Victoria Fox's Blog, page 258
March 26, 2023
Twitter says parts of its source code were leaked online
Enlarge this image The Twitter splash page is seen on a digital device in 2022 in San Diego. Some parts of Twitter’s source code, the fundamental computer code on which the social network operates, were leaked online, the social media company said in a legal filing on Sunday. Gregory Bull/AP
Gregory Bull/AP
NEW YORK — Some parts of Twitter’s source code — the fundamental computer code on which the social network runs — were leaked online, the social media company said in a legal filing on Sunday that was first reported by The New York Times.
According to the legal document, filed with the U.S. District Court of the Northern District of California, Twitter had asked GitHub, an internet hosting service for software development, to take down the code where it was posted. The platform complied and said the content had been disabled, according to the filing. Twitter also asked the court to identify the alleged infringer or infringers who posted Twitter’s source code on systems operated by GitHub without Twitter’s authorization.
Twitter, based in San Francisco, noted in the filing that the postings infringe copyrights held by Twitter.
The leak creates more challenges for billionaire Elon Musk, who bought Twitter last October for $44 billion and took the company private. Since then, it has been engulfed in chaos, with massive layoffs and advertisers fleeing.
Meanwhile, the Federal Trade Commission is probing Musk’s mass layoffs at Twitter and trying to obtain his internal communications as part of ongoing oversight into the social media company’s privacy and cybersecurity practices, according to documents described in a congressional report.
Jeremy Renner posts video of himself walking on an anti-gravity treadmill
Actor Jeremy Renner continues his journey to recovery step by step.
The ‘Avengers’ star, who was run over by his own snowplow in a horrific accident in January, shared video of himself walking on an anti-gravity treadmill on Sunday.
As he walks, he tells another man in the room that he walks while putting less weight on his legs, which is like using a cane.
“I now have to find other things to occupy my time so my body can recover from my willpower,” Renner, 52, tweeted along with the footage from his physical therapy.
The ‘Hawkeye’ star was left in critical condition after trying to stop the snow plow from sliding and hitting his nephew before it crushed his leg in Lake Tahoe.
Renner, who lost a significant amount of blood, had to undergo several surgeries following his near-fatal accident.
Renner was using the snowplow to plow his way out of his house following a severe winter snowstorm at the time of the tragedy.
In footage released on Sunday, Renner can also be heard telling the other man that he is walking with only “40% of my weight.”
He tweeted a video update of his recovery.@JeremyRenner/Twitter
The actor was hospitalized after his accident and had to undergo several surgeries.@JeremyRenner/TwitterRenner updated fans on his progress since the accident, including an Instagram Story from last month that showed him pedaling with one leg on a stationary bike with the caption “whatever it takes.”
He also shared the moment earlier this month when he found the snowplow that broke 30 bones.
“She’s finally coming home,” he wrote alongside a photo of the Kässbohrer PistenBully snow plow being loaded onto the driveway.
nypost
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Will Ivan Toney be suspended? What rules did the Brentford star break? England striker in line for Three Lions debut against Ukraine
Brentford star Ivan Toney is currently awaiting a verdict from the Football Association following a series of betting charges against him.
The England striker was hit with 232 alleged betting rule breaches in November, with another 30 added to his roster the following month.
It is not yet clear how long a ban for Toney could be
The 26-year-old is accused of breaking the rules over a four-year period between February 2017 and January 2021, before joining Brentford.
Here’s what we know…
Will Ivan Toney be suspended?Toney is expected to serve a lengthy ban for his alleged breaches of FA betting rules.
These span from 2017, when he was on Newcastle’s books, to 2021, after joining Brentford from Peterborough.
Under FA rules, players operating in the Premier League, English Football League, National League and FA Women’s Super League and FA Women’s Championship levels are prohibited from betting on football.
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Toney released a statement after admitting betting charges
talkSPORT understands that he admitted to some of the charges, while he disputes others.
Toney is not the first to break the betting rules with England defender Kieran Trippier banned for 10 weeks for insider trading for telling friends to ‘bundle up’ ahead of his move to Atletico Madrid in 2019.
Joey Barton was also banned for 18 months for placing 1,260 bets on football matches over a seven-year period.
