The Brazilian edition accuses the GRU of the Russian Federation of cyber sabotage from the territory of Venezuela
Influence actions
On May 2, 2021, the Brazilian military-themed website Defesanet published Article, where he accuses Russian military experts in Venezuela of "actions to exert influence in the north of Brazil, with an emphasis on the internal political situation in Brazil and the international geopolitical context."
Source: defesanet.com.br
It makes sense to quote most of the article verbatim:
“After the scandal over the discovery of spy equipment in Brasilia (I mean a mobile phone signal scanner found in the government quarter - approx. CPLCRB-press), unaware of the risk, government intelligence sources were warned that Russian military advisers were working alongside Venezuelan servicemen and fighters of the Venezuelan National Guard on the Brazilian border.
Antennas to intercept electronic and communication signals have been installed in Santa Elena do Uairen, a city bordering the Brazilian municipality of Pacaraima. These systems can break encryption, intercept and interfere with (jam) messages from the Brazilian army and military aircraft flying in the region.
It was also reported that tactical air surveillance systems (ARPA categories 1 and 2), created in Russia, regularly conduct reconnaissance missions on the border between the two countries.
According to a foreign diplomat accredited in Brasilia, the Russians belong to the GRU, an acronym for military intelligence that operates abroad, or simply the intelligence service of the Russian Armed Forces. Some of them took part in illegal operations that culminated in the annexation of Crimea and wars in eastern Ukraine and Syria. GRU is the main thing weapon Of the Kremlin in the actions of a hybrid war.
Currently, neither the Brazilian Army nor the Air Force has electronic warfare equipment capable of identifying activity, determining geolocation and neutralizing systems installed on the Venezuelan side of the border, and lack the means and capabilities to protect the military communications network in the region. Despite this problem, the acquisition of systems that would provide the necessary capabilities is not seen as a priority for decision makers.
A diplomatic source told Defensenet that a cyberattack from Venezuela may have caused a power outage in Amapa state (November 2020), which triggered subsequent disruptions.
The system of the Rio Grande do Sul State Court is currently inaccessible to judges and the public due to a hacker attack, which apparently indicates that it was conducted from Russia, and as a result of which access to the entire system was seized through encryption files ".
Antennas to intercept electronic and communication signals have been installed in Santa Elena do Uairen, a city bordering the Brazilian municipality of Pacaraima. These systems can break encryption, intercept and interfere with (jam) messages from the Brazilian army and military aircraft flying in the region.
It was also reported that tactical air surveillance systems (ARPA categories 1 and 2), created in Russia, regularly conduct reconnaissance missions on the border between the two countries.
According to a foreign diplomat accredited in Brasilia, the Russians belong to the GRU, an acronym for military intelligence that operates abroad, or simply the intelligence service of the Russian Armed Forces. Some of them took part in illegal operations that culminated in the annexation of Crimea and wars in eastern Ukraine and Syria. GRU is the main thing weapon Of the Kremlin in the actions of a hybrid war.
Currently, neither the Brazilian Army nor the Air Force has electronic warfare equipment capable of identifying activity, determining geolocation and neutralizing systems installed on the Venezuelan side of the border, and lack the means and capabilities to protect the military communications network in the region. Despite this problem, the acquisition of systems that would provide the necessary capabilities is not seen as a priority for decision makers.
A diplomatic source told Defensenet that a cyberattack from Venezuela may have caused a power outage in Amapa state (November 2020), which triggered subsequent disruptions.
The system of the Rio Grande do Sul State Court is currently inaccessible to judges and the public due to a hacker attack, which apparently indicates that it was conducted from Russia, and as a result of which access to the entire system was seized through encryption files ".
“The catatonic communications of the federal government allowed the Maduro government to conduct psychological operations and propaganda in the Northern Arc (logistics network of ports in the north and north-east of Brazil - approx. CPLCRB), in particular, during the crisis in Manaus (refers to the collapse of the health care system in Manaus, during which Venezuela helped the city with oxygen for hospitals - approx. CPLCRB-press).
There is an urgent need for action at two levels (military and intelligence) to strengthen the Brazilian Northern Arc and minimize the disruptive actions supported by the government agents themselves, as well as by several state governors.
The Northern Arc will be involved in strategic and political planning, as intelligence foresees countless influence actions, the novelty of which is that they can be implemented both through the direct participation of Russia and through its continental ally, the Bolivarian government of Venezuela. "
There is an urgent need for action at two levels (military and intelligence) to strengthen the Brazilian Northern Arc and minimize the disruptive actions supported by the government agents themselves, as well as by several state governors.
