Putin health fears as despot mocked over 'haggard' Victory Day appearance
The Russian leader was branded a 'deeply frightened, aging dictator' and mocked over his tired and aged appearance at the Victory Day parade in Moscow
Vladimir Putin is facing a torrent of ridicule over his haggard and hollow appearance as concerns about the Russian dictator's health continue to mount.
Reportedly terrified of a coup or assassination at the hands of Ukraine, the despot was labelled a "deeply frightened, aging dictator" by Russian adversary Mikhail Khodorkovsky following his Victory Day appearance in Moscow.
Ukrainian commentator Anton Gerashchenko drew attention to an unflattering photograph of the 73-year-old former spy and his swollen cheeks, writing: "The face of a 'victor' and the leader of a 'superpower'. It seems sanctions have even reached Putin's Botox".
Observers noted a lopsided, pillow-like face, lumpy filler, mismatched cheeks, and a melting wax face. Monitoring group Crimean Wind stated: "History shows that many dictators visibly aged before the fall of their regime or their death. Scientists link this to chronic stress, paranoid fear of losing power, and isolation, which accelerate the body's aging."
Putin opponent Leonid Nevzlin viewed the "shrinking" parade — which featured no military hardware for the first time in almost two decades — as a telling symbol of Putin's loosening grip on power.
Russian official warns a banking crisis could hit from nonpayments
Russia's wartime economy is running into a problem that cannot be spun away: more households and companies are simply not paying their debts. A senior Russian official has now warned that a full-blown banking crisis could emerge from this wave of nonpayments, a rare public admission that the financial system is under real strain. The warning lands just as the costs of the war in Ukraine, slumping energy revenues, and tighter Western sanctions are converging on the country's lenders.
I see this moment as a stress test of the Kremlin's entire economic strategy since the invasion began. For years, Moscow leaned on oil and gas income and aggressive interest rate policy to keep the system afloat. Now, with borrowers falling behind and banks themselves flagging risks, the question is whether the authorities can contain the damage before it spills into a broader crisis of confidence.
The official warning and what "nonpayments" really mean
The Russian official's message was blunt: if the current pattern of missed payments continues, the country's banks could face a systemic shock. The concern is not about a handful of bad loans but about a growing share of borrowers who are no longer servicing their debts, from consumer credit cards to corporate loans. In the official's own framing, the risk is that nonpayments snowball into a wave of defaults that erodes bank capital and forces state rescues, a scenario that would test the Kremlin's ability to keep the war economy running while maintaining financial stability.
The stakes are high enough that the official linked the financial outlook directly to the trajectory of the conflict in Ukraine, saying, "I don’t want to think about a continuation of the war or an escalation," a line that underscored how intertwined the battlefield and the balance sheet have become. That comment, reported by Dec and attributed to a Kremlin insider, came as the same official acknowledged that the war is providing revenue for its military even as it strains the civilian economy, a tension captured in Dec coverage of the warning. When a senior figure close to the Kremlin publicly entertains the possibility of a banking crisis, it signals that internal stress tests are already flashing red.
From wartime boom to sanctions squeeze
In the early phases of the invasion, Russia's economy appeared surprisingly resilient, helped by high global energy prices and redirected exports. That cushion is now thinning. Energy prices have slumped, and Europe and the United States have tightened sanctions in ways that directly hit Moscow's ability to earn hard currency. The result is a squeeze on the very revenues that once allowed the Kremlin to subsidize banks, support borrowers, and fund the war simultaneously.
Dec reporting notes that oil and gas revenue, which had been a lifeline, is now under pressure as Europe and the United States deepen restrictions and global benchmarks soften, undermining borrowers’ ability to service loans and weakening the broader economy. The shift is captured in analysis that explains how, "But more recently, energy prices have slumped while Europe and the U.S. have tightened sanctions," a combination that is now weighing on borrowers’ ability to service loans. As export income falls and financing channels narrow, banks are left more exposed to domestic risks, with fewer buffers to absorb a spike in bad debts.
