Russian Digest
Top stories I'm keeping an eye on!
Military spokesperson: Ukrainian forces 'stabilize situation' in Bakhmut area, number of Russian assaults drops
On March 26, Serhii Cherevatyi, spokesperson for Ukraine's Eastern Military Command, reported that the Armed Forces have managed to "stabilize the situation" around the embattled city of Bakhmut in eastern Donetsk Oblast.
While fighting persists in the area, it has lessened in intensity, Cherevatyi said on national television.
According to the spokesperson, the number of assaults on the Bakhmut front has decreased, possibly indicating that the Russian forces are repositioning their reserves.
"Yesterday, there were 18 assaults on the entire Bakhmut front, today there were 17. Before that, there were from 35 to 50 or more. However, this requires more detailed verification and analysis,” Cherevatyi said.
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Germany prepares to expel dozens of Russian diplomats on suspicion of espionage
German Foreign Minister Annalena Berbock plans to expel more than 30 Russian diplomats - they were suspected of involvement in the creation of an agent network, Focus writes, citing security sources.
The siloviki came to the conclusion that the staff of diplomatic missions uses their diplomatic immunity to recruit German informants from political, military, business, and scientific circles for the purpose of sabotage and disinformation.
Security officials believe there are about 160 Russian intelligence officers operating in Germany under the guise of diplomats, more than during the Cold War. If Burbock's intentions come true, this expulsion will be one of the largest since the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine - in April 2022, 40 Russian diplomats were declared persona non grata in Germany.
In turn, a source in the Russian Foreign Ministry accused Burbock of spy mania and told TASS that a “tough response” to the possible expulsion of diplomats was already ready, without specifying the details.
Earlier, German Interior Minister Nancy Feather said that Russian intelligence services are constantly attacking the country in various ways, and the German authorities need to take more serious measures to identify spies.
The search for possible “moles” in the German special services was decided to intensify after a BND employee was arrested on suspicion of treason for spying for Russia in December last year. As the Telegraph found out, this man turned out to be a former football player Karsten Linke, who ended his sports career in order to work in special services. The man led the units of electronic intelligence and internal security. Prior to his arrest, Linke was building a successful career, on his way to one of the top positions in the BND, and was privy to classified intelligence, including about the war in Ukraine, exchanged between Western intelligence agencies.
In January, his alleged accomplice Artur Eller was detained at Munich airport, who was alleged to have passed classified BND material to the FSB. Both defendants are in custody. Their cases are being investigated by Attorney General Peter Frank.
Linke and Eller were arrested as part of an unpublished operation by American and European intelligence agencies to eliminate the Russian spy network in Europe. Ukraine has suffered more damage in a year of invasion than in any time since the end of the Cold War, the Washington Post noted.
Kyiv seeks Security Council meet to stop Russian 'nuclear blackmail' in Belarus
Kyiv on Sunday said it was seeking an emergency meeting of the United Nation's Security Council to counter Russia's "nuclear blackmail" after President Vladimir Putin announced his country would station tactical nuclear arms in Belarus.
Putin said the deployment was similar to moves from the United States, which stores such weapons in bases across Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and Turkey, an analogy western allies called "misleading".
With fears of a nuclear war rising since the invasion, experts believe that any Russian strike would likely involve small-size battlefield weapons, called "tactical" as opposed to "strategic" high-powered long-range nuclear weapons.
"Ukraine expects effective actions to counteract the Kremlin's nuclear blackmail from the United Kingdom, China, the United States, and France," the Ukrainian foreign ministry said.
"We demand that an extraordinary meeting of the UN Security Council be immediately convened for this purpose," it added.
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https://sports.yahoo.com/kyiv-says-russia-took-minsk-101653974.html
‘Dangerous and irresponsible’: NATO condemns Putin’s nuclear-arms plan
NATO criticized Moscow on Sunday for its “dangerous and irresponsible” nuclear rhetoric after Russian President Vladimir Putin announced he would deploy tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus.
“NATO is vigilant, and we are closely monitoring the situation. We have not seen any changes in Russia’s nuclear posture that would lead us to adjust our own,” a spokesperson for the defense alliance said.
The spokesperson criticized comments from Putin on Saturday that likened the deployment of Russian nuclear weapons in Belarus to the U.S. stationing its nuclear arms in Europe as part of the NATO defense alliance, according to a report by Reuters.
