Latest news with #FederalSecurityService
23-06-2025
- Politics
Russian prosecutors seek 14.5-year sentence for former deputy defense minister
Russian prosecutors on Monday asked for a 14.5-year prison sentence for a former deputy defense minister jailed on bribery charges, according to Russian state news agency Interfax. Timur Ivanov, 49, was arrested in April last year. He was charged with taking an especially large bribe of 1.185 billion rubles ($15.1 million) but maintains his innocence. He and another defendant were also charged with 'theft of funds by misappropriation' and 'laundering of criminal proceeds by an organized group.' The trial is being held behind closed doors. Ivanov is one of several senior military officers arrested on corruption charges last year. The arrests started shortly before President Vladimir Putin began his fifth term and shuffled his ally, longtime Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, into a new post. According to the Defense Ministry's website, Ivanov was appointed in 2016 by a presidential decree. He oversaw property management, housing and medical support for the military, as well as construction projects. Ivanov's arrest came nearly a month after Putin called on the Federal Security Service to 'keep up a systemic anti-corruption effort' and pay special attention to state defense procurement. Russian media reported that Ivanov oversaw some of the construction in Mariupol — a Ukrainian port city that was devastated by bombardment and occupied by Russian forces early in the war. Ivanov has been sanctioned by both the United States and the European Union.
Winnipeg Free Press
23-06-2025
- Politics
- Winnipeg Free Press
Russian prosecutors seek 14.5-year sentence for former deputy defense minister
Russian prosecutors on Monday asked for a 14.5-year prison sentence for a former deputy defense minister jailed on bribery charges, according to Russian state news agency Interfax. Timur Ivanov, 49, was arrested in April last year. He was charged with taking an especially large bribe of 1.185 billion rubles ($15.1 million) but maintains his innocence. He and another defendant were also charged with 'theft of funds by misappropriation' and 'laundering of criminal proceeds by an organized group.' The trial is being held behind closed doors. Ivanov is one of several senior military officers arrested on corruption charges last year. The arrests started shortly before President Vladimir Putin began his fifth term and shuffled his ally, longtime Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, into a new post. According to the Defense Ministry's website, Ivanov was appointed in 2016 by a presidential decree. He oversaw property management, housing and medical support for the military, as well as construction projects. Ivanov's arrest came nearly a month after Putin called on the Federal Security Service to 'keep up a systemic anti-corruption effort' and pay special attention to state defense procurement. Russian media reported that Ivanov oversaw some of the construction in Mariupol — a Ukrainian port city that was devastated by bombardment and occupied by Russian forces early in the war. Ivanov has been sanctioned by both the United States and the European Union.
Associated Press
23-06-2025
- Politics
- Associated Press
Russian prosecutors seek 14.5-year sentence for former deputy defense minister
Russian prosecutors on Monday asked for a 14.5-year prison sentence for a former deputy defense minister jailed on bribery charges, according to Russian state news agency Interfax. Timur Ivanov, 49, was arrested in April last year. He was charged with taking an especially large bribe of 1.185 billion rubles ($15.1 million) but maintains his innocence. He and another defendant were also charged with 'theft of funds by misappropriation' and 'laundering of criminal proceeds by an organized group.' The trial is being held behind closed doors. Ivanov is one of several senior military officers arrested on corruption charges last year. The arrests started shortly before President Vladimir Putin began his fifth term and shuffled his ally, longtime Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, into a new post. According to the Defense Ministry's website, Ivanov was appointed in 2016 by a presidential decree. He oversaw property management, housing and medical support for the military, as well as construction projects. Ivanov's arrest came nearly a month after Putin called on the Federal Security Service to 'keep up a systemic anti-corruption effort' and pay special attention to state defense procurement. Russian media reported that Ivanov oversaw some of the construction in Mariupol — a Ukrainian port city that was devastated by bombardment and occupied by Russian forces early in the war. Ivanov has been sanctioned by both the United States and the European Union.
