Tag: Kazakhstan

  • Kazakh fintech Freedom Conserving is being investigated via DOJ, SEC, paperwork display

    Freedom Conserving CEO Timur Turlov speaks all over a press interview in Moscow, Russia, Oct. 10, 2019.

    Maxim Shemetov | Reuters

    Freedom Conserving, a Nasdaq-traded Kazakh monetary company that is been the objective of distinguished quick dealers, is being investigated via federal prosecutors and Securities and Alternate Fee suggest over compliance problems, insider inventory strikes, and an offshore associate tied to sanctioned folks, CNBC has discovered.

    The SEC’s Boston regional workplace has been probing Freedom for months, in line with paperwork observed via CNBC and folks aware of the subject. The corporate, headquartered in Almaty, Kazakhstan, has a $5 billion marketplace cap and is managed and majority-owned via 35-year-old billionaire CEO Timur Turlov, a former Russian citizen.

    The U.S. Lawyer’s Place of business for Massachusetts may be making initial inquiries into Freedom, paperwork observed via CNBC display. Such inquiries frequently happen after a civil probe finds proof of imaginable crimes.

    Freedom stocks fell up to 9.3% Friday morning after CNBC’s file. Just about 115,000 Freedom stocks modified fingers within the first part hour of buying and selling, 1.25 occasions the inventory’s 10-day moderate.

    The overlapping SEC and DOJ probes are scrutinizing the company’s inside controls and offshore operations, in addition to Turlov’s claims that Freedom can get its in large part Russian shopper base get admission to to scorching U.S. IPOs, in line with the paperwork and assets.

    Turlov and Freedom are acutely aware of the SEC probe, which has been happening for months, an individual aware of the subject informed CNBC. The Justice Division’s involvement with those problems is more moderen, paperwork display. Probes of this sort can take years and would possibly not result in legal or civil fees. To this point, there were no formal fees or allegations of wrongdoing. 

    Turlov did not reply to CNBC’s interview request, however in an interview that was once revealed via a Kazakh outlet Thursday, he stated that “nearly all world regulators got here to us this summer time.”

    Freedom declined to remark.

    An SEC spokesperson informed CNBC that it does not remark at the life or nonexistence of an investigation.

    A Justice Division spokesperson declined to remark. 

    The SEC has been acutely aware of attainable securities violations at Freedom since no less than 2022. Probably the most problems that stuck investigators’ consideration — together with allegations associated with sanctions violations, IPO get admission to and inventory buying and selling — have been additionally raised in an August file from quick dealer Hindenburg Analysis, which claimed that Freedom “nonetheless does trade within the Russian marketplace, and that the corporate has overtly flouted sanctions at the side of anti-money laundering (AML) and know-your-customer (KYC) laws.”

    The SEC intensified its scrutiny after the Hindenburg file and an research revealed in April via quick dealer Citron Analysis, assets aware of the subject informed CNBC.

    Freedom’s site describes the corporate as a supplier of funding banking and brokerage services and products to Central Asia and Jap Europe. Its site lists two addresses within the U.S., one in New York and the opposite at a Las Vegas co-working and digital workplace area. 

    The corporate rentals a fifteen,250-square-foot workplace within the Trump Development in New York’s Monetary District, in line with filings. The 2 flooring space Freedom’s current U.S. operations, together with a brokerage company registered with the Monetary Business Regulatory Authority. Freedom says in filings it has just about 3,700 workers and 370,000 brokerage consumers.

    The Trump Development at 40 Wall St. in New York.

    Jin Lee | Bloomberg | Getty Pictures

    Turlov based Freedom in 2010, and via 2013 he had expanded the trade from Moscow to the EU. The corporate mentioned it divested its Russian trade in February, nearly a yr after Russia introduced its invasion of Ukraine. Turlov, a former citizen of Saint Kitts and Nevis within the Caribbean in addition to Russia, owns 71% of Freedom stocks, price more or less $3.6 billion.

    Turlov has been a citizen of Kazakhstan since 2022. He was once required to resign each his Saint Kitts and his Russian citizenship, as Kazakhstan does not acknowledge twin citizenship.

    ‘Indicators of criminality’

    The Hindenburg file, partly, alleged that Freedom helped sanctioned folks acquire get admission to to the U.S. monetary gadget via a Belizean retaining corporate, additionally owned via Turlov, that helped funnel and obfuscate transactions. In SEC filings, Freedom stated it does trade with sanctioned folks throughout the Belize associate, however denies the ones folks have get admission to to U.S., U.Ok. or EU monetary techniques via Freedom.

    The Belizean entity, included in 2014, is now named Freedom Securities Buying and selling Belize, or FST Belize.

    “FST Belize, we’ve got the similar sanctions compliance as in all of the retaining,” Turlov mentioned in an August interview with a newsletter in Kazakhstan. “There’s no reason why for sanctions, if there is not any involvement of U.S. representatives within the operation.”

    FST Belize holds Kazakh licenses that permit it perform a securities buying and selling platform and procedure global bills and cash transfers, in line with the corporate. In 2021, the Kazakh executive added the subsidiary to an inventory of businesses “with indicators of criminality.”

    In reaction, Freedom mentioned it “totally complies” with native rules and laws anywhere it operates.

    Any other level of inquiry via U.S. government is the buying and selling process of Freedom inventory, which was once uplisted to the Nasdaq in 2019 beneath the ticker FRHC after in the past buying and selling over-the-counter.

    Traditionally, destructive studies from established quick dealers will harm an organization’s inventory. Freedom stocks dipped about 8% the 2 buying and selling days that adopted Hindenburg’s file. They temporarily rebounded, together with a 25% soar on Aug. 18, with out a obvious rationalization.

