FSB says Ukrainian spies are posing as RAND employees to recruit Russians
"The FSB has received information about representatives of the Ukrainian special services using the cover of the influential American RAND Corporation for recruiting activities in the territory of the Russian Federation and obtaining limited information about the Russian Federation's special military operation in Ukraine," state news agency RIA said.
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Channel 4
36 minutes ago
- Channel 4
Words, Not Deals: Ukrainians disappointed by lack of peace agreement
In Ukraine the image of American soldiers kneeling at the foot of Vladimir Putin's plane to roll out the red carpet has been shocking to say the least. People are worried not only that Russia has been brought out of international isolation – but that America seems intent on forcing Ukraine into giving up land. And a vague promise of security guarantees isn't proving terribly reassuring either.
Channel 4
2 hours ago
- Channel 4
Fury, tears and fatigue in Ukraine
Maidan Square in central Kyiv 12 years ago was thronged with protesters desperate to stop Ukraine's then president cosying up to Vladimir Putin. Now, everywhere you look, the ground is carpeted with miniature Ukrainian flags , each one remembering a soldier killed in Russia's bloody onslaught. Amongst the flags, grieving relatives have placed lovingly-framed pictures of the fallen – more often than not young men, sacrificed to a conflict that has claimed tens of thousands of lives. A few scattered visitors pay tribute, stooping to look at names or take pictures. It is a haunting vista. A gut-wrenching reminder of the human cost of the war Donald Trump promised to end on his first day in office. On Friday in Alaska, he failed to deliver on that pledge more than 200 days later. Families of Ukrainian soldiers went to the American embassy in Kyiv on Friday to make their feelings known to the US president. 'Nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine,' says Maryna, whose husband Mykola has been missing in action since 2023. They're furious their president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, wasn't invited to the Alaskan summit, forced to watch from the sidelines as the man the Ukrainians call a war criminal was treated not only to a red carpet arrival but a ride in the 'Beast', the presidential limousine, not to mention the fly-past. Natalia tells me about her brother Andrei, who'd always looked after her, until he went missing on his first frontline mission in February. She hasn't heard from him since. She tries to stay hopeful but it's desperately difficult. 'I think that he is suffering,' she says, swallowing her tears. 'He always protected me. I was always his younger sister and being without him for me as a person, for me as a girl, here in Kyiv, this is very hard. But I am standing for him and praying that one day he will stand up for me once again.' Wandering around cities like Kyiv or Lviv, apart from the regular din of air raid sirens, it's hard to believe this is a country at war. A pianist performing live in the grounds of Kyiv's St Sophia Cathedral draws crowds, the restaurants thrum with diners and strains of a saxophone drift into the warm night air. The families of those who have sacrificed everything to defend Ukraine's freedom and sovereignty hope to enjoy all this once again. They want peace, of course. But before that they want victory. Publicly, most Ukrainians defend to the hilt Zelenskyy's insistence that not an inch of territory will be handed to Putin. Privately though, more than three years since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion, and eleven since Moscow casually annexed Crimea, some express a weary resignation that in the months to come, concessions may have to be made. They're encouraged that European countries stiffened Trump's resolve before his encounter with Putin. Zelenskyy's one-to-one meeting with Trump on Monday in Washington DC is the audience Europe had called for. And there are reports European leaders may also be invited to these talks. So the dream of the Maidan protesters of drawing closer to Europe lives on. And the president successfully dislodged by the Maidan uprising is now in exile in Russia, given sanctuary by the man now pulverising Ukraine. This article was first published on Substack. Subscribe to Channel 4 News.
Rhyl Journal
2 hours ago
- Rhyl Journal
U-turn as Trump administration agrees to keep Washington police chief in place
Meanwhile, attorney general Pam Bondi, in a new memo, directed the district's police to co-operate with federal immigration enforcement regardless of any city law. The order came after officials in the nation's capital sued on Friday to block President Donald Trump's takeover of the capital's police. The night before, his administration had escalated its intervention into the city's law enforcement by naming a federal official as the new emergency head of the department, essentially placing the police force under full control of the federal government. The attorney general's new order represents a partial retreat for the Trump administration in the face of intense scepticism from a judge over the legality of Ms Bondi's earlier directive, but she also signalled the administration would continue to pressure DC leaders to help federal authorities aggressively pursue immigrants in the country illegally, despite city laws that limit co-operation between police and immigration authorities. In a social media post on Friday evening, Ms Bondi criticised DC attorney general Brian Schwalb, saying he 'continues to oppose our efforts to improve public safety', but she added: 'We remain committed to working closely with Mayor Bowser.' Mayor Muriel Bowser's office said late on Friday that it was still evaluating how it can comply with the new Bondi order on immigration enforcement operations. The police department had already eased some restrictions on co-operating with federal officials facilitating Mr Trump's mass deportation campaign but reaffirmed that it would follow the district's sanctuary city laws. In a letter sent on Friday night to DC citizens, Ms Bowser wrote: 'It has been an unsettling and unprecedented week in our city. Over the course of a week, the surge in federal law enforcement across DC has created waves of anxiety.' She added that 'our limited self-government has never faced the type of test we are facing right now', but added that if Washingtonians stick together, 'we will show the entire nation what it looks like to fight for American democracy – even when we don't have full access to it'. The legal battle was the latest evidence of the escalating tensions in a mostly Democratic city that now has its police department largely under the control of the Republican president's administration. Mr Trump's takeover is historic, yet it had played out with a slow ramp-up in federal law enforcement officials and National Guard troops to start the week. As the weekend approached, signs across the city — from the streets to the legal system — suggested a deepening crisis over who controls the city's immigration and policing policies, the district's right to govern itself and daily life for the millions of people who live and work in the metro area. The two sides sparred in court for hours Friday before US District Judge Ana Reyes, who is overseeing the district's lawsuit. She indicated the law is not likely to grant the Trump administration power to fully take over city police, but it probably gives the president more power than the city might like. 'The way I read the statute, the president can ask, the mayor must provide, but the president can't control,' said Judge Reyes, who was nominated to the bench by Joe Biden. The judge pushed the two sides to make a compromise. A lawyer for the Trump administration, Yaakov Roth, said the move to sideline Metropolitan Police Department Chief Pamela Smith came after an immigration order that still held back some aid to federal authorities. He argued that the president has broad authority to determine what kind of help police in Washington must provide. The police takeover is the latest move by Trump to test the limits of his legal authorities to carry out his agenda, relying on obscure statutes and a supposed state of emergency to bolster his tough-on-crime message and his plans to speed up the mass deportation of people in the United States illegally. It also marks one of the most sweeping assertions of federal authority over a local government in modern times. While Washington has grappled with spikes in violence and visible homelessness, the city's homicide rate ranks below those of several other major US cities, and the capital is not in the throes of the public safety collapse the Trump administration has portrayed. The president has more power over the nation's capital than other cities, but DC has elected its own mayor and city council since the Home Rule Act was signed in 1973. Mr Trump is the first president to exert control over the city's police force since it was passed. The law limits that control to 30 days without congressional approval, though Mr Trump has suggested he would seek to extend it. Ms Bondi's Thursday night directive to place the head of the Drug Enforcement Administration, Terry Cole, in charge of the police department came after Ms Smith had told officers to share information with immigration agencies regarding people not in custody, such as someone involved in a traffic stop. The Justice Department said Ms Bondi disagreed with the police chief's instructions because they allowed for continued practice of 'sanctuary policies', which generally limit co-operation by local law enforcement with federal immigration officers.
