BRUSSELS — The EU is limiting the flow of confidential material to Hungary and leaders are meeting in smaller groups — as Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk warned of long-standing suspicions Viktor Orbán’s government is sharing information with Russia. But there will not be any formal EU response to a fresh set of allegations because of the possible impact on the Hungarian election on April 12, according to five European diplomats and officials who told POLITICO they were concerned about the risk of Budapest leaking sensitive information to the Kremlin. “The news that Orbán’s people inform Moscow about EU Council meetings in every detail shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone,” Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, who has backed Hungarian opposition leader Péter Magyar in the election, wrote on X on Sunday. “We’ve had our suspicions about that for a long time. That’s one reason why I take the floor only when strictly necessary and say just as much as necessary.” In a report on Saturday the Washington Post said that Orbán’s government maintained close contacts with Moscow throughout the war in Ukraine, and Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó used breaks during meetings with other member countries to update his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov. Worries about Hungary sending information directly to Moscow were behind the rise of breakout formats with like-minded leaders, instead of holding meetings with all 27 EU members, said one of the European government officials, who, like others in this article, was granted anonymity to speak freely about sensitive matters. “Overall the less-than-loyal member states are the main reason why most of relevant European diplomacy is now happening in different smaller formats — E3, E4, E7, E8, Weimar, NB8, JEF, etc,” the official said.  The numerals refer to the number of European leaders in the group. The Weimar alliance comprises France, Germany and Poland. NB8 is the eight countries in the Nordics and Baltics. JEF is the Joint Expeditionary Force of 10 northern European nations. ‘FAKE NEWS’ Former Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis, who frequently attended Council meetings where Szijjártó was present, told POLITICO he was warned as early as 2024 that the Hungarian side could be passing on information to Russia, and that he and his counterparts had limited the information they shared when he was present. Even ahead of a critical NATO summit in Vilnius in 2023, envoys moved to cut Budapest’s delegation out of sensitive talks, Landsbergis said. “We would only speak in formal terms, later breaking out to speak without Hungary about the achievables of the summit,” he said.  The Bucharest Group of Nine, a club of countries on the military alliance’s Eastern Flank, reportedly contemplated kicking Budapest out of the format the following year over failures to agree on support for Ukraine. Hungary’s Europe Minister János Bóka told POLITICO the reports over the weekend were “fake news” designed as “a desperate reaction to [Orban’s party] Fidesz gaining momentum in the election campaign. But the Hungarian people won’t be deceived.” János Bóka, Hungary’s EU affairs minister, is pictured at a General Affairs Council in Brussels, Belgium on Jan. 28, 2025. | Martin Bertrand/Hans Lucas/AFP via Getty Images For his part, Szijjártó rejected the content of the Washington Post article and accused the media of putting forward “conspiracy theories that are more preposterous than anything seen before.” More information could be held back in light of the fresh allegations, one of the diplomats said.  “There is an argument to be made for classification of info and documents on the EU side,” the diplomat said. While using the classified designation “isn’t a silver bullet,” it could “serve as a deterrent against leaks and the passing of sensitive info to third parties. It would also make investigations more automatic.” NO SURPRISES The five diplomats said they were unsurprised by the news, but that any formal response would depend on whether Orbán is re-elected in April. Despite lagging behind Magyar’s Tisza in the polls, the Hungarian prime minister told POLITICO on Friday he could “certainly” secure another term. “It undermines trust, cooperation, and the integrity of the European Union,” said a second diplomat of the allegations. “It’s a deplorable situation. If he stays after [the] election, I think the EU need to find ways to deal with this in another manner.” Another cautioned that whatever the EU and its leaders do, Orbán will use it in his favor in the campaign. “I don’t think anybody is eager to do anything that would add oil to fire before April 12,” they said. Despite widespread agreement on the threat posed by Russia, a fourth diplomat pointed out that the content of discussions among leaders and foreign ministers are routinely reported in the press and frequently take place in an unrestricted format, meaning leaders don’t leave their phones outside to minimize the risk of surveillance. But the optics of an EU government working so closely with a hostile state remains politically explosive. “The fact that the Hungarian foreign minister, a close friend of [Russian Foreign Minister] Sergey Lavrov, has been reporting to the Russians practically minute by minute from every EU meeting is outright treason,” Magyar said at a campaign rally over the weekend. “This man has not only betrayed his own country, but Europe as well.” The allegations come as Orbán’s foreign supporters set course for Budapest to help him campaign in the final stretch of the elections. Polish President Karol Nawrocki — a political rival of Tusk’s — will attend events on Monday, while U.S. Vice President JD Vance will jet in ahead of the vote next month.  Orbán refused to sign off on €90 billion in much-needed loans for Ukraine at Friday’s European Council, sparking a furious reaction from fellow leaders. “It wouldn’t be surprising if this proves true,” said a fifth EU diplomat of the allegations. “Hungary has long been [Russian President Vladimir] Putin’s ally within the EU and continues to sabotage European security. The blocked €90 billion is simply the latest example of that pattern.”

