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Boston Globe
5 hours ago
- Politics
- Boston Globe
Trump and Putin may get a cold reception from some Alaskans
Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up 'Alaska boosters have been pushing for Alaska as an international gateway for basically since statehood,' said Ramseur, who wrote the book 'Melting the Ice Curtain: The Extraordinary Story of Citizen Diplomacy on the Russia-Alaska Frontier.' 'So in that sense, it's good for Alaska. Puts us on the map for a couple of hours.' Advertisement Alaska has deep ties to Russian history and culture, dating back to when the Russian Empire first colonized the region in the 18th century. Since the United States purchased the land in 1867, Russian-speaking communities have stayed in the state, and Russian Orthodox Churches, with their distinct onion-shaped domes, can be found from the remote Aleutian Islands to Anchorage, Alaska's largest city. Advertisement 'Russian culture and Russian history is sort of baked into Alaska,' said Brandon Boylan, a professor at the University of Alaska Fairbanks who has researched Alaska's role in US-Russia relations. 'There's a lot of remnants of the Russian American legacy.' After the end of the Cold War — when Alaska served as a front line of missile defense against the Soviet Union — the state became the center of efforts to deepen ties between the United States and the new Russian Federation, Boylan said. But the outbreak of war in Ukraine reversed that thaw in relations, he said. While remarks by Russian political figures about taking back their former American territory have largely 'fallen flat,' the war in Ukraine has still alarmed Alaskans and soured feelings toward their western neighbor, Boylan said. 'If tensions heat up between the US and Russia, I think we're going to feel it most acutely in Alaska again,' he said. With the rise of Putin in the early 2000s, business partnerships and academic collaboration began to falter, Ramseur said, but tension took hold more deeply with Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The Anchorage Assembly suspended its decades-old 'sister city' relationship with the Siberian city of Magadan the following year, saying it could not 'turn a blind eye to the actions of the Russian government.' But Juneau, the state's capital, voted to continue a similar relationship with Vladivostok. Alaska's position at the junction of Asia and North America has long made it a strategic site for diplomacy, Boylan said. Most recently, the Biden administration conducted high-level talks with China at the Hotel Captain Cook in Anchorage in 2021. The White House has not confirmed exactly where the meeting will take place. But Larry Disbrow, a realtor who operates short-term rentals in Anchorage and who is also an honorary consul of Germany, said he has rented a six-bedroom property to the Secret Service for the meeting. Advertisement 'The US Secret Service contacted me earlier today, and they asked me if I might have availability of any of my places, and I did for the window that they needed,' said Disbrow, who goes by Beau. He added: 'I could see why Alaska might be an attractive place for something like this, you know, from a historical perspective. But it surprised me, for sure.' Suzanne LaFrance, Anchorage's mayor, said in an interview Saturday that she hadn't received any indication whether her city would host the meeting between Trump and Putin. 'Hosting leaders is not unusual for us here in Alaska,' LaFrance said. 'Serving as a place for diplomacy is part of our history, as we are that crossroads of the world.' Russian influences are prevalent in Anchorage, where a small grocery store chain sells Russian food, and a downtown restaurant, popular with late-night diners, specializes in pelmeni, or Russian dumplings. Trump has visited Alaska at least five times since he first took office in 2017, mostly for stops at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage. The meeting with Putin will make this Trump's first official trip to the state since the start of his second term. The state's congressional delegation and governor, all Republicans, publicly welcomed the selection of their state for the meeting between Trump and Putin. 'For centuries, Alaska has been a bridge between nations, and today, we remain a gateway for diplomacy, commerce and security in one of the most critical regions on earth,' Governor Mike Dunleavy posted on social platform X on Friday. Advertisement Senator Lisa Murkowski, Republican of Alaska, said that while she remained 'deeply wary of Putin and his regime,' she hoped the talks would help end the war in Ukraine on equitable terms. Eric Croft, chair of the Alaska Democratic Party, said the meeting highlighted Trump's failure to fulfill his campaign pledge of ending the war on the first day of his administration. 'We'd love the war in Gaza and Ukraine to be resolved, and stop killing civilians,' Croft said in an interview Saturday. 'I think most Alaskans are more worried about inflation and cuts to Medicaid and cuts to public radio, but we'll entertain them if they need it.' This article originally appeared in