Rising bad loans and early red flags from banks
The current warning did not come out of nowhere. Earlier this year, Russian banks themselves raised alarms about a potential debt crisis as high interest rates started to bite. In June, Russian lenders flagged that the combination of elevated borrowing costs and stagnant real incomes was pushing more clients toward a "pre-default" situation, language that hinted at a growing pool of loans that were technically current but at high risk of turning sour. Those internal assessments suggested that the system was already under strain before the latest deterioration in payments.
By late in the year, the picture had worsened. As a result, more consumers are having trouble servicing their loans, and the share of nonperforming credit is climbing across retail and corporate portfolios. Given the headwinds, the Russian official warning about a possible banking crisis is building on concerns that bankers had already voiced, including the June signal that high rates were weighing on borrowers’ ability to keep up with payments, as detailed in In June, Russian banks raised red flags. Independent experts have echoed that view, with Dec analysis noting that Russian bankers themselves described parts of the system as being in a "pre-default situation," a phrase that appears in assessments of Russia’s wartime economy headed for 2026 crisis.
Households under pressure and the politics of pain
Behind the technical language of "nonpayments" are Russian families juggling mortgages, car loans, and credit card balances in an economy distorted by war. As inflation erodes purchasing power and real wages lag, more households are missing payments, restructuring debts, or turning to informal lenders. I see this as a political as much as a financial risk: a banking crisis that starts with consumer defaults can quickly morph into anger at both banks and the state, especially if savers fear for their deposits or face tighter credit just as living costs rise.
Reports shared by Dec describe how, as a result of the economic headwinds, more consumers are having trouble servicing their loans, a trend that is now central to the official's warning that the banking system could be destabilized by nonpayments. Given the mounting pressure, the Russian official warning about a banking crisis is framed as a response to these household-level strains, which are documented in coverage noting that, "As a result, more consumers are having trouble servicing their loans. Given the headwinds, the Russian official warnin[g]" of systemic risk, a passage highlighted in Given the analysis. When a large share of the population is struggling with debt, the social contract that underpins the wartime economy starts to fray, and that is precisely what the Kremlin appears eager to avoid.
Global context and what comes next for Russia's banks
Russia is not facing these challenges in isolation. Its ability to manage a domestic banking shock depends heavily on external partners, especially China and India, which have become crucial buyers of Russian energy and providers of alternative financing channels. That reliance is a double-edged sword. On one hand, continued purchases of oil and gas by these countries provide vital revenue. On the other, any shift in their appetite for Russian commodities or compliance with Western sanctions could tighten the noose on Moscow's finances and, by extension, its banks.
Dec analysis notes that this warning about a banking crisis comes "as China and India" play a central role in absorbing Russian exports and shaping the country's external position, a dynamic described in coverage that highlights how the financial outlook is tied to That’s as China and India adjust to sanctions and market shifts. At home, Russian bankers have already signaled that parts of the system are in a "pre-default situation," and the Kremlin is weighing how far it can stretch state support without triggering inflation or currency instability, concerns reflected in Dec reporting on Russian official warns a banking crisis. I see the next year as a narrow path for Moscow: it must contain rising nonpayments, reassure depositors, and keep funding the war, all while its traditional revenue engines sputter under sanctions and shifting global demand.
The idea that the Kremlin has kompromat on Trump seems increasingly plausible
If the White House capitulates to Putin on Ukraine, it will grossly and perhaps fatally betray the principles on which Nato was founded
Whether or not the Islamic Republic of Iran politically implodes in the aftermath of the American-Israeli aerial onslaught, and regardless of whether there is an uneasy truce or phoney war between the participants, a far greater issue confronts the Continent of Europe – namely what will become of Putin’s ongoing war against a sovereign UN member state, Ukraine.
Far from ending that war – which has caused far greater casualties than the recent three years’ fighting in the Middle East within 24 hours – as Trump boasted he would to American voters this time last year, Putin is raising the military stakes in an unabated attempt to subjugate Ukraine.
What is Trump doing to stop Putin’s war? Nothing, it seems. But why? Any display of substantial US military assistance for Ukraine could make further prosecution of Putin’s invasion futile. It would not involve American boots on the ground in Ukraine. It would not risk nuclear warfare. If Putin sensed that the US was serious in preventing a win for Russia in Ukraine, a ceasefire followed by a peace conference would ensue.
