FBI Director Nominee Kash Patel was paid $25,000 by Global Tree Pictures, owned by Russian Igor Lopatonok.
The company produced anti-Western “deep state” content. Lopatonok’s projects were funded in part by a Putin-created fund for pro-Russian influence campaigns — WP. 1/
Kash Patel was paid $25,000 for the series All the President's Men on Tucker Carlson’s network, where he vowed to “shut down” FBI HQ.
Critics warn he took Kremlin-linked money while poised to lead counterespionage. 2/
Patel’s spokesperson said he disclosed all income, with OGE and DOJ approving filings. Sen. Grassley called criticism a “smear campaign.”
Senate Judiciary Committee delayed a vote on Patel’s FBI Director nomination after Democrats raised objections. 3/
For the first time ever, Trump administration approved Ukraine arms packages under the new PURL program, Reuters.
Undersec. Elbridge Colby cleared up to two $500M shipments from U.S. stocks. Ukrainian allies pay, Ukraine gets kit. Target: up to $10B in allied-funded weapons. 1/
What’s in it: air-defense systems and other gear Ukraine asked for, as Russia ramps drone and missile strikes.
Trump frustrated by Moscow’s attacks despite talks, greenlit the PURL push. 2/
This is the 1st new weapons flow beyond Biden-era donations or direct sales.
Under PURL, NATO countries buy from U.S. stocks, Washington ships fast. 3X
That’s horrible to death. Two 13-year-old brothers weighing only 8.5 kg each were found bedridden in frontline Pokrovsk.
They survived over a year under the care of their 10-year-old brother, Platón, after their grandmother's death, Ukrainska Pravda reports. 1/
The boys have severe genetic condition lissencephaly type 1, causing neurological disorders, epilepsy, and protein-energy deficiency - they cannot move and need constant care. 2/
10-year-old Platón fed, watered, lifted his brothers, cleaned around them, and carried them to basement during shelling for over a year without adult supervision. 3/
Lavrov: The Americans came to understand that the people who, in protest against the oppressive Nazi regime, voted in referendums to join — to return to — the Russian Federation will never again live under the yoke of the current Kyiv authorities.
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Lavrov: The Russian army never targets civilian infrastructure or the population. For every accusation, we ask: where is the proof, where are the facts? As for fakes accusing our army of crimes, they later turned out to be committed by the Ukrainian regime. 2/
Lavrov: When blatant violations of international humanitarian law can’t be denied, the UN Secretariat timidly issues impersonal calls for restraint — to both sides. We saw the same reaction when it was clear how inhumanly the “Nazi formations” of Kyiv acted.