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The nature of kingship in William Shakespeare’s play Macbeth follows the events that occur during Macbeth’s unlawful rise to the throne......The themes of greed, arrogance and excessive political ambition are still, very relevant to the world today. Shakespeare got it right - his story of Macbeth still applies to today's world....
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"The Senate Intelligence Committee announced it was commencing an investigation of Russian hacking during the 2016 campaign that would include an examination of connections between Russia and the Trump camp. And a veiled but public exchange between Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), a member of the committee, and FBI Director James Comey during a hearing on January 10 suggested the FBI has collected information on possible ties between Trump and associates of Vladimir Putin."
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Fired….Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, Foreign policy adviser,..... In February, Trump fired his national security adviser, Michael T. Flynn, after The Washington Post reported that he had not fully disclosed his contacts with Russian officials……Flynn has close links with RT and Gazprom, respectively…. Trump has offered the post of national security adviser to Lt. Gen. Michael T. Flynn, potentially putting a retired intelligence officer who believes Islamist militancy poses an existential threat in one of the most powerful roles in shaping military and foreign policy, according to a top official on Mr. Trump’s transition team…..Mr. Trump and General Flynn both see themselves as brash outsiders who hustled their way to the big time. They both post on Twitter often about their own successes, and they have both at times crossed the line into outright Islamophobia.......Michael T. Flynn, the national security adviser, resigned on Monday night after it was revealed that he had misled Vice President Mike Pence and other top White House officials about his conversations with the Russian ambassador to the United States.....Mr. Flynn, who served in the job for less than a month, said he had given “incomplete information” regarding a telephone call he had with the ambassador in late December about American sanctions against Russia, weeks before President Trump’s inauguration. Mr. Flynn previously had denied that he had any substantive conversations with Ambassador Sergey I. Kislyak, and Mr. Pence repeated that claim in television interviews as recently as this month....But on Monday, Feb 13, 2017a former administration official said the Justice Department warned the White House last month that Mr. Flynn had not been fully forthright about his conversations with the ambassador. As a result, the Justice Department feared that Mr. Flynn could be vulnerable to blackmail by Moscow.”……. Michael T. Flynn, then Donald J. Trump’s incoming national security adviser, had a previously undisclosed meeting with the Russian ambassador in December to “establish a line of communication” between the new administration and the Russian government, the White House said on Thursday……..Jared Kushner, Mr. Trump’s son-in-law and now a senior adviser, also participated in the meeting at Trump Tower with Mr. Flynn and Sergey I. Kislyak, the Russian ambassador. But among Mr. Trump’s inner circle, it is Mr. Flynn who appears to have been the main interlocutor with the Russian envoy — the two were in contact during the campaign and the transition, Mr. Kislyak and current and former American officials have said. (March 2)….on Dec. 29, beginning shortly after Mr. Kislyak was summoned to the State Department and informed that, in retaliation for Russian election meddling, the United States was expelling 35 people suspected of being Russian intelligence operatives and imposing other sanctions……Mr. Kislyak was irate and threatened a forceful Russian response, according to people familiar with the exchange. He then left the State Department and called Mr. Flynn, the first in a series of calls between the two in the 36 hours that followed……American intelligence agencies routinely wiretap the phones of Russian diplomats, and transcripts of the calls showed that Mr. Flynn urged the Russians not to respond, saying relations would improve once Mr. Trump was in office, according to the current and former officials……Mr. Flynn’s failure to fully disclose the nature of the calls with Mr. Kislyak ultimately cost him his job last month after a tumultuous 25 days as national security adviser. (March 2)….Current and former American officials have said that Mr. Flynn had contacts with Mr. Kislyak during the campaign. But few of the specifics of those contacts were known. The Russian ambassador has acknowledged that the two men had known each other since 2013 and were in contact during the campaign.
Resigned.....Paul John Manafort…. (born April 1, 1949)…..The role Russia is playing in Donald Trump’s election campaign is quite extraordinary.....The candidate’s son has acknowledged that Trump’s companies have received large Russian investments. His former campaign manager worked for Ukraine’s disgraced pro-Moscow authoritarian president for almost a decade.
