Using Hungarian public money - funnelled through legally insulated foundations partly funded by Russian oil revenues - Orbán has built a cross-border network of populist right think tanks, journalists and activists.
One could attribute Russian attempts at hacking and influencing the 2016 general election to retaliation for the CIA's involvement in Ukraine, or to a personal vendetta against former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton with regard to Ukraine ahead of the Maidan revolt, or to rousing anti-Putin sentiment in Russia: ... Five years ago, he blamed Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for the anti-Kremlin protests in Moscow's Bolotnaya Square. "She set the tone for some of our actors in the country and gave the signal," Putin said. "They heard this and, with the support of the U.S. State Department, began active work." (No evidence was provided for the accusation.) ...
Taras always resented his dark-red Russian passport and was happy to replace it with a blue Ukrainian one. But it was a process that took him 11 years and two trials. He is one of more than 150,000 Russian nationals living in Ukraine as the war with Russia continues. Most are relatives or spouses of Ukrainians or were born in Ukraine. Some are dissidents seeking refuge or volunteers with the Ukrainian army.
Vladimir Putin is trapped. Despite staggering losses and mounting international pressure, the Russian President shows no sign of ending the war in Ukraine - and experts say he likely can't. The Kremlin's grip on power depends on projecting strength. Analysts warn that any attempt to pull back would be seen as weakness, sparking unrest among elites and ordinary Russians alike. "For Putin, capitulation isn't an option," said a senior European security source. "Backing down would be political suicide."
What was meant to be a swift military operation to topple the Ukrainian government and take control of the country has now dragged on for four devastating years. Russian President Vladimir Putin's promise to protect the people of Donbas, who, according to him, had been subjected to bullying and genocide by the Kyiv regime for the previous eight years, has meant that hundreds of settlements have been wiped off the face of the Earth and millions of lives have been broken, in both countries.
In a Telegram post, the Ukrainian cell of the Base claimed a successful operation to eliminate an enemy agent in Odesa in a car bombing, which was later reported on in local Ukrainian media. This traitor, whose name we cannot yet disclose in the interests of the investigation, served Ukraine, but his heart was sold to the enemy, said the post, which was inferring the border service officer was assisting Russia in the south of the country.
