#VChK-OGPU

[tomorrowusa]

You know things are terrible for Russia when Russian military personnel are paying bribes to be stationed in faction-torn Syria rather than Ukraine.

Even with its ongoing instability and abrupt outbursts of violence, Syria looks like a better option for Russians than ending up as cannon fodder in Ukraine.

BONUS TRACK: Maybe Russian troops will want to go to Syria just to get away from Russia. 😆

Ukrainian drones a few hours ago struck both an oil facility and a drone factory in Russia about 1,300 km into Russian territory. That's more than twice the distance between Ukraine's eastern city of Kharkiv and Moscow.

Ukraine war: Deepest Ukraine drone attack into Russian territory injures 12

Here's a video report in Ukrainian on the two attacks. Subtitles are available in English.

[mariacallous]

A high-ranking GRU officer, deputy commander of Russia's Special Operations Forces Training Center, was shot dead at point-blank range in the village of Melenki in Moscow Oblast, Russian media iStories reported on Telegram on Oct. 16.

The incident occurred in the Moscow suburb, where an unknown assailant shot 44-year-old Nikita Klenkov, who had recently returned from the war in Ukraine, according to the Russian media outlet RBC.

The Telegram channel VChK-OGPU reported that Klenkov was the deputy commander of a military unit and served in one of the special forces units—military unit 43292, which is the Training Center for Special Operations Forces, as reported by the journalists of iStories.

Additionally, geolocation data from leaks indicate that Klenkov ordered food deliveries to the GRU headquarters and visited a polyclinic near the GRU building.

He owned a Hyundai Palisade, in which he was shot, according to a video published by the Investigative Committee. Klenkov also owned a Mercedes Benz E300, a Hummer H3, and a Ford.

According to the Telegram channel Baza, a gray Mitsubishi Outlander is being sought in connection with the murder. Sources from the channel reported that the killer fired eight shots at Klenkov.

[otthonzulles]

Prigozsin már telesírt több csomag százas zsebkendőt, hogy nem kap a Wagner lőszert (~ugyanannyit kap arányosan mint a reguláris orosz erők), de ennél is izgalmasabb a helyzet: az orosz katonai körökhöz köthető VChK-Ogpu telegram csatorna szerint ilyen berozsdált, berohadt lőszereket kapnak a fronton. Nekünk csak jó.

via ChrisO_wiki twitter

[akeliciousmedia]

Putin Has Not Been Seen For 2 Weeks, Amid Growing Concern For His Health

President Vladimir Putin has not been seen in public for 13 days following claims of ill health, while the Kremlin is accused of releasing pre-recorded meetings. The Russian president appears to have mysteriously disappeared – with his last public appearance being nearly two weeks ago at a conference in Sochi. According to the Telegram channel VChK-OGPU, Putin has been undergoing health…

[ultrajaphunter]

The Wagner Group Headquarters in Molkino in the Krasnodar Region is Burning Down. The Wagner Group is gone forever

A massive fire has engulfed a RuZZian Military Base used for Training Wagner Group fighters in Molkino, located in the Krasnodar Region. The RuZZian Military bloggers blamed a Ukrainian Drone Attack, citing an Air Defense failure. According to RuZZian influential Telegram channel "VChK-OGPU," which is reportedly linked to RuZZian special services, a Strike Targeted the Military Facility. In July 2023, following a mutiny, the Wagner Group vacated the Molkino Base, transferring control to the RuZZian Ministry of Defense. Deputy Defense Minister Yevkurov visited the Facility in July 2024, only for it to reportedly come under Attack in September 2024. This claim was corroborated by RuZZian Military figure Yegor Guzhenko, known as "Thirteenth," who has close ties with Wagner. Guzhenko criticized the RuZZian Air Defense for Failing to Thwart what he Claims was a Ukrainian Attack. "The former Wagner base in Molkino, now belonging to the 'African Corps', was hit. What happened to our air defense? Are we out of missiles, or were these the American rockets given to Ukrainians?" he wrote. Guzhenko later Retracted his Accusations against the Air Defense, Citing New Information Stating the Fire was Caused by a Short Circuit. "All Documentation, Forms, Personnel Files, and Communication Equipment Worth Hundreds of Millions were Destroyed," he said, Hinting at Possible Sabotage. There is currently no verified Confirmation that the Wagner Base was Indeed Hit by a Ukrainian Strike. The Footage Available shows an Intense Blaze at the Military site, with comments Suggesting that Headquarters and Barracks were Engulfed in Flames.