Manafort is best known for his lobbying efforts on behalf of pro-Russian Ukrainian leader Viktor Yanukovych as well as for dictators such as Ferdinand Marcos and Mobutu Sese Seko and guerrilla leader Jonas Savimbi…..He was the national chairman of the presidential campaign of Donald Trump, as well as being a senior partner in the firm Davis, Manafort, and Freedman….He is of Italian descent…..On July 26, 2016, Donald Trump asked Russia to find Hillary Clinton's missing emails…..This statement occurred at the same time that American intelligence agencies had told the White House they now have “high confidence” that the Russian government used Guccifer 2.0, a GRU agent, to hack emails and documents from the Democratic National Committee….In August 2016, Manafort's connections to former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych and his Party of Regions drew national attention in the USA, where it was reported that Manafort may have illegally received $12.7 million in off-the-books funds from the Party of Regions……On August 17, 2016, Donald Trump received his first security briefing……Also, on August 17, 2016, the New York Times reported on an internal staff memorandum from Manafort stating that Manafort would "remain the campaign chairman and chief strategist, providing the big-picture, long-range campaign vision”…..However, two days later, Trump announced his acceptance of Manafort's resignation from the campaign after Stephen Bannon and Kellyanne Conway took on senior leadership roles within that campaign.”....March 24, 2017....U.S. probes banking of ex-Trump campaign chief Paul Manafort....The U.S. government investigation of President Donald Trump's former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, crossed the Atlantic earlier this year to the Mediterranean island nation of Cyprus, once known as a haven for money laundering by Russian billionaires.....Manafort was Trump's unpaid campaign chairman from March until August last year, during the critical run-up to the Republican National Convention. He's been a leading focus of the U.S. investigation into whether Trump associates coordinated with Moscow to meddle in the 2016 presidential campaign......U.S. officials were expected to look into millions of dollars' worth of wire transfers to Manafort. In one case, the AP found that a Manafort-linked company received a $1 million payment in October 2009 from a mysterious firm through the Bank of Cyprus..."
Recused……Jeff Sessions, the Attorney General acknowledged this week that he had met twice with him during the campaign, despite previous denials…..President Trump left the White House "in a fury" on Friday, "fuming about Sessions's recusal and telling aides that Sessions shouldn't have recused himself," also calling the reports of his meeting "bull."....ABC News also reported that Trump went "ballistic," on Friday, also over the Sessions news......The Washington Post reported Wednesday that Sessions met twice with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak in 2016. ….The New Yorker reported this week that Mr. Kushner had met with Mr. Kislyak at Trump Tower in December. Hope Hicks, a White House spokeswoman, confirmed on Thursday that Mr. Flynn was also at the meeting in response to questions from a New York Times reporter…Attorney General Jeff Sessions will recuse himself from any probe related to 2016 presidential campaign …“They said that since I had involvement with the campaign, I should not be involved in any campaign investigation,” Sessions said. He added that he concurred with their assessment, and would thus recuse himself from any existing or future investigation involving Trump’s campaign……The announcement comes a day after The Washington Post revealed that Sessions twice met with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak and did not disclose that fact to Congress during his confirmation hearing…..At that hearing, Sessions was asked by Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) what he would do if he learned of any evidence that anyone affiliated with the Trump campaign communicated with the Russian government in the course of the 2016 campaign, and said, “I have been called a surrogate at a time or two in that campaign and I did not have communications with the Russians.”….Democrats had been calling for weeks for Sessions to step away from the investigation, though he had resisted pressures to do so. On Thursday, some high-level Republicans joined in saying the former senator should recuse himself….he said he would “write the Judiciary Committee soon — today or tomorrow — to explain this testimony for the record.” His explanation, he said, was that he was “taken aback” by Franken’s question …..Sessions met with Kislyak in September and again July at the Republican National Convention…..He said he talked with the ambassador about a trip he made to Russia in 1991, terrorism and Ukraine…..Trump said Thursday that he has “total” confidence in Sessions….. aboard the aircraft carrier USS Gerald Ford in Newport News, Va., Trump told reporters that he was not aware of Sessions’s contact with the Russian ambassador….Asked on Thursday whether Sessions should recuse himself, Trump added: “I don’t think so.”…House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) tweeted early Thursday that “AG Sessions should clarify his testimony and recuse himself.”…. White House press secretary Sean Spicer pushed back against calls for Sessions to recuse himself, telling Fox News, “He was 100 percent straight with the [Judiciary] committee, and I think that people who are choosing to play partisan politics with this should be ashamed of themselves.”….Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.), who considers Sessions a close friend, said, “I don’t think Jeff Sessions is a liar”…..Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (N.Y.) agreed Thursday that Sessions must be removed from any oversight of investigations of Russia’s alleged interference……“It would be of ‘Alice in Wonderland’ quality if this administration were to sanction him to investigate himself,” Schumer told reporters as he joined other top Democrats in calling on Sessions to resign…..
