Putin’s AI threat to democracy: Russian spies ‘have developed artificial intelligence cyber-tool to spread disinformation and meddle in elections across the West’ | Daily Mail Online https://t.co/cwDF7wzT59
— Michael Novakhov (@mikenov) February 28, 2024
Day: February 27, 2024
Putin’s AI threat to democracy: Russian spies ‘have developed artificial intelligence cyber-tool to spread disinformation and meddle in elections across the West’ | Daily Mail Online https://t.co/cwDF7wzT59
— Michael Novakhov (@mikenov) February 28, 2024
Nato would crush weak Russia and Putin knows it, says UK defence chief | Evening Standard https://t.co/Ccrbrsr9AQ
— Michael Novakhov (@mikenov) February 28, 2024
NewsSportBusinessLifestyleCultureGoing OutHomes & PropertyComment
Admiral Sir Tony Radakin downplays fears of wider conflict in Chatham House speech
Josh Salisbury1 minute ago
Britain’s top Armed Forces official has said the world is not on the brink of World War Three because Vladimir Putin knows Nato would beat Russia in any conflict.
Admiral Sir Tony Radakin, speaking at a conference in London, said that Russia had “struggled” in Ukraine and that its “military weakness” had surprised Western officials.
However, he added that Ukraine would continue to be on the back foot two years on from Putin’s invasion unless the West continued to deliver more supplies.
He told a conference at Chatham House: “Some reflections and observations about Russia. How it has struggled in Ukraine. How we have been surprised at its military weakness.
“The predicament that it has and how that has worsened by a strengthened Nato.”
Chief of Defence Staff Admiral Sir Tony Radakin
“We are not on the cusp of war with Russia. We are not about to be invaded,” he said.
“Britain is safe. We are safe because we are part of Nato, the world’s largest and strongest alliance and also because we are a responsible nuclear power.”
The military chief said Ukraine “was struggling in terms of its ammunition and its stockpiles”, with Republicans in the US Congress holding up further aid, and Europe not yet able to plug the gap.
He said that conversations were continuing among Nato allies to discuss how Ukraine could further be supported.
The intervention comes after the United States said on Tuesday Nato had no plans to send any ground troops to Ukraine, after France hinted at the possibility.
French President Emmanuel Macron had said on Monday that Western allies should exclude no options in seeking to avert a Russian victory in Ukraine, though he stressed there was no consensus at this stage.
His comments, made at a meeting of European leaders in Paris on ways to boost flagging support for Kyiv, were downplayed by allies including Germany and Poland.
“There will be no ground troops, no soldiers on Ukrainian soil sent there by European countries or Nato states,” German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Tuesday.
The White House later reiterated that it too had no plan to send ground troops.
Seeking to clarify Mr Macron’s remarks, French Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne said the president had in mind sending troops for specific tasks such as helping on mine clearance.
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NewsSportBusinessLifestyleCultureGoing OutHomes & PropertyComment
Admiral Sir Tony Radakin downplays fears of wider conflict in Chatham House speech
Josh Salisbury1 minute ago
Britain’s top Armed Forces official has said the world is not on the brink of World War Three because Vladimir Putin knows Nato would beat Russia in any conflict.
Admiral Sir Tony Radakin, speaking at a conference in London, said that Russia had “struggled” in Ukraine and that its “military weakness” had surprised Western officials.
However, he added that Ukraine would continue to be on the back foot two years on from Putin’s invasion unless the West continued to deliver more supplies.
He told a conference at Chatham House: “Some reflections and observations about Russia. How it has struggled in Ukraine. How we have been surprised at its military weakness.
“The predicament that it has and how that has worsened by a strengthened Nato.”
Chief of Defence Staff Admiral Sir Tony Radakin
“We are not on the cusp of war with Russia. We are not about to be invaded,” he said.
“Britain is safe. We are safe because we are part of Nato, the world’s largest and strongest alliance and also because we are a responsible nuclear power.”
The military chief said Ukraine “was struggling in terms of its ammunition and its stockpiles”, with Republicans in the US Congress holding up further aid, and Europe not yet able to plug the gap.
He said that conversations were continuing among Nato allies to discuss how Ukraine could further be supported.
The intervention comes after the United States said on Tuesday Nato had no plans to send any ground troops to Ukraine, after France hinted at the possibility.
French President Emmanuel Macron had said on Monday that Western allies should exclude no options in seeking to avert a Russian victory in Ukraine, though he stressed there was no consensus at this stage.
His comments, made at a meeting of European leaders in Paris on ways to boost flagging support for Kyiv, were downplayed by allies including Germany and Poland.
“There will be no ground troops, no soldiers on Ukrainian soil sent there by European countries or Nato states,” German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Tuesday.
