The newspaper “Politnavigator” discussed what it described as the phenomenon of arrest of citizens and activists in Georgia on charges of spying for Russia, and considered that it comes in the context of Tbilisi’s attempt to demonstrate its loyalty and willingness to return to the West.
The newspaper mentioned the names of a number of those who were arrested in this context, most notably the editor-in-chief of the “News Cuckazos” website, Irakli Chikhladze, in addition to the head of the Eurasian Institute, Golbat Rutskhiladze, and the founder of the equivalent of the “Immortal Regiment” in Georgia, in addition to members of the Russophobia Monitoring Council.
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The newspaper pointed out that the Georgian security services did not “unify” the case files, even though the arrest process took place on the same day, on charges of leaking intelligence information to Russia, which suggests a pre-planned show of force using force.
It is clear – according to the newspaper – that the charges against Golbat Ratskhiladze are completely fabricated, as he has never worked in any government agency and did not have any access to confidential information.
Punishment for political stances
The newspaper saw that he was being attacked specifically because of his public activities and his principled anti-Western stance, as he constantly opposed Georgia’s accession to NATO and the European Union, declared the need to restore relations with Russia, and criticized the positions of the ruling “Georgian Dream” party.
The newspaper said that it is believed that the real goal behind his arrest is to paralyze the work of the Anti-Russian Hostility Monitoring Board, which investigates incitement to ethnic hatred and the actions of the pro-Western opposition, considering that this “showy revenge” also aims to intimidate everyone who calls for cooperation with Russia.
But the most important point – according to Politnavigator – lies elsewhere, which is Tbilisi’s current desire to win over the West, which is why journalists and political activists were chosen as victims.
In this context, the newspaper pointed out that the Georgian intelligence’s accusation that Rtskhiladze worked for parties in two countries at the same time – Russia and Iran – and that he held “secret meetings” with their representatives, is a clear message of courtship to Washington and Tel Aviv.
The Georgian Dream Party decided to “try its luck” and seize the opportunity to join forces with Nikol Pashinyan, offering the United States almost the entire Caucasus region on a silver platter.
At the same time, the newspaper pointed out that the waves of arrests came particularly after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s recent visit to neighboring Armenia, which took 40 minutes to sign a cumbersome strategic partnership agreement, after which Tbilisi quickly put forward an initiative to “reset” relations with Washington.
It seems – according to the newspaper’s opinion – that the Georgian Dream Party decided to “try its luck” and seize the opportunity to join forces with Nikol Pashinyan, offering the United States of America almost the entire Caucasus region on a silver platter.
Therefore, it is no wonder that the Speaker of the Georgian Parliament, Shalva Babuashvili, called on Washington a few days ago to start relations “from scratch” to see where interests converge, and stressed that his country’s government must act to please the people, not the authorities of other countries.
Therefore, this statement by Babuashvili, like the arrest of pro-Russian figures, is nothing but an opinion poll from the White House, aimed at exploiting the United States’ desire to redraw the maps of geopolitical influence in the South Caucasus and Central Asia, according to the newspaper.
The newspaper concluded that “Tbilisi, which recently adopted a “multidirectional” policy, is simply preparing to return to the West, specifically to Brussels and London.
“Trojan Horse” threatens Russia
In turn, the newspaper “Svobodnya Presa” discussed the issue of the Russian Federal Security Service uncovering a Western intelligence operation in Russia that aimed to monitor high-ranking government officials via modern smartphones.
The newspaper reported that this was done through malicious software on the mobile devices of high-ranking Russian officials, with the aim of obtaining sensitive information, in the context of a large-scale electronic espionage scheme that involved major Western information technology companies.
The newspaper explained that the aforementioned programs were used to collect data unauthorizedly, eavesdrop on ongoing conversations, and covert audio and video surveillance of the area surrounding the devices.
Western intelligence services have deliberately relied on technological methods to collect data, believing that they are more effective and less expensive than recruiting informants from among those holding state secrets.
The newspaper added that foreign intelligence agencies secretly “recorded” this information using the technical capabilities of major international information technology companies, including the American companies Fastly and Cloudflare.
Svobodnya Presa noted that Western intelligence services deliberately relied on technological methods to collect data, believing that they were more effective and less expensive than recruiting informants from among those holding state secrets.
She also indicated that the goal of obtaining information was not limited to officials’ communications and plans, but also included collecting data on the trends of Russian society.
The newspaper quoted a member of the Russian Federal Security Service as saying that these operations were multi-level and required coordination between several countries, warning against discussing confidential information via or near a mobile phone, because the content of these conversations may be revealed to third parties and lead to serious and irreversible consequences.
The newspaper also reported a statement by the director of the Global Research Center at Kaspersky Lab, Igor Kuznetsov, in which he said that Apple devices, for example, are being hacked by installing malicious software through a “hidden” message in the “iMessage” application.
According to the director, during a routine monitoring operation in 2023 of the Wi-Fi network in the laboratory office, the center’s experts monitored suspicious activity, and after checking to find out the type of phones used, it turned out that they were all Apple products and iPhones.
The director explained that the “malicious” program was activated immediately upon receiving the iMessage message, and then it was automatically deleted, making it invisible to the user.
Kuznetsov said that the program was able to turn on the microphone and record sound even without an Internet connection, and when the connection was restored, the sound was sent to the attacker’s server, indicating the possibility of turning any smartphone into a surveillance platform, collecting data from cameras, microphones, and GPS systems.
This case – according to the newspaper’s opinion – relates to iPhones infected with viruses, which were presented as gifts to Russian officials, which constitutes a flagrant violation of all security rules.
The newspaper pointed out what happened during US President Donald Trump’s recent visit to China, when Trump and members of his delegation threw everything they had acquired during their stay in China, including badges, pens, notebooks, etc., into a trash can near the stairs of the plane.
The newspaper suggested that the officials who received iPhones were wealthy people and could have bought them themselves, but the gift remains a good gesture, even though it is a “Trojan horse” that is still effective.
The newspaper pointed out that Russia today leads the world in the number of people who completely lack digital knowledge, which is confirmed by the extent of the damage caused by fraudsters and the huge number of hacking operations on electronic devices, especially smartphones.
The newspaper concluded that using devices completely controlled by the United States – and this is precisely what iPhones represent – is simply suicidal, and demanded that their use by government employees should be banned.
