The Insider

Caught stealing: An employee of Russia’s top-secret Department K has been convicted of selling a classified database The BSTM unit where Nesterov served is known as the most corrupt and scandal-ridden in Russia’s law enforcement system.

A choice between debt and inflation: As protests rage, the French government has no good option for solving its financial problems In the run-up to the 2027 presidential election, parliament looks set to pass a budget that will later be revised.

Russian court sentences IT specialist to 13 years after crypto exchange handed over his data to Moscow At the request of Russia’s Investigative Committee, Binance provided a report on Yuri Belenky’s transfer for the needs of the AFU.

Russia expands war recruitment in Africa, with enlistment in Burundi up 23-fold After the authorities in Kenya and South Africa tried to stop recruitment, Russia ramped up recruitment in Burundi, Zimbabwe, and Sierra Leone, among other countries.

Russia drops out of top three global exporters of non-coking coal as shipments fall by nearly 19% Weaker demand for power-station coal in Turkey, high inventories in China, and growing competition from Mongolia have now placed Russia behind South Africa.

Russia’s Sberbank links the crypto networks used by Moscow and Tehran to evade sanctions, Middle East Forum says The bank “connects, coordinates and legalizes” the end result of the interactions between Ilan Shor’s A7, Iran-linked Shelbit and Kyrgyzstan-based crypto exchange TokenSpot.

Distress signal from “shadow fleet” tanker Myra in the North Atlantic turns out to be false alarm Myra remained in the North Atlantic west of Ireland as of the evening of Oct. 25, according to data from @starboardintelligence.com. Its declared destination is Port Said, Egypt.

Russian government urges strategic data centers to move underground as Ukrainian drone attacks intensify New guidance calls for bunker-like sites and layered defenses after a wave of drone strikes, with the latest targeting a data center run by Russia’s Federal Tax Service.

Moscow awarded 2030 World Weightlifting Championships, Russia’s first major Olympic event since full-scale invasion of Ukraine The IWF lifted all restrictions on Russian and Belarusian athletes in June, while the IOC reinstated Russia a month later.

Russia builds 16 more air defense towers around Putin’s Valdai residence, bringing total to more than 50 By comparison, Moscow is protected by about 100 air defense towers, while Russia’s Alabuga drone production hub in Tatarstan has 33, per Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.

Copy-paste from Brussels: The EU’s error-riddled new sanctions package was generated using an LLM The Insider details the use of AI, botched transliterations, incorrect data, and the complete omission of Chinese companies in the Oct. 12 designations.

Putin offers fertilizer to U.S. in attempt to “restore relations” — but shipments never stopped after Russia invaded Ukraine, expert says Russia’s share of U.S. imports of both urea and UAN actually increased since 2022, with the former rising from 21.5% to 40.7% and the latter from 42% to 57.2%.

Russian “shadow fleet” tanker linked to Iranian leadership sends distress signal in the North Atlantic The sanctioned Myra, part of a shipping network controlled by Mohammad Hossein Shamkhani, issued the alert west of Ireland amid rough seas on Oct. 24.

First tanker carrying Russian diesel to U.S. heads for New York after Trump-Putin deal, set to arrive after midterm elections The Agioi Fanendes loaded 40,000 metric tons of diesel in Primorsk on Oct. 22, according to @reuters.com. It is due to arrive on Nov. 7, per @starboardintelligence.com.

Russia’s prison service finds no violation of the rights of political prisoner Alexander Kynev, whose leg was broken during his arrest Kynev, a well-known political scientist, was arrested on charges of attempted large-scale drug trafficking on Sept. 25. He remains in pretrial detention.

Cargo ship sinks off the coast of Romania, local authorities blame Russia Romanian President Nicușor Dan writes that the vessel was hit by a drone and calls the incident “an example of the tragic consequences of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine.”

Austria to expel four Russian diplomats on suspicion of espionage Vienna remains one of the most important centers of Russian intelligence activity in Europe.

Ukrainian An-124 cargo plane catches fire during landing at Japan’s Chubu airport The cause of the blaze that broke out under one of the aircraft’s wings late on Oct. 22 is still unknown. It was quickly extinguished, with the runway closed for only 15 minutes after the incident.

Kremlin-linked Israeli “think tank” turns into a boxer-shorts parody hours after The Insider’s investigation Its “analytics” were replaced by an “Ilya Boxer Institute” catalog featuring Kremlin disinfo operator Ilya Gambashidze modeling underwear.

Russian courts are encouraging parental child abduction by refusing returns to “unfriendly” countries, lawyer says Russia’s Supreme Court recently let a father keep his daughter in Russia after taking her from France without the mother’s consent.

GRU-linked hackers wiped data at Ukrainian grain company after two-month intrusion, @esetresearch.bsky.social reports To control infected devices, the attackers used new malware that communicated with a server through the decentralized Yggdrasil network. The breach began on July 16, 2025.

Germany arrests Ukrainian man suspected of spying for Russia @spiegel.de reported that the 53-year-old suspect had shown an interest in the German army’s 45th Panzer Brigade (a.k.a. the Lithuania Brigade), due to be deployed to Lithuania next year.

The red-green alliance: How a union of Islamists and Marxists led Palestine to postpone its elections A range of factions were ready to unite against the moderate Fatah party — and so Mahmoud Abbas put off the vote until next September.

