Category: war

The U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York has filed a civil forfeiture complaint against six real properties located in New York, New York; Southampton, New York; and Fisher Island, Florida, worth approximately $75 million. The complaint alleges that the properties beneficially owned by Russian oligarch Viktor Vekselberg are the proceeds of sanctions violations and were involved in international money laundering transactions. The case arises in the wake of the indictment of Vekselberg’s alleged strawman, Vladimir Voronchenko, a fugitive previously charged in the Southern District of New York. In the Eastern District of New York, a five-count indictment was unsealed today charging Ilya Balakaev, 47, of Moscow, with various offenses related to a years-long scheme to illegally smuggle sensitive devices used in counterintelligence operations from the United States to Russia for the benefit of the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation (FSB), the principal intelligence and security agency of the Russian government.

Balakaev is further charged with illegally exporting a gas detector and related software from the United States to Russia for the benefit of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK or North Korea). Concurrent with today’s action in the Eastern District of New York, the Department of Commerce separately issued a Temporary Denial Order denying the export privileges of Balakaev and his company, Radiotester OOO (aka Radiotester LLC), for 180 days with the possibility of renewal.

  From the outset of Russia’s unprovoked, full-scale invasion of Ukraine, one year ago today, the Department of Justice has prioritized enforcing the sweeping sanctions, export restrictions, and economic countermeasures that the United States has imposed alongside our global partners. Today, the Department continues that work by actions in two separate federal cases to disrupt sanctions evasion and smuggling networks supporting…

The strike force’s goal is to “…protect U.S. national security by preventing …sensitive technologies from being used for malign purposes” by “nation-state adversaries” such as China, Iran, Russia, and North Korea. The “sensitive technologies” at issue include supercomputing and “exascale” computing, quantum computing, biosciences, and, of course, artificial intelligence.

This development reflects the Administration’s continuing focus on using export control policy and enforcement to advance its national security priorities—of which economic security has become a key subset. The Administration has used the Foreign Direct Product Rule and coordinated its use, particularly regarding advanced semiconductor technology and related tooling, among its allies and partners outside of the traditional multilateral frameworks.  This is yet another example of how the Administration has scaled-up its use of export controls to generate desired outcomes in the areas of technology security and economic competitiveness – both national security priorities – vis-à-vis, in particular, China. The creation of the Disruptive Technologies Strike Force is the latest step by the Administration toward institutionalizing a “whole of government” approach to its novel use of export control policy and enforcement to counter this geopolitical rival.  

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke to CBS television on Sunday of information that China was “considering providing lethal support” to Russia. When asked what he meant by that, Blinken replied, “Weapons, primarily weapons.”

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said on Monday he had ordered the formation of a new volunteer territorial defense so everyone knows how to “handle weapons” and be ready to respond to an act of aggression and keep public order in peacetime.

Ukraine faced its toughest week so far this year on the eastern front, where its defenders lost more ground to Russian forces but committed enormous resources to holding Bakhmut, a coal-mining town that has acquired emblematic importance to both sides. Russian troops have been launching probing attacks on a wide front in Donetsk, half of which they now occupy. But their main effort has been…

Russia began deploying ships with tactical nuclear weaponry in the Baltic Sea for the first time in the past 30 years, the Norwegian Intelligence Service reported Tuesday in its annual report. The document was published on the same day Moscow denied an alleged plan to destabilize neighboring Moldova, which closed its airspace in response, at a time when experts, including…

The eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut endured heavy artillery fire on Monday as the NATO chief backed reports from local officials that a major new Russian offensive had begun, days before the first anniversary of Moscow’s invasion. Ukrainian defenders, who have already held out for months, were braced for new ground attacks, Ukrainian military officials said. Positions in Bakhmut have…

The world’s biggest drone maker DJI found itself embroiled in the Russia-Ukraine conflict last year. In March, three weeks after Russia’s invasion began, a Ukrainian minister called out DJI on Twitter for being complicit in the war. DJI is just one of many tech companies that has found its products used on the battlefield. The Russian military allegedly used its…

Russian President Vladimir Putin leveraged a World War II commemoration on Thursday to whip up support for his army’s intervention in Ukraine, comparing the fighting to Nazi Germany’s invasion and hinting Moscow could use nuclear weapons. Putin has used World War II to promote his political agenda in recent years while the Kremlin has sought to give cult status to…

China’s coast guard drove away Japanese vessels from waters around disputed East China Sea islets on Monday, according to Chinese state media. Disputed East China Sea islets claimed by both China and Japan have long been a sticking point in bilateral relations. China calls the islands Diaoyu while Japan calls them Senkaku. China Marine Police spokesperson Gan Yu said the…

Corruption Ledger does not not endorse or confirm the below content. Media is currently unverified. BREAKING MULTIPLE REPORTS: 🇬🇧UK-🇺🇲US-🇪🇺EU-armed military action targets 🇮🇷Iran humanitarian aid trucks loaded with flour and rice near Iraq-#Syria border as CIA boss arrives in Israel. (Video unverified) pic.twitter.com/tMy6YRB4WI — Afshin Rattansi (@afshinrattansi) January 29, 2023 Details on the #Iran Isfahan attack, which happened around 11:30…

Several senior Ukrainian officials, including front-line governors, lost their jobs Tuesday in a corruption scandal plaguing President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s government as it grapples with the nearly 11-month-old Russian invasion. Ukraine’s biggest government shake-up since the war began came as U.S. officials said Washington was poised to approve supplying Kyiv with M1 Abrams tanks, with international reluctance eroding toward sending tanks…

North Korea on Sunday criticized for a second day a U.S. decision to send Abrams tanks to Ukraine, calling it an “unethical crime” aimed at perpetuating an unstable international situation. Washington’s allegations that North Korea has provided arms to Russia are a “groundless rumor” to justify its own military aid to Ukraine, Kwon Chung-keun, director of U.S. affairs at North…

Defence Minister Anita Anand says she has “no news to share” on whether Canada is willing to send some of its battle tanks to Ukraine — should Germany greenlight the export — following a meeting of 50 allied defence leaders this week. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has repeatedly issued pleas for tanks, although members of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group…