security Council, it is nonsense, some completely incomprehensible things are happening in our world,” Danilov said.
Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said the video with the supposed brutal execution of a Ukrainian POW emphasizes the need to exclude Russia from the UN Security Council and the organization in general.
"It's absurd that Russia, which is worse than ISIS, is presiding over the UNSC. Russian terrorists must be kicked out of Ukraine and the UN and be held accountable for their crimes," Kuleba said on Twitter.
Russia became the chair of the UN Security Council on April 1 and will hold the presidency for one month.
https://kyivindependent.com/danilov-un-security-council-has-lost-its-meaning/
Ukraine, Romania, Moldova Boost Ties At Security Meeting
Neighbors Romania, Ukraine, and Moldova signed cooperation agreements in Romania’s capital Thursday after a trilateral meeting on ways to strengthen security in their Black Sea region to counter threats posed by Russian aggression.
The Black Sea Security Conference in Bucharest brought together the three countries’ foreign and defense ministers, government officials and international partners. The aim was to address the wide-ranging impact that Moscow’s war in Ukraine is having on the region.
NATO member Romania’s Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu called Russia “the most direct and serious threat” to the Black Sea region and the Western alliance, and said war-torn Ukraine and embattled Moldova are “essential to our future European security.”
“Instead of peace and stability, the Black Sea region has become the primary target of the Russian aggression,” he said, adding that a strong NATO presence there “is a must.”
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Ukrainian Farmer Works To Replace Land Mines With Food Crops
A farmer whose land was on the front lines last year has taken on the risky job of mine-clearing. His former pig and cattle farm now features piles of unearthed shells and exploded mines. Bohdan, a major grower in Mykolayiv, says he couldn't wait for military sappers to clear the land -- the community urgently needs its crops and also jobs.
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