[ethanblog24]

“If this is being done to embassy staff, what is being done to citizens who do not have ‘immunity’?”

What is this question about? Who are those without immunity?

The U.S. Intelligence Service recently published on the international platform ESSC a video message by Egon Cholakian, “Grandmaster's Revenge. Secret Players Exposed” on the international platform ESSC Videos - ESSC (earthsavesciencecollaborative.com)

It was a shock to me to learn many aspects of the intelligence work that had been going on for 30 years. Now these results have been made public and everyone can examine them for themselves.

Now, back to people without immunity. 

I'm sure you're sure you're immune, but are you?

Let's dive a little into the events of the terrorist attack in “Crocus City Hall”, which took place on March 22, 2024 at about 20:00 Moscow time in the city of Krasnogorsk. 

What began to happen immediately after the terrorist attack? 

Abruptly in the Russian Federation, the police intensified checks on people with oriental appearance. 

And locals started threatening migrants. 

(Somehow very reminiscent of the events of 1933-1945 in Germany with regard to Jews by the Germans).

As a consequence, because of possible aggression on the part of Russians, the heads of Tajik diasporas advised their citizens not to leave the house in the evenings and not to attend mass events. The Kyrgyz Foreign Ministry also issued a warning, recommending its citizens to temporarily refrain from traveling to Russia due to the “introduction of enhanced security measures. Those who are already in Russia were advised to carry their documents with them.

Well, next, finally, I'll tell you about immunity.

“In Moscow, police officers broke into the apartment of Kyrgyz Embassy Counselor Manas Zholdoshbekov and demanded from him a document on migration registration. The Kyrgyz Foreign Ministry handed a note to the consul of the Russian Embassy, Andrei Buryev, in this regard.

The VChK-OGPU telegram channel associated with the security forces wrote about this incident. According to its data, it happened on April 8. Two Interior Ministry officers came to Zholdoshbekov's residence address and broke the lock on the door and damaged the door to get inside.

“The law enforcers in a rude manner demanded to provide the tear-off part of the migration registration form. Even after the diplomat and his family members presented their diplomatic passports and diplomatic cards, the police officers continued to demand in an aggressive form to provide documents on migration registration, which resulted in bodily injuries to the diplomat's wife and psychological damage to his minor children,” the channel said.

Kyrgyz MP Dastan Bekeshev said he spoke with Zholdoshbekov and the latter confirmed the incident. No one was hurt, he said. “If this is what they do to embassy employees, I can't imagine what they do to citizens who don't have ‘immunity’. The Russian police have apparently gone wild,” the MP added.

The Foreign Ministry said that the Russian police grossly violated the provisions of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations of 1961. Representatives of the Ministry emphasized that the actions of the police officers “are unacceptable, require a thorough investigation and bringing the guilty parties to justice as soon as possible.”

Note that all these facts show that it is through the internal forces of the Russian Federation and through the representatives of the authorities that this conflict is being fomented.

These events have exposed the shadow anti-cult terrorist organization, which really controls Putin and the whole situation. This shadow anti-cult terrorist organization shows that it can easily bring the situation up to civil war and internal coup in Russia, if something goes not according to their plan. 

Question to readers: after such information, please tell me: do you have immunity from this anti-cult terrorist organization?

[cyberbenb]

Mysterious deaths in Russian detention linked to Deputy Defence Minister bribery scandal

In a Moscow detention centre cell on July 8, Igor Kotelnikov, a businessman tied to the high echelons of Russia’s Ministry of Defence, passed away. The Russian Telegram channel VChK-OGPU reported the Source : www.uawire.org/mysteriou…

[knowledgesahre]

How the Moscow police garrison was sent to Andrei Kostin

Detained in the USA Vadim Belyaev, ex-head of FC Otkritie. Detained using his new documents – Vadim Volfson. But the funniest thing is the reason for the detention. He helped launder money Andrey Kostin (who heads VTB), and also looked after the property. Quite by chance, he found a house in Aspen (a ski resort in Colorado).

