From football fields to the battlefield The 40-year-old Kapustin was born in Moscow. He moved with his parents at the age of 17 to Cologne, Germany, where he quickly established a fearsome reputation as a street-brawling white-power skinhead always up for a punch-up with everyone, especially Antifa activists. He tells POLITICO he was unhappy with … Read more
Last month, Zelenskyy removed Valerii Zaluzhnyi as head of the armed forces. He was appointed Ukraine’s ambassador to the United Kingdom earlier this month. Meanwhile, Ukraine’s air force said on Saturday that Russia launched 12 Shahed drones overnight, nine of which were shot down, and fired four missiles into eastern Ukraine. Russia has unleashed a barrage of … Read more
De Croo’s spokesperson told POLITICO the prime minister was referring in his remarks to the Czech government’s decision to sanction the news site Voice of Europe, which Prague said was part of a pro-Russian influence operation. The Czech foreign ministry announced Wednesday it had sanctioned Ukrainian oligarch Viktor Medvedchuk, an ally of Russian President Vladimir … Read more
KYIV – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has replaced one of his longest-serving officials, Oleksiy Danilov, who had earlier criticized a Chinese peace plan. “Today I continued rebooting the system of managing our state. There are staff replacements. I am grateful to Oleksiy Danilov for his work as secretary of the National Security and Defense Council … Read more
“I should say honestly that I need to reach out more to voters who supported the government parties,” Korčok said from his Bratislava election headquarters as the early count was released. “It’s clear that they’re not satisfied with how this government is ruling, where it’s taking Slovakia.” Pellegrini has served as speaker of parliament since … Read more
The problem is of course far from new, given Brussels’ role on the international stage. “It is said that espionage is the second oldest profession in the world,” he said. Therefore, European coordination is key and continuously improving, said Van Tigchelt, who currently chairs meetings of the EU’s justice ministers as his country holds the … Read more
PARIS — France has scaled down the Paris 2024 Olympic Games opening ceremony which will take place in July on the River Seine, amid concerns over a theoretical Islamist terror attack. Boats carrying each nation’s flag-bearers will pass on the water in the heart of Paris, with 104,000 spectators enjoying the celebration on the waterfront … Read more
The request was made on the 71st anniversary of Stalin’s death on March 5, 1953. An autopsy found he died from a haemorrhagic stroke following years of health issues, including an earlier stroke and heart attack in 1945, but conspiracy theories have long circulated about potential foul play. Stalin’s reputation has undergone a rehabilitation in … Read more
In January 1973, Hussein al-Bashir, a representative in Cyprus of Fatah, the largest faction of the PLO, was killed in Nicosia by a bomb under his hotel bed. Next, and again in Paris, it was the turn in April 1973 of Basil al-Kubaisi, a Beirut law professor suspected of assisting with logistics for Munich. He … Read more
POLITICO could not independently verify the content or authenticity of the recording. German media Der Spiegel quoted a spokesperson for German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius as saying the the Military Counterintelligence Service has started an investigation to find out “whether internal communications within the air force” could have been intercepted. During the recorded conversation, the military … Read more
