As I previously reported here at Townhall, a United States citizen who has now been identified as Paul Whelan, has been detained by the Russian Federal Security Service and said to be caught “during an espionage operation.”

His twin brother is now speaking up on background regarding his brother’s trip, who was a former U.S. Marine. David asserted in many TV interviews early Wednesday that his brother was in Russia to attend a wedding. David Whelan has also shared that this family was told by the U.S. Embassy in Moscow that they have not been able to speak to Paul since his arrest.

Paul’s brother claims he was a frequent traveler to Moscow and the last time anyone heard from him was around 5 p.m. when he failed to show up that evening for the wedding.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, said the United States intends to learn more about the charges and will demand his immediate return “if the detention is not appropriate.”

“We are hopeful within the next hours we will get consular access” to see Paul Whelan, the US citizen detained in Russia on suspicion of spying, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says https://t.co/yTDSZ0m4zK pic.twitter.com/qF6bQKIDwS

— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) January 2, 2019

I just spoke to the brother of American Citizen Paul Whelan who was detained in Russia Friday on espionage charges. His twin brother David tells me no chance his brother was a U.S. spy in Russia. Watch: pic.twitter.com/OLadOndUgd

— Poppy Harlow (@PoppyHarlowCNN) January 1, 2019

Pompeo continues in part stating that the U.S. has “made clear to the Russians our expectation that we will learn more about the charges and come to understand what it is he’s been accused of and if the detention is not appropriate we will demand his immediate return.” (Read more from “New: Emerging Information on U.S. ‘Spy’ Detained in Russia” HERE)

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In a stunning sequence of events, the Russian military opened fire then seized three Ukrainian navy vessels in an unprovoked attack on the Black Sea last Sunday. In the melee, several Ukrainian sailors were wounded and 24 captured. Moscow followed up this flagrant act of war by parading the sailors on Russian television to give clearly coerced confessions of guilt.

This attack is but the latest escalation in the ongoing Russian war against Ukraine that has been churning since 2014. It’s also the first great test for the Trump administration regarding Russia and one that will have lasting consequences on the future of Europe and the world. . .

The war in Ukraine began in 2014 after Russian special forces seized Crimea. The tactic Moscow used is what I dubbed, in U.S. Army publications, “the strategy of ambiguity.” Putin directed that his troops remove all symbols and anything else that would identify them as Russian soldiers.

This had the desired effect, as American journalists breathlessly reported of the ridiculously labeled “little green men” from unknown origins taking control of Crimea. President Obama and the rest of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) allies wrung their hands on what to do. The tactic worked––as President Obama dithered, Russia seized Crimea within a week without firing a shot in anger.

The takeover of Crimea was quickly followed by local referenda to ascertain if Crimea desired to become part of Russia––a vote, of course, that overwhelmingly supported the idea. The deal was sealed just a month after the little green men seized the country, with Putin announcing that Crimea would be annexed by Russia. (Read more from “Why Putin’s Game of Russian Roulette With Ukraine Is a Big Deal” HERE)

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By Washington Times. Russia’s coast guard opened fire on and seized three of Ukraine’s vessels Sunday, wounding two crew members, after a tense standoff in the Black Sea near the Crimean Peninsula, the Ukrainian navy said.

Russia blamed Ukraine for provoking the incident, which sharply escalated tensions that have been growing between the two countries since Moscow annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014, and it has worked steadily to bolster its zone of control around the peninsula.

Earlier in the day, Russia and Ukraine traded accusations over a separate incident involving the same vessels, prompting Moscow to block passage through the narrow Kerch Strait, which separates the peninsula from the Russian mainland.

The Ukrainian navy said two of its gunboats were struck and Russian crews boarded and seized them and an accompanying tugboat.

Russia’s Federal Security Service, known as the FSB and which oversees the coast guard, said there was “irrefutable evidence that Kiev prepared and orchestrated provocations … in the Black Sea. These materials will soon be made public.” (Read more from “Russia Opens Fire on Ukrainian Navy Ships” HERE)

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Tension Escalates After Russia Seizes Ukraine Naval Ships

By BBC News. Russia has fired on and seized three Ukrainian naval vessels off the Crimean Peninsula in a major escalation of tensions between the two countries.

Two gunboats and a tug were captured by Russian forces. A number of Ukrainian crew members were injured.

Each country blames the other for the incident. On Monday Ukrainian MPs are due to vote on declaring martial law.

The crisis began when Russia accused the Ukrainian ships of illegally entering its waters.

The Russians placed a tanker under a bridge in the Kerch Strait – the only access to the Sea of Azov, which is shared between the two countries. (Read more from “Tension Escalates After Russia Seizes Ukraine Naval Ships” HERE)

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By Market Watch. A Russian official who allegedly directed the lawyer who met with representatives of the Trump campaign at Trump Tower in the summer of 2016 has died, the Daily Beast reported Thursday, apparently in a helicopter crash. Saak Albertovich Karapetyan, a Russian deputy attorney general who reportedly had a hand in a number of notorious foreign intelligence operations at the orders of President Vladimir Putin, was killed when his helicopter crashed into a forest northeast of Moscow during an unauthorized flight. (Read more from “Russian Official Linked to Trump Tower Lawyer Dies” HERE)

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Russian Official With Ties to Lawyer in Trump Tower Meeting Dies in Helicopter Crash

By The Hill. A Russian deputy attorney general, who is thought to have directed Russian attorney Natalia Veselnitskaya in her efforts abroad on behalf of Russia’s government, reportedly died Wednesday night in a helicopter crash. . .

Karapetyan was reportedly behind Veselnitskaya’s global efforts to lobby lawmakers to overturn anti-corruption acts such as the U.S. Magnitsky Act, which passed in 2012. The U.S. legislation is similar to others around the world which commemorate Sergei Magnitsky, a lawyer who died while trying to expose a $230 million fraud scheme in Russia. The acts have reportedly incensed Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The Daily Beast reported that Karapetyan signed a letter sent on behalf of Russia’s government to a U.S. court in 2014 refusing assistance into an investigation concerning Magnitsky’s death. The letter was drafted reportedly with aid from Veselnitskaya.

Two years later, Veselnitskaya was involved in a meeting with President Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr., his son-in-law Jared Kushner and former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort at Trump Tower. The meeting, which occurred during the 2016 presidential election, was reportedly set up under the presumption that Veselnitskaya would present damaging information on Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton to the Trump campaign. (Read more from “Russian Official With Ties to Lawyer in Trump Tower Meeting Dies in Helicopter Crash” HERE)

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