    Hindenburg alleged that Freedom and Turlov safe the corporate’s inventory from wild swings via making sure that purchasers held the stocks of their brokerage accounts, lowering the chance of volatility.

    A minimum of 5 legislation companies have mentioned they are investigating claims on behalf of traders for attainable violations of securities legislation because the Hindenburg file.

    Citron in comparison Freedom to Sam Bankman-Fried’s failed and allegedly fraudulent buying and selling company, Alameda Analysis. The funding company mentioned Turlov’s ties to Russia and its persisted brokerage operations within the nation made the corporate a major candidate for an SEC investigation.

    Freedom Conserving’s major workplaces are in Esentai Tower, the tallest development in Kazakhstan’s monetary hub, town of Almaty. Different tenants within the Skidmore, Owings & Merrill-designed development come with the Ritz-Carlton Almaty and Ernst & Younger’s Kazakhstan operations.

    Andrey Rudakov | Bloomberg | Getty Pictures

    Freedom has confronted prior regulatory demanding situations.

    In July, the corporate’s Eu subsidiary paid a 50,000 euro fantastic to the Cypriot securities regulator over disasters in its cash laundering and anti-terrorist financing controls.

    And ultimate yr, Freedom’s former U.S. auditor, WSRP, was once changed via Deloitte Kazakhstan, after the U.S. audit regulator discovered that 3 of Freedom’s auditors at WSRP did not practice correct requirements of evaluation. Freedom’s auditors have been sanctioned and barred for what the regulator mentioned was once a failure to evaluate the actual nature of the corporate’s dating with its Belize entity.

    The ones auditors are eligible to reapply for reinstatement. However WSRP stepped down as Freedom’s auditor. Deloitte Kazakhstan helped Freedom restate the prior auditor’s inaccurate filings to the SEC and regain compliance with trade laws, filings display.

    Deloitte’s Kazakh workplace is only some blocks clear of Freedom’s headquarters, at the outskirts of Kazakhstan’s greatest town and fiscal hub. Freedom is the one SEC-registered U.S. corporate that Deloitte Kazakhstan audits, in line with Public Corporate Accounting Oversight Board information.

    A view from Almaty’s Esentai Tower, the place Freedom’s head workplaces are. The workplaces of Deloitte Kazakhstan, Freedom’s newest auditor, will also be observed within the distance, close to the development with a inexperienced illuminated signal.

    Wwd | Penske Media | Getty Pictures

    “Very first thing to believe is that the corporate has been audited via the biggest big-4 auditor, Deloitte,” Turlov mentioned, in his reaction to Hindenburg’s file.

    Deloitte and Roman Sattarov, the Deloitte spouse overseeing Freedom’s audit, did not reply to CNBC’s request for remark.

    Freedom continues to be seeking to extend within the U.S. In February, the corporate agreed to pay $400 million, essentially in inventory, for middle-market funding financial institution Maxim Workforce. Maxim has labored on IPOs for plenty of smaller firms and has been a part of larger offers, equivalent to PIMCO Get right of entry to Source of revenue Fund’s $866 million providing in 2022.

    Turlov is not letting the U.S. probes stay him away. He traveled to New York ultimate month. 

    “This week chatting with our US workplace, companions and regulators,” he wrote in a Sept. 25 publish on X, the social media platform previously referred to as Twitter. 

    A spokesperson for Turlov mentioned he was once “indisputably now not assembly with regulators.”

    In Turlov’s interview revealed Thursday in Kazakhstan, he did not say which U.S. regulators approached the corporate, however mentioned all of it stemmed from Hindenburg’s file, which he known as “incorrect information.”

    WATCH: Hindenburg Analysis is going after Carl Icahn

  • Hindenburg Analysis objectives $4.6 billion Kazakh brokerage for allegedly serving to Russian oligarchs evade sanctions

    Freedom Conserving CEO Timur Turlov in a Freedom place of business in Moscow, Russia, Oct. 10, 2019.

    Maxim Shemetov | Reuters

    Hindenburg Analysis, the distinguished brief dealer that is wager towards Jack Dorsey’s Block, Carl Icahn and electrical automobile startup Nikola, is now taking over a $4.6 billion on-line brokerage primarily based in Kazakhstan.

    Freedom Conserving Corp. was once based in Moscow in 2008, prior to later transferring to Kazakhstan, and indexed at the Nasdaq in 2019. After Russia invaded Ukraine early ultimate yr, U.S. sanctions necessarily severed ties between American and Russian banks and firms. Freedom offered off its Russian trade.

    However consistent with a record from Hindenburg on Tuesday, the ones ties stay tight.

    “We discovered that Freedom nonetheless does trade within the Russian marketplace, and that the corporate has overtly flouted sanctions at the side of anti-money laundering (AML) and know-your-customer (KYC) regulations,” the company wrote.

    Stocks of Freedom Conserving fell about 3.3% on Tuesday. Hindenburg’s record got here an afternoon after Freedom warned it was once notified by way of Nasdaq of noncompliance for failing to put up its quarterly profits record for the length ended June 30.

    In Freedom Conserving’s newest annual record, the corporate stated earnings for the yr ended March 31 was once $795.7 million, up neatly over 100% from two years previous.

    On the middle of the corporate’s enlargement, Hindenburg alleged, was once sanctions evasion, together with from the U.S. Treasury Division’s Place of job of International Belongings Keep watch over, or OFAC. Hindenburg highlighted Freedom’s acknowledgment to the Securities and Alternate Fee that it “equipped brokerage services and products to sure folks and entities who’re matter to sanctions imposed by way of OFAC, the Eu Union or the UK.”

