All articles - Russia

The Agencies' Gazette
Georgian protection service promoted, Rosfinmonitoring active in the Donbass, post-Kadhimi clean-out continues in Iraq, DGSI right to consult medical records confirmed

Appointments, reforms and the issues at stake: every Monday, Intelligence Online serves up snippets big and small from the global intelligence community. This week, we bring news from Baghdad, Paris, Tblissi, Donetsk and Luhansk.

Georgiastate protection service moves up a rung.

Russia/UkrainePromsvyazbank moves into the Donbass under the eye of Russian financial intelligence.

IraqMohammed Shia Al Sudani's purge of the security services continues.

FranceIntelligence services' right to consult medical records from the public health system confirmed.

Foreign ministry picks new Asia relations deputy

After weeks of rumours and whispers in the corridors of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Andrey Rudenko, we have learned, should shortly be in charge of handling Russia's relations with Asia.

Kremlin retakes control of the patriotic 'black' PR networks

Faced with economic and military difficulties, the Russian presidential administration is looking to tighten up its control over the information sphere. The effects have already been felt by media groups controlled by the powerful factions headed by the country's elite.

Moldovan intelligence ups its game in the face of Russian infiltration

With the Russia-Ukraine war unfolding on its doorstep, the small ex-Soviet state, which has just applied for EU membership, is bracing for disruption. Its security services are stepping up anti-corruption and anti-disinformation efforts against Russian infiltration in the country.

War in Ukraine puts Russia's Jewish Chabad-Lubavitch community under pressure

European branches of the Orthodox Jewish Chabad-Lubavitch religious community are very actively engaged in Ukraine, putting the movement's Russian branch in a tight spot with the Kremlin.

Boosted by Kremlin, telecoms regulator Roskomnadzor steps up surveillance projects

The state control agency is playing an increasingly central role in the setting-up of a "sovereign internet" wanted by the Kremlin. Moscow is especially counting on the agency's public communications network surveillance and control centre, headed by ex-FSO officer Sergei Khutortsev.

Spotlight
Ukrainian cunning and Chinese, American and French drones were key to successful Sevastopol naval attack

Intelligence Online has gathered information shedding light on how the raid on the Russian naval base in Sevastopol on 29 October was carried out: the Ukrainian army used French, Chinese and American-made marine and aerial systems.

Russia's digital development minister caught in power struggle between Kremlin rivals

Maksut Shadayev has come under various forms of pressure behind the scenes in recent weeks. Shadayev, a protege of Putin's deputy chief of staff Sergey Kiriyenko, has a say over a number of crucial security contracts.

The Agencies' Gazette
French DGSI's new hiring cell, Rosgvardia's deputy directors, Tel Aviv boosts Albanian cyber, New York jet-setter wins case against Moscow

Appointments, reforms and the issues at stake: every Monday, Intelligence Online serves up snippets big and small from the global intelligence community. This week we home in on Paris, Tel Aviv, Tirana and Moscow.

FranceDGSI's new recruitment cell.

RussiaA new deputy for Zolotov.

Israel/AlbaniaTel Aviv pledges cyber security boost to Tirana.

France/RussiaMoscow loses case in Paris court.

Rostec emerges top dog as Moscow elite jostle for positions

Through skilled lobbying on several fronts, the state-owned defence conglomerate has won a round in the fight for resources and political visibility in a country fixated with the war on Ukraine.

The Agencies' Gazette
CIA's HR woes, Hamas and Taliban in Istanbul, Tbilisi's oligarchs, France's DPR, China worries Russia, repatriated Afghans

Appointments, reforms and the issues at stake: every Monday, Intelligence Online serves up snippets big and small from the global intelligence community. This week we hone in on Istanbul, Washington, Paris, Moscow, Kabul and Tbilisi.

United States CIA experimenting to solve HR crisis

Turkey/Palestine/Afghanistan Istanbul hosts Hamas-Taliban rapprochement

Georgia Tbilisi looks into its oligarchs

France DPR still not entitled to know about operations in progress

Russia Moscow's foreign affairs ministry reassesses view of China

Afghanistan/Europe Europe's greater numbers of repatriated Afghans

Siloviki eye facial recognition as potential windfall in their search for funds

With the final touches being put to the 2023 federal budget, Moscow's political class and biometric technology providers are queuing up for the public funds that could be allocated to facial recognition projects.

Kremlin puts its think tank in media spotlight

The Russian Institute of Strategic Research, headed by former external intelligence chief Mikhail Fradkov, is under orders to raise its media profile.

Iran and Russia finalise fresh drone deal

Moscow and Tehran are finalising a new deal for four distinct classes of drone systems already used in Russia's war on Ukraine. Both countries continue to deny these deliveries, despite 'leaks' from Iranian officials.