Who is Vadim Krasikov, released in Russia's prisoner swap with the West?

Among the eight Russians released from custody in a number of NATO countries was 58-year-old Vadim Krasikov.

⚡️ According to Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov, Krasikov is an FSB officer who served in the elite ‘Alfa’ counterterrorism task forces along with some current employees of the Presidential Security Service, who – alongside with President Putin – greeted him at the airport.

⚡️ Krasikov was referred to as a Russian “patriot” by Putin in his exclusive interview with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson. When asked about negotiations to release the Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, convicted in Russia for espionage, Putin stopped short of naming Krasikov as part of a potential swap.

But he said: "That person, due to patriotic sentiments, eliminated a bandit in one of the European capitals. During the events in the Caucasus, do you know what he [the bandit] was doing? I don’t want to say that, but I will do it anyway. He was laying down our soldiers who had been taken prisoner on the road and then he drove his car over their heads."

Putin added that Russia's requests to extradite Krasikov had gone unheeded.

⚡️ During a visit to Washington on February 9, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz agreed to set in motion the swap including Krasikov. “For you, I will do this,” Scholz told Biden, the FT reports, citing a US administration official.

⚡️ Krasikov was arrested in Germany in 2019 and accused of killing terrorist Zelimkhan Khangoshvili – an ethnic Chechen with Georgian citizenship – on German soil.
On August 23, 2019, Khangoshvili was shot in the head in Berlin’s Kleiner Tiergarten Park on his way back from a mosque by a man on a bicycle.

⚡️ Khangoshvili was a commander of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria – a militant group in Russia's south – which fought against the country's government in the Second Chechen War. He committed numerous war crimes. According to Russian authorities, Khangoshvili was involved in organizing the attack on a school in Beslan in 2004 which resulted in the deaths of 334 people, including 186 children, as well as deadly explosions in the Moscow metro. Considered a terrorist by the FSB, Khangoshvili fled Russia after the Chechen war and moved to Germany, living under a fake identity.

⚡️ German police claimed the detained suspect was Russian national "Vadim Sokolov," whose real name was Vadim Krasikov. Investigators claimed that the suspect had been ordered to murder Khangoshvili by "Russian government agencies". The Kremlin has described allegations of its role in the affair as “absolutely groundless”.

⚡️ On December 15, 2021, the Berlin High Court found Sokolov, alias Krasikov, guilty of the murder of Khangoshvili and sentenced him to life imprisonment. His defense insitsed there was insufficient evidence to convict him.
The killing of Khangoshvili set off a diplomatic row between Russia and Germany, with tit-for-tat diplomatic expulsions.

📌 Subscribe to @SputnikInt

Scott Ritter: US withdrawal from INF Treaty five years ago put arms control ‘back to square one’

“On August 2, 2019, then-US President Donald Trump withdrew from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, claiming that the Russians were cheating," Scott Ritter recalled to Sputnik on the fifth anniversary of the US withdrawal from the INF Treaty, explaining how and why the move has made the world a more dangerous place.

"The US provided no evidence whatsoever to back up these claims, and it appears that what the US was doing was signaling its dissatisfaction with the treaty that, while bilateral in nature, allowed China, for instance, to have intermediate-range missiles. Rather than negotiate with the Chinese directly, the United States withdrew from the treaty. The Russians didn't overreact. They were unhappy with this turn of events, but they said so long as the United States doesn't deploy intermediate-range systems into Europe, Russia's not going to build new intermediate systems nor deploy them,” Ritter recalled.

That all changed when the US deployed the Mark 70 containerized launch system, which in addition to the SM-06 short-range interceptor missiles can fire ground-launched cruise missiles, in Europe, according to Ritter.

“Now the United States is talking about deploying a new system, the two-stage Dark Eagle intermediate-range system with hypersonic reentry vehicles. And the Russians have said enough is enough. So now Russia is talking about not only starting to build their own intermediate nuclear systems but deploying them. We're back to square one. The world is a much more dangerous place today because of the actions of the United States,” the observer said.

📌 Subscribe to @SputnikInt

⚡️ Scott Ritter: Some swapped prisoners were likely ‘on CIA payroll’

⚡️ Spy swap with West shows ‘Russia is in the driver's seat’ - political scientist

⚡️ What sort of US support can Netanyahu count on after kicking Mideast hornet’s nest?