It’s likely that Toney’s ban falls somewhere in between, but the context around some of his bets could affect how long any punishment will last.
Toney himself has publicly questioned the FA’s handling of information relating to his case following unsubstantiated allegations that he faces a six-month ban.
“I was shocked and disappointed to see the speculation in the press yesterday and today about the FA’s investigation process relating to me after the FA told me it was a confidential process until a decision is made,” he said on Instagram.
@ivantoney1 Instagram
He released a statement on social media amid continued leaks
“It is particularly disturbing for me to read that the FA say I will be banned from football for six months before there has even been a hearing, and that worries me about the process.
“My lawyers will write to the FA asking them to investigate the leaks as this is the second time stories have appeared in the newspapers – the last time was just before the England squad was selected. for the World Cup.”
What was said?Simon Jordan spoke to Toney’s father and advised the star on how he should respond to the charges against him earlier this month.
He told talkSPORT: “I sat down with his father, Ivan Toney senior, a few weeks ago and he was a very nice man, just like Ivan.
“I advised them not to muddy the water. Anything you’re guilty of admitting, anything you’re not guilty of disputing.
“He seems to do that. I’m not saying he took my advice, but I think it’s the best course of action when dealing with the world of football which will hold you to account if you try to muddy the waters and turn semantics into argument.
“If you’re guilty of something they’ll get to the bottom of it, ultimately it’s not a hard lead to follow.
“You’ve been charged with something that doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll be found guilty, but betting is betting. If you’re guilty of it, do it, and if you’re not guilty of something, defend it.
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Jeremy Renner is back on his feet in ‘Recover’ update after potentially fatal snowplow accident
Jeremy Renner updates his fans on his road to recovery after suffering dozens of broken bones in a near-fatal snowplow accident.
On Sunday, the Marvel star shared a clip of himself walking on an assisted treadmill during one of his recent physical therapy sessions.
“I now have to find OTHER things to occupy my time so my body can recover from my willpower,” the 52-year-old ‘Avengers’ actor wrote alongside the video.
In January, Renner was beaten and seriously injured by a snowcat on New Year’s Day while trying to save his nephew from being hit by the vehicle.
He had been using the PistenBully snowcat to tow his nephew’s truck out of the snow when it began to slide downhill, seriously injuring Renner and leaving him with more than 30 broken bones.
After being airlifted to the intensive care unit of a regional hospital near his home in Reno, Nevada, Renner underwent multiple surgeries for “blunt chest trauma and orthopedic injuries.”
Since Renner’s accident, the double Oscar nominee – who returned home on January 16 – shared many updates on his healing process.
Get emotional with fans on Instagram in January, Renner gushed over an outpouring of encouragement from his fans and expressed his thanks for “the love and bonding with family and friends”.
“Morning workouts, resolutions all changed this particular new year…. Begotten of tragedy for my entire family, and quickly focused on uniting actionable love,” he wrote on the post, alongside a photo of him in bed.
“These 30+ broken bones will mend, grow stronger, just as the love and connection with family and friends grows deeper. Love and blessings to you all,” Renner added.
Just weeks after his accident, the ‘Hawkeye’ actor teased his new upcoming TV series “Rennervations” on Instagram, which he says will be debut on Disney+ “as soon as I’m back on my feet.”
“We are so excited to share the #rennervations show with all of you on @disneyplus coming very soon!!!” Renner wrote on Instagram alongside a photo of the show. “We come to YOU, all over the world…Hope you’re ready!!!”
The Huffington Gt
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March 25, 2023
Mississippi tornado rescue and recovery continues through wreckage
Search and recovery teams resumed the arduous task of digging through the wreckage of flattened and battered homes, commercial buildings and municipal offices on Sunday after hundreds of people were displaced by a deadly tornado that tore through the Delta. Mississippi, one of the poorest regions in the US
At least 25 people were killed and dozens more were injured in Mississippi as the massive storm tore through several towns on its hour-long track Friday night.
A man has been killed after his trailer overturned several times in Alabama.
The tornado leveled entire blocks, destroyed houses, tore a steeple from a church and overturned a municipal water tower. Even with the recovery just beginning, the National Weather Service warned of a risk of more severe weather on Sunday — including high winds, large hail and possible tornadoes — in eastern Louisiana, south-central Mississippi and south-central Alabama.
