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17.02.2023 - 14:33 / dailyrecord.co.uk
A Scots spy in Berlin who sold secrets to Russia has been jailed for more than 13 years for betraying his country and colleagues.
David Smith, 58, was motivated by his support for Russian president Vladimir Putin and hatred of the UK when he began collecting classified documents in 2018. Smith, who was a former security guard at the British Embassy in Germany, sent two letters to senior officials at the Russian Embassy in 2020, with one exposing the identity of a diplomat who had worked in Russia – referred to as X – as well as details of colleagues.
After Smith’s second letter to a military attache at the Russian Embassy in November 2020 was traced back to him, police launched an investigation. Two role players were deployed as a fake Russian defector and intelligence officer in an undercover sting operation in August 2021.
Following his arrest, police found Smith’s stash of sensitive and secret documents, including correspondence to then Prime Minister Boris Johnson from ministers. Smith, 58, pleaded guilty to eight charges under the Official Secrets Act by committing an act prejudicial to the safety or interests of the state.
The court was told of “potentially catastrophic” consequences for “each and every” British official in Berlin, with the cost to the taxpayer of updating security estimated at £820,000. Embassy staff were left with “feelings of anger, betrayal and upset and concern at the implications of their details being shared with a hostile state actor”, the court heard.
Smith’s spying could have harmed Britain’s international trade negotiations and came at a time the UK was “calling out” Russian actions, including amassing vast numbers of troops on the Ukraine border. Mr Justice Wall had dismissed Smith’s
Metro Weekly. The audience likely identifies as part of the acronym. Or Same-Gender-Loving (SGL).
A Scots charity legend who scaled mountains and crossed deserts to earn his MBE has blasted Boris Johnson’s plans to knight his dad as a “slap in the face”.
The family of Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya has said an upcoming film inspired by her life is “grossly inaccurate” and misrepresents her work in a statement sent to journalists Tuesday afternoon.
Oscar voters scanning their final ballot may do a double-take when they get to Best Documentary Feature: the name Shane Boris really does appear twice in the same category.
Christopher Vourlias When he began working on his sophomore documentary feature, “Iron Butterflies,” in 2019, Ukrainian filmmaker Roman Liubyi said he was “making the film as a warning, before the Third World War.” The film, which world premiered at Sundance, follows the Russian disinformation campaign surrounding the downing of Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 in Ukraine in 2014, a tragedy that was determined by a Dutch court in Nov. 2022 to have been caused by a missile supplied by the Russian military to separatists in Eastern Ukraine. Many Ukrainians thought the tragic event, which killed 289 civilian passengers and crew, would serve as a wake-up call to Europe and the U.S., which had largely turned a blind eye to Russia’s meddling in the region, said the director. But the years dragged on and the long-running conflict in Donbas retreated from the headlines — until an increasingly emboldened Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale assault on Ukraine last year.
to film a documentary about the Russian invasion of the country, which began a year ago yesterday (February 24, 2022). In a statement released by the Office of the President of the Ukraine at the time, it read: “The director specifically came to Kyiv to record all the events that are currently happening in Ukraine and to tell the world the truth about Russia’s invasion of our country.”In a new interview, Penn recalled how he and Nicholson met the dictator at the 2001 Moscow Film Festival, where Penn’s film The Pledge was premiering.Revealing that the pair travelled with Putin to Russian filmmaker Nikita Mikhalkov’s estate, Penn told The Independent: “We were put in a convoy.
EXCLUSIVE: On February 24, 2022 Sean Penn and his documentary filmmaking team got up before dawn in Kyiv in anticipation of a planned interview with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Suddenly, explosions shattered the quiet and missile fire turned the darkened sky to malevolent orange. Russia’s full-scale attack on its neighbor had begun — what President Vladimir Putin later that day euphemistically dubbed a “special military operation.”
When Russian President Vladimir Putin initiated a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, it is understood that he believed a takeover would only take a few days.
Today marks one full year since the Russian invasion of Ukraine began and fears remain that it could last for another.
On this day last year, Vladimir Putin ordered his troops across the Ukraine border, marking the start of a deadly conflict which has taken the lives of thousands.
A year ago today, the world woke up to war.
