Russia Prepares to Intensify Influence Operations in the Post-Soviet Space and Europe Using Soviet and Russian Diaspora Networks.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has appointed Igor Chaika, the younger son of former Russian Prosecutor General Yuri Chaika, as Deputy Head of Rossotrudnichestvo. Igor Chaika is the owner of the waste management company “Khartia,” which has secured major government contracts in several Russian regions.
In 2022, Chaika transferred his business into a trust after being placed on the U.S. sanctions list. The U.S. Treasury accused him of involvement in planning a coup in Moldova and attempting to bring the country back under Kremlin influence.
Chaika facilitated cooperation between Moldovan politician Ilan Shor and former President Igor Dodon, a Socialist, while his companies were allegedly used to finance pro-Russian parties. He sought to secure a parliamentary majority for this alliance to push legislation favoring Russian interests, including stripping the Moldovan president of control over intelligence services.
We believe that Chaika’s appointment signals a Kremlin plan to increase pressure on Moldova by leveraging his connections. It is evident that the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) lobbied for Chaika’s candidacy. Chaika’s Background and Role in Russian Influence Networks
Igor Chaika is the younger son of Yuri Chaika, who served as Russia’s Prosecutor General from 2006 to 2020 and is currently the Presidential Envoy to the North Caucasus Federal District. His elder brother is an advisor to Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov.
Chaika has been successful in engaging with foreign elites, addressing issues within the intelligence sphere. His projects include organizing meetings between Russian and European business circles and leading humanitarian initiatives in the Middle East. His appointment may serve both as access to government funding and an attempt to enhance Rossotrudnichestvo’s efficiency.
The new Deputy Head of Rossotrudnichestvo provides logistical support to Russian armed forces, including cooperation with the Cossack brigade “Terek” and other military units. Since 2021, he has led the public council at Rossotrudnichestvo, positioning him for a career in foreign policy and special operations.
Currently, Rossotrudnichestvo’s head, Yevgeny Primakov, has five deputies, and Chaika’s appointment is expected to strengthen the agency’s leadership team.
Key Reasons for Chaika’s Appointment
1. Strengthening Russia’s “Soft Power”
Rossotrudnichestvo is a key instrument of Russia’s cultural, humanitarian, and educational influence abroad. Chaika’s appointment suggests an effort to expand pro-Kremlin influence in the post-Soviet space, Europe, and other regions where Russia competes with the West.
2. Family and Political Connections
His appointment may be part of an elite patronage system that distributes key positions among influential families, ensuring control over crucial policy areas.
3. Economic and Business Interests
Chaika previously engaged in business operations tied to government contracts and projects in CIS countries. In his new role, he could oversee economic diplomacy, advancing Russian corporate interests in allied nations. We believe he may also play a role in developing sanction-evasion channels for Russia, given his background in the “Russian Export” company.
4. Focus on Youth Policy and Russian-Speaking Diasporas
Chaika may modernize the agency by adopting a more aggressive information strategy amid international pressure on Russia. In addition to Moldova, Latvia is likely to become a priority for Rossotrudnichestvo’s activities.
Rossotrudnichestvo as a Front for Russian Intelligence
The Foreign Intelligence Service) uses Rossotrudnichestvo as a cover for intelligence operations abroad. The agency conducts information campaigns promoting Russian narratives in allied and neutral countries, engages with Russian-speaking diasporas, and influences elites in the CIS, EU, Middle East, and Latin America. Although Rossotrudnichestvo is officially under the Russian Foreign Ministry, it de facto operates in close coordination with the FSB and SVR, executing intelligence, propaganda, and political influence missions on behalf of the Kremlin.
Indivisible, the left-wing group behind red-district town hall protests targeting Elon Musk’s DOGE, is providing local activists with a “reimbursement program” to cover certain expenses associated with opposing what it calls the “Trump-Musk coup.” Included among the reimbursable items are “chicken suits,” according to Indivisible’s co-executive director.
Local Indivisible chapters, a webpage outlining the program states, can receive up to $200 per congressional recess for protest expenses like audio and video equipment, signage, promotional materials, and gas. For lawmakers who decline to hold town halls during the upcoming recess, Indivisible encourages local activists to hold their own events and purchase “cardboard depictions of your Member of Congress” and “chicken suits,” both of which Indivisible will pay for.
“We reimburse for chicken suits!!!” Indivisible co-executive director Leah Greenberg wrote on Bluesky. When a follower later asked Greenberg if Indivisible would ship the suits to members, she responded, “Historically we’ve mostly just sent people money to buy their own, but…stay tuned for March recess.”
After submitting receipts, local Indivisible members receive the funds through direct deposit or mailed check, the page says. They may be able to receive more funds if they find that $200 is not enough—the “reimbursement program” webpage tells activists to contact Indivisible if “the reimbursement is not sufficient to cover costs.” That issue shouldn’t apply to chicken costumes, which a Chinese retailer sells for as little as $30 on Amazon. Buyers beware: The company, Hainan Chong Yu Industrial Co., has faced U.S. recalls for failing to meet flammability standards.
Indivisible’s reimbursement program is open through December, suggesting the group has long-term plans to continue the viral red-district protests that drove mainstream media headlines during the House recess last month. The New York Timescited those protests as proof of a “broader backlash” over Musk’s efforts to slash government spending but did not mention Indivisible’s role in organizing them.
In the wake of the demonstrations, Indivisible emailed Democratic congressional offices to inform them of similar protests the group plans to spearhead when Congress breaks for its upcoming March recess.
The message said Indivisible “put Republicans on notice by organizing nearly 200 events across the country and directly challenging them for supporting unelected billionaires like Elon Musk” and pledged to “go even bigger” this month. It also encouraged Democrats to disclose their events to Indivisible to avoid “calls and confusion over town hall scheduling.”
Though Indivisible says it’s “fueled by small dollar donations at the national level,” it has received nearly $8 million from liberal billionaire George Soros’s Open Society Foundations since 2017. On Saturday, Musk cited Indivisible and its Soros funding in a tweet that blamed the group for protests targeting Tesla dealerships, which Indivisible has also organized. Hours later, a Forbesfact check said Musk had “dubiously blame[d] Soros.” It did not mention the Open Society Foundations’s past support for Indivisible.
In addition to the reimbursement program, Indivisible operates a “distributed fundraising program” through which it helps local chapters register with ActBlue to raise their own funds. Indivisible says it pays ActBlue’s service fees on their local groups’ behalf “so that 100% of the funds your group raises are deposited onto your debit card to spend on permitted group activities.”
Indivisible did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The 200% tariff could more than double the cost of European wine and other alcohol for U.S. distributors, which would almost assuredly trickle down to U.S. bars and restaurants and eventually to American consumers, Michael Bilello, the executive vice president of strategic communications for Wine and Spirit Wholesalers of America, told NewsNation.
“If the intention of tariffs is to impose some discomfort on other countries, what we respectfully ask the administration to consider is that these will likely become burdens on U.S. businesses and U.S. consumers,” Bilello said.
Prosecco, champagne and other European wines
One of the hardest hit beverages would be wine imported from Europe, particularly the selections that cannot be made in the U.S.
Prosecco, a sparkling white wine that comes from nine Italian provinces, overtook champagne as the top-selling wine in the U.S. Champagne, which can only be produced in the Champagne region of France, is routinely used for U.S. celebrations, which helps to drive U.S. sales.
The Associated Press reported that with the 200% tariff, a previously untariffed $15 bottle of Prosecco would jump to $45 should the 200% tariff be imposed.
Additionally, Bordeaux, a popular red wine produced in southwest France, also falls into the single-origin category that could dramatically hit U.S. businesses should the tariff be imposed. Bilello says that 35% of American wine and spirit sales are generated by products imported from Europe.
Close-up of hands toasting champagne flutes during dinner party at home
“We want toasts not tariffs,” Chris Swonger, Distilled Spirits Council president and CEO, said in a statement issued by the organization.
Cognac, Aperol and other spirits
Cognac, a variety of brandy named after a commune in Cognac, France, and Aperol, the Italian base for a popular summertime cocktail, are among the products that would be included in the tariff against European countries.
Although spirits sales may not be as affected as the wine industry, Trump’s actions against other countries have already impacted American drinkers.
Could Guinness cost more this St. Patrick’s Day?
Beer sales, which grow significantly around St. Patrick’s Day, could also be hit. Although Guinness is brewed domestically in Baltimore, other brews, including those from companies in Germany, could be hit.
While Trump previously imposed tariffs during his first presidency, the steep nature of the tariff he suggested against E.U.-represented countries would not only be disruptive but economically devastating to U.S. companies.
Tequila already affected by Mexico tariffs
Trump previously announced a 25% tariff on products coming from Mexico, which would directly impact tequila, which can only be legally produced in specific regions of Mexico. Tequila remains the base for the margarita, the No. 1-ordered alcohol beverage in America, Bilello said.
Alcoholic Lime Margarita with Tequila and Sea Salt (Getty Images
Can the US make some of these spirits and wines?
Although some U.S. states produce alcoholic beverages like California, Washington and Oregon wines or Champagne-produced products that would be otherwise directly affected by the tariffs, Bilello said there is not enough production happening to fill the gap that would be created.
Some U.S. manufacturers have begun making agave-produced spirits to replicate the plant (tor piña) that serves as the base of tequila. However, agave plants need 7 to 9 years to mature, Bilello said, again making the U.S. reliant on foreign producers.
“Importers and wholesalers will be incapable of absorbing a 200% tariff on these products,” Bilello told NewsNation.
“There’s little doubt, there’s zero debate on this. This is going to be more expensive for consumers and American businesses,” he added.
Since the arrest of Mahmoud Khalil, his attorneys have fought any suggestion that this case is about whether their client committed a crime or is a threat to national security. Instead, they say, it’s about the U.S. government stifling Khalil’s advocacy for Palestine.
Even the government agrees it’s not about committing a crime.
According to courtfilings obtained by The Intercept, the government’s main argument against Khalil rests on a civil law provision within the Immigration and Nationality Act, which governs the country’s immigration and citizenship system. The provision, known as Section 237(a)(4)(c)(i), gives the secretary of state the authority to request the deportation of an individual who is not a U.S. citizen, if they have “reasonable ground to believe” the individual’s presence in the country hurts the government’s foreign policy interests.
Department of Homeland Security agents arrested Khalil, a Syrian-born Palestinian whose family is from Tiberias, in the lobby of his Columbia University apartment on Saturday. After initially alleging they had revoked his student visa, they said they had instead revoked Khalil’s green card. Authorities then secretly transported Khalil, a U.S. permanent resident, from New York to New Jersey, then to an immigration detention facility in Louisiana where judges are known to be more favorable to the government’s legal arguments.
In a notice for Khalil to appear in immigration court in Louisiana where he remains jailed, the government cites the specific provision and states: “The Secretary of State has determined that your presence or activities in the United States would have serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States.” Government lawyers have not, however, provided any evidence, in court filings or hearings, to support their claim. Khalil refused to sign the notice.
Khalil’s legal team plans to fight the government’s “foreign policy” provision in both the push for his release in federal court and in his deportation proceedings in immigration court, said Baher Azmy, legal director of the Center for Constitutional Rights and a member of Khalil’s legal team. A Manhattan federal district court judge temporarily halted Khalil from being deported while his lawyers continue to push for his release and transfer back to New York, where his attorneys can represent him more easily and he can be closer to his wife who is eight months pregnant.
Khalil’s attorneys plan to contest his detention on free speech grounds under the First Amendment and by challenging the government’s use of the “foreign policy” provision. By evoking the “foreign policy” provision, the Trump administration is making a clear statement not just about its foreign policy goals but also free speech, Azmy said.
“The United States government thinks Mahmoud’s speech in favor of Palestinian human rights and to end the genocide is not only contrary to U.S. foreign policy, which is something in itself, but that that dissent provides grounds for arrest, detention, and deportation,” Azmy said. “It’s an astonishing claim.”
Central to their challenge in court will likely be another provision within the Immigration and Nationality Act that exempts noncitizens facing deportation under the government’s “foreign policy” provision. The exception, known as Section 212(a)(3)(C)(iii), says that an individual cannot be deported under the “foreign policy” provision cited by the government if their “past, current, or expected beliefs, statements, or associations, if such beliefs, statements, or associations would be lawful within the United States.”
“The government doesn’t get to decide what you can talk about and what you cannot talk about based on whether or not it helps the U.S.”
In other words, since Khalil’s past activities were protected free speech under the First Amendment, he should not be deported under the “foreign policy” provision cited by the government, Azmy said. The Department of Homeland Security has said it arrested Khalil, a lead negotiator for Palestine solidarity protesters at Columbia, for having “led activities aligned to Hamas.” But even if such alignments exist, advocacy is protected activity in the U.S., Khalil’s attorneys maintain.
“If there is constitutionally protected speech,” Azmy said. “It doesn’t matter if it goes adverse to the foreign policy interests of the United States — it’s still protected. The government doesn’t get to decide what you can talk about and what you cannot talk about based on whether or not it helps the U.S.”
Khalil’s legal team said the “foreign policy” provision giving the secretary of state the ability to request a deportation is rarely used, and when it has been evoked it is to deny visas for foreign officials who have interfered with democracy in their respective countries or officials with a poor human rights record. And the exception to the provision that prohibits deportations exists to ensure that it would not be used to specifically crack down on people’s speech, Azmy said.
“Any kind of removal proceeding because the government disagrees with a political perspective would be unlawful,” Azmy said. “So Congress wrote that into the statute, mindful of what the Constitution requires.”
There is an obvious counterargument for government lawyers seeking to deport Khalil. They can turn to an exemption within the exemption that still gives the secretary of state leeway to further argue for deportation if the State Department can provide “a facially reasonable and bona fide determination” that the individual’s presence and activities in the U.S. “compromises” U.S. foreign policy interest, according to the provision and previous immigration case law.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said Khalil’s case “is not about free speech” but about “people that don’t have a right to be in the United States to begin with.”
“I think being a supporter of Hamas and coming into our universities and turning them upside down and being complicit in what are clearly crimes of vandalization, complicit in shutting down learning institutions,” he said in Ireland on Wednesday, after a visit to Saudi Arabia for ceasefire talks with Ukrainian officials. “If you told us that’s what you intended to do when you came to America, we would have never let you in. And if you do it once you get in, we’re going to revoke it and kick you out.”
Rubio’s words rang hollow to a longtime New Jersey-based immigration attorney Robert Frank, one of the few attorneys to have represented a client in the U.S. who faced deportation under the same “foreign policy” provision evoked in Khalil’s case. During his 50 years of practice as an immigration attorney, Frank said a case decided in 1999 was the only time he had seen the government use the provision.
In the late 1990s, Frank represented former Mexican attorney general Mario Ruiz Massieu, who had fled Mexico and entered the U.S. on a temporary visa to avoid a slew of criminal charges, ranging from money laundering to embezzlement and torture. The U.S. government had ordered his deportation by using the “foreign policy” provision after Mexico requested his return, following several failed extradition attempts. Then-Secretary of State Warren Christopher argued that keeping him would strain the U.S. relationship with Mexico. The government eventually won the case, and in 1999 Massieu was ordered to be deported.
“You can see the clear foreign policy connection — the government of Mexico is asking the U.S. to get involved — whereas this present case [with Khalil], you don’t have that at all,” Frank told The Intercept.
“What is the foreign policy effect of this fellow talking pro-Palestinian or pro-Hamas — how does that affect the foreign policy of the United States?” Frank said, adding, “Israel may not be happy with saying things in favor of Hamas,” but that’s not grounds for deportation under the provision.
Frank challenged the provision in his client’s 1990s case, arguing that an immigration court judge should preside over whether his client would be deported or not, rather than the secretary of state alone. An immigration judge sided with Frank and halted the deportation. However, the Board of Immigration Appeals, which is under the Department of Justice, overturned the decision upon government appeal.
While government attorneys have yet to argue their claim under the “foreign policy” provision in court, the White House has made unsubstantiated claims linking Khalil with Hamas, the Palestinian militant and political group that governs Gaza, which the U.S. includes on its Foreign Terrorist Organizations list.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on Tuesday that Khalil had “organized group protests that not only disrupted college campus classes and harassed Jewish-American students and made them feel unsafe on their own college campus, but also distributed pro-Hamas propaganda flyers with the logo of Hamas.”
“We have a zero tolerance policy for siding with terrorists,” she said.
Leavitt added that the Department of Homeland Security had provided her copies of the flyers, which the White House press office later privately shared with the conservative tabloid the New York Post. The flyers include the cover of a pamphlet published by Hamas, and widelyshared online, titled “Our Narrative: Operation Al-Aqsa Flood,” and another flyer showing a boot crushing the Star of David with the message “Crush Zionism.” Leavitt and the Post made the accusations without offering evidence that ties Khalil himself to the flyers.
Azmy dismissed the claims and said government attorneys have not introduced the flyers as evidence in their case against Khalil and haven’t referred to them in court. Even if campus protesters had passed out those flyers, such actions would be protected under the First Amendment, he said.
“We don’t concede for a moment he did any of this,” Azmy added. “And even if the Trump administration is choosing to deport people for flyers, then we have much bigger problems on our hands — it’s a form of tacky authoritarianism.”
During a press conference outside a Manhattan courthouse where a hearing took place Wednesday for Khalil’s case, hundreds of protesters had gathered. Thousands more marched across the country throughout the last several days, demanding Khalil’s release.
Ramzi Kassem, one of Khalil’s attorneys and the founding director of the Creating Law Enforcement Accountability & Responsibility at the City University of New York, said the “foreign policy” provision “is not intended to be used to silence pro-Palestinian speech, or any other speech, that the government happens to dislike.”
“This case is not going to set the precedent that the government wants it to set, whether its federal court or immigration court,” he said before a crowd of protesters. “And you already know that just by looking behind you that it’s not having the effect that the government wants it to have with people’s solidarity with Palestinians.”
During a bizarre live ad for Elon Musk’s car company on the White House lawn Tuesday, President Donald Trump said people protesting at Tesla dealerships around the country would be treated as domestic terrorists.
A reporter asked Trump what he would do about the Tesla protests, noting that some commentators had suggested that protesters “should be labeled domestic terrorists.”
Trump leapt at the opening. “I will do that. I’ll do it. I’m going to stop them. We catch anybody doing it because they’re harming a great American company,” he said. “We’re going to catch them. And let me tell you, you do it to Tesla and you do it to any company, we’re going to catch you and you’re going to — you’re going to go through hell.”
The remarks came in the form of an unprecedented display of salesmanship with the White House as a backdrop, part press conference, part advertisement to improve stock performance for the president’s billionaire righthand man amid controversy and tumbling markets.
On Wednesday, Rep. Marjorie Taylor-Greene, R-Ga., urged the Department of Justice and the FBI to investigate Tesla protests. Forbes reported that in doing so, Taylor-Greene — who owns Tesla stock — may have violated House ethics rules.
Trump cannot summarily declare a class of people exercising their First Amendment rights as domestic terrorists. He can try to encourage domestic terror charges, which can be terror crimes or sentencing enhancements on other felonies, but the efforts would be unlikely to stand up in court.
“It’s absurd,” said organizer Alice Hu, executive director at the youth-led climate justice group Planet Over Profit. “It’s obvious, both legally and from a common sense perspective, that First Amendment-protected peaceful protest is not domestic terrorism.”
The response from Trump and Musk, Hu said, is a sign that the protests are working. Tesla’s stock prices tanked. And Musk, who is spearheading Trump’s controversial effort to gut the federal government, is using his social media platform Twitter to target individual organizers and grassroots groups, Hu said.
“They’re trying to label this peaceful movement an illegal, violent, whatever, domestic terrorist movement,” she said “The reality is that it’s DOGE’s illegal rampage destroying the government, taking over the government. That’s the real problem here.”
The president is immune from federal ethics regulations prohibiting the use of public office for private gain. However, it’s clear that after campaigning on being a champion of the working class, Trump is using the White House to advertise the company of his largest single donor and de facto appointee amid tanking Tesla stocks.
“There aren’t laws that apply to Trump here, and with Musk, it’s still not 100 percent clear how he fits in with the government,” said Jordan Libowitz, vice president of communications at Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. “But beyond that, there’s a huge optics problem, where it looks like the president of the United States is trying to stop the stock slide of his election’s biggest individual funder.”
Police have showed up in force to barricade Tesla dealerships around the country since, amid Musk’s de facto takeover of the government, the grassroots #TeslaTakedown movement began demonstrating against the electric car maker last month. An image from Chicago showed more than 20 officers standing in a line blocking the entrance to a Tesla storefront last week.
Some 350 people attended protests at the Tesla showroom in Manhattan on Saturday. New York Police Department officers arrested six people; one was charged with resisting arrest, and the other five were released.
Hu said the police showed up with several massive vans from the NYPD’s Strategic Response Group, a counterterror unit that deals with civil unrest. In 2021, The Intercept reported that NYPD officer trainings — and manuals for the SRG in particular — included few directives about protecting demonstrators’ First Amendment rights.
“In response to this outpouring of turnout, the police had at least five or six Strategic Response Group vans. Those are the vans that are ready to transport prisoners from some kind of location to the precinct. Each of those vans fits at least 10 people or so in there,” Hu said. “They were totally preparing for some kind of event where they might have needed to arrest dozens of people.”
An NYPD spokesperson confirmed that five people arrested on Saturday were released but did not respond to questions about how many officers were dispatched to the scene.
At least nine people have been arrested at protests at Tesla dealerships and showrooms in New York. It’s not clear how many more arrests have been made around the country.
Undeterred by the draconian response of the Trump administration, an organizer in California said she and her colleagues decided to start their own Tesla protests after seeing others pop up around the country. Lara Starr is part of a small group called Solidarity Sundays that writes postcards as a form of protest. “But after the election, postcards didn’t seem like enough,” Starr told The Intercept.
Organizers with the group anticipated that fewer than 10 people would show up to their first action, but after Indivisible, the protest group that sprung up during Trump’s first term, publicized the plan, 200 people showed up.
“So many people thanked us for giving them something to do,” Starr said. The group plans to keep protesting at Tesla every Sunday.
“Tesla cannot be disentangled from Musk, and Musk cannot be disentangled from Trump and the chaos he is causing, the lives he is ruining, and the dismantling of our democracy and decent society,” she said. “Taking down Tesla’s sales, stock price, and potentially the entire brand is the people speaking up, stepping up, and not letting our voices and values be silenced and ignored.”
The strategy behind the Tesla protests is to take a moment when so many people feel helpless and turn it into an opportunity to exert the power of the masses, Hu said.
“Ordinary people around the country knew that they needed to take matters in their own hands and start organizing,” Hu said. “We are seeing relative inaction from the Democrats and from people with that kind of platform and power.”
Trump and Musk have no grounds to speak about what’s lawful or unlawful, Hu said.
“It’s more than clear to anybody paying attention that this is a wannabe dictator, a wannabe authoritarian administration,” she said, raising the arrest and attempt to deport Palestinian protester and Columbia University graduate Mahmoud Khalil. “They’re undermining the rule of law to try to disappear a permanent resident.”
Months after hundreds of brush fires burned through Brooklyn’s green spaces, its parks are still recovering — and girding themselves for a future where those blazes are more frequent.
This week, the Prospect Park Alliance and Marine Park Alliance were among five city park groups to receive “wildfire rapid response” grants from the City Parks Foundation and NYC Green Fund. The grants, totaling $140,000, were “urgently organized and awarded” to help fund lengthy and expensive recovery efforts.
“The recent and unprecedented wildfires critically damaged our city’s essential park spaces, and this funding will help begin the necessary restoration,” said Heather Lubov, executive director of City Parks Foundation, in a statement. “Although this funding is modest, we hope it will spur others to step up and add to these grants to ensure that all of the affected natural areas are repaired.”
Each of the five parks received a grant of between $19,900 and $35,100.
The New York Fire Department battled to brushfires in Inwood Hill Park last November.So Photo courtesy of Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office
New York City’s drought last fall marked the driest period in the city’s history, and left its parks and foliage bone dry and prone to catching fire from even small sparks.
More than 500 brush fires broke out across the city between October and November 2024, FDNY Chief of Department John Esposito said at a City Council hearing in January. During that same period in 2023, there were just 120.
Most of those fires were larger and more damaging than usual. In the aftermath, some parks workers said a lack of funding made the issue worse.
“Without sufficient funding to prioritize the care and maintenance of our cherished parks, our ability to prevent such disasters is significantly impaired,” said Leila Mougoui Bakhtiari, Director, Landscape Management at the Prospect Park Alliance, at the January hearing. “Underfunded parks face delayed maintenance, making them more susceptible to hazards such as tree failures, erosion, and as we’ve experienced, devastating fires.”
Near-daily fires broke out in Marine Park last fall
In Marine Park, there were brush fires almost every day from Oct. 1 to Nov. 28, said Scott Middleton, executive director of the Marine Park Alliance. The park typically sees around 20 fires per year, causing “great concern to adjacent homeowners and park visitors alike.”
Of particular concern are the invasive species like mugwort and phragmites, which have become endemic in the park. Phragmites — tall, reedy grasses — can be very dry and prone to catching fire.
That’s exactly what happened last fall, Middleton said. The phragmites ignited and sparks spread to native plants and coastal forests in the park, causing fires as large as six acres.
A helicopter dropped water on a brush fire in Marine Park on March 8, the start of “spring fire season.”Photo by Jesse Ward
Already, the spring fire season has arrived, Middleton said, and a fairly large fire broke out in the park on March 8.
The funding from the City Parks Foundation will support recovery efforts including removing invasive plants and planting native shrubs and “herbaceous material.” Planting is set to start in May, Middleton said.
The Alliance will also continue to work closely with the Gerritsen Beach Volunteer Fire Department, according to the City Parks Foundation, which will advise on how best to avoid fires in the future.
“Our efforts will not only replace flammable invasive species with less flammable native plants, it will also curb future fires and vandalism by demonstrating positive, community stewardship of natural areas in response to a high-profile crisis for NYC Parks,” Middleton told Brooklyn Paper.
Recovery begins in the Prospect Park’s Ravine
One of the most jarring fires for Brooklynites was a Nov. 8 blaze in Prospect Park that engulfed two acres of its “forever wild” Ravine.
The fire was spotted and reported by a park visitor and was extinguished fairly quickly. Still, the damage it caused was significant.
The Nov. 8 brush fire in Prospect Park. Photo courtesy of Michelle Paggi, Ph.D./via REUTERS
Mature trees were scorched, and much of the lower-lying foliage — which is critical for the health of the forests’ flora and fauna — was incinerated. Without plant roots to keep the soil on the park’s steep slopes in place, it was at risk of erosion. Experts said it would take years for the burned area to recover.
With the weather warming up, recovery efforts at Prospect Park have begun — now with additional funding from the grant.
“We are incredibly grateful for the outpouring of support that has enabled Prospect Park Alliance to begin long-term work to restore this cherished area of Brooklyn’s Backyard,” Monaco said in a statement. “Our woodlands are a destination for respite, healing and exploration, and we thank our community for supporting the Alliance’s work to ensure that these natural areas will be sustained for generations to come.”
Burned logs and plants after the fire in Prospect Park. File photo courtesy of Prospect Park Alliance
The Landscape Management team is hard at work reinforcing the burned area with biodegradable mesh that will prevent erosion, the Prospect Park Alliance shared this week, the first step in the restoration process.
The team is also starting to re-plant various native species, including oak trees and serviceberry, but full recovery will take “many seasons.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that he agrees in principle with a U.S. proposal for a 30-day ceasefire in Ukraine, but the terms need to be worked out, and he emphasized that it should pave the way to lasting peace.
“So the idea itself is correct, and we certainly support it,” Putin told a news conference in Moscow. “But there are issues that we need to discuss, and I think that we need to discuss it with our American colleagues and partners.”
He noted the need to develop a mechanism to control possible breaches of the truce. Another issue, he said, is whether Ukraine could use the 30-day ceasefire to rearm.
“We agree with the proposals to halt the fighting, but we proceed from the assumption that the ceasefire should lead to lasting peace and remove the root causes of the crisis,” Putin said.
Putin made the remarks just hours after the arrival of Trump’s envoy in Moscow for talks on the 30-day ceasefire that Ukraine has accepted.
The diplomatic effort coincided with a Russian claim that its troops have driven the Ukrainian army out of a key town in Russia’s Kursk border region, where Moscow has been trying for seven months to dislodge Ukrainian troops from their foothold.
Putin said it appeared that the U.S. persuaded Ukraine to accept a ceasefire and that Ukraine is interested because of the battlefield situation, particularly in Kursk.
Referring to the Ukrainian troops in Kursk, he said: “Will all those who are there come out without a fight?”
Putin thanked U.S. President Donald Trump “for paying so much attention to the settlement in Ukraine.”
He also thanked the leaders of China, India, Brazil and South Africa for their “noble mission to end the fighting,” a statement that signaled those countries’ potential involvement in a ceasefire deal.
Russia has said it will not accept peacekeepers from any NATO members to monitor a prospective truce.
Putin’s foreign affairs adviser said Putin planned to meet with Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, later Thursday.
The Russian Defense Ministry’s claim that it recaptured the town of Sudzha, a Ukrainian operational hub in Kursk, came hours after Putin visited his commanders in Kursk. The claim could not be independently verified. Ukrainian officials made no immediate comment.
The renewed Russian military push and Putin’s high-profile visit to his troops unfolded as Trump seeks a diplomatic end to the war, which began more than three years ago with Russia’s full-scale invasion.
The U.S. on Tuesday lifted its March 3 suspension of military aid for Kyiv after senior U.S. and Ukrainian officials reported making progress on how to stop the fighting during talks in Saudi Arabia.
Trump said Wednesday that “it’s up to Russia now” as his administration presses Moscow to agree to the ceasefire. The U.S. president has made veiled threats to hit Russia with new sanctions if it does not engage with peace efforts.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CNBC Thursday that Trump is “willing to apply maximum pressure on both sides,” including sanctions that reach the highest scale on Russia.
Zelenskyy chides Russia for slow response
Ukraine has expressed its own concerns that Russia would use a truce to regroup and rearm.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy chided Russia on the Telegram messaging app Thursday for what he said was its slow response to the ceasefire proposal, accusing Moscow of trying to delay any peace deal. He said that Ukraine is “determined to move quickly toward peace” and hoped U.S. pressure would compel Russia to stop fighting.
The U.S. still has about $3.85 billion in congressionally authorized funding for future arms shipments to Ukraine, but the Trump administration has shown no interest so far in using that authority to send additional weapons as it awaits the outcome of peace overtures.
By signaling its openness to a ceasefire at a time when the Russian military has the upper hand in the war, Ukraine has presented the Kremlin with a dilemma — whether to accept a truce and abandon hopes of making new gains, or reject the offer and risk derailing a cautious rapprochement with Washington.
The Ukrainian army’s foothold inside Russia has been under intense pressure for months from the renewed effort by Russian forces, backed by North Korean troops. Ukraine’s daring incursion last August led to the first occupation of Russian soil by foreign troops since World War II and embarrassed the Kremlin.
Putin visits Russian military commanders
Speaking to commanders Wednesday, Putin said that he expected the military “to completely free the Kursk region from the enemy in the nearest future.”
Wearing military fatigues, Putin added that “it’s necessary to think about creating a security zone alongside the state border,” in a signal that Moscow could try to expand its territorial gains by capturing parts of Ukraine’s neighboring Sumy region. That idea could complicate a ceasefire deal.
Ukraine launched the raid in a bid to counter the unceasingly grim news from the front line, as well as to draw Russian troops away from the battlefield inside Ukraine and to gain a bargaining chip in any peace talks. But the incursion did not significantly change the dynamic of the war.
The Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank, assessed late Wednesday that Russian forces were in control of Sudzha, a town close to the border that previously was home to about 5,000 people.
Ukraine’s top military commander, Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi, said Russian aircraft had carried out an unprecedented number of strikes on Kursk and that as a result Sudzha had been almost completely destroyed. He did not comment on whether Ukraine still controlled the settlement but said his country was “maneuvering (troops) to more advantageous lines.”
Meanwhile, Maj. Gen. Dmytro Krasylnykov, commander of Ukraine’s Northern Operational Command, which includes the Kursk region, was dismissed from his post, he told Ukrainian media outlet Suspilne on Wednesday. He told the outlet that he was not given a reason for his dismissal, saying “I’m guessing, but I don’t want to talk about it yet.”
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Associated Press Writer Aamer Madhani in Washington contributed to this report.
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Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
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This story has been corrected to show that Suzha is a key Ukrainian military hub, not Kursk’s biggest town.
St. Patrick’s Day is almost here, and Brooklyn is ready to go green! Whether you’re gearing up for a lively parade, sipping a pint of Guinness at your go-to pub, or getting swept up in a Celtic celebration with a side of Irish dance, there’s no shortage of fun.
From rowdy bar crawls to lively performances, we’ve got your ultimate guide to making the most of this lucky day — and month — in Brooklyn.
Celebrate a quarter-century of queer joy at Ginger’s Bar with a three-day St. Patrick’s Day bash from March 14 to March 16! Enjoy live Irish music, DJ sets, Irish dancing, and special guest appearances straight from Ireland. With a focus on queer joy, resistance, and community, this anniversary celebration promises a weekend of unforgettable fun. Limited tickets will be available at the door, but secure your spot with presale tickets.
March 14–16, times vary. Ginger’s Bar, 236 Underhill Ave. in Prospect Heights. gingerbrooklyn.com.
Join Tipsy Scoop for a fun and boozy ice cream-making class this St. Patrick’s Day! Learn to make whiskey-infused ice cream and a boozy sorbet cocktail using a commercial ice cream machine. Enjoy tasting seasonal flavors, hear about the company’s history, and take home two pints of your creations in an insulated Tipsy Scoop tote.
Get your green on and join the fun at Time Out Market New York for a St. Patrick’s Day celebration! Enjoy all-day drink specials, including Sam Adams and Angry Orchard buckets, plus Sam Adams Cold Snap. At 6:30 p.m., head to the rooftop for a special performance by the Brooklyn Irish Dance Company, showcasing traditional Irish stepdancing.
The luck of the Irish has far from run out for Brooklyn’s three St. Patrick’s Day Parades. The Celtic Knot of Gaelic marches will kick off later this month, each celebrating a milestone anniversary.
Join in the festivities at the oldest St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Brooklyn! The parade kicks off at 1 p.m. on March 16, starting at Bartel-Pritchard Square at 14th Street and Prospect Park West in Park Slope. Established in 1975, this parade features a vibrant procession through Park Slope, with the route stretching from Prospect Park West & 15th St. to 7th Ave & Garfield Place, then back to the starting point for a celebration from 2 to 5 p.m.
Stick around for the after-party at Holy Name of Jesus Church, where you can enjoy a corned beef and cabbage dinner, beer, soda, and live music by Celtic Justice for $50 (RSVP required).
March 16, parade steps off at 1 p.m. at Bartel-Pritchard Square at Prospect Park West and 15th Street. After-party from 5-9 p.m. at Holy Name of Jesus Church, 245 Prospect Park West.
Get ready to paint the town green at the 30th Annual Bay Ridge St. Patrick’s Day Parade on Sunday, March 23, starting at 1 p.m. This lively procession kicks off at Marine Avenue and Third Avenue, making its way down the bustling thoroughfare to 67th Street. The parade will feature marching bands, Irish dance troupes, and community groups, plus plenty of Irish pride. Leading the march this year is Deacon Kevin McCormack as grand marshal, with the Reilly family celebrated as the Irish Family of the Year.
March 23, parade steps off at 1 p.m at Third Avenue and Marine Avenue in Bay Ridge.
St. Patrick’s Day fun continues on through March with the 15th Annual Gerritsen Beach St. Patrick’s Day Parade.on Saturday, March 29! This neighborhood favorite celebrates Irish pride with a hometown twist, featuring lively floats, local bands, and all the green you can handle. While the big NYC parade takes over Fifth Avenue earlier in the month, Gerritsen Beach will be keeping the party going, bringing its own spirited take on the holiday to Brooklyn.
March 29, parade steps off at 1 p.m. at the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post at Whitney and Gerritsen Avenues in Gerritsen Beach.
North Korea-linked APT group ScarCruft used a new Android spyware dubbed KoSpy to target Korean and English-speaking users.
North Korea-linked threat actor ScarCruft (aka APT37, Reaper, and Group123) is behind a previously undetected Android surveillance tool named KoSpy that was used to target Korean and English-speaking users.
ScarCruft has been active since at least 2012, it made the headlines in early February 2018 when researchers revealed that the APT group leveraged a zero-day vulnerability in Adobe Flash Player to deliver malware to South Korean users.
Kaspersky first documented the operations of the group in 2016. Cyber attacks conducted by the APT37 group mainly targeted government, defense, military, and media organizations in South Korea.
Lookout researchers attributed the spyware to the ScarCruft group with medium confidence. The researchers state that the threat is a relatively new malware family with early samples going back to March 2022. The most recent samples detected by the cybersecurity firm are dated March 2024.
“KoSpy has been observed using fake utility application lures, such as “File Manager”, “Software Update Utility” and “Kakao Security,” to infect devices.” reads the report published by the researchers. “The spyware leveraged the Google Play Store and Firebase Firestore to distribute the app and receive configuration data. All the apps mentioned in the report have been removed from Google Play, and the associated Firebase projects have been deactivated by Google.”
KoSpy collects SMS, calls, location, files, audio, and screenshots via plugins. The surveillance tool
The spyware masquerades as five different apps: 휴대폰 관리자 (Phone Manager), File Manager, 스마트 관리자 (Smart Manager), 카카오 보안 (Kakao Security) and Software Update Utility.
The experts noticed that the app disguises itself as utility apps with basic functions, except Kakao Security, which tricks users with a fake permission request.
Before activation, KoSpy checks if it is running in a virtualized environment and confirms that the current date is past the hardcoded activation date to avoid analysis and detection.
Upon execution, the spyware retrieves an encrypted configuration from Firebase Firestore, controlling activation and the C2 server address. This setup allows attackers to enable, disable, or change servers for stealth and resilience.
KoSpy communicates with its C2 servers through two request types: one for downloading plugins and another for retrieving surveillance configurations. The configuration request, sent as an encrypted JSON, controls parameters like C2 ping frequency, plugin URLs, and victim messages. The spyware uses a unique IT for each victim that is calculated through a hardware fingerprint. While some C2 domains remain online, they do not respond to client requests. The spyware transmits the encrypted data via AES to multiple Firebase projects and C2 servers for further exploitation.
Lookout researchers found connections between KoSpy and North Korean threat groups APT43 and APT37. One of C2 domains, st0746[.]net, links to an IP address in South Korea previously associated with malicious Korea-related domains. These include naverfiles[.]com and mailcorp[.]center, linked to Konni malware used by APT37, and nidlogon[.]com, part of APT43’s infrastructure. The shared infrastructure suggests KoSpy may be part of broader cyber-espionage operations targeting Korean users.
“In addition to its ties to APT37, this KoSpy campaign also has ties to infrastructure used by APT43 – another North Korean hacking group. North Korean threat actors are known to have overlapping infrastructure, targeting and TTPs which makes attribution to a specific actor more difficult.” concludes the report. “Based on the aforementioned shared infrastructure, common targeting and connection recency, Lookout researchers attribute this KoSpy activity to APT37 with medium confidence.”
Last spring, a Cameroonian-flagged cargo ship, the Barbaros, steamed through Istanbul’s Bosphorus Strait. The Barbaros had begun its journey in Russia and was en route to a port in eastern Libya controlled by a warlord whose forces have been accused of crimes against humanity by a U.N. fact-finding mission.
As the Barbaros crossed the Bosphorus in April, an eagle-eyed observer — Yörük Işık, who runs a consultancy analyzing maritime activity on the strait — got a view of its cargo. Isik posted photographs of the Barbaros on X, describing it as a “ship of interest” carrying trucks that are often used in military missions and that are manufactured by a sanctioned Russian company.
A flurry of law enforcement activity followed, according to leaked documents from a European Union naval mission called Operation Irini. The mission attempts to track and block weapons shipments to Libya, which are banned under an international arms embargo.
The documents show how commercial vessels — known as a ghost fleet — employed a range of tricks to avoid detection as they shipped Russian equipment to Libya. They also highlight growing European concerns about Russia’s influence in the country, which officials believed was part of a broader strategy by Moscow to project power in the Mediterranean and several African countries.
After Isik posted the photographs, Interpol prepared a report on the Barbaros that found the vessel had manipulated its Automatic Identification System (AIS), the device that transmits information about a ship’s location, in an attempt to conceal its position. The report also found the ship had changed its name three times and had registered itself under the flag of a different country at least 10 times since 2013. The report assessed that the ship “may be carrying firearms destined for Libya” and recommended that authorities closely monitor it.
Russian Minister of Defense Sergei Shoigu, left, meeting with head of the Libyan National Army Khalifa Haftar in August 2017. Image: Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation
The Barbaros was bound for the Libyan port of Tobruk, which is ruled by Khalifa Haftar, a military leader who dominates the eastern part of the country.
Russia’s ghost fleet has enriched Moscow by helping it evade Western sanctions on its oil sales, according to the United States and European Union. Whether carrying oil or arms, these vessels often manipulate their AIS to avoid detection. In dozens of reports produced in 2024, European authorities tracked how vessels turned off their AIS when passing near the Syrian port of Tartus, where Russia maintains a naval base. Sometimes, these ships also spoofed their AIS data to appear in a different place than where they actually were. In another case, according to a report included in the leaked documents, a vessel suspected of shipping arms from Syria to Libya manipulated its location to appear offshore the Lebanese capital of Beirut — but mistakenly transmitted its location as on dry land at the airport, rather than the maritime port.
On May 1, 2024, Operation Irini, the European naval mission, boarded the Barbaros and found 115 Russian-made trucks. While the trucks were of a type regularly used by militaries, they had not been specifically modified for military use and thus did not violate the arms embargo, so the ship was allowed to continue its journey to Tobruk. Nevertheless, the EU naval mission wrote in its internal report that the shipment represented “a confirmation of a trend of militarization of the region.”
Officials from Operation Irini did not respond to questions from ICIJ for this story.
For nearly a decade, Moscow has supported Haftar with weapons, money and military personnel, gradually cultivating him as its most important ally in Libya. A U.N.-appointed mission reported in 2023 that forces under Haftar’s control were guilty of “crimes against humanity,” and a report from Amnesty International accused a militia led by his son of engaging in murder, torture and rape.
The elder Haftar, a dual U.S.-Libyan citizen who resided in northern Virginia for two decades, faced multiple civil lawsuits in the United States that accused his forces of killing Libyan civilians. The cases were dismissed last year after a judge ruled that she lacked jurisdiction over the cases. An appeal to that ruling is scheduled to be heard by a U.S. court in May.
Even so, Western officials have not made Haftar an international pariah. In August 2024, three months after the Barbaros arrived in Italy, the commander of U.S. Africa Command and a top U.S. diplomat met with Haftar in Libya.
It’s a testament to Western strategic negligence,
— Anas El Gomati, director of the Sadeq Institute
European officials have also cited Russia’s growing influence in eastern Libya as a reason to increase engagement with institutions under Haftar’s control. “What we don’t do in the East, Russia will do,” said EU Ambassador to Libya Nicola Orlando, according to minutes of an October 2024 meeting at the EU naval mission’s headquarters.
The EU delegation to Libya and spokespeople from the EU’s diplomatic service did not respond to requests for comment from ICIJ.
Anas El Gomati, director of the Tripoli-based Sadeq Institute, said Russia’s presence in Libya gives it control over migrant trafficking routes to Europe and creates a hub for naval operations a few hundred nautical miles from European shores.
“Russia has a partnership with Haftar, but its presence in Libya is much more about the West,” he said. “Ukraine is the eastern flank of NATO, and Libya is the southern flank — it’s Europe’s soft underbelly.”
‘An immediate security issue for Europe’
Russia’s intervention in Libya, partly enabled by the operations of its ghost fleet, has expanded significantly since early 2024, according to European officials.
According to a leaked briefing document, the head of the EU naval mission was advised in June that the number of Russian flights to Libya in the first half of 2024 matched the total for all of 2023, and that the mission had observed “a formalization of the Russian presence” over the past year. The document also described an increase of Russian military shipments to the country. “A Russian naval presence in the Mediterranean is a fact and we see regular navy visits to [Libya],” the briefing document stated.
Mercenaries from the Wagner Group, a Russian private military company that had been operating in Libya since at least 2018, were supplanted in 2024 by the Africa Corps, a unit under the direct control of Russia’s military, the leaked documents reported.
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Russian arms shipments not only fuel the conflict in Libya but serve to expand its influence across an unstable, resource-rich region in Africa. Moscow is using Libya as an “entry point for its logistical route to the Sahel,” reads an internal summary created by the EU naval mission following a meeting with the German envoy to Libya. The envoy did not respond to requests for comment from ICIJ.
Moscow has reaped financial and political rewards from its intervention in this broad region, which encompasses 10 countries. In Niger, for example, the Russian military has supported a military junta — and the junta subsequently invited Russian firms to invest in mining the country’s uranium. In the Central African Republic, Russian mercenaries have strengthened the president’s grip on power in exchange for control over gold and diamond mines.
Russia is far from the only country to violate the arms embargo on Libya. A 2020 BBC documentary tracked how Turkish “ghost ships” transported weapons to its allies in the country, employing similar tactics to those used by Moscow.
But the fall from power in December of Syrian President Bashar Assad, a close ally of Russia, has seemingly provided an impetus for Moscow to expand its involvement in Libya. Later that month, Italy’s defense minister said Russia was transferring arms from its naval base in Syria to Libya. In January, Ukrainian military intelligence named specific Russian vessels that it said were preparing to move arms from Syria to Libya.
A spokesperson for Ukraine’s military intelligence told ICIJ that Russian military officials reached an agreement with Haftar in late 2024 to transfer some Russian units from Syria to Libya, and to modernize the aviation infrastructure in eastern Libya. They said the Russian air force has flown at least 20 missions to move military personnel and equipment from Syria to the Libyan territory under Haftar’s control, and that roughly 3,000 Russian soldiers are currently stationed in Libya.
Libya represents “an immediate security issue for Europe” because of Russia’s presence there and the African nation’s role as a migration route, according to the internal summary following the meeting with the German envoy.
“It’s a testament to Western strategic negligence,” said El Gomati, the Sadeq Institute director. “Russia has been constructing a military node that is not only capable of destabilizing Libya but also threatens European security 400 miles from NATO’s shores.”