Slovenian Prime Minister Robert Golob’s liberals lead by a narrow margin in Sunday’s national election over former right-wing populist leader Janez Janša, according to exit polls.  The preliminary results show Golob’s governing Freedom Movement party securing 29.9 percent of the vote, good for 30 seats in the country’s 90-seat chamber, ahead of Janša’s conservative Slovenian Democratic Party (SDS) on 27.5 percent, equaling 27 seats. If those results hold, it would represent a substantial step back for Golob’s party, which won 41 seats in the last election in 2022. The Slovenian vote has been seen as a mood-check of the bloc’s electorate, with the EU tilting right since the 2024 European Parliament elections gave a boost to right-wing populist parties. A nationalist-populist government took power in the Czech Republic last year, adding to a pro-Moscow bloc that includes Slovakia and Hungary, while the far-right RN leads polling in France ahead of key 2027 presidential elections. If Janša, who has expressed admiration for U.S. President Donald Trump, were to lead the country again, it would give Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán another ally in the European Council. In remarks Sunday night at his party headquarters, Janša said the results show Slovenia has two choices: Either the incumbent liberal-left coalition could continue to govern, or a new right-wing coalition under SDS could take the reins. LIBERALISM VS. ILLIBERALISM Slovenes went to the polls after a dramatic campaign that in its final stretch was less about bread-and-butter issues than allegations of election interference.  Janša, a veteran politician who has served multiple terms as prime minister, campaigned on lower taxes and stronger governance, while Golob sought to frame the election in an interview with POLITICO as a choice between liberal democratic values and Janša’s Hungary-style illiberalism.  Leaked audio and video recordings published earlier this month and apparently designed to tie Golob’s government to corruption showed prominent Slovenian figures, including a former minister, apparently discussing illegal lobbying and the misuse of state funds.   Slovenian authorities said Israeli private intelligence firm Black Cube had carried out illegal surveillance and wiretapping and has visited SDS headquarters in December. Janša acknowledged he had been in contact with a figure linked to the firm, but denied hiring them to dig up dirt on the government.  In a letter sent earlier this week and obtained exclusively by POLITICO, Golob urged European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to investigate the alleged election interference, calling it “a clear hybrid threat against the European Union.”  Both parties sought to turn the scandal to their advantage ahead of the vote, with the SDS arguing the recordings were proof of high-level corruption while Golob’s supporters said it was evidence Janša was willing to collaborate with foreign entities to retake power.    The political row spilled over into Brussels, with the European People’s Party group, to which Janša’s party belongs, pushing last week for a European Parliament hearing on fresh allegations that Slovenia’s EU commissioner, Marta Kos — who hails from Golob’s party — had collaborated with Yugoslavia’s secret police decades ago.  Kos has denied the claims, and an official close to her cabinet described the accusations to POLITICO as politically motivated.  The first official results of Sunday’s election will be declared later in the evening.  Ali Walker contributed to this report.

LONDON — Two men have been charged Wednesday evening with spying on locations and individuals linked to the Jewish community on behalf of Iran. Nematollah Shahsavani, a 40-year-old dual British and Iranian national, and Alireza Farasati, a 22-year-old Iranian national, were charged under the National Security Act with engaging in conduct likely to assist a foreign intelligence service between July 9 and Aug. 15 last year. The Crown Prosecution Service confirmed the charges related to Iran. The Metropolitan Police’s Deputy Assistant Commissioner Vicki Evans described the charges as “extremely serious” after counter terror Police investigated alleged surveillance of places and people in London’s Jewish community. “We fully recognise that the public — and in particular the Jewish community — will be concerned,” Evans said. “I hope this investigation reassures them that we will not hesitate to take action if we identify there may be a threat to their safety, and will be relentless in our pursuit of those who may be responsible.” The men were originally arrested and detained on March 6 while two other men arrested on the same day were released without charge. The head of the Crown Prosecution Service’s Special Crime and Counter Terrorism Division Frank Ferguson said “the charge relates to carrying out activities in the U.K. such as gathering information and undertaking reconnaissance of targets.” Shahsavani and Farasati will appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court Thursday March 19.

BLACK CUBE, LEAKED TAPES AND CORRUPTION: ISRAELI SPY FIRM CRASHES SLOVENIA’S ELECTION  Foreign interference looms over the vote after accusations that a private intelligence company meddled in the campaign.   By ALI WALKER, SEBASTIAN STARCEVIC and ANTOANETA ROUSSI in Ljubljana Illustration by Natália Delgado/POLITICO Slovenia’s election campaign was already steeped in acrimony.   Then operatives from a notable private intelligence company, founded by former members of the Israel Defense Forces, flew to Ljubljana in the depths of winter, Slovenian law enforcement authorities say.  The private jet that landed on a freezing December day was carrying Dan Zorella, CEO of Black Cube; Giora Eiland, former head of Israel’s National Security Council; and two other men, according to the authorities, who allege they were engaged in “covert surveillance and wiretapping.”  The Black Cube operatives now stand accused by Slovenian law enforcement of helping to leak recordings designed to undermine Prime Minister Robert Golob’s government by linking it to corruption, days before a knife-edge national election. The tapes show prominent Slovenian figures apparently discussing corruption, illegal lobbying and the misuse of state funds. Representatives for Black Cube did not respond to POLITICO’s requests for comment on the allegations. Slovenia goes to the polls Sunday for a vote that pits liberal Golob against the right-wing populist Janez Janša, who currently has a narrow lead according to POLITICO’s Poll of Polls. Golob has warned that victory for Janša — a pro-MAGA, four-time former premier — would threaten the fabric of the EU. For its part, Janša’s party routinely depicts Golob as a corrupt former energy tycoon.  