The Kremlin on Friday said that at least three Russians freed in a landmark prisoner exchange were undercover Russian agents, a rare public admission into the work of Moscow's top-secret security services. Moscow said Vadim Krasikov -- who was serving life in prison in Germany for the 2019 brazen murder of a former Chechen separatist commander in broad daylight in a Berlin park -- was an elite operative with Russia's FSB security agency. Krasikov was one of the central figures in Thursday's historic multi-country exchange, with Putin having publicly lobbied for his release in a bid to get the deal over the line in the face of hesitation from Berlin. The Kremlin almost never reveals details about its sprawling intelligence agencies, but it confirmed Friday that at least two others freed in the deal were also long-term undercover agents stationed in the European Union. Russian President Vladimir Putin has portrayed them as returning heroes, personally thanking them for their service to the "Motherland" and promising to shower them with state awards. For in-depth analysis on the largest US-Russia prisoner swap in post-Soviet history, FRANCE 24's Mark Owen is joined by Melinda Haring, Senior Fellow and Deputy Director of the Atlantic Council’s Eurasia Center.

Putin's ominous message: 'We can kill people in broad daylight in EU, we'll take care of our people'

Business Insider

Gen. Sir Roly Walker said Russia's minimum goal of taking four oblasts would, based on current attrition rates, cost it more than 1.5 million troops.

Russia would lose up to 1.8 million troops and take 5 years to capture the 4 Ukrainian regions it wants: UK army chief

The Independent

 Freed American prisoner Paul Whelan described being imprisoned in Russia as “absolute nonsense by the Russian government.”He made those comments early on Friday 2 August after he, along with journalist Evan Gershkovich and Alsu Kurmasheva, arrived at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas.The three Americans were part of the biggest US-Russian prisoner swap in post-Soviet history, a trade which follows years of back-channel negotiations despite relations between Washington and Moscow being at their lowest point since the Cold War after Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine.

Freed American Paul Whelan describes being imprisoned in Russia as ‘absolute nonsense’

Reuters

MOSCOW (Reuters) -Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday warned the United States that if Washington deployed long-range missiles in Germany then Russia would station similar missiles in striking distance of the West.

Putin warns the United States of Cold War-style missile crisis

Latin Times

Mexican President-elect Claudia Sheinbaum defended the decision to invite her soon-to-be Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to her inauguration in October, following backlash and the Ukrainian embassy's request for the country to detain him upon arrival given the International Criminal Court's arrest warrant against him. "They are diplomatic letters normally sent...

Mexican president-elect defends inviting Putin to inauguration while Ukraine asks for his detention

New Jersey State

Houston, TX

Irish Star

Everilda Cux Ajtalam was arrested and charged with abandoning a child after allegedly giving birth in a parking lot

Woman, 18, in US illegally claims she had 'no choice' but to abandon newborn in hot dumpster

Nancy Pelosi was asked if Donald Trump had messed up in selecting JD Vance. She responded by   calling it a "great choice" and laughing.

Nancy Pelosi burst out laughing after being asked if Trump screwed up by picking JD Vance

The USS Abraham Lincoln is on its way as the US Navy continues to react to a range of crises in the Middle East.

The US Navy is on its fourth aircraft carrier as its warships react to fighting in the Middle East

Wisconsin State

Detroit, MI

 Vice President Kamala Harris pushed back against pro-Palestine protesters in Detroit, her first major hurdle amid an otherwise positive rollout of her presidential campaign. Harris was visiting Detroit as part of a tour with her newly-minted running mate Tim Walz. The two had held a large and raucous outdoor rally in Eau Claire, Wisconsin earlier in the day.But Michigan, which has a large Arab-American population located in Dearborn outside of Detroit, has long been a hotbed of criticism for the Biden administration’s support for Israel in its war against Gaza.  Earlier this year, roughly 13 percent of the...

Kamala Harris slams protesters disrupting Detroit rally: ‘If you want Donald Trump to win, then say that’

It is not the first time that the Rostov-on-Don sub, which Ukraine says cost Russia $300 million, has been targeted in the conflict.

Ukraine says it sank a $300 million Russian submarine in what could be another big blow to Putin's Black Sea Fleet

Straight Arrow News SANcom

What was thought to be a small cross-border raid by Ukraine into Russia is now the deepest incursion made by either side since the war began.