But Trump won’t even countenance further sanctions against Russia. He astonished his so-called allies by calling for Russia’s readmission to the G7 summits. He regularly suggests that Ukraine somehow started the war with Russia. He called President Zelenskiy a dictator and insulted him grossly at an ambush in the Oval Office – the political pigsty where idiotic parodies of international diplomacy are staged. He has hardly more than murmured against the Russian missile onslaught on Ukrainian cities.
What is his real strategy? Is it to collapse the Ukrainian state by weakening its resistance to Russia or to re-establish Ukraine as a Russian satellite? Is it to divide the mineral and oil assets of Ukraine with Russia, in line with the “deal” he imposed on Zelenskiy in a Corleone-style offer he couldn’t refuse? Is the “dictator” Zelenskiy now to be the object of US-backed regime change as part of a capitulation to Russia?
Or is there some different hidden policy agenda in the White House? I used to be sceptical about claims that Putin had access to kompromat on Trump that explained his grovelling relationship with the Kremlin. But if such kompromat is not the explanation, it is hard to see why the White House is behaving as it does towards Ukraine.
It was fascinating to read the Kremlin’s response to the US bombing of the Iranian nuclear facilities. The Russians condemned it as the violation of international law and the UN charter against the territory of a sovereign state member of the United Nations. As the invader of Ukraine, Moscow’s verbal posturing was the worst form of sanctimonious, hypocritical humbug. It was the least – and the most – it could do for Iran, the supplier of much of the components for its drone weaponry used in Ukraine.
Now we are told that the US is completely committed to Nato. The US permanent representative, Matthew Whittaker, speaking at the alliance’s conference in The Hague stated that the US “isn’t going anywhere” and is going to be a “reliable ally” for its Nato treaty members. The 5 per cent target for defence spending by Nato members seems to have rekindled Washington’s affection for the alliance.
It isn’t necessary for Ukraine to join Nato or indeed the EU in order for the US to stand by the security pledge it gave Ukraine in the aftermath of the collapse of the Soviet Union. This pledge was in exchange for Ukraine giving up the nuclear arsenal that was located on its territory in USSR days. It may well be that the pre-1954 status of the Crimea as part of Russia will ultimately be reinstated as part of a peace deal.
But a successful Russian subjugation of Ukraine and a follow-on subjugation of Moldova and Georgia would bring the Nato alliance into a directly confrontational physical and geographical relationship with Russian despotism from the Caucasus to the Barents Sea.
Ukraine must have its previous security guarantees reinstated as part of any peace deal. It must have the means to defend itself. It must have the right to choose at least the trading relationship with the EU that EEA members now enjoy, if it is not to become a fully fledged EU member.
It is now suggested that Trump may plan to meet Zelenskiy again. If so, that meeting must be based on mutual respect and truth – unlike the shameful Oval Office ambush. The White House must understand the concerns of its allies. It must understand that Nato is not simply transactional. The alliance is about a commitment to democratic values.
The preamble to the 1949 Nato treaty stated that the alliance was founded on preservation and defence of the “principles of democracy, individual liberty, and the rule of law”.
If the White House capitulates to Putin on Ukraine, it will grossly and perhaps fatally betray those principles.
One of the big ones - one of the big ones no matter where you are - pops up when there's a real probability of a food shortage.
I'm just kinda spit-ballin' here, but knowing what we know about the Russian economy and the way an autocrat typically operates, my speculations aren't necessarily out of line.
Trump is "working" on lifting some of the sanctions that the NATO powers laid on Russia to spank Putin for invading Ukraine, and one of the favors he intends to do for Daddy Vlad is to help Russia re-establish itself on the global supply chain, with a particular emphasis on grain imports and exports.
Assuming he can take time away from his busy Retribution Tour schedule, Trump can't accomplish much in any kind of hurry, and in the meantime, Russians need to be fed.
So - what to do, what to do.
Russia remands billionaire Moshkovich in custody for two months
MOSCOW, March 27 (Reuters) - Russian farming billionaire Vadim Moshkovich was remanded in custody for two months by a Moscow court on Thursday after his detention on suspicion of large-scale fraud, the highest-profile arrest in years of a major businessman in Russia.
