Microsoft has confirmed in a report published in San Francisco, that Russian government hackers have conducted multiple cyber spy operations on the US, Poland and other countries allied with Ukraine since Moscow’s February invasion of that country.
„The cyber aspects of the current war extend far beyond Ukraine and reflect the unique nature of cyberspace,” Microsoft President Brad Smith said in the report.
„The target appeared to be mostly governments, although also included think tanks, humanitarian groups, and critical infrastructure providers,” the report said.
Microsoft said the hacking against allies was successful about 29% of the time and in some cases led to data being stolen.
Foreign policy experts say they fear Russia’s combined kinetic and cyber warfare strategy against Ukraine will become a model for future conflicts.
In an earlier report, Microsoft indicated cyberattacks – which involved data wiping malware – laid the groundwork for military missions in Ukraine.
Reuters
Russia is supplying oil to EU ports despite sanctions
In a report by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), a media consortium tracking organized crime and corruption exposed that 18 tankers, de facto owned by Russia’s largest shipping company, Sovkomflot, are registered as belonging to Sovkomflot’s Cyprus and UAE subsiduaries, and insured by the Indian Register of Shipping.
These oil tankers, sailing regularly to Italy, Denmark, the Netherlands and South Africa, and other destinations, were identified by OCCRP journalists. ; each tanker can carry oil worth approximately $ 240 million.
Prof. Ricardo Soares of the University of Oxford explains that proving that these ships belong to a Russian company is almost impossible as the ownership structure is very complex. Sovkomflot, on which the US and EU imposed sanctions in February, frequently renames them and orders them to turn off transponders.
However, it is still unclear who in Europe is actually buying the Russian oil delivered by these tankers, according to OCCRP.
Reuters, niezalezna
Baltic Pipe: Poland managing without Russian gas
About 60 miles east of Denmark and 40 north of Germany and Poland, two pipelines met silently in the dark depths of the Baltic Sea this week. One is heading from Russia to Germany, the other from Norway to Poland.
To compensate for lost Russian imports, Poland is quadrupling its gas import capacity with a pipeline from Norway and a new LNG terminal. Poland could soon be able to help out Berlin, scrambling to replace its own Russian gas.
Baltic Pipe is a joint venture between Polish firm Gaz-System and Danish firm Energinet and estimated to cost about $2.5 billion) It will be an offshoot of the existing pipeline from Stavanger in Norway to Dornum in Germany on the North Sea bed.
It then runs on the bottom of the North Sea until landfall near the western Danish town of Varde. Then it will run through Denmark until going back under the Baltic near the island of Zealand before turning south for landfall in Pogorzelice in Poland, situated 60 km east of Swinoujscie, where Poland is extending its LNG import capacity.
Sailing and Maritime events today
Sailing fans are in for a treat this weekend as the tri-city enjoys and unprecedented number of sailing events.
A number of water-bound events are taking place, including the St John’s Sailing parade, the Polish Navy Cup regatta and the Tadeusz Wenda Worldwide Polish Sailing Race.
Events will be visible along the coastline – from Gdansk, through Sopot to Gdynia. They kick off at 1 pm today and will cumulate with a rousing concert from the decks of the Captain Borhardt moored at the Presidential Yaching Marina in Gdynia, where we can hear the Zawisza Czarny (or Black Prince) Shanty Group at 6pm.
Tomorrow there will be maritime concerts outside Arthur’s Court in Gdansk as well as a concert of maritime music at the Solidarity Centre by the shipyard at 6pm
All events are free.
The weather
The yachting will have picture perfect conditions today as the weather continues to be very warm with a constant southerly breeze.
Daytime temperatures will be higher than yesterday reaching 30 Celsius (86 Fahrenheit) in the shade and 38 Celsius, over 102F in open spaces
The outlook for the weekend – hot and sunny.
Adam Gosiewski/aKa
