Tag Archives: Russia

Russia: We Will Withdraw Troops From Ukraine Border

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 …

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Analysis: China And Russia Fueling QAnon Propaganda

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 …

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EU Reports 150K Russian Troops Massed Near Ukraine

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 …

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Russia Expels US Diplomats After Sanctions By Biden

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 …

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Biden Admin To Sanction Russia For Bounties, Hacking

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 …

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Biden Proposes Summit With Putin Over Ukraine

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. …

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Russia’s COVID Toll Up To 4X Higher Than Reported

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 …

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Expenditure Marked “Russia” Arises At NRA Trial

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 …

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Russian Poll Names Vladimir Putin Nation’s Sexiest Man

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 …

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AP: Russian Hackers Got Emails Of Top Trump Officials

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 …

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Kremlin Refuses To Say Which Vaccine Putin Will Get

Reuters reports: The Kremlin said on Tuesday it had deliberately decided it would not reveal the name of the Russian-made vaccine which President Vladimir Putin is due to take later on Tuesday. “We are deliberately not saying which shot the president will get, noting that all three Russian (-made) vaccines are absolutely reliable and effective,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told …

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Mike Pompeo: Biden Was Right To Call Putin A “Killer”

Mediaite reports: “You could argue the prudence of the American president calling the Russian president a killer,” said host John Roberts. “But are the facts in dispute here?” Despite first condemning Biden for using “empty rhetoric and name calling” in his comments about Putin, Pompeo conceded that the president might be right to call Putin a killer. “Well he worked …

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Vladimir Putin Ominously Wishes Biden “Good Health”

Reuters reports: President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that it takes one to know one after the U.S. president said he thought Putin was a killer, adding that he wished Biden good health. Putin was speaking on television after Biden, in an ABC News interview that prompted Russia to recall its Washington ambassador for consultations on Wednesday, said “I do” …

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Russia Recalls Ambassador Over Comments By Biden

NBC News reports: Russia has recalled its ambassador to the United States after President Joe Biden made comments criticizing Russian leader Vladimir Putin that were “very bad” and without precedent, the Kremlin said Thursday. “I won’t be wordy in reaction to this,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. “I will only say that these are very bad statements by the …

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US Intel: Russia Tried To Help Trump In 2020 Election

USA Today reports: Russia and Iran engaged in multi-faceted, covert influence campaigns aimed at swaying the outcome of the 2020 presidential election, according to a declassified assessment released Tuesday by U.S. intelligence officials. The report from the Director of National Intelligence said U.S. officials did not find evidence that foreign actors tried to alter “technical” aspects of the voting process, …

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Rachel Maddow Wins Grammy For Best Spoken Word

Yahoo Entertainment reports: MSNBC host Rachel Maddow has won her first Grammy Award, claiming victory on Sunday in the Best Spoken Word Album category. The pundit received the award for the audiobook version of her 2019 book “Blowout: Corrupted Democracy, Rogue State Russia, and the Richest, Most Destructive Industry on Earth,” which explores the impact and influence of fossil fuel …

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Army Reviews Michael Flynn’s Dealings With Russia

Apparently pardons don’t get you out of everything: The Defense Department’s internal watchdog has concluded a long-delayed investigation into Michael Flynn, defense officials said Friday, sending its findings to the Army in a case that could bring tens of thousands of dollars in financial penalties for former president Donald Trump’s first national security adviser. The investigation focuses on Flynn’s acceptance …

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Putin Characterizes US Capitol Riot As Mere “Stroll”

The Associated Press reports: Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday characterized the January insurrection at the U.S. Capitol by supporters of former President Donald Trump as a “stroll.” Putin made the comment in a meeting on increasing investment activity, during which he said Russia is interested in stability in the United States. “Some of the people who took a stroll …

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Russia Throttles, Threatens To Block Twitter Entirely

Reuters reports: Russia said on Wednesday it was slowing down the speed of Twitter in retaliation for its alleged failure to remove banned content, and threatened a total block if the U.S. platform did not comply with its deletion demands. The move, which escalates a growing stand-off between Moscow and U.S. social media firms, comes weeks after Russian authorities accused …

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US Intel: Russia Spreading Disinfo On Pfizer Vaccine

The Wall Street Journal reports: Russian intelligence agencies have mounted a campaign to undermine confidence in Pfizer Inc.’s and other Western vaccines, using online publications that in recent months have questioned the vaccines’ development and safety, U.S. officials said. An official with the State Department’s Global Engagement Center, which monitors foreign disinformation efforts, identified four publications that he said have …

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