In May 2017, the FBI opened an inquiry into whether Donald Trump was working on behalf of Russia, the New York Times has reported.
Related: Mueller closes in: what will the Trump-Russia inquiry deliver in 2019?
Continue reading...Russian president, on a visit to a fortress, says he commanded a howitzer artillery battalion
Vladimir Putin has revealed that he commanded an artillery battalion during the Soviet period, a detail of his shadowy biography that was previously unknown.
Putin made the comment during a visit on Monday to St Petersburg’s Peter and Paul Fortress, where he pulled the lever on a cannon that fires a daily salute at noon over the Neva River.
“I received the rank of lieutenant as an artilleryman, as the commander of a howitzer artillery battalion… 122mm [calibre],” Putin said, according to video footage posted by the Kremlin. He gave no further details.
An official at the fortress congratulated the Russian president on a “wonderful” cannon shot.
It was suggested Moscow could use Paul Whelan to barter for release of Russian jailed in US
Moscow has denied that a former US marine is being held as a bargaining chip for a jailed Russian spy, after Jeremy Hunt warned against using Britons as pawns.
Paul Whelan, 48, who has UK citizenship, was arrested in the Russian capital last week, apparently on espionage charges.
Continue reading...Newly elected head receives decree of autocephaly in elaborate ceremony in Istanbul
The biggest rift in Christianity in centuries is expected to open up after a new Orthodox church in Ukraine gained formal independence from Moscow in a move set to heighten geopolitical tensions in the region.
The newly elected head of the Ukrainian Orthodox church travelled to Istanbul to receive the “tomos”, or decree of autocephaly (independence), from the Patriarch of Constantinople, Bartholomew I, in an elaborate ceremony in St George’s Cathedral on the eve of the Orthodox Christmas.
Continue reading...British foreign secretary says Paul Whelan should not be used as a diplomatic pawn
The British foreign secretary has warned Russia not to try to use Paul Whelan, the British–American national arrested on spying charges, as a diplomatic pawn.
Jeremy Hunt said the UK was “extremely worried” about Hunt and had offered consular assistance. It emerged on Friday that Whelan, detained a week ago in Moscow, also holds Irish and Canadian passports, adding more layers of complexity to a potentially fraught diplomatic incident.
Continue reading...Paul Whelan revealed to be dual national after being arrested in Moscow for ‘act of espionage’
The former US marine who is being held in Moscow on charges of spying is a British citizen, it has emerged.
Paul Whelan, who is thought to be facing 20 years in a Russian prison if convicted, was initially thought to be American, but was revealed to be a dual national on Thursday evening. The UK Foreign Office said: “Our staff have requested consular access to a British man detained in Russia after receiving a request for assistance from him.”
Continue reading...Whelan faces 20 years if convicted as Russian news outlet claims he had USB drive with classified list of names
The former US marine detained in Moscow has been charged with spying and faces 20 years if convicted, according to the Interfax news agency.
Related: US man detained in Russia is former marine, says family
Continue reading...US could withdraw from a second treaty while Vladimir Putin’s Russia promises a new generation of nuclear weapons
The decision on whether or not to destroy the world came down to a humble Soviet duty officer early one morning in 1983. Stanislav Petrov was told by his computer that the United States had launched at least five intercontinental ballistic missiles at the Soviet Union, and that they would strike in just 25 minutes.
Rather than send the alarm up the chain of command, the lieutenant colonel did nothing and averted a nuclear clash over what turned out to be a systems malfunction. For his troubles, Petrov was reprimanded for failing to keep careful notes during the incident and left the service the following year.
Continue reading...Embassy in Moscow offers help to arrested US citizen during meeting in ex-KGB prison
The US ambassador to Russia, Jon Huntsman, has visited a former marine in a Moscow prison where he is being held on espionage charges, the state department has confirmed.
Paul Whelan, who is head of global security for a Michigan-based car parts supplier, was detained in Russia on Friday. In announcing the arrest three days later, the Russian Federal Security Service said he was caught “during an espionage operation”, but gave no details.
Continue reading...Eleven-month-old child found in ruins of building where 37 people are still missing
Russian emergency services have found an 11-month-old baby boy alive in the rubble of an apartment block that collapsed in a gas explosion, after a bitterly cold night in which temperatures dropped to -26C.
“Rescuers heard crying. The baby was saved by being in a cradle and warmly wrapped up,” the Chelyabinsk region’s governor, Boris Dubrovsky, said.
Continue reading...Rescuers have found a 10-month-old child alive in the rubble of a Russian apartment block that partially collapsed in an explosion. The blast, thought to have been caused by a gas leak, damaged 48 apartments in a 10-storey building in the industrial city of Magnitogorsk on Monday, killing at least seven people, with 36 still missing
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