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Newsweek
29-04-2025
- Politics
- Newsweek
Russia's GRU Spies Tasked With 'Ultra Urgent' Europe Mission: Report
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. Russia's foreign military intelligence agency has tasked its agents to collect information about Kremlin critics to potentially deploy "active measures" against them, according to an independent Russian language investigative outlet. In a Telegram post on Tuesday, the Dossier Center, an investigative unit funded by exiled Kremlin critic Mikhail Khodorkovsky, said Russia's GRU is looking to collect data on "opinion leaders in Europe who disagree with the Russian government." This would include politicians, journalists, bloggers, cultural figures, and other prominent figures who could face "hostile actions." Newsweek has contacted the Dossier Center and the Russian defense ministry for comment. This illustrative image from October 15, 2024 shows a cargo plane at Leipzig/Halle Airport Germany where investigators suspect Russian sabotage behind a fire at the airport's DHL center, carried out by Moscow's GUR. This illustrative image from October 15, 2024 shows a cargo plane at Leipzig/Halle Airport Germany where investigators suspect Russian sabotage behind a fire at the airport's DHL center, carried out by Moscow's It Matters The investigation by the Dossier Center comes amid warnings that the GRU is escalating a campaign of sabotage and subversion against the West. The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) said last month a database showed between 2023 and 2024 there had been a tripling of Russian attacks, which western countries have not developed an effective strategy to thwart. What To Know The Dossier Center's post said that Russian agents had been tasked by their superiors in early 2025 to urgently collate data on Kremlin critics influencing public opinion. The information included sources of funding and personal data such as work and home addresses of politicians, journalists, bloggers, cultural figures, and other famous people. The outlet said that "various hostile actions can be prepared based on the data obtained" with the help of agents and through one-off online recruitment of perpetrators who could be criminals or from far-right groups. The post did not describe what kind of actions would be carried out but it referred to intelligence that an assassination attempt was being prepared against Alexander Shvarev, who is said to be behind the VChK-OGPU Telegram channel which posts lurid details about Kremlin intrigue and Russia's security services. In a detailed report published April 23, the Dossier Center referred to media reports of attacks on sites in Europe blamed on Moscow such as a suspected arson attack on a Polish shopping mall and an Ikea store in Vilnius last year. The Dossier Center named Denis Smolyaninov as one of the GRU officers leading the spy agency's operations. British media reporting of Dossier's findings focused on how he had been identified as one of the suspected masterminds behind a cross-border parcel-bomb plot. In July 2024, a package ignited in the DHL cargo area at Leipzig airport and similar fires broke out at airports in Warsaw and the UK. A fire also broke out at a DHL logistics centre in Birmingham, England, on July 22. Another high-profile case linked to Moscow was the uncovered plot to assassinate Armin Papperger, the head of the German concern Rheinmetall. What People Are Saying The Dossier Center: "The GRU is setting an ultra urgent task for its agents—to collect and provide data on opinion leaders in Europe who disagree with the Russian government. It is likely that 'active measures' are being planned against them." CSIS report on March 25, 2025: "Russia is engaged in an aggressive campaign of subversion and sabotage against European and U.S. targets, which complement Russia's brutal conventional war in Ukraine." What Happens Next In September 2024, Richard Moore, chief of MI6, the UK's foreign intelligence service and CIA chief Bill Burns warned that Moscow is conducting a "staggeringly reckless" sabotage campaign against Ukraine's Western allies. Moore said his agents are working to stop the spread of covert infrastructure attacks and that disinformation, sabotage and arson were consistent threats to the U.K and Europe whose leaders will worry that they will increase.