Boris Epshteyn (born 1982) is a Russian-born American Republican political strategist, investment banker, and attorney. He was a senior advisor to Donald Trump's 2016 campaign for President of the United States, and previously worked on the McCain-Palin campaign. Following Trump's election, he was named Director of Communications for the Presidential Inaugural Committee.......In September 2016, the media watchdog organization Media Matters for America criticized CNN, Fox News, and PBS for failing to disclose Epshteyn's "financial ties to the former Soviet Union, which include consulting through Strategy International LLC for 'entities doing business in Eastern Europe' and moderating a Russian-sponsored conference on 'investment opportunities in Moscow.'".......In an October 2016 New York Times article, three political commentators said in separate interviews that Epshteyn "often acted in a rude, condescending manner toward show staffers, makeup artists and others." Joy Reid, an MSNBC show host, said "Boris is abrasive. That is who he is both on the air and off."....Following a bar fight in Scottsdale, Arizona in 2014, Epshteyn was charged with misdemeanor assault. The charge was dropped after he agreed to undergo anger management counseling and perform community service......In October 2013, Epshteyn moderated a panel at the investment conference "Invest in Moscow!" The panel was composed mainly of Moscow city government officials, including Sergey Cheremin, a city minister who heads Moscow’s foreign economic and international relations department.
Guido "George" Lombardi……lives in Trump Tower, has links to a number of right-wing European parties and says he is an adviser to the Trump team, according to Politico….. Guido Lombardi is also a member of the Planning Forum, the Institute for Global Ethics, and a professional member of the World Future Society……A great admirer of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Mr. Lombardi has studied Tibetan Buddhism for two decades and met the Dalai Lama in several occasions…..The Italian businessman is the president-elect’s downstairs neighbor at Trump Tower — he occupies the 62nd and 63rd floors. In Trump’s words, the two have been “friends for a long time.” To listen to Lombardi tell it, he is the president-elect’s closest European confidante besides Nigel Farage, and the man who set up Trump’s online guerilla operation…Lombardi’s has more than 500 Pro-Trump Facebook pages and features pro-Trump memes and fake news stories from little-known news sources..
Rex Tillerson, President-elect Donald Trump’s choice for secretary of State, misspeak or did he intend to take a stand that if implemented could be interpreted by China as an act of war?.....Tillerson said during his confirmation hearing Wednesday that the United States would have to block China’s access to artificial islands that the country is building to assert its claim over disputed waters in the South China Sea. Trump's pick for secretary of State raises concern with aggressive comments about China.....Tillerson’s comments had foreign policy experts in the United States and China scratching their heads in befuddlement.
Russian President Vladimir Putin personally bestowed Russia’s Order of Friendship on Tillerson....In 2011, he negotiated a multibillion-dollar deal between Exxon Mobil and Rosneft, the Russian state oil giant cobbled out of Khodorkovsky’s seized empire and run by Putin's former KGB buddy, Igor Sechin. The deal would have allowed Exxon access to the Russian Arctic shelf—which, according to U.S. government estimates, is thought to contain some 22 percent of the world’s undiscovered oil and gas deposits—in exchange for helping Rosneft, which didn’t have the technological capabilities, drill for the stuff.