Zack Sharf Back in 2001, Sean Penn found himself next to Jack Nicholson in a speeding car on the way to meet Russian president Vladimir Putin. The two actors were in Russia for the world premiere of “The Pledge” at the Moscow Film Festival. The Penn-directed psychological drama starred Nicholson as a retiring police detective who vows to catch the killer of a young child. Penn recently spoke to The Independent about his anxiety-inducing journey to meet Putin. “We were put in a convoy,” Penn said. “We knew that Putin was going to be the honored guest. In the nature of that time and space, we accepted the invitation. We got in this convoy, and we were going as fast as they wanted to drive, with no care for whether it might have presented danger in the villages we drove through.”
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has told Ukrainian refugees living in the country that Scotland will be their home for as long as they need it to be, one-year on from the Russian invasion.
Broadcast and cable networks are planning specials, a town hall and other coverage Thursday tied to the first anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Correspondents also will report from sites around the country, with Vladimir Putin’s regime mounting a winter offensive.
tweeted that “We need a national divorce. We need to separate by red states and blue states and shrink the federal government,” drawing furious responses from the left and more moderate right.“This is so laughable because blue states as we all know are the donor states, or the states where taxpayers take it on the chin to take care of districts like Marjorie Taylor Greene’s, to take care of districts across taxes where Ted Cruz talks about secession,” host Joe Scarborough said on Tuesday’s episode of “Morning Joe.”“What is it that so deeply offends [Republicans], like three trans athletes in Utah want to swim? Is that real?” he asked guest commentator Charlie Sykes.Both agreed that calls for a “national divorce” were not to be taken as a serious possibility, but rather as a tactic to collect funds from right-wing supporters.“It’s fascinating that they’re so desperate to raise money from small donors, they’re actually willing to say, we need to have a civil war,” Scarborough pointed out.Sykes agreed that their motives were purely “to keep racheting up the outrage.” Still, such rhetoric is not without danger, he said.“People like Marjorie Taylor Greene and Ron DeSantis are appealing to the id of the party, the id of the right, which is anti-Ukraine, which is willing to tolerate this sort of notion that our real enemy is not Vladimir Putin.
Christopher Vourlias The war in Ukraine has taken center stage this week at the Berlin Film Festival, which is taking place for the first time since Russia’s full-scale invasion last year. At Thursday’s opening ceremony, Ukrainian president Volodomyr Zelenskyy appeared via satellite to encourage festival-goers “not to remain silent” over Russia’s unprovoked war of aggression. Sean Penn, who this week premiered his docu-portrait of the Ukrainian leader, “Superpower,” lashed out at Russian strongman Vladimir Putin, who he described as a “war criminal” and a “creepy little bully.” Moral outrage has not been in short supply since the start of the war, as the global film community — in a show of near unanimous condemnation of the Kremlin’s criminal attack — has rallied behind the Ukrainian war effort. But many U.S. and foreign companies quietly continue to do business with Putin’s pariah state or have resumed the deal-making that was put on pause once the war began.
Investigative journalist Christo Grozev, a key figure in the story of acclaimed documentary Navalny, says he and his family have been banned from attending the BAFTA ceremony on Sunday because he poses “a public security risk”.
Sean Penn has reiterated his offer to have one of his Oscars melted down by Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky – saying his gift to the battling leader was inspired by his “continuing shame towards the Motion Picture Academy.”
Christopher Vourlias Sean Penn said he was happy to be a “propagandist” for the Ukrainian war effort and called Russian president Vladimir Putin a “creepy little bully” Saturday in Berlin, after the world premiere of his gonzo documentary “Superpower,” a gripping, courage-under-fire portrait of Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy. “This is not an unbiased film because this is not an ambiguous war,” he said, calling the conflict “extremely personal.” “I’m very happy to be considered a propagandist. I was happy to make an unbiased film because that is the true story we found.” Donning a black jacket and hoodie and sporting a camouflage trucker cap, Penn repeatedly called on the Biden administration to send precision, long-range missiles to Kyiv to support the Ukrainian war effort.
Roughly three quarters of the way into Superpower, the documentary about the war in Ukraine directed by Sean Penn and Aaron Kaufman, the Oscar-winning actor displays a fixed-blade knife while traveling by car through the embattled country. He jokes to the camera, “All of Ukraine should feel safe now that I’m armed.” He adds, holding up fists clenched like a boxer’s, “Plus, I’ve got these.”