WARSAW - Poland has arrested a Spanish national of Russian origin on suspicion of participating in foreign intelligence activities, the Internal Security Agency (ABW) said on Friday.
The man, identified as an agent of Russia's military intelligence agency (GRU), was detained in Przemysl - near Poland's border with Ukraine - on the night of Feb. 27-28, ABW said in a statement.
The agency said the man carried out operations to benefit Russia, and traveled in Europe and elsewhere under cover of being a journalist.
"Before his detention, he was planning to go to Ukraine in order to continue his activity," it said.
The man will remain in custody for three months initially, and faces up to 10 years in prison if found guilty, the agency said.
MOSCOW - Russia's parliament on Friday passed a law imposing a jail term of up to 15 years for spreading intentionally 'fake' information about the armed forces as Moscow fights back in what it casts as an information war over the conflict in Ukraine.
Russian officials have repeatedly said that false information has been spread by Russia's enemies such as the United States and its allies in an attempt to sow discord and divide its people.
Russian lawmakers passed the law, making the spread of 'fake' information or public calls for sanctions against Russia criminal offenses.
"If the fakes lead to serious consequences then imprisonment of up to 15 years threatens," the lower house of parliament, known as the Duma in Russian, said in a statement.
The law appears to give the Russian state much stronger powers to crack down on what officials consider to be statements that discredit the armed forces.
Foreign ministers converged onto NATO Headquarters in Brussels Friday morning for its emergency meeting on Ukraine. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is expected to attend the meeting.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks during a news conference before a NATO foreign ministers meeting in Brussels, Belgium on March 4, 2022. REUTERS/Yves Herman/Pool
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, left, arrives for an extraordinary NATO foreign ministers meeting on March 4, 2022. AP Photo/Olivier Matthys
Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto arrives to take part in a NATO foreign ministers meeting on March 4, 2022. REUTERS/Yves Herman
GENEVA — Russia’s expulsion from international soccer ahead of the World Cup playoffs is heading toward yet another urgent case at the Court of Arbitration for Sport. And Russian sports have had some success in the court.
The Russian Football Union is ready and waiting Friday to file a formal appeal against the joint decision by FIFA and UEFA to exclude its national and club teams from international competitions.
It sets up a fascinating legal contest with time running down on the clock.
In 20 days, the Russia men’s national team is scheduled to play Poland in a qualifying playoff semifinal. The playoff finals are five days later, with spots at the World Cup in Qatar at stake.
Still, that timetable gives the CAS longer than it had last month to judge the case of 15-year-old figure skater Kamila Valieva at the Beijing Olympics.
The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant shows bright flaring object landing in grounds of the nuclear plant in Enerhodar, Ukraine on March 4, 2022. Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant via AP
KYIV - Russian military forces have seized the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine's southeast, a local authority said on Friday.
"Operational personnel are monitoring the condition of power units," it said on social media, adding that the efforts sought to ensure the operations were in line with safety requirements.
Ukraine has said Russian forces attacked the plant in the early hours of Friday, setting an adjacent five-story training facility on fire.
BEIJING — The 2022 Winter Paralympics open Friday in Beijing, with the Russian athletes sent home and the Ukrainian team escaping a war zone to get here.
“It’s a miracle that we have made it to the Paralympics,” the head of the Ukrainian delegation, Valerii Sushkevych, told a news conference on the eve of the Games.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, shortly after the Winter Olympics wrapped up in Beijing, is roiling the world. And the world of sports is no exception.
Paralympics organizers initially announced that Russians and Belarusians would be allowed to compete in Beijing, but reversed course one day before the opening and expelled athletes from both countries. They cited tensions in the Athletes Village.
Airbnb, the home rental company, suspended its operations in Russia, co-founder Brian Chesky announced late Thursday.
The company will no longer operate in Belarus, Russia's ally, either.
Chesky, displaying a Ukraine flag beside his name on Twitter, had revealed Airbnb was working with hosts to house about 100,000 Ukrainian refugees who've fled the country since Russia's invasion.