⚡️ Scott Ritter: US withdrawal from INF Treaty five years ago put arms control ‘back to square one’

⚡️ EU ‘stands little chance’ of turning Central Asian nations against Russia – political analyst

⚡️ Who is Vadim Krasikov, released in Russia's prisoner swap with the West?

⚡️ Gulf of Tonkin incident and the art of American false flags

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

US move to scrap INF Treaty made world ‘more dangerous’ place, put Europe in nuclear peril - Former DoD analyst

“It really makes the world more dangerous as a consequence. And certainly, it…put Europe in greater peril because of this. And it's all because of the United States,” veteran former Pentagon senior security policy analyst Michael Maloof told Sputnik, commenting on the fifth anniversary of the Trump administration’s unilateral decision to scrap the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty.

Blaming neocons including Trump national security advisor John Bolton and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo for ramming through decisions to tear up arms control agreements with Moscow, Maloof suggested that Washington also had other reasons to want to pull out of the INF – including the fact that it didn’t cover the arsenals of other countries with missiles in the 500-5,500 km range, including China.

Russia continued to honor the INF even after the US started to deploy treaty-violating Aegis Ashore anti-missile defense systems in Eastern Europe, the observer recalled, pointing out that in addition to anti-missile defenses, these sites could be used to launch offensive Tomahawk cruise missiles.

Washington’s plans to station ground-based missiles in Germany starting in 2026 are even more destabilizing, Maloof stressed, pointing out that it flies in the face of NATO’s claims that it’s a defensive alliance, and “will create a higher degree of uncertainty, vulnerability and an unease” with Russia that “will be nothing but destabilizing in the long run.”

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

Take me back to Russia: Spies freed in swap honoured by Putin, embarrassed by Biden

As the prisoners exchange between Russia and some NATO-countries took place on August 1, the former detainees were greeted very differently in Russia than in the US.

Russian President Vladimir Putin stressed that all the returned would be presented with state honors.

In contrast, current US leader Joe Biden said to a freed prisoner's 12-year-old daughter: "No serious guys until you're 30."

What could be even more cringe? Perhaps Vice-President Kamala Harris’ word-salad to TV cameras.

📌 Subscribe to @SputnikInt

EU's attempt to ditch Russian gas falters as US LNG shifts to Asia

Europe can’t do without Russian natural gas – the latest statistics show that US attempts to “replace” Russian pipeline gas supplies to the EU with its own LNG (liquefied natural gas) exports failed.

Following the EU's sanctions on Russian energy supplies in March 2022, the share of US LNG in Europe's gas consumption initially increased. However, it later declined as higher prices from Asian buyers redirected LNG exports to the Pacific instead of the Atlantic.

Soon, US LNG faced renewed competition from Russia, which increased its LNG supplies to Europe. Russia's share of the EU's gas consumption rose from 4% in 2021 to 6% by August 2024.

Bloomberg and Business Insider report that Russian and US LNG supplies to the EU are now nearly equal.

“At the end of July, Europe imported 1.5 million metric tons of LNG from the US, just slightly more than the 1.3 million tons the region imported from Russia in the same period,” Business Insider wrote, citing data from the US Department of Energy.

The trend was confirmed by Bloomberg: “The gap between the two countries’ LNG deliveries to western Europe shrank in July to the narrowest since late 2021, according to preliminary ship-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg.”

The US Department of Energy attributes the 9.3% drop in LNG supplies to the EU to American companies finding more lucrative markets in Asia.

The EU's goal to eliminate reliance on Russian oil and gas has proven unachievable:

⚡️ First, because Russian energy remains geographically closer and irreplaceable for European industry.

⚡️ Second, because US energy companies prioritize profits over Western solidarity, directing LNG to higher-paying Asian markets, according to Bloomberg.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

Is Argentina's gold at risk of never returning?

Two shipments of gold from the Central Bank of Argentina were sent abroad, Economy Minister Luis Caputo confirmed in an interview with La Nación.

“If you have that gold outside, you can get a profit, and the reality is that the country needs to maximize the return on its assets,” Caputo argued.

Economist Juan Valerdi expressed concern over the risks of sending bullion to foreign banks as collateral for loans. "At the slightest non-compliance by Argentina, we must say goodbye to this physical gold," he said in an interview with Sputnik.