Charlie Weissinger throws up signs from one of his father’s demolished law firm offices in Rolling Fork, Mississippi, on March 25, 2023. PA
Based on early data, the tornado received a preliminary rating of EF-4, the National Weather Service office in Jackson said in a tweet late Saturday.
An EF-4 tornado has peak wind gusts between 166 mph and 200 mph, depending on the service.
Jackson’s office said it was still gathering information about the tornado.
President Joe Biden has pledged federal aid to Mississippi and Deanne Criswell, administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, was due to visit on Sunday to assess the destruction.
Friday night’s tornado devastated part of the town of Rolling Fork, which has a population of 2,000, reducing homes to rubble, flipping cars on their sides and toppling the town’s water tower.
Other parts of the Deep South were deepening due to damage from other suspected tornadoes. A man has died in Morgan County, Alabama, the sheriff’s department said in a Tweeter.
Melanie Childs of Amory, Miss., sits on a bucket and holds her two children, Mila, 1, left, and Major, 2, as they view what remains of her grandfather, Barrie Young, at home on March 25, 2023.PA“I don’t know how anyone survived,” said Rodney Porter, who lives 20 miles south of Rolling Fork. When the storm hit Friday night, he immediately went there to help in any way he could. Porter arrived to find ‘utter devastation’ and said he smelled natural gas and heard people screaming for help in the dark.
“Houses are gone, houses piled on top of houses with vehicles on top,” he said.
Annette Body traveled to the hard-hit town of Silver City from nearby Belozi to assess the damage.
She said she felt “blessed” because her own home was not destroyed, but other people she knows lost everything.
An American flag lays on the slab of what used to be a hardware store in Rolling Fork, Mississippi, March 25, 2023.PA“Cried last night, cried this morning,” she said, looking around at razed houses. “They said you had to take cover, but it happened so fast that a lot of people didn’t even have a chance to take cover.”
Survivors of the storm walked around on Saturday, many dazed and in shock, as they cut through thick debris and fallen trees with chainsaws, looking for survivors.
Power lines were stuck under decades-old oak trees, their roots uprooted from the ground.
Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves declared a state of emergency and pledged to help rebuild as he saw the damage in an area dotted with vast swaths of cotton, corn and soybean fields and catfish breeding ponds.
He spoke with Biden, who also held a call with the state’s congressional delegation.
A sheriff’s deputy climbs over a pile of windswept vehicles to search for survivors in Rolling Fork, Mississippi, March 25, 2023.PA
Tracy Hardin (c), who with husband Tim (L) owns Chuck’s Dairy Bar, consoles a neighbor in Rolling Fork, Mississippi, March 25, 2023.PAMore than half a dozen shelters have been opened in Mississippi to house displaced people.
Preliminary information based on storm report estimates and radar data indicates the tornado remained on the ground for more than an hour and traveled at least 170 miles, said Lance Perrilloux, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service office in Jackson, Mississippi.
“It’s rare – very, very rare,” he said, attributing the long run to widespread atmospheric instability.
Perrilloux said preliminary findings showed the tornado began its destructive path just southwest of Rolling Fork before continuing northeast toward the rural communities of Midnight and Silver City and toward Tchula, Black Hawk, and Winona.
The supercell that produced the deadly tornado also appeared to produce damage-causing tornadoes in northwest and north-central Alabama, said Brian Squitieri, severe storm forecaster at the Weather Service’s Storm Prediction Center in Norman. , Oklahoma.
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Fact check: Trump repeats false claims at rally in Waco, Texas
CNN
—
Former President Donald Trump returned to campaigning on Saturday with a rally in Waco, Texas, which recalled his 2016 and 2020 presidential campaigns.
The rally comes as Trump faces investigations in New York over a silent payment, in Georgia over his efforts to nullify the 2020 election and by Justice Department Special Counsel Jack Smith over classified documents the FBI found in Mar-a-Lago, his attempt to overthrow the 2020 elections and his role in the January 6, 2021 uprising.