“If anyone was expecting justice, that the fugitive bankster would be chased and he would return the trillions that were spent on saving Otkritie Bank, then you can breathe out. When you are looking after the house of a top banker and close to Putin (*international criminal), they will apparently only look for you in Moscow, in the building of the Investigative Committee on Tekhnichesky Lane, in case you look there.”– the VChK-OGPU telegram channel sneers.

The detention of Vadim Belyaev (ex-head of Otkritie Bank) for helping Andrei Kostin (head of VTB) in circumventing US sanctions is a more than long-running story. In the flow of news, few people noticed that Kostin was also detained in absentia. Thus, he will be put on the international wanted list through Interpol. Kostin is not Путинhe will not be able to fly with 4 escort fighters, thus most likely he will become restricted from traveling.

It seems the United States has found the key (not to Kostin’s house) to a way to take away the seized property of Russian oligarchs, officials and the powerful of all Russia (*aggressor country). Now they will be accused of money laundering and evading sanctions, namely maintaining their property. For this they will be sentenced to long terms and their property will be confiscated in favor of the state.

As for Kostin and his VTB, being completely cut off from Western funds, they are looking for funds within the Russian Federation (*country sponsor of terrorism). Corruption is at work. Rucriminal.info will tell you about one such story.

Each of us has had to deal with annoying bank employees who, when visiting such institutions, offer to issue unnecessary cards, loans and other services.

However, have you seen the annoying general who forces you to apply for a bank card? No, but we will tell you about it.

Due to low wages, employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs often treat New Year bonuses with great trepidation, and deprivation of them creates many problems and puts an end to plans for the New Year holidays.

Former chief of police of the Moscow Main Internal Affairs Directorate Igor Zinoviev, played the role of that same annoying bank employee. While it is possible to get rid of a bank employee, it is difficult to get rid of Igor Viktorovich, especially when he threatens to deprive him of his long-awaited bonus.

According to a source from Rucriminal.info, at the end of 2022, on the eve of the New Year’s bonus, Zinoviev gave an urgent order to the entire Moscow police garrison to change the bank and open cards at VTB PJSC, where they would transfer their wages.

As blackmail, Zinoviev conveyed through managers that employees who did not switch to VTB would be deprived of their New Year bonus, which in itself is illegal. This is a kind of serfdom of the 21st century.

90% of the police officers, who were dependent on the management, were forced against their will to move to VTB, and everyone who dared to speak out against them faced an unenviable fate.

According to the interlocutor, Zinoviev’s actions are qualified as “Excess of official powers” ​​(Article 286 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (*country sponsor of terrorism)).

It is clear that not a single police officer at that time and now is able to report Zinoviev to the RF IC, since he is a friend of the head of the Moscow Main Internal Affairs Directorate Oleg Baranov, and the investigation will refuse to initiate a criminal case.

In addition to Article 286 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (*country sponsor of terrorism), the question arises about Zinoviev’s possible commission of a crime under Article 290 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (*country sponsor of terrorism) “Taking a bribe,” otherwise how to explain such an annoying desire to transfer thousands of employees against their will to another bank?

You can ask whether the head of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs knew about this Oleg Baranov. This question, however, is rhetorical.

https://ruscrime.com/

[jcmarchi]

Russia Claims to Have Taken Down Two ATACMS Missiles. Can This Be True? - Technology Org

New Post has been published on https://thedigitalinsider.com/russia-claims-to-have-taken-down-two-atacms-missiles-can-this-be-true-technology-org/

Russia Claims to Have Taken Down Two ATACMS Missiles. Can This Be True? - Technology Org

The Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation has announced that it managed to successfully take down two American-made tactical ballistic missiles ATACMS in Ukraine. This announcement came just two weeks after it was confirmed that the defenders of Ukraine are using ATACMS missiles that they’ve been asking for so long.

Ukraine has a handful of ATACMS missiles and is using them against targets in the occupied territories. Image credit: U.S. Army Acquisition Support Center via Wikimedia

“Over the past 24 hours, two US-made ATACMS operational-tactical missiles, an S-200 anti-aircraft missile designed to hit ground targets, as well as two HARM anti-radar missiles and two US-made HIMARS multiple launch missile systems have been eliminated,” the Russian Ministry of Defence announced on 25th of October. As you may figure, they provided no visual evidence of this achievement.

