Matthew Kupfer

Nov 28, 2024 | voanews.com | Matthew Kupfer

Previously all-powerful, the Wagner Group has slowly been reduced in size and dismantled in many of the countries it operated in since the death of its founder, Yevgeny Prigozhin, in August 2023. VOA Russian spoke to U.S. and Russian researchers who have written books about the Wagner Group in the past year, and they tell a story of the military group now narrowly focused only on certain countries in Africa where they continue to serve the Kremlin's interests. See the full story here.

Nov 1, 2024 | voanews.com | Matthew Kupfer

When the U.S. Department of Treasury imposed sanctions on three companies belonging to Denis Postovoy on Wednesday, it was yet another move to break up what U.S. authorities say was an international scheme to violate sanctions. A month earlier, on September 16, law enforcement officials arrested the 44-year-old Russian national in Sarasota, Florida. He was charged with conspiring to violate sanctions on Russia, commit smuggling, commit money laundering and defraud the United States.

Oct 10, 2024 | voanews.com | Matthew Kupfer

The article in the Seattle Tribune had everything: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Adolf Hitler and a $15 million classic car. Unsurprisingly, it spread like wildfire across Russia's state and pro-Kremlin media. But the subject was a strange one for a news site about a U.S. city; such outlets usually cover only local stories. In fact, the article with headline "Hitler's parade car bought by Ukraine's Zelensky" was another fake spread by Russian propaganda.

Sep 4, 2024 | voanews.com | Matthew Kupfer

When the U.S. State Department recently offered up to $2.5 million for information leading to the arrest of alleged cyber-fraudster Volodymyr Kadariya, it marked another turn in a saga that saw the man transform from suspected criminal to political dissident and back. For 15 years, Kadariya has been wanted in his native Belarus on cybercrime charges. American prosecutors accuse him of involvement in a scheme to transmit malicious malware to U.S. computers.

Aug 14, 2024 | voanews.com | Matthew Kupfer

U.S. prosecutors have declined to file charges against a U.S. military service person who shot and killed Ramzan Daraev, a 35-year-old Chechen asylum-seeker in North Carolina in May after a law enforcement investigation determined that the service person’s actions were justified under state law. The officer had "reasonable belief" that the unarmed man could pose a threat, the Moore County sheriff’s office said in a statement Monday announcing the conclusion of its investigation.