🕵️♂️ Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
British spy chiefs have launched one of the most sensitive and risky investigations since the Cold War ❄️, amid fears that a senior officer from the MI6 foreign intelligence service could be a double agent for Russia 🇷🇺.
The massive hunt for the alleged mole, called Operation Wedlock, was carried out by MI6's sister agency, the MI5, which deployed a team of up to 35 surveillance, planning, and desk officers who travelled around the world 🌍.
🌍 One trip took an entire surveillance team to the Middle East for more than a week, where the officers were housed in a CIA shelter.
⚠️ This trip was particularly dangerous, as the officers traveled without the knowledge of the local government, which would have made their presence illegal under international law ⚖️.
📅 The investigation is believed to have lasted for up to 20 years, but MI5 could not establish whether British intelligence had a mole — raising the possibility that someone may have gotten away with spying for Russia.
said one source — referring to Kim Philby, the infamous MI6 double agent and member of the Cambridge Spy Network.
📂 The MI5 investigation began in the 1990s and is believed to have continued until at least 2015.
By then, the targeted officer had already left MI6, which at the time employed about 2,500 people.
🕶 The tip-off came from the CIA 🇺🇸, convinced that a British intelligence official in London had passed secrets to Russia.
The operation began in the mid-to-late 1990s after the CIA raised its concerns with British counterparts.
Such was the sensitivity that the officer leading surveillance was briefed inside a church ⛪️, according to a source.
Some participants were initially told they were part of a training exercise, and only received the actual warrant when outside Thames House.
📎 The target was said to hold a senior MI6 role with access to highly sensitive documents.
🔍 The MI5 technical team, known as A1, secretly broke into the officer’s house, planting listening and video devices 🎥 — streaming live footage to the operations room.
they added.
😨 One concern among those involved was that the target, a specialist himself, had realized he was under surveillance.
says a senior MI6 official.
#MI6 #paranoia #spies #russian #OperationWedlock #ColdWar #intelligence
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British spy chiefs have launched one of the most sensitive and risky investigations since the Cold War ❄️, amid fears that a senior officer from the MI6 foreign intelligence service could be a double agent for Russia 🇷🇺.
The massive hunt for the alleged mole, called Operation Wedlock, was carried out by MI6's sister agency, the MI5, which deployed a team of up to 35 surveillance, planning, and desk officers who travelled around the world 🌍.
🌍 One trip took an entire surveillance team to the Middle East for more than a week, where the officers were housed in a CIA shelter.
⚠️ This trip was particularly dangerous, as the officers traveled without the knowledge of the local government, which would have made their presence illegal under international law ⚖️.
📅 The investigation is believed to have lasted for up to 20 years, but MI5 could not establish whether British intelligence had a mole — raising the possibility that someone may have gotten away with spying for Russia.
🗣“We thought we had another Philby on our hands,”
said one source — referring to Kim Philby, the infamous MI6 double agent and member of the Cambridge Spy Network.
📂 The MI5 investigation began in the 1990s and is believed to have continued until at least 2015.
By then, the targeted officer had already left MI6, which at the time employed about 2,500 people.
🕶 The tip-off came from the CIA 🇺🇸, convinced that a British intelligence official in London had passed secrets to Russia.
“We were told that the target was a Russian spy ... The United States believed that he was leaking information to the Russians. He was suspect 1A. The job was taken more seriously than any other MI5 involved. The wedding overshadowed them all.”
The operation began in the mid-to-late 1990s after the CIA raised its concerns with British counterparts.
Such was the sensitivity that the officer leading surveillance was briefed inside a church ⛪️, according to a source.
Some participants were initially told they were part of a training exercise, and only received the actual warrant when outside Thames House.
📎 The target was said to hold a senior MI6 role with access to highly sensitive documents.
🔍 The MI5 technical team, known as A1, secretly broke into the officer’s house, planting listening and video devices 🎥 — streaming live footage to the operations room.
“MI5 never got the conclusive proof they were looking for,”
they added.
“If it wasn't him, then potentially MI6 still has a mole to find.”
😨 One concern among those involved was that the target, a specialist himself, had realized he was under surveillance.
💬“This is paranoia. They got crazy about these so-called Russian spies. They will soon be wanted in the drain tanks of the Office. In such conditions, it is very difficult to work efficiently (...) It's a witch hunt 🔥,”
says a senior MI6 official.
