Wagner

Russia
Russia's Tsar's Wolves, the Wagner of technology testing, gets busy on battlefield in Ukraine

A private military specialising in battlefield testing, the Tsar's Wolves, deployed in Ukraine, works for Russian defence companies.

France, West Africa
Suneris's African contracts in turmoil

French cyber-intelligence firm Suneris has seen its customer states fall, one after the other, in the recent series of coups in Africa. Not only are its contracts at risk, but the confidentiality of its technologies could be breached.

Russia
FSB on alert as Wagner fighters head home

The return of these soldiers to their families is being closely monitored by the intelligence service, which fears social unrest. Many of these mercenaries have neither been paid nor received the social benefits they were promised, and refuse to join the regular forces.

The Agencies' Gazette
Vladimir Osechkin, French military attaché in Yerevan, new Belt & Road preparations

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 Moscow, Biarritz, Yerevan and Baku.

France/RussiaCommunicator Vladimir Osechkin exposed for false defector evacuations

France/Armenia/AzerbaijanParis's impossible balancing act in Yerevan

ChinaThird Belt & Road forum preparations underway in Beijing

The Corporate Intelligence Gazette
Herminius, Nardello, Raedas and Naftogaz

Appointments, financial results, new contracts: every Wednesday, we report on events big and small that matter in the global corporate intelligence community.

Kyiv/New YorkNaftogaz reshuffles investigators

New YorkBryan Mabry takes over US operations at Herminius

LondonAbby Stanglin leaves Nardello

London/WashingtonRaedas loses two investigators

Russia
Moscow puts plans to deploy Serbian soldiers in Ukraine on hold

Following Intelligence Online's investigation, the Kremlin hurriedly deployed a PR counteroffensive and paused its operation to integrate Serbian soldiers in its army to fight in Ukraine. Belgrade, meanwhile, has made a diplomatic U-turn.

Russia
Moscow region hires Serbian private soldiers for imminent deployment to Ukraine

Intelligence Online has obtained details of a secret operation from Moscow in Belgrade to recruit nearly 500 Balkan nationals to fight in Ukraine.

Russia
The real reason for ex-FSB Polyakov's arrest

Officially accused of conducting "dark PR" and extortion, the former head of the FSB's Second Service in Moscow was in fact waging an underground campaign against his boss, Alexey Dorofeev, in a bid to replace him.

Russia, Ukraine, United States
Free Russia Foundation, a shadowy Washington group at the heart of a network of anti-Russia activism

Working in tandem with a largely invisible sister entity, the Foundation seeks to pave the way for a "post-Putin" era and opposes Russia's war in Ukraine. Citing security, the group keeps its grantees confidential.

Germany
German intelligence agencies feel political pressure during shake-up

Chancellor Olaf Scholz embarrassed Germany's foreign spy service by criticising it over operational failings in a television interview amid administrative chaos at the country's intelligence services.

Belarus
Belarusian opposition shaken by infiltration accusations

More powerless than ever against Alexander Lukashenko who has tightened his grip on power following recent events, Belarusian dissidents in exile are facing increasingly detailed accusations of collusion with Minsk intelligence.

Belarus
Intelligence services in East and West step up surveillance of Belarusian opposition

Following the temporary chaos caused by Wagner's rebellion on 23 and 24 June, the Russian FSB has swiftly reactivated its surveillance networks of the anti-Alexander Lukashenko diaspora, which is also being increasingly monitored by Western services.