James Comey….FBI Director …. during a hearing on January 10 suggested the FBI has collected information on possible ties between Trump and associates of Vladimir Putin.”…Comey made a previously scheduled visit to Capitol Hill to meet with the House Intelligence Committee. But Comey was once again unwilling to confirm whether the FBI is exploring ties between Trump campaign officials and the Russian government, according to Rep. Adam B. Schiff (D-Calif.), the committee’s top Democrat.....“We can’t do a complete job unless the director is willing to discuss anything that they are investigating,” Schiff said. “At this point we know less than a fraction of what the FBI knows.”
Carter Page.....Foreign policy adviser Carter Page, has close links with RT and Gazprom, respectively…..Carter Page (born 1971) is an American oil industry consultant. He is the founder and managing partner of Global Energy Capital, a New York investment fund and consulting firm specializing in the Russian and Central Asian oil and gas business……Page worked as an investment banker with Merrill Lynch in London, New York and from 2004 to 2007 in Moscow, where he worked on transactions involving Gazprom and other leading Russian energy companies…..In September 2016, U.S. intelligence officials were reported to investigate alleged contacts between Page and Russian officials subject to U.S. sanctions, including Igor Sechin. Page rejected the accusations and said he would "take a leave of absence" from Trump's campaign.
Jared Kushner……..Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser,…… Michael T. Flynn, then Donald J. Trump’s incoming national security adviser, had a previously undisclosed meeting with the Russian ambassador in December to “establish a line of communication” between the new administration and the Russian government, the White House said on Thursday…….Jared Kushner also participated in the meeting at Trump Tower with Mr. Flynn and Sergey I. Kislyak, the Russian ambassador. But among Mr. Trump’s inner circle, it is Mr. Flynn who appears to have been the main interlocutor with the Russian envoy — the two were in contact during the campaign and the transition, Mr. Kislyak and current and former American officials have said….The Trump Tower meeting lasted 20 minutes, and Mr. Kushner has not met since with Mr. Kislyak, Ms. Hicks said.
Ivanka Trump is vacationing with Rupert Murdoch’s ex-wife, Wendi Deng Murdoch, who is rumored to be dating Russian President Vladimir Putin. Trump posted a photo of the two in Croatia on Sunday....Deng Murdoch introduced Trump to her eventual husband, Jared Kushner.....Rumors swirled in March that Deng Murdoch was linked to the Russian president.....On February 5, 2014, The Daily Telegraph published a report claiming Deng had a crush on Tony Blair, leading to her divorce from Murdoch......As a result of Murdoch's suspicion that Blair had an affair with Deng, he ended his long-standing association with Blair in 2014....In March 2016, Us Weekly a US based celebrity tabloid reported that she was in a relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin."
Sergey I. Kislyak, the Russian ambassador…..Michael T. Flynn, then Donald J. Trump’s incoming national security adviser, had a previously undisclosed meeting with the Russian ambassador in December to “establish a line of communication” between the new administration and the Russian government, the White House said on Thursday…….Jared Kushner also participated in the meeting at Trump Tower with Mr. Flynn and Sergey I. Kislyak, the Russian ambassador. But among Mr. Trump’s inner circle, it is Mr. Flynn who appears to have been the main interlocutor with the Russian envoy — the two were in contact during the campaign and the transition, Mr. Kislyak and current and former American officials have said…..Attorney General Jeff Sessions acknowledged this week that he had met twice with him during the campaign, despite previous denials…..The New Yorker reported this week that Mr. Kushner had met with Mr. Kislyak at Trump Tower in December. Hope Hicks, a White House spokeswoman, confirmed on Thursday that Mr. Flynn was also at the meeting in response to questions from a New York Times reporter…..All meetings between Trump associates and Russians are now significant as the F.B.I. investigates Russian interference in the American election and whether anyone close to Mr. Trump’s campaign was involved…..On Dec. 29, beginning shortly after Mr. Kislyak was summoned to the State Department and informed that, in retaliation for Russian election meddling, the United States was expelling 35 people suspected of being Russian intelligence operatives and imposing other sanctions…….Mr. Kislyak was irate and threatened a forceful Russian response, according to people familiar with the exchange. He then left the State Department and called Mr. Flynn, the first in a series of calls between the two in the 36 hours that followed……
Dmitry Sergeyevich Peskov (Russian: Дмитрий Серге́евич Песков (born October 17, 1967) is a Russian diplomat, translator and turcologist. Since 2012, Peskov has been the Press Secretary for the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin... Peskov speaks fluent German, English and Turkish....In July 2015, Peskov became engaged to the Olympic Champion ice dancer Tatiana Navka...During the wedding, Peskov was photographed wearing an exclusive $670,000 USD Richard Mille watch, greater than Peskov's declared income for all his years of service as a state employee.......Dmitry Peskov has four children from three different wives.
