Kevin Rothrock

managing editor for Meduza in English, podcaster, Russia watcher supreme. email: kevin@meduza.io (this is my new Mastodon instance)

Public Key

npub19lv2u53msl6xttwt8cl43guzsg02j0wrewv4v8jk9fcxl7rwnpcqrtj3y4

NIP-05 Address

kevinrothrock_at_infosec.exchange@mostr.pub

Profile Code

nprofile1qqszlk9w2gac0ar94h9nu06c5wpgy84f8hpuhx2kretz5ur0lphfsuqpz3mhxue69uhhyetvv9ujuerpd46hxtnfduqs6amnwvaz7tmwdaejumr0dscq6mq0

Publishing to

relay.damus.io

nos.lol

Author Public Key

npub19lv2u53msl6xttwt8cl43guzsg02j0wrewv4v8jk9fcxl7rwnpcqrtj3y4

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Last Notes

2024-08-13 08:03:21

Russia’s Supreme Court is poised to offer defendants the same get-out-of-jail card already granted to convicts and suspects sent to fight Ukraine. A defendant's case would be suspended upon enlistment and closed upon aging out, receipt of medal, health reasons, or the end of the war. https://t.me/dimsmirnov175/77282

2024-08-12 17:13:08

7 hours ahead of his X interview with Musk, it seems Trump has returned (again, perhaps for good) to the social network that helped make him a politician.
https://media.infosec.exchange/infosec.exchange/media_attachments/files/112/950/168/010/255/826/original/5791a80d86292acd.png

2024-08-12 13:23:06

“Russia has shifted troops from the Kharkiv front” to defend against Ukraine’s Kursk incursion, “but so far it has moved far fewer from the vital Donbas front,” reports The Economist. https://www.economist.com/europe/2024/08/11/ukraines-shock-raid-deep-inside-russia-rages-on

2024-08-12 03:34:59

Среди 10 мировых спортивных лидеров всё кроме Китая враги России

2024-08-10 07:41:29

Apti Alaudinov, the commander of Chechnya's "Akhmat" Special Forces, says Ukraine's incursion force in the Kursk region comprises thousands of soldiers. He claims that many foreigners (he singles out French and Polish) are fighting with the UAF, which couldn't pull off such an operation without NATO's orchestration, he says. https://t.me/dimsmirnov175/77079

2024-08-09 19:44:05

Whether he fears the political or economic consequences more, it’s honestly remarkable that Putin hasn’t ordered another round of mass mobilization, given that Russia is now technically, literally under invasion.

2024-08-09 14:27:21

Z-bloggers have carved out for themselves an interesting space in Russian society. Like community activists who are permitted to protest against “non-political” problems with public utilities, etc., “war correspondents” have established their right to call for heads to roll when the army makes patently bad decisions. https://meduza.io/en/feature/2024/08/09/pro-invasion-bloggers-demand-consequences-after-alleged-himars-strike-destroys-russian-convoy-more-than-20-miles-from-ukrainian-border

2024-08-08 23:13:12

most honest analysis of the Russo-Ukrainian War i’ve seen yet
https://media.infosec.exchange/infosec.exchange/media_attachments/files/112/928/934/432/998/199/original/f6ba4ddd8a13cfa1.png

2024-08-08 18:17:13

👀 ЭХО FM: Илья Яшин пообещал не конфликтовать с другими оппозиционерами

2024-08-08 15:12:01

Please, please, it’s too much winning! We can’t take it anymore!
Russian border guards filmed surrendering to Ukrainian military
https://meduza.io/en/feature/2024/08/08/russian-border-guards-filmed-surrendering-to-ukrainian-military
https://media.infosec.exchange/infosec.exchange/media_attachments/files/112/927/040/863/257/171/original/fdcf349f5bf499e0.mp4

2024-08-08 05:40:22

Dimon Medvedev, Dep Chairman of Russia’s National Security Council and two-cent Zhirinovsky stand-in, says the incursion into Kursk means Russia’s ground invasion must extend to the farthest reaches of the “Ukrainian Reich.” “Let those English bastards know it, too!” he says. Uh, okay. https://t.me/medvedev_telegram/522

2024-08-06 14:55:09

It seems more and more Telegram posts now refuse to open as web versions, and it’s necessary to view them in the app, which is a clunkier, lousier experience when you’re trying to work with lots of tabs on a desktop computer. Thumbs down.

