The News And Times Review - NewsAndTimes.org - The News And Times - Blogs and Sites by Michael Novakhov

Hostage Deal Talks Appear in Crisis as Holiday Deadlines Pass With No Results – Haaretz

Post author By Mike Nova
Post date April 20, 2025

The News And Times Review – NewsAndTimes.org

The News And Times Review – NewsAndTimes.org

Listen to this article

Hostage Deal Talks Appear in Crisis as Holiday Deadlines Pass With No Results Haaretz

JOSSICA – The Journal of the Open Source Strategic Intelligence and Counterintelligence Analysis

JOSSICA – The Journal of the Open Source Strategic Intelligence and Counterintelligence Analysis – JOSSICA – jossica.com | The News And Times – TheNewsAndTimes.blogspot.com and TheNewsAndTimes.com

Conversations

Podcast by The News And Times

Ukraine corruption scandal: Is Putin’s GRU behind it?
https://thenewsandtimes.blogspot.com/2025/12/ukraine-corruption-scandal-is-putins.html

The recent significant corruption scandal in Ukraine involving the state nuclear energy company Energoatom is being investigated by Ukrainian anti-corruption bodies, and while it is being exploited by Russian propaganda, there is no direct evidence that the current scheme was orchestrated by Putin’s GRU (Russia’s military intelligence agency).
However, the GRU has a documented history of coordinating past disinformation campaigns and leveraging corrupt Ukrainian officials for its own purposes.
Russian Interference in Past Ukrainian Corruption Narratives
In previous years, Russian military intelligence was directly involved in spreading false allegations and amplifying existing corruption narratives to achieve its strategic goals, which included worsening U.S.–Ukrainian relations and undermining Western support for Ukraine.
Key facts regarding past Russian involvement:
GRU Coordination: A network involving GRU lieutenants coordinated the spread of falsehoods through specific Ukrainian lawmakers and businessmen.
Andrii Derkach: This pro-Kremlin former Ukrainian lawmaker, who recently fled to Russia and became a Russian senator, has been accused by Ukraine’s SBU (Security Service of Ukraine) of receiving millions of dollars per month from the GRU to create security companies that would assist the 2022 Russian invasion forces. Derkach was also a central figure in spreading the Biden-Ukraine conspiracy theory, a campaign linked to Russian intelligence efforts to interfere with U.S. politics.
Weaponized Corruption: Analysts at the Atlantic Council and other sources note that Putin consistently uses “weaponized corruption” tactics to weaken Ukraine and Europe from within.
Current Scandal vs. Russian Involvement
The current, separate $100 million Energoatom scandal involves a scheme to misappropriate funds through inflated contracts.
Investigation by Independent Bodies: The current investigation is being handled by Ukraine’s independent anti-corruption bodies, specifically the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and the Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO), which were designed to operate independently of the President.
Domestic Focus: The focus of the current domestic investigation is on Ukrainian nationals, including high-level officials and business partners close to President Zelenskyy’s circle.
Exploitation by Russia: While the scandal is a serious domestic issue, Russian state media and propaganda are actively using it to portray Ukraine’s government as illegitimate and corrupt to their own advantage.
In summary, while Russia’s GRU has a proven track record of orchestrating past disinformation and corruption schemes in Ukraine for strategic gain, the current large-scale Energoatom scandal appears to be an internal Ukrainian matter that is being exploited by the Kremlin for propaganda purposes.
Conversations

