Contents tagged with Skripal case
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Russia arrests US citizen on charges of espionage
Russia announced on Monday that its intelligence agency had arrested a US citizen in Moscow on suspicion of espionage.
According to the FSB, the American was arrested on Friday “while carrying out spying activity”.
Charges have been brought against him according to article 276 of Russia’s Criminal Code (Espionage), which envisages a prison sentence of up to 20 years.
The suspect was identified as Paul Whelan, but no other details were provided.
The US later asked to be granted consular …
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Britain denies that expelled Russian diplomats would be allowed to return
British representatives refuted the statement made by the Russian Ambassador in London, Alexander Yakovenko, that allegedly the two countries agreed to gradually restore dozens of diplomats to their positions, expelled by both sides after the poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal in Salisbury.
“No new agreements have been made. Our position regarding Russian diplomatic presence in the UK has not changed after measures were taken after Salisbury. Work of our respective missions occurs in the …
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US imposes new sanctions on Russia
The US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has decided to impose new sanctions on Russia in response to Russia’s constant disregard for international laws, the department announced in a press release on December 19.
The OFAC announced new restrictions on a former officer of Russia’s Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU) who acted in the interests of Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska.
The new sanctions also affect 15 GRU staff members for a wide range of criminal activity, including …
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US prepares second sanctions package against Russia for Salisbury poisoning
The US is still considering the second package of sanctions against Russia in connection with the Salisbury incident, a source in the US Department of State told RIA Novosti.
“We are not announcing the sanctions, but that is because we are still considering them, and because we would like to be certain that we are doing it correctly,” the source said.
At the start of November, the State Department informed Congress that Moscow had failed to meet the requirements prescribed by the Chemical and …
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Putin to appoint a new chief of military intelligence
Russian President Vladimir Putin will appoint a new Chief of Military Intelligence instead of the recently deceased Igor Korobov.
According to several Russian media outlets, the successor will become Vice-Admiral Igor Kostyukov, who after the death of Korobov, served as the head of the main intelligence directorate of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.
As reported by the newspaper Kommersant, Kostyukov was born on February 21, 1961, in the Amur region of Russia. He received a naval …
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UK suspending ‘golden visa’ program for wealthy Russians over corruption and money laundering concerns
After December 7, the British government will suspend granting of privileged visas to foreign investors, which allowed rich people to reside in the United Kingdom.
The Voice of America writes that, initially, the condition for obtaining a Level 1 visa was an investment of at least two million pounds sterling ($ 2.5 million) in the UK. This also gave such persons the right to bring family members to the country for an initial term of more than three years with the possibility of renewal, and …
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European Union developed a plan against Russia’s disinformation
The European Commission has developed a plan to tackle disinformation from Russia. Its main goal is to prevent the Kremlin from interfering during the European Parliament elections in May 2019, as well as during the elections in the European Union countries in 2020.
The European Union is convinced that Russia is one of the main threats in regards to the production of disinformation, reports Radio Liberty.
"Disinformation campaigns related to the war in Syria, the crash of flight MH17 in …
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Czech Republic wants to reduce the number of Russian diplomats
Czech Foreign Minister Tomáš Petříček said that Prague would like to reduce the number of employees of the Russian Embassy so that it would correspond to the number of the Czech diplomats working in Russian, Novinky.cz reported.
“We are having a dialogue with the Russian side on the total number of diplomats in Prague,” said Petříček. He added that another topic of their talks with Russia is the need to reduce the 'excessive' number of cars registered by the Russian Embassy.
“We can only …
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Another head of Russian intelligence dies
For the second time in three years, the head of Russia’s Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU) has died. According to the official explanation, Colonel General Igor Korobov died after a “severe and lengthy illness”. However, several sources in the media believe that his health only started to deteriorate after he was taken to task by Vladimir Putin.
Igor Korobov was appointed head of the GRU in January 2016, replacing the recently deceased Igor Sergun.
During his time in the position, Korobov …
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Austrian Chancellor: Espionage scandal will not affect relations between Austria and Russia
Liga.net reports that the Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz stated at a press conference that Austria intends to preserve good relations with Russia, despite the recent espionage scandal.
“We have a good relationship with Russia, and this will not change in the future,” stated Kurz.
At the same time, the chancellor stressed that Austria will always “prevent and criticize” espionage attempts.
Earlier in Austria, a former officer who from the 1990’s had been giving information to Russia …