The Black Cube allegations land at a moment of heightened anxiety in Europe over covert foreign interference in democratic elections, from influence operations to political sabotage. In Slovenia, they risk further polarizing a race that has come to symbolize a broader clash between liberal, pro-EU forces and an emboldened right-wing populist movement.  Golob’s left-liberal coalition and Janša’s Slovenian Democratic Party (SDS) are currently looking to utilize the leaked tape scandal to buttress attacks on each other. The SDS says the recordings — which feature a former minister, a top lawyer and other prominent figures — are proof of corruption at the highest levels of Slovenian society; while Golob’s supporters say the scandal is evidence that Janša is collaborating with foreign entities to retake power.   “The fact that covert surveillance and wiretapping in this case involve a private intelligence agency from Israel points to something deeply troubling. This is not just another incident, it raises serious concerns about the integrity of democratic processes in Slovenia,” Golob said this week.   “Any attempt by foreign actors to interfere in elections in a democratic member state of the European Union is unacceptable,” he added.   During a press conference Wednesday afternoon, Vojko Volk, Slovenia’s state secretary for national and international security, said that Black Cube representatives visited the country four times and that on Dec. 11 a team, including Zorella, spent time on the street that is home to SDS headquarters — though he stopped short of saying they went into the building.   Janša has threatened to sue activist Nika Kovač — from the Institute 8 organization that lobbies on social issues — who helped publish the initial report alleging that Black Cube operatives had made repeated visits to Slovenia and met with SDS officials.  Former Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Janša attends a meeting in Brussels, Belgium on May 31, 2022. | Kenzo Tribouillard/AFP via Getty Images “Janez Janša will probably be surprised, but we are happy that the Slovenian Democratic Party will file lawsuits over revelations about the activities of the Israeli intelligence agency Black Cube in Slovenia,” Kovač told POLITICO. “We welcome all proceedings in which it can be revealed and clarified what this ‘Private Mossad’ was doing in Slovenia and with whom.”  Janša’s party said that “a monument should be erected in the middle of Ljubljana” in tribute to the Black Cube officials, if they had “truly uncovered all this corruption of unimaginable proportions.” On Wednesday night, Janša admitted that he had met with Black Cube’s Eiland, but said he could not recall on which date. ‘THREAT TO NATIONAL SECURITY’  Black Cube, a private intelligence firm founded in 2010, has offices in Tel Aviv, London and Madrid. It was started by Zorella and Avi Yanus, both of whom served in the Israel Defense Forces.   The firm’s methods — often rooted in human intelligence and undercover operations — have drawn sustained scrutiny, most notably in the case of convicted sex offender and Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein.  He was accused of hiring Black Cube to monitor journalists and female accusers, using operatives with fabricated identities to extract information in what became a defining example of private espionage deployed with the aim of suppressing allegations. A Black Cube board member later apologized. Black Cube’s advisory orbit has included prominent former Israeli intelligence officials such as Meir Dagan and Efraim Halevy, reinforcing its image as part of a broader ecosystem in which statecraft techniques migrate into the private sector.  In 2022, Romanian prosecutors convicted Black Cube operatives, including Zorella, in absentia of spying on anti-corruption chief Laura Kövesi. The men struck a plea deal with prosecutors. The firm also targeted critics of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán using fake LinkedIn profiles; while recordings later surfaced in pro-government media. A company spokesperson said at the time that it “always operates in full compliance of the law.” Slovenia’s Intelligence and Security Agency (SOVA) delivered a report to the National Security Council this week, which endorsed the claims about Black Cube’s meddling in the campaign.  The agency’s director “briefed us on facts indicating direct foreign interference with the Slovenian elections,” Volk said Wednesday morning. According to the SOVA director, “this interference was most likely commissioned from within Slovenia. Based on the available data, representatives of the company Black Cube have visited Slovenia four times in the last six months.”  “Black Cube is known for releasing fabricated material at precisely planned times, in this case, just before the elections,” Volk added. “These activities are intended to discredit individuals politically, which may pose a threat to national security and influence democratic elections.”  OPPOSITION ATTACKS  Beyond the espionage claims, the polarized campaign has been marked by a familiar pattern of political attacks.  Member of the European Parliament Romana Tomc is pictured at a meeting in Brussels on Jan. 27, 2025. | Martin Bertrand/Hans Lucas/AFP via Getty Images If the opposition gets into power, its first order of business is lowering taxes, said SDS MEP Romana Tomc, as she took aim at the governing coalition on finances.  “What we have now after four years of Golob’s government is economic decline,” Tomc told POLITICO. “He [Golob] raised taxes a lot, and we will do what we can to lower them, because we would like people to have more in their pockets, and not only in the state budget.”  Tomc, who is also vice president of the European People’s Party group, hit out at Golob’s recent assertion to POLITICO that Janša, along with Hungarian premier Viktor Orbán, “will try to break up the European Union itself.”  SDS wants to reform the bloc rather than destroy it, she argued. “Our party, with the leadership of Janša, we are really pro-, pro-, pro-European,” Tomc said.  “We are really trying to make Europe better, to make it more functional. And we have, of course, no intention of destroying Europe,” she added. “Being critical to some policies within Europe, I think this is completely normal.”  