Explosions reported in Kyiv
Explosions occurred in Kyiv overnight on June 2, Kyiv Mayor Vitalii Klitschko reported on Telegram at around 3:15 local time.
Klitschko added that the city's air defense systems were operating, but that "another wave of drone attacks was incoming."
The Kyiv City Military Administration also said on Telegram that the city's air defenses were operating and advised residents to stay in shelters.
No other information about the attack was available at the time of publication.
A Russian aerial attack on Kyiv overnight on June 1 killed three civilians, including two children. The attack also injured 14 people in two Kyiv districts.
https://kyivindependent.com/explosions-reported-in-kyiv-4/
US takes ‘countermeasures’ against Russia’s violations of nuclear treaty
The Biden administration on Thursday announced it is holding back key information on U.S.-nuclear weapons stockpiles as part of requirements of the New START treaty with Russia in the wake of Moscow violating the agreement.
Russia formally suspended its participation in the treaty in February in opposition to U.S. military and diplomatic support for Ukraine, but the country had been violating the terms of the treaty since November, failing to show up for key meetings and withholding data.
The freeze in communication over the New START treaty dangerously raises the prospect of the world’s two largest nuclear-weapons states approaching a date with no formal arms control agreement. The treaty will expire in 2026 and discussions are needed to develop a follow-on treaty or set of agreements that promote arms control.
“The United States notified Russia of the countermeasures in advance, and conveyed the United States’ desire and readiness to reverse the countermeasures and fully implement the treaty if Russia returns to compliance,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement.
“The United States remains ready to work constructively with Russia on resuming implementation of the New START Treaty.”
Under the terms of the treaty, U.S. and Russian officials can inspect each country’s nuclear sites on the ground. Those inspections halted during the COVID-19 pandemic and have never resumed. Included in the U.S. countermeasures are the revocation of visas and cancellation of visa applications for Russian treaty inspectors.
The U.S. is also withholding “telemetric information” on launches of intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBMs) and submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) — the treaty arranged for both the U.S. and Russia to annually exchange telemetric information for up to five ICBM and SLBM launches and that includes a variety of technical information related to missile performance and flight tests.
Read More:
https://thehill.com/policy/national-security/4030874-us-russia-countermeasures-nuclear-treaty/
"All participants in the discussion have the opportunity to contact me." Prigozhin responded to criticism of Kadyrov's associates
The founder of PMC Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, said that he did not see anything reprehensible in his words about the Akhmat unit. This is how he responded to criticism from State Duma deputy Adam Delimkhanov and chairman of the Chechen parliament Magomed Daudov.
“As for my location. Then all the participants in this discussion are well aware of mine, including closed special phones, and have the opportunity to contact me, ” his press service quoted Prigozhin as saying.
Dmitry Utkin, the commander of the Wagner PMC, also answered the Chechen politicians. His statement was published by the telegram channel Gray Zone close to the PMC.
“We are already in World War III. And in connection with the current events, I completely agree - certain citizens need to be put up against the wall, for the SHAME that we have. PMC WAGNER NEVER WAS, IS NOT, AND WILL NOT BE panic; any problems that arise, we solve using the methods available to us, which do not contradict the Laws of the Russian Federation and the Constitution; where did such familiarity come from, who gave you the right to address “you” and “Zhenya”; we personally did not receive planes, helicopters, MLRS from you, ”Utkin said in a statement.
He also expressed his willingness to talk like "man to man".
“Moreover, we know each other since the 1st and 2nd wars in Chechnya,” he concluded.
Ramzan Kadyrov's associates Adam Delimkhanov and Magomed Daudov issued appeals to Prigozhin after he stated that he did not know what the Akhmat battalion was doing at the front. According to Prigozhin, Akhmat has the strength to “liberate certain settlements” of the self-proclaimed DPR, but they do not have the task of “liberating” the entire DPR.
In response, Delimkhanov, addressing Prigozhin "Zhenya," said that the founder of PMC Wagner "should not understand" what the Akhmat battalion was doing. He suggested that Prigozhin stop "talking" and say a place where they could meet. Magomed Daudov suggested that the founder of the PMC "throw off the location" and meet "like a man with a man."