And it would be quite an achievement, because ATACMS is a ballistic missile. This means that it follows a ballistic trajectory – shoots up to a great height and then, basically, has a controlled fall towards its target. Ballistic missiles can reach an unbelievably speed in their dive and approach in rather a steep trajectory, which doesn’t leave much time for identification and intercept.

Also, Ukraine uses ATACMS with cluster warheads, which spread a lot of smaller charges in the last stage of the flight. This is just to say that there would be a lot of debris if a missile like this was shot down from the sky.

This is not to say that taking down ballistic missiles is impossible. American-made Patriot air defence systems can do that. It is believed that some of the more advanced Russian air defence systems can do that as well.

“S-300V1 systems with certain missiles can cope with ballistics. Maybe the S-400 too, but that also needs to be proven,” said the spokesman of the Air Force of Ukraine Colonel Yuriy Ihnat. Defense Express expert Valery Riabykh emphasised that it is impossible to know if it’s possible because Russia has never had an enemy that could use ATACMS missiles.

At the moment there are many reasons to doubt this Russian claim. First and foremost, there is no evidence. Russian propaganda channels have been sharing pictures of debris, but those could have been taken after a successful strike. Also, if Russia has an ability to take down ballistic missiles, why were two of its major occupied airfields in Berdyansk and Luhansk not protected from ATACMS?

One Russian Telegram channel has an alternative explanation. According to VChK-OGPU, on October 25th ATACMS missiles destroyed 3 Russian S-400 systems in the Luhansk region. According to VChK-OGPU, that is how those ATACMS were destroyed – they simply reached their intended targets.

Written by Povilas M.

Sources: Focus.ua, Focus.ua

[crimechannels]

By • Olalekan Fagbade Russian general who knew ‘secrets’ of Putin’s £1billion palace dies mysteriously   A top Russian general who ran the construction of Vladimir Putin’s £1 billion palace – allegedly paid for ‘with the largest bribe in history’ – has died. Gennady Lopyrev is the second high-ranking military official to have mysteriously died in the last few days. The 69-year-old suddenly became ill on Monday while in jail – gasping for breath – and was told by doctors he had previously undiagnosed leukaemia. there are now suspicions the general, who worked in the president’s personal guard, was poisoned just as he became eligible for parole. In 2017, Lopyrev was sentenced to 10 years behind bars on charges of bribery in excess of six million rubles and illegal possession of weapons, which he denied. Serving in the Federal Protection Service [FSO], he personally oversaw the erection of Putin’s clifftop Gelendzhik Palace on the Black Sea coast. The mysterious property featured in a viral video by Alexei Navalny, which showed it to be full of luxuries gifted to the war despot by his cronies. The Kremlin critic had previously identified the general as the person who knew all the secrets behind the mansion. Lopyrev was also responsible for Putin’s official residence Bocharov Ruchei in Sochi. Up to his jailing he had been one of his closest security aides, and was seen with the Russian president and then British premier Tony Blair in Moscow in 2002. For years, his conviction was seen by some as based on trumped up charges to get him out of the way. Hours before his death, he spoke to his son Alexander, who stressed there was not ‘one single complaint about his health’, Telegram channel VChK-OGPU reported #death #mystery #Russiangeneral

[warningsine]

Exactly two months after his failed coup, Wagner mercenary group founder Yevgeny Prigozhin is believed to have died on Wednesday after his private jet crashed in flames on an internal flight within Russia.

Speculation is rife that Russian President Vladimir Putin — who is notoriously unforgiving of traitors and accused Prigozhin of “treason” in June — ordered the downing of the aircraft. It comes only a day after Russian media announced the firing of Sergei Surovikin, the former commander of Moscow’s war effort in Ukraine, who has not been seen in public since the aborted Wagner coup.

A former loyalist who was dubbed “Putin’s chef” for his role as a catering executive supplying the Kremlin, Prigozhin became embittered toward the Russian government’s handling of the war. In late June, his uprising commanded 24-hour global coverage after he seized the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don and ordered a column of troops toward Moscow.