New York Post
23-04-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Post
First photos of Vladimir Putin's ‘secret' purported eldest son emerge online: report
Photos have emerged online that claim to show the longtime purported son of Russian President Vladimir Putin and his rumored ex-Olympian lover Alina Kabaeva, according to reports. The first images of 10-year-old Ivan Vladimirovich Putin were revealed to the public in allegedly leaked photos from anonymously run Russian Telegram channel VChk-OGPU, the Sun reported. 5 Leaked photos claim to show Ivan Vladimirovitch Putin, 10, the secret son of the Russian president. ÐЧÐ-ÐÐÐУ In one of the leaked pics, the blonde boy blankly stares at the camera from under an uneven bowl cut and over a firmly set mouth while wearing a traditional Russian cossack with a braided design around the collar and down the lapel. VChk-OGPU described Ivan as 'the loneliest boy in Russia' saying he 'hardly communicates with other children, spending all his time with guards, governesses, [and] teachers,' the Sun reported. In another photo, Ivan is allegedly pictured next to his supposed mother, Kabaeva, a former Russian Olympic rhythmic gymnast and longtime rumored romantic partner of Vladimir Putin, according to reports. 5 Alina Kabaeva, 41, and her supposed son Ivan Putin in a photo first leaked by the Russian Telegram channel VChk-OGPU, according to reports. ÐЧÐ-ÐÐÐУ Putin, 72, and Kabaeva, 41, are believed to have four children together, including sons Ivan Putin and Vladimir Putin Jr., according to The Moscow Times, which cited an investigative report from the Dossier Center. Ivan was born in 2015 at a maternity clinic in the Swiss city of Lugano, according to those reports. 5 Vladimir Putin appears with Kabaeva, who was elected to Russia's Duma under her rumored lover's political party banner. east2west news The boy is supposedly obsessed with Disney cartoons and movies — going so far as to dress up in costumes — much to the dismay of the Russian president, the Dossier Center reported. Ivan is also an avid hockey player, according to that report. After Kabaeva had reportedly given birth to two girls, Putin was said to have been elated at the birth of young Ivan, according to sources. 'When he was born, Vladimir Putin was so happy that he shouted: 'Hurray! Finally! A boy!,'' a source told the outlet. Vladimir Putin Jr. was born in the spring of 2019 in Moscow, that report claimed. Both boys reportedly live under opulent, but isolating conditions, surrounded by paid teachers and caretakers — and traveling in secluded fashion on armored trains, private aircrafts, and yachts. 5 Ivan Putin is obsessed with Disney cartoons — much to the dismay of his dad — and loves ice hockey, according to a report. ÐЧÐ-ÐÐÐУ At the outset of the war in Ukraine, Putin sent the entire family to the famously neutral Switzerland, Page Six reported. 'Alina has two young boys and twin girls with Putin who were born in Switzerland,' a source dished. 'While Putin carries out his assault on the Ukraine, attacking innocent citizens and causing a refugee crisis, his family is holed up in a very private and very secure chalet somewhere in Switzerland,' the source told Page Six in 2022. Another anonymous Russian Telegram channel claimed that Kabaeva was pregnant yet again, this time with another baby girl. 5 Alina Kabaeva at the 2002 Aeon Cup in Tokyo, Japan. ASSOCIATED PRESS Kabaeva, once described as 'Russia's most flexible woman,' won the bronze medal in the 2000 Olympics in Sydney and a gold medal in Athens in 2004 for rhythmic gymnastics. She and Putin may have begun their alleged romantic relationship — which has always been denied publicly — as early as 2008, according to the investigative report from Dossier Center. Putin has two 'official' children from a previous marriage to former flight attendant Lyudmila Ocheretnaya — but daughters Maria, 37, and Katerina, 35, have also been kept from the spotlight.
Sunday World
22-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Sunday World
Anti-Kremlin website publishes first photograph of Putin's secret son (10)
The Russian president reportedly has three secret children An anti-Kremlin website has published a photograph of Vladimir Putin's secret son for the first time. The Russian president fathered the 10-year-old boy, Ivan Vladimirovich Putin, with his mistress, gymnast Alina Kabaeva. 'VChK-OGPU has obtained a photo of the most secret and probably the loneliest boy in Russia', their Telegram channel reads. 'This is Ivan Vladimirovich Putin. He hardly communicates with other children, spending all his time with guards, governesses, and teachers.' It was previously reported that Putin is 'dismayed' by the pre-teens interest in Disney cartoons and characters. The Dossier Center reports that Putin is upset by his son's hobby because it means he "did not succeed in protecting his children from Western influence.' In January 2024 he said "your head will fall off" from watching "modern Western-made cartoons", adding that Soviet cartoons "are of a completely different quality.' Ivan also has a younger brother, Vladimir Jr. who is 4 years old. Putin has never publicly acknowledged his young sons, however, he did slip up on state propaganda channel RT when he referred to watching fairy tales with his 'little ones'. 'Our historic fairy tales and epic tales are being revived,' he said during a question-and-answer session. 'I myself sometimes watch these with pleasure with my little ones.' The brothers reportedly see little of their parents or their peers as they are home schooled. Putin's 41-year-old girlfriend Alina Kabaeva is one of Russia's most revered gymnasts. She has never addressed the rumours about her relationship and is rarely photographed in public. Vladimir Putin with Alina Kabaeva Russian investigative journalists had previously uncovered a web of property links between Putin's inner circle and Ms Kabaeva's family. In 2016, Russia's TV Rain reported that a childhood friend of Putin and his long-time associate both transferred the ownerships of three luxurious apartments in Moscow and St Petersburg's high-end neighbourhoods to Kabaeva's grandmother. Separately, Putin's judo sparring partner reportedly gifted more property to Ms Kabaeva's sister and grandmother. Putin has two older daughters with his ex-wife Lyudmila, and another secret daughter, Ekaterina Krivonogikh, with his former mistress Svetlana Krivonogikh.