    In step with Hindenburg, the issues cross a lot deeper.

    The company stated it realized thru interviews with a couple of former workers that shopper cash ran from Freedom’s places of work in Russia and Kazakhstan thru a “Belizean entity privately owned by way of Freedom’s CEO.” SEC filings display that entity represented 60% of Freedom’s charge and fee source of revenue for the yr ended March 31.

    Freedom CEO Timur Turlov is likely one of the wealthiest males in Kazakhstan, in spite of being sanctioned by way of Ukraine for his monetary ties to Russia.

    One former senior govt imagined to Hindenburg that Russian cash laundering was once rampant. Relating to compliance requirements, Hindenburg stated the ex-employee described them as “actually not anything.”

    “Simply deliver your cash. There is not any supply of source of revenue, supply of price range. There is not any KYC. Not anything,” the company stated, quoting the previous worker. “The most efficient phase is that is violating virtually each and every nation’s anti-money and anti-terrorist financing rules. They may deliver money. I have individually noticed suitcases with $2.5 million introduced in money by way of a shopper.”

    Freedom Conserving CEO Timur Turlov speaks all over a press interview in Moscow, Russia, Oct. 10, 2019.

    Maxim Shemetov | Reuters

    The Belize entity, FFIN Belize, was once established simply 4 months after the U.S. sanctioned Russia in 2014. The ones sanctions, triggered by way of Russia’s invasion of Crimea, created an issue for Freedom’s trade, Hindenburg alleged.

    Freedom’s SEC filings from 2014 say FFIN Belize was once designed to “supply more uncomplicated get entry to to the U.S. securities markets than a Russian or Kazakhstan corporate may supply.”

    A Freedom spokesperson, running for an out of doors company within the U.S., informed CNBC that Hindenburg’s allegations are “with out benefit.”

    “Freedom Conserving and its subsidiaries proceed to offer all required disclosures to regulators and buyers, who can overview our just lately filed shape 10-Ok and … audited monetary statements on our site,” the consultant stated.

    Freedom stocks were on a tear the previous couple of years, mountain climbing greater than eightfold for the reason that finish of 2018, in large part undeterred by way of international conflicts. The corporate reported web source of revenue of $205.6 million in fiscal 2023, with about 79% coming from operations in Kazakhstan.

    Hindenburg, based in 2018, is understood for taking brief positions and publishing detailed experiences explaining the common sense at the back of its bets. The company has wagered towards Block, previously Sq.; Icahn Enterprises; Gautam Adani’s Adani Crew; and Trevor Milton’s Nikola.

    WATCH: Hindenburg Analysis is going after Carl Icahn

  • 98K Russians Have Entered Kazakhstan After Putin’s Name-Up

    TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — About 98,000 Russians have crossed into Kazakhstan within the week since President Vladimir Putin introduced a partial mobilization of reservists to struggle in Ukraine, Kazakh officers mentioned Tuesday, as males in the hunt for to keep away from the call-up persisted to escape by way of land and air into neighboring international locations.

    Kazakhstan and Georgia, each a part of the previous Soviet Union, gave the impression to be the most well liked locations for the ones crossing by way of automotive, bicycle or on foot.

    The ones with visas for Finland or Norway even have been coming in by way of land. Aircraft tickets in another country had bought out briefly regardless of steep costs.

    Russia’s Protection Ministry has mentioned that best about 300,000 folks with prior battle or different army carrier could be known as up, however studies have emerged from quite a lot of Russian areas that recruiters had been rounding up males out of doors that description. That fueled fears of a much wider call-up, sending droves of guys of every age and backgrounds to airports and border crossings.

    In pronouncing the selection of Russians crossing the border, Kazakhstan Inner Minister Marat Akhmetzhanov mentioned government won’t ship those that are warding off the call-up again house, except they’re on a world sought after record for prison fees.

    Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev ordered his executive to help Russians coming into his nation “on account of the present hopeless state of affairs.”

    “We should maintain them and make sure their protection. This is a political and a humanitarian factor. I tasked the federal government to take the vital measures,” Tokayev mentioned, including that Kazakhstan will hang talks with Russia at the state of affairs.

  • Putin admits China has ‘questions and considerations’ over Ukraine battle in meet with Xi Jinping

    Russian President Vladimir Putin, whilst assembly Chinese language President Xi Jinping, stated he understands China has “questions and considerations” concerning the battle in Ukraine.

    Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese language President Xi Jinping met at the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit. (Reuters picture)

    Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday admitted that Chinese language President Xi Jinping had “questions and considerations” concerning the battle in Ukraine however praised China’s “balanced place” at the invasion.

    Putin made the remark when he met Jinping at their first face-to-face assembly because the battle. The 2 leaders met in Uzbekistan at the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO ) summit.

    In a gap speech of the assembly, Putin advised Xi, “We perceive your questions and considerations about this. All the way through as of late’s assembly, we will be able to, after all, provide an explanation for our place. We will be able to provide an explanation for intimately our place in this factor, despite the fact that we’ve mentioned this prior to.”

    He added, “We extremely price the balanced place of our Chinese language buddies on the subject of the Ukraine disaster.”

    ALSO READ | Seven months into battle, Ukraine regains Kharkiv, raises flags on cities occupied through Russia

    This veiled admission in their diverging perspectives comes whilst Russian forces suffered a big army setback in Ukraine remaining week. Hundreds of Russian squaddies fled their posts in Kharkiv province after Ukrainian squaddies recaptured key cities within the province. Russia’s defeat may turn out to be a decisive turning level within the seven-month-old battle.

    In line with CNN, Russian troops are backing out en masse, having misplaced extra territory in every week than they captured in 5 months.