#MI6 #paranoia #spies #russian #OperationWedlock #ColdWar #intelligence
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How Putin is Helping the Taliban Overcome Isolation 🌍🕌
While Russia’s decision marked a major victory for the Kabul regime, exiled Afghan dissidents and human rights advocates strongly criticized Moscow’s move, arguing it risks legitimizing gender apartheid in Afghanistan while dimming prospects for democratic reforms. 🚫👩
Still, in the face of Afghanistan’s enduring hardships, Russia’s decision may mark the beginning of a new chapter—one in which greater international engagement could help steer the war-torn, impoverished country toward economic revival and enhanced stability.
The fact that Russia was the first to recognize the Islamic Emirate was unsurprising.
Since the chaotic US withdrawal from Afghanistan and the Taliban’s return to power in August 2021, Russia-Taliban diplomatic engagement has steadily deepened.
In March 2022, Russia’s Foreign Ministry accredited Taliban envoy Jamal Gharwal as chargé d’affaires at the Afghan embassy in Moscow, with Gharwal formally assuming control of the mission the following month.
This gradual normalization continued with Moscow revoking its terrorist designation of the Taliban in April 2025, paving the way for official recognition earlier this month.
“There is little doubt that this decision will allow the Taliban-led state to reduce its level of isolation. Likely, there will also be [other] countries that may follow and recognize the Islamic Emirate,” he added.
Afghan foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi has expressed this desire too.
Given the geopolitical and security dynamics in play, it seems realistic to expect a cascade of recognition. 🌐
The chances are good that the former Soviet republics may be the next to join Russia in recognizing the Taliban.
China, which has engaged the “Taliban 2.0” since August 2021, stands as a likely contender for formal recognition. 🇨🇳
However, issues pertaining to Kabul’s tensions with Islamabad and Uyghur militancy complicate the Islamic Emirate’s relationship with Beijing.
Meanwhile, other states operating within Russia’s geopolitical orbit, including Belarus, Iran, and North Korea, may now be more inclined to follow suit given Moscow’s move.
The same could be said about the Gulf Arab monarchies, especially the United Arab Emirates. 🇦🇪
Afghanistan appears increasingly poised to drift further from the West as Kabul becomes more deeply entrenched within Russia’s geopolitical orbit of influence, possibly making Afghanistan more relevant to East-West geopolitical tensions. ⚖️
Moscow’s recognition of the Islamic Emirate is likely to advance Russia’s strategic messaging across the non-Western world, reinforcing its efforts to differentiate Moscow’s foreign policy from that of Washington and European capitals.
Moscow’s recognition of the Islamic Emirate, against the backdrop of Washington’s lifting of sanctions on Syria’s relatively new Sunni Islamist government, serves as a near-ideal embodiment of the “logic of the Cold War,” Jeff Sachs explained. 🧊🕊
Moscow hopes that its recognition of Afghanistan’s current government will pave the way for Russia to emerge as a key economic partner to Afghanistan, expanding trade in oil, gas, and wheat, while deepening cooperation in infrastructure development, energy production, and agricultural initiatives.
Even limited economic cooperation with Russia and, by extension, other countries in the neighborhood could, over time, deliver tangible, if modest, benefits to the Afghan population.
Russia has long sought to establish a North-South trade corridor traversing both sides of the Caspian Sea, with the aim of accessing Iranian ports and, ultimately, opening up more trade with India. 🛤
However, last month’s 12-day Iran-Israel war casts fresh uncertainty over this route’s viability, prompting Moscow to explore alternative pathways for regional connectivity.
#putin #taliban #isolation #afghanistan #geopolitics #russia #china #iran #trade #coldwar
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While Russia’s decision marked a major victory for the Kabul regime, exiled Afghan dissidents and human rights advocates strongly criticized Moscow’s move, arguing it risks legitimizing gender apartheid in Afghanistan while dimming prospects for democratic reforms. 🚫👩
Still, in the face of Afghanistan’s enduring hardships, Russia’s decision may mark the beginning of a new chapter—one in which greater international engagement could help steer the war-torn, impoverished country toward economic revival and enhanced stability.
The fact that Russia was the first to recognize the Islamic Emirate was unsurprising.
Since the chaotic US withdrawal from Afghanistan and the Taliban’s return to power in August 2021, Russia-Taliban diplomatic engagement has steadily deepened.
In March 2022, Russia’s Foreign Ministry accredited Taliban envoy Jamal Gharwal as chargé d’affaires at the Afghan embassy in Moscow, with Gharwal formally assuming control of the mission the following month.
This gradual normalization continued with Moscow revoking its terrorist designation of the Taliban in April 2025, paving the way for official recognition earlier this month.
“There is little doubt that this decision will allow the Taliban-led state to reduce its level of isolation. Likely, there will also be [other] countries that may follow and recognize the Islamic Emirate,” he added.