2024-08-05 21:39:21

Politico is less timid about naming names than the AP.
https://media.infosec.exchange/infosec.exchange/media_attachments/files/112/911/578/601/613/025/original/e07e57eba6cc542f.png
https://media.infosec.exchange/infosec.exchange/media_attachments/files/112/911/578/659/429/215/original/1791c7d9afa513d7.png

2024-08-05 14:13:28

Russian propagandists have released footage of Evan Gershkovich’s arrest in Yekaterinburg on March 29, 2023, showing that his source brought classified documents against Evan’s request in a sting operation.
https://media.infosec.exchange/infosec.exchange/media_attachments/files/112/909/825/107/085/769/original/75ad3756e0dc708d.mp4

2024-08-05 03:30:00

https://media.infosec.exchange/infosec.exchange/media_attachments/files/112/907/295/051/957/255/original/71956882b2b7e778.jpeg
https://media.infosec.exchange/infosec.exchange/media_attachments/files/112/907/295/011/071/382/original/7290c16d53a119f0.jpeg

2024-08-03 19:37:16

Don't need to speak Italian to appreciate the juxtaposition here. Very well done front page.
https://media.infosec.exchange/infosec.exchange/media_attachments/files/112/899/773/901/470/433/original/12961257e248edcf.jpeg

2024-08-03 04:10:00

Here is an excerpt from Ilya Yashin’s very passionate remarks earlier today in Germany about the decision to include him (against his will) in the big prisoner swap with Russia. I’ve added English-language subtitles.
https://media.infosec.exchange/infosec.exchange/media_attachments/files/112/896/127/393/144/570/original/7300accecdffca3b.mp4

2024-08-02 07:27:35

This man is a complete and utter embarrassment.
https://media.infosec.exchange/infosec.exchange/media_attachments/files/112/891/242/371/202/719/original/fb067d9c8b437ebf.png

2024-08-01 21:05:07

To my colleagues who spend so much time reporting on Russian dissidents while simultaneously worrying that nobody is actually listening, today's prisoner swap is proof that your audience is real. And it's proof that you're doing excellent work. Keep it up.

2024-08-01 20:22:41

for some reason, when I picture the homecoming conference in Berlin for the prisoners freed from Russia, all I can think of is a giant table of seafood and that scene from the end of Cast Away
https://media.infosec.exchange/infosec.exchange/media_attachments/files/112/888/627/878/744/252/original/c905b7ec4abd8741.jpeg

2024-08-01 13:58:54

The Russian Defense Ministry’s TV network is airing footage from an Ankara airport where (part of?) today’s prisoner exchange is apparently taking place.
https://media.infosec.exchange/infosec.exchange/media_attachments/files/112/887/118/269/780/445/original/8121fb2c65978f65.mp4

2024-08-01 13:28:48

The Insider (ie Christo Grozev) has the full list of today’s exchanged prisoners:
https://theins.ru/en/news/273542
Freed from Russia:
✹ Evan Gershkovich
✹ Vladimir Kara-Murza
✹ Lilia Chanysheva
✹ Ilya Yashin
✹ Ksenia Fadeeva
✹ Andrei Pivovarov
✹ Paul Whelan
✹ Alsu Kurmasheva
✹ Oleg Orlov
✹ Sasha Skocilenko
✹ Dieter Voronin
✹ Kevin Lick
✹ Rico Krieger
✹ Patrick Schöbel
✹ Herman Moyzhes
✹ Vadim Ostanin

2024-08-01 13:14:22

CBS News has removed several details from its report on today’s prisoner swap with Russia, deleting specifics it reported about the number of Russians involved and some of their names. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/us-russia-prisoner-swap-frees-americans-evan-gershkovich-paul-whelan/ https://web.archive.org/web/20240801124658/https://www.cbsnews.com/news/us-russia-prisoner-swap-frees-americans-evan-gershkovich-paul-whelan/
https://media.infosec.exchange/infosec.exchange/media_attachments/files/112/886/943/670/256/356/original/c8e04fd2de0268f7.png

