Russia | intelNews.org

Comment: Are Clinton’s Cyberattack Protests Hypocritical?

January 27, 2010 by intelNews 1 Comment

Hillary Clinton

By JOSEPH FITSANAKIS* | intelNews.org |
The Chinese have accused the US government of hypocrisy in criticizing Beijing for its alleged role in organized hacking attacks, which recently drove Google to abandon its operations in China. Speaking last Thursday, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton argued that “[c]ountries or individuals that engage in cyberattacks should face consequences and international condemnation”. But a subsequent editorial in government-owned The People’s Daily essentially said that China is not the only country that engages in cyberwarfare; the US does it too. Is this true? Most likely, yes. Read more of this post

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with China, computer hacking, cyberespionage, cybersecurity, cyberwar, Cyprus, economic espionage, former Yugoslavia, Hillary Clinton, Iran, Joseph Fitsanakis, NSA, Russia, Slobodan Milosevic, United States

News you may have missed #0269

January 26, 2010 by intelNews Leave a comment

LeT planning paraglide attacks in India? Indian intelligence officials suspect that the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba, the group behind the 2008 Mumbai attacks, is planning another audacious strike on the country, this time from the air, using suicide bombers flying paragliders. The group is thought to have purchased 50 paragliding kits from Europe for this purpose.
Trial of double agent begins in Spain. The trial has begun in Spain of Roberto Flórez García, a former employee of Spain’s National Intelligence Center (CNI), who was arrested in September for giving classified documents to Russian intelligence, via Petr Melnikov, political attaché at the Russian Embassy in Madrid.

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with 2008 Mumbai attacks, double agents, espionage, India, Lashkar-e-Taiba, lawsuits, Madrid (Spain), News, news you may have missed, Pakistan, Petr Melnikov, Roberto Flórez García, Russia, Russian embassy in Spain, Spain

Georgian paramilitaries posed as election observers, say Ukrainians

January 20, 2010 by intelNews Leave a comment

V. Yanukovych

By IAN ALLEN | intelNews.org |
Ukraine’s largest political party has accused the nearby nation of Georgia of sending to Ukraine a team of paramilitary operatives disguised as international election monitors. Vladyslav Lukianov, who represents Ukraine’s Party of Regions in the country’s parliament, has given to the press ten names of Georgian paramilitary agents who allegedly performed “law enforcement operations” in Ukraine, while supposedly monitoring last Sunday’s Ukrainian elections. It appears that three more Georgians, who were arrested on Saturday in Donetsk, reportedly did not possess identity papers or travel documentation, and are so far refusing to speak to Ukrainian security officials. To further complicate the issue, an allegedly wiretapped conversation between Georgian President, Mikheil Saakashvili, and an unidentified woman surfaced in the Ukrainian news media last week. Read more of this post

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with All-Ukrainian Union “Fatherland” party (Ukraine), black operations, Donetsk (Ukraine), Eastern Europe, Georgia, Mikhail Saakashvili, News, Party of Regions (Ukraine), Russia, Ukraine, United States, Viktor Yanukovych, Vladyslav Lukianov, Yulia Tymoshenko

Polish officials reveal arrest of alleged Russian spy

January 7, 2010 by intelNews 1 Comment

V. Korabelnikov

By IAN ALLEN | intelNews.org |
The Polish government has announced the arrest of a Russian resident of Warsaw, on charges of spying for Russia. The man, whose identity has not been released, was apparently arrested last February or March, after a six-month surveillance operation by Poland’s Internal Security Agency (ABW). Polish officials did not say why the arrest was kept secret for so long, but revealed that the alleged spy’s capture was known only to Poland’s president, the prime minister and the office of the prosecutor. The alleged spy is said to be a Russian citizen and a fluent Polish speaker, who has lived in Poland under permanent residency status for at least decade. His legal income appears to have come from his ownership of a hunting-rifle accessories store. Read more of this post

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with ABW (Poland), counterintelligence, Eastern Europe, espionage, GRU, News, Poland, Russia, Russian embassy in Poland, Russian Ministry of Defense, Valentin Korabelnikov, Warsaw (Poland)

News you may have missed #0243

January 5, 2010 by intelNews 4 Comments

US releases video of Iranian arms dealer caught in Georgia. The CIA has released footage showing Amir Hossein Ardebili, an Iranian arms dealer allegedly working for the government in Tehran, trying to purchase avionics systems from two men, who were reportedly covert US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.
Numbers of ex-KGB agents in Russian government falling. The numbers of Vladimir Putin-linked ex-KGB agents inside the Russian government hit their apogee in 2007, when they accounted for two out of every three members of the Putin’s administration. But since the accession to the presidency of Dmitry Medvedev, they are now down to one in two.