Search Episodes

Ukraine corruption scandal Is Putin’s GRU behind it

December 2, 2025

The News And Times

Conversations : News Review – 906 AM 11302025

November 30, 2025

The News And Times

İlham Əliyev, müxalifət liderlərinin həbsləri

November 29, 2025

The News And Times

Ilham Aliyev and the arrests of the opposition leaders

November 29, 2025

The News And Times

Коррупционный скандал на Украине

November 28, 2025

The News And Times

News Review – 11.28.25

November 28, 2025

The News And Times

Main News Today – 8:40 AM 10/23/2025

October 23, 2025

The News And Times

Trump and Insanity

October 4, 2025

The News And Times

A Symbol of Public Fury: Ramming cars into the FBI or the CIA gates

September 17, 2025

The News And Times

Putin and the shootings

August 29, 2025

The News And Times

Search Results placeholder

Ukraine corruption scandal Is Putin's GRU behind it
Ukraine corruption scandal: Is Putin's GRU behind it? https://thenewsandtimes.blogspot.com/2025/12/ukraine-corruption-scandal-is-putins.html The recent significant corruption scandal in Ukraine involving the state nuclear energy company Energoatom is being investigated by Ukrainian anti-corruption bodies, and while it is being exploited by Russian propaganda, there is no direct evidence that the current scheme was orchestrated by Putin's GRU (Russia's military […]
Conversations : News Review - 906 AM 11302025
https://thenewsandtimes.blogspot.com/2025/11/conversations-113025.html Here are some of the top news headlines for today, Sunday, November 30, 2025: U.S. News California Mass Shooting: Four people are dead and at least ten others wounded after a shooting at a family gathering in a banquet hall in Stockton, California. The suspect remains at large, and authorities believe it was a […]
İlham Əliyev, müxalifət liderlərinin həbsləri
https://x.com/mikenov/status/1994801611768488210 İlham Əliyev, müxalifət liderlərinin həbsləri, siyasi təzyiqlər və ona qarşı uydurulmuş sui-qəsdlər: qiymətləndirmələr, təhlillər, proqnozlar 29 noyabr 2025-ci il tarixində baş verənlər ciddi gərginlikdən xəbər verir: Azərbaycan polisi müxalifət lideri Əli Kərimlinin (AXCP) evinə basqın edib, partiyanın yüksək rütbəli üzvləri İmirli Məmməd Fəmili saxlayıb. Bu hərəkətlər rəsmi olaraq hökumətin hakimiyyəti ələ keçirmək planında ittiham […]

Macy’s Raises Outlook for the Year After Quarterly Sales Growth
Plus: Payroll processor ADP says U.S. private hiring sank in November. And federal agents are fanning out across New Orleans, the latest focus of the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement. Pierre Bienaimé hosts. Sign up for WSJ’s free What’s News newsletter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Rescue teams racing after last week's flooding in Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Thailand
AP correspondent Naeun Kim reports on the rescue efforts underway after catastrophic flooding across Southeast Asia.
Trump pardons Texas Democratic Rep. Cuellar in bribery and conspiracy case
AP Washington correspondent Sagar Meghani reports President Trump has pardoned a Democrat congressman and his wife in a federal bribery and corruption case.

9:09 AM 10/24/2024 My Opinion: This graph speaks for itself. Statistically, Trump’s win is inevitable. M.N. … Trump Takes Lead Over Harris in Closing Weeks of 2024 Race, WSJ Poll Finds

9:09 AM 10/24/2024

My Opinion: This graph speaks for itself. Statistically, Trump’s win is inevitable. M.N. Trump Takes Lead Over Harris in Closing Weeks of 2024 Race, WSJ Poll Finds | WSJA new Wall Street Journal poll shows former President Donald Trump ahead of Vice President Kamala Harris, as his approval rating of his time as president hit…youtube.comThe News And Times Information Network – Blogs By Michael Novakhov – thenewsandtimes.blogspot.com

thenewsandtimes.blogspot.com

What we know about weapon used by suspect in Charlie Kirk's fatal shooting September 13, 2025
Subscribe to Reuters to continue reading.Unlimited access to Reuters globally trusted news.Final price$1/weekCharged as $4 in advance every 4 weeks.You can cancel anytime.
newsblur
Has the Trump Light Switch Finally Turned On? September 4, 2025
Army Col. (Ret.) Jonathan Sweet (@JESweet2022) served 30 years as a military intelligence officer. His background includes tours of duty with the 101st Airborne Division and the Intelligence and Security Command. He led the U.S. European Command Intelligence En
newsblur
Has the Trump Light Switch Finally Turned On? September 4, 2025
Trump’s attempts to push Putin toward peace are proving to be a farce. It seems the US President is now beginning to fully realize that his only viable option is to arm Ukraine.
Kyiv Post