2024-08-01 12:45:29

Wow! A senior Biden admin official has confirmed that Russian-American radio journalist Alsu Kurmasheva is part of today’s prisoner swap! https://www.cbsnews.com/news/us-russia-prisoner-swap-frees-americans-evan-gershkovich-paul-whelan/

2024-08-01 12:37:27

CNN says Gershkovich, Whelan, and company “are expected to be in U.S. custody soon.” https://edition.cnn.com/2024/08/01/politics/russia-us-prisoner-swap/index.html

2024-08-01 05:27:17

An aircraft with the tail number RA-61727, an Antonov-148 operated by Russia’s Special Flight Squadron, is about to land in Kaliningrad. A plane with the same tail number has been used in past prisoner exchanges, including in Dec 2022 for Viktor Bout and Britney Griner. https://t.me/agentstvonews/6751
https://media.infosec.exchange/infosec.exchange/media_attachments/files/112/885/107/054/978/106/original/2863c444d5f4a1b5.png

2024-07-30 13:52:37

- reply

@npub1kc8…j65c I have no love for people with obscene wealth, but I agree that his message here seems perfectly benign. I haven’t done it myself, but donating sperm (or eggs, or organs) is probably something we need more of, not less. Helping people who want kids to have kids is a good thing, in my view.

2024-07-30 13:03:57

Russian lawmakers have adopted the 2nd reading of legislation to ban the sale of energy drinks to minors. The draft law would also empower regional officials to ban its sale at public events. Alexey Stakhanov didn’t need Red Bull, kids! https://t.me/rian_ru/255168

2024-07-29 21:31:39

Telegram founder Pavel Durov begins this post with a strange announcement that he is the biological father of more than 100 children, but he then says he is “open-sourcing” his DNA to help the kids find each other, and he ends with a message to all men, calling for more sperm donation to help struggling families. https://t.me/durov/339

2024-07-29 17:34:44

Anybody out there paying for Perplexity AI Pro? Worth it?

2024-07-25 22:13:13

Folks, a tech question: If I’m paying for a 960 mbps plan on Quantum Fiber, but I’m getting only this on my desktop (with only two other devices connected to the Wi-Fi network), I should downgrade to the 500 plan, right?
https://media.infosec.exchange/infosec.exchange/media_attachments/files/112/849/417/605/662/697/original/2726628dabd35f72.png

2024-07-25 06:14:04

Not hard to imagine parts of Netanyahu’s address to Congress today as a speech by another leader currently at war.
https://media.infosec.exchange/infosec.exchange/media_attachments/files/112/845/654/837/569/304/original/f15f65427a7ee3c0.png

2024-07-24 20:21:45

Story by Lilia Yapparova paints a grim picture of Russian military service in Donetsk, where the local commanders treat new arrivals like “meat” and extort literally crippled men of the big payouts meant to incentivize them to fight in the first place. https://meduza.io/en/feature/2024/07/24/this-is-a-one-way-ticket

2024-07-24 05:28:52

Vladislav Bakalchuk is apparently competing for a crown as the most pathetic ex-husband ever, running to Chechnya’s dictator for public support while his multi-billionaire future ex-wife finalizes a Putin-approved merger to expand Wildberries even further. https://meduza.io/en/feature/2024/07/24/chechnya-s-leader-says-a-retail-merger-approved-by-putin-is-a-hostile-takeover-executed-by-devils-how-a-family-feud-over-the-future-of-wildberries-became-a-public-scandal

2024-07-23 03:11:34

good grief
https://media.infosec.exchange/infosec.exchange/media_attachments/files/112/833/612/554/379/784/original/496e6e395d29b1b2.jpeg
https://media.infosec.exchange/infosec.exchange/media_attachments/files/112/833/612/661/374/812/original/95f3b33e36384cad.jpeg

2024-07-21 21:03:05

guys, i think we’ve entered U.S. political territory that’s uncharted even by The Simpsons. wild times ahead, for sure.