The White House later reiterated that it too had no plan to send ground troops.
Seeking to clarify Mr Macron’s remarks, French Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne said the president had in mind sending troops for specific tasks such as helping on mine clearance.
MORE ABOUT
BY ALEEN ARSLANIAN
A book signing event was held at the Primate’s Reception Room at the Western Diocese on Sunday for Dr. Vartan Tachdjian’s latest book, “Return to Homelessness”—a deep dive into the four days and three nights he spent in Los Angeles’ Skid Row neighborhood more than 30 years ago.
In attendance were more than 50 community members, guests, and dignitaries, including Western Primate Archbishop Hovnan Derderian and Glendale City Councilmember Ardashes Ardy Kassakhian, who offered remarks during the event.
The event opened with welcoming remarks made by emcee Dr. Simon Keoshgerian, who welcomed attendees and congratulated Dr. Tachdjian on the publication of his fourth book.
Dr. Vartan Tachdjian
According to Dr. Keoshgerian, due to the circumstances of his upbringing, Dr. Tachdjian dreamed of “becoming a doctor and helping the poor” from a young age. He noted that Dr. Tachdjian feeds local homeless communities during the holidays and has always remained “faithful to his decision to help the underprivileged.”
Dr. Tachdjian’s biography was presented by Bedros Anserian, an immigration specialist and author. Anserian spoke about how Dr. Tachdjian, the son of Armenian Genocide survivors, was born in a refugee camp in Beirut, Lebanon, and spent several years struggling to acquire housing. He discussed the impact those early-life circumstances had on the physician.
Western Primate Archbishop Hovnan Derderian
Anserian mentioned Dr. Tachdjian’s many achievements, for both his local Armenian community and the larger diaspora, including serving as pediatrician at the Vahan Tekeyan School in Beirut; advisor for the AGBU Middle East chapter; chairman of the AGBU SFV chapter; co-founding the Armenian American Medical Society; consulting with Doctors Without Borders; indicted to the European Academy of Sciences in Paris; organizing the Armenian Medical World Congress in Lebanon; co-founding the Armenian Medical World Association.
“We know that he stays young, because, according to his words, ‘When you are treating children and helping mankind, you have no choice but to maturely stay young,’” said Anserian, while congratulating Dr. Tachdjian for reaching an “emotional milestone.”
Dr. Simon Keoshgerian
Following Anserian’s remarks, soprano Anahid Nercessian performed two songs by Gomidas for attendees.
Dr. Dzovinar Tekelian-Keoshgerian, a guest speaker at the event, recalled how her father, who was Dr. Tachdjian’s colleague and friend, “always spoke with deep respect about the doctor’s talent.” She discussed how the physician and author inspired her to embark on medical missions with her husband, Dr. Simon Keoshgerian, and their children. “Your example has inspired so many of us. You and your life’s work is a testament to good deeds,” Dr. Tekelian-Keoshgerian said.
Bedros Anserian
Councilmember Kassakhian, who presented Dr. Tachdjian’s book to attendees, spoke about how several books were written by the generation that survived the Armenian Genocide, but very few by the generation that followed.
“I’ve heard of Bourj Hammoud, but I didn’t know how Bourj Hammoud came to be. In his memoir, Dr. Tachdjian reveals how it was a homeless encampment—a refugee camp. Hence the title, ‘Return to Homelessness,’ because this is about the life of someone who is born into homelessness, becomes a doctor through his own hard work, comes to Los Angeles and returns to the homeless encampments of L.A. I thought it was a very fascinating look into two different worlds,” Kassakhian told Asbarez at the event, adding that individuals like Dr. Tachdjian deserve to be celebrated.
Dr. Dzovinar Tekelian-Keoshgerian
“Homelessness is increasing everywhere, and kindness can reverse sadness into happiness,” said Dr. Tachdjian as he discussed how each kind act he received, especially during his time at the refugee camp, taught him that kindness is contagious. “Whoever reads this book will realize how kindness can heal many of life’s sad parts, including homelessness,” he said.
Dr. Tachdjian thanked attendees for taking part in the book signing event, and offered special thanks to Archbishop Derderian, the guest speakers and performer, and the AAMS. He also thanked his late wife, Madeleine, who he said was “physically absent, but spiritually always present.”