In recent days, the former president has made increasingly belligerent remarks about those investigations, including predicting his own Manhattan indictment and arrest last week — which didn’t happen — and urging his supporters to protest if he is charged.
Saturday’s rally included many of Trump’s most oft-repeated misrepresentations. Here is an overview of some of these claims.
CNN continues to fact-check the remainder of its rally and this story will be updated.
Trump claimed he actually won the 2020 election, but it was “rigged”.
“We won in 2016. We won a lot more in 2020 but it was rigged,” he said. Later, he reiterated the claim, saying, “It’s a rigged system. As if we had a rigged election.
The facts first: This is one of Trump’s usual lies. He lost the 2020 election, fair and square. Democrat Joe Biden won a 306-232 victory in the Electoral College – earning more than seven million more votes than Trump, good for a margin of 51.3% to 46.8%.
Trump went on to repeat a version of a false claim he had made more than 100 times as president – that the United States had a trade deficit with China of over $500 billion. On Saturday, he claimed that before he took office, “China was cheating us, making $600 billion a year.”
The facts first: The United States has Never had a $600 billion trade deficit with China, even if you only count trade in goods and ignore trade in services where the US has a surplus with China. The pre-Trump record for a goods deficit with China was around $367 billion in 2015. The goods deficit hit a new high of around $418 billion under Trump in 2018 before falling back below 400 billion dollars the following years.
Trump also repeated a trade assertion he made frequently during his presidency. Speaking of China, he said he “did a little tariff hunt” with China and “we took in hundreds of billions of dollars. I gave the farmers in our country $28 billion.
The facts first: Trump’s claim about who pays the tariff money is false. Study After study found that Americans bear the cost of Trump’s tariffs on imported Chinese goods. And US importers, not Chinese exporters, pay the actual customs duties to the US government.
In the 2020 election, one of Trump’s campaign slogans was “Promises made, promises kept”. Now that he is running again, he reiterates what he claims are campaign promises he kept. On Saturday, he referred to the construction of the border wall that took place under his administration.
“I built hundreds of kilometers of wall and completed this task, exactly as promised,” he said.
The facts first: It is not even close to true that Trump has “completed” the border wall.
According to an official “Border Wall Status” report compiled by US Customs and Border Protection two days after Trump left, about 458 miles of wall had been completed under Trump – but about 280 more miles that had been identified for construction of the wall had not been completed. The report, provided to CNN’s Priscilla Alvarez, said that of those 280, about 74 miles of barriers were “in the pre-construction phase and have not yet been assigned, in places where no barriers currently exist. “, and that 206 miles were “currently under contract, in places of dilapidated and obsolete designs and in places where no barriers previously existed.”
Throughout his rally, Trump tried to paint a picture of a country struggling without his leadership. As an example, he said, “We are a failed nation. We are a nation with the highest inflation in 50 years.
The facts first: It’s not true. In February, US inflation fell for the eighth consecutive month, reaching its lowest level since September 2021.
Last year, the year-over-year inflation rate hit a 40-year high of 9.1% in June, as measured by the Consumer Price Index. But since then, headline inflation has slowly and methodically declined.
Inflation is still high, but not at the record levels suggested by Trump.
Trump told his familiar story of how, until he was president, the United States was unable to deport “really bad people,” including MS-gang members. 13 to other countries, including Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras, because those countries “wouldn’t take ’em.
“The buses bringing really bad people back to Honduras and El Salvador, Guatemala and other countries, they wouldn’t allow us to go there. So I said to them, ‘Well, how are we going to get them out?’ They said, ‘Well, sir, we can’t get them out. We gave up years ago, under the Obama administration “because they won’t take it back,” Trump said.
The facts first: It is not true that, as a general rule, Guatemala and Honduras would not take back migrants deported from the United States under the Obama administration, although there have been some individual exceptions.
In 2016, just before Trump’s presidency, neither Guatemala nor Honduras was on the list of countries that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) considered “recalcitrant” or uncooperative in accepting the return of their nationals.
For fiscal year 2016, Obama’s last full fiscal year in office, ICE reported that Guatemala and Honduras ranked second and third, behind only Mexico, in terms of country of citizenship of those expelled from the United States. United. You can read a longer fact check, from 2019, here.
Donors and DeSantis supporters are starting to debate whether he should run in 2024 or wait until 2028
Donors and supporters of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis are beginning to debate whether the potential Republican 2024 presidential nominee should run in the next election cycle — a bid that would put him against former President Donald Trump — or wait until in 2028, according to reports.
According to a report by NBC News, donors and DeSantis supporters are having doubts about the prospect of the governor’s possible presidential bid. According to the report, one of the main issues appears to be the governor’s ability to take on Trump – who has been critical of the governor for months – head-on.
According to the report:
At a Sunday lunch after the annual Red Cross Ball in Palm Beach, Florida, a group of 16 prominent Republicans, described by one attendee as a mix of DeSantis supporters and Trump ‘skeptics’, discussed doubts about the governor’s position going forward if he clashes with the former president.
One attendee told the outlet that these people believe DeSantis’ future is better secured without confronting Trump directly this election cycle.
“He will be healed” by the former president, according to the participant.
The report also highlighted new hesitancy by some of DeSantis’ supporters, including what NBC News described as “billionaire conservative freight-transportation mogul Richard Uihlein” and his wife, who gave around half a million in contributions. to DeSantis’ re-election campaign. NBC News, citing someone “familiar with the strategy” around their spending, said, “The brakes are pumped,” in part because of DeSantis’ waning status in recent surveys. And, indeed, Trump continued to grow in survey after survey, even garnering 50 percent or more as DeSantis appears to be losing momentum, especially after news of Trump’s pending indictment and what some conservatives see as the governor insufficient response. On Monday, two days after Trump initially announced his suspicions of an upcoming arrest, DeSantis said journalists that his administration “will not be involved” in a “circus made by certain Soros [backed] DA,” essentially dismissing it as a non-issue.
Meanwhile, recent polls show a boost for Trump as DeSantis’ numbers fall or remain flat. For example, a Harvard/Harris survey released this week found that Trump first the hypothetical 2024 GOP primary field of 26 points over DeSantis. This week’s Morning Consult survey told a similar story, with Trump expansion his lead over DeSantis at +28% in the past week alone. DeSantis, however, has sadly stated that he does not base his governance or his approach on fickle polls.
NBC News continued, noting that he had spoken to several GOP strategists and donors, asking if they thought it was possible for DeSantis to make a comeback.
An individual described as a “Republican campaign operative who regularly speaks to donors” said it was possible DeSantis had peaked and added that the governor’s response to Trump’s possible indictment “really indicates how he was far behind the eight ball”.
“DeSantis is on a book tour. He’s raging in the country and his polls are down,” another strategist said, noting that Trump, who is potentially on the verge of indictment, is rising in the polls.
“It’s just not a good look for DeSantis,” the individual added.
Another donor told the outlet he doesn’t believe DeSantis can “ignore” Trump for too long. However, DeSantis, who regularly avoids outright criticism of Trump publicly, pointed to some issues with Trump during his recent interview with Piers Morgan, criticize aspects of his leadership style, but continues to dismiss Trump’s criticism as “noise” as the former president has stepped up his attacks.
“Now that Ron DeSanctimonious is finally admitting he’s in the race starting to fight back, and now that his polls have crashed so he has no other choice, let me explain the facts,” began Trump in a Truth Social thread this week:
DeSantis, however, has yet to announce a presidential candidacy and he is rumored not to do so until the end of Florida’s legislative session.
Via NBC News:
“Ron DeSantis’ looming candidacy is absolutely keeping people out,” said a Republican strategist who, like others, spoke on condition of anonymity to speak candidly about the presidential candidates. If DeSantis comes in and proves to be a strong candidate, “it probably holds.”
“And if he doesn’t – and that’s an arbitrary assessment to some extent; what is successful? — then you might see others continuing to watch it or possibly getting in on the fun,” this person added.
While some still have positive feelings about the prospect of a 2024 DeSantis bid, Republican advisers are skeptical.
“We always believed DeSantis was going to be very disciplined,” one said. “Disciplined, disciplined, disciplined.”
“And he kind of proved this week that he wasn’t. He was a guy who didn’t want to talk about Trump, and here he’s taking pictures almost a year before Republicans started voting,’ the individual added, as other agents said that DeSantis had missed a great opportunity after Trump announced what appeared to be an upcoming arrest.