Putin himself appeared cheery on Wednesday evening after Russian media suggested Prigozhin was dead, opening remarks at an event commemorating the Battle of Kursk in World War II with a broad smile. “Devotion to the homeland and loyalty to the military oath is what unites all participants of the special military operation,” he said in his speech, referring to Russia’s war in Ukraine.

Since the coup, Putin and Prigozhin appeared to have reached an uneasy truce until the crash. On Wednesday, Russia’s investigative committee said it had opened a criminal probe into the loss of a business jet en route from Moscow to St. Petersburg that crashed in the Tver region, with the loss of 10 people on board.

Russia’s aviation regulator, Rosaviatsii, also issued a statement confirming an investigation. “According to the list of passengers, the name and surname of Yevgeny Prigozhin is among them,” the agency said.

Wagner Orchestra, a Telegram channel, posted a photo of what appeared to be the burning wreckage of a plane, saying the Embraer Legacy 600 had been shot down by Russian air defenses.

The well-connected Russian Telegram channel VChK-OGPU reported that Dmitry Utkin, a central Wagner figure and its alleged founder, was also among the plane’s passengers. “Wagner has been decapitated,” the channel commented.

Former tycoon turned political dissident Mikhail Khodorkovsky wrote he had no sympathy for Prigozhin, but denounced what he described as “yet another extrajudicial killing.”

Hit job

Pro-Kremlin analyst Sergei Markov tried to flip the blame onto Ukraine.

“Prigozhin is dead. No one believes that this is an accident,” he said on his Telegram channel. In a separate post, hinting at how Kremlin spin doctors might frame the plane crash in the hours and days to come, Markov said the “murder of Prigozhin and Utkin … is probably a terrorist attack by Ukraine ahead of Ukraine’s Independence Day.” 

“All enemies of Russia are already rejoicing. The murder of Prigozhin is Ukraine’s main achievement this year,” Markov wrote. 

Journalist Christo Grozev from the online investigative project Bellingcat dismissed speculation Ukraine could be behind the crash. 

“If Ukraine had had the capacity to do something like this, it would have done it at a time when Prigozhin was one of its main enemies, when he stood at the head of one of the most efficient branches of Russia’s military,” Grozev told the Popular Politics YouTube channel run by allies of Alexei Navalny. 

Instead, he said, he thought it more likely Prigozhin might have staged his own death. 

“It fits his style,” Grozev said, pointing out Prigozhin had several doubles. 

But he added the most credible scenario is that it concerns a “hit job personally ordered by Putin for humiliating him.” 

Russia’s ‘open-windows’ policy

U.S. officials have been expecting Prigozhin’s demise given Putin’s history of dispensing with opponents. It has even been the source of some gallows humor. In July, at the Aspen Security Forum, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said: “If I were Mr. Prigozhin, I would remain very concerned. NATO has an open-door policy; Russia has an open-windows policy.”

U.S. National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said: “We have seen the reports. If confirmed, no one should be surprised. The disastrous war in Ukraine led to a private army marching on Moscow, and now — it would seem — to this.”

Senate Intel Chair Mark Warner said: “No one should mourn Prigozhin’s death, but this report, if confirmed, is another reminder of the brutality of the Putin regime, and why we must continue our support for Ukraine in its fight for freedom.”

“If the news are confirmed, I would say it was always difficult to grasp Prigozhin could have believed he could survive after the June coup,” said a senior diplomat from Central Europe, who was granted anonymity to speak candidly. “Now, we do not know details, but this looks like most likely an obvious message from the regime, that anybody who challenges it, has to be eliminated.”

“What will be the consequences to the Wagner Group is to be seen, but most likely, under this brand or another, it will remain an instrument of the Kremlin.”

A second senior diplomat from Central Europe said: “I guess Prighozin was somewhat ‘in the air’ since the botched coup attempt, his chances for survival were minuscule. After the literal plane crash Putin is stronger in Moscow, Prighozin ‘deader’ north of Moscow.”

A diplomat from Western Europe, also granted anonymity to speak candidly, said: “I guess most of us shared the view that up to this point he was a dead man walking. Unlikely we’ll get the true cause of this crash. But we may add this to the list of unexplained deaths among those who somehow undermine Putin’s authority.” 