Wendi Deng Murdoch......Ivanka Trump is vacationing with Rupert Murdoch’s ex-wife, Wendi Deng Murdoch, who is rumored to be dating Russian President Vladimir Putin. Trump posted a photo of the two in Croatia on Sunday....Deng Murdoch introduced Trump to her eventual husband, Jared Kushner.....Rumors swirled in March that Deng Murdoch was linked to the Russian president.....On February 5, 2014, The Daily Telegraph published a report claiming Deng had a crush on Tony Blair, leading to her divorce from Murdoch......As a result of Murdoch's suspicion that Blair had an affair with Deng, he ended his long-standing association with Blair in 2014....In March 2016, Us Weekly a US based celebrity tabloid reported that she was in a relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin."
Aras Agalarov (born 1955) is an Azeri businessman, developer, public figure and author of Russia....Agalarov has served as a liaison between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin.....As of April 2016, he had an estimated net worth of $1.29 billion, most of which is derived from his real estate ventures....Trumpbrought the Miss Universe pageant to Moscow ....At the heart of the episode is Trump’s relationship with Aras Agalarov, a billionaire Russian real estate mogul with ties to Putin, and Agalarov’s rakish son, Emin, 36, a dance-pop singer with ambitions to international stardom who got Trump to appear in one of his music videos....Emin Agalarov’s connection to Donald Trump runs through a beauty queen. In 2013 Emin filmed the video for his single “Amor,” in which the young singer pursues Miss Universe 2012, Olivia Culpo, through darkened city streets with a flashlight. Miss Universe representatives later came to Moscow with Culpo to meet with the Agalarovs, and subsequently introduced the Russians to Trump.....Emin Agalarov’s connection to Donald Trump runs through a beauty queen. In 2013 Emin filmed the video for his single “Amor,” in which the young singer pursues Miss Universe 2012, Olivia Culpo, through darkened city streets with a flashlight. Miss Universe representatives later came to Moscow with Culpo to meet with the Agalarovs, and subsequently introduced the Russians to Trump....
Sergei Millian....an American from Belarus named Sergei Millian, who has boasted of close ties to Trump and who has worked with an outfit the FBI suspected of being a Russian intelligence front.....Millian, who is in his late 30s and won't say when he came to the United States or how he obtained US citizenship, is an intriguing and mysterious figure with a curious connection to Trump. He is president of the Russian-American Chamber of Commerce in the USA (RACC) and the owner of a translation service. The RACC, a nonprofit that Millian started in Atlanta in 2006 and that has survived on shoestring budgets, advocates closer commercial ties between Russia and the United States and assists US firms looking to do business in Russia. In 2009, the group called for the US Congress "to foster necessary political changes to produce a healthier economic environment" and grant permanent normal trade relations status to Russia. Its website notes that it "facilitates cooperation for U.S. members with the Russian Government, Russian Regional Administrations, U.S. Consulates in Russia, Chambers of Commerce in Russia, and corporate leaders from CIS [Commonwealth of Independent States] countries."....The Russian-American Chamber of Commerce's 2011 tax return reported the group was based in an apartment in Astoria, Queens, where Millian lived."