Telegraph
3 days ago
- Politics
- Telegraph
Life at war for a Briton in Putin's army
When then 23-year-old Jay Fraser left Scotland last summer to fight for Vladimir Putin, he believed he was joining a great crusade against Western 'cultural rot' and the international rules-based order. A year on, he is starting to regret his decision. Snubbed by comrades and rejected for Russian citizenship, he says that though he still believes in a Kremlin victory, he has 'no great love for Russia or her people'. 'My entire ideological reasoning for coming here collapsed in on itself; I truly realised that I am a Celt and will never be of the Rus,' he said this week. Over the last 12 months, he has realised that Russia is not the 'bastion of common sense' he once wrote that it was, and that fighting for Putin will not spark a nationalist renaissance in his native Scotland, as he once thought it might. While many accounts from foreign fighters on the Ukrainian side have emerged since 2022, Fraser is one of the few to give the Russian perspective. Speaking to The Telegraph, he says the novelty of being a Scotsman in the Kremlin's army has run out, and some of his comrades now see him as a liability due to his basic Russian. Fraser, one of a handful of Britons known to have served with Russian forces, was reportedly a regular at a Russian Orthodox church before leaving to fight for Russia. He has hinted he received military training in a Balkan country before officially signing up, and there are believed to be pro-Russian paramilitary training camps in the Republika Srpska, an autonomous Serb region in Bosnia. He had joined the artillery of the Pyatnashka mercenary unit, originally formed in the self-proclaimed Donetsk Republic inside occupied Ukraine as an international brigade, but now incorporated into the Russian military. It is understood to include a number of Orthodox Serbs. The former brewery worker's first deployment was to Kursk in late 2024 to repel Ukrainian forces that had swept across the border earlier that year. He said conditions in the Pyatnashka unit were 'cushy' in comparison to what he was to later encounter in Donetsk. After being pulled off the line in Kursk, Fraser was transferred to a section of the front in Donetsk near Chasiv Yar and now serves around Kramatorsk, near Bakhmut. 'Less and less of a Russia lover' It was here that the young Scot's illusions about the war and the men he was serving with were dispelled. He describes how anything left lying is liable to be stolen, from socks to laptops to gear for going up to the front. Soldiers would also make friends with him only to borrow money with no intent of ever paying it back. 'The sort of Gopnik [delinquent youth] alcoholic type are very common here in the military unfortunately,' he says. 'Made a lot of great friends, but also been burned a few times which has definitely, again, contributed to me becoming less and less of a Russia lover.' Conditions in Donetsk, which he notes has been at war for a decade, are much worse than in Kursk. He describes tough slogs to get up to the dugouts, no running water, little opportunity to run to the shops, and much more intense drone and counter-battery fire. Just three weeks ago, Fraser says, his artillery position was hit by shelling, sending him running for the safety of a basement. While he was sheltering, Ukrainian fire hit the ammunition stockpile, igniting the whole area and triggering secondary explosions. 'We got incredibly lucky, no casualties, and I managed to get away with only losing the hairs on my arm from running past burning supplies.' Life on the front, he says, involves a lot of waiting around, working at most two to three hours a day. They have WiFi and spend most of the time sitting about and 'relaxing', although 'of course, that short time out in the thick of it is incredibly intense'. 'I think people are always quite surprised at how much of military life is just waiting around... because of how static the front is... there's just a lot of waiting around for weeks or months for the infantry until an assault. In artillery, we're working daily on enemy positions because we can do so from range.' His unit is rotated to the rear every two to three weeks, where they collect their salary in cash. Fraser, who uses flowery language and talks of war philosophically, said he finds artillery work 'aesthetically pleasing'. 