Glendale City Councilmember Ardy Kassakhian
“My wish is to see the world in a better state of health, and my message is: By offering a piece of your bread to someone in starvation, by dedicating years to your community as a form of donation, and by pledging some of your money to the betterment of your nation, your time and energy will never be depleted. Instead, your generosity will perpetually be repeated,” Dr. Tachdjian added, while asking attendees to remember Vahan Tekeyan’s famous quote, “The only thing left in life is what you give to someone else.” («Կեանքի մէջ կը մնայ այն միայն որ կու տաս ուրիշին։» )
In his remarks, Archbishop Derderian spoke about Dr. Tachdjian’s “unshakable dedication” to the homeless community. “You have helped the underprivileged. You have not ignored them. You have found a very special way to relieve the pain and the agony of the homeless people—inspiring them with life and abundance. For you to be next to a homeless person, talking to them, feeding them, becoming their friend—it means the world,” said Archbishop Derderian, while discussing how reading “Return to Homelessness” has made him more observant.
Soprano Anahid Nercessian
The event closed with a reception, during which Dr. Tachdjian signed copies of “Return to Homelessness.”
“In contrast to my usual shirt, tie, slacks, and signature white coat, I was wearing a thick sweatshirt under a parka jacket. It would be cold in the night, and I’d put on two layers of socks. Without my white lab coat, I would not be recognized as Dr. Vartan Tachdjian or ‘Dr. T.’ Earlier, Madeleine dropped me off about a mile away, just past skid row, for me to walk to the Sixth Street Viaduct bridge. Under this bridge in downtown Los Angeles would be where I would sleep for three days,” reads an excerpt from “Return to Homelessness.”
The modern-day slaughter of Armenians by Azerbaijan went unpunished beginning with systematic pogrom of Armenians in the Azerbaijani city of Sumgait in 1988.
In response to democratic calls by the people of Artsakh to unify with Armenia, sparking the Artsakh Liberation Movement, Soviet Azerbaijani special forces began to round up Armenians in the city of Sumgait on February 27, 1988.
This was the beginning of a terror campaign. Similar pogroms occurred in Kirovabad, Baku and other regions of Azerbaijan. None of these attacks were condemned or punished, thus giving Azerbaijan the impunity to continue its aggression against Armenia and Artsakh, which culminated in the brutal 2020 war and the attack last fall on Artsakh that forcibly displaced hundreds of thousands of Artsakh Armenians.
In 2024, 36 years after the planned pogroms, the United States and the European Union representatives in Yerevan issued brief statements “mourning” the victims of the pogroms — more than three decades too late.
Armenia’s foreign ministry on Tuesday said the the impunity gave Azerbaijan the green light to ethnically cleanse Artsakh of its Armenian population, adding that Azerbaijan is continuing its policy of “erasing any trace of Armenians.”
Below is the statement.
On February 27, 1988, at the initiative and with the full support of the leadership of Soviet Azerbaijan, massacres of the Armenian population of Sumgait commenced, accompanied by cases of violence, brutality, enforced disappearances, deprivation of property, and massive violations of human rights. Hundreds were killed, including women, children and elderly, thousands were forcibly displaced.
The Sumgait tragedy was followed by massacres of Armenians in Kirovabad, Baku and other Armenian-populated settlements of Azerbaijan. This chain of events, as well as the complete annihilation of Armenians from Nakhichevan earlier, showed that the mentioned crimes were not separate episodes of violence based on national identity but regular manifestations of a state-orchestrated and state-led policy of Armenophobia. This policy resulted in forcible displacement of about 500,000 ethnic Armenians from Soviet Azerbaijan.
It is worth noting that these events targeted not only the Armenian population: they were also accompanied by deliberate actions to destroy the Armenian heritage and to erase the Armenian trace in general.
Already in the 21st century, under the conditions of complete impunity, Azerbaijan continued the same policy of ethnic cleansing by terrorizing the native Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh, inhumane siege, starving them to death and finally depopulating Nagorno-Karabakh through the use of force: ethnic cleansing was completed even in spite of the three legally binding decisions of the UN International Court of Justice.
Today, as well, Azerbaijan continues the policy aimed at erasing the Armenian trace in the territories under its control, desecrating, vandalizing and destroying Armenian religious and historical and cultural monuments. Today as well, the continuing xenophobic and hostile policy towards the Republic of Armenia is accompanied by hate speech, threats and aggressive rhetoric at the highest level, which is an obstacle in the path of overcoming hostility between nations and establishment of peace and stability in the region.
The international community must give an adequate assessment of the committed mass crimes and use all available mechanisms to prevent the recurrence of such crimes and to contribute to the genuine efforts of Armenia to achieve a dignified and lasting peace in the South Caucasus.”
Information warfare
Leaked documents describe the Kremlin’s concerted efforts to influence public opinion – using cinema, streaming series and TV programmes – to promote a narrative of Russian heroism, traditional values and loyalty towards President Vladimir Putin ahead of his March 15-17 bid for re-election.
Internal Kremlin documents obtained by the Estonian news website Delfi revealed the workings of a €1 billion effort to keep Vladimir Putin comfortably in power and promote Russian nationalism on the home front.