    To this point, China has remained a steadfast best friend of Moscow and refused to sentence Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. It additionally stepped up financial help to its neighbour amid Western sanctions.

    A readout from the assembly equipped through the Chinese language Ministry of Overseas Affairs didn’t point out the struggle in Ukraine. It stated China is prepared to offer robust enhance to Russia for issues associated with its core pursuits. Xi additionally stated he liked “Russia’s adherence to the one-China idea and wired that Taiwan is part of China.”

    (With enter from Reuters)

    — ENDS —

  • Can anyone assist? Pak PM’s awkward second right through meet with Putin at SCO summit | Watch

    Pakistan Top Minister Shehbaz Sharif had a clumsy second right through his assembly with Russian President Vladimir Putin the place he requested, “Can anyone assist me?”

    Pakistan Top Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Russian President Vladimir Putin on the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Uzbekistan.

    HIGHLIGHTSPakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif met with Russian President Vladimir Putin right through the SCO summit.Shehbaz Sharif had a clumsy second whilst plugging in his earphone.Sharif known as out for assist and requested, “Can anyone assist me?”

    Pakistan Top Minister Shehbaz Sharif held a gathering with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit that used to be held in Uzbekistan’s Samarkand on Thursday. Whilst putting in place the assembly, Sharif confronted a clumsy second as he attempted to plug in his earphone.

    Sharif known as out for assist after he had bother plugging in his earphones and requested, “Can anyone assist me?” whilst a smiling Putin watched on. Watch the video right here:

    Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif faces a clumsy second as he tries to plug in his earphone right through a gathering with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the sidelines of the #SCOSummit2022 in Samarkand.

    “Can anyone assist me,” Sharif asks. (Supply: Ria Novosti) %.twitter.com/tdz7YKXEhy

    — Dhairya Maheshwari (@dhairyam14) September 15, 2022

    Within the video, Sharif’s earphone falls out once more after any individual got here to assist him, prompting a well mannered chuckle from Putin prior to the assembly after all commenced.

    All the way through the assembly, Putin advised Sharif that Russia can provide gasoline to Pakistan as essential infrastructures are already in position. Consistent with Russia’s state-run information company TASS, Putin mentioned, “The problem is ready pipeline gasoline provides from Russia to Pakistan…a part of the infrastructure has already been created, that means Russia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan. We need to resolve the Afghan factor.”

    SCO SUMMIT 2022

    The SCO is preserving its first in-person summit in Samarkand in Uzbekistan after two years. The summit is being held over a span of 2 days from September 15 to 16.

    The summit has been separated into two classes—one limited consultation which is simplest intended for the SCO member states, and a longer consultation for the observers and the particular invitees of the chair nation.

    Introduced in Shanghai in June 2001, the SCO has 8 complete contributors, together with its six founding contributors; China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. India and Pakistan joined as complete contributors in 2017.

    (With enter from PTI)

    — ENDS —

  • China’s Xi arrives in Kazakhstan on first overseas commute since pandemic

    China’s President Xi Jinping arrived in Kazakhstan for a state consult with on Wednesday, Chinese language state media reported.

    It’s Xi’s first commute to a overseas country since China all however close its borders because of COVID-19.

    Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev’s place of business confirmed him greeting Xi on the airport, each leaders dressed in white face mask.

    Xi is predicted in neighbouring Uzbekistan in a while Wednesday the place he’s going to participate in a summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, a regional safety frame, and meet Russian President Vladimir Putin, amongst others.

  • Sanctions threaten to cripple Russia’s multibillion-dollar crypto trade

    Illuminated mining rigs perform within racks on the CryptoUniverse cryptocurrency mining farm in Nadvoitsy, Russia.

    Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Photographs

    Sanctions imposed on Russia over the rustic’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine may just impede the expansion of its multibillion-dollar crypto sector, in keeping with professionals.

    This week, U.S. officers focused Russian bitcoin mining company BitRiver in its newest spherical of sanctions aimed toward hurting Russia’s financial system. The Treasury Division’s Place of work of Overseas Belongings Regulate says it’s involved Russia might monetize its huge oil reserves and different herbal assets for power-intensive crypto mining with the intention to elevate finances and get round western sanctions.

    “It is a robust sign from OFAC that it is going to use each instrument in its arsenal to stop Russia from evading sanctions via crypto,” David Carlisle, vp of coverage and regulatory affairs at crypto compliance company Elliptic, stated in an emailed be aware.

    The sanctions will cripple BitRiver and its quite a lot of subsidiaries, blockading them from getting access to U.S. crypto exchanges or mining apparatus. Crypto mining — the method of validating new virtual foreign money transactions — calls for specialised computer systems that eat loads of power.

    The transfer presentations U.S. officers are “deeply involved that Russia may just leverage its herbal assets to habits crypto mining to evade sanctions,” one thing Iran and North Korea had been identified to interact up to now, Carlisle stated.

    The possible exploitation of bitcoin manufacturing for Russian sanctions evasion stays a key fear for international regulators, together with the World Financial Fund.

    “Crypto mining, whilst nowhere close to a alternative for the property frozen by means of Russian sanctions, avoids the fiat-to-crypto ‘on-ramps’ and crypto-to-fiat ‘off-ramps’ at centralized digital foreign money exchanges, thereby bypassing sanctions screening,” stated Anand Sithian, recommend at Crowell & Moring and a former trial legal professional within the legal department of the Division of Justice’s asset forfeiture and money-laundering segment.

    Russia’s crypto marketplace

    One by one, Binance, the sector’s greatest crypto trade, stated it’s proscribing its carrier for Russian customers based on the 5th wave of EU sanctions on Moscow.