Airbnb is suspending all operations in Russia and Belarus
US Sen. Lindsey Graham called on Russians to assassinate President Vladimir Putin Thursday night, as Ukraine pleaded with the West to fight the “nuclear terror.”
Graham, 66, a South Carolina Republican, made the call to action on Twitter as he compared Putin to Roman dictator Julius Caesar and Nazi leader Adolf Hitler.
“Is there a Brutus in Russia? Is there a more successful Colonel Stauffenberg in the Russian military?” Graham wrote.
“The only way this ends is for somebody in Russia to take this guy out. You would be doing your country – and the world – a great service.”
Radiation levels are normal as a fire continues to burn at a Ukrainian nuclear power plant after the Russian assault on the facility ended Friday night, according to officials.
Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant spokesman Andrii Tuz said the plant has not sustained critical damage, however only one out of the six power blocks are currently operational, according to CNN.
The mayor of Energodar, where the plant is located, confirmed that several people have been seriously injured during the attacks, but the exact number was unclear.
Three floors of a five-story building located on the property continue to burn, officials said, as Russian military prohibits firefighters from responding, according to Ukrainian officials.
Residents of Energodar, a city of about 50,000 about 400 miles to the southeast of Kyiv, will not be evacuated, but a plan is still being prepared, according to Regional State Administration Alexander Starukh.
Russia resorted to “nuclear terror” with an attack on Ukraine’s largest nuclear plant early Friday morning as President Volodymyr Zelensky said Moscow can only be stopped by “immediate European action.”
The nuclear facility is the largest of its kind in Europe and could cause a disaster “10 times larger than Chernobyl” if it were to blow up, one Ukrainian official warned.
The blaze was eventually contained and the plant was secured, officials said.
The attack led Zelensky to denounce Russia in the harshest of terms as he called on the West to intervene.
“Russian army has opened fire on Zaporizhzhia NPP," he said. "No state except Russia has ever opened fire at nuclear power units. For the first time in human history, a terrorist state has resorted to nuclear terror. Only immediate European action can stop Russian troops."
ZURICH — Ukraine wants to postpone its World Cup qualifying playoff against Scotland, FIFA said Thursday, amid a shutdown in domestic soccer during the invasion by Russia.
“FIFA can confirm it has received a request from the Ukrainian Association of Football today to postpone their matches scheduled for March,” world soccer's governing body said.
Ukraine is set to play Scotland in Glasgow on March 24, with the winner then taking on either Wales or Austria five days later for a place at this year's World Cup in Qatar.
Everton's Vitaliy Mykolenko from Ukraine, wearing the Ukrainian flag on his t-shirt, warms up before the English FA Cup 5th round soccer match between Everton and Boreham Wood at Goodison Park in Liverpool, England. Jon Super
A large part of Ukraine's team is typically made up of players playing for domestic clubs such as Dynamo Kyiv and Shakhtar Donetsk. They have been disrupted by the national league stopping last week and many players who are not from Ukraine left the country to seek safety.
FIFA said it was in talks with Scottish officials and European soccer body UEFA “to find an appropriate solution. FIFA expresses its deepest solidarity to everybody affected by what is happening in Ukraine.”
One option would be to postpone the games in the four-team playoff bracket until the next national-team match dates in June. The global World Cup qualifying program has already seen several delays because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Benfica's Darwin Nunez, left, helps teammate Roman Yaremchuk, from Ukraine, take off his shirt after scoring his side's second goal, to reveal an undershirt with the coat of arms of Ukraine. Armando Franca
The draw for the tournament is scheduled for April 1 in Doha, but at least two of the 32 entries will not be known by that date.
The final two places are set to be decided in June when four teams – from Asia, North or Central America, South America and Oceania – go to Qatar for the intercontinental playoffs.
Ukraine has qualified for the World Cup only once since becoming an independent soccer nation 30 years ago, reaching the quarterfinals in 2006. Ukraine also reached the quarterfinals at the European Championship last year.
Russia was also set to take part in the World Cup playoffs and is challenging a FIFA decision to suspend the country from international soccer.
