In 2017, after pressuring a Russian model for nude photos, he abruptly wrote, “My Russian ambassador friend… just died in New York.”
He meant Vitaly Churkin, Putin’s UN envoy — a close Epstein contact, Times. 1/
Churkin held coffee meetings with Epstein.
Sergei Belyakov, Russian deputy economy minister and FSB academy graduate, called Epstein a very good friend, sought multi-entry visas for him, and pitched him as a channel for US investment into Russia. 2/
Epstein claimed he had FSB backing.
After a Russian model allegedly tried to blackmail businessmen, he wrote that friends in the FSB warned threats would be dealt with extremely harshly. 3/
Russia abducted Ukrainian journalist Yana Suvorova in occupied Melitopol when she was 18.
After a closed, staged trial, she was sentenced to 14 years for “terrorism” and “treason.” Her case is classified. She vanished from exchange lists, United24. 1/
Yana: “The cell is cold. Rats run around. The light is on constantly.”
Her boyfriend says her condition collapsed after transfer to Donetsk — held with girls who had attempted suicide. Psychological pressure was constant. 2/
Russia is prosecuting journalists as “terrorists” — to erase them from prisoner swaps.
By reclassifying Ukrainian media workers as terrorists, Moscow locks them out of exchanges, hides them from public view, and sentences them to decades in prison. 3/
The Davydenko family in Kyiv is escaping the cold together with their 7 pigs. Their apartment drops to -2°C, but leaving the city would feel like a gift to Putin, they say — Reuters. 1/
Russian strikes on Ukraine’s power grid left their 12th-floor apartment without electricity for 8 days and without heating for nearly 2 weeks.
Night temperatures fell to -20°C. Sleeping there became impossible. 2/
So the family moved with 3 children, 2 cats, 2 dogs, and 7 pigs into their own business — Piggy Cafe Kyiv.
A generator provides power. Heating still works. At night, they roll out mattresses on the floor. 3/
Germany broke up a network supplying Russia’s defense industry.
Police arrested 5 suspects accused of exporting sanctioned goods to Russian military firms. The network shipped €30M worth of goods since 2022 — Reuters. 1/
German prosecutors say the group used shell companies and fake end-users inside and outside the EU to hide shipments to 24 Russian defense firms.
Raids took place in multiple cities, assets were frozen, and 5 more suspects remain at large. 2/
An asset freeze has been ordered against the equivalent value of the transactions.
Finance minister Lars Klingbeil: “Today's operations, ordered by federal prosecutors, show that we rigorously enforce the sanctions we have agreed on the EU level.” 3X
Kyiv will get just four to six hours of electricity a day in February.
Russia launched the largest attack on Ukraine's power grid since the start of the year during severe cold. Two key substations hit, while temperature was -13 degrees — New York Post. 1/
Stanislav Ihnatiev, head of the Ukrainian Renewable Energy Association: Damage to substations of this class is a strategic blow to the entire energy system.
These facilities ensure the distribution of large amounts of power on a national scale. 2/
Frequent attacks make repairs nearly impossible. Emergency power cuts introduced during Ukraine's coldest winter in a decade.
Ihnatiev: “Restoration of unique equipment will take months or years.” 3X