'I like how man has mastered nature and machines into these sorts of beasts,' he adds. 'Artillery is also a job which is relatively safe compared to other jobs. The gun I work, we're usually five to eight kilometres from the contact line depending on the position. 'As individuals, we also have a massive output on the actual war effort compared to any individual infantryman, destroying countless positions, vehicles… we can be sending up to 70 or shells a day'. Because his application for Russian citizenship has been rejected, he is confined to base unless accompanied by an officer. He spends time reading, playing video games, and helping out in the kitchens 'because I'm good friends with the guys there'. He speaks with annoyance of the bureaucratic limbo he finds himself in, which relates to the fact that he joined up with a private military outfit, not the Russian defence ministry. Though he has received support from his commanders and Russian journalists, he is angry because, he says, the law on citizenship stipulates that service with irregular units qualifies him for citizenship. 'There's no logical reason behind it. We do the exact same work they do, and we're contracted to the Main Intelligence Directorate of Russia.' The Telegraph understands that those joining Russian private military units sign shorter contracts, but do not have access to the same benefits as those joining regular forces. In his first combat tour in Kursk, Fraser's base was a compound rented from a farmer about a 15-minute walk from a town. Here they could 'buy stuff from the shops or go to restaurants, get stuff delivered, nice buildings we just stuck bunk beds in, and we were allowed to go out to banyas [saunas] in the evening'. 'All round very cushy environment.' But they were there to fight, not to enjoy the steam baths. He recounted being struck by a Ukrainian kamikaze drone that exploded inside a house he was staying in. 'We ended up having to bust out through a window and just grab what we could in our hand then escape, no casualties though luckily,' he says. 'We were then chased for a while by follow-up Kamikaze drones, but lost them after splitting up and hiding. We got [evacuated] shortly after.' His current sergeant in the Donetsk region, where fighting is fiercest, is very 'safety-first' and concerned with the lives of his men, he says. Fraser says his boss can become 'stressed' with the Scot when he doesn't understand what he is supposed to do. Others, however, such as a soldier with the call-sign Kino, named after a famous Soviet-era rock band, try to help him out and put difficult military lingo into simple instructions. He says the drone pilots, who tend to be younger and fluent in English, 'see how I'm doing, take me out for coffee', and teach him Russian card games. 'No remorse' for killing Ukrainian soldiers The now 24-year-old says he has 'no remorse' over killing 'double digits' of Ukrainian soldiers. But he told the Telegraph, however, that he has 'great respect' for his enemy and that 'Ukraine as an idea or nation has been proved as valid through the baptism of blood it has gone through'. He says this idea is not widely shared by his comrades, and that he does not believe it is reciprocated by the Ukrainians. 'A lot of the propaganda around this war on both sides is about dehumanisation of the enemy and fuelling hatred, and that attitude prevails on both sides.' War is impersonal for him, he says, and he claims he finds it difficult watching drone footage of his artillery strikes tearing the enemy to pieces, 'but I view myself as fighting the idea rather than the man'. He claims to have more respect for the Ukrainian military than its supporters, who he says 'cheer on the bloodshed with no risk to themselves'. Fraser has written extensively about losing faith with the Russian system and his drifting views on the war, but has so far faced no sanction from Moscow. Though Fraser would like to return to Scotland, he believes the political situation would make it impossible without facing jail time and says he still 'supports a Russian victory wholeheartedly and will fight here 'til victory or death, regardless of my legal issues'. Another Briton who signed up to fight for Putin told The Telegraph there are about ten British nationals fighting on the side of Russia, although it is not possible to verify this number. Their stated motivations include support for ethnic Russians in eastern Ukraine and a belief that a Russian victory would damage US international hegemony.