Court documents showed that Moshkovich is accused of large-scale fraud and could face up to 10 years in jail if convicted. Moshkovich pleaded not guilty to the charges.
"Vadim Moshkovich, the founder of Rusagro, was sent to the pre-trial detention centre," Moscow's court service said, adding that the court had dismissed appeals from his lawyers for him to be granted house arrest or bail.
The arrest of Moshkovich, who started out selling computers amid the chaos of post-Soviet Russia before building one of Russia's most powerful agricultural holdings, sent shockwaves through Russia's business elite.
There was no comment from the Kremlin on the arrest.
It is the highest-profile arrest of a Russian businessman since the 2018 arrest of Summa shipping and logistics group founder Ziyavudin Magomedov and the 2014 house arrest of AFK Sistema shareholder Vladimir Yevtushenkov.
The market capitalisation of Rusagro, Russia's leading producer of sugar, pork, oil and fats, tumbled by a third over two days on the news, according to data from the Moscow Stock Exchange.
BILLIONAIRE IN JAIL
The Kommersant newspaper said officers from the Federal Security Service (FSB) and anti-corruption police raided company offices in Moscow and other cities, as well as the homes of senior managers, and took away files, phones and servers.
It was not immediately clear what prompted the arrest, though Russia's top media outlets noted that he had been involved in a long legal conflict with the founders of a major supplier of vegetable oils and fats whose assets were bought in 2018 by Rusagro.
Rusagro changed its domicile from Cyprus to Russia this year, following a Russian court decision in a case brought by the Agriculture Ministry against Rusagro's Cyprus-based parent company.
Rusagro issued a statement on Wednesday confirming several of its offices had been searched but saying the operation was not related to its "current activities".
It said all company activities were continuing as normal, and all obligations were being met. "We are confident in the transparency of our work and expect the procedures to be completed as soon as possible."
The European Union sanctioned Moshkovich in 2022 after he attended a meeting of businessmen with President Vladimir Putin on the day that Russia invaded Ukraine. The EU said he had Russian and Cypriot passports.
Following the sanctions, Moshkovich resigned as chairman of Rusagro in 2022 and cut his stake below 50%. Rusagro, which is not under Western sanctions, is Russia's only major listed agricultural company.
Rusagro changed its domicile from Cyprus to Russia, following a Russian court decision in a case brought by the Agriculture Ministry against Rusagro's Cyprus-based parent company.
A group of members of the lower house of Russia's parliament asked the Justice Ministry in 2024 to designate Moshkovich as a "foreign agent", a legal status often assigned to opposition activists, due to the company's Cyprus domicile.
It's a pretty standard 3-fer.
This guy is the one you should blame for your problems
I'm the boss and don't you fuckin' forget it
To demonstrate, I'll shit on a friend to keep the rest of you in line
What to know about the rumor Trump was recruited by KGB in 1987
According to a Facebook post from a former Kazakh security official, Trump was given the code name "Krasnov."
In February 2025, Alnur Mussayev, a former Soviet and Kazakh security official, claimed in a Facebook post that U.S. President Donald Trump was recruited in 1987 by the KGB, the intelligence agency of the Soviet Union, and assigned the code name "Krasnov." Mussayev's post didn't state whether he personally recruited Trump or simply knew about the recruitment, nor did it state whether Trump actively participated in espionage or was just a potential asset.
Trump did visit Moscow in 1987, but there is no clear evidence suggesting he was actively recruited by the KGB during that trip or at any other time.
Mussayev's allegations that Trump was recruited by the KGB at that time don't line up with Mussayev's documented career path. Several biographies of him on Russian-language websites suggest that at the time Trump was supposedly recruited, Mussayev was working in the Soviet Union's Ministry of Internal Affairs, not the KGB.
Trump's pro-Russia stance (compared with other U.S. presidents) has fed into past allegations that he is a Russian asset — for instance, the 2021 book "American Kompromat" featured an interview with a former KGB spy who also claimed the agency recruited Trump as an asset. Again, however, there is no clear evidence supporting this claim.
In February 2025, a rumor circulated online that U.S. President Donald Trump was recruited as an "asset" by Russian intelligence in the late 1980s and given the codename "Krasnov," following allegations from a former Soviet and Kazakh security official, Alnur Mussayev.