With days to go before the election, Tomc launched a campaign against the EU’s Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos, who hails from Golob’s party, arguing Kos misled the European Parliament when she denied collaborating with Yugoslavia’s secret police in her youth.  Europe’s biggest political group, the EPP, on Wednesday called for a special hearing in the European Parliament to grill Kos. ‘HISTORIC OPPORTUNITY’  During an interview at his party office in Ljubljana last month, Golob told POLITICO the election marked a “historic opportunity” for Slovenia to return the left-liberal coalition to power, which will “bring more stability to the country and most probably also to the neighborhood.”  Golob said he is determined to use a potential second mandate to drive forward a health care reform and boost the country’s economic competitiveness, after a first term that was marked by enduring troubles: Russia’s war on Ukraine; an energy crisis; and high inflation.  On Janša, Golob was scathing, accusing him of wasting public money and weaponizing law enforcement during his previous term in office. He also said that Janša would likely be inspired by U.S. President Donald Trump’s hard-line immigration policies.   “We have a far-right leader who has been in power for three terms already, every time was worse. So the first time he didn’t do the things that we are discussing, but every term he comes, it gets worse when it comes to civil rights and the misuse of the law enforcement,” he added.  Golob leads a left-liberal coalition that includes his Freedom Movement, the Social Democrats and The Left, but he said that he’s willing to expand the tent for a second term. “We are open to include any other party or partner that is willing to support the extension and completion of our reforms,” he said.   According to POLITICO’s Poll of Polls,Janša’s SDS leads the Freedom Movement by five percentage points, though Golob can remain in power by teaming up against him with other parties.  During the interview, before the Black Cube allegations, Golob had flagged what appeared to be increased online bot activity making its presence felt in the election campaign.  “Organized hybrid war started on social media, but we cannot attribute it yet to any state or political party — even though our right-populists are enjoying it very much and supporting it when it comes to sharing the information,” he said.  Ali Walker reported from Ljubljana. Seb Starcevic reported from Strasbourg. Antoaneta Roussi reported from Prague.  

The FBI is buying up information that can be used to track people’s movement and location history, Director Kash Patel said during a Senate hearing Wednesday. It is the first confirmation that the agency is actively buying people’s data since former Director Christopher Wray said in 2023 that the FBI had purchased location data in the past but was not doing so at that time. “We do purchase commercially available information that’s consistent with the Constitution and the laws under the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, and it has led to some valuable intelligence for us,” Patel told senators at the Intelligence Committee’s annual Worldwide Threats hearing. The U.S. Supreme Court has required law enforcement agencies to obtain a warrant for getting people’s location data from cell phone providers since 2018, but data brokers offer an alternative avenue by purchasing the information directly. Many lawmakers want to end the practice. Sens. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Mike Lee (R-Utah) introduced the Government Surveillance Reform Act on March 13, which would require federal law enforcement and intelligence agencies to obtain a warrant to buy Americans’ personal information. “Doing that without a warrant is an outrageous end run around the Fourth Amendment, it’s particularly dangerous given the use of artificial intelligence to comb through massive amounts of private information,” Wyden said at Wednesday’s hearing. The bill has a House counterpart introduced by Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) and Warren Davidson (R-Ohio). Committee Chair Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) defended the practice at the hearing. “The key words are commercially available. If any other person can buy it, and the FBI can buy it, and it helps them locate a depraved child molester or savage cartel leader, I would certainly hope the FBI is doing anything it can to keep Americans safe,” he said. Defense Intelligence Agency Director James Adams told senators at the hearing that his agency also purchases commercially available information.

Anton, a 44-year-old Russian soldier who heads a workshop responsible for repairing and supplying drones, was at his kitchen table when he learned last month that Elon Musk’s SpaceX had cut off access to Starlink terminals used by Russian forces. He scrambled for alternatives, but none offered unlimited internet, data plans were restrictive, and coverage did not extend to the areas of Ukraine where his unit operated. It’s not only American tech executives who are narrowing communications options for Russians. Days later, Russian authorities began slowing down access nationwide to the messaging app Telegram, the service that frontline troops use to coordinate directly with one another and bypass slower chains of command. “All military work goes through Telegram — all communication,” Anton, whose name has been changed because he fears government reprisal, told POLITICO in voice messages sent via the app. “That would be like shooting the entire Russian army in the head.” Telegram would be joining a home screen’s worth of apps that have become useless to Russians. Kremlin policymakers have already blocked or limited access to WhatsApp, along with parent company Meta’s Facebook and Instagram, Microsoft’s LinkedIn, Google’s YouTube, Apple’s FaceTime, Snapchat and X, which like SpaceX is owned by Musk. Encrypted messaging apps Signal and Discord, as well as Japanese-owned Viber, have been inaccessible since 2024. Last month, President Vladimir Putin signed a law requiring telecom operators to block cellular and fixed internet access at the request of the Federal Security Service. Shortly after it took effect on March 3, Moscow residents reported widespread problems with mobile internet, calls and text messages across all major operators for several days, with outages affecting mobile service and Wi-Fi even inside the State Duma. Those decisions