China and Russia are deploying powerful new weapons: ideas
SIXTY LUCKY students got the chance to train as journalists last year at African Initiative, a new press agency in Bamako, Mali's capital. Trainees were given online and in-person lessons in reporting, with the promise that three of them would eventually be hired as full-time staff at the agency. The catch, as reported by Forbidden Stories, a network of investigative journalists, was that African Initiative is run by Russian intelligence.
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3 hours ago
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Everyone who was anyone in Russia was spied on
Vasili Mitrokhin was a KGB colonel smuggled out of Russia by MI6 in the early 1990s with a treasure trove of notes from the KGB's archive. The resulting 3,500 CI reports (CI meaning counter-intelligence – information about hostile spies) identified 1,000 KGB agents around the world and were shared with 36 countries. The CIA rated it 'the biggest CI bonanza of the post-war period', while the FBI described as 'the most detailed and extensive pool of CI ever received'. The story behind it was as remarkable as the haul itself. Gordon Corera's fluent narrative draws on many sources, including the magisterial two-volume Mitrokhin Archive compiled by the historian Christopher Andrew and Mitrokhin himself. From the start, Mitrokhin had insisted that a condition of his defection was that the world – the Russian people especially – should be able to follow what he called 'the trail of filth' left in their names by the Russian intelligence services. His other condition was that his family should be exfiltrated with him. He was born in a small village in provincial Russia in 1922 and never lost his early love of wilderness and snow-covered forests. After military service he trained as an archivist, but by the end of the second world war he had become a prosecuting lawyer in Ukraine, where thousands were imprisoned and killed as the Soviet authorities reimposed communist control. Mitrokhin said little about this period of his life, confessing 'I saw horrors' but never revealing the extent to which he had to participate. It led to his recruitment into the overseas arm of the KGB, the First Chief Directorate, and in the early 1950s he was posted undercover to Israel.
New Statesman
6 hours ago
- New Statesman
I am once again woken up by the unpleasant buzzing of Russian drones
Photo by Sergey Bobok / AFP via Getty Images W hen I am staying at our house in the country, the feel of each day depends on the first sound I hear – the sound that wakes me up. Two turtle doves are nesting in our garden and the most beautiful thing is to wake up to their gentle call. Sometimes other birds beat the doves and it is their songs which greet my ears as I open my eyes. They also reassure me that the new day will be calm, not dangerous. Too often, however, the morning begins with other sounds. Two days ago I woke up at 3am and listened. I always follow the same procedure when I find myself awake in the middle of the night. First, I check the time, then look on the internet to see what is happening in the sky above Ukraine. Each night sees an invasion of Russian drones and I was not surprised to learn that five minutes prior one had flown over our house, moving in the direction of Korostyshiv, a town located 30km from our village. That night, Russia launched more than 400 drones at Ukraine. They all fell somewhere – either hitting their target or tumbling out of the sky having been shot down by air-defence systems. But as the one that woke me up flew on towards Korostyshiv, I fell asleep again. After all, it was still dark outside and the birds in my garden were silent. I was woken up again by another drone at around 7am. I heard the familiar, unpleasant buzzing of an engine in the sky and I went out into the yard. The drone had already flown on. I could not see it, but the noise of its engine was still audible. Twenty minutes later I took a cup of coffee out into the yard and heard and saw the next one flying over our village school towards the nearest town. Strangely, visual contact with it calmed me. I saw it, but it did not see me. At that moment it was not moving towards me but flying away. The anti-tyranny playbook On Friday I went to Kyiv's largest literary festival, Book Arsenal. Security guards carefully checked the contents of bags and made everyone walk through metal detectors. No one was indignant. It's wartime. Every now and then, in cities far from the front line, grenades explode – often thoughtlessly brought home by soldiers on leave. Later it became clear that the thorough security check at the festival entrance was prompted by the visit of President Volodymyr Zelensky and his wife. Surrounded by numerous security guards, they walked around the publishers' stands and picked up the book To Kill a Tyrant by the Italian writer and lawyer Aldo Andrea Cassi, which had just been released in Ukrainian. Publisher Anetta Antonenko, an old friend of mine, experienced one of the best moments of her professional life. No, I'm not talking about meeting Zelensky – his