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Amir Hossein Ardebili, CIA, covert operations, Dmitry Medvedev, Georgia, Immigration Customs Enforcement, Iran, KGB, News, news you may have missed, Russia, United States, Vladimir Putin

Iran monarchists, foreign spies, behind suspicious news reports

January 4, 2010 by intelNews 3 Comments

M.R. Madhi

By IAN ALLEN | intelNews.org |
There is no question that the domestic security situation in Iran is critical, and that we may soon witness crucial political shifts in the Islamic Republic. At the same time, however, observers should be cognizant of what Politico’s Laura Rozen calls “a notable uptick […] in very fishy stories” forecasting the immediate end of the Islamic government by supposed radical Western-aligned forces. IntelNews has detected several such stories in recent days, such as this unconfirmed December 31 report in Israeli newspaper Ha’aretz, which stated that the Iranian government was moving “[h]undreds of military forces and tens of armored vehicles towards Tehran”, something which never actually occurred. Two days earlier, a report in Dutch government-owned Radio Netherlands had suggested that members of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, including Supreme Leader Sayyid Ali Khamenei, were preparing to abandon the country and seek political asylum in Russia. Read more of this post

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Ali Khamenei, ASIO, Australia, BOSCH, Czechoslovakia, informants, Iran, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Laura Rozen, Maximilian Wechsler, Mohammad Reza Madhi, Netherlands, News, psyops, Russia, Supreme National Security Council (Iran), Thailand

News you may have missed #0237

December 31, 2009 by intelNews 1 Comment

Christmas Day bomb plot exposes fissures in US spy community. As intelNews regulars know, turf wars between US intelligence agencies are nothing new. But lapses that allowed Umar Farouk AbdulMutallab to board a Detroit-bound plane with a bomb on Christmas Day, and the finger-pointing that followed, have raised questions about supposedly sweeping changes made to improve intelligence-sharing after the 9/11.
Mysterious life of Soviet spy couple unveiled. Soviet agents Mikhail and Yelizaveta Mukasey were legends among illegals –i.e. international spies operating without diplomatic credentials. Now the Russian government is carefully releasing information on their activities and missions, which ranged from the US to Israel, Czechoslovakia and elsewhere.

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Cold War, Czechoslovakia, espionage, history, illegal residents, intelligence cooperation, intelligence sharing, Israel, Mikhail Mukasey, News, news you may have missed, Russia, turf wars, Umar Farouk AbdulMutallab, United States, USSR, Yelizaveta Mukasey

News you may have missed #0230

December 23, 2009 by intelNews 3 Comments

Ukrainians claim netting ‘spies among diplomats’. In the last 6 months of 2009, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) has “exposed 7 spies among diplomats”, according to its director, Valentyn Nalyvajchenko. He apparently cited “a case of a Russian spy who was charged with obtaining defense industry secrets for a Chinese special service”. If anyone out there has information on this case, please contact us.
France launches new spy satellite. France has launched a military spy satellite, Helios 2B, part of a boost in spending on independent surveillance. The satellite can reportedly tell whether a truck convoy is moving or halted and whether a nuclear reactor is operational or not.
Seized N. Korean weapons destined for Middle East: US spy chief. An illicit North Korean arms shipment seized in Thailand last week was destined for the Middle East, US director of national intelligence Dennis Blair, has claimed. Blair’s comment, which was meant to tout improved cooperation among America’s 16 intelligence agencies, was the first official confirmation of the US role in the case.

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with China, Dennis Cutler Blair, DNI, espionage, France, Helios 2B, News, news you may have missed, North Korea, Russia, satellite reconnaissance, Security Service of Ukraine, Thailand, Ukraine, United States, Valentyn Nalyvajchenko, weapons smuggling

News you may have missed #0229

December 22, 2009 by intelNews 1 Comment

Russians claim outing ‘100 spies’ in Novosibirsk in 2009. Siberian scientific centers in Novosibirsk, and especially in its suburb of Akademgorodok, nicknamed “science city” by the Russians, are noted for their research in the fields of oil and gas geology, nanotechnology, creation of new materials, and biochemistry, among other subjects. See here for previous intelNews reporting on this issue.
Obama proposes liaison exchange with North Korea. US President Barack Obama has proposed setting up a liaison office in North Korea –something like a US Interests Section– in a letter to leader Kim Jong Il. Such a move would help augment the US’ meager intelligence gathering in North Korea.
Estonian phone, web data tapped by Swedish intelligence? The Estonian Security Police (KaPo) has cautioned Estonian telecommunications users to avoid discussing “sensitive subjects” by phone and on the Internet, after an Estonian newspaper revealed that large chunks of Estonia’s telecommunications traffic pass through Sweden before reaching the outside world.

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Akademgorodok, Barack Obama, communications interception, diplomacy, espionage, Estonia, FSB, KaPo (Estonia), Kim Jong Il, News, news you may have missed, North Korea, Novosibirsk, Russia, Security Police (Estonia), Sweden, telecommunications

News you may have missed #0225

December 18, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

Pacific nation recognizes breakaway Georgian republics. The tiny island nation of Nauru has become the fourth nation (after Russia, Nicaragua and Venezuela) to recognize the Georgian breakaway republics of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.
US relying more on Special Forces in Afghanistan. US Special Forces operations in Afghanistan have been increased as part of a strategy to get faster results, according to US officials. “This is General [Stanley] McChrystal’s play”, said one Pentagon official.
Sweden charges man for spying on Chinese exiles. IntelNews regulars will remember the arrest in June of Babur Mehsut, a Uighur exile with dual Chinese-Swedish nationality, who was apparently monitoring the political activities of Sweden’s Uighur community on behalf of Beijing.