    Russian Binance accounts with over 10,000 euros in virtual foreign money will likely be averted from making deposits or trades and will handiest withdraw finances, the corporate stated.

    “Whilst those measures are doubtlessly restrictive to standard Russian electorate, Binance should proceed to steer the trade in imposing those sanctions,” Binance stated in an replace on its web site. “We imagine all different main exchanges should apply the similar laws quickly.”

    Russia is house to an enormous cryptocurrency marketplace. The Kremlin estimates Russians personal more or less 10 trillion rubles ($124 billion) value of virtual property.

    It is not transparent the place this information comes from, however there’s rising proof that Russians are turning to crypto as a substitute for the ruble because the foreign money crashes based on the rustic’s financial isolation.

    In line with information from CryptoCompare, ruble-denominated crypto buying and selling volumes reached 111.4 billion rubles ($1.4 billion) in March, a lot upper than in previous months. Job has dipped in April, with overall month-to-date quantity achieving handiest 19.2 billion rubles. Binance used to be the preferred trade for ruble-crypto quantity in March, accounting for 77% of trades.

    Within the six months finishing March 2022, ruble-crypto buying and selling quantity crowned 420 billion rubles, or greater than $5 billion, in keeping with CryptoCompare.

    3rd-biggest bitcoin mining hub

    In the meantime, Cambridge College figures display the rustic is a powerhouse within the box of crypto mining.

    In August 2021, Russia accounted for roughly 11% of the worldwide processing continual used for minting new gadgets of bitcoin, in keeping with the Cambridge Centre for Selection Finance, making it the third-biggest mining hub at the back of Kazakhstan.

    Given Kazakhstan’s political unrest resulted in web shutdowns that knocked bitcoin miners offline, there is a probability Russia’s percentage of the field could also be even upper now.

    On the other hand, there may just finally end up being an exodus of miners from Russia to the “stans” — Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan — the place they’ll “make the most of stranded fuel to continual their operations,” Charles Hayter, CEO of CryptoCompare, informed CNBC.

    The Russian govt has a “love-hate courting” with virtual property, Hayter stated. Whilst Russia’s central financial institution is pushing for a ban at the use and mining of cryptocurrencies, President Vladimir Putin needs to control them as a substitute.

    In line with Hayter, the Russian regime and its oligarchs “would possibly see virtual property with the intention to fund actions outdoor of Russia.”

  • US Astronaut Ends Document-Lengthy Spaceflight In Russian Tablet

    A NASA astronaut stuck a Russian trip again to Earth on Wednesday after a U.S. file 355 days on the Global Area Station, returning with two cosmonauts to a global torn aside by means of warfare.

    Mark Vande Hei landed in a Soyuz pill in Kazakhstan along the Russian Area Company’s Pyotr Dubrov, who additionally spent the previous 12 months in house, and Anton Shkaplerov. Wind blew the pill onto its facet following landing, and the trio emerged into the past due afternoon solar one after the other.

    Vande Hei, the closing one out, grinned and waved as he was once carried to a reclining chair out within the open Kazakh steppes.

    “Stunning out right here,” mentioned Vande Hei, hanging on a face masks and ballcap.

    The Soyuz MS-19 spacecraft is seen as it lands in a remote area near the town of Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan.
    The Soyuz MS-19 spacecraft is noticed because it lands in a far flung house close to the city of Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan.

    Invoice Ingalls/NASA by means of Getty Pictures

    Regardless of escalating tensions between the U.S. and Russia over Vladimir Putin’s warfare with Ukraine, Vande Hei’s go back adopted standard procedures. A small NASA group of docs and different group of workers was once readily available for the landing and deliberate to go back right away to Houston with the 55-year-old astronaut.

    Even sooner than Russia’s Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine, Vande Hei mentioned he was once keeping off the topic along with his two Russian crewmates. Regardless of getting alongside “superbly … I’m now not positive we actually wish to cross there,” he mentioned.

    It was once the primary style of gravity for Vande Hei and Dubrov since their Soyuz release on April 9 closing 12 months. Shkaplerov joined them on the orbiting lab in October, escorting a Russian movie team up for a temporary keep. To house that consult with, Vande Hei and Dubrov doubled the period in their keep.

    Earlier than departing the distance station, Shkaplerov embraced his fellow astronauts as “my house brothers and house sister.”

    “Other people have downside on Earth. On orbit … we’re one team,” Shkaplerov mentioned in a are living NASA TV broadcast Tuesday. The distance station is a logo of “friendship and cooperation and … long term of exploration of house.”

    The warfare tensions bubbled over in different spaces of house with the suspension of Eu satellite tv for pc launches on Russian rockets and the Europe-Russia Mars rover caught on Earth for every other two years.

    Expedition 66 crew members (L-R) Mark Vande Hei of NASA, cosmonauts Anton Shkaplerov and Pyotr Dubrov of Roscosmos, are seen inside their Soyuz MS-19 spacecraft after it landed.
    Expedition 66 team participants (L-R) Mark Vande Hei of NASA, cosmonauts Anton Shkaplerov and Pyotr Dubrov of Roscosmos, are noticed inside of their Soyuz MS-19 spacecraft after it landed.

    Invoice Ingalls/NASA by means of Getty Pictures

    Vande Hei surpassed NASA’s earlier file for the longest unmarried spaceflight by means of 15 days. Dubrov moved into Russia’s best 5, neatly in need of the 437-day, 17-hour marathon by means of a cosmonaut-physician aboard the Nineteen Nineties Mir house station that continues to be the arena file.

    “Damaged information imply we’re making growth,” mentioned NASA’s earlier house staying power champ, retired astronaut Scott Kelly, whose 340-day challenge resulted in 2016.