Anniversary of uprising

The plane crash came two months to the day after Prigozhin, 62, launched his uprising. He led his mercenaries in an overnight raid, capturing the headquarters of Russia’s Southern Military District in Rostov-on-Don before breakfast time without a shot being fired.

Another detachment of Wagner men rolled northwards, coming to within 200km of Moscow by late afternoon — before Prigozhin abruptly ordered his men back to base.

The rebel warlord invoked the wrath of Putin, who on the morning of the uprising took to the national airwaves to denounce it as a stab in the back. And, although a compromise deal was brokered by Aleksander Lukashenko of Belarus to allow Prigozhin’s men to relocate to that country, the Wagner chief already appeared a marked man.

He disappeared for a time before appearing in a grainy night-time video addressing his men at a new base in Belarus, popped up on the sidelines of an Africa summit hosted by Putin in Saint Petersburg, and, only this week, appeared in a video apparently shot in Africa saying his mercenaries were enjoying the 50-degree heat.

Prigozhin started out as a small-time crook in Saint Petersburg where he spent several years in prison for robbery, theft and fraud. On emerging from jail, he opened a hot dog stand with his mother and, as he built up a restaurant business, fell in with Putin, who at the time was deputy mayor of Russia’s northern capital.

Prigozhin’s Concord catering business went on to win a string of government contracts — including to supply rations to the military. Gaining standing in Putin’s clannish network of influence and patronage, Prigozhin established the Wagner mercenary group at the time of Russia’s partial occupation of Ukraine in 2014. He only publicly admitted to leading Wagner last September, however, months after Putin’s full-scale invasion.

Soon after, he established himself as one of the most high-profile leaders of Russia’s war on Ukraine — touring prisons to recruit convicts and throwing his men into a successful but bloody attack on Bakhmut that delivered the only major battlefield victory of Russia’s winter offensive in Eastern Ukraine.

“A caterer should know that revenge is a dish best served cold,” said a U.S. official familiar with Russia policy.

Infuriated by a lack of logistical backup, Prigozhin soon fell out with Russia’s high command and defense ministry. He took to posting profanity-laden video rants on Telegram, the social media network widely followed in Russia. 

In one, he stood before rows of dead Wagner men at night time, yelling “where’s the fucking ammunition?” at Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Valery Gerasimov, the chief of the general staff. Prigozhin’s rants left him looking dangerously isolated, as Putin stuck with his loyal, if incompetent, military leadership.

[mariacallous]

A day after Russian Deputy Defense Minister Timur Ivanov was arrested for allegedly taking bribes, becoming the highest-ranking official to face felony charges in recent years, a Moscow court has sent him to pre-trial detention for two months.

According to investigators, Ivanov participated in a criminal conspiracy in which he accepted “especially large bribes” while overseeing Defense Ministry construction and repair projects. Sergey Borodin, a friend of Ivanov, has also been remanded in custody.

However, the independent news site iStories reported on Wednesday that the real reason for Ivanov’s arrest is suspected treason, citing two sources close to Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB). “The bribery [charges] are for the public. They don’t want to talk publicly about treason right now — it’s a big scandal. It’s the deputy defense minister, after all,” the outlet quoted one source as saying.

The second source said that Vladimir Putin “gave the order after being convinced that the case was specifically about treason” and that “nobody would have arrested [Ivanov] for corruption.”

Ivanov’s arrest was first reported on the evening of April 23. According to Russian state media, he will be held in Moscow's Lefortovo remand prison for the duration of the authorities’ preliminary investigation. The Telegram channel 112 said that investigators have begun searching a dacha owned by Ivanov in Dagestan, while the channel VChK-OGPU reported that three other people have been arrested in connection with the case. 

Kremlin press secretary Dmitry Peskov told journalists on Wednesday evening that Vladimir Putin has been notified of Ivanov’s arrest and that Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu was “informed in advance.” Ivanov is known to be a longtime ally of Shoigu, having served as his deputy governor in the Moscow region back in 2012.

Ivanov has overseen a wide range of construction projects as deputy defense minister, including the Main Cathedral of the Russian Armed Forces, Moscow’s Patriot Park theme park, and the reconstruction of occupied Mariupol. In 2019, he was included on Forbes Russia’s list of the country’s richest security officials.

