Russian crisis actors in Ukraine; China’s “Old Friend” Henry Kissinger visits; Russian nuclear saber-rattling; China’s Law on Foreign Relations; Cyber risks in solar equipment
What We’re Reading, Hearing, and Watching -- July 27, 2023
Ex-Prigozhin Employees Detail Use of Actors in False Stories Used to Justify Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine
Russia’s aggression against Ukraine since 2014 has relied heavily on claims of “genocide” by Ukrainian nationalists against Russian-speakers in eastern Ukraine. Some of the most striking stories—such as a woman who claimed to have seen Ukrainian nationalists crucifying a child—were staged by actors. A July 14 article in Ukrainian periodical Euromaidan Press provides details from Russian independent journalists’ reports citing former employees of now-disgraced Russian mercenary leader and propagandist Yevgeniy Prigozhin. Natto Thoughts has discussed Russian disinformation in the reports “Putin: The Spy as Hero,” “Stymied in Ukraine, Putin’s Government Resorts to Covert Sabotage and Panic-Mongering in the West,” and “Troll Humor.”
Henry Kissinger, an Old Friend of the Chinese People, Goes to China
Former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger’s private visit to China on July 18 has be…