Afghan foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi has expressed this desire too.
Given the geopolitical and security dynamics in play, it seems realistic to expect a cascade of recognition. 🌐
The chances are good that the former Soviet republics may be the next to join Russia in recognizing the Taliban.
China, which has engaged the “Taliban 2.0” since August 2021, stands as a likely contender for formal recognition. 🇨🇳
However, issues pertaining to Kabul’s tensions with Islamabad and Uyghur militancy complicate the Islamic Emirate’s relationship with Beijing.
Meanwhile, other states operating within Russia’s geopolitical orbit, including Belarus, Iran, and North Korea, may now be more inclined to follow suit given Moscow’s move.
The same could be said about the Gulf Arab monarchies, especially the United Arab Emirates. 🇦🇪
Afghanistan appears increasingly poised to drift further from the West as Kabul becomes more deeply entrenched within Russia’s geopolitical orbit of influence, possibly making Afghanistan more relevant to East-West geopolitical tensions. ⚖️
Moscow’s recognition of the Islamic Emirate is likely to advance Russia’s strategic messaging across the non-Western world, reinforcing its efforts to differentiate Moscow’s foreign policy from that of Washington and European capitals.
Moscow’s recognition of the Islamic Emirate, against the backdrop of Washington’s lifting of sanctions on Syria’s relatively new Sunni Islamist government, serves as a near-ideal embodiment of the “logic of the Cold War,” Jeff Sachs explained. 🧊🕊
Moscow hopes that its recognition of Afghanistan’s current government will pave the way for Russia to emerge as a key economic partner to Afghanistan, expanding trade in oil, gas, and wheat, while deepening cooperation in infrastructure development, energy production, and agricultural initiatives.
Even limited economic cooperation with Russia and, by extension, other countries in the neighborhood could, over time, deliver tangible, if modest, benefits to the Afghan population.
Russia has long sought to establish a North-South trade corridor traversing both sides of the Caspian Sea, with the aim of accessing Iranian ports and, ultimately, opening up more trade with India. 🛤
However, last month’s 12-day Iran-Israel war casts fresh uncertainty over this route’s viability, prompting Moscow to explore alternative pathways for regional connectivity.
#putin #taliban #isolation #afghanistan #geopolitics #russia #china #iran #trade #coldwar
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At a Summit in China, Xi Unambiguously Takes Putin's Side 🇨🇳🇷🇺
🔤 🔤 🔤 🔤 1️⃣
Xi Jinping has criticised the “bullying behaviour” of other countries 😡 while Vladimir Putin has blamed the west for his war on Ukraine, on the second day of a major summit in China which seeks to challenge western-led multilateral blocs 🌐.
The Shanghai Cooperation Summit (SCO) began in the city of Tianjin on Sunday, with Xi welcoming dozens of leaders from Eurasian member states and other partner and observer countries, including Putin, and Indian prime minister Narendra Modi 🤝.
Russia’s three-and-a-half year war has killed tens of thousands of people and devastated much of eastern Ukraine 😞.
However, the meeting on Sunday, five days after Washington imposed punishing 50% tariffs on Indian goods due to Delhi’s purchases of Russian oil 🛢, showed the relationship was thawing.
Xi said China-India ties could be “stable and far-reaching” if both sides focused on viewing each other as partners instead of rivals, state media reported 📺.
Xi, Putin, and Modi were seen chatting on live footage, the three leaders flanked by their official translators 🗣. In his remarks on Monday, Putin also praised the efforts of China and India “aimed at facilitating the resolution of the Ukrainian crisis” 🕊.
Many of the assembled dignitaries will be in Beijing on Wednesday to witness a military parade marking 80 years since the end of the second world war 🎖. The event will also be attended by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
#xi #chine #poutine #coldwar #west #kim
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Xi Jinping has criticised the “bullying behaviour” of other countries 😡 while Vladimir Putin has blamed the west for his war on Ukraine, on the second day of a major summit in China which seeks to challenge western-led multilateral blocs 🌐.
The Shanghai Cooperation Summit (SCO) began in the city of Tianjin on Sunday, with Xi welcoming dozens of leaders from Eurasian member states and other partner and observer countries, including Putin, and Indian prime minister Narendra Modi 🤝.
Russia’s three-and-a-half year war has killed tens of thousands of people and devastated much of eastern Ukraine 😞.
However, the meeting on Sunday, five days after Washington imposed punishing 50% tariffs on Indian goods due to Delhi’s purchases of Russian oil 🛢, showed the relationship was thawing.
