Tag Archives: Russia

The Hill reports: Sen. Ted Cruz(R-Texas) tore into journalist Brian Williams after the MSNBC anchor dubbed the lawmaker “Kremlin Cruz” during a segment last week. The dust-up came after Cruz criticized a video put out by the Pentagon telling the story of a recruit who marched for marriage equality before joining the armed forces. The senator called it “woke” and …

CNN reports: Two White House officials were struck by a mysterious illness late last year — including one who was passing through a gate onto the property — newly revealed details that come as investigators are still struggling to determine who or what is behind these strange incidents. The cases are consistent with an inexplicable constellation of sensory experiences and …

Bloomberg News reports: Colonial Pipeline Co. paid nearly $5 million to Eastern European hackers on Friday, contradicting reports earlier this week that the company had no intention of paying an extortion fee to help restore the country’s largest fuel pipeline, according to two people familiar with the transaction. The company paid the hefty ransom in untraceable cryptocurrency within hours after …

Axios reports: Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday ordered the Russian Federal Service of National Guard Troops to start working on new gun regulations following a school shooting that left at least eight people dead, according to the Kremlin. Driving the news: A gunman on Tuesday morning attacked a school in the city of Kazan and killed seven students and …

Reuters reports: Supplies of gasoline tightened further in parts of the United States on Tuesday as the shutdown of the nation’s biggest fuel pipeline by hackers entered its fifth day, raising concern about price spikes at the pumps heading into the summer driving season. The Colonial Pipeline said it was working to “substantially” resume operations by the end of this …

Politico reports: U.S. officials suspect that a notorious Russian spy agency may be behind alleged attacks that are causing mysterious health issues among U.S. government personnel across the world, according to three current and former officials with direct knowledge of the discussions. The intelligence community has not reached a consensus or made a formal determination. However, officials have told lawmakers …

The Associated Press reports: Speaking to the annual military parade on Moscow’s Red Square, Putin on Sunday decried “attempts to rewrite history, to justify traitors and criminals, on whose hands lies the blood of hundreds of thousands of peaceful people.” “Unfortunately, many of the ideologies of the Nazis, those who were obsessed with the delusional theory of their exclusiveness, are …

The Hill reports: The New York Times, The Washington Post and NBC News walked back their reporting about FBI’s communication with President Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani regarding Russia. The Washington Post was the first to report on Thursday that Giuliani was warned that he was the target of a Russian influence campaign last year. The newspaper, citing people familiar …

The Washington Post reports: The FBI warned Rudolph W. Giuliani in late 2019 that he was the target of a Russian influence operation aimed at circulating falsehoods intended to damage President Biden politically ahead of last year’s election, according to people familiar with the matter. The warning was part of an extensive effort by the bureau to alert members of …

CNN reports: Federal agencies are investigating at least two possible incidents on US soil, including one near the White House in November of last year, that appear similar to mysterious, invisible attacks that have led to debilitating symptoms for dozens of US personnel abroad. Multiple sources familiar with the matter tell CNN that while the Pentagon and other agencies probing …

Bloomberg News reports: Russia said it will begin pulling thousands of troops back from areas near the Ukrainian border starting Friday, in a step that could calm strains with the West that have surged in recent weeks. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy welcomed the move, saying in a tweet it “reduces tension.” The ruble gained as much as 1.4% against the …

Yahoo News reports: Foreign-based actors, principally in China and Russia, are spreading online disinformation rooted in QAnon conspiracy theories, fueling a movement that has become a mounting domestic terrorism threat, according to new analysis of online propaganda by a security firm. The analysis by the Soufan Center, a New York-based research firm focused on national security threats, found that nearly …

Reuters reports: Russia has concentrated more than 150,000 troops on Ukraine’s border and in annexed Crimea, the EU’s top diplomat Josep Borrell said on Monday after EU foreign ministers were briefed by Ukraine’s foreign minister. Tensions between Moscow and Kyiv have been rising amid the military build-up and clashes in eastern Ukraine between the army and pro-Russian separatists. The Associated …

The Associated Press reports: Russia on Friday responded in kind to a barrage of new U.S. sanctions, saying it would expel 10 U.S. diplomats and take other retaliatory moves in a tense showdown with Washington. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov also said Moscow will add eight U.S. officials to its sanctions list and move to restrict and stop the activities …

The New York Times reports: The Biden administration is set to announce on Thursday a string of long-awaited measures against Russia, including far-reaching financial sanctions, for the hacking of government and private networks and a range of other activity, according to people who have been briefed on the moves. The sanctions will be among what President Biden’s aides say are …

Reuters reports: U.S. President Joe Biden called on Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday to reduce tensions stirred by a Russian military build-up on Ukraine’s border and proposed a summit of the estranged leaders to tackle a raft of disputes. The White House and the Kremlin reported only the second conversation between the two since Biden took office in January. …

The New York Times reports: Russia saw a jump of 360,000 deaths above normal from last April through December, according to a Times analysis of historical data. Figures for January and February of this year show that the number is now well above 400,000. In the United States, with more than twice the population of Russia, such “excess deaths” since …

Raw Story reports: A bizarre moment happened in the bankruptcy trial of the National Rifle Association (NRA) Wednesday. According to Law and Crime News investigative reporter Adam Klasfeld, who is there live-tweeting the proceedings, a Russia reference popped up in an odd place. Looking at expenditures from the NRA, the Brewer law firm sent the NRA an invoice to general …

The New York Post reports: And they say Russia doesn’t rig elections. When asked who the most handsome man in their country was, 18% of Russia’s men and 17% of its women allegedly thought of their bare-breasted, horseback-riding, scandal-immune leader, Vladimir Putin. The highly suspect and mildly terrifying poll by job board site Superjob.ru surveyed 2,000 Russians and determined that …

The Associated Press reports: Suspected Russian hackers gained access to email accounts belonging to the Trump administration’s head of the Department of Homeland Security and members of the department’s cybersecurity staff whose jobs included hunting threats from foreign countries, The Associated Press has learned. The intelligence value of the hacking of then-acting Secretary Chad Wolf and his staff is not …