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Abkhazia, Afghanistan, Babur Mehsut, China, Georgia, immigration intelligence, lawsuits, Nauru, News, news you may have missed, Nicaragua, Russia, South Ossetia, Stanley McChrystal, Sweden, Uighurs, US DoD, US Special Forces, Venezuela

Spy agencies closely monitoring climate change talks

December 15, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

DSD logo

By JOSEPH FITSANAKIS | intelNews.org |
I have written before about the increasing involvement of intelligence agencies in ongoing climate change negotiations between the world’s governments. In October, the CIA announced the establishment of its Center on Climate Change and National Security, despite fierce opposition by Republican lawmakers. Earlier this month, it was alleged that the hackers who stole and leaked onto the Internet hundreds of University of East Anglia’s Climatic Research Unit emails were operating via a Russian military and security network, a claim that has been disputed by the Russian FSB (Federal Security Service). However, a recent article in Australian daily The Canberra Times provides the first mainstream indication that a Western intelligence agency is “giving top priority” to the 2009 United Nations Climate Change Conference currently taking place in Denmark. Read more of this post

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with 2009 United Nations Climate Change Conference, Australia, Australian National Intelligence Collection Committee, CIA, CIA Center on Climate Change, climate change, climategate, Copenhagen (Denmark), Defence Signals Directorate (Australia), Denmark, FSB, Kevin Rudd, News, Russia, SIGINT, UK, United States, University of East Anglia (UK), University of East Anglia Climatic Reseach Unit (UK)

News you may have missed #0217

December 12, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

Last Russian intel officers leave Crimea. The last Russian Federal Security Service officers stationed with Russia’s Black Sea Fleet in Crimea reportedly left the Ukrainian peninsula on Friday, just two days prior to the Ukrainian government’s deadline of December 13.
Australia to establish national security college. The new institution will become “an elite educational center for Australia’s spies and security experts”.

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Australia, Australian National University, Black Sea, Crimea, FSB, intelligence training, News, news you may have missed, Russia, Russian Black Sea Fleet, Sevastopol (Ukraine), Ukraine

Controversial Israel-Russia drone deal includes secret Iran clause

December 9, 2009 by intelNews 2 Comments

MK II UAV

By IAN ALLEN | intelNews.org |
I have written before on this blog about a controversial $53 million agreement between Russia and Israel to provide Moscow with Israeli-made intelligence-gathering drones. The agreement, revealed last April, marked Israel’s first-ever sale of military systems to Russia, as well as Moscow’s first known purchase of a foreign weapons system. Last time I wroteintelNews received information that the Israeli move angered some US Pentagon officials. It turns out, however, that the Israeli-Russian deal contains a vital clause: the Israelis have agreed to provide Russia with as many intelligence-gathering drones as they want, and even allow them to reverse-engineer them, providing they cancel an agreement with Tehran to provide the Iranian government with Russian-made state-of-the-art air defense missiles. Read more of this post

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with 2008 South Ossetia War, aerial reconnaissance, Cyprus, Georgia, Iran, Israel, Israel Aerospace Industries, News, Russia, TOR-M1, United States, US DoD

EU foreign minister’s husband shunned KGB approaches in 1980s

December 8, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

Peter Kellner

By JOSEPH FITSANAKIS | intelNews.org |
The husband of the recently appointed European Union minister for foreign affairs has acknowledged that the KGB tried to cultivate a relationship with him in the 1980s. Peter Kellner, who now presides over influential British polling company YouGov, is married to Baroness Ashton of Upholland (born Catherine Margaret Ashton), who assumed the prominent EU post on November 19. Intelligence documents show that British domestic intelligence agency MI5 had tagged Kellner and his wife as “communist sympathizers”, because of their anti-apartheid activism and long-term involvement with the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, considered a “subversive” movement within the intelligence services. Read more of this post

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with 1984 Labour Party National Conference (UK), Alexander Lebedev, Baroness Ashton of Upholland, Blackpool (UK), Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, Catherine Margaret Ashton, Cold War, defectors, diplomatic expulsions, domestic intelligence, double agents, EU, history, KGB, Labour Party (UK), MI5, MI6, National Reserve Bank (Russia), News, Oleg Gordievsky, Peter Kellner, political activism, Russia, The New Statesman and Society, UK, USSR, YouGov, Yuri Kudinov

Comment: Did Russian Intelligence Hack Climate-Change Emails?

December 7, 2009 by intelNews 16 Comments

Tomsk, Siberia

By JOSEPH FITSANAKIS* | intelNews.org |
For over a fortnight, the world’s news services have focused on the so-called ‘Climategate’, the hundreds of University of East Anglia’s Climatic Research Unit emails that were hacked from the university’s server and leaked onto the Internet. The stolen emails, some of which date back to 1996, have reignited conspiracy theories about the role of human activity in climate change. But there is surprisingly little discussion about who hacked into the university’s server and stole the personal emails.