GRIM
The Moscow source warned of consequences for Evan Gershkovich over baseless claims that the outlet is spreading “misinformation” about the Kremlin.
Shannon Vavra is a national security reporter for The Daily Beast covering the politics of war, national security, hacking, disinformation, and espionage. She previously worked at Axios and CyberScoop, where she covered the NSA, Cyber Command, and cyber-espionage. She received her bachelor’s degree from Tufts University in international relations with a specialty in Europe and the former Soviet Union. Send her tips at shannon.vavra@thedailybeast.com or tips@thedailybeast.com. You can also use our anonymous document submission system, SecureDrop. Click here to find out how.
SHAMELESS
The president of Kazakhstan was met with laughter, smirks, and awkward glances on stage after warning against Vladimir Putin’s transfer of nuclear weapons to Belarus.
PLAY IT COOL
Sanctions over the war in Ukraine reportedly caused some trouble on the trip.
‘EXTREMELY TENSE’
The Kremlin said it was working to “destroy this sabotage group.”
TRUST NO ONE
The sudden firing spree appears to be the latest sign that Moscow’s wartime paranoia is spiraling.
‘WRITE TO US’
The video is addressed to Americans, and coincides with a promise from Moscow to deliver a “proper, effective response” to a CIA campaign targeting would-be Russian informants.
LAB X
One woman said she found the door to her hotel room open and recalled a strange aroma before a “vivid numbness” came over her.
‘CHAOS’
“What we saw today, he looked really bad. You can say that he’s in the worst shape we’ve seen him so far,” a spokesperson for the Belarusian shadow government told The Daily Beast.
BETWEEN THE LINES
Wagner Group head Yevgeniy Prigozhin claimed Russia is fleeing on the back foot, not regrouping.
‘PROFESSOR X’
The latest target of a mysterious group bent on exposing Chinese government hackers spent years working in Florida, The Daily Beast has learned.