2024-07-20 18:01:30

Joe Biden's 1997 accidental prophecy on conflicts with NATO driving Russia into the arms of China and Iran. https://www.c-span.org/video/?86974-1/nato-expansion
https://media.infosec.exchange/infosec.exchange/media_attachments/files/112/820/124/320/262/811/original/bcbd85c38a793097.mp4

2024-07-20 17:10:08

😬 Trump and Ukrainian President Zelensky spoke over the phone late this week amid mounting concern in Kyiv that a second Trump administration would spell the end of American support in Ukraine’s fight against Russia. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/20/us/politics/trump-zelensky-call-ukraine.html

2024-07-20 06:07:07

The Russian authorities are reportedly planning to try again at a national bloggers’ registry. The threshold will likely be 10,000 subscribers, registration will entail disclosing your identity to Roskomnadzor, and noncompliance will get you blocked. https://www.interfax.ru/russia/971495

2024-07-20 04:54:10

"Losing in a landslide": WSJ says new Dem research shows Biden losing Electoral College by huge margin. In the model, Biden loses not only all swing states, but also falls behind or drops even in New Hampshire, Minnesota, New Mexico, Virginia, and Maine. https://www.wsj.com/politics/elections/top-democrats-prepare-for-campaign-without-biden-b57946a8

2024-07-19 22:20:03

Russia’s airports are reportedly running like clockwork today. The tech ministry credits the stability to years of import-substituting as much foreign software as possible. (It helps that CrowdStrike systems are virtually absent in the country.) https://meduza.io/en/news/2024/07/20/russian-tech-ministry-credits-import-substituted-software-with-sparing-county-from-friday-s-crowdstrike-meltdown

2024-07-19 08:22:00

A good reminder that Trump and his millions of voters don’t give a shit about the “Putin’s puppet” epithets and actually think having their own strong-man leader is cool.
https://media.infosec.exchange/infosec.exchange/media_attachments/files/112/812/184/070/536/518/original/93bb277ebc97fd9c.jpeg

2024-07-17 16:45:31

“‘The call was even worse than the debate,’ one of the participants told me. ‘He was rambling; he’d start an answer then lose his train of thought, then would just say ‘whatever.’ He really couldn’t complete an answer. I lost a ton of respect for him.’ A second participant in the call confirmed this characterization.” https://puck.news/biden-saturday-zoom-call-with-house-democrats-goes-off-the-rails/

2024-07-17 06:32:49

Russia’s Federal Statistics Service hiding mortality data used to triangulate KIAs in Ukraine is a good reminder that the invasion’s true cost is a big political liability for the Kremlin, despite the confidence officials show when cameras are rolling. https://t.me/RakshaDemography/3412

2024-07-15 19:59:27

Whoever wins in November, tens of millions of Americans are going to vote for a presidential ticket that features a senator who said, “I don’t really care what happens to Ukraine, one way or another.” Food for thought, y’all.

2024-07-14 17:50:29

pretty good
https://media.infosec.exchange/infosec.exchange/media_attachments/files/112/786/107/848/912/536/original/ae44a571cd7cba47.jpeg

2024-07-13 22:09:48

Bernie has had enough: "Mr. Biden may not be the ideal candidate, but he will be the candidate and should be the candidate. And with an effective campaign that speaks to the needs of working families, he will not only defeat Mr. Trump but beat him badly. It’s time for Democrats to stop the bickering and nit-picking." https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/13/opinion/joe-biden-president.html

2024-07-12 17:36:56

“Some major Democratic donors have told the largest pro-Biden super PAC, Future Forward, that pledges worth roughly $90 million are now on hold if President Biden remains atop the ticket,” reports NYT. https://www.nytimes.com/live/2024/07/12/us/biden-trump-election#biden-donors-money

2024-07-12 15:36:56

𝕏 is being threatened with hefty fines by the EU over a series of transparency issues, including allowing people to buy “checkmarks” once reserved for verified users. (IMO, it was never this, and the whole thing should have been converted into an open-system allowing anyone to confirm their identities to the public.) https://www.ft.com/content/9419e3b1-60ab-4bcb-a1ea-30cca911667a

2024-07-12 07:36:54

well, this image was inevitable
https://media.infosec.exchange/infosec.exchange/media_attachments/files/112/772/370/534/732/593/original/8efe50c6a35b4975.jpeg