Yahoo
14-06-2025
- Yahoo
Russian FSB agent planned to commit terrorist act at playground in Odesa – Ukraine's Security Service
The Security Service of Ukraine has reported that it had prevented a terrorist attack in Odesa by detaining an agent of the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation (FSB) who was planning to blow up a Ukrainian soldier. Source: Security Service of Ukraine (SSU) Details: A special operation resulted in the detention of a Russian agent who was tasked with blowing up an officer of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The investigators revealed that the 31-year-old resident of Odesa Oblast, recruited through Telegram channels, was the perpetrator of the order from the Russian Federation. The SSU explains that the agent was initially given a so-called "test" task, to set fire to a military vehicle. After completing this, the man received instructions on how to organise an assassination attempt. The case file shows that the Russians informed him of a hiding place with components for explosives, which were to be planted at the military's place of residence, a playground in one of Odesa's residential districts. Then, Russian secret services planned to remotely activate the improvised explosive device using a mobile phone with which the explosives were equipped. The SSU operatives detained the perpetrator in the act of planting an explosive device at the site of the planned terrorist attack. The detainee was served with a notice of suspicion under the following articles: completed attempted terrorist act by prior conspiracy, intentional destruction of property by arson by prior conspiracy and obstruction of the lawful activity of the Armed Forces during a special period committed by prior conspiracy. A custodial detention without the right to be released on bail was chosen as a measure of restraint. Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon
NDTV
10-06-2025
- Business
- NDTV
Amid Putin-Xi Bonhomie, Russian Intelligence Cautious Of "Enemy" China
Washington: While the world sees Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping as unshakable friends, a leaked internal document from Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) sheds light on Moscow's growing distrust toward Beijing. Russia's powerful intelligence unit refers to China as "the enemy" in an eight-page planning document obtained by The New York Times. The document, authored by a previously undisclosed FSB unit, reportedly warned that China is a serious threat to Russian security, with Beijing increasingly trying to recruit Russian spies and get its hands on sensitive military technology, at times by luring "disaffected Russian scientists". The document, cited by the NYT, was first obtained by Ares Leaks, a cybercrime group, but did not say how it did so. 'China Spying On Western Weapons' Citing intelligence officers, the NYT reported that Beijing is spying on Moscow's military operations in Ukraine to gather more information on Western weapons and warfare. 'Claim Russian Territory' China, which shares a land border with Russia, may be planning to lay claim to the Russian territory. Russian intelligence reportedly fears that Chinese academics are laying the groundwork for the same, particularly in sparsely populated and strategically significant regions near their shared border. The document said that Beijing's intelligence agents were carrying out espionage in the Arctic using mining firms and university research centres as cover. Russia-China Bonhomie Since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, Moscow's consequential yet opaque bond with Beijing has shifted the global balance of power. Moscow has managed to survive years of Western financial sanctions following the invasion, and Beijing has a part to play in the success. China is the largest customer for Russian oil. It also supplies essential computer chips, software and military components to Moscow. After the invasion, when Western companies abandoned Russia, Chinese brands captured the market to replace them. The two neighbours, fighting western geopolitics, also want to make movies together and build a base on the moon. Counterintelligence Programme 'Entente-4' But despite the closeness, Russia has been cautious of China's conniving past. Just three days before Russia's full-blown invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the FSB approved a new counterintelligence program called "Entente-4"-- a name seen as a pointed irony, given Moscow's public embrace of Beijing. It belied the initiative's real intent--- to prevent Chinese spies from undermining Russian interests. The report noted that while most of Russia's espionage resources focused on Ukraine, the FSB feared China-- which shares more than 4,000 miles of its border-- might take advantage "Since then, according to the document, the FSB observed China doing just that. Chinese intelligence agents stepped up efforts to recruit Russian officials, experts, journalists, and businesspeople close to power in Moscow," the report said. To counter growing threats from China, the FSB has reportedly instructed its officers to intercept the "threat" and "prevent the transfer of important strategic information to the Chinese." Officers have also been asked to conduct in-person meetings with Russians working closely with China and warn them of Beijing's intentions of taking advantage of Russia and obtaining advanced scientific research, according to the document. The FSB ordered "the constant accumulation of information about users" on the Chinese messaging app WeChat. That included hacking phones of espionage targets and analysing the data in a special software tool held by a unit of the FSB, the report said.