The claim spread on TikTok, Facebook and X, where one account published a thread in response to the rumor, purporting to tie together evidence to support it (archived, archived, archived, archived, archived).
That user wrote: "Now that it's been reveals that Trump has been a Russian asset for 40 years named Krasnov by the FSB, I will write a simple thread of various pieces of information that solidifies the truth of everything I've written." At the time of publishing this article, the thread had been viewed more than 10 million times.
The claim gained traction when the news website The Daily Beast published a now-deleted story (archived) titled "Former Intelligence Officer Claims KGB Recruited Trump," using only Mussayev's Facebook post as a source. The article described Mussayev's allegations as "unfounded." We contacted The Daily Beast to ask why the story was deleted and will update this story if we receive a response.
We also reached out to Mussayev for comment on the story and will update if he responds.
Meanwhile, Snopes readers wrote in and asked us whether the rumor that Trump was recruited to be a Russian asset was true. Here's what to know:
The allegations don't line up with official records
The allegations originated from a Facebook post that Mussayev published on Feb. 20, 2025 (archived). The post alleged that in 1987, the KGB recruited a "40-year-old businessman from the USA, Donald Trump, nicknamed 'Krasnov.'" Mussayev claimed he was serving in the KGB's Moscow-based Sixth Directorate at the time, and it was "the most important direction" of the department's work to recruit businessmen from "capitalist countries."
Mussayev's post didn't specify whether Trump participated in any spying, only that he was recruited. In an earlier post (archived) from July 18, 2018, he described Trump's relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin as follows:
Based on my experience of operational work at the KGB-KNB, I can say for sure that Trump belongs to the category of perfectly recruited people. I have no doubt that Russia has a compromise on the President of the United States, that for many years the Kremlin promoted Trump to the position of President of the main world power.
Trump did visit Moscow in 1987, reportedly to look at possible locations for luxury hotels. However, several Russian-language websites (of unknown trustworthiness) with short biographies of Mussayev revealed a discrepancy: While Mussayev claimed he worked in the Sixth Directorate of the KGB in 1987, those online biographies placed him in the KGB from 1979 until 1986, when he moved to the Soviet Union's Ministry of Internal Affairs. The biography of Mussayev on Lenta.ru attributed that information to a Kazakhstani historian named Daniyar Ashimbayev.
Moreover, according to a translated version of a Feb. 22, 2025, Russian-language post Ashimbayev made on his Telegram account, Mussayev had no connections to the First Directorate, the branch of the KGB responsible for recruiting foreign assets. (Ashimbayev noted that Mussayev could justify this by claiming his real responsibilities were top-secret information, however.)
Other sources corroborate that the Sixth Directorate's main focus was not foreign intelligence. The journalist and author W. Thomas Smith Jr.'s book "Encyclopedia of the Central Intelligence Agency" states that the directorate was responsible for "enforcing financial and trade laws, as well as guarding against economic espionage," while the First Chief Directorate was the KGB's main espionage arm.
Previous accusations against Trump
Trump's relatively pro-Russian positions compared with those of other U.S. presidents have led to past allegations that he is or was a Russian asset in some way.
For instance, the controversial, flamboyant and untrustworthy Steele Dossier, released just before Trump took office in 2017, claimed Russia had incriminating tapes of Trump engaging in sexual activity with prostitutes in Moscow, among other scandalous accusations. CNN reported that the dossier's main source, Igor Danchenko, was mainly relaying "rumor and speculation," and in 2022 he was acquitted of charges of lying to the FBI about the dossier's sources.
In the 2021 book "American Kompromat," journalist Craig Unger interviewed a former KGB spy, Yuri Shvets, who also alleged that Trump was compromised by Russia. Snopes previously covered that claim. The British newspaper The Guardian reported that Shvets had said Trump was "cultivated as a Russian asset over 40 years."
Shvets claimed Trump first appeared on the Russians' radar in 1977, when he was the target of a spying operation — 10 years before the recruitment alleged by Mussayev took place. Shvets said the KGB later went on a "charm offensive" when Trump visited Moscow and St. Petersburg for the first time in 1987 — the same year specified by Mussayev. Shvets told The Guardian that Trump proved so willing to spread anti-Western propaganda that there were celebrations in Moscow. We aren't aware of any evidence corroborating these claims.
