Latest news with #ex-KGB
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
"Don't know what the president's talking about': Hume blasts Trump's Putin comments
Fox News' Brit Hume took issue with President Donald Trump's assertion that 'something has happened' to Vladimir Putin, causing the Russian president to go 'absolutely CRAZY.' Speaking on the conservative news network on Monday, the long-time White House correspondent and former anchor said that the Russian leader is the same man he's always been. "I don't think Putin's changed. I don't know what the President's talking about," Hume said. "This is the way Putin has always been. He's always been a particularly brutal dictator, willing to take whatever measures he thought necessary to advance his interests. Whatever he thought he could get away with." Hume accused Trump of having an 'odd conception' of his Russian counterpart, saying that he didn't have an appropriately adversarial relationship with the ex-KGB man. 'He thought that he and Putin could be kind of friends and partners and make deals together,' Hume said. On the campaign trail, Trump pledged to end the Russia-Ukraine conflict within a day of his inauguration. Since taking office, he has blamed former President Joe Biden and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for the war's outbreak while continuing his praise of Putin. His rant to Truth Social on Sunday found Trump taking a different tack. The president said that Putin "is needlessly killing a lot of people, and I'm not just talking about soldiers." Hume said he hoped that Trump's Sunday comments might signal a shift in Trump's approach to the war. On Tuesday, Trump doubled down on his criticisms, saying Putin 'doesn't realize' that without him in the White House, 'lots of really bad things would have already happened to Russia.'
NDTV
20-05-2025
- Politics
- NDTV
The 'Muscovian Candidate': Was Donald Trump Russian Intel Asset 'Krasnov'?
On February 20, 2025, Alnur Mussayev, who claimed to be a KGB officer, made the most fantastic of Facebook posts - that in 1987 Russia recruited a then 40-year-old Donald Trump as an 'intelligence asset'. It has been a busy fortnight for ' Krasnov ', an alleged ex-Russian intelligence asset working undercover in the United States government and holding an impossibly high position. On May 10 he "sure as hell helped" India and Pakistan reach a ceasefire deal to end a 100-hour military conflict sparked by the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam. Advertisement - Scroll to continue On May 20 he declared his tactic - of using trade with America as a reward - had pushed Russia and Ukraine to " immediately start negotiations towards a ceasefire" to stop a three-year war. But who is 'Krasnov', you might ask? What does he look like? What position does he hold? How could he have influenced India and Pakistan, and what role might he have in the Ukraine war? Well, according to ex-KGB agent Alnur Mussayev, 'Krasnov' is a 78-year-old businessman with a shock of orange-blond hair who owns the Mar-a-Lago resort, and he lives in the White House. Surprised? On February 20, 2025, Mussayev made the most fantastic of Facebook posts. That the KGB, in 1987, recruited a then 40-year-old American businessman travelling to Moscow. A man claiming to be a former KGB officer, Alnur Mussayev, claimed Trump was 'Krasnov'. The businessman - allegedly US President Donald Trump, if you haven't followed so far - was codenamed 'Krasnov', which translated refers to the colour red. OK. First, Trump as 'peacemaker'? The 'Trump the peacemaker' narrative, pushed enthusiastically by his deputy, JD Vance, and members of his administration, seems to be gathering steam; indeed, a Republican Congressman from California, Darrell Issa, has nominated his boss for the Nobel Peace Prize. But not everyone, of course, is convinced, and certainly not by his less-than-specific posts on Truth Social about the Russia-Ukraine situation, which were short on details on how Kyiv and Moscow might be pushed to halt the bloodiest European conflict since World War II. And the lack of those details, added to Trump refusing to follow the West in imposing new sanctions against Moscow - to push Vladimir Putin toward a ceasefire - have raised eyebrows They also re-spawned rumours Trump is 'Krasnov', a Russian intelligence asset. Now the first important statement. Trump has denied any link to Russia or ever having worked as a KGB intelligence asset. In 2019, during his first term, he specifically told The New York Times "I never worked for Russia". And then the second. Mussayev, a Kazakh national, never offered any proof of his remarkable claim. In fact, there are question marks over his claims, including the position he claimed to hold in the KGB. Mussayev's wasn't the first time such a claim was made. In 2021 another ex-KGB operative - Yuri Shvets, a key source for a book by an American journalist - told the Guardian that 40 years ago Trump had been 'cultivated as a Russian asset... and proved so willing to parrot anti-West propaganda there were celebrations in Moscow'. The denial was in reference to an FBI inquiry into claims Moscow had interfered