Trump’s Missing Tax Returns……Some Democratic senators are encouraging congressional tax-writing committees to use their authority to review Trump’s tax returns for any sign of Russian connections....either the Russians have something on Trump, or that there are financial ties that are requiring Trump to behave this way or perhaps the Russians helped him in the election and this is sort of a quid pro quo....Increasingly it’s clear that there is some alternative explanation for this bizarre positioning, this softness on Russia, this permission slip that Trump has given Russia....Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) says an investigation that would produce President Trump’s tax returns could shed light on Trump’s “bizarre positioning” towards Russia......“Legislation establishing a special Senate committee could theoretically give it the power to get these tax returns. That is fully within the power of the United States Congress,” Murphy told MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.” ....Trump did not release his tax returns during his bid for the presidency, breaking with modern-day American electoral tradition....Murphy's remarks come a day after a New York Times report alleging that Trump associates had "repeated contacts" with Russian intelligence agents during the campaign.
Steve Bannon....."Now that at least six of Donald Trump’s campaign managers, advisers, and surrogates have been caught colluding with the Russian government during the campaign, it’s clear that this didn’t all transpire by mere happenstance. Someone within the Trump campaign had to have been coordinating the effort – and no, not Trump himself. That person has to have been Steve Bannon from the start....Consider the chronology of events: Paul Manafort has deep financial ties to the Kremlin, but he was brought into the Donald Trump campaign fairly late. The timeline makes clear that the campaign was colluding with Russia before he was hired and after he was nudged out. Michael Flynn joined the Trump campaign much earlier, and the evidence says he’s fully under Russian control, but his role suggests he was a mere go-between. Carter Page is another Russian stooge, but he never had enough influence in the campaign to have been coordinating the Russian collusion. And Jeff Sessions was merely a Trump campaign surrogate, an informal adviser......None of them fit the role or the timeline that would have been required to have masterminded the Donald Trump campaign’s Russian collusion from the start. Trump himself appears to be in deep financial debt to Russia, as well as subject to some kind of Russian blackmail. But that makes him a pawn in all this, not a ringleader. Nor is it easy to picture Trump, who only ever handles things in broad strokes, to have been carefully coordinating a clandestine operation to conspire with a Kremlin that was holding him hostage. Instead, tire’s only one person who fits the bill.....Although Steve Bannon didn’t become CEO of the Donald Trump campaign until fairly late in the game, the timeline says Trump was relying on him for guidance from the start. Bannon had real control of the campaign from beginning to finish, no matter who was officially in charge at any given time. Bannon was a seasoned political operative who would have understood how to coordinate with the Russians as needed. And Bannon’s stated goal to destroy the American system of government by any means necessary fits with a willingness to get his stooge Trump elected by conspiring with the foreign power to which Trump was personally beholden.".... Steve Bannon had to have been coordinating the Russian collusion in the Donald Trump campaign
By Bill Palmer | March 2, 2017
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Washington (CNN)The brazen daytime slaying of a Russian politician outside a Ukrainian hotel this week brings to eight the number of high-profile Russians who have died over the past five months since the US presidential election on November 8.
Among the recent deaths were five Russian diplomats. Some of the deaths appeared natural and governments have ruled out foul play.
Russian politician who fled to Ukaine shot dead
Denis Voronenkov, 45, was gunned down Thursday outside a hotel in Kiev. Voronenkov and his wife both spoke out against Putin after they left Russia for Ukraine in October.
Voronenkov also helped Ukraine in its ongoing fight against Russian influence, testifying in a treason trial against ex-Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, who was perceived as a puppet politician for Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Ukraine's president called the shooting a "Russian state terrorist act." Russian authorities denied the accusation.
Russian ambassador to the UN suddenly dies
Vitaly Churkin, 64, Russia's ambassador to the United Nations, died on February 20 of an apparent heart attack. He was "in his office fulfilling his duties" when he died, according to a statement from the Russian mission at the UN.
Russian ambassador to India dies after brief illness
Alexander Kadakin, 67, the Russian ambassador to India, died on January 26.
