Russia Watch Thread

[wjfox]

[weatheriscool]

[Time_Traveller]

Noon Against Putin: Alexei Navalny’s final plan to disrupt Russia’s sham elections

2 hours ago

Russian citizens will spend this weekend casting their vote for their next president, even though the result has already been decided.

Vladimir Putin, already the longest-serving ruler of Russia since Joseph Stalin, will win a fifth and unconstitutional term after polls close on Sunday.

No amount of votes against him can prevent his victory, say the Russian dissident community, since the system is rigged and those that could challenge him have either been killed, imprisoned or exiled.

“It’s impossible to win against Putin’s regime through legitimate means,” says Evgenia Chirikova, who once unsuccessfully ran to be a local mayor in a Moscow suburb, with the help of Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny. She is now in exile in Estonia, having had her life threatened by the authorities.

But the Russian dissident community has nevertheless convened a plan to disturb this rubber-stamping exercise.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/worl ... 11903.html

[Time_Traveller]

Russia election: Arrests for vandalism as ballot boxes targeted in Putin vote

34 minutes ago



Several people have been detained for vandalism at polling stations on a first day of voting in presidential elections, Russian officials say.

Incidents involved green dye being poured into ballot boxes, ballot boxes being set alight or fireworks being set off inside polling stations, state media reported.

Vladimir Putin is certain to win six more years in office after the vote.

However, officials have called on law enforcement officers to be vigilant.

Most of the incidents were reported at polling stations in Moscow, Voronezh in south Russia, and the region of Karachay-Cherkessia in the north Caucasus, according to state news agency Tass.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-68576817

[wjfox]

[weatheriscool]

[raklian]

The world knows the election is a sham. There is no doubt now Russia is a dictatorship.

[Time_Traveller]

The world knows the election is a sham. There is no doubt now Russia is a dictatorship.

Hmm, I thought it slowly getting there under him since becoming President in 1999.

[firestar464]

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/sh ... r-BB1kn5dA

Shooting, Explosions Kill at Least 40 at Moscow Concert Venue

[Powers]

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/sh ... r-BB1kn5dA

Shooting, Explosions Kill at Least 40 at Moscow Concert Venue

Seems to be ISIS.

[weatheriscool]

[caltrek]

Hackers Stole Russian Prisoner Database to Avenge Death of Navalny
by Sean Lyngaas and Darya Tarasova
April 1,2024

Introduction:

(CNN) Within hours of opposition leader Alexey Navalny’s death in February in a Russian prison, a group of anti-Kremlin hackers went looking for revenge.

Using their access to a computer network tied to Russia’s prison system, the hackers plastered a photo of Navalny on the hacked prison contractor’s website, according to interviews with the hackers, screenshots and data reviewed by CNN.

“Long live Alexey Navalny!” read a message on the hacked website, accompanied by a photo of Navalny and his wife Yulia at a political rally.

In a stunning breach of security, they also appear to have stolen a database containing information on hundreds of thousands of Russian prisoners and their relatives and contacts, including, the hackers claim, data held on prisoners in the Arctic penal colony where Navalny died on February 16.

The hackers, who say they are a mix of nationalities, including Russian expatriates and Ukrainians, are sharing that data, including phone numbers and email addresses of prisoners and their relatives “in the hope that somebody can contact them and help understand what happened to Navalny,” a hacker claiming to be involved in the breach told CNN.

Read more here: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/e ... msnnews11

[weatheriscool]

[weatheriscool]

U.S. ready to sanction Chinese banks if they aid Russia's war machine, Yellen says

Source: CNBC

Published Mon, Apr 8 2024 10:47 AM EDT Updated 12 Min Ago

The United States is prepared to sanction Chinese banks and companies, as well as Beijing’s leadership, if they assist Russia’s armed forces with the invasion of Ukraine, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Monday.

“We stand ready to act if we see significant violations, especially by financial institutions,” Yellen said in an interview with CNBC’s Sara Eisen in Beijing. “Anything that involves aiding Russia’s military in their brutal war against Ukraine is unacceptable to us and we have the ability to sanction it.”

President Joe Biden issued a new executive order in December that vested the Treasury secretary with the authority to sanction financial institutions that aided Russia’s military-industrial complex.

