Dead Drop: April 28

WHAT COULD POSSIBLY GO WRONG?  When rent-an-Army outfit Wagner Group was given permission to recruit warm bodies from Russian prisons, who could imagine any bad outcomes?  According to press accounts, Wagner has recruited “tens of thousands of inmates, including murderers and domestic abusers, to fight some of the war’s bloodiest battles.” While many have been killed in combat, others who survived six months in Wagner uniforms, have reportedly been given presidential pardons and some are returning to their hometowns. And some of them are returning to their old habits – including murder. Others are reportedly investing their Wagner wages in “alcohol and prostitutes.” The Kyiv Independentreported on April 23rd that according to the Ukrainian General Staff, there was a shootout between Wagner and regular Russian soldiers in the Luhansk Oblast. This is reminiscent of the Iran-Iraq war when observers were torn on who to root for – or against.

WHAT ARE THE RUSSIANS UP TO?  OK, things might not be going well for the Kremlin in Ukraine or on the home front – but that apparently hasn’t dissuaded them from poking their noses elsewhere – like the United States.   The Department of Justice announced April 18^th that four U.S. citizens and three Russian nationals have been charged with working for the FSB trying to conduct a “malign influence campaign” in the United States.  Were the U.S. officials high powered politicians or media members? Nope. They were low-level officials in St. Petersburg, Florida.  Here is a link to an FBI wanted poster for one of the Russian nationals, Natalia Burlinova, who is charged with conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud the United States – but her last known whereabouts were Moscow, so good luck with catching her.