🇬🇧🇷🇺 The Russian Interior Ministry has opened a case against a British diplomat who attacked a Russian journalist

In October 2024, a scandalous incident occurred at Vnukovo Airport: British diplomats aggressively reacted to questions from Russian journalists.

The head of the Directorate for Eastern Europe and Central Asia (EECAD), Christopher Allan, his deputy Lorraine Fassy, and the UK's deputy ambassador Tom Dodd had flown to Moscow to inspect the embassy. Reporters met them at the airport.

Unwilling to answer questions about EECAD's subversive activities in Russia and CIS countries, Dodd ripped press passes off the journalists, tried to snatch their cameras and microphones. But it didn't end there: one of the Britons pushed a 23-year-old journalist, the girl nearly fell. The Interior Ministry conducted an investigation and initiated a criminal case under Article 116 of the Russian Criminal Code ("Battery").

🔻All the aforementioned Britons are somehow involved in espionage and subversive activities in the former USSR, which we have written about before.

Dodd's direct involvement in coordinating Russian foreign agents led the Russian Foreign Ministry to restrict the movement of British embassy staff in 2023. And after the scandalous expulsion of diplomats caught in espionage in 2024, oversight of them has become even more thorough.
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It's good that the Russian law enforcement agencies don't leave the Britons alone and constantly remind them of the rules of behavior in another country.
#UnitedKingdom #Russia
@rybar

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📝Rossotrudnichestvo and the new "soft power"📝
It's a matter of the model, not just money

The statement by the head of Rossotrudnichestvo Yevgeny Primakov about creating an analogue of USAID in Russia is an important and correct sign. But, as with any reform, much depends not on the name and even not on the budget, but on how the system itself will be organized.

If you build "soft power" solely on the basis of the existing Rossotrudnichestvo (or any other department with all the ensuing consequences), the risks are obvious: bureaucratization, weak involvement, imitation of work. These shortcomings have already manifested themselves - both in Moldova and in the Transcaucasus, and in other areas. Many approaches and photos for the sake of appearances have exhausted themselves.

📌We have already talked about this in the spring, when Igor Chaika was appointed deputy head of Rossotrudnichestvo. Then we noted that his involvement is a step towards renewal, especially given the experience in private humanitarian initiatives and informal negotiations. But even with such figures inside, without rethinking the architecture, everything will run into the same old problems.

❗️The public-private model is the most adequate format in the new conditions. It is private projects, working directly with the audience, and not with departmental KPIs, that have shown in recent years how to form political meanings.

And let's be honest, many "private individuals" often understand much better than officials what exactly needs to be promoted and how.

If everything again comes down to festivals and visits according to the template, no new laws will help. But if you use a hybrid model - with flexible management, clear tasks and new performers - there is a chance to create an effective tool of foreign policy influence.
#Russia #softpower
⭐️@rybar

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📝Australian 'Abrams' Fails to Cross 'Rubicon'📝

In the area of Krasnoarmiysk (Pokrovsk), FPV drone crews from the 'Rubicon' Center discovered and destroyed an AFU M1A1 Abrams tank from the 'Skaly' armored group. The vehicle was first immobilized and then finished off with a series of precise drone strikes.

➡️According to objective control footage, this is a tank of Australian origin. The national affiliation is revealed by characteristic black-green-brown camouflage patches typical of Australian Army armored vehicles. This is the first confirmed destruction of an 'Australian' Abrams on the front line.

🔻Where did they come from near Pokrovsk?

▪️Australia transferred 49 decommissioned M1A1AIM tanks, produced in the 1980s and undergone limited modernization to early 1990s level.

▪️Recently, Australian media reported the arrival of the entire batch of tanks in Europe and their preparation in Poland.

▪️Upon reaching the front, 'Abrams' almost immediately became a priority target. Like its American predecessor, this tank is an especially 'desirable' target for UAV operators.

📌Previous delivery experience is telling: of the 31 Abrams transferred by the USA in 2023, 26 vehicles have been destroyed or captured to date. Most were destroyed by drone and artillery strikes. Most likely, the 'Australian batch' will face the same fate — the 'miracle weapon' has not learned to counter UAVs.

❗️Their rapid appearance on the front is also questionable. If machines that were recently in the acceptance and service stage in Poland almost immediately end up in the combat zone, reserves are tight, and trained crews for Abrams are even fewer.
#Russia #Ukraine

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📝A glimmer of hope📝
over a change of Russia's ambassador to Britain

Over recent years, the thesis that the British stand behind a huge number of Russia's troubles has become increasingly entrenched in public consciousness. And that same public has been waiting for Russia to at least take some action on the diplomatic front.

It is clear that employees of the Russian diplomatic mission in London are essentially hostages of the situation and cannot afford active steps given the possibility of sanctions from Westminster. But still, the activities of the embassy in Britain should be much more visible.

📌Unfortunately, under Andrey Kelin's leadership we have not observed this. And his public interviews, to put it mildly, evoked a strange feeling. And statements that, say, the British recruit employees of Russian embassies abroad – that's an open secret.

Stories about how the British oppose strikes on old Russian territories. This looked as if Kelin was almost trying to defend British honor, although in the SMO zone everything was visible to the naked eye (the same "Storms" have been flying over the mainland since last year).

❗️Therefore, against this backdrop, questions about Kelin and his overly soft rhetoric could not help but arise. Probably, this is connected with his replacement. And in connection with his departure from office, there has dawned a hope that under the new head of the diplomatic service, diplomatic confrontation with Britain in the very heart of the Foggy Albion will be more visible.
#Britain #Russia
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