“What DeSantis should have done was respond immediately and say, ‘Under no circumstances will the Free State of Florida allow this political lawsuit,’” an agent told the outlet.
“What that would have done is cast DeSantis as alpha and Trump as beta. He could have set himself up to look like Trump’s protector, which would have driven Trump crazy,” the individual added.
DeSantis has continued to remain coy about his political future, but told Piers Morgan during this week’s interview that he isn’t technically running against anyone “yet.”
RELATED – Kinzinger: When They Face Off, ‘Trump Will Start Wiping The Floor With Ron DeSantis’
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Ulta 24-Hour Flash Sale: 50% Off MAC, Tula, Tarte, and More
We independently selected these products because we love them, and we think you might like them at these prices. E! has affiliate relationships, so we may get a commission if you purchase something through our links. Items are sold by the retailer, not E!. Prices are accurate as of publish time.
Beauty enthusiasts and bargain hunters, rejoice! There are some great deals at Ulta. The 21 Days of Beauty Sale is happening from March 12 through April 1, with different markdowns on their best-selling makeup, skincare, haircare, and more items every single day. Every day, you will have 24 hours to shop for different beauty products at half price. And, if you’re a Diamond or Platinum member, your order will ship free (no shipping minimums!).
Today is the only day for Ulta shoppers to save 50% on select products from MAC, Tula, Tarte, and Persona. Keep reading to find out why these are must-buy products and to peek ahead at the upcoming steals so you can plan your shopping accordingly.
Actor Jonathan Majors was arrested for assault in New York City
Enlarge this image Jonathan Majors is pictured at Shrine Auditorium and Expo Hall in October 2021 in Los Angeles. Rich Fury/Getty Images
Rich Fury/Getty Images
Actor Jonathan Majors was arrested and charged with assault, strangulation and harassment on Saturday, police said.
Police said they responded to a call to an apartment in New York City’s Chelsea neighborhood late Saturday morning over a domestic dispute between a 33-year-old male and a 30-year-old female. The woman told police she was assaulted.
“Officers placed the 33-year-old male into custody without incident. The victim sustained minor injuries to her head and neck and was removed to an area hospital in stable condition,” a New York City Police Department spokesperson said in a statement to NPR.
Carrie Gordon, a representative for Majors, told NPR: “He has done nothing wrong. We look forward to clearing his name and clearing this up.”
Majors has been gaining lots of attention this year, with parts in three movies so far in 2023: Ant Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, Creed III and Magazine Dreams.
He spoke to NPR in February in a wide-ranging conversation about his career.
Diplomatic conflict between Russia and Europe erupts in Estonia – POLITICO
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Expressed by artificial intelligence.
TALLINN — The front line of a dark intelligence war between Europe and Russia currently runs along quiet Pikk Street in the medieval heart of Estonia’s capital, Tallinn.
Behind the mirrored windows of the quiet Russian Embassy at No 19, a series of newly vacated offices – including that of the ambassador himself – testify to Estonia’s recent tougher line.
Estonia calls hostile intelligence operations and influence campaigns by Russian agents, which have increased following Russia’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Estonia last month expelled 21 Russian embassy staff, saying it would only welcome eight diplomatic officials to its territory, matching the size of Tallinn’s team in Moscow.
The Kremlin responded by expelling Estonian Ambassador Margus Laidre from Russia – the country’s first ambassadorial expulsion in the year since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Tallinn then ended the tenure of Russian Ambassador Vladimir Lipayev on Pikk Street.
On March 24, Estonia went on to expel a Russian diplomat identified as adviser Alexander Savinov, whom it accused of spreading propaganda justifying Russian military action and “causing divisions in Estonian society. “.
“Limiting Russia’s scope to operate and take action, I think it serves our national interests,” Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Reinsalu told POLITICO in an interview. “Estonia intended to freeze relations in various ways.”
For European neighbors watching, the escalation in diplomatic exchanges raises a tricky strategic question: Sacrificing the eyes and ears of an experienced ambassador on the ground in Moscow to rid the home country of suspected carrier-borne spoilers. it too high a price?