2024-07-11 05:55:47

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban will reportedly travel to Mar-a-Lago to visit Donald Trump after leaving this week’s NATO summit in Washington without even asking Biden for a meeting. Orban will apparently pitch his “peace mission” to Trump. https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/jul/11/nato-viktor-orban-peace-mission-trump

2024-07-11 00:58:10

- reply

@npub16w5…dxft lol are you high

2024-07-10 23:44:56

❗ Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is privately signaling to donors that he's open to a Democratic presidential ticket that isn't led by President Biden, Axios has learned. https://www.axios.com/2024/07/10/schumer-biden-dump-donors-2024-election

2024-07-10 21:54:14

Good news about jailed oppositionist Vladimir Kara-Murza: his lawyers were finally allowed to visit him in the hospital today. The bad news: he’s still suffering from a chronic nervous system illness that should bar him from being incarcerated at all. https://www.facebook.com/vadim.prokhorov.12/posts/pfbid0owET9FwgNanXj3UwTsbrgY2coHa4P3LhX3zZoErN3RDpUrkHGE7kjW3NVnWb9BgGl

2024-07-10 15:53:41

Clooney has had enough: "It’s devastating to say it, but the Joe Biden I was with three weeks ago at the fund-raiser was not the Joe 'big F-ing deal' Biden of 2010. He wasn’t even the Joe Biden of 2020. He was the same man we all witnessed at the debate." https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/10/opinion/joe-biden-democratic-nominee.html

2024-07-09 16:08:21

Despite being an Influencer (™) on Twitter/X with 129k followers, I regularly get more engagement on Mastodon and Bluesky, where I get far less spam and coordinated trolling. Social media, you used to be so simple.

2024-07-09 15:15:44

A Moscow court has issued an arrest warrant for Yulia Navalnaya on charges of participating in an “extremist association,” presumably referring to her work with her late husband’s Anti-Corruption Foundation.

2024-07-09 07:18:32

Georgia's accession to the EU has been suspended, along with 30 million euros in planned defense aid, says Paweł Herczyński, the EU's ambassador to Georgia. https://www.ekhokavkaza.com/a/33027506.html

2024-07-08 20:52:02

New investigation profiles Sergey Novikov, another of these former “liberals” who sold out for an influential role inside the Kremlin. He’s been traveling with Kiriyenko for the last 20-odd years and now acts as Putin’s chief arts censor. https://meduza.io/feature/2024/07/08/ohotnik-na-ideologicheskih-vragov

2024-07-08 17:25:09

I think this is a good insight into Moscow’s approach in Ukraine (and elsewhere).
https://media.infosec.exchange/infosec.exchange/media_attachments/files/112/752/034/387/538/878/original/3a7bdd90648bf632.png

2024-07-07 00:27:53

😅
“They gave me the exact questions to ask,” Ingram, whose “The Earl Ingram Show” is broadcast statewide across 20 Wisconsin outlets, told The Associated Press. “There was no back and forth.”
https://media.infosec.exchange/infosec.exchange/media_attachments/files/112/742/371/789/067/600/original/81c9c5f1aeecf4f6.jpg

2024-05-27 15:45:15

Hmm. Telegram is reportedly getting a new "Fact Check" feature wherein participating national governments will be able to appoint specific fact-checking orgs to work with Telegram to provide explanatory notes that will appear with content. 🤨 https://t.me/d_code/19247

2024-05-24 06:16:46

Russian FSB director claims proof that Ukrainian military intelligence is ‘directly related’ to Moscow concert hall terrorist attack
https://meduza.io/en/news/2024/05/24/russian-fsb-director-claims-proof-that-ukrainian-military-intelligence-is-directly-related-to-moscow-concert-hall-terrorist-attack
https://media.infosec.exchange/infosec.exchange/media_attachments/files/112/494/602/165/060/907/original/58135341ade7e5b7.png

2024-05-18 03:15:09

On this week’s Naked Pravda, I spoke to political scientist David Szakonyi about his new research on corruption and co-optation in Russia’s autocracy. His work comes just as the Kremlin’s “anti-corruption” tactics are brought to bear against senior Defense Ministry officials. https://meduza.io/en/episodes/2024/05/18/corruption-and-co-optation-in-russia-s-autocracy

2024-05-14 22:20:19

Earlier today, hours before Ukraine instituted nationwide rolling blackouts due to Russian airstrikes & unseasonably cold weather raising heating demands, US Secretary of State Blinken parachuted into Kyiv for an electric performance of Neil Young’s “Rockin’ in the Free World.”