The Mueller report documented the official findings of former Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian efforts to interfere in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, as well as allegations of conspiracy or coordination between Trump's presidential campaign and the Kremlin. That investigation — which found that the Russian government did interfere in the 2016 presidential election "in sweeping and systemic fashion" and that there were "links" between Trump campaign officials and individuals with ties to the Russian government — did not establish that members of the Trump campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government.
DOJ Indicts Russian Nationals in $10 Million Scheme to Spread Covert Propaganda to U.S. Audiences
Two Russian nationals employed by state-controlled media outlet RT are charged with conspiring to violate U.S. laws by secretly funding and directing pro-Russian content on social media platforms.
The Department of Justice has unsealed an indictment charging two Russian nationals, Kostiantyn Kalashnikov and Elena Afanasyeva, with conspiring to violate the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) and money laundering in a scheme to covertly influence U.S. audiences. Both Kalashnikov and Afanasyeva remain at large, according to the DOJ’s announcement today.
The indictment reveals that Kalashnikov, 31, and Afanasyeva, 27, who were employees of Russia's state-controlled media outlet RT, played pivotal roles in funneling nearly $10 million to a Tennessee-based online content creation company, referred to in court documents as U.S. Company-1. The content company, unbeknownst to its viewers, was funded and directed by RT to produce pro-Russian videos aimed at American social media users. This company is believed to be TENET Media, who touts right-wing hosts Lauren Southern, Tim Pool, Benny Johnson, and others, as part of their roster.
The indictment remarks, "On its website, U.S. Company-I describes itself as a 'network of heterodox commentators that focus on Western political and cultural issues'" This phrase matches with the TENET's slogan, which appears on their website.
The indictment further states: "KALASHNIKOV, AFANASYEVA, Founder-I, and Founder-2 also worked together to deceive two U.S. online commentators ("Commentator- I" and "Commentator-2"), who respectively have over 2.4 million and 1.3 million YouTube subscribers. Founder-I and Founder- 2 contracted with Commentator-I and Commentator-2 to produce videos , using Commentator-1's and Commentator-2's own names and leveraging their existing audiences, for license and publication by U.S. Company-I."
These subscriber counts mentioned in the indictment match the number of YouTube subscribers for the accounts of Benny Johnson and Tim Pool, respectively.
"Russia has long sought to exploit our free and open society by secretly influencing public opinion in the United States," said Attorney General Merrick Garland. "The Department of Justice will not tolerate these covert efforts by foreign adversaries to manipulate our democracy."
The DOJ alleges that between October 2023 and August 2024, RT transferred nearly $10 million to U.S. Company-1 through a network of shell companies in Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, and Mauritius. The funds were allegedly used to produce and distribute content designed to sow discord among Americans, amplifying domestic divisions on issues like immigration, inflation, and U.S. foreign policy.
“Russia’s influence operations, as orchestrated by RT, are sophisticated and deceptive,” said Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco. “The defendants in this case used fake personas, shell companies, and misleading information to push Russian propaganda to millions of Americans.”
Since its launch in November 2023, U.S. Company-1, believed to be TENET Media, has posted nearly 2,000 videos across platforms such as YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, and X, garnering over 16 million views on YouTube alone. The DOJ notes that while the content appeared to offer commentary on domestic issues, it was aligned with the Russian government's goal of weakening U.S. opposition to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The defendants are also accused of deceiving two U.S.-based online commentators with large followings into producing content for U.S. Company-1 without disclosing RT’s involvement. The DOJ alleges that RT used a fictional persona named “Eduard Grigoriann” to conceal its role as the company’s true financial backer.
Within the indictment lies a troubling sequence involving directives from Elena Afanasyeva, alias "Helena Shudra," to manipulate content creation at U.S. Company-1, aiming to tailor videos to specific agendas. Notably, in early 2024, Afanasyeva orchestrated the creation of tailored content that included a video featuring a "well-known U.S. political commentator," who MeidasTouch can identify as Tucker Carlson, during an bizarre visit to a Russian grocery store in which Carlson said he was "radicalized" by how low the prices were in Moscow.