Time of India
26-07-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
Pope receives high-ranking Russian Orthodox cleric
Pope Leo XIV, left, shakes hands with Anthony Sevryuk, Metropolitan of Volokolamsk and Chairman of the Department of External Relations of the Russian Orthodox Church, during their meeting at the Vatican. (Pic credit: AP) VATICAN CITY: Pope Leo XIV held a first meeting on Saturday with a senior Russian Orthodox cleric at the Vatican since becoming the head of the Catholic church earlier this year, the Holy See said without giving further details. Leo -- who has called on the Kremlin to make a "gesture" towards peace in Ukraine -- received Metropolitan Anthony of Volokolamsk, the head of external relations at the Russian Orthodox Church. Relations between the Vatican and Moscow has been frosty for centuries. The head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill, has sanctified Moscow's Ukraine invasion, which he has described as a "holy war." But Moscow had a dialogue with the late Pope Francis, widely criticised in Ukraine, with Metropolitan Anthony hold around a dozen meetings with the Argentinian pontiff. The Russian cleric told Italian newspaper La Repubblica days before the meeting that Francis had a "balanced approach" on Ukraine, while he did not know Leo's stance yet. Leo is the first American pope. He took over the church at a time when the United States is pushing for peace in Ukraine, in efforts that have so far yielded few results to stop the three-year war. Leo had received Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky earlier this month and has also spoken to Russia's Vladimir Putin by phone. The Vatican had earlier this year been floated as a possible platform for peace talks, but that idea was refuted by the Kremlin and negotiations have stayed in Istanbul. Anthony reiterated that, for Moscow, the Vatican would not be a "neutral" ground for any peace talks. Metropolitan Anthony was appointed as head of the Moscow church's external relations in 2022 -- the year Russia invaded Ukraine -- and had earlier been a church envoy in Italy.
Euronews
07-07-2025
- Politics
- Euronews
(Un)orthodox intelligence ops: How Russia is using its churches abroad
Sweden has opened up a probe into a Russian Orthodox church in the town of Västerås over possible links to the Kremlin's hybrid warfare techniques. An investigation by outlet France24 revealed that the Church of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God might be used for espionage. Located just 300 metres from Stockholm-Västerås Airport, it has drawn scrutiny from local authorities and security services over its ties with Russian intelligence. Sweden's domestic security agency, SAPO, believes the church is being used as a platform for intelligence gathering and other hostile activities. Strategic location of the Russian church in Sweden Stockholm-Västerås Airport, also known as Hässlö Flygplats, is a small international airport that until 1983 served as a base for the Swedish Air Force. Following Sweden's NATO membership in 2024, the airport became a strategic military hub, regularly hosting exercises for the alliance. The head of the control tower, Andreas Nyqvist, told France24 journalists that a Russian church being located this close to the airport is not a normal situation. 'Nothing is normal about a church that close to the airport," Nyqvist explained. Västerås also sits on the edge of Lake Mälaren – a strategically sensitive corridor that connects the Swedish heartland with the Baltic Sea – and several key bridges cross the important waterway here. SAPO previously attempted to halt the construction of the church, citing security risks. However, the project proceeded without regard for the prior regulations. The church's spire is 22 metres high, although the local zoning plan indicated it was not supposed to exceed 10 metres due to its proximity to sensitive infrastructure – the airport. Who is in charge of the Västerås church? When the Västerås church was consecrated in November 2023, the ceremony was attended by Russian and Belarusian diplomats. One of them, Vladimir Lyapin, has since been exposed as a Russian spy by Swedish investigative journalists. Two weeks later, SAPO issued a public warning that the Moscow Patriarchate in Sweden is supporting Russian intelligence operations and receiving significant state funding. Municipal authorities are now considering the unprecedented step of expropriating the building, citing national security concerns. Even more so with the attention being drawn to Father Pavel Makarenko, the parish priest at the church in Västerås. The investigation revealed that, for several