with, and possibly even manipulated the results of, the 2016 American presidential election. There is more authenticity attached to this claim; Shvets was a Major in the Russian army and had a documented cover position - as a news reporter - when posted to the US in the 1980s. And four years earlier there was the Steele dossier, a report by former British spy Christopher Steele that claimed to expose shocking connections between Trump and Russia. But, by November 2021, the Steele dossier was widely discredited; a detailed report by CNN pointed out multiple inaccuracies, flaws, and even mistruths, and how part of it may have even been put together by Trump's rivals, the Democrats, in an effort to 'dirty up' the President. What do we really know? That Trump went to Moscow in 1987. According to Shvets the Russians had been tracking Trump from a decade earlier, when he married Czech model Ivana Zelnickova in 1977. And when in Moscow, the KGB swung into action. "... for the KGB, it was a charm offensive... the feeling was that he was extremely vulnerable psychologically... prone to flattery." Trump's 'recruitment', journalist and author Luke Harding said in his book 'Collusion: Secret Meetings, Dirty Money, and How Russia Helped Donald Trump Win', was linked to General Vladimir Alexandrovich Kryuchkov, the head of the KGB's recruiting team at the time, urging "bolder use of material incentives". These, he said, were to include money and flattery. Trump returned to the US and explored a run at the 1988 presidential campaign; he took out three full-page ads, including one in The New York Times, in which he harped about America being "exploited" by NATO (a sentiment he continues to express today) and about Washington's payments to the bloc. There was no mention of Russia but, according to Shvets, the ads prompted celebration in Moscow as proof of 'Krasnov'. And those celebrations returned 28 years later, when Donald Trump secured 304 Electoral College votes to defeat Hillary Clinton and become POTUS. "Trump was the perfect target in a lot of ways..." Shvets told the Guardian, "His narcissism made him a natural was cultivated over a 40-year period, right up through his election." Was Trump really a Russian asset? This is important - there is no proof, none whatsoever, that Trump worked with the KGB or any Russian intelligence agency to, consciously or otherwise, destabilise the United States. An American investigation - the 2019 Mueller report - into allegations Moscow interfered with the 2016 presidential election to support Trump did not "establish that members of the Trump campaign conspired, or coordinated, with Russia in its election interference activities". "It's a disgrace that you even ask that question. It's all a big fat hoax," Trump said then. Sign up to read this article FREE! Exclusive Stories: Dive into content reserved just for members. Fewer Ads: A cleaner, more enjoyable reading experience. Enhanced Interface: Tailored just for you. Join Now – It's Free!
Daily Mirror
14-05-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mirror
Putin could be a ‘dead man walking' and face assassination over 'disaster' war
The Russian despot has tightened his security and rarely leaves his Kremlin security bubble out of fear of a Ukrainian kill squad, anti-Kremlin plotters or killers from within his inner-circle Russian leader Vladimir Putin could be a 'dead man walking' and face assassination because of his disastrous war on Ukraine, experts believe. The 72 year-old despot has tightened his security and rarely leaves his Kremlin security bubble out of fear of a Ukrainian kill squad, anti-Kremlin plotters or killers from within his inner-circle. It comes as Russian society is learning they have suffered close to a million casualties, troops either killed, missing in action or wounded by fighting in Ukraine, Experts say the terrified ex-KGB man's reticence over facing Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky in Turkey this week has hugely exposed his weakness. Western intelligence analysts now believe Putin not only fears being assassinated but that it could actually happen because of his 'meat grinder' conflict. Former commander of the UK's Joint Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Regiment, Col Hamish de Bretton-Gordon, told the Mirror: 'There are analysts, people who know better than I, who believe Putin is now a dead man walking, a spent force whose war in Ukraine will cause his end. 'I don't think there is a chance in hell that he would or will turn up to Istanbul to face Zelensky as he would believe he could be in danger or face arrest for war crimes. Things are looking very bad in Russia as even the US now seems to be looking at conciliation with Ukraine as Trump is realising he has been played by Putin. 'Putin cannot keep playing for time and his bluff has been called brilliantly by Zelensky's challenge to meet him face-to-face in Turkey. Russia in the coming months will lose a third of its income through decreased oil prices and it has lost probably a million troops to the conflict. 