Estonia’s Baltic neighbors are also toeing Tallinn’s line: Latvia withdrew its ambassador from Moscow in solidarity with Estonia, while Lithuania voluntarily withdrew its top Moscow-based diplomat last year amid evidence Russian atrocities in the Ukrainian town of Bucha.
But other European governments remain more cautious, their ambassadors continuing to provide information from Moscow at home, just as Russian envoys on their own soil are doing the same for the Kremlin.
Split viewsIn Estonia, opinions on the country’s tougher diplomatic line are divided.
Outside the Russian Embassy on a recent weekday there was clear evidence of popular support for the removal of Ambassador Lipayev.
Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Reinsalu says his country intends to ‘freeze relations’ with Russia in various ways | Kenzo Tribouillard/AFP via Getty ImagesA protest poster near the embassy called on all Russian diplomatic staff to leave Estonia, suggesting they might feel more comfortable in a dictatorship like North Korea or Syria.
Smoking under an archway opposite the embassy, Kristjan Suits, a 35-year-old Estonian designer working for a nearby theater, described the recent evictions as belated.
“I think they should have been cleaned up a long time ago,” Suits said. “Everything they do in there,” he said, gesturing towards Pikk Street 19, “is a plan provocation.”
Estonia has denounced Russian intelligence operations in the past.
In 2018, Estonian soldier Deniss Metsavas was found guilty of treason after passing military secrets to a Russian handler in a case that Estonian officials said had “seriously hurt” their country’s national defense. And in 2019, an Estonian court sentenced Vladimir Kulikov, a former employee of the Internal Security Service, to five years in prison for spying for Moscow.
But the downgrading of Tallinn’s representation in Moscow has also raised fears that the country’s officials could find themselves absent from important talks in the Russian capital.
“We must not allow a situation to develop where the big players are talking, while we are being talked about,” former Estonian President Kersti Kaljulaid said during a discussion on Estonian national TV channel ERR.
In a recent interview with the same broadcaster, former Estonian ambassador Laidre seemed to suggest that Estonia and its immediate neighbors had made a mistake.
“If we now look at the big picture, we see that none of the Baltic republics have an ambassador in Moscow – but at the same time we pretend to be experts on Russia,” he said.
Laidre declined an interview request.
Questioning the valueSince Russia invaded Ukraine in February last year, Estonia has become a strong advocate of military support for kyiv and an uncompromising approach to negotiating with the Kremlin. Prime Minister Kaja Kallas recently won a general election promising to continue his country’s hard line.
Immediately after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last February, a series of other European states took an equally robust stance, expelling around 300 Russian diplomats from capitals across the continent.
Prime Minister Kaja Kallas recently won a general election promising to continue her country’s hard line on Russia | Raigo Pajula/AFP via Getty ImagesSome states, including Slovenia and more recently the Netherlands, have sought to reduce Russian diplomatic representation in their capitals to match the size of their own delegations in Moscow, which Estonian Foreign Minister Reinsalu welcomed. .
But the big players in this group – such as Germany, France and the UK – have stopped pressing further, such as expelling Russian ambassadors, if it means downgrading their own missions in Moscow.
This could be partly because Western governments are currently placing a high priority on intelligence-gathering efforts in Moscow, while the war in Ukraine is still raging, and they are likely to be wary of any action that could harm these efforts.
“Embassies are intelligence platforms,” said Tony Ingesson, senior lecturer in political science and intelligence analysis at Sweden’s Lund University. “When Russians retaliate against Western countries with expulsions, it can also make it more difficult to collect intelligence in Russia,” he explained.
European governments have also traditionally said that their ambassadors, if they could stay in Moscow, could try to influence Russian officials behind the scenes and push them towards less aggressive policies towards Ukraine and other states. neighbors.
But Estonian Reinsalu played down the likelihood of such efforts succeeding.
“We have to be realistic: any form of diplomatic influence towards Russia…that’s not the case right now,” he said.
Reinsalu said Europe should instead focus more on Russian personnel abroad.
“There are hundreds, if not thousands of Russians – citizens of an aggressor state under diplomatic cover – moving around Europe,” Reinsalu said. “It is reality.”
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