    Like Kelly, Vande Hei underwent clinical trying out throughout his lengthy keep to additional NASA’s quest to get astronauts again to the moon and directly to Mars. He mentioned day-to-day meditation helped him cope throughout the challenge, two times so long as his first station stint 4 years previous.

    “I’ve had an indoor task 24-7 for nearly a 12 months so I’m having a look ahead to being out of doors it doesn’t matter what roughly climate,” Vande Hei mentioned in a up to date sequence of NASA movies. As for meals, he’s having a look ahead to creating a cup of espresso for himself and spouse Julie, and digging into guacamole and chips.

    Final on board: 3 Russians who arrived two weeks in the past and 3 American citizens and one German, who’ve been aboard since November. Their replacements are due in 3 weeks by means of SpaceX. Subsequent week, SpaceX will fly 3 wealthy businessmen and their ex-astronaut escort to the station for a weeklong consult with organized by means of the personal Axiom Area.

    Elon Musk’s SpaceX started transporting NASA astronauts to the station in 2020, 9 years after the go back and forth program ended. Throughout that hole, Russia presented the lone taxi carrier, with NASA doling out tens of thousands and thousands of greenbacks in step with Soyuz seat. Vande Hei’s trip was once a part of a barter trade with Houston-based Axiom.

    The Related Press Well being and Science Division receives make stronger from the Howard Hughes Clinical Institute’s Division of Science Schooling. The AP is just accountable for all content material.

  • As soon as, he stored Russia at a distance. Now, he’s a docile Putin Satrap

    In a wintry weather army coat trimmed with fur, Alexander Lukashenko stepped out of his white presidential helicopter for a morning of geopolitical theater. His presidential limousine temporarily delivered him to his ready generals as aides and closely armed bodyguards fluttered round him, shivering within the icy rain.

    The strongman chief of Belarus used to be visiting an army coaching web site Thursday and watched Russian and Belarusian forces behavior joint workout routines, with Sukhoi fighter bombers streaking around the sky and heavy artillery pounding snow-covered goal about 100 miles inside Belarus’ southern border with Ukraine.

    But, just a day later, Lukashenko used to be sitting meekly in Moscow with Russian President Vladimir Putin, now not the swaggering excellent commander however extra an obedient scholar in search of instruction and lend a hand from his grasp.

    “I completely trust him,” Lukashenko mentioned later of Putin’s evaluation that the West used to be in charge for the disaster enveloping Ukraine — by no means thoughts the estimated 190,000 Russian troops found in and across the nation — and presenting Europe with its gravest safety danger for the reason that finish of the Chilly Warfare.

    During maximum of his just about 28 years in energy, Lukashenko secured his grip on Belarus by way of maneuvering adroitly between East and West, enjoying each and every aspect off towards the opposite as he extracted favors from each and resisted force from both that threatened his authority.

    That sport, on the other hand, is now over.

    Army cadets in Victory Sq. within the heart of Minsk, Belarus, on Thursday. The Belarusian Military is an increasing number of built-in with Russia’s. (The New York Occasions)

    On Friday, Putin greeted Lukashenko with a hug within the Kremlin and sat down with him for talks at a tiny desk, in contrast to the 20-foot-long desk at which the Russian chief has held conferences in contemporary days with Western leaders when they refused to take COVID-19 checks administered by way of Kremlin docs.

    For his section, Lukashenko described Russia and Belarus as no longer handiest neighbors and allies, however in some ways, a unmarried country certain by way of a choice to stay former Soviet lands from drifting into the orbit of the West.

    On Saturday, Lukashenko joined the Russian chief within the Kremlin regulate room to observe the release of ballistic and cruise missiles in workout routines involving Russia’s nuclear forces. Belarus has no nuclear guns of its personal, however Lukashenko mentioned this previous week that, if his nation have been threatened by way of the West, he would “deploy no longer handiest nuclear guns, however super-nuclear and up-and-coming ones to give protection to our territory.” Those would probably all be from Russia.

    “The balancing act has obviously ended,” mentioned Ales Michalovich, an opposition presidential candidate in 2010 who has been hounded relentlessly by way of Lukashenko’s notoriously vicious safety equipment.

    Subsidized by way of an expansive and brutal safety machine, Lukashenko displays no signal of dropping his grip at house, if at the price of changing into Putin’s enfeebled satrap.

    His near-total dependency at the Kremlin started in August 2020, after he declared an improbable landslide victory in a contested presidential election and needed to name on Putin for lend a hand in suppressing large side road protests that adopted. Russia reinforced his safety forces or even equipped reporters to fill the ranks of state propaganda organs thinned by way of mass defections.

    President Aleksandr Lukashenko of Belarus speaks to reporters on Thursday, throughout joint army workout routines with Russia in Osipovichi, Belarus. Lukashenko as soon as skillfully controlled Moscow, however now he’s doing the Kremlin’s bidding in Russia’s war of words with Ukraine. (The New York Occasions)

    Since then, Lukashenko’s already tight room for maneuvering has reduced in size additional.

    His largest export earner and taxpayer, an enormous potash corporate, this month misplaced its handiest export path to overseas markets via a port in neighboring Lithuania, forcing it to show to Russia for lend a hand. He mentioned on Friday after his assembly with Putin that Belarus, with Russia’s lend a hand, would now construct a brand new export port close to St. Petersburg at the Baltic Sea.

    His army, at all times a long way weaker than Russia’s, has in contemporary months misplaced any semblance of equivalent status in its an increasing number of intimate members of the family with Russia’s militia, in line with Western army officers.