"Even if Argentina doesn't commit an infraction, that physical gold won't return to Argentina. There's a shortage, and the last thing they'll do is return that gold, even if a future Argentine government claims it," Valerdi stressed.

The expert also warned that Argentina could face asset confiscations abroad, similar to those experienced by Venezuela and Russia at the hands of the US, UK and EU.

“If Argentina misbehaves with NATO or if the US dislikes a future government, they will automatically seize that gold, as they did with Russia, and likely with other countries,” Valerdi explained.

Alexis Roman Kalczynski, Coordinator of Institutional Policies in Argentina, criticized Caputo’s actions, stating that he was “giving Argentine capital and sovereignty to foreign countries" and that "losing ownership and jurisdiction is a direct surrender to future seizures."

Last month, the Central Bank of Argentina sent approximately $450 million-worth of gold abroad via British Airways flights. The Economy Ministry has not yet confirmed the destination of the gold bars.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

📹 US Secret Service admits Trump's security level 'was a failure' following the assassination attempt

“This was a failure. We should have had better protection for the protectee. We should have had better coverage on that roofline,” Secret Service Acting Director Ronald Rowe said, commenting on the assassination attempt of former US President Donald Trump on July 13.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

📹 China has developed a bird-shaped drone, further pushing the boundaries of military technology.

According to Global Defense News, recent images show the drones being used by the Marine Corps of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA).

The autonomous ornithopters, indistinguishable from real birds at a distance, flap their wings and fly naturally. While the technical details and specific characteristics remain confidential, their deployment within PLA forces has been confirmed.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🎥 Leaving the enemy no chance

Watch footage of a Buk-M3 anti-aircraft missile system crew intercept and destroy a US-made ATACMS missile in the area of the special military operation.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

US sends warships to Middle East as Embassy in Israel issues security alert

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin ordered additional ships to head to the Middle East amid fears of an Iranian retaliatory strike on Israel Friday, with the US embassy in Jerusalem issuing a security alert for US citizens.

"Secretary Austin has ordered additional ballistic missile defense-capable cruisers and destroyers to the US European Command and US Central Command regions," read a statement from Defense Department deputy spokeswoman Sabrina Singh. "The Department is also taking steps to increase our readiness to deploy additional land-based ballistic missile defense."

Additionally, Austin has ordered the Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group to replace the Theodore Roosevelt carrier strike group, which was previously deployed. The United States will also deploy additional fighter jets to the region to boost its air support capability. Austin ordered the deployment of an additional fighter squadron to the Middle East as well, under the pretense of "reinforcing" the country's "defensive air support capability."

The news came as the US embassy in Jerusalem released an alert urging US citizens to be cautious of possible sudden aerial attacks due to "increased regional tensions" in the wake of Israel's violation of Iranian and Lebanese territorial sovereignty.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

Date of Trump-Harris debate revealed

US Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said he had reached an agreement with Fox News to hold debate with his Democratic opponent Kamala Harris on September 4 in Pennsylvania.

"I have agreed with FoxNews to debate Kamala Harris on Wednesday, September 4th... The FoxNews Debate will be held in the Great Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, at a site in an area to be determined," Trump wrote on Truth Social.

Trump and Harris have been unable to agree on a date and channel for the debate for several weeks. Initially, the second debate round was scheduled to take place on September 10 on ABC. But at the time, the plans included the participation of US President Joe Biden, who has since decided to drop out of the race. Because of the lack of progress in agreement on a new debate, Kamala Harris' campaign stated that Trump was "very afraid of debating her."

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

Pentagon chief revokes widely criticized plea deal with three 9/11 defendants

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has revoked a plea deal with three defendants accused of playing a role in the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, a release published on the US Department of Defense website shows.

The widely criticized deal would have taken the death penalty off the table for Khalid Shaikh Mohammad, Walid Muhammad Salih Mubarak Bin Attash, and Mustafa Ahmed Adam al Hawsawi, currently awaiting trial in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The co-accused are believed to have provided training, financial, and other support to the perpetrators of the 9/11 attack on the United States. The Pentagon chief also dismissed the official heading the military commission that signed the plea deals on July 31.

News of the original pre-trial deals created a furor among victims groups. On Friday, the House Armed Services Committee announced the start of an investigation into the plea deals and the part the Biden administration played in the process, despite assurances to the contrary by the White House.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt