A second photo of former #BND chief August #Hanning and Nikolai #Patrushev—Putin’s longtime security confidant who succeeded him as FSB head in 1999 and later served as Secretary of the Security Council—from the same 2019 event makes their proximity look even less accidental.
– At the Valaam Monastery visit linked to the Arctic Council gathering under #Russia’s Security Council, Hanning is again positioned directly beside Patrushev in a place of honor—this time in an outdoor group photo in front of the monastery doors, among participants in matching blue jackets.
– The earlier interior photo (the one I posted yesterday, and again in the following tweet, with Hanning circled next to Patrushev amid the gold of the iconostasis) already showed striking access.
– This second image from the same trip reinforces that it was not a random snapshot: the retired Western intelligence chief was repeatedly placed next to one of #Putin’s longest-serving security confidants.
– Patrushev succeeded Putin as #FSB head in 1999 and remained central through the 2014 Crimea annexation and the 2022 full-scale invasion of #Ukraine.
– After leaving FSB in 2008, Patrushev served as the Secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation from 2008 to May 2024.— @Shtuni Oct 18, 2026
Director of FSB (1999–2008)
On 9 August 1999, a decree by President Boris Yeltsin promoted him to director, replacing his close friend Vladimir Putin.In September 1999, a series of explosions hit four apartment blocks in three Russian cities, killing more than 300. The bombings, together with the Invasion of Dagestan, triggered the Second Chechen War. The handling of the crisis by Vladimir Putin, who was prime minister at the time, boosted his popularity greatly and helped him attain the presidency within a few months.[11] A suspicious device resembling those used in the bombings was found and defused in an apartment block in the Russian city of Ryazan on 22 September 1999.[12] On 23 September, Vladimir Putin praised the vigilance of the inhabitants of Ryazan and ordered the air bombing of Grozny, which marked the beginning of the Second Chechen War.[13] Three FSB agents who had planted the devices at Ryazan were arrested by the local police.[14] The next day, Patrushev announced that the incident in Ryazan had been an anti-terror drill and the device found there contained only sugar, and freed the FSB agents involved.[15] FSB also issued a public apology about the incident.[16]
Although the bombings were widely blamed on Chechen rebels, their guilt was never conclusively proven. A number of historians and investigative journalists have instead called the bombings a false flag attack perpetrated by the FSB to win public support for a new war in Chechnya and to boost the popularity of Vladimir Putin, the former head of the FSB, prior to the upcoming presidential elections.[14]
Former FSB agent Alexander Litvinenko, who blamed the FSB for the bombings and was a critic of Putin, was assassinated in London in 2006. The United Kingdom public inquiry into the poisoning of Litvinenko found that “the FSB operation to kill Mr Litvinenko was probably approved by Mr Patrushev and also by President Putin.”[17]
Nikolai Patrushev – Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikola…
— Michael Novakhov (@mikenov) Oct 18, 2026
stagwarlock IG
⚓ THE HABITS OF RESPECTABLE MEN ⚓
Some gentlemen returned to the docks with remarkable regularity, seeking the company of handsome sailors.
The sea kept its secrets. Not the blackmailers.
— @boisdulac_ Oct 18, 2026
Finland will plant 1 Million landmines along the borders with Russia starting 2027.
— @BowesChay Oct 18, 2026
A Russian GRU agent known as Maria Adela Kuhfeldt Rivera lived and worked undetected in Italy for nearly ten years.
A 10-month-long investigation by the research cooperative Bellingcat culminated in August 2022 with an in-depth look at the life and cover story of a GRU agent who targeted NATO officials in Italy for several years. Maria claimed to be the child of a Peruvian mother and Soviet father and applied for Peruvian citizenship under false pretenses in 2005, although her application was rejected by an alert Peruvian civil servant. She moved to Italy sometime in 2009 using a Russian passport and eventually opened a luxury boutique called Serein in Naples which catered to wealthy socialites in the area.
Beginning in 2013 she joined a local chapter of the Lions Club charitable organization as the Secretary. This particular chapter was filled with NATO officers from several different countries, and Maria soon became a driving force for event planning and networking for the group. Over the next five years she developed close relationships (some of which were romantic) with officers and civilian staff from Belgium, Italy, Germany, and the US.
She attended many events, dinners, and fundraisers either sponsored by or affiliated with NATO, including the US Marine Corps Ball. But it’s unclear whether she ever gained access to sensitive information of any type.
On September 15th, 2018, Maria abruptly departed Naples for Moscow, without speaking to any of her friends and associates beforehand. One day earlier, Bellingcat had posted another extensive investigation revealing a previously unknown tradecraft error by the GRU, in which they issued sequentially numbered passports in false names to their agents in the infamous Unit 29155. Maria’s Russian passport was within the range of numbers associated with the GRU.
Compared to other long-term illegal agents operating in Europe or the US, Maria was somewhat successful in that she lived and worked for nearly ten years without raising suspicion, targeted individuals of interest to Russian intelligence, built relationships with them, and left before any investigation by counterintelligence personnel.
#naples #nato #russia #honeypot #italy
— @spycraft101 Oct 18, 2026
The Russia – Germany – Israel Hypothesis in the investigation of 9/11 Attacks – Google Search google.com/search?q=The+Russ…
— Michael Novakhov (@mikenov) Oct 18, 2026
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Donald Trump of trying to pressure Kyiv into surrendering to Russia, escalating a week-long row with the US president bloomberg.com/news/articles/…
— @business Oct 18, 2026
Licensable picture: Russian Security Council Secretary Patrushev and President Putin attend a meeting with the BRICS countries’ senior officials in Moscow | Reuters Connect reutersconnect.com/item/russ…
— Michael Novakhov (@mikenov) Oct 18, 2026
Hanning and Patrushev – Google Search google.com/search?q=Hanning+…
— Michael Novakhov (@mikenov) Oct 18, 2026