https://oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-...nery-in-Suspected-Ukrainian-Drone-Attack.html Fire Damages Rosneft Refinery in Suspected Ukrainian Drone Attack By Tsvetana Paraskova - Jan 25, 2024, 7:30 AM CST A large refinery of Russian state oil giant Rosneft in southern Russia was damaged in a fire early on Thursday in a suspected Ukrainian drone attack, in the latest incident at Russian energy export infrastructure over the past week. The 240,000 barrels-per-day refinery in Tuapse, southern Russia, was hit by a fire that was extinguished early on Thursday, local authorities said. “The vacuum unit was on fire. According to preliminary information, there were neither casualties nor injured,” Sergei Boiko, the head of the Tuapse district, wrote on Telegram, as carried by Reuters. The Tuapse refinery mostly exports its production of naphtha, high-sulfur diesel, fuel oil, and vacuum gasoil to Turkey, China, Malaysia, and Singapore. The fire was the result of a drone attack by the Ukrainian security service, a Ukrainian source told Reuters. The SBU security service of Ukraine will continue to attack fuel facilities, according to the source. “The SBU strikes deep into the Russian Federation and continues attacks on facilities which are not only important for the Russian economy, but also provide fuel for the enemy troops,” the source told Reuters. The drone attack at the Rosneft refinery in southern Russia took place days after another suspected drone attack this weekend forced Russia’s gas firm Novatek to suspend operations at a Baltic Sea fuel export terminal. As of Tuesday, Russia’s Ust-Luga port on the Baltic Sea continued to ship crude and fuels for exports, although Novatek’s fuel export terminal remained shut after reportedly being hit by a drone attack. The terminal operated by Novatek remains shut, but the other terminals, including one for crude oil exports and two other fuel export terminals, were operational as of Tuesday, Reuters reported, citing industry sources and LSEG data. Ust-Luga is one of the key export hubs for Russian crude oil and fuels.
https://www.businessinsider.com/ukr...00-russian-military-sites-cause-chaos-2024-1# Ukraine's 'Blackjack' hackers breached 500 Russian military sites and caused chaos, says military intelligence The Ukrainian hacking group "Blackjack" successfully targeted Russian military sites and mined data. The data includes intel on Russian military bases, air-defense installations, and weapons arsenals. Operatives mined data from more than 500 Russian military sites, Ukrainian intelligence said. "Blackjack," a Ukrainian group of hackers with possible ties to the country's main spy agency, stole construction plans for over 500 Russian military sites, Newsweek reported. The cyber operatives are believed to have links to the Security Service of Ukraine. Ukraine's military-intelligence agency, the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine, or GUR, confirmed the successful operation on Friday. "Blackjack blew the jackpot," GUR shared in Ukrainian on Telegram. GUR said a successful cyberattack had been launched against a Russian state enterprise overseeing all construction contracts for Russia's Ministry of Defence. They wrote that operatives had transferred critical information about Russian military facilities that have already been completed, constructed, reconstructed, or planned for construction to the Security and Defense Forces of Ukraine. The Blackjack group amassed 1.2 terabytes of classified data on Vladimir Putin's military apparatus. The data includes detailed maps of more than 500 Russian military bases across Russia and Russian-occupied Ukrainian territories. The mined information includes crucial data about Russian Army headquarters, air-defense installations, and weapons arsenals. The Ukrainian public broadcaster Suspilne said the group also took down seven servers and encrypted over 150 of the Russian contractor's employee computers. "Effectively, the Russian construction specialists were left without any data or backup copies of information," Suspilne said, Euromaidan Press reported. GUR wrote on Telegram that operatives deleted all the specified data from the Russian company's servers as part of the cyber operation, which temporarily paralyzed the construction of new Russian facilities. "We express our gratitude to the members of the powerful Blackjack cyber community, who again deftly beat the Russians and significantly strengthened Ukraine's defense capabilities," GUR wrote in Ukrainian. The Telegram post concluded with, "Glory to Ukraine!" Cyber warfare has played a key role in Russia's war on Ukraine. Earlier this month, the Business Insider reporter Sinéad Baker wrote that Russia had hacked Kyiv surveillance cameras to zero in on targets for its devastating coordinated-missile attack. Both armies are taking advantage of cyberspace in their military strategy. Last month, Ukrainian marines hacked a Russian drone's video feed to track it and subsequently shell it.
Thank you Vladimir Putin. MAKE NORWAY GREAT AGAIN!!! Norway hits gas mining record, singlehandedly covering nearly half of EU's demand Norway hits gas mining record, singlehandedly covering nearly half of EU's demand (msn.com)
https://www.barrons.com/news/german...n-on-x-report-7254cfa6?refsec=topics_afp-news Germany Uncovers Russian Disinformation Campaign On X: Report By AFP - Agence France Presse January 26, 2024 Germany has uncovered a major "pro-Russian disinformation campaign" using thousands of fake accounts on X to try and stir anger at Berlin's support for Ukraine, a media report said on Friday. The revelations come amid growing concern about the impact increasingly sophisticated disinformation campaigns could have on elections. Experts commissioned by the German foreign ministry used specialised software to monitor posts on the online platform X, formerly known as Twitter, between December 20 and January 20, news weekly Der Spiegel wrote. They reportedly stumbled across more than 50,000 fake user accounts that together pumped out more than a million German-language tweets. A common theme was the accusation that Chancellor Olaf Scholz's government was neglecting the country's own population in favour of helping Ukraine in its war against Russia, according to Spiegel, which said it has seen excerpts of the analysis. The accounts also often linked to fake news stories on websites designed to resemble those of genuine media outlets, Spiegel said, leading analysts to connect it to the Russia-linked "Doppelganger" campaign already known to authorities. The discoveries come at a time of increasing worries about the effect that sophisticated disinformation campaigns could have on elections. Three regional elections are taking place this year in eastern Germany, where the far-right AfD party is riding high in the polls. In June, some 400 million people across the European Union will be eligible to vote in the European Parliament election. EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell warned this week that 2024 will be a "critical year" for fighting disinformation from actors such as Russia. Elections will become "the prime target for malign foreign actors", he warned. The World Economic Forum has ranked disinformation as its number-one threat over the next two years.