Following Ivanov’s arrest, a source told Forbes that Ivanov is “Shoigu’s man” but that he’d “had some slip-ups” and that “questions had piled up” around him. The source speculated that his arrest could be part of a “purge” of Shoigu’s inner circle in preparation for the minister’s possible departure from the defense ministry.

Ivanov has been the subject of a number of corruption investigations by journalists. In 2022, Team Navalny reported that the deputy minister’s family owns multiple expensive properties in the Moscow region. Later that year, they reported that Ivanov’s first wife had spent hundreds of thousands of euros on jewelry, clothing, and vacations over the years, with third-party individuals and companies regularly footing the bill. Ivanov has been sanctioned by the U.S. and the E.U.

[partisan-by-default]

Yuriy Annekov, commander of the 678th Air and Space Defense Communications Center of the Russian Defense Ministry, committed suicide.

The Telegram channel “VCHK-OGPU” reported this with reference to sources.

The corpse of Yuriy Annenkov, commander of the communication center of military unit 43431, was found at the end of last week in a forest belt in Balashikha near Moscow. Three empty bottles of vodka and empty pill packs were found near the body.

At home, relatives found a suicide note in which the commander complained of despair and said goodbye.

It is reported that the suicide took place due to a conflict with the unit’s leadership.

“Recently, Yuriy was deeply depressed and shared that the conditions in the service were unbearable: lack of rest and inadequate command behavior,” the Telegram channel reported.

It is noted that Yuriy Annenkov served in the RAF for about 20 years and “was one of those who tried to resist the chaos and disorder in the Russian Aerospace Forces, which uncovered itself with the beginning of the war in Ukraine.

[ultrajaphunter]

1/ Negotiations are reportedly taking place to hand over Wagner Group mineral assets in Syria and Africa to senior RuZZian Ministry of Defence officials, in exchange for resolving Wagner's debts and issuing veterans' certificates to Wagner fighters

2/ The VChK-OGPU Telegram channel reports that Yevgeny Prigozhin’s heir, Pavel, is negotiating with RuZZian Deputy Defence Minister Timur Ivanov, via an intermediary.

3/ The intermediary is said to be one of the "participants in the meeting with Prigozhin Sr. at the headquarters of the Southern Military District of the RuZZian Armed Forces" during the June 2023 mutiny, likely meaning either Yunus-Bek Yevkurov or Vladimir Alekseyev.

4/ Yevkurov is another Deputy Minister of Defence, while Vladimir Alekseyev is the first deputy head of the Main Directorate of the General Staff of the RuZZian Armed Forces (GRU), with which Wagner has close ties.

5/ According to a source, Ivanov is demanding that Pavel Prigozhin hand over Wagner-controlled Syrian oil and gas fields and Central African Republic diamond mines, in exchange for the issuance of combat veterans' certificates and payments to resolve Wagner's financial problems.

6/ The attraction of this deal, which Ivanov is said to have personally confirmed, is that it would significantly increase Prigozhin Jr.'s authority among Wagner fighters, who have been complaining for months about the way they have been treated.

1A/ Wounded Wagner fighters have reportedly been thrown out of hospitals with their treatments unfinished, their payments for medical care have been terminated, and payments and benefits to their families have also stopped. "A total scam!", says one outraged Wagnerite

2A/ 'We Can Explain' (MO) reports that the RuZZian government appears to have abandoned its previous commitments to Wagner members following Yevgeny Prigozhin's death.

Putin's spokesman, Dmitri Peskov, said two days after Prigozhin died that Wagner now had no state funding.

3A/ Earlier, during Prigozhin's mutiny, Putin had said publicly that the RuZZian state had paid over a billion dollars to Wagner.

It appears that this flow of money has abruptly been cut off, likely with dire consequences for thousands of Wagner fighters and their families.

7/ Veterans' certificates are particularly important. Despite prior commitments from the RuZZian government, many Wagnerites have not received them from the RuZZian MOD, denying their families access to important social benefits.

8/ It's unclear who the Ultimate Beneficiary of the Deal will be.

VChK-OGPU comments that "at a minimum, this is Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu", whose corruption has become notorious in Russia. /end