Uninvited guest: How a GRU spy connected to state hackers broke into the African Union’s diplomatic residence in Ethiopia A video version of the latest investigation by @dobrokhotov.bsky.social and @michaeldweiss.bsky.social.

OSINT analysts spot Russian cargo ships loading military vehicles in Kaliningrad All three vessels — the Ascalon, Lady D, and Anastasiia — have previously been linked to Russian military shipments. Anastasiia delivered cargo to Libya last month.

A shipment of Russian uranium destined for Germany has arrived in Rotterdam The plant in Lingen, owned by a subsidiary of Framatome (France), is launching nuclear fuel production under a license from the Russian company TVEL, a Rosatom structure.

“Write like a 38-year-old Israeli woman”: The Kremlin used fake media and fabricated “experts” to spread disinformation in Israel Leaked files from Russia’s Social Design Agency show how Moscow sought to plant its narratives into Israeli public debate.

Ukraine’s Khartiia Brigade says underground operation pushed 15 kilometers behind Russian lines near Kupiansk Operation “Veles” allowed Ukrainian forces to break out of a stalemate on the Kupiansk axis. Russia lost 100 troops killed and 30 captured.

Number of air defense positions around Russia’s Alabuga drone production hub rises to 33, Radio Free Europe reports Alabuga is now one of the most heavily protected sites in Russia. Vladimir Putin’s Valdai residence is surrounded by 31 positions.

Russian scientist jailed for “treason” begins dry hunger strike over abuse, violence in pretrial detention Valery Kachin, who was sentenced to 14 years in prison in 2025, now weighs around 60 kilograms (132 pounds) at a height of 182 centimeters (6 ft).

Sweden denies refugee travel document to Russian who fought for Ukraine even though he was granted asylum in 2011

Roscosmos is ready to send equipment for future nuclear power plant to the Moon despite no visible progress in its development The Insider explains why scientists both in Russia and abroad are looking for ways to harness nuclear energy in space.

Russian security forces detain German national who served in Ukrainian army It is also unknown where and under what circumstances the man was detained, or how he got into Russia.

Russia frees U.S. national Stephen Hubbard, convicted of fighting for Ukraine The release became known during the Oct. 21 meeting between Vladimir Putin and U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff.

De-Modification: India’s “Cockroach” party is challenging the country’s slide toward autocracy The youth protest movement Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) has hit a sore spot in the cult carefully constructed around the figure of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Latvia ranks among top five importers of Russian grain this season as Moscow’s exports pivot toward Baltic ports The EU and NATO member imported more Russian grain than Nigeria from July to October, even as Baltic states push for an EU-wide transit ban.

Up to 12,000 North Koreans work under conditions of forced labor at Russia’s Alabuga drone plant, @csis.org report says They are paid around $2.50 an hour, with the regime in Pyongyang confiscating between 70% and 90% of their earnings.

Moscow and Washington are discussing possible prisoner releases through intelligence channels, Russia says The Kremlin previously denied these negotiations were taking place, as spokesman Dmitry Peskov claimed Russia didn’t have any political prisoners.

Putin’s “Doppelgängers”: The Insider gets inside the operations of the Kremlin's foreign disinformation network Internal documents demonstrate the cynisism of the Kremlin's information warriors — who describe their own work as generating "fakes."

Butter melted down into guns: Russia is once again cutting social spending to pay for its war in Ukraine Military outlays continue to drive up the debt and fuel inflation, but the Russian economy still looks set to survive in 2027.

Russia permits Olympic, Paralympic and Deaflympic titles for sports schools in occupied Ukraine under special rules The move comes as Russia is being reintegrated into the Olympic movement after the IOC lifted its suspension in July.

Russian pensioner jailed for six years after Lithuania handed him back to Russia says he clearly asked border guards for asylum The 68-year-old, who swam from Russia across the Neman River, says he was not allowed to submit a written application, contrary to what Lithuanian officials have said.

One in four FSB arrest videos is staged and confessions are recorded in multiple takes after torture, Memorial @enmemorial.bsky.social finds The human rights group warns that FSB-produced video clips should be treated as part of the political repression system.

Anonymous hackers leak alleged email archive with hundreds of thousands of messages from Alternative for Germany party According to the hacker behind the breach, his goal was to demonstrate the AfD’s “degeneracy and hypocrisy.”

Chemical brother: Russia’s production of explosives and ammunition is heavily dependent on Chinese chemicals The Insider identifies the key reagents used by Russia’s defense industry, the foreign companies supplying them, and the chemicals most critical to explosives production.

Norway detains “Guatemalan” cargo ship with Chinese name linked to Russia’s Arctic LNG 2 project The Ya Qing Hai Yang was sanctioned for helping transport Chinese power-generation modules for Arctic LNG 2 in October 2024. It was stopped last week and remains off the Norwegian coast.

Russian military satellite comes within 26 meters of U.S.-Finnish spacecraft providing data to Ukraine Kosmos-2612 approached ICEYE-X36, a commercial satellite, at near-zero relative speed. An approach of less than 1 kilometer is considered critical.

The Insider finds evidence of prisoner beatings at Russia’s Polar Owl penal colony Prosecutors documented injuries on two inmates at the Arctic prison. One said guards beat him; inspectors also confirmed missing body-camera and surveillance footage.