Background on GRU Dmitry Utkin who founded Wagner
Poland and the Netherlands will help train Ukrainian pilots on F-16 jets
From CNN’s Zahid Mahmood and Catherine Nicholls in London
The Dutch and Polish prime ministers announced their countries' intent to train Ukrainian pilots on F-16 fighter jets.
“We set up the schedule for those training. Poland will help Ukraine train the pilots of F-16 jets,” Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said at the European Political Community Summit in Moldova.
Poland also has "few" Patriot systems, Morawiecki continued, urging other countries who do have them to share them with Ukraine "as soon as possible." In March, Poland became the first NATO member to pledge MiG-29 fighter jets to Ukraine in a move to assist Kyiv’s battle against Russia.
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, who also attended the summit, said Thursday the Netherlands would also start training Ukrainian pilots on F-16 jets "as soon as possible."
Countries at the summit are "part of the fighter jet coalition for Ukraine. I have called on other countries present to join the coalition," he said on Twitter.
“This is an essential step in ensuring Ukraine can defend itself,” he added.
The State Duma proposed to oblige taxi drivers to track down drones in the sky
The State Duma proposed installing special devices for tracking drones on taxi drivers' cars. The information will be transmitted to the military to destroy the UAV, Dmitry Kuznetsov, a member of the defense committee, told Ura.ru.
In a conversation with the publication, the deputy boasted that the committee had created a public defense innovation support center, which allegedly develops "anti-drone equipment."
“Mainly, of course, to support our fighters on the front lines, but just yesterday, our developer made a very interesting proposal, how it is possible, thanks to the assistance of civil society with the help of a taxi system, cars, to actually track the appearance of UAVs and inform the military for further destruction or landing [drones] ", Kuznetsov explained.
According to the deputy, such equipment will not require large investments. He stated that the devices could be put "by everyone on civilian cars or, for example, in taxis for convenience." “To have a connected network: just track UAV navigation and detect drones faster than even the military will do, because this is a distributed system,” the parliamentarian said.
He added that if the Russian authorities are interested in such a proposal, the committee is ready to start testing the equipment.
Russian Security Service Claims Thousands Of Diplomats' iPhones Hacked; Moscow-Based Kaspersky Also Hit
Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) claims thousands of iPhones belonging to the country's diplomats have suffered a massive hacking attack.
The FSB said in a statement on June 1 that hackers allegedly targeted the iPhones of diplomats working at Russian embassies and consulates in countries that are members of NATO, former Soviet republics, as well as in China, Israel, and Syria.
The statement did not give any details or evidence of the alleged cyberattack, just saying that an "unknown" app that targets vulnerable parts of the iOS operational system was used by the hackers.
Read More:
https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-diplomats-iphones-hacking-fsb/32438777.html
Tragedy Strikes a Boat Full of Spies, and Conspiracy Theories Mount
Four people died when a storm sank a boat in northern Italy. Then it emerged that 21 of those aboard had worked for Israeli or Italian intelligence, igniting a speculative frenzy.
The black clouds appeared quickly, sneaking up on sun-seeking revelers on the lake in northern Italy, interrupting early-evening aperitivi and lakefront strolls. A weather warning issued earlier in the day had not foreseen the violence of the storm that burst over the lake, with winds so extreme they sank a boat, killing four of its 23 passengers.
As news stories go, the incident on Lake Maggiore on Sunday was a freak tragedy that would usually have attracted fleeting attention.
But in subsequent days, the story took off in the Italian media when it emerged that 21 people on the boat were spies, or former spies — including 13 from the Mossad, Israel’s foreign intelligence service, and eight Italian ones. Official explanations that they had been celebrating a birthday did little to quell a speculative frenzy about their activities.
Two of those who died belonged to Italy’s intelligence service, according to a note issued by Italian intelligence, while Israel said that another victim had been a retired Mossad operative. The fourth victim, a Russian woman, had been married to the boat’s skipper.
Read More:
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/01/world/europe/spy-deaths-boat-italy.html
Mongolia’s Paper Fleet Is Helping Russia Dodge Sanctions
A landlocked country is offering flags of convenience at sea.
