Rusia

FSB Lieutenant General Vladislav Menshchikov heads the FSB’s First Service (counterintelligence), which cannot boast of a large number of spies caught, but has recently found itself at the center of scandals due to the fact that it arrests foreign journalists under the guise of spies to replenish the exchange fund (it is the First Service that is behind the criminal prosecution of The Wall Street Journal journalist Evan Gershkovich). As The Insider has found out, the high-ranking security officer is involved in corruption schemes around a Russian defense company, and registers expensive property and business in the names of his relatives.

Russia has conducted a prisoner exchange with the United States and Germany. According to The Insider, political prisoners Ilya Yashin, Vladimir Kara-Murza, Alsu Kurmasheva, Andrei Pivovarov, Oleg Orlov, Alexandra Skochilenko, Liliya Chanysheva, Ksenia Fadeeva, Evan Gershkovich, Rico Krieger, Kevin Leake, Demuri Voronin, Vadim Ostanin, Patrick Schoebel, Paul Whelan and Herman Moyzhes have been released. In exchange, Russia received FSB killer Vadim Krasikov, spies and swindlers.

Le 16 juillet, le ministre russe des Affaires étrangères Sergueï Lavrov a assisté à une réunion du Conseil de sécurité de l’ONU, où il a parlé du projet américain d’utiliser l’Europe comme une sorte d’«escadron suicide» contre la Russie. Lavrov a averti Washington DC de ne pas vivre dans l’illusion que cela fonctionnerait et qu’il s’agit d’une «idée fausse extrêmement dangereuse». Il a également averti l’Union européenne qu’elle «doit prendre conscience du rôle suicidaire qu’elle est destinée à jouer».

In today’s summary:

• “Critical” situation for the Armed Forces of Ukraine north of Avdiivka – some units had to fight out of the encirclement
• Russian troops are conducting massive mechanized assaults on the eastern face of the Ugledar salient
• In the Z-environment, they are indignant about the law adopted by the State Duma banning the use of gadgets in the war zone
• During Russian air raids on Ukraine, at least four Shahed flew to Romania
• Strikes on three Russian military airfields – Millerovo and Morozovsk in the Rostov region and Saki in Crimea
• BBC Russian Service and Mediazona – Over 61 thousand people died in the war on the Russian side
• Czech Republic launches new initiative to supply artillery ammunition to Ukraine in 2025
• The number of towed artillery pieces, self-propelled guns and MLRS has been significantly reduced in Russian warehouses

Exclusive: Col Gen Oleksandr Syrskyi weighs Ukraine’s recent setbacks, counter strikes and the changing face of Europe’s biggest war since 1945

Sitting on a stack of ammunition crates at a secret military base, Col Gen Oleksandr Syrskyi was tight-lipped about when Ukraine will receive a long-awaited delivery of F-16 fighter jets. The Dutch and other allies have said they will arrive soon. This week? Or maybe August? “I know. But I can’t tell you about it, unfortunately,” he said, with an apologetic grin, as gulls squawked nearby.

Around 120,000 Russian soldiers have died fighting in Ukraine since Moscow began its full-scale invasion in February 2022. Analysts estimate that Russia loses 200–250 troops every day, and casualties have increased significantly in recent months. After capturing the city of Avdiivka in February, Russian forces launched a massive offensive all along the front line and opened a new front in the Kharkiv region. The independent journalism cooperative Bereg set out to investigate the cost of this offensive for one brigade known for its particularly high death tolls and the cruelty with which its commanders, who hail from the so-called “Donetsk People’s Republic,” treat their Russian recruits. Journalist Lilia Yapparova also learned about how senior officers extort these soldiers, capturing large sums of money (including the very benefits offered as incitements to serve) in exchange for safer assignments and access to promised compensation. The following English-language translation has been abridged for length and clarity.

This incident shows the lengths to which Ukraine and the EU are going to keep those two in line after they united to form an anti-war bloc in the heart of Europe.

Ukraine’s decision last month to stop the transit of Russian oil from Lukoil across its territory has hit Hungary and Slovakia, who have EU sanctions waivers to continue purchasing this resource, very hard. They’ve accordingly requested that the European Commission mediate between them and Kiev on the basis that the latter’s actions violate its 2014 Association Agreement with the bloc. The exact outcome of this dispute remains uncertain, but the following five takeaways encapsulate its essence: