Hacker News with Generative AI: Russia

Russia's nostalgia machine works for strongman Putin (japantimes.co.jp)
Walk around any Russian city, from Moscow and St. Petersburg to Yekaterinburg and Kazan, and you will come across people wearing dark blue or red sweatshirts emblazoned with that unmistakable Soviet emblem — hammer, sickle and star. You will also see plenty of traditional fur hats — often topped with a red star — even though recent winters have been the warmest on record.

Russia, Politics, Culture, History

6 points by PaulHoule 1 hour ago | 0 comments

Russian Oligarch Held Stake in SpaceX Through Trust While He Was Sanctioned (bloomberg.com)
A Russian senator who is one of the country’s richest men held a stake in Elon Musk-led SpaceX via a trust even after he was sanctioned by the first Trump administration, exposing gaps in the enforcement of rules intended to target elites who enable Kremlin policies, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

SpaceX, Sanctions, Russia, Oligarchs, Politics

9 points by type0 2 hours ago | 0 comments

A Signal Update Fends Off a Phishing Technique Used in Russian Espionage (wired.com)
Google warns that hackers tied to Russia are tricking Ukrainian soldiers with fake QR codes for Signal group invites that let spies steal their messages. Signal has pushed out new safeguards.

Cybersecurity, Espionage, Russia, Signal, Ukraine

11 points by 01-_- 1 day ago | 2 comments

Multiple Russia-aligned threat actors actively targeting Signal Messenger (cloud.google.com)
Google Threat Intelligence Group (GTIG) has observed increasing efforts from several Russia state-aligned threat actors to compromise Signal Messenger accounts used by individuals of interest to Russia's intelligence services.

Cybersecurity, Russia, Messaging Apps, Espionage, Threat Intelligence

788 points by karel-3d 1 day ago | 274 comments

Russian phishing campaigns exploit Signal's device-linking feature (bleepingcomputer.com)
Russian threat actors have been launching phishing campaigns that exploit the legitimate “Linked Devices” feature in the Signal messaging app to gain unauthorized access to accounts of interest.

Cybersecurity, Phishing, Signal, Messaging Apps, Russia

7 points by todsacerdoti 1 day ago | 0 comments

War Has Become a Force of Planetary Destruction (nytimes.com)
The unrelenting Russian war has poisoned the soil, air and waters of Ukraine. Leaking ruins of chemical factories and exploded debris litter the landscape. Fires have burned across thousands of square miles, visible from space.

War, Environment, Ukraine, Russia

5 points by mmooss 2 days ago | 1 comments

Trump's Pivot Toward Putin's Russia Upends Generations of U.S. Policy (nytimes.com)
As peace talks opened in Saudi Arabia, President Trump made clear that the days of isolating Russia are over and suggested that Ukraine was to blame for being invaded.

Politics, International Relations, Russia, Ukraine, United States

50 points by consumer451 2 days ago | 36 comments

US and Russia agree to try to end war without Ukraine at the table (abcnews.go.com)
High-level delegations from the U.S. and Russia held talks in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday over the fate of Ukraine, the negotiations taking place without Kyiv's participation.

International Relations, Politics, Ukraine, Russia, United States

13 points by talldayo 2 days ago | 4 comments

European Leaders Meet in Paris as U.S. Pushes Ahead with Ukraine Plan (nytimes.com)
The leaders of many of Europe’s biggest countries came to Paris on Monday in an effort to forge a strategy for their own security, as President Trump’s envoys prepared for talks with Russia over ending the war in Ukraine without them.

Politics, International Relations, Ukraine, Europe, Russia

11 points by mooreds 3 days ago | 8 comments

Russian and American officials will hold talks on ending war without Kyiv (apnews.com)
Senior American and Russian officials, including the countries’ top diplomats, will hold talks on improving their ties and negotiating an end to the war in Ukraine, officials said Monday, in what would be the most significant meeting between the sides since Moscow’s full-scale invasion of its neighbor nearly three years ago.

Russia, Ukraine, Diplomacy, International Relations, War

14 points by geox 3 days ago | 1 comments

Ukraine not invited to US-Russia peace talks, source tells BBC (bbc.com)
Kyiv has not been invited to talks between the US and Russia aimed at ending the war in Ukraine, a senior Ukrainian government source has told the BBC.

Ukraine, Russia, International Relations, Politics, War

63 points by zfg 4 days ago | 45 comments

Russia launched a giant space mirror in 1993 (bbc.com)
It sounds like a scheme a James Bond villain might hatch: launching a giant mirror into orbit to harness the Sun's rays, then redirecting them to beam down on a target on Earth. Yet this was exactly what the Russian space agency Roscosmos attempted to do on 4 February 1993.

Space Exploration, History, Russia

4 points by wslh 4 days ago | 1 comments

Five Russians went out drinking. When they got back, Australia had struck (smh.com.au)
Five Russians went out drinking. When they got back, Australia had struck

Russia, Australia, Drinking, News, International Relations

7 points by Khaine 4 days ago | 0 comments

14yr Old Russian Girl Flies Entirely Alone (youtube.com)

Russia, Children, Travel, YouTube, Aviation

4 points by barrister 5 days ago | 0 comments

A nice stroll through Moscow (youtube.com)

Travel, Russia, Videos

6 points by barrister 5 days ago | 3 comments

Multiple Russian Threat Actors Targeting Microsoft Device Code Authentication (volexity.com)
Starting in mid-January 2025, Volexity identified several social-engineering and spear-phishing campaigns by Russian threat actors aimed at compromising Microsoft 365 (M365) accounts.

Cybersecurity, Russia, Microsoft, Microsoft 365, Social Engineering

185 points by ChrisArchitect 5 days ago | 51 comments

Google facilitated Russia and China's censorship requests (theguardian.com)
An investigation has exposed the tech firm’s cooperation with autocratic regimes to remove unfavourable content

Google, Censorship, Russia, China, Politics

30 points by m1 5 days ago | 8 comments

Europe will not be part of Ukraine-Russia peace talks, US envoy says (theguardian.com)
Europe will be consulted – but ultimately excluded – from the planned peace talks between Russia, the US and Ukraine, Donald Trump’s special envoy for Ukraine has revealed.

Politics, Ukraine, Russia, United States

29 points by colund 5 days ago | 14 comments

Ukraine says Russia drone attack hits Chernobyl nuclear plant (cnn.com)

Ukraine, Russia, Nuclear Power, War

22 points by dralley 6 days ago | 1 comments

Russian drone detonates on Chornobyl nuclear plant containment shell (theguardian.com)
A Russian drone carrying a high-explosive warhead struck the protective containment shell of the Chornobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine overnight, the country’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, has said.

Ukraine, Nuclear Energy, Russia, Drones, War

15 points by howard941 6 days ago | 7 comments

Russian Drone Damages Radiation Shield at Chernobyl, Ukraine Says (nytimes.com)
Russia’s military used a drone with a high-explosive warhead to hit the former Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine overnight, damaging the protective shelter that prevents radiation leaks, President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine said on Friday.

Ukraine, Russia, Nuclear Power, War, Chernobyl

22 points by haider0721128 6 days ago | 1 comments

Europe's Ailing Defense Industry Faces a Reckoning as Russia Threat Looms (bloomberg.com)

Europe, Defense Industry, Russia, Geopolitics, War

7 points by petethomas 6 days ago | 0 comments

Chernobyl reactor shield hit by Russian drone, Ukraine says (bbc.com)
A Russian drone attack has hit the radiation shelter over the damaged reactor at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said.

Ukraine, Russia, Nuclear Power, War, International Relations

13 points by nickcotter 6 days ago | 0 comments

Ukraine says Russia drone hits Chernobyl nuclear plant, radiation levels normal (cnn.com)

Ukraine, Russia, Nuclear, Chernobyl, International Relations

26 points by fzimmermann89 6 days ago | 14 comments

Russia asks Elon Musk to hand over names of dissidents (thetimes.com)

Russia, Elon Musk, Dissidents, Politics, International Relations

18 points by perihelions 6 days ago | 3 comments

US releases Russian cybercriminal as part of exchange for teacher Marc Fogel (theguardian.com)
The Trump administration has released Alexander Vinnik, a cybercriminal who pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering, to Russia, as part of an exchange that freed American schoolteacher Marc Fogel on Tuesday.

Politics, Crime, Russia, United States, Prisoner Exchange

7 points by ragu4u 7 days ago | 1 comments

Russia employing sophisticated DeepFakes to influence German Elections (nytimes.com)
In the first major European vote since President Trump’s re-election, influence campaigns are targeting Germany from two sides.

Russia, Deepfakes, Elections, Germany, Political Influence

31 points by DiscourseFan 7 days ago | 10 comments

Australian spies tracked down Russian cyber-gang responsible for data leak (9news.com.au)
Exclusive: Siberian nightlife has its opportunities. Just ask Australian cyber-spies, who used a vodka-soaked night in a seedy bar to smash a multi-million-dollar business run by dodgy Russians warehousing stolen data.

Cybersecurity, Russia, Espionage, Australia

6 points by deverton 8 days ago | 0 comments

U.S. Is Releasing Russian Cybercriminal to Moscow, Officials Say (nytimes.com)
The Trump administration is preparing to release a Russian cybercriminal as part of a prisoner exchange that led to the release of an American schoolteacher from a Russian prison, three U.S. officials said on Wednesday.

International Relations, Cybercrime, Politics, Russia, United States

10 points by chrtng 8 days ago | 1 comments

Crossing a Line (snyder.substack.com)
I am on a night train from Kyiv, bound for Zaporizhzhia, a city in the southeast of Ukraine which is about twenty miles from the front. Russian missiles take about thirty-five seconds to hit the city, and the take civilian lives. Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Russia has occupied part of the Zaporizhzhia region. In September of 2022 the Russian parliament proclaimed the annexation of the region as a whole.

Ukraine, War, Russia, Politics, Travel

5 points by tobr 8 days ago | 0 comments