The “Kremlin Leaks” documents show how Moscow is waging what it calls an “information war” inside Russia. The most recent documents obtained by Delfi – working in partnership with around 10 other international media outlets – date back to December 2023.
The overriding objective of this propaganda push is to re-elect Putin for a fifth term in the upcoming presidential election on March 15-17. About €631 million was allocated for the Kremlin’s information war, according Vsquare, an investigative journalism site specialising in Eastern European news that also worked on the documents.
But the Kremlin is also paying special attention to what it calls “new territories” – referring to Russian-occupied areas in mainly eastern Ukraine, where it has spent hundreds of millions of euros “to ensure the population’s loyalty”, notes Vsquare.
The total planned budget for this state-sponsored “information war” ahead of the presidential elections was €1.1 billion. The entertainment sector – television, cinema and online content – takes the lion’s share of this budget, notes Meduza, an independent Russian investigative site that was a partner in the project.
Files seen by Meduza reveal the Putin administration’s focus on creative works that highlight “traditional values” and show that “positive changes in the way Russians live are fundamental trends”.
Content should strive to exalt “modern [Russian] heroes of whom everyone can be proud” and should also aim to promote the unity of the country by offering a sense of national belonging to “residents of the new territories”, as the documents refer to residents of Russian-occupied east Ukraine.
This type of roadmap “is nothing new in spirit, and is reminiscent of the guidelines given for film studios in the 1930s”, says Jeff Hawn, a Russia specialist at the London School of Economics, referring to the Hays code of standards used for decades by the US film industry.
“The ‘Kremlin Leaks’, above all, reveal the financial details of the ecosystem set up to push the narrative desired by Russian power,” says Vlad Strukov, professor at the University of Leeds and a specialist in Russian cinema.
Around 15 organisations and associations received nearly €600 million to produce content in line with the objectives outlined by Russian authorities. The big winner of this funding, according to the leaked files, is the Institute for Internet Development (IID), which has received more than €400 million since the beginning of 2023.
The IID was founded in 2015 to “establish dialogue between stakeholders in the Internet ecosystem and the government”, according to a 2023 Meduza article devoted to the institute’s rising influence. But in 2017 its purpose changed, and the IID became a fund for financing content aimed at young people, Meduza said.
But the IID no longer just churns out memes or series for teenagers. It now represents one of the main sources of financing for films and TV shows in Russia, according to Meduza. It is the archetype of these “alternative organisations” taking the place of former sources of funding for the arts that the “regime uses to push its own narrative”, explains Strukov.
For the presidential election, the IID has prepared a “creative campaign content” document detailing a dozen film projects, broadcasts and even music festivals.
One such series, called “GDR” (for German Democratic Republic, as East Germany was known during the Cold War), is about the daily life of an intelligence officer of the period. Strukov said it “gives a positive image of the security services agent”, responsible for fighting against Western influence. The subject of the series is a barely veiled allusion to Putin, who held a similar intelligence position in his younger years.
There is also “20/22”, a series that evokes the love story between a young Russian who goes on a “humanitarian mission in the Donbas” with a young woman opposed to the “special military operation” (the official euphemism used by Moscow to refer to the February 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine).
According to Hawn, this is the first time that Putin’s team has gone to such lengths to guarantee victory at the polls for the Russian president. “It shows how, since the war, Putin and his inner circle have had to be more proactive and hands-on to frame the narrative before an election, because they cannot trust the system to work for them as much as before,” Hawn said.
Since Putin’s re-election is assured, the aim is to “pre-rig the election” – to do as much as possible ahead of time so that the actual “manipulation of voting results is as small as possible”.
If the flood of pro-Putin propaganda can increase the president’s margin of victory, it will send a message “to the Russian political class and give the impression that Putin still has big support among the masses, and therefore there is no reason to look for an alternative”, said Hawn.
He said another lesson from Kremlin Leaks is the increasingly ideological orientation of the Russian regime. The cult of personality has long been a feature of Putin’s rule, but “one of Vladimir Putin’s strengths, before the war in Ukraine, was that he knew when to be pragmatic”.
But now, the Kremlin is emphasising the ideological battle with a “decadent West” and is using all the tools of propaganda at its disposal to champion Russian “values”.
Despite the Kremlin’s attempts to control the narrative, “Russia is not China in terms of controlling access to culture – the public can see Western productions or those from South America and Asia,” Strukov observed.
The leaks show the way in which the regime “delegates the production of the narrative developed by the Kremlin to different structures, like the IID, to be able to produce a competitive media offer in the face of these other influences”.
Meduza cited one IT insider as saying that the state finally realised that “the content on that massive, costly Internet was being produced by everybody except the state itself”.