Mongolia is the world’s second-largest landlocked country. On paper, though, it sails more than 3,000 ships. The North Asian country has established a shipping registry that, like other nations taking advantage of shipping’s sketchy rules, has become a preferred choice for a dubious clientele of shipowners.
The decades after the 1920s—when some U.S. companies began reflagging their ships to Panama to be able to serve passengers alcohol—saw decidedly modest maritime powers such as Panama, Liberia, and the Marshall Islands establish the concept of “flag of convenience,” as they allowed shipping companies from any country to register their vessels under their flags. The flag-of-convenience states made money, and the shipping companies could circumvent their own countries’ pesky rules and regulations. Today, Panama, Liberia, and the Marshall Islands are the world’s top three shipping countries measured by dead-weight tonnage.
Now Mongolia is gaining clients—especially shipping companies transporting sanctioned Russian goods. In the shipping industry, Mongolia is one of the world’s most notorious flag-of-convenience states, and now it seems to be flaunting its sorry record to undermine international sanctions. But not even Mongolia’s egregious behavior is likely to put an end to the shipping world’s favorite dodge. It’s more likely to cause lethal maritime accidents.
“The sign says ‘Maritime Administration’ over the door of the one room office which has a handful of computers, a fax machine, ship models for décor, and two civil servants that oversee the ‘Mongolia Ship Registry,’” the Maritime Executive reported in July 2004.
The Maritime Executive was baffled at Mongolia’s arrival in the flag-of-convenience community. Mongolia is the world’s largest landlocked country, a sparsely populated nation mostly known for having more horses than its 3.2 million people, and of course for a famous medieval ruler named Genghis Khan. “A Mongol without a horse is like a bird without wings,” a local saying goes.
Read More:
https://foreignpolicy.com/2023/06/01/mongolia-shipping-industry-russia-sanctions/
US sanctions Iranians over alleged plots to kill John Bolton and others around the world
The U.S. imposed sanctions Thursday on an Iranian Revolutionary Guard official and others it says took part in wide-ranging plots to kill former national security adviser John Bolton and others around the world, including at least one additional U.S. government official.
The alleged 2021 plot against Bolton, one of the best-documented of the alleged assassination efforts, is part of what U.S. prosecutors and former government officials describe as ongoing efforts by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard to kill Trump-era officials behind a 2020 U.S. airstrike that killed the head of the Iranian guard’s elite Quds Force, Qassem Soleimani.
In all, Thursday’s sanctions accuse three people based in Iran and Turkey, a company affiliated with Iran’s Quds Force and two senior officials of Iran’s Intelligence Organization in global plots to kill former U.S. officials, journalists and Iranian dissidents abroad, according to the U.S. Treasury Department.
The Cleaner and the Laundromat: Belarusian Cleaning Magnate Allegedly Laundered Millions Through Disgraced Latvian Bank ABLV
Latvian investigators suspect the owner of “Clean World,” a well-known cleaning business that stretches across Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus, of using the notorious bank to launder tens of millions of euros. Reporters looked into Eduard Apsit and his business.
In the early 1990s, a round-faced young man with a quiet smile set out to make his fortune in the new world of capitalist commerce that was overtaking his native Belarus.
After first trying his hand at a computer business, he went in a different direction at the suggestion of his mother-in-law: cleaning. Starting with the equivalent of just a few hundred dollars in seed funding, he and his wife Elena launched a small dry cleaning operation in 1994.
“It started as an experiment that didn’t carry much weight, but as often happens, the endeavor grew along the way,” Eduard Apsit would later tell an interviewer.
He was being modest. The business grew to become one of the biggest facilities management and cleaning services in the region, and Apsit became a wealthy man, with a stately home in the luxurious Latvian beachfront neighborhood of Jurmala, property in Cyprus, and tens of millions of euros in the bank.
Best known under the brand name Clean World, his business landed impressive clients, including Belarus’s National Library and main railway. In the late 1990s, it expanded to Russia and Ukraine and won even bigger contracts: Russia’s Supreme Court, Central Bank, and even the Kremlin’s concert hall.
Read More:
"The Maritime Executive was baffled at Mongolia’s arrival in the flag-of-convenience community. Mongolia is the world’s largest landlocked country..."
LOL, unbelievable.