This particular piece was strategically circulated within U.S. Company-1’s Producer Discord Channel, prompting internal concerns among the staff about the overtly promotional nature of the content. Producer-I, a staff member at U.S. Company-1, expressed reservations about posting the video, describing it as “overt shilling.” Despite these concerns, the directive from the higher-ups was clear, with Founder-2 instructing to proceed with publishing the video to align with the broader influence campaign, underscoring the depth of control exerted over the content output to serve specific propagandistic purposes. This episode exemplifies the sophisticated methods employed by RT’s operatives to exploit the credibility of well-known U.S. figures to further their propaganda efforts under the guise of regular social media content.
The indictment underscores RT's ongoing efforts to continue its influence operations in Western countries, despite formal bans and sanctions following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. According to the DOJ, RT’s editor-in-chief boasted about creating an "empire of covert projects" to shape public opinion in the West.
Both Kalashnikov and Afanasyeva face charges of conspiracy to violate FARA, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison, and conspiracy to commit money laundering, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
The FBI is leading the investigation into the case, and authorities are actively seeking the whereabouts of the defendants. This case is part of a broader effort by the U.S. government to counter foreign malign influence operations aimed at undermining American democracy. Read the full indictment here.
A bunch of this came as total news to me. I thought I knew a little something about Russia. I didn't.
When Putin crows about how rich Russia is, he's just bragging about having stolen practically everything they "own".
You think Manifest Destiny was bad - holy fuck. You ain't seen nuthin'.
Here's just a small taste, which doesn't make much of anything any clearer for me, except the part that points out that the thing was built by colonization and genocide.
Russia has been a flaming hot mess for 9 or 10 centuries. It may take another 9 or 10 to sort it out.
Invading Ukraine was, in itself, a war crime, and you assholes are committing thousands of other war crimes wrapped up in that one big war crime - and now you want us to believe we should do what, shudder at the thought of losing you as a partner in diplomacy?
You're like that a drunk jerk with a swastika neck tattoo who shows up at the wedding reception, dry humps the mother of the bride, ass-plants in the cake, punches the DJ because he won't play Deutschland Über Alles, and then claims that if he leaves, it'll spoil the party?
I realize this is something that has to be considered, and handled with some care because you never really know what a guy like Putin is up to. And we have to wonder if there's a signal here that we need to pick up - like maybe he understands what a tight spot he's in - or maybe somebody else on the inside is trying to signal that Putin's all but done in - I don't claim to know, but
seriously - what the fuck are you guys even talking about?
Russia mulling downgrading ties with West, Kremlin says
Kremlin says West is hostile
No decision yet taken on downgrading ties
MOSCOW, June 27 (Reuters) - Russia is considering a possible downgrading of relations with the West due to the deeper involvement of the United States and its allies in the Ukraine war, but no decision had yet been taken, the Kremlin said on Thursday.
A downgrading of relations - or even breaking them off - would illustrate the gravity of the confrontation between Russia and the West over Ukraine after an escalation in tensions over the war in recent months.
Even during the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, when the Cold War is thought to have come closest to nuclear war, Russia did not sever relations with the United States, though Moscow did break off ties with Israel over the 1967 Middle East war.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told the Izvestia newspaper that ambassadors fulfilled a difficult but important job that allowed a channel of communication to operate in troubled times.
But Ryabkov also said that a possible downgrading of ties with the West was being studied. When asked about the possibility of such a move, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that given the West's current approach to Russia it was one of several options that was being considered, though no decision had yet been made.
"The issue of lowering the level of diplomatic relations is a standard practice for states that face unfriendly or hostile manifestations," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
"Due to the growing involvement of the West in the conflict over Ukraine, the Russian Federation cannot but consider various options for responding to such hostile Western intervention in the Ukrainian crisis."
President Vladimir Putin, who ordered thousands of troops into Ukraine in 2022, presents the war as part of a wider struggle with the U.S., which he says ignored Moscow's interests after the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union and then plotted to split Russia apart and seize its natural resources.