have left Russians increasingly cut off from both the outside world and one another, complicating battlefield coordination and disrupting online communities that organize volunteer aid, fundraising and discussion of the war effort. Deepening digital isolation could turn Russia into something akin to “a large, nuclear-armed North Korea and a junior partner to China,” according to Alexander Gabuev, the Berlin-based director of the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center. In April, the Kremlin is expected to escalate its campaign against Telegram — already one of Russia’s most popular messaging platforms, but now in the absence of other social-media options, a central hub for news, business and entertainment. It may block the platform altogether. That is likely to fuel an escalating struggle between state censorship and the tools people use to evade it, with Russia’s place in the world hanging in the balance. “It’s turned into a war,” said Mikhail Klimarev, executive director of the internet Protection Society, a digital rights group that monitors Russia’s censorship infrastructure. “A guerrilla war. They hunt down the VPNs they can see, they block them — and the ‘partisans’ run, build new bunkers, and come back.” THE APP THAT RUNS THE WAR On Feb. 4, SpaceX tightened the authentication system that Starlink terminals use to connect to its satellite network, introducing stricter verification for registered devices. The change effectively blocked many terminals operated by Russian units relying on unauthorized connections, cutting Starlink traffic inside Ukraine by roughly 75 percent, according to internet traffic analysis by Doug Madory, an analyst at the U.S. network monitoring firm Kentik. The move threw Russian operations into disarray, allowing Ukraine to make battlefield gains. Russia has turned to a workaround widely used before satellite internet was an option: laying fiber-optic lines, from rear areas toward frontline battlefield positions. Until then, Starlink terminals had allowed drone operators to stream live video through platforms such as Discord, which is officially blocked in Russia but still sometimes used by the Russian military via VPNs, to commanders at multiple levels. A battalion commander could watch an assault unfold in real time and issue corrections — “enemy ahead” or “turn left” — via radio or Telegram. What once required layers of approval could now happen in minutes. Satellite-connected messaging apps became the fastest way to transmit coordinates, imagery and targeting data. But on Feb. 10, Roskomnadzor, the Russian communications regulator, began slowing down Telegram for users across Russia, citing alleged violations of Russian law. Russian news outlet RBC reported, citing two sources, that authorities plan to shut down Telegram in early April — though not on the front line. In mid-February, Digital Development Minister Maksut Shadayev said the government did not yet intend to restrict Telegram at the front but hoped servicemen would gradually transition to other platforms. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said this week the company could avoid a full ban by complying with Russian legislation and maintaining what he described as “flexible contact” with authorities. Roskomnadzor has accused Telegram of failing to protect personal data, combat fraud and prevent its use by terrorists and criminals. Similar accusations have been directed at other foreign tech platforms. In 2022, a Russian court designated Meta an “extremist organization” after the company said it would temporarily allow posts calling for violence against Russian soldiers in the context of the Ukraine war — a decision authorities used to justify blocking Facebook and Instagram in Russia and increasing pressure on the company’s other services, including WhatsApp. Telegram founder Pavel Durov, a Russian-born entrepreneur now based in the United Arab Emirates, says the throttiling is being used as a pretext to push Russians toward a government-controlled messaging app designed for surveillance and political censorship. That app is MAX, which was launched in March 2025 and has been compared to China’s WeChat in its ambition to anchor a domestic digital ecosystem. Authorities are increasingly steering Russians toward MAX through employers, neighborhood chats and the government services portal Gosuslugi — where citizens retrieve documents, pay fines and book appointments — as well as through banks and retailers. The app’s developer, VK, reports rapid user growth, though those figures are difficult to independently verify. “They didn’t just leave people to fend for themselves — you could say they led them by the hand through that adaptation by offering alternatives,” said Levada Center pollster Denis Volkov, who has studied Russian attitudes toward technology use. The strategy, he said, has been to provide a Russian or state-backed alternative for the majority, while stopping short of fully criminalizing workarounds for more technologically savvy users who do not want to switch. Elena, a 38-year-old Yekaterinburg resident whose surname has been withheld because she fears government reprisal, said her daughter’s primary school moved official communication from WhatsApp to MAX without consulting parents. She keeps MAX installed on a separate tablet that remains mostly in a drawer — a version of what some Russians call a “MAXophone,” gadgets solely for that app, without any other data being left on those phones for the (very real) fear the government could access it. “It works badly. Messages are delayed. Notifications don’t come,” she said. “I don’t trust it … And this whole situation just makes people angry.” THE VPN ARMS RACE Unlike China’s centralized “Great Firewall,” which filters traffic at the country’s digital borders, Russia’s system operates internally. Internet providers are required to route traffic through state-installed deep packet inspection equipment capable of controlling and analyzing data flows in real time. “It’s not one wall,” Klimarev said. “It’s thousands of fences. You climb one, then there’s another.” The architecture allows authorities to slow services without formally banning them — a tactic used against YouTube before its web address was removed from government-run domain-name servers last month. Russian law explicitly provides government authority for blocking websites on grounds such as extremism, terrorism, illegal content or violations of data regulations, but it does not clearly define throttling — slowing traffic rather