Xi said China-India ties could be “stable and far-reaching” if both sides focused on viewing each other as partners instead of rivals, state media reported 📺.
Xi, Putin, and Modi were seen chatting on live footage, the three leaders flanked by their official translators 🗣. In his remarks on Monday, Putin also praised the efforts of China and India “aimed at facilitating the resolution of the Ukrainian crisis” 🕊.
Many of the assembled dignitaries will be in Beijing on Wednesday to witness a military parade marking 80 years since the end of the second world war 🎖. The event will also be attended by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
#xi #chine #poutine #coldwar #west #kim
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Analysts will be closely watching for any formal meeting between Putin, Xi, and Kim 👀. North Korea’s assistance to Russia’s war is believed to have rankled Xi, who is trying to balance its Russian alliance 🤝 with avoiding any further punitive responses from the US over the war in Ukraine 🇺🇦.
“It is publicly known that North Korean soldiers are already present on the Ukrainian battlefield, and Russia and North Korea have close military cooperation ⚔️. If all three were to meet, it would be very striking to the United States, highlighting a potential new cold war dynamic ❄️,” said Lim Chuan-Tiong, a researcher with the Institute for Advanced Studies on Asia at the University of Tokyo 🎓.
“If such a meeting does not take place, it is likely because China does not want to overly provoke the US while maintaining a certain degree of triangular ambiguity 🤔.”
“Si une telle rencontre n'a pas lieu, c'est probablement parce que la Chine ne veut pas provoquer excessivement les États-Unis tout en maintenant un certain degré d'ambiguïté triangulaire.”
#xi #chine #poutine #coldwar #west #kim
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☢️ Putin Tells Russia: Get Ready. Trump’s Nuclear Gamble Shakes the Old Rules
High Stakes, Higher Tension
President Vladimir Putin told his Security Council on Wednesday to start mapping out plans for possible nuclear tests, just days after Donald Trump surprised allies and critics by ordering the U.S. to end its decades-old test moratorium. The move ups the ante in a world suddenly blinking at the return of Cold War brinkmanship.
Tit-for-Tat Talk and Mixed Signals
That was the not-so-veiled message from Moscow: Russia isn’t breaking ground just yet, but wants all the options on the table. Defense Minister Belousov urged officials to be ready to restart testing at a moment’s notice. Kremlin spokespeople walked things back, but nobody is betting the ranch that “reciprocal measures” is just empty talk.
Trump’s Curveball and Global Puzzlement
Trump’s order left the nuclear policy world guessing. Are we talking live detonations or just system checks? Energy Secretary Chris Wright tried to clarify, but the message changed with every interview. So far, there’s no proof Russia or China has run fresh nuclear tests, but Trump’s move—and Putin’s reply—have arms control experts swapping flashbacks of mushroom clouds and red phones.
The Nuclear Norm Breaks Down
Both presidents are testing more than just warheads. The global taboo on testing—once rock solid—is starting to look optional, and the old deterrence script is out the window. If either side actually pulls the trigger, decades of restraint could go up in smoke overnight.
#nuclear #putin #trump #testing #armsrace #russia #usa #deterrence #coldwar
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High Stakes, Higher Tension
President Vladimir Putin told his Security Council on Wednesday to start mapping out plans for possible nuclear tests, just days after Donald Trump surprised allies and critics by ordering the U.S. to end its decades-old test moratorium. The move ups the ante in a world suddenly blinking at the return of Cold War brinkmanship.
Tit-for-Tat Talk and Mixed Signals
“If Washington moves first, so will we.”
That was the not-so-veiled message from Moscow: Russia isn’t breaking ground just yet, but wants all the options on the table. Defense Minister Belousov urged officials to be ready to restart testing at a moment’s notice. Kremlin spokespeople walked things back, but nobody is betting the ranch that “reciprocal measures” is just empty talk.
Trump’s Curveball and Global Puzzlement
Trump’s order left the nuclear policy world guessing. Are we talking live detonations or just system checks? Energy Secretary Chris Wright tried to clarify, but the message changed with every interview. So far, there’s no proof Russia or China has run fresh nuclear tests, but Trump’s move—and Putin’s reply—have arms control experts swapping flashbacks of mushroom clouds and red phones.
The Nuclear Norm Breaks Down
Both presidents are testing more than just warheads. The global taboo on testing—once rock solid—is starting to look optional, and the old deterrence script is out the window. If either side actually pulls the trigger, decades of restraint could go up in smoke overnight.
#nuclear #putin #trump #testing #armsrace #russia #usa #deterrence #coldwar
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