A spokeswoman for the Russian embassy in New Delhi said that Kadakin died after a short illness and that there was nothing "special or extraordinary" about the circumstances that led to his death.
Kadakin had worked in India since 2009. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi described him as "a great friend of India" who worked hard to strengthen relations between the two countries.
Russian diplomat found dead in Athens
Andrey Malanin, a senior diplomat at the Russian embassy in Greece, was found dead in early January.
Malanin, 54, was the head of the Russian embassy's consular section in Athens. Police sources told CNN that worried colleagues called authorities after Malanin didn't show up to work for a few days. Police entered his apartment on January 9th and found him dead on his bedroom floor.
Initial reports from Greek police suggested Malanin died suddenly from natural causes. Two Greek police officials said foul play was not suspected. An investigation remains underway.
Former intelligence official found dead in his car
Oleg Erovinkin, who had close ties to Russian intelligence, was found dead on December 26 sitting in his car on the streets of Moscow. Russian news outlets reported that he was 61 years old. Russian government agencies have not released an official cause of death.
He was a former general in the Russian law enforcement and intelligence agency known as the FSB. He also served as chief-of-staff to Igor Sechin, the president of state-owned oil giant Rosneft. Sechin enjoys a close relationship with Putin that dates back to the 1990s.
Because of Erovinkin's background, conspiracy theorists and Russia watchers have speculated that he might have been a source of information in the 35-page dossier that detailed alleged links between the Trump campaign and Russia. No evidence has emerged to firmly substantiate those claims.
Diplomat fatally shot in back
Russian ambassador to Turkey, Andrey Karlov, 62, was assassinated in Ankara on December 20. He was shot at point-blank range by a gunman while speaking at an art exhibition. The shooter, who was a Turkish police officer, shouted "do not forget Syria" during the assassination.
Russian diplomat shot to death in Moscow
The same day as Karlov's killing, Petr Polshikov, 56, a senior Russian diplomat, was shot to death in his Moscow home, according to Moscow newspaper Moskovskij Komsomolets. The paper said Polshikov's wife found him in their bedroom with a pillow over his head. Underneath the pillow, police found Polshikov with a head wound.
A spokesman from the Russian Foreign Ministry said Polshikov's death was likely an accident and had nothing to do with his official government duties, according to Russian news outlet REN-TV.
Russian official in NYC dies on Election Day
On the morning of the U.S. election, November 8, about an hour after the first polls opened in New York City, police received a 911 call about an unconscious man inside the Russian consulate. When they arrived, they found Sergei Krivov, 63, unresponsive. Emergency responders declared him dead at the scene.
Krivov, who was born in Russia, had served in the consulate as duty commander involved with security affairs, according to Russian news reports.
Russian consular officials first said Krivov fell from the roof. Then, they said he died of a heart attack.
The initial police report filed on the day of the incident said Krivov was found "with an unknown trauma to the head," according to a New York Police Department spokesman.
However, after conducting an autopsy and finishing its investigation, the New York City Medical Examiner ruled that Krivov died from bleeding in the chest area, likely due to a tumor. Police sources said foul play wasn't suspected and that Krivov had been in poor health.
Russian lawyer for whistleblower is nearly killed
Earlier this week, a private Russian lawyer on an anti-corruption crusade reportedly fell from the fourth floor of his Moscow apartment.
Nikolai Gorokhov, 53, was near death with "severe head injuries" and remains in a hospital's intensive care unit, according to his friend, investor Bill Browder.
Gorokhov represented Sergei Magnitsky, a fellow Russian lawyer who exposed Russia's largest ever tax fraud -- and was later jailed and beaten to death in a Moscow detention center. Gorokhov continued his client's fight.
CNN's Medhavi Arora, and Elinda Labropoulou, and Simon Ostrovsky contributed to this report.
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“Putin’s Master Plan: To Destroy Europe, Divide NATO, and Restore Russian Power and Global Influence” (Encounter, 2016) by Douglas E. Schoen and Evan Roth Smith
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Trump 'compromising' claims: How and why did we get here?....
By Paul Wood.....BBC News, Washington......http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-38589427
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