than blocking it outright — as a formal enforcement mechanism. “The slowdown isn’t described anywhere in legislation,” Klimarev said. “It’s pressure without procedure.” In September, Russia banned advertising for virtual private network services that citizens use to bypass government-imposed restrictions on certain apps or sites. By Klimarev’s estimate, roughly half of Russian internet users now know what a VPN is, and millions pay for one. Polling last year by the Levada Center, Russia’s only major independent pollster, suggests regular use is lower, finding about one-quarter of Russians said they have used VPN services. Russian courts can treat the use of anonymization tools as an aggravating factor in certain crimes — steps that signal growing pressure on circumvention technologies without formally outlawing them. In February, the Federal Antimonopoly Service opened what appears to be the first case against a media outlet for promoting a VPN after the regional publication Serditaya Chuvashiya advertised such a service on its Telegram channel. Surveys in recent years have shown that many Russians, particularly older citizens, support tighter internet regulation, often citing fraud, extremism and online safety. That sentiment gives authorities political space to tighten controls even when the restrictions are unpopular among more technologically savvy users. Even so, the slowdown of Telegram drew criticism from unlikely quarters, including Sergei Mironov, a longtime Kremlin ally and leader of the Just Russia party. In a statement posted on his Telegram channel on Feb. 11, he blasted the regulators behind the move as “idiots,” accusing them of undermining soldiers at the front. He said troops rely on the app to communicate with relatives and organize fundraising for the war effort, warning that restricting it could cost lives. While praising the state-backed messaging app MAX, he argued that Russians should be free to choose which platforms they use. Pro-war Telegram channels frame the government’s blocking techniques as sabotage of the war effort. Ivan Philippov, who tracks Russia’s influential military bloggers, said the reaction inside that ecosystem to news about Telegram has been visceral “rage.” Unlike Starlink, whose cutoff could be blamed on a foreign company, restrictions on Telegram are viewed as self-inflicted. Bloggers accuse regulators of undermining the war effort. Telegram is used not only for battlefield coordination but also for volunteer fundraising networks that provide basic logistics the state does not reliably cover — from transport vehicles and fuel to body armor, trench materials and even evacuation equipment. Telegram serves as the primary hub for donations and reporting back to supporters. “If you break Telegram inside Russia, you break fundraising,” Philippov said. “And without fundraising, a lot of units simply don’t function.” Few in that community trust MAX, citing technical flaws and privacy concerns. Because MAX operates under Russian data-retention laws and is integrated with state services, many assume their communications would be accessible to authorities. Philippov said the app’s prominent defenders are largely figures tied to state media or the presidential administration. “Among independent military bloggers, I haven’t seen a single person who supports it,” he said. Small groups of activists attempted to organize rallies in at least 11 Russian cities, including Moscow, Irkutsk and Novosibirsk, in defense of Telegram. Authorities rejected or obstructed most of the proposed demonstrations — in some cases citing pandemic-era restrictions, weather conditions or vague security concerns — and in several cases revoked previously issued permits. In Novosibirsk, police detained around 15 people ahead of a planned rally. Although a small number of protests were formally approved, no large-scale demonstrations ultimately took place. THE POWER TO PULL THE PLUG The new law signed last month allows Russia’s Federal Security Service to order telecom operators to block cellular and fixed internet access. Peskov, the Kremlin spokesman, said subsequent shutdowns of service in Moscow were linked to security measures aimed at protecting critical infrastructure and countering drone threats, adding that such limitations would remain in place “for as long as necessary.” In practice, the disruptions rarely amount to a total communications blackout. Most target mobile internet rather than all services, while voice calls and SMS often continue to function. Some domestic websites and apps — including government portals or banking services — may remain accessible through “whitelists,” meaning authorities allow certain services to keep operating even while broader internet access is restricted. The restrictions are typically localized and temporary, affecting specific regions or parts of cities rather than the entire country. Internet disruptions have increasingly become a tool of control beyond individual platforms. Research by the independent outlet Meduza and the monitoring project Na Svyazi has documented dozens of regional internet shutdowns and mobile network restrictions across Russia, with disruptions occurring regularly since May 2025. The communications shutdown, and uncertainty around where it will go next, is affecting life for citizens of all kinds, from the elderly struggling to contact family members abroad to tech-savvy users who juggle SIM cards and secondary phones to stay connected. Demand has risen for dated communication devices — including walkie-talkies, pagers and landline phones — along with paper maps as mobile networks become less reliable, according to retailers interviewed by RBC. “It feels like we’re isolating ourselves,” said Dmitry, 35, who splits his time between Moscow and Dubai and whose surname has been withheld to protect his identity under fear of governmental reprisal. “Like building a sovereign grave.” Those who track Russian public opinion say the pattern is consistent: irritation followed by adaptation. When Instagram and YouTube were blocked or slowed in recent years, their audiences shrank rapidly as users migrated to alternative services rather than mobilizing against the restrictions. For now, Russia’s digital tightening resembles managed escalation rather than total isolation. Officials deny plans for a full shutdown, and even critics say a complete severing would cripple banking, logistics and foreign trade. “It’s possible,” Klimarev said. “But if they do that, the internet won’t be the main problem anymore.”