Yellen said the Treasury Department has “not used this tool yet.” China is “entitled” to have a relationship with Russia, she said, noting that much of the trade between the two countries is seen by the U.S. as nonproblematic. But the provision of military aid from Beijing to Moscow could trigger sanctions.

Read more: https://www.cnbc.com/2024/04/08/yellen- ... itary.html

[weatheriscool]

[Powers]

[Time_Traveller]

Russian court orders arrest of Yulia Navalnaya

9 July 2024, 17:10 BST



A court in Moscow has issued an arrest warrant for the widow of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny on charges of extremism, according to state media.

The charges brought against Yulia Navalnaya, who lives outside Russia, in absentia are to do with her alleged "participation in an extremist society", Tass news agency said.

The opposition leader - Russia's most significant for the past decade - died in an Arctic Circle jail of natural causes, according to Russian authorities. Mr Navalny had been serving 19 years on extremism charges that were widely seen as politically motivated.

But his widow accuses Russian President Vladimir Putin of killing him.

In response to the arrest warrant, she posted on X: "When you write about this, please do not forget to write the main thing: Vladimir Putin is a murderer and a war criminal.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cg3mjzyp40go

[Time_Traveller]

Russia arrests former deputy defence minister on corruption charge

Fri 26 Jul 2024 13.44 BST



A former senior Russian defence official has been arrested and charged with corruption in the latest high-profile incident in an ongoing purge within the country’s military top brass.

Dmitry Bulgakov, who was a deputy defence minister in charge of military logistics for almost 15 years until he was dismissed in September 2022, was detained by the FSB security service on Friday and placed in the notorious Lefortovo prison in Moscow.

He was widely blamed for the Russian army’s logistical failures during the early months of the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine, which left troops severely undersupplied and stalled Moscow’s advances.

Bulgakov, who is the recipient of several top military and civilian awards, including the Hero of Russia award, the country’s highest honour, was one of the longest-serving defence officials.

The purge began on 23 April with the shock arrest of Timur Ivanov, another veteran deputy defence minister. Then, in the span of several weeks, four other top defence officials were arrested on corruption charges, marking the most significant crackdown in the defence ministry in decades.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/artic ... on-charges

[Time_Traveller]

'Don't mix up Putin's regime and Russia': British citizen released from prison makes Ukraine war 'propaganda' plea

Friday 2 August 2024 18:31, UK



A British citizen, who was freed in the biggest prisoner exchange with Russia since the Cold War, has urged people not to "mix up Vladimir Putin's regime with Russia".

Speaking in Bonn, Germany, Vladimir Kara-Murza was critical of how the Russian president rules the country, a rule which he said, does not represent the entire population.

"The difference between dictatorships and democracies is that human life is sacred in democracies," Mr Kara-Murza said.

Mentioning the war in Ukraine - which the Kremlin refers to as its special military operation - Mr Kara-Murza added: "Propaganda wants to make it seem that every person in Russia supports the Ukraine war, this is a lie.

"Please do not allow yourselves to be persuaded that this Kremlin lie has anything to do with real life."

https://news.sky.com/story/dont-mix-up- ... a-13189384

[wjfox]

FBI dossier reveals Putin’s secret psychological warfare in Europe

September 5, 2024 8:26 am CET

WASHINGTON — The U.S. government on Wednesday indicted two Russian citizens and seized more than 30 internet domains related to a campaign to influence the American election.

But the trove of information filed in court by the FBI also revealed another bombshell: A Russian operation to manipulate German, French, Italian and U.K. politicians, businesspeople, journalists and other influencers.

The goal of the Kremlin’s campaign in Europe was to sow division, discredit America and undermine support for Ukraine, according to a host of Russian documents, memos and minutes from Russian psychological warfare meetings.

The documents were obtained by the FBI and filed in a court affidavit as part of Wednesday’s indictments. The 277-page dossier details Russian plans to win over Europeans' hearts and minds.

One memo from Russia’s “Social Design Agency” described a plan to target people via real posts and comments on social media to circumvent social media companies' bot filters.

https://www.politico.eu/article/fbi-dos ... on-europe/