    “We will now not make a difference between the Russian and Belarusian forces,” mentioned Lt. Gen. Valdemaras Rupsys, Lithuania’s protection leader. “Prior to now, handiest air defenses and air surveillance programs have been built-in, and now we apply a systemic integration and subordination of Belarusian forces to Russia.”

    Whether or not Russian troops pass house or keep in the back of after the tip of joint army workout routines in Belarus on Sunday, Rupsys added, is not going to make a distinction “for the reason that Belarusian militia any further are subordinated at once to the Russian army’s excellent command.”

    Lukashenko’s earlier communicate of creating bridges between East and West has now been changed by way of belligerent tirades towards Western leaders. Whilst in Moscow on Friday, he outdid even Putin in caution of warfare and denouncing unnamed Western politicians as “pathologically unhealthy.” Europe, he mentioned, is “at the verge of a warfare that, sadly, may just pull in, like a funnel, almost the entire continent.”

    A risky and deeply eccentric chief, Lukashenko has nonetheless attempted from time to time to stay his frayed ties to the West from snapping totally, the usage of his massive inventory of political prisoners as bargaining chips. This week, as an example, he launched from prison a Swiss-Belarusian twin citizen, Natalia Hersche, who have been sentenced to 30 months in jail for participating in post-election protests.

    She used to be launched simply days after a brand new Swiss ambassador agreed to provide her credentials to Lukashenko as required by way of protocol. The USA has refused to take that step as a result of it might imply conferring legitimacy at the disputed election.

    Secretary of State Antony Blinken final month dominated out any easing of a couple of rounds of sanctions towards Belarus till “the government stop their relentless repression of the Belarusian other people, together with by way of unconditionally liberating all political prisoners.”

    Unwilling to do this, Lukashenko has been left with Russia.

    Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, who ran towards Lukashenko within the 2020 presidential election, claimed victory after which fled into exile, mentioned the president had reduced in size to not more than a regional governor of Russia.

    “He’s very vulnerable and can do anything else to shop for Putin’s enhance,” she mentioned in a contemporary interview in Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, the place she now heads what quantities to a central authority in exile and the place the US’ would-be ambassador to Minsk is stationed.

    On paper, Belarus and Russia had been joined on the hip for the reason that overdue Nineties, when Russia’s president on the time, Boris Yeltsin, agreed with Lukashenko to shape a so-called union state, an association that the Belarusian chief believed would dominate as a result of Yeltsin used to be so vulnerable, besieged by way of well being and grave political issues.

    Since Putin changed Yeltsin within the Kremlin on Dec. 31, 1999, on the other hand, he has put Lukashenko in his position, making transparent that the stillborn union state had to be applied — with Russia, no longer Belarus, calling the pictures.

    At his assembly with Lukashenko in Moscow on Friday, Putin mentioned that, after years of delays, “critical development” used to be now in any case being made in integrating the nations’ financial, political and army programs.

    “We now have so much to talk about and to coordinate our stances on a spread of problems,” Putin mentioned ominously.

    After years of resisting force from Moscow to acknowledge Crimea, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014, Lukashenko lately mentioned Belarus permitted that the Black Sea peninsula used to be de facto now a part of Russia.

    As for the standing of the Ukrainian areas of Donetsk and Luhansk, which broke away with Russian enhance in 2014 and declared themselves “republics,” Lukashenko mentioned Thursday that he would practice Russia’s lead in how they must be handled.

    He’s nonetheless balking, a minimum of officially, at long-standing calls for by way of Moscow that he let Russia open everlasting army bases in Belarus. Talking this previous week, he mentioned there used to be “no use for Russian bases,” if permitting that Russia may just go away in the back of ammunition and army {hardware} deployed for the present joint workout routines. He additionally mentioned he sought after to extend Russian army coaching amenities in Belarus and different army cooperation.

    “He’s nonetheless taking some selections himself, however his decision-making procedure is completely unpredictable. He doesn’t practice any regulations, even Russian regulations,” mentioned Michalovic, the previous opposition candidate.

    Any efforts by way of Lukashenko to turn even a modicum of independence from Russia may just simply backfire if Putin, who’s reported to have lengthy uninterested in Lukashenko’s video games, makes a decision he has had sufficient and will discover a extra dependable determine to interchange him.

    “Putin will use Lukashenko as long as he’s malleable” and “plays his purposes as an invaluable fool,” mentioned Pavel Latushko, a former Lukashenko loyalist, now in exile, who served as a Belarusian ambassador and tradition minister.

    However Latushko predicted that the Russian chief would drop Lukashenko “at a handy second” as a result of pushing him apart would lend a hand rally strange Belarusians to Russia’s aspect and loose the Kremlin of the taint of getting propped up a deeply unpopular dictator.

    “I feel this second is coming,” Latushko mentioned. “It’s coming very rapid.”

  • Kazakhstan’s web shutdown provides courses for Russia-Ukraine disaster

    As Almaty, Kazakhstan’s greatest town, spiraled into chaos ultimate month over emerging power prices and anger on the authorities, the rustic’s leaders took a drastic step to quell protests: They blocked the web.

    First, they attempted to prohibit get entry to to a few information websites, social networks and messaging products and services. Then, as activists bypassed the ones curbs with device that masked their places, the government close down nearly all connectivity within the nation.

    The strikes added uncertainty to an already dire scenario. After fee apps and point-of-sale machines used to swipe debit playing cards went down, long strains shaped at ATMs as Kazakhs rushed to get money. Households may just now not keep in touch with family members. Taxi drivers who trusted ride-booking apps stated they stopped riding as a result of they might now not connect to passengers.