Germany’s data privacy authority on Thursday warned it can’t properly protect citizens from surveillance by the country’s intelligence services, right as Germany is moving to fortify its intelligence agency with sweeping new powers. “Citizens have virtually no means of defending themselves against intelligence measures that can deeply intrude on their privacy,” Louisa Specht-Riemenschneider, the head of the Federal Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information (BfDI), warned after a court ruled against the commissioner’s request to get data on espionage activities. Germany is drafting laws to give its intelligence services vast new powers, in a historic shift that breaks with decades of strict limits on its espionage abilities, rooted in the country’s Nazi and Cold War past. Berlin’s plan to empower intelligence services comes as European leaders grow increasingly concerned that U.S. President Donald Trump could move to halt American intelligence sharing with Europe. To keep German spies in check, the country’s privacy regulator started a legal challenge against the Federal Intelligence Service (BND) after it refused to share details of how it hacked electronic devices of foreigners abroad and gathered data. On Thursday, an administrative court ruled the privacy regulator didn’t have legal standing to pursue the case, redirecting it to file a complaint with Germany’s chancellery instead. The ruling means “areas free from oversight will emerge” within German spy agencies, Specht-Riemenschneider said, calling the agencies’ data processing practices “secretive.” Germany’s BND has historically been far more legally constrained than intelligence agencies elsewhere, due to intentional protections put in place after World War II to prevent a repeat of the abuses perpetrated by the Nazi spy and security services Gestapo and SS. The agency was put under the oversight of the chancellery and bound to a strict parliamentary control mechanism. Germany’s stringent data protection laws — which are also largely a reaction to the legacy of the East German secret police, or Stasi — restrict the BND further. The agency must, for instance, redact personal information in documents before passing them on to other intelligence services, POLITICO reported. The German government is now reviewing those constraints and preparing an overhaul of intelligence powers. Chancellor Friedrich Merz wants to boost and unfetter his country’s foreign intelligence service, giving it much broader authority to perpetrate acts of sabotage, conduct offensive cyber operations and more aggressively carry out espionage. Specht-Riemenschneider called on legislators to amend intelligence laws to make sure her authority can challenge agencies’ data processing, because the spy agency “can now effectively decide for itself what I am allowed to inspect and what I can therefore monitor,” she said. Spy services across Europe have also started to build a shared intelligence operation to counter Russian aggression. The push for deeper intelligence cooperation accelerated sharply after the Trump administration abruptly halted the sharing of battlefield intelligence with Kyiv last March. The BND did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Senior advisers to President Donald Trump would prefer Israel strike Iran before the United States launches an assault on the country, according to two people familiar with ongoing discussions. These Trump administration officials are privately arguing that an Israeli attack would trigger Iran to retaliate, helping muster support from American voters for a U.S. strike. The calculus is a political one — that more Americans would stomach a war with Iran if the United States or an ally were attacked first. Recent polling shows that Americans, and Republicans in particular, support regime change in Iran, but are unwilling to risk any U.S. casualties to achieve it. That means Trump’s team is considering the optics of how an attack is conducted in addition to other justifications — such as Iran’s nuclear program. “There’s thinking in and around the administration that the politics are a lot better if the Israelis go first and alone and the Iranians retaliate against us, and give us more reason to take action,” said one of the people familiar with discussions. Both individuals were granted anonymity to describe private conversations. With hopes dimming in Washington for a diplomatic resolution to the standoff with Iran, the primary question is becoming when and how the U.S. attacks. Regardless of the desire for Israel to act first, the likeliest scenario may be a jointly launched U.S.-Israel operation, the two people said. In response to a request for comment, White House spokesperson Anna Kelly said, “the media may continue to speculate on the president’s thinking all they want, but only President Trump knows what he may or may not do.” The Israeli embassy in Washington declined to comment. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was at the White House last week pressing the administration to do what it must to derail Iran’s nuclear program, its ballistic missile infrastructure and its support for proxy militias in the region. Meanwhile the president’s go-to negotiating team of special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner are heading to Geneva on Thursday to try to make a deal with the Iranians. This is a serious effort, but the thinking among those closest to the president is that “we’re going to bomb them,” according to the first person familiar with discussions. The question of scope, however, also remains. The person familiar with discussions said two key considerations include the risks of depleting U.S. munition stockpiles, which the administration worries could give China an opening to take Taiwan, and the likelihood of American casualties should the U.S. go for the most aggressive option. “If we’re talking about a regime-change scale attack, Iran is very likely to retaliate with everything they’ve got. We have a lot of assets in the region and every one of those is a potential target,” said the first person familiar with discussions. “And they’re not under the Iron Dome. So there’s a high likelihood of American casualties. And that comes with lots of political risk.” Even in calmer times, the U.S. has thousands of troops stationed at bases across the Middle East. Now, Trump has sent two aircraft carrier strike groups and dozens of fighter jets, surveillance aircraft and aerial refuelers to target Iran in the biggest accumulation of U.S. firepower in the region since the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq. In recent weeks, Pentagon officials and Hill lawmakers have increasingly warned that prolonged Iran strikes could stress U.S. military stockpiles. The U.S. intelligence community is “concerned and monitoring” potential asymmetric retaliation by Iran on U.S. facilities and personnel in the Middle East and Europe, per a senior U.S. intelligence official. Trump has an array of options for how to hit Tehran. They include an initial, limited strike that could act as leverage to force the Islamist regime into a deal the U.S. can accept, according to a U.S. official familiar with the Iran discussions. If no deal is reached, Trump could order a larger set of strikes later, the official said. The military options would almost certainly target Iranian nuclear sites — or the remnants that exist after U.S. strikes last June, the official said. Also sure to be hit is Iran’s ballistic missile infrastructure, which Israel views as a major threat to its safety. In terms of damage to the regime itself, the official said a “decapitation strike” is an option, meaning targeting Iran’s elderly supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Iran’s governing system, however, consists of more than just one man, and it is designed to have people step into higher roles when those are vacated. That said, the U.S. could still aim for facilities and multiple layers of the government, including the top ranks of the powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Such an operation could last days or weeks, and its results could be unpredictable, especially if the U.S. relies solely on airpower. Last June, during Israel’s war with Iran, which the U.S. joined, Netanyahu urged ordinary Iranians to seize the moment and overthrow their rulers. Trump claimed that U.S. strikes last June had “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear program. But in recent weeks, Trump has suggested he’s not convinced Tehran has given up on having such a program. House Armed Services Committee Chair Mike Rogers (R-Ala.), said he received a briefing from administration officials Wednesday morning providing details of Iran’s efforts to restart its nuclear program. He said the evidence is clear, and presents a compelling case that U.S. officials may need to intervene militarily. “They are trying to get that equipment,” he said. But Rogers could not say when the classified information may be shared more broadly. Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) said he was told lawmakers will get additional details on the nuclear threats soon. Democrats on the committee said they have not been briefed or told when they may receive answers to their questions on Iran. The Iranian government has long insisted that it is not seeking a nuclear weapon, but it also says it has a right to a peaceful nuclear program, including for scientific and medical purposes. The U.S. has long been skeptical of Iran’s promises, especially considering its levels of uranium enrichment. An Iranian government official did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Leo Shane and John Sakellariadis contributed to this report.

