As their yacht bobbed on the Mediterranean, the microchip executive snapped a picture of his Russian partner asleep on the deck. He only knew the Russian by his first name, Maxim. But he knew Maxim was using a shadowy network to get the chips for the Russian defense industry.

“For now, the Kremlin believes that it has both time and the means to continue fighting for as long as it takes,” writes @AndrKolesnikov. “Putin is incapable of doubting that he is right.” foreignaffairs.com/united-st…

When the person asked Putin if he hadn’t considered whether it was much too easy to catch me red-handed, Putin didn’t budge. “He’s an idiot,” Putin said, banging his fist on the table. “He was much too obvious.” wsj.com/world/russia/evan-ge…

Russia has increased strikes on Ukrainian data centres and telecommunications facilities, disrupting internet access across Kyiv and raising concerns that Moscow is seeking to undermine Ukraine’s digital economy. ft.com/content/7fbecb15-c396…

A strong investigation by the Financial Times. Its journalists dug into a huge leak from inside A7, the Kremlin-backed payment network, and it confirms what we have been saying for a long time about how Russia finances its war. What was an informed assumption is now documented. Here is the essence: Russia's oil export earnings stay abroad. Exporters, including Coral and Rosneft-connected traders, deposit them into the accounts of front companies and in return receive roubles inside Russia. The foreign currency then pays for components and other imports for the war. According to the FT, Rosneft-connected traders alone supplied more than $2 billion to this network. Forged paperwork provided the cover. Inside A7 this was called "legend creation": invoices for "fuel oil" or "grain" delivered to an Algerian port. In one case, in August 2025, 39.9 million dirhams ($10.8 million) from Coral was offset by an equivalent rouble payment to Hurus. The roles of the oil companies and traders, A7, third-country banks and Tether are confirmed. This is state-scale money laundering serving the war against Ukraine. Here is what the response must be: 1Sanction every entity and front company exposed in the leak, and the people behind them. 2Apply secondary sanctions to third-country banks that keep servicing this network. 3Require stablecoin issuers, including Tether, to freeze linked wallets and cooperate fully with enforcement. 4Treat these flows as money laundering and document fraud cases, not only as sanctions violations. 5Banks should re-check past transactions built on similar "legends". The U.S. government can do all of this now under the Lindsey Graham Russia sanctions law. The tools are there. What is needed is the decision. Every dollar in this pool buys drones and missiles used against Ukrainians. Closing it is one of the most effective ways to cut the Kremlin's war financing.

NEW: Billions in Rosneft’s earnings went through Kremlin-backed money-laundering network A7, putting the group at the heart of Russia’s efforts to dodge sanctions and supply its war in Ukraine. scoop by @NastyaStognei with @ChassNews and @xtophercook ft.com/content/fb42c5dd-1550…

Now that the French got their prisoner, EU has updated the sanctions thumbnail. Well-structured transaction.

Azerbaijan has pardoned a French national jailed for espionage after EU capitals agreed to lift sanctions on two prominent Russian oligarchs in a divisive move driven by France as it pursued a secret prisoner release deal with Baku. ft.com/content/b05367af-5236…

New: Billionaire financier Todd Boehly has secured the backing of the US and Gulf power brokers with ties to the Trump family to bid for the international assets of Russia’s sanctioned oil major Lukoil. with @MalcolmMoore @leee_harris @ArashMassoudi ft.com/content/152aa77b-977f…

EU capitals have agreed to lift sanctions on Alisher Usmanov and Mikhail Fridman as the price of a three-year extension of restrictions on thousands of other individuals and entities linked by the bloc to Moscow’s war against Ukraine. ft.com/content/760091dd-20be…

The Kremlin backs France and Luxembourg's attempts to lift sanctions against two oligarchs. "We consider these sanctions to be illegal. Sanctions should be removed from Usmanov, and Fridman, and all Russian businessmen, and all Russian citizens," Dmitry Peskov says.

NEW: Standard Chartered, Citigroup and other big banks handled billions from a Kremlin-backed fcompany that tricked its way into the global financial system with a vast document forgery operation. Big story from @ChassNews @xtophercook @NastyaStognei ft.com/content/3848a4ad-1426…

Russia’s new air campaign seeks to destroy Ukrainian economy ft.trib.al/H3ONPBp

Flores said she was not supposed to tell anyone about her recruitment, but immediately told “about 20 people”, putting it down to the fact she is a “massive gossip”.

In an extra-high-security wing of the German defence ministry lurks a team so secretive that some call it a guerrilla unit. One close collaborator describes it as “incredibly un-German”. @laurapitel on Germany’s efforts to buy weapons for Ukraine: ft.com/content/aa94565e-6dab…

Vladimir Putin has moved the Valdai Club, flagship foreign policy conference from Sochi to Moscow due to security concerns over Ukraine’s intensifying drone strike campaign. He hasn’t even been to Sochi since last year’s Valdai Club. The latest: ft.com/content/ebca8754-9546…