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A “leaked” audio recording has circulated online, in which producer Prigozhin and businessman Akhmedov rudely criticize Putin
Prigozhin has already stated that this is a fake and the work of a neural network
Ukrainian media have released an audio recording of music producer Iosif Prigozhin and oligarch Farkhad Akhmedov allegedly discussing and criticizing the Russian leadership. In particular, using obscene language, they expressed their attitude toward President Vladimir Putin and his entourage.
The record appeared on the Internet a few weeks ago, but they paid attention to it only now.
“No, Farkhad, there's no doubt about the fact that they fucked up the country,” a man who sounds like Prigozhin says on the recording.
The same man also refers to Putin's inner circle as “washed-up lowlifes” who act as if they are “gods”.
“They joined forces — Igor [Sechin], Sergey [Lavrov], and Viktor Zolotov. They're blaming [Sergey] Shoigu for everything. They're calling him a piece of shit, behind his back obviously,” the man says on the recording.
The man who sounds like Akhmedov advises Prigozhin to “sell everything”, if he has “any chance to end up under sanctions” because “they know everything” and “[all the assets] will be frozen”. Furthermore, the man with Akhmedov's voice complains that “they” only consider the bad and none of the good.
Then, the man talks about the impact the EU, UK, and Canada's sanctions had on his life after the start of the war in Ukraine. He complains that his card was blocked, while his boat is “rotting”.
“They write that I'm a close friend of Putin's! Fuck that! The last time I saw Putin was in 2008 <…>
“He screwed all of us over. Everyone and everything. The entire country. The entire population, for fuck's sake.
“The issue isn't the fucking money, it's about decency,” the man who sounds like Akhmedov claims.
“Basically, he buried the Russian nation,” the man with Prigozhin's voice agrees.
Iosif Prigozhin has already responded, saying that the audio is “fake” and that his stance is known to everyone. “Everyone is aware of my political stance, which is evidenced in all of my interviews and public [comments]. But you know, while I was listening to the audio, I too almost believed it was me,” Prigozhin added.
He claimed that “today's technologies, neural networks, can be used to fake not only a voice but a conversation”.
Founder of PMC Wagner Yevgeny Prigozhin has also commented on the recording allegedly featuring the two men. Yevgeny and Iosif share the same last name.
“It's possible that the people who were conducting this special operation and who released this conversation could be thinking that it was me talking,” he said.
In comparison to “impudent, aggressive, and quick-tempered” Iosif Prigozhin, Yevgeny claimed he is a very “calm, thoughtful, and non-aggressive person.”
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The source of Important Stories in the special services: “The recording of the conversation between Prigozhin and Akhmedov is genuine, the FSB leadership recently held a meeting and instructed subordinates to take action”
Recall that a few days ago, an audio recording of an intercepted conversation between producer Iosif Prigozhin and billionaire and former senator of the Federation Council Farkhad Akhmedov began to gain popularity on the network. On the recording, the interlocutors discuss the war in Ukraine, the fate of Russia, and the relationship of officials from Putin's entourage for half an hour.
Here are the most striking quotes from their conversation.
Prigozhin: “They teamed up, Igor Ivanovich (Sechin - Ed.), Sergei Viktorovich (Chemezov - Ed.), and Viktor Zolotov. They blame Shoigu for everything. They call him a dumbass, behind his back, of course. And they have the task of demolishing it, damn it. Yes, but because someone needs to be blamed (military defeats - Approx. ed.), Listen. They are the dumbest people. My opinion is simple: they act like kings, like fucking gods. They are finished, creatures."
Akhmedov: “They screwed up the situation. They screwed up the country. They all screwed up. The question is, what will happen after them? It will go, damn it, on the one hand, Kadyrovites, Prigozhinites, there will be guardsmen. There will be, damn it, the Makhnovshchina. They will wave daggers and sledgehammers. Well, this is absolute nonsense. <…> The President will answer for all this. For all. They will ask him. <…> They fucked us, our children, their future, their fate, damn it, you understand?”
Prigozhin: “To be honest, then, of course, they are criminals, damn it, what kind of criminals are they, damn it. <...> We will be fucked off, damn it. We don't have any fucking options. That is, even if he fucks off and presses the button, damn, the whole nation has no fucking future in this scenario. That's all. He fucked us all in the mouth, damn it. <…> For them, people are just garbage, you know.”
