Did Russia just put a new weapon in orbit? Mysterious launch prompts new concerns

On Friday, the U.S. Combined Space Operations Center (CSpOC) tracked a scheduled Russian rocket launch from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in Western Russia. The rocket was slated to deliver a payload of three new communications satellites, and as it roared into the sky, everything appeared to be going exactly as anticipated… but once the rocket reached […]

Watch: New footage shows Russia’s advanced SU-57 fighter in a flat spin

Russia’s state-owned television network Zvezda TV released never before seen footage of the nation’s fifth-generation fighter, the Su-57 on Tuesday night. One of the two pieces of footage shows four of the rare jets flying in formation, before one of the fighters executes a maneuver commonly referred to as a “flat spin.” The second piece […]

How Russian military intelligence organizes coups

Bellingcat has uncovered the identity of a second Russia military intelligence officer involved in a failed 2016 coup d’état attempt in Montenegro. According to the British-based group, Vladimir Nikolaevich Moiseev is the second GRU officer (the first Russian military intelligence officer, Eduard Shishmakov, had been uncovered in the wake of the 2016 events). Both men are […]

Former KGB officer narrowly loses Interpol leadership

A former KGB agent narrowly lost the chance to lead Interpol. Alexander Prokopchuk, who currently serves as an Interpol vice president and a General in the Russian interior ministry, was slated to win the election for the new Interpol chief. The seat had been empty since the abduction and arrest of the previous chief, Meng […]

Russian veterans groups accuse Moscow of war crimes over their use of mercenaries

Earlier this year, a contingent of U.S. Special Operations troops working alongside Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in Syria were engaged in a four-hour long firefight against a Syrian government-backed force of some 500 troops. Among those pro-Assad troops, it was reported at the time, were a number of Russian civilians — widely recognized among those […]