Tag Archives: Russia

DOJ Charges Crypto CEO In Alleged $700M Scheme

USA Today reports: The founder of the Hong Kong-based cryptocurrency exchange Bitzlato was arrested early Wednesday in Miami in connection with a vast money laundering operation, accused of transmitting more than $700 million in illicit funds in the past four years. Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said Anatoly Legkodymov, 40, a Russian national, oversaw a major “high-tech financial hub that catered to …

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George Santos Linked To Sanctioned Russian Oligarch

The Washington Post reports: George Santos has deeper ties than previously known to a businessman who cultivated close links with a onetime Trump confidant and who is the cousin of a sanctioned Russian oligarch. Andrew Intrater and his wife each gave the maximum $5,800 to Santos’ main campaign committee and tens of thousands more since 2020 to committees linked to …

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Ex-Russian President: Japanese PM Should Kill Himself

The Washington Post reports: Dmitry Medvedev, Russia’s former president and a senior security official in President Vladimir Putin’s administration, said Saturday that Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida should perform a ritualistic suicide by disembowelment to repent for what Medvedev called servitude to the United States. Medvedev’s remarks were in response to a joint statement Friday by President Biden and Kishida, …

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Russia To Ban Accurate Maps As “Extremist Materials”

Reuters reports: Russia’s government extended support to a legislative amendment that would classify maps that dispute the country’s official “territorial integrity” as punishable extremist materials, the state-owned TASS news agency reported on Sunday. The amendment to Russia’s anti-extremism legislation stipulates that “cartographic and other documents and images that dispute the territorial integrity of Russia” will be classified as extremist materials, …

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REPORT: Russia To Call Up 500,000 More Conscripts

The Insider reports: The Ukrainian military is warning that Putin is planning to mobilize up to half a million new troops in preparation for a new offensive in Ukraine. Speaking to the German news site T-Online, Andriy Chernyak, a Ukrainian Military Intelligence Service representative, said that they believe the mobilization will be announced on January 15, after the Orthodox Christian …

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Russia’s Unilateral Cease-Fire Order Comes Into Effect

NBC reports: The cease-fire ordered unilaterally by Russian President Vladimir Putin to coincide with the start of Orthodox Christmas began Friday but was rejected by Ukraine and its allies as a cynical move designed to buy time on the battlefield and favor in the eyes of the public. The 36-hour truce declared by Russia came into effect at midday Moscow …

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Putin Calls For Cease-Fire To Mark Orthodox Christmas

NBC News reports: Russian President Vladimir Putin has instructed his military to observe a cease-fire in Ukraine for 36 hours and called on Kyiv to do the same, the Kremlin said Thursday, in a move that coincides with Russian Orthodox Christmas. Ukraine indicated earlier it wouldn’t support such a move, and has long viewed suggestions of a truce as favoring …

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Russia Blames Soldiers’ Phone Use For Deadly Strike

The Associated Press reports: Unauthorized use of cell phones by Russian soldiers led to a deadly Ukrainian rocket attack on the facility where they were stationed, according to the Russian military, as it raised the death toll from the weekend attack to 89. Gen. Lt. Sergei Sevryukov said in a statement late Tuesday that phone signals allowed Kyiv’s forces to …

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Kremlin Blamed After Ukraine Strike Kills 63 Soldiers

The Associated Press reports: Ukrainian forces fired rockets at a facility in the eastern Donetsk region where Russian soldiers were stationed, killing 63 of them, Russia’s defense ministry said Monday, in one of the deadliest attacks on the Kremlin’s forces since the war began more than 10 months ago. Ukrainian forces fired six rockets from a HIMARS launch system and …

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Zelensky To Russians: “No One Will Ever Forgive You”

The Hill reports: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told Russia that “no one will ever forgive you” for spreading terror following a series of missile attacks on the day of New Year’s Eve. Zelensky said in an address on Saturday that the missile attacks will not mark the end of the year but the outcome of Russia’s fate in that it …

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Putin Seeks New Military Cooperation Deal With China

Reuters reports: Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday he was expecting Chinese President Xi Jinping to make a state visit early next year, in what would be a public show of solidarity from Beijing amid Russia’s flailing invasion of Ukraine. In effusive introductory remarks from a video conference between the two leaders broadcast on state television, Putin also said …

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Russia Bombards Ukraine With Dozens Of Missiles

Reuters reports: Russia fired scores of missiles into Ukraine early on Thursday, targeting Kyiv and other cities including Lviv in the west and Odesa in the southwest, sending people rushing to shelters and knocking out power in one of Moscow’s largest aerial assaults.  Ukraine’s military said it had shot down 54 missiles out of 69 launched by Russia. Air raid …

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Russia To Freeze Sperm Of Potentially Doomed Soldiers

The Moscow Times reports: Russian reservists called up to fight in Ukraine as part of Russia’s recent mobilization drive will be eligible for free sperm-freezing procedures, state-run media reported on Wednesday, citing a lawyers’ association that represents military families hoping to secure state funding for the procedure. More than 300,000 reservists have so far been called up to fight in Russia’s …

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Russian Mogul Dies In “Fall From Hotel Window”

The BBC reports: Russian sausage tycoon Pavel Antov has been found dead at an Indian hotel, two days after a friend died during the same trip. They were visiting the eastern state of Odisha and the millionaire, who was also a local politician, had just celebrated his birthday at the hotel. Reports in Russian media said Mr Antov, 65, had …

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Ukraine To Request February Peace Summit At UN

The Associated Press reports: Ukraine’s foreign minister on Monday said that his government is aiming to have a peace summit by the end of February, preferably at the United Nations with Secretary-General António Guterres as a possible mediator, around the time of the anniversary of Russia’s war. Asked about whether they would invite Russia to the summit, he said that …

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Putin Claims Russia Is Ready To Negotiate With Ukraine

Reuters reports: Russia is ready to negotiate with all parties involved in the war in Ukraine but Kyiv and its Western backers have refused to engage in talks, President Vladimir Putin said in an interview aired on Sunday. “We are ready to negotiate with everyone involved about acceptable solutions, but that is up to them – we are not the …

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Another Russian Industry Mogul Has “Died Suddenly”

Reuters reports: A major Russian shipyard that specialises in building non-nuclear submarines said its general director had died suddenly on Saturday after 11 years in the job, but gave no details. Admiralty Shipyards, based in the western port of St Petersburg, announced the death of Alexander Buzakov in a statement. He had been in the job since August 2012. Tass …

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Putin Calls Fighting In Ukraine “War” For First Time

CNN reports: Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday used the word “war” to refer to the conflict in Ukraine, the first known time he has publicly deviated from his carefully crafted description of Moscow’s invasion as a “special military operation” 10 months after it began. “Our goal is not to spin the flywheel of military conflict, but, on the contrary, …

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Departure Of Telecoms Poses Trouble For Russia

Reuters reports: When telecoms gear makers Nokia and Ericsson leave Russia at the end of the year, their departure could steadily cripple the country’s mobile networks over the long-term, setting off a deterioration in communication for everyday Russians. Ericsson and Nokia, which together account for a large share of the telecoms equipment market and close to 50% in terms of …

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Russians Hacked JFK Taxi Dispatch To Charge Drivers

From the Justice Department: Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and John Gay, the Inspector General of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (the “Port Authority”), announced the unsealing of an Indictment charging DANIEL ABAYEV and PETER LEYMAN with two counts of conspiracy to commit computer intrusions. The Indictment charges …

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