'He is incredibly paranoid, as we see with his increased security and I am very reliably informed by people who would know that he has at least two dopplegangers or lookalikes. He has been acting like a worried Czar and the Bolsheviks are gathering at the gates because internally things are looking really terrible. Russians cannot even buy a loaf of bread.' Bruce Jones, one of the UK's leading analysts in Russian intelligence and the military said: 'Things never end democratically in Russia and the situation is bad for Putin. He has had people killed for years and some in his military have already been dealt with in such a way - he knows the way this goes for a leader in Moscow who is not making good decisions. So he is probably right to be paranoid.' Colonel Richard Kemp, former commander of UK forces in Afghanistan, added: 'There are plenty of people who would want to have Putin bumped off. But his security is so tight that there is a real question over whether that is at all achievable and I believe that for the moment it is unlikely to happen.' Zelensky challenged Putin to showdown talks this week that could bring an end to the grinding war that has decimated both countries. The Ukraine leader travels to Turkey on Thursday hoping to negotiate the first steps to "true and lasting peace" in Eastern Europe, his chief of staff has announced. Putin had suggested a meeting between officials from Kyiv and Moscow to be held in Istanbul, but it is highly unlikely he would attend. The Ukrainian president said that should Putin refuse to go it would show the Kremlin chief does not want peace. A former British intelligence officer told the Mirror: 'Putin is a very diminished person. But there are questions over whether him being killed would serve any purpose.' US President Donald Trump has offered to attend the talks, although Washington is not clear whether any Kremlin officials would show up. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov previously said it would make an announcement about whether anyone would attend "as soon as the president sees fit." Kyiv has been willing to show Washington it is prepared to end the conflict, having signed a minerals deal with the US and regularly stating it wants to bring the war to an end. Russian mercenary organisation, the Wagner Group staged an armed revolt against the country over concerns about how the war was being conducted. Its leader Yevgeny Prigozhin led a mutiny against Russia, steering his forces from Ukraine toward Moscow Putin branded it "treason" but agreed with Prigozhin to let him live should he bring the mutiny to an end. Prigozhin died in a plane crash two months later in August 2023. Putin is so desperate for troops North Korea is estimated to have sent about 12,000 including members of its special forces. It is possible thousands of North Korean soldiers have died in the conflict. And last week it emerged that North Korean tyrant Kim Jong-Un has agreed to send a further 15,000 workers to help Putin bolster his dwindling industrial employee base and help in Far East Russian factories.
Express Tribune
10-05-2025
- Politics
- Express Tribune
Putin vows Russia will win in Ukraine
President Vladimir Putin vowed on Friday that Russia would win in Ukraine as the Soviet Union had in World War II, as he sought to rally support at a Moscow military parade put on before key allies. Putin sat with China's President Xi Jinping watching a procession of thousands of troops — some of whom fought in Ukraine — and an array of weapons including new tanks and drones to mark the defeat of the Nazis 80 years ago. More than two dozen world leaders were in Moscow for the occasion. Since launching the Ukraine offensive in 2022, Putin has drawn parallels between the Soviet war effort and his own military campaign that has killed many thousands and seen Moscow occupy a fifth of its neighbour. "The whole country, society and people support the participants of the special military operation," Putin said, addressing the parade. "We are proud of their bravery and determination, of the fortitude that has always brought us only victory," he added. The ex-KGB spy, who has led the country for 25 years, said: "Russia has been and will remain an indestructible barrier against Nazism, Russophobia and anti-Semitism." Moscow claims it launched its offensive to "de-Nazify" Ukraine — narratives rejected by Kyiv, the West and independent experts. At home, Russia has banned criticism of its offensive and hundreds of thousands of Russians have fled their country. Security was tight ahead of the parade, with Moscow fearing it could be targeted by Ukraine. Snipers were positioned on a luxury shopping mall that runs alongside Red Square and mobile internet was jammed. "Russia! Russia!" crowds chanted as Putin walked in front of the stands, escorted by bodyguards. Around 1,500 troops that had fought in Ukraine were among 11,000 marching on Red Square, state media reported. The parade also featured military hardware, including attack drones for the first time and more tanks than in previous years. After the procession, Putin greeted heavily decorated North Korean commanders who led Pyongyang's forces that helped Russia recapture its western Kursk region from Ukraine. "All the best to you and all your troops," Putin said.