2024-05-13 19:52:03

In her interview with Meduza, Nuland seems to suggest that she thinks U.S. aid packages to Ukraine aren’t over, she endorses the (now consensus?) view that Putin will roll into NATO if he takes Ukraine, and she expects/wants Europe to get on America’s hardline-China bus. https://meduza.io/en/feature/2024/05/13/former-top-u-s-diplomat-victoria-nuland-talks-to-meduza-about-winning-in-ukraine-by-remaining-tough-on-putin-and-getting-real-about-chinese-neutrality

2024-05-13 04:44:21

Interesting trivia about Russia’s new defense minister, Andrey Belousov: he was a key figure in Putin's 2012 return to the presidency, he's a devoted Keynesian who also advocates Russia’s "tech sovereignty," he helped convince Putin to endorse American investor Michael Calvey's arrest in 2018, and he's super religious and involved in charities. https://t.me/faridaily24/1368

2024-05-12 19:06:58

According to Tatiana Stanovaya, moving Shoigu to the National Security Council proves that the body is now just where Putin puts his old cronies out to pasture (eg Medvedev). She expects something new (perhaps a real shadow govt?) to be created under Patrushev. https://t.me/stanovaya/1783

2024-05-12 18:46:48

Putin’s spokesman says Patrushev's next appointment won't be revealed for a few more days. https://t.me/news_sirena/27950

2024-05-12 18:38:36

Wow. Putin is sending Shoigu to take over as secretary of Russia's National Security Council. Nikolai Patrushev is out. https://t.me/tass_agency/248390

2024-05-12 18:33:49

- reply

This was not expected. According to some rumors, Belousov was going to trade places with State Development Corporation VEB.RF chairman Igor Shuvalov.

2024-05-12 18:30:23

⚡ Sergey Shoigu isn't getting reappointed as defense minster. Putin has nominated former First Deputy Prime Minister Andrey Belousov to take over.

2024-05-12 11:08:52

Dangerous rescue work is underway at a collapsing 10-story residential building in Belgorod. Local officials say it was hit in Ukraine's steadily increasing attacks against the city (amid Russia’s renewed offensive toward Kharkiv). Sources in Ukraine blame Russian misfire.
https://media.infosec.exchange/infosec.exchange/media_attachments/files/112/427/802/620/242/313/original/4a54786cd30a144c.mp4

2024-05-10 18:17:48

NYT locates likely munitions depot for storing Russia’s tactical nukes in Belarus, 120 miles north of Ukraine. Images show new security features. The site is near Belarus’s Iskander missiles, which can be used to launch nuclear or conventional warheads.
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/10/world/europe/russia-nuclear-weapons-belarus.html
https://media.infosec.exchange/infosec.exchange/media_attachments/files/112/418/164/888/019/269/original/9d94b5677cd93905.png

2024-05-10 16:17:10

A terrifying bus crash in St. Petersburg earlier today killed three passengers. The company that owns the bus has a record of license violations, and the driver was reportedly assigned morning duty after a 20-hour shift the day before. https://t.me/ENews112/17694
https://media.infosec.exchange/infosec.exchange/media_attachments/files/112/417/688/556/107/784/original/c2b29cac624bb198.mp4

2024-05-08 11:26:02

This is pretty pathetic. Kommersant ran a front-page ad today posing as an open letter from France addressed to Russians, expressing gratitude for the Soviet war victory and regret that it took this long to say thanks. Small print identifies the ad as a "private initiative."
https://media.infosec.exchange/infosec.exchange/media_attachments/files/112/405/221/204/002/831/original/1569881354980aa8.jpg
https://media.infosec.exchange/infosec.exchange/media_attachments/files/112/405/221/308/125/411/original/08d7b9e3ee093714.jpg