Akhmedov: “ Yes, he doesn’t give a fuck about anything. And the people give a fuck about him. He's Satan, damn it. <…> Empty, damn it. Both this one and the second one are complex. Lilliputians, damn it. Undergrown, insecure. <…> If you fight, then fight. We can't even fight. Because there is no fucking army, they cannot provide it. Everyone stole. <…> Fascism will be there, and there will be a military dictatorship. You will see. This is where it all ends."
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Producer Iosif Prigozhin said that “some moments” from his conversation with businessman Akhmedov are real
What shocked you more - the publication itself or individual compromising phrases that sound there?
- In principle, I was shocked by the publication - this time. Separate nuances - two. And three - you know my attitude towards the President of Russia. It is most respectful. I don't have any prejudice. Yes, we all have private conversations in which some doubts can be expressed. But I'm just a private individual. I'm just a music producer. In the spirit of my work, I have to communicate a lot with people, to maintain various conversations. But these conversations in no way related to the strategic plans of the country. I perfectly understand what is happening in Ukraine. That this is clearly provoked by the United States. I understand that Zelensky is being used as a tool to fight Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin and Russia. And I clearly understand that today we are not at war with Ukraine, that there are obligations that the United States did not fulfill, and that we were quietly tricked into this special operation. But today, for some reason, it has become the norm to post private conversations and private videos. It is clear that now there is a calculation that as a result of this record we will be torn apart, and deprived of some opportunities. They are looking for an excuse to somehow dishonor a person. Naturally, I am now going to conduct an examination of this record, but this will take time. You can't do it in one day, but the situation is already flying like an avalanche. I don't have any ulterior motives. I live in Moscow, I work in Moscow. Nobody bothers me. Yes, my soul hurts for the country, but I do not allow myself to say such things that are published there. It's just not in my area of expertise. just to somehow dishonor a person. Naturally, I am now going to conduct an examination of this record, but this will take time. You can't do it in one day, but the situation is already flying like an avalanche. I don't have any ulterior motives. I live in Moscow, I work in Moscow. Nobody bothers me. Yes, my soul hurts for the country, but I do not allow myself to say such things that are published there. It's just not in my area of expertise. just to somehow dishonor a person. Naturally, I am now going to conduct an examination of this record, but this will take time. You can't do it in one day, but the situation is already flying like an avalanche. I don't have any ulterior motives. I live in Moscow, I work in Moscow. Nobody bothers me. Yes, my soul hurts for the country, but I do not allow myself to say such things that are published there. It's just not in my area of expertise.
Are you afraid of the consequences now?
“Of course I'm afraid. Of course, this makes me uncomfortable. But first of all, I now have psychological consequences. I now feel very bad. And this is the most important thing. This whole story makes me very uncomfortable. Moreover, I don’t know many people who appear in this conversation, but I met someone once or twice in my whole life.
https://www.fontanka.ru/2023/03/26/72165977/
A Ukrainian orphanage tried to hide its children when war began. Then the Russians came
A boom of artillery fire shook the ground as Olena opened the gate to the Kherson Children’s Home.
She barely flinched.
Russian positions are just across the Dnipro River and Kherson, a city in southern Ukraine, is under regular attack.
Like many Ukrainians during this war, Olena prefers not to share her last name. She has worked at the orphanage for more than 17 years.
Olena said she loved all the children at the home, but she was closest to Arkasha. “Of course, everyone has their favorite, but he was mine,” she said.
Five-year-old Arkasha’s locker is orange – with a sticker of a rooster on it. His name is neatly printed in Cyrillic script.
An eerie silence and stillness envelop everything at the orphanage in Kherson.
Inside the rooms, there are paintings of bunnies holding balloons, floating through the sky; play areas for toddlers; cupboards stacked with toys. In the bedrooms, sparkling clean cots and tiny bunk beds with brightly colored mattresses.
But the 48 children who lived here are gone – seized by Russian officials during the city’s months-long occupation.
“I feel emptiness, emptiness. Everything has stopped,” said Olena. “The children were happy. They had everything!”
Read More:
https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/24/europe/kherson-orphanage-children-russians-intl-cmd/index.html
Indicted Chinese exile controls Gettr social media site, ex-employees say
An exiled Chinese tycoon indicted in New York earlier this month in a billion-dollar fraud case controls the conservative social media platform Gettr and used it to promote cryptocurrencies and propaganda, former employees have told The Washington Post.