Ukraine troops enter Russia, taking territory and prisoners

(Reuters) - Russia does not rule out new deployments of nuclear missiles in response to the planned U.S. stationing of long-range conventional weapons in Germany, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov was quoted as saying on Thursday.

Russia says it may deploy nuclear missiles in response to US weapons in Germany

Hamilton, OH

 A suspect featured on “America’s Most Wanted” for a fatal shooting outside a bar in Ohio 20 years ago was arrested in Mexico where he had been working as a police officer.Antonio “El Diablo” Riano, 62, pleaded not guilty in Butler County Court on Monday to murder charges in the death of 25-year-old Benjamin Becarra, who was shot outside the Roadhouse Bar in Hamilton, Ohio, in December 2004, the U.S. Marshals Service and Butler County Prosecutor’s Office announced. Common Pleas Court Judge Michael Oster Jr. ordered no bond for Riano, who will remain at Butler County Jail. The Mexican...

Murder suspect featured on America’s Most Wanted spent 20 years on the run. Turns out he was working as a cop

MOSCOW (Reuters) -Russia said on Thursday that Donald Trump's assertion he could quickly end the Ukraine war should be viewed realistically, given that he had promised a Middle East peace breakthrough but failed to achieve it during his presidency.

Russia says 'let's be realistic' about Trump plan to end Ukraine war

Ukraine appears to be scoring successes by shooting down Russian helicopters using drones.

A cheap Ukrainian drone managed to take out an $18 million Russian military helicopter: reports

Vladimir Putin called the attack a "provocation", but Kyiv's objectives are not immediately clear.

Why has Ukraine launched a raid into Russia?

CBS News

Stunning new details emerged Friday on the largest prisoner swap since the Cold War, with the Kremlin acknowledging for the first time that some of the Russians held in the West belonged to its security services — and the children of a Russian couple posing as spies only learned their true nationality on the flight to Moscow.Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed that a detained couple released in Slovenia —Artem and Anna Dultsev— were undercover intelligence officers commonly known as "illegals." Posing as Argentine expats, they used Ljubljana as their base since 2017 to relay Moscow's orders to other sleeper agents...

Spies' children found out they were Russian on flight to Moscow

TheDailyBeast

A Sukhoi Superjet 100 passenger plane crashed Friday outside Moscow, killing all three crew members on board, according to Russian state news agency TASS. The crash reportedly happened during a test flight, when no passengers were on board. Authorities are investigating what caused the fatal incident.  The crash comes after a series of issues with Russia’s flagship plane, which was developed by the Russian aerospace company Sukhoi Civil Aircraft and was the first all-new commercial Russian aircraft produced after the end of the Soviet Union. In May 2012, a Sukhoi Superjet 100 jet was on a demonstration flight in Indonesia when it crashed into Mount Salak, killing all 45 people aboard. Then, in May 2019, 41 people died after an Aeroflot Superjet burst into flames after an emergency landing just after taking off from Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport.  Read more at The Daily Beast.

Russian Passenger Jet Crashes Outside Moscow, Killing All on Board

A video that surfaced online appears to show a convoy of burnt-out Russian military trucks in the country’s southwestern Kursk region, the latest sign that Ukraine’s cross-border assault is probing more deeply into Russian territory and inflicting significant damage on Moscow’s troops.

Video shows bodies on burnt-out Russian trucks in Kursk region as Ukrainian cross-border assaults rage

Winchester, VA

NewsOne

Frank Lucio Carillo targeted the vice president more than a dozen times, federal officials said.
The post Protect Kamala Harris: Feds Arrest Man With ‘AR-15 LOCKED AND LOADED’ In Alleged Violent Threats To VP appeared first on NewsOne.

Protect Kamala Harris: Feds Arrest Man With ‘AR-15 LOCKED AND LOADED’ In Alleged Violent Threats To VP

NewsBreak

Former Russian President Medvedev Says Moscow Should Seek 'Disappearance' of Ukraine and NATO

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev on Thursday denounced NATO's summit promise to grant eventual membership to Ukraine and said Russia should work towards...

Former Russian President Medvedev Says Moscow Should Seek 'Disappearance' of Ukraine and NATO

Comments / 0