2024-05-06 20:22:45

Estonian Parliament declares the Russian Orthodox Church to be “an organization supporting Russia’s military aggression.” Lawmakers insist that this isn’t discriminatory because it’s only directed at the institution, not individual followers. 👀 https://rus.err.ee/1609333854/rijgikogu-objavil-moskovskij-patriarhat-institutom-podderzhivajuwim-rossijskuju-agressiju

2024-05-06 10:37:43

Twitter cofounder Jack Dorsey is back on 𝕏, and he's unfollowed everyone except these three accounts:
https://media.infosec.exchange/infosec.exchange/media_attachments/files/112/393/706/619/546/821/original/ff3936523db4941e.jpg
https://media.infosec.exchange/infosec.exchange/media_attachments/files/112/393/706/711/775/742/original/93d10157f63b20ac.jpg

2024-05-05 21:30:26

British media reports that Russia is stepping up efforts to sabotage European infrastructure active in getting weapons to Kyiv. "Covert bombings, arson attacks and damage to infrastructure on European soil, directly and via proxies, with little apparent concern about causing civilian fatalities."
https://www.ft.com/content/c88509f9-c9bd-46f4-8a5c-9b2bdd3c3dd3

2024-05-02 02:25:29

The U.S. State Department says Russia is using a banned choking agent against Ukrainian troops and various “riot control agents” as a “method of warfare” (i.e., it’s not an isolated incident), which violates the Chemical Weapons Convention. https://www.state.gov/imposing-new-measures-on-russia-for-its-full-scale-war-and-use-of-chemical-weapons-against-ukraine-2

2024-05-01 04:13:28

UN experts say they have proof that Russia fired a North Korean Hwasong-11 series ballistic missile at Kharkiv. https://www.reuters.com/world/un-experts-say-north-korea-missile-landed-ukraines-kharkiv-2024-04-29/

2024-04-30 13:36:30

Telegram’s long-form blogging platform Telegraph has mysteriously removed an article by Astra Press about Russian conscientious objectors disappearing into a torture camp. https://t.me/astrapress/18453

2024-04-29 17:23:05

Telegram briefly suspended access to several chatbots used by Ukraine’s security agencies to collect reports about the whereabouts of Russian military hardware and personnel. Telegram says the bots were “temporarily disabled due to a false positive.” https://www.reuters.com/technology/ukraine-spy-agency-says-telegram-platform-blocks-its-key-bots-2024-04-29/

2024-04-27 16:28:38

A Reuters producer named Konstantin Gabov has been jailed in Moscow for involvement with an "extremist" group (apparently for his past work with Team Navalny's YouTube channel).
https://meduza.io/news/2024/04/27/sud-otpravil-v-sizo-prodyusera-reuters-konstantina-gabova-obvinyaemogo-v-podgotovke-video-dlya-kanala-navalnyy-live

2024-04-27 14:05:19

On this week’s podcast episode, I spoke to Novaya Gazeta Europe editor-in-chief Kirill Martynov to dig into his outlet’s recent investigation of Chechnya Governor Ramzan Kadyrov’s illness and learn more about the predicament of Russia’s second-worst autocrat. https://meduza.io/en/episodes/2024/04/27/how-chechen-dictator-ramzan-kadyrov-dies

2024-04-26 01:50:43

Interesting (albeit infuriating) read from Nikolay Silaev and Fyodor Lukyanov. Typical Russian rhetoric rejects the idea that Kyiv has any agency in potential peace talks, but Silaev says Ukraine actually has a hand on the steering wheel.
https://globalaffairs.ru/articles/gde-nachinaetsya-ukraina/
Except he then drops a Putinist version of history that dismisses Ukrainian nationhood and argues that Kyiv’s mad pursuit of legitimacy (undeserved, he’d say) fuels anti-Russia policies that presumably complicate any future return to the negotiating table.

