Author: disinfo1
A former Russian prisoner, turned into an agent of the Moscow special services, is at the center of a diplomatic confrontation between several European countries and the Kremlin. According to The Washington Post, it is about Iaroslav Mihailov, 37 years old, who is said to have been involved in organizing attacks with explosive devices in Western Europe, at the command of the Russian services. Mihailov, using a fake passport, took refuge in Azerbaijan after allegedly coordinating a network of saboteurs who sent several trap parcels through DHL, equipped with timers and flammable compounds based on magnesium. These were shipped from…
The Supreme Rada in Kiev has dismissed ministers Gherman Galuschenko and Svitlana Grinciuk, amid a corruption scandal in the energy sector involving the Energoatom company. The Supreme Rada, the unicameral parliament of Ukraine, voted on Wednesday, November 19, with a two-thirds majority, to dismiss Gherman Galuschenko, former Minister of Energy and current Minister of Justice, and his successor, Svitlana Grinciuk. The move comes in the wake of a growing corruption scandal in the energy sector, after information about a bribery scheme at the Energoatom company leaked to the press and intense political pressure in the Ukrainian parliament. Before the vote,…
The United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia imposed on Wednesday a new set of sanctions against several Russian IT companies, accused of providing IT infrastructure and “bulletproof hosting” services for hackers and cybercrime networks. Among the entities targeted are “Media Land” and “Aeza Group”, as well as associated companies and individuals in Russia and other countries. According to the US Treasury Department, the sanctions focus on networks that have provided digital shelter to criminal groups, systematically refusing to cooperate with authorities when asked for customer data or illegal content. Among those targeted is also the “Kirishi” data center in…
The Ukrainian front enters its toughest stage so far. As the army advances to Kupiansk, more and more Western analysts warn that the risk of a strategic loss becomes palpable. German journalist Julian Röpcke talks about a mobilization crisis that can no longer be masked, while British analyst Mark Galeotti describes the “rupture” at Pokrovsk, and experts from Kiev draw attention to Ukraine’s number one deficit: people. An increasingly vulnerable front “The situation can no longer be hidden either by PR operations of the General Staff or by the government’s attempts to minimize the reality on the ground,” warns German…
The anti-corruption investigation currently shaking Ukraine has advanced further than any other during Volodymyr Zelensky’s term – and inevitably, closer to the president. For a society weary of war, but also of repeated promises of “cleaning up the system”, the new revelations bring back to the fore an old question: how much of the promised anti-corruption is real and how much is just rhetoric? It was past two in the morning when Timur Mindici, Zelensky’s former business partner, crossed the border into Poland. A few hours later, back home, detectives were raiding his residence, in one of the most extensive…
Two Ukrainian citizens who collaborated with Russian intelligence services are the main suspects in the case of the two acts of sabotage on the Polish railway network, stated on Tuesday Prime Minister Donald Tusk, according to BBC. Tusk told parliament that one of the suspects had already been convicted in absentia for acts of sabotage in Ukraine. On Monday, the Prime Minister visited the site of an explosion near the town of Mika, southeast of Warsaw, which damaged the railway line leading to the border with Ukraine over the weekend, calling the incident “an unprecedented act of sabotage”. Another incident,…
The defense budget of the Republic of Moldova is expected to gradually increase, so that by 2030 the allocations will reach 1% of GDP. The statement was made by the Minister of Defense, Anatolie Nosatîi, when the Government voted in October for the military strategy for the next 10 years. Experts consider this to be extremely low funding. If Romania, as a NATO member state, commits to a massive increase in defense spending up to 5% of GDP by 2035, which would mean 3.5% for basic expenses and 1.5% for related investments, such as strengthening the presence of NATO allied…
The German company ARX Robotics has secured a new major contract in Ukraine for the supply of unmanned ground systems GEREON. According to the company’s information, Ukraine is set to develop “the world’s largest military ground robotics park”, consisting of several hundred platforms interconnected in a single network. According to the dev.ua portal, the GEREON vehicle network will be used for logistic missions, evacuations, reconnaissance operations, and activities carried out near the front line – areas where the risks for personnel are particularly high. All platforms will operate through Mithra OS, an operating system that integrates autonomous functions, sensors, and…
The Russian anti-aircraft defense shot down three Ukrainian drones approaching Moscow on Tuesday, announced the mayor of the Russian capital, Sergei Sobyanin, according to Reuters and EFE agencies, quoted by Agerpres. Sheremetyevo and Vnukovo airports, the largest airports serving the Russian capital, were temporarily closed following the drone attack, but their operations have since resumed, according to the Russian aviation authority. Ukraine regularly resorts to drone attacks on Russian strategic targets, such as refineries, fuel reservoirs, ammunition depots or military airfields, in an asymmetric warfare tactic meant to disrupt the logistics of the Russian army and reduce the revenues obtained…
American General Ben Hodges was overseeing a military exercise in Europe when an unexpected incident occurred at a train station in Poland – dozens of Bradley armored vehicles sped into the building, some of them seriously damaged when their turrets were torn off after hitting the station’s platform roof. “Nobody was injured,” Hodges said, at that time the commander of the American forces in Europe. In the meantime, the general has retired. “However, there were thousands of dollars in damages and we ended up with ten armored vehicles that couldn’t be ready for battle for a significant period of time.” A…