Russian authorities have launched a criminal investigation into Telegram founder Pavel Durov over allegations his messaging platform facilitated terrorist activity, sharply escalating the Kremlin’s long-running standoff with the tech billionaire. State-run Rossiyskaya Gazeta and Kremlin-friendly tabloid Komsomolskaya Pravda reported Tuesday that investigators are examining whether Telegram was used to coordinate attacks, including the 2024 Crocus City Hall massacre, as well as the killings of Darya Dugina — daughter of nationalist ideologue Aleksandr Dugin — and General Igor Kirillov. Both outlets, citing Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB), claimed Telegram has been used in more than 153,000 crimes since 2022, including roughly 33,000 cases involving sabotage, terrorism or extremism. The reports also accused Durov of ignoring more than 150,000 takedown requests from Russia’s media regulator Roskomnadzor. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov piled the pressure on, telling reporters Tuesday that authorities had recorded “a large number of violations” and Telegram’s “unwillingness … to cooperate.” The probe marks the latest chapter in Moscow’s decade-long battle with Durov. Russia attempted to block Telegram in 2018 after the company refused to hand over encryption keys — a ban that ultimately failed. Authorities have since intermittently throttled the service while also targeting other foreign platforms, including WhatsApp. Durov, who left Russia in 2014, has repeatedly framed the pressure as politically motivated. Earlier in February, he warned Moscow was trying to push users toward a state-controlled messaging app “built for surveillance and political censorship,” adding: “Telegram stands for freedom of speech and privacy, no matter the pressure.” The tech entrepreneur, however, has been in trouble outside Russia over the platform. In 2024, he was arrested in France and temporarily banned from leaving the country after being charged with several organized crime offenses. Prosecutors claimed he refused to cooperate with authorities’ attempts to combat illegal content, including child pornography, on Telegram. Durov denied any wrongdoing. Telegram, which launched in 2013, has become a central information hub inside Russia and across the Ukraine war zone, used by officials and opposition figures — as well as Ukrainian leaders, including President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The platform says it now has roughly 1 billion active users worldwide. Responding to the news with a post on X, Durov said, “Each day, the authorities fabricate new pretexts to restrict Russians’ access to Telegram as they seek to suppress the right to privacy and free speech. A sad spectacle of a state afraid of its own people.” This article has been updated.

BRUSSELS — European Parliament members on Monday slammed the Spanish government for using Huawei to store judicial wiretaps, with one leading lawmaker warning Madrid is putting its “crown jewels” at risk. The Spanish government has drawn criticism since the summer after it awarded a multimillion euro contract to Huawei for the storage of judicial wiretaps — a move that led the United States to threaten to cease intelligence sharing with Madrid. The outcry over Spain’s use of the Chinese tech giant for sensitive services lays bare how Europe continues to grapple with how to secure its digital systems against security threats. The European Union considers Huawei to be a high-risk supplier and wants to crack down on countries that still afford it broad market access. The EU proposed new draft cybersecurity legislation last month that, if approved, would force EU member countries to kick Huawei out of their telecoms networks, after years of trying to get capitals to ban the Chinese vendor voluntarily.  Lawmakers from several political groups said Spain’s contract with the Chinese tech giant could endanger the EU as a whole.  “We cannot operate in a union where one of the states actively strips high-risk vendors from its networks while another entrusts them with the crown jewels of its law enforcement,” said Markéta Gregorová, a Czech Pirate Party lawmaker who is part of the Greens group. Gregorová leads negotiations on a cyber bill that would give the EU the power to force Huawei and other — often Chinese — suppliers out of critical infrastructure in Europe. “When you introduce a high-risk vendor … we do not just risk a localized data breach, we risk poisoning the well of European intelligence sharing,” she said on Monday. Juan Ignacio Zoido Álvarez, a member of Spain’s center-right opposition party, said the decision puts “the entirety of the EU at risk.” The Spanish government has defended the contract it struck for storing wiretaps. Spain’s Interior Ministry said in a statement that the government had awarded a contract to “European companies,” which then bought storage products. “There is no risk to security, technological and legal sovereignty, nor is there any foreign interference or threat to the custody of evidence,” the ministry said. Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska told the Spanish parliament last September that Telefónica, the country’s telecom champion, operated a state surveillance system called SITEL and that storage “cabinets” had been integrated into that system.   Bloomberg reported last July that Huawei equipment is not used for classified information, with one government official saying the storage “represents a minor part of a watertight, audited, isolated and certified system.” On Monday, Juan Fernando López Aguilar, a prominent member of the European Parliament for the Socialists and Democrats group and a member of Prime Minister Pedro Sanchéz’s party in Spain, defended Madrid’s contract and pushed back on EU moves to intervene on the issue. In terms of “security, espionage, or violation of technological sovereignty,” there is “no risk,” Aguilar said. Huawei did not respond to a request for comment.