The West and Ukraine have cast the war as an imperial-style land-grab. Western leaders, who deny they want to destroy Russia, say that if Putin wins the war then autocracies across the world will be emboldened.
With Russia gaining the upper hand in the biggest land war in Europe since World War Two, the Ukraine crisis has escalated in recent months.
After the United States allowed Ukraine to strike Russia with some U.S. weapons, the Kremlin sent signals that it viewed this as a serious escalation.
Putin has ordered drills to practise deployment of tactical nuclear weapons, suggested Russia could station conventional missiles within striking distance of the United States and its allies, and sealed a mutual defence pact with North Korea.
The United States and its European allies still have embassies in Russia, and Russia has embassies in Washington and European capitals, though diplomats from both sides say they are experiencing the most hostile conditions in decades.
"Moscow has given up on repairing relations with the West," said Geoffrey Roberts, a historian of Josef Stalin and Soviet international relations at University College Cork.
"It would signal that Putin thinks he can usher in a Brave New Multipolar World, whilst at the same time keeping the West at arm's length," he said. "But maybe its a just a gesture, a protest, a sign of frustration with the West and/or a sop to Russian hardliners who want to escalate the war in Ukraine."
This is called an incitement to commit genocide. It's a war crime.
These guys will be dragged to The Hague, or they'll be cowering in sponsored exile as guests of sympathizing asshole regimes, or they'll be dead (likely by their own hand).
If the Kremlin’s intentions weren’t already clear enough, here is former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev saying today that the concept of an independent Ukrainian identity must "disappear for good" pic.twitter.com/hqnPvXq4oA
The mens rea (mental element) for the crime of genocide. "Intent to destroy" is one of the elements of the crime of genocide according to the 1948 Genocide Convention.
Putin axes defense minister, replaces him with an economist
Russian leader Vladimir Putin is replacing his longtime defense minister Sergei Shoigu, 68, with an economist.
On Sunday, Putin named former deputy prime minister and economic development minister Andrey Belousov, 65, as his new defense chief.
"Today on the battlefield, the winner is the one who is more open to innovation," Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said of Belousov's appointment, per state news agency TASS. "Therefore, it is natural that at the current stage, the president decided that the Russian Ministry of Defense should be headed by a civilian."
Shoigu, who served as defense minister since 2012, now runs Russia's Security Council instead, taking over from Putin ally Nikolai Patrushev. Details of Patrushev's new position, Peskov said, will be revealed "in the coming few days."
Besides leading the Security Council, Shoigu will represent Putin in the country's Military-Industrial Commission, which oversees the country's military industrial complex.
"He is deeply immersed in this work, he knows very well the pace of production of military-industrial products at specific enterprises and often visits these enterprises," Peskov said of Shoigu's new appointment, per TASS.
The sudden change in leadership on Sunday marks the first time Putin has shaken up his national security team since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.
It also comes at a tenuous time for Russia's defense ministry. Last month, deputy defense minister and top Shoigu aide, Timur Ivanov was dismissed from his position after he was accused of bribery.
Shoigu himself was blamed by critics for Russia's lacklustre performance in its war on Ukraine.
The UK's defense ministry said in April that an estimated 450,000 Russian troops were wounded or killed over the course of the war. Back in February, the head of the UK's armed forces, Admiral Sir Tony Radakin, said that 25% of Russia's vessels in the Black Sea had been sunk or damaged.
In June 2023, Wagner mercenary army chief Yevgeny Prigozhin led an aborted coup where he slammed Shoigu's leadership and called for his removal. Prigozhin died in a plane crash later in August.
Shoigu's departure, Peskov said on Sunday, "will in no way change the current coordinate system" of Russia's military strategy.
The replacement of Shoigu with an economist like Belousov comes as Russia reckons with its own transformation into a war economy.
On Sunday, Peskov told reporters that Belousov's appointment as defense minister was about "making the economy of the security bloc part of the country's economy."
"We are gradually approaching the situation of the mid-80s when the share of expenses for the security bloc in the economy was 7.4%. It's not critical, but it's extremely important," Peskov said, per CNN.
Representatives for Russia's defense ministry didn't immediately respond to a request for comment from BI sent outside regular business hours.