    “It used to be unimaginable to keep in touch,” stated Darkhan Sharipov, 32, an accountant who used to be a part of the protests. “The ignorance multiplied the chaos and disinformation.”

    The scenes in Kazakhstan be offering a preview of what would possibly spread in Ukraine, the place the web may well be probably the most first objectives of the Russian army in a possible war. Ukrainian and Western officers have warned that cyberassaults may well be a part of any Russian intrusion.

    This week, the Ukrainian authorities stated that the internet sites of 2 banks, its Ministry of Protection and its militia have been in short taken offline via a chain of denial-of-service assaults, through which large quantities of site visitors weigh down a community. The assaults have been the most important within the nation’s historical past, Ukrainian officers stated, and “bore lines of international intelligence products and services.”

    On Thursday, web carrier outages have been recorded on some cell networks in japanese Ukraine close to the Russian border. Western officers stated Friday that they believed Russia used to be liable for the cyberattacks on Ukrainian banks this week.

    “Within the tournament of an actual army war, it’s the web infrastructure that will likely be destroyed within the first position,” stated Mikhail Klimarev, a Russia telecommunications professional and govt director of the Web Coverage Society, a civil society team hostile to web censorship. “In Kazakhstan, the web used to be became off via order of the government,” he stated. “In Ukraine, we worry that the web will likely be disabled via shelling.”

    Keep watch over of the web is an increasing number of a part of any trendy war. Spotting that the internet is important for communications, economics and propaganda, government have an increasing number of used shutdowns to stifle dissent and take care of energy, in what’s corresponding to keeping power assets, water or provide strains hostage.

    In 2020, there have been a minimum of 155 web shutdowns throughout 29 international locations, in keeping with the newest annual file from Get entry to Now, a world nonprofit team that screens those occasions. From January to Might 2021, a minimum of 50 shutdowns have been documented in 21 international locations.

    “The one approach to be completely positive that no person is getting on-line is to drag the plug on the entirety,” stated Doug Madory, director of web research for Kentik, a telecom products and services corporate.

    FILE Ñ A bus station in Dnipro, Ukraine, Jan. 27, 2022. As Russian threats escalate, Ukraine may just face the chance of web shutdowns. (Sasha Maslov/The New York Occasions)

    In Ukraine, any web shutdown would need to be accomplished via an outdoor drive, which isn’t the same as the case in Kazakhstan, the place the federal government used nationwide safety regulations to drive corporations to bring to an end connections.

    Taking down the Ukrainian web totally can be bulky. The rustic has greater than 2,000 web carrier suppliers, all of which might wish to be blocked for a complete shutdown.

    Nonetheless, many be expecting centered blackouts, specifically in Russian-Ukrainian border spaces, if there may be struggle. Cyberattacks or an army assault may just kill connectivity.

    On Thursday night time, as combating flared in japanese Ukraine close to the entrance line with Russia-backed separatists, cell phone carrier went down in what government stated used to be “centered sabotage.” It used to be restored via Friday morning.

    “Sabotage of communications amenities will proceed,” stated Anton Herashchenko, an adviser to the Ukrainian minister of inside affairs. “All this is a part of Russia’s plan to destabilize the placement in Ukraine.”

    The State Financial savings Financial institution of Ukraine, or Oschadbank, the objective of a cyberattack, Ukrainian officers stated, in Kyiv, Feb. 15, 2022. (The New York Occasions)

    In many nations, turning off the web totally isn’t technically tough. Regulators merely factor an order to telecom corporations, telling them to close off get entry to or chance shedding their license.

    In Kazakhstan, the occasions ultimate month illustrate how an web shutdown can exacerbate a chaotic scenario. The technical roots of the shutdown return to a minimum of 2015, when the rustic attempted to emulate its neighbors, China and Russia, that have for years practiced web censorship. Government in the ones international locations have evolved strategies for snooping on communications and constructed armies of hackers and trolls that may goal combatants.

    Final month, Kazakhstan plunged into disarray as anger over emerging gas costs grew into huge demonstrations, resulting in a Russia-led army intervention. As the federal government cracked down, the protests became violent. Dozens of anti-government demonstrators have been killed, and masses extra have been injured.

    To forestall protesters from speaking and sharing knowledge, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Kazakhstan’s president, became to a virtual scorched-earth coverage akin to 1 in Myanmar ultimate yr that took all of the web offline. In Myanmar, the army staged a coup, and infantrymen took over the knowledge facilities run via the rustic’s telecom corporations.

    A kindergarten broken via shelling within the the town of Stanytsia Luhanska, Ukraine, Feb. 17, 2022. (AP)

    In Kazakhstan, the web shutdowns started round Jan. 2 and lasted till Jan. 10. In the beginning, they have been restricted to positive communications and centered at spaces the place there have been protests, stated Arsen Aubakirov, a virtual rights professional in Kazakhstan.

    By way of Jan. 5, web screens stated that the rustic had long gone nearly totally offline, battering the rustic’s financial system, together with its sizable cryptocurrency operations.

    The Ministry of Virtual Construction, Innovation and Aerospace Business ordered telecom operators to dam get entry to, bringing up a regulation that allowed the federal government to droop networks and verbal exchange products and services within the pastime of “making sure anti-terrorist and public safety.”

    Whilst activists discovered many ways to avoid the blocks, the loss of web intended many demonstrators didn’t know when the federal government imposed new curfews, resulting in violent clashes with the police, stated Sharipov, who used to be detained via the government for protesting. Whilst the web used to be down, state-run media categorized the demonstrators “terrorists” and drug customers.

    “That is some other instance of a rustic in turmoil opting to close the web down to shop for them a couple of hours of loss of public or world scrutiny,” Madory stated.