years, on the sidelines of his religious duties, Makarenko served as the CEO of the Russian-owned import and export firm NC Nordic Control AB. That job and his corporate career came to an abrupt end in 2021, when a Stockholm district court convicted him of aggravated accounting fraud for footing fake bills for companies in Russia and Belarus. Makarenko, who denied the charges – and later lost an appeal – was handed a suspended six-month jail sentence, 160 hours of community service and a three-year business ban. Russian churches in Europe The Russian Orthodox Church may utilise its churches in Europe for intelligence activities, strategically positioning them near critical facilities, according to a report by the Molfar Institute, a Ukrainian company that provides open-source intelligence services. The OSINT agency conducted open-source research analysing 11 European countries, including Sweden, Norway, Finland, the Netherlands and the Czech Republic. The agency also specifically analysed the church in Västerås, claiming that its construction was financed by Rosatom, Russia's state atomic energy corporation. Notably, the Swedish Westinghouse electric factory, which produces nuclear fuel assemblies, is approximately 5 kilometres away from the Russian church. The Molfar investigation also geolocated Russian churches in Bryne, Oslo and Kirkenes in Norway. In Trondheim, for example, the Russian church is around 1 kilometre away from the Air Force Academy and less than 1 kilometre from a submarine bunker. In some countries, the authorities shut down Russian churches due to security concerns. In Finland, the Russian church in Turku was located critically close to the Coastal Fleet. The authorities shut it down in August 2022 following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. In 2023 Bulgarian authorities expelled the head of the Russian church in the country over what they called a 'threat to national security'. Archimandrite Vasian, who headed the Russian Orthodox Church in the country, was accused of espionage***.***
Los Angeles Times
01-07-2025
- Politics
- Los Angeles Times
Russia's ex-deputy defense minister handed 13-year sentence on corruption charges
MOSCOW — Russia's former deputy defense minister was convicted on Tuesday on charges of embezzlement and money laundering and handed a 13-year prison sentence in a high-profile case that exposed rampant military corruption widely blamed for Moscow's military setbacks in Ukraine. Timur Ivanov is the most visible figure in a far-ranging probe into alleged military graft that also targeted several other top officials close to former Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu. Shoigu, a veteran official who had personal ties to President Vladimir Putin, survived the purges of his inner circle and was given the new high-profile post of secretary of Russia's Security Council. Ivanov, 49, was named deputy defense minister in 2016 and oversaw military construction projects, as well as property management, housing and medical support for the troops. He was known for his lavish lifestyle that outraged many in Moscow just as the fighting in Ukraine exposed glaring deficiencies in Russian military organization and supplies that resulted in battlefield setbacks. Ivanov, who has been in custody since his arrest in April 2024, was convicted by the Moscow City Court of embezzling 3.9 billion rubles (about $50 million), the charges that he denied. The court also confiscated his assets that included prized real estate and a collection of several dozen vintage cars. Ivanov's lawyers said they would appeal the verdict. Ivanov has been sanctioned by both the United States and the European Union for his role in Moscow's military action in Ukraine. Among numerous other big-ticket projects, Ivanov oversaw the construction of the Patriot Park, which was sometimes called Russia's 'military Disneyland.' The sprawling facility west of Moscow has hosted displays and demonstrations of weaponry and served as a venue for battle reenactments. Its over 13,300 acres host a firing range, museums, a conference center and even a massive, khaki-colored Russian Orthodox cathedral devoted to the armed forces. Putin has personally donated money to commission the main icon for the church, according to the Kremlin. The park's director, Vyachslav Akhmedov, was among a host of officials arrested as part of the military corruption probe. Another former deputy defense minister, Pavel Popov, also was arrested and accused of pilfering state funds allocated for the park in order to build himself a country estate. Popov, Akhmedov and several other former officials remain in custody pending trial.