Time of India
06-05-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
Putin completes quarter century, polls show he's still popular in Kremlin's hot seat
Live Events Exactly 25 years ago on May 7, an obscure ex-KGB colonel Vladimir Putin -- with little public exposure as deputy mayor of St Petersburg -- took the oath of the highest office in the post-Communist Russia. A quarter century later, Putin, 72, still remains the most popular politician of Russia, as was evident by last year's election that Putin won with 88.48 per cent of votes a TV documentary shown on Sunday he, however, said that he was looking for a successor, but it was not in his power as the successor would have to seek a popular vote in the elections with strong Putin, it has been a 25-year journey that has come to coincide with Russia's journey in the 21st predecessor Boris Yeltsin, Russia's first directly elected president, had resigned due to failing health on the backdrop of political instability, financial and economic, militantancy in the Northern Caucasus and a spate of terrorist attacks. He handed Putin - incumbent prime minister of the country - the hot Kremlin seat on the New Year eve, December 31, was elected on March 26, 2000 bagging 53 per cent votes by beating Communist rival Gennady Zyuganov and liberal Yabloko block leader Grigory Yavlinsky in "reasonably free and fair," polls according to a declassified US Embassy cable from Moscow in way Putin resolutely fought Chechen militancy, assured timely pensions to the most vulnerable section of the society and revived manufacturing in the country generating employment, ensuring a second term with almost 72 per cent to constitutional restraint of two four-year consecutive terms, he stepped aside and took over the job of prime minister under President Dmitry Medvedev for four due to Medvedev's constitutional amendments, the Presidential term was extended to six years and in 2012 and 2018 Putin was elected with 64.95 and 77.53 per cent votes when the constitution was amended by nationwide vote in July 2020, he was given the right to contest for two more six year terms till between, Russia had taken over Crimea in a peaceful operation on the backdrop of chaos in Ukraine, which Moscow claims was due to a US doctored coup against the legitimate President Viktor Yanukovich in March years later, after US-led NATO refused Putin's demand not to further expand and give Russia 'equitable' security guarantees, Russia began a 'Special Military Operation' in Ukraine on February 24, latest opinion poll showed that Putin's popularity rating stood at 80 per cent even as the country is fighting a war in Ukraine with the collective West amid crippling won last year's election with 88.48 per cent when the highest ever post-Soviet turnout of 77.49 per cent was recorded."We are facing a war with NATO, just like under Tsar Alexander I with Napoleon, or under Stalin with Nazi Germany. We forget our differences and solidly stand for our motherland whoever is the leader," said 72-year-old pensioner Tatiana P. Putin's India connectRetired Intelligence officer Vladimir Putin was working at the St Petersburg State University, when local Mayor Anatoly Sobchak invited him to become deputy mayor in-charge of foreign trade locals recall Putin, a fluent German speaker, used to go to receptions hosted only by consulates of Germany and India, because he was to encourage investments from Germans and wisely utilise Rupee debt repayment had developed very friendly relations with the then Indian Consul Dr Rameshchandra and developed a taste for Indian cuisine. In a public event in 1996, he clearly declared: "Those sitting in the Kremlin do not realise India's importance, we should invest rupee debt repayment funds for joint hi-tech projects."Shortly after this speech in the course of fresh elections, his patron Anatoly Sobchak, lost his job and Putin was invited for a job in the Kremlin was a period of political and economic turmoil in the Russian capital, incumbent Boris Yeltsin was getting weaker and rival oligarchs were indulging in infighting and getting richer by plundering the riches of the defunct Soviet empire. President Yeltsin appointed Putin as the director of Federal Security Service - FSB - equivalent to the US the backdrop of growing Chechen militancy and financial default of 1998, Yeltsin appointed several prime ministers and finally in September 1999 Putin was appointed head of the cabinet before his appointment as the caretaker president on New Year eve in his election, Putin visited India at the invitation of Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and the two leaders signed a strategic partnership treaty, which will also complete a quarter century this his memories of Putin's first official visit to India, former Chief of the International Department of the Russian Defence Ministry, Lt Gen (rtd) Leonid Ivashov told PTI: "On the way to Delhi, I told President Putin that he can develop relations with different countries but India is a special case and should always be on Russia's radar."Gen Ivashov recalls that many years later after his retirement, he was at a conference attended by Putin: "The President walked up to me and said, "I have not forgotten your advice about India."