purchasing the book instantly turned it into a festival bestseller, and Antonenko twice had to order urgent deliveries of additional copies from the warehouse. The next day, the speaker of the Ukrainian parliament, Ruslan Stefanchuk, attended Book Arsenal. In his comments to journalists he said he bought 50 books, but did not mention any titles so that his visit did not affect the commercial success of the Ukrainian publishers present. Subscribe to The New Statesman today from only £8.99 per month Subscribe The hive mind On Sunday, I read the news about the operation against Russian strategic aviation in which Ukraine secretly planted a swarm of drones in Russia before unleashing them in a surprise attack on airfields across the country. I could not help thinking that beekeepers must have had something to do with the development of this plan! The comings and goings involved reminded me of how beekeepers move their hives, seeking territories for them to collect pollen that are remote from civilisation. Darkest before dawn This year, Ukrainian school graduates were again unable to experience the most romantic part of the traditional graduation celebration: greeting the dawn. Before the war, having received their school leaving certificates, graduates would dance a farewell waltz with their classmates and enjoy raucous parties until the small hours. They would then walk around their cities and towns waiting for daybreak, which they would greet at a location chosen for its beauty. This 'graduation dawn' witnessed in the company of classmates was the starting point of a new, already adult and independent life. Dawn at the end of May begins around 4am, but curfew is lifted only at five. So, for the fourth year running, there is no dawn for Ukrainian graduates. Alas. 'The Stolen Heart' by Andrey Kurkov is out now (Quercus) [See also: It's the nuance, stupid] Related This article appears in the 04 Jun 2025 issue of the New Statesman, The Housing Trap
NBC News
7 hours ago
- NBC News
Trump says Putin told him he'll retaliate against Ukraine, casting doubt on peace progress
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said Wednesday that Russian President Vladimir Putin told him that Moscow would retaliate against Ukraine's major drone attack over the weekend, casting doubt that a peace deal to end the war could come soon. In a post on Truth Social, Trump said he and Putin spoke for about an hour and 15 minutes and conveyed that it wasn't going to lead to "immediate" peace between Russia and Ukraine. "We discussed the attack on Russia's docked airplanes, by Ukraine, and also various other attacks that have been taking place by both sides. It was a good conversation, but not a conversation that will lead to immediate Peace. President Putin did say, and very strongly, that he will have to respond to the recent attack on the airfields," Trump wrote, referring to Ukraine's massive drone attack on Russian air bases that took place Sunday. Trump said they also discussed negotiations over Iran's nuclear program. "President Putin suggested that he will participate in the discussions with Iran and that he could, perhaps, be helpful in getting this brought to a rapid conclusion," he said. "It is my opinion that Iran has been slowwalking their decision on this very important matter, and we will need a definitive answer in a very short period of time!" Putin aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters during a phone briefing that the Russian president accused Ukraine of trying to thwart peace talks. Ushakov also said Trump told Putin that the U.S. was not made aware in advance of Ukraine's massive drone attack Sunday. The White House didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. A delegation of Ukrainian officials held meetings this week with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who also serves as Trump's national security adviser, as well as Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau. Negotiators from Ukraine and Russia met in Istanbul on Tuesday for peace talks during which they discussed exchanges of prisoners of war, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Wednesday. Zelenskyy said that Russia gave Ukraine an "ultimatum," not a memorandum for a cease-fire agreement. He also said he's ready to meet with Putin and Turkish President Recep Erdoğan in the coming days. Despite these negotiations over ending the war that began in 2022, the conflict has continued. In addition to the massive drone attack Ukraine launched against Russia over the weekend, Ukraine has also attacked key Russian bridges, including a critical one that connects Russia to its territory of Crimea. Russia, meanwhile, has continued launching strikes against civilians in Ukraine. In the last 24 hours in Ukraine, four civilians were killed and more than a dozen were injured as a result of Russian strikes. Trump has in recent months publicly expressed frustration with the Russian leader, with whom he has long bragged about having an amicable relationship. Trump said last week that the U.S. would know within two weeks whether Putin was serious about ending the war in Ukraine.