2024-04-25 14:07:11

Another “dangerous criminal” is sentenced to 3.5 years in prison. Today, a Russian military court convicted 17-year-old Lyubov Lizunova and two friends of inciting extremism and terrorism. Their diabolical crimes? Some graffiti and two Telegram channels. https://t.me/NetFreedomsProject/1022
https://media.infosec.exchange/infosec.exchange/media_attachments/files/112/332/244/816/424/622/original/90b837d59a004df6.png

2024-04-25 03:06:53

Looks like Telegram will be introducing some new kind of censorship for iPhone users with Ukrainian SIM cards (presumably an “anti-Russian disinformation” measure?)
https://media.infosec.exchange/infosec.exchange/media_attachments/files/112/329/648/260/899/174/original/e11ddea6e76e6a88.png

2024-04-23 23:23:38

This article would be right at home with any number of Russian state media outlets if you just recast the characters and kept the rest of the "who's grooming these protesters?" paranoia.
https://media.infosec.exchange/infosec.exchange/media_attachments/files/112/323/108/361/210/019/original/2b48d65d10f257a3.jpg

2024-04-23 14:02:25

Washington is reportedly drafting new sanctions that could punish Chinese banks for supporting Russia’s war machine, but the U.S. may be short on leverage here over Beijing. (Hence murmurs of hope in DC that the Europeans will step up their pressure.) https://www.wsj.com/politics/national-security/u-s-takes-aim-at-chinese-banks-aiding-russia-war-effort-fcf76dcc

2024-04-22 18:34:27

Kaliningrad Governor Anton Alikhanov can’t seem to decide if Immanuel Kant’s legacy is an awesome “Russian trophy” grabbed from the Germans in WWII or the philosophical grandpappy of the Collective West’s no-good, very-mean anti-Russia policies. https://www.interfax-russia.ru/northwest/main/reviziya-naslediya-kanta-neobhodima-dlya-resheniya-nyneshnih-zadach-alihanov

2024-04-20 17:56:33

The House has approved the aid. Once the Senate has its vote, that's $60 billion more for Ukraine.
https://media.infosec.exchange/infosec.exchange/media_attachments/files/112/304/835/343/459/116/original/982cdb68d5c2997a.jpg

2024-04-16 11:50:12

Telegram founder and notorious weirdo Pavel Durov says he's given an interview to Tucker Carlson.
https://media.infosec.exchange/infosec.exchange/media_attachments/files/112/280/745/463/867/114/original/600e6e74041a4013.jpg

2024-04-11 21:37:13

Elmo's whim strikes again
https://media.infosec.exchange/infosec.exchange/media_attachments/files/112/254/741/107/849/245/original/75533ef3f1a1e94f.jpg

2024-04-11 13:35:38

more headlines like this, please
https://media.infosec.exchange/infosec.exchange/media_attachments/files/112/252/847/288/161/101/original/e2fc46f654887cb5.png

2024-04-11 00:44:41

Officials in Chita (about 560 mi east of Irkutsk) have sent 2 teenagers to pretrial detention for painting graffiti that read, “Death to the regime!” & managing 2 Telegram channels, one antiwar & the other pro-animal rights. These kids are in 10th grade. https://t.me/wantedanastasia/271

2024-04-09 20:09:50

It’s official: the Russian police have added journalist and author Mikhail Zygar to their wanted list, reportedly for charges of spreading “disinformation” about Russia’s dear ole troops now aw-shucksing it in Ukraine. https://zona.media/news/2024/04/09/zygar

2024-04-09 20:06:10

I confess that I hate how the Russian news media refers to Criminal Code 207.3 as a ban on “fakes” (фейки) about the Russian military. The law doesn’t use this loanword at all — it refers to “knowingly false information,” which is simply “disinformation,” not feiki.

2024-04-09 03:09:34

lol, the governor of Belgorod says he wants to withhold state compensation for damages caused by Ukrainian drone strikes if affected farm businesses haven’t bought or manufactured and installed their own anti-drone electronic warfare equipment. https://www.belpressa.ru/58845.html#

2024-04-06 00:46:39

I generally roll my eyes when I see claims that Russian propaganda is driving American political rhetoric, given our homegrown toxicity and insanity, but the “de-Nazification” nonsense is a purely Kremlin invention. Shocking to see it leap from the mouth of a U.S. politician. https://lamag.com/news-and-politics/rfk-jr-repeats-russian-propaganda