By John Helmer, Moscow Did the Russian espionage operation at the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) in The Hague last April succeed before the Dutch counter-intelligence agents stopped it and caught the Russian agents?  Did the report of an OPCW laboratory investigation of the Skripal poisoning, released publicly in Moscow the day […]

by Editor - Monday, October 8th, 2018
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By John Helmer, Moscow Until mid-April, almost six months ago, the performances of the British, Dutch, Ukrainian and American intelligence agencies in producing evidence to explain the downing of Malaysian Airlines MH17 and the poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal in Salisbury were about equal in fabrication quality and standard of proof; equally poor. The […]

by Editor - Friday, October 5th, 2018
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By John Helmer. Moscow Alisher Usmanov (lead image, left) has announced that the Russian oligarchs have almost died out. Not counting himself, he claimed in a television interview on the weekend there is only one oligarch left. “I think we have one passenger in this car, it is already empty, and he sits alone — […]

by Editor - Thursday, October 4th, 2018
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By John Helmer, Moscow On Monday President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, responded to British and American press reports about the Skripal case by saying the Kremlin had decided not to respond.   “We will no longer talk with the media. The BBC cannot confirm anything; the BBC can put forward an assumption or something […]

by Editor - Wednesday, October 3rd, 2018
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By John Helmer, Moscow The Chief Magistrate of England, Emma Arbuthnot (lead image), ruled on Friday to dismiss an application from the Russian Prosecutor-General for extradition of Ilya Yurov, the control shareholder of National Bank Trust (NBT) before the bank was de-licensed by the Central Bank and transferred to Otkritie Bank at the end of […]

by Editor - Sunday, September 30th, 2018
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By John Helmer, Moscow Speaking for President Vladimir Putin in Tajikistan on Friday afternoon, Dmitry Peskov announced that no record has been found of Putin awarding the Hero of Russia medal for military valour to Anatoly Chepiga. He also announced there are at least two dozen Vladimir Lenins and Joseph Stalins on Red Square.

by Editor - Friday, September 28th, 2018
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By John Helmer, Moscow Grave robbers used to need special skills to make their living.  Indifference to getting their hands dirty was one; a flexible spine for shovelling in the dark was another.  A nose and throat which didn’t gag at  the smell of rotting flesh was a third.  John Witherow (lead image, right) , […]

by Editor - Friday, September 28th, 2018
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By John Helmer, Moscow At 19:50 on Thursday evening Moskovsky Komsomolets (MK), one of the largest circulation newspapers in Russia, published an announcement from Dmitry Peskov, spokesman for the Kremlin.  “The Russian President’s Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov has said that the Kremlin will check information from the investigation of Bellingcat and The Insider on suspects […]

by Editor - Thursday, September 27th, 2018
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By John Helmer, Moscow Last week President Vladimir Putin triggered the most serious crisis of his presidency, as the Defence Ministry and the Russian General Staff (Stavka) declared that Putin’s explanation for the downing of the Ilyushin-20 electronic reconnaissance aircraft by Israeli fighters was false, and worse –capitulation to Israel.  Sources in Moscow report the […]

by Editor - Monday, September 24th, 2018
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By John Helmer, Moscow “When people die, especially in such unfortunate circumstances,” President Vladimir Putin said at a Kremlin press conference  on Tuesday afternoon, “it is always a tragedy”. The president was responding to the destruction of a Russian reconnaissance aircraft and the deaths of fifteen crew members during an Israeli Air Force attack on […]

by Editor - Tuesday, September 18th, 2018
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