31 Aug, 2024 10:56

Ukraine blackmailing nuclear plant staff – Moscow

Employees are being pushed to commit terrorist acts or pass sensitive data to Kiev, Rodion Miroshnik has claimed

Ukraine is exerting pressure on staff at the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant in Russia, with threats to kill their family members if they refuse to cooperate with Kiev, senior Russian diplomat Rodion Miroshnik has claimed.

"A lot of families have been separated”during the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, and Kiev is trying to take advantage of this, Miroshnik, who is tasked by the Moscow’s Foreign Ministry with collecting evidence of Ukraine’s war crimes, told RIA Novosti on Saturday.

Kiev’s security agencies are deliberately looking for relatives of staff members at the power plantwho remain on Ukrainian territory, Miroshnik said.

They then usethreats against family members, “to put pressure [on the nuclear plant employees] or provoke them to commit a terrorist act or to pass on information in the interests of Ukraine,” he claimed.

There have been cases of people “quitting or changing jobs in order to ‘deprive’ themselves of the opportunity to commit a crime and make sure the blackmailers lose interest in them,” the diplomat noted.

"Unfortunately, the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant is not the only one” experiencing such problems, as employees of other Russian critical facilities are also being pressured in a similar manner, Miroshnik said.

According to the diplomat, Russian security agencies are aware of such practices by Kiev and are working to counter them.

The Zaporozhye nuclear plant, which is the largest in Europe, has been under Russian control since March 2022. Throughout the conflict, Moscow and Kiev have repeatedly accused each other of shelling the facility, and the Russian Defense Ministry has said thatseveral attempts by Ukrainian assault units to retake it have been repelled.

In the fall of 2022, Zaporozhye Region officially joined the Russian state together with Kherson Region and the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics.

On Thursday, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which has a permanent monitoring mission at the Zaporozhye plant, said that since February the station had been hit by drone strikes, experienced loss of power lines, and had one of its two cooling towers damaged by fire earlier this month. IAEA chief Rafael Grossi, who is expected to visit the facility next week,described the security situation as “extremely challenging.”

https://www.rt.com/russia/603336-ukraine-zaporozhye-nuclear-blackmail/

1 Sep, 2024 03:12

Kremlin blasts arrest in France of Telegram founder

Dmitry Peskov quipped that Paris could use the same grounds to arrest the CEOs of Renault or Citroën, as terrorists use cars

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov hasquestioned the French authorities' rationalefor arresting Telegram CEO Pavel Durov, pointing to the absurdity of holding him accountable for crimes committed using his network.

The Russian tech entrepreneur was detained at Paris-Le Bourget Airport last week and has since been charged with with multiple offenses, including complicity in “administering an online platform” used by criminal gangs to conduct illicit activities, and refusing to cooperate with investigators.

Speaking to Russian journalist Pavel Zarubin on Saturday, Peskov acknowledged thatRussian authorities previously had “questions” for the tech billionaire, but stressed that Moscow never tried to arrest him.

“Terrorists do indeed use the Telegram network. But terrorists also use cars. Why don’t they arrest the CEOs of Renault or Citroën?” the Kremlin spokesman said when asked to comment on Durov’s arrest and whether he had a message for his “European colleagues.”

Pavel Durov, a St. Petersburg native who holds the citizenships of Russia, France, the United Arab Emirates, and Saint Kitts and Nevis, formally left his homeland in 2014 after law enforcement accused him of refusing to grant investigators access to terrorism suspects’ communications.The dispute was settled in 2020 when the Russian telecoms regulator announced that it had no further issues with Telegram.*

In an interview with American journalist Tucker Carlson in April, Durov claimed that he had consistently refused to provide user data to any authorities, including US intelligence services, or to install a surveillance “backdoor” in the app, which has almost a billion monthly users.

The Russian entrepreneur’s arrest has sparked outrage worldwide, with public leaders such as X (formerly Twitter) owner Elon Musk and Silicon Valley investor David Sacks accusing French authorities of attacking free speech.

Durov was released on bail on Wednesday and ordered to remain in France until the case against him concludes. If convicted, he could face up to ten years in prison.

Telegram maintains that the company complies with EU laws and that its content moderation policies are “within industry standards.”

(*Mike Benz with Tucker said the entire Russian Military uses the platform for coordination for all plans they have in every region, and its possible that France is doing this so the West and Ukraine have all the areas and plans of Russia. He also said the CIA have numerous channels on there for terrorists attacks and getting users involved, and extreme propaganda.)

https://www.rt.com/russia/603352-peskov-france-durov-arrest/