They said the arrested expatriate, Guo Wengui, and his longtime money manager, William Je, called the shots at the company while Donald Trump senior adviser Jason Miller was its chief executive and public face. Miller served in that capacity from before Gettr’s July 4, 2021, launch until this month, when he returned to work on his third Trump presidential campaign.
Gettr doled out tens of thousands of dollars to right-wing figures including Trump adviser Stephen K. Bannon, sent money to contractors affiliated with Guo, and altered information on Gettr users that law enforcement agencies had sought, according to the former employees and internal company documents obtained by The Post.
Read More:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/03/26/gettr-guo-wengui-social-media/
Swiss technology still comes to Russia
Despite the sanctions, an investigation by the RSI investigation cell confirms that the export of Swiss chips and precision machinery continues - Customs data indicate a passage from countries such as China and Turkey
The latest "Swiss" microchip was found a few days ago in Donbas. It was installed on the Russian reconnaissance drone "Orlan" which reports Ukrainian positions to the artillery of Kremlin soldiers. This electronic component is produced by the U-blox company of Zurich, one of the world leaders in the automotive and healthcare sectors.
The RSI has obtained a video and photographic documents that testify to this and two other finds in Ukraine in which chips from the Zurich company were present on as many Russian drones. Interviewed by us, U-blox explains that "since 2002 it has adopted a very strict policy which prohibits direct and indirect sales to customers to use its products in military applications and weapons".
We were able to reconstruct at least the first stage of their journey: the microprocessors had been sold by the Zurich company in the civil sector in 2012, 2015, and 2019 in Eastern Europe and in Russia in the civil sector. Then you lose track of it. And they end up in Russian arms. How is it possible that these semiconductors useful for connecting drones to the Russian navigation system got there?
“One possibility that these microchips end up in the Russian military system is that they are disassembled from commercial products such as electric bikes and cars. And then installed on these drones” explains U-blox CEO Stefan Zizala. “We follow the chain as much as possible of distribution to avoid precisely these dynamics. But if a customer's customer violates these rules, we have no possibility of preventing them from ending up there.”
To Russia from Asia even after the sanctions
Before the war it was possible to send these goods to Russia for civilian use, but still not for the military sector. Since 4 March 2022, following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Confederation has banned the direct export of these products to Moscow: they are considered strategic and fundamental for the Kremlin's weapons.
They weren't supposed to get to Russia. Instead, the flow has not stopped, despite the sanctions. RSI is able to demonstrate this, thanks to aggregate customs data that it has come into possession of.
From these data, it emerges that at least 14 shipments of products defined as "non-military" - including modules of the U-blox "GPS / Glonass" satellite system - were made by five Chinese companies. The period extends from May 26, 2022, to September 28, 2022, for a total value of goods of approximately $90,000.
RSI is unable to prove the actual use of these chips, or whether they ended up in the military sector. The recipient of these shipments is the Russian company “SMT ILogic”, a company – as we read on its website – “which was founded in 2015 by a group of highly qualified specialists in the field of telecommunications and microprocessor technology and which boasts many of experience and close links with the main component manufacturers”.
From journalistic investigations by Reuters, IStories, and the research center Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), it emerges that behind SMT-ILogic there would be another Russian company, the "Special Technology Center" (STC) of St. Petersburg, l drone manufacturer Orlan.
The two companies would have shared some common co-owners in the past, and "then the obvious connection was interrupted" as highlighted by the international media. The Orlan reconnaissance drone is composed almost entirely of Western, largely US, components. The US itself had already sanctioned the STC company in 2016 for "assisting the GRU (the Russian military intelligence service) in conducting electronic intelligence". Instead, the Confederation sanctioned the Russian company only on 25 January.
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https://www.rsi.ch/news/svizzera/La-tecnologia-svizzera-arriva-ancora-in-Russia-16120876.html
Netanyahu fires defense minister after speech calling to pause judicial overhaul
Netanyahu fires Defense Minister Gallant after speech calling to pause judicial overhaul
File: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and then-immigrant absorption minister Yoav Gallant hold a press conference at the Knesset, January 9, 2019. (Noam Revkin Fenton/ Flash90/ File)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has fired Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, his office says.
In a brief statement, the Prime Minister’s Office says Netanyahu has decided to transfer Gallant from his post.
It is unclear what new position he will be given, if any.
Yesterday, Gallant called to pause the judicial overhaul, citing danger to state security, given widespread protests in the military.
Read More:
https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog-march-26-2023/
Protests break out across Israel after firing of Defense Minister
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