Today, the U.S. Senate confirmed Tulsi Gabbard as Director of National Intelligence.
She was voted in 52-48. As DNI, she will oversee 18 intelligence agencies with a budget of approximately $100 billion, and serve as Donald Trump’s top intelligence advisor.
Gabbard has consistently opposed U.S. support for Ukraine and has repeated Russian propaganda narratives, including claims about alleged biolabs in Ukraine. She has criticized President Joe Biden’s policies, accusing Democrats of prolonging the conflict and opposing U.S. arms shipments to Ukraine.
In 2022, Ukraine’s Center for Countering Disinformation stated that Gabbard was working for foreign audiences with Russian funding.
However, during her confirmation hearing on January 30, she called Russia a “strategic competitor” and stated that “Putin started the war against Ukraine.”
Sir Ed Davey, Liberal Democrat leader, speaks in UK Parliament:
Russian stocks soared today, after today's developments
A meeting was being prepared for Friday, 14 Feb 2025, in Munich, where Vice President J.D. Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio will lead the delegation.
In further news, the Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council imposed sanctions on Ukrainian oligarchs at a meeting on February 12. Those sanctioned included Poroshenko, Kolomoisky, Bogolyubov, Zhevago and Medvedchuk. All of them are accused of carrying out activities in the interests of the Russian Federation. Criminal cases have been opened for each episode, which are being investigated by law enforcement officers.
Sanctions against Poroshenko were reportedly imposed due to:
• a criminal case of high treason, when Poroshenko, in collusion with Medvedchuk and the Russian leadership, allowed Centrenergo to buy coal from the LDN. This deprived Ukraine of any chance of energy independence from the Russian Federation for a long time.
• Poroshenko's participation in the creation of the Party of Regions and his work in Yanukovych's government, when, as Minister of Foreign Affairs, he participated in the preparation of the Kharkiv Agreements.
• Cooperation with the Russian Federation: Owning assets in the Russian Federation – the Roshen factory in Lipetsk and Sevmorzavod in Crimea – Poroshenko was interested in continuing cooperation with the Russian Federation and stationing the Black Sea Fleet on the peninsula.
Sanctions against Kolomoisky and Bogolyubov were reportedly imposed because of:
• that in 2023 they were the founders and beneficiaries of the company Eclaris Group Limited. Through shell companies, it sold oil and gas to Gazprom subsidiaries, which paid taxes to the Russian budget, financing the war.
• withdrawal of UAH 750 million from Privatbank.
The grounds for imposing sanctions against Zhevago reportedly were:
• his close ties with the Russian Federation, in particular, with the sanctioned Russian oligarch Alexei Fedorychev.
• crimes in the banking sector related to the withdrawal of UAH 500 million in credit funds from the Finance and Credit Bank.
• The Ferrexpo group of companies controlled by Zhevago cooperated with the Russian Federation until recently. For example, AvtoKraz exported trucks to Russia, and Rosava and Premiori exported tires, which were supplied to the so-called "LDNR" as early as 2022.
Sanctions against Medvedchuk have been imposed indefinitely - reportedly based on several old episodes, as well as new ones:
• collecting information about the Armed Forces of Ukraine for the benefit of the Russian Federation,
• blocking the launch of advanced cellular radio technologies in Ukraine
• his activities in the OPZH,
• anti-Ukrainian activities of its media resources,
• involving him in anti-Ukrainian propaganda in the Russian Federation. In 2024, the SBU terminated the activities of the media structure “Voice of Europe”, which was part of the pro-Russian project “Second Ukraine”. It was headed and financed by Medvedchuk, and coordinated by the 5th Service of the Russian FSB.
