Latest news with #specialops
Russia Today
11-07-2025
- Politics
- Russia Today
Assassinated Ukrainian officer ran secret ‘gray units' – NYT (VIDEO)
A senior Ukrainian intelligence officer was shot dead in Kiev on Thursday. According to the New York Times, the man was formerly part of a CIA-linked special ops unit, and more recently ran 'gray zone' operations in the Ukraine conflict. Local news reported that a man was gunned down in a Kiev parking lot on Thursday. Security footage circulating on social media showed someone approaching the victim from behind and shooting him several times at close range. The Ukrainian Security Service (SBU), Kiev's successor to the Soviet-era KGB, later confirmed to the media that the deceased was one of their intelligence officers, Colonel Ivan Voronich. This morning in Kyiv's Holosiivskyi district, SBU Colonel Ivan Voronych accused of several sabotage attacks in Russia was shot dead The officer had formerly commanded the SBU's Fifth Directorate special operations unit, which 'received technical support from the CIA,' the NYT wrote on Friday, citing one of the colonel's former colleagues. The unit was responsible for the 2016 assassination of Arsen Pavlov, known by his nom-de-guerre 'Motorola', a senior military officer in the then breakaway Ukrainian region of Donetsk. Since the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in 2022, Voronich 'was part of an elite unit responsible for operating in the gray zone between the enemy lines,' NYT cited its sources as saying. His unit allegedly played a crucial role in the Ukrainian incursion into Russia's Kursk Region last year. Kiev invaded Kursk last August, aiming to take territory as a bargaining chip for future ceasefire negotiations and to divert Russian forces from key parts of the front line. Ukraine's commander-in-chief, Aleksandr Syrsky, later admitted that the gambit failed to achieve this. Moscow announced that Kursk Region was fully liberated in April. Russian authorities have since said they discovered evidence of widespread atrocities committed against the local civilian population. According to Russian President Vladimir Putin, Kiev's forces lost around 76,000 soldiers, dead and wounded, in the incursion. As a result, Moscow has pushed 'to establish a security zone along large sections of the border,' forcing Ukraine to divert 'troops they can't spare' along the 2,000km front line, Putin said at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum last month. Ukrainian units are now 'stretched thin' and 'only 47% manned,' he stated.
Entrepreneur
24-06-2025
- Business
- Entrepreneur
Stop Leading From Your Head — Try This Approach Instead
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. There's no shortage of leadership advice online. Scroll your feed and you'll find endless tips on optimizing your calendar, sharpening your pitch or making better decisions. After 38 years of building and funding growth companies, riding the waves of the capital markets, IPOs, crashes and reinventions, I've learned the real starting line isn't my calendar or pitch deck; it's my energy, the cadence of my breath and the weight of my feet on the floor. I didn't come to this realization in a moment of calm clarity or on a meditation cushion. It slammed in hard during one of the most chaotic times in my life, after the Great Recession wiped out nearly everything I had built. I wasn't just facing business losses; my balance sheet bled, real estate values flipped, but the real deficit was unraveling physically and emotionally. On the outside, I still wore the leader's mask, yet I was reactive and spent. Strategy couldn't reach that place; only presence could. That's when I discovered embodied leadership. Related: 5 Ways to Be Present With Your Startup, Not Pestered By It From surviving to leading with presence Embodied leadership is the practice of leading not just from intellect or strategy, but from the integration of mind, body and emotion. It is grounded in neuroscience and used in elite performance environments, including special-ops military and Fortune 500 boardrooms. At its core, it teaches leaders to feel what is happening inside before they act outside. At first, I was skeptical and dismissed it as woo-woo. Coming from the world of capital markets and hard metrics, the idea of breathing techniques and posture awareness felt too soft and intangible. But then I tested it when I began practicing it, three slow breaths before investor meetings and grounding myself before making a high-stakes call, I noticed something. I made better decisions. I communicated more clearly. My presence started speaking louder than my pitch. The science behind the shift This isn't just personal insight. It is backed by research. A study published by Yale found that even short breathing interventions reduced anxiety and improved executive performance. Other research has shown that adopting an expansive posture for just two minutes can elevate testosterone, reduce cortisol and enhance confidence and clarity. In real-time leadership, this translates to sharper thinking under pressure, more grounded decision-making and improved team trust. For me, it also meant less burnout. I no longer lived in a constant state of mental overdrive. Related: This One Overlooked Habit Could Transform How You Lead, Connect and Grow Your Business What changed in my business Once I started leading from an embodied state, subtle shifts created powerful results. Investor meetings became more authentic and effective. My team responded more to how I showed up than to what I said. Conflict resolution became less reactive and more relational. I made fewer fear-based decisions and better strategic ones. One vivid example: During a tense discussion, I paused a boardroom conversation and took a few centering breaths. Just 30 seconds, but that short pause settled the energy in the room. What could have escalated into a heated debate shifted into a focused, solution-driven dialogue. Had I stayed on autopilot, that moment would've gone very differently. How entrepreneurs can use this now You don't need to become a breathwork or meditation expert to lead this way. If you're an entrepreneur dealing with uncertainty, team dynamics or nonstop decisions, this is for you. Try these simple shifts: Start with the body, not the spreadsheet: Before your next big decision, pause. Feel your breath. Relax your shoulders. Plant your feet on the ground. This five-second check-in can help you respond rather than react. Reframe stress as physical data: When you feel tension such as a tight jaw (a bygone for me), racing heart or clenched fists, don't ignore it. That is data. Your body is showing you what needs attention. Listening to them gives you clarity. Lead with grounded presence: Walk into the room with your breath low and posture strong. You'll speak less and land more. People respond to how you enter before you say a word. Integrate regular practices: Whether it is daily movement, breathwork or stillness, it's about doing it daily. It is not about perfection. It is about consistency. Why this matters more than ever In a world of constant disruption, information overload and AI-driven decisions, what sets leaders apart isn't just intelligence or innovation. It's presence. The ability to stay grounded is a competitive advantage. It helps you build resilient teams, navigate volatility and make authentic decisions. I've worked with dozens of CEOs through IPOs, pivots and exits. The ones who lead best aren't always the loudest or the boldest. They're the steadiest. They are the most embodied. These are the leaders who can stay steady in the storm and lead with clarity when the stakes are highest. Related: 4 Mindful Leadership Practices That Transformed My Management and Company Culture Leadership is not just what you say. It is how you show up. And how you show up begins in your body. If there is one thing I wish I had embraced earlier in my career, it is this: You don't need to have all the answers. But you do need to be present. And presence is something you practice, not a performance. Because at the end of the day, companies rise and fall on decisions. But great leadership? It lives in the presence.