The Northern Arc will be involved in strategic and political planning, as intelligence foresees countless influence actions, the novelty of which is that they can be implemented both through the direct participation of Russia and through its continental ally, the Bolivarian government of Venezuela. "
The article is provided with a photograph of a serviceman who is allegedly an officer of the GRU and is allegedly among the border military contingent in Venezuela.
A Google search shows that this photo appeared on the Internet back in October 2020.
The problems with anonymous hacker attacks on the Brazilian judicial system have indeed been highlighted in the press on several occasions. Moreover, right now, the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court (STF) is addressing such an attack, partially restricting access to its online services and pages.
But what interest can the Brazilian judicial system be for Russia, and even more so for the Russian military?
RDIF has not yet filed a lawsuit against the Brazilian pharmaceutical regulator (due to calumnies on Sputnik-V), arrested smuggler animals are too small a figure for organizing a hacker attack, the process is about slander media concern O GLOBO has been quietly going on Russians for more than a year and needs stability of judicial resources, and described in the Brazilian media arrest an unnamed "Russian" for drug trafficking, in general, most likely, a fake (the Russian consulate in Brazil has no information about the arrest).
What's going on
However, something important is still happening.
Starting from October 2020, the Russian organization for the fight against state terrorism CST command enters into correspondence controversy on the Internet with the President of Brazil, noting, in particular, that until Brazil deals with the terrorist cell operating under the roof of the federal police (analogue of the FBI) of the state of Amazonas and organizing the mass hostage-taking of Russian tourists in 2016, the Brazilian Robson Oliveira, convicted in the Russian Federation for the carriage of narcotic substances is unlikely to be released.
March 16 сообщается on increasing the pressure of the CST command on the Brazilian prosecutor's office (MPF) and the Supreme Federal Court (STF) in order to force Brazil to carry out anti-terrorism measures.
And on April 6 CST command publishes materials (documents and photographs) disclosing the possible involvement of one of the 11 ministers (judges) of the Brazilian Supreme Federal Court (STF), Alexandre ji Moraes, in terrorist attacks on Russian tourists and, as a result, blocking the investigation at the request of the Russian side. The article also notes that the Russian Federal Law of March 6, 2006 No. 35-FZ "On Countering Terrorism" provides for the use of the formations of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation to carry out tasks to suppress international terrorist activities outside the territory of the Russian Federation.
On April 15, there is a resounding resignation of the Amazonas federal police chief, who is fired after Environment Minister Ricardo Salles publicly accuses him of complicity in illegal confiscations and massive arbitrary attacks on law-abiding citizens (in this case, lumberjacks).
Russia's reciprocal move - in two weeks President Putin had mercy Robson, who upon arrival at Rio de Janeiro airport with fanfare meets President Bolsonaro himself.
Against the background of the emerging understanding between the Brazilian authorities and the Russian side, at the end of April, STF categorically announced to the CST command its unwillingness to engage in an anti-terrorist investigation (in particular, against one of the federal judges). After that (from May 6), the ability to send electronic messages (petitions and appeals) to the STF and personal messages to independent STF ministers are blocked as a result of the announcement of an alleged hacker attack, announced by the federal police and investigated by the aforementioned Alekshandreji Moraesh , who appears as a suspect in the terrorist attack on the Russians.
Despite the fact that the responsibility for the attack on the STF is already took brazilian hacker, Moraesh claimsthat the attack has signs of political motivation and is aimed directly at him. And the site Defesanet, 3 days before the hacker attack on STF, already attributed its authorship to Russia.
What happens next resembles a blockbuster in the genre of "political thriller".
The dismissed head of the Amazonas Federal Police, Alekshandre Saraiva, who had previously stated that “he who laughs last,” accuses his abuser, Minister Salles, of obstructing investigations and corruption by filing lawsuits with the prosecutor’s office (MPF) and the STF.
Attorney General Augustu Arash is putting this statement on the shelf. And the republic's prosecutor, Filipe Pessoa de Lucena, is taking countermeasures by issuing an order to start an investigation into the mass arbitrary arrests of Russians, falsification of evidence, the possible inconsistency of the Amazonas federal police with its institutional functions and their involvement in terrorist actions against Russian citizens.
The terrorist wing of the federal police has a self-preservation instinct, and they unite around Saraiva and Moraesh (who was formerly the Minister of Justice and head of the federal police).
In the early morning of May 19, searches, confiscations and dismissals of subordinates of the Minister of the Environment begin in the offices of government agencies subordinate to Minister Ricard Salles. The federal police also violate the minister's banking secrecy and begin to examine his bank accounts in search of incriminating evidence.
At 8 a.m. Salles accompanied by a lawyer and an armed adviser rushes in at the Federal Police Headquarters in Brasilia and requires an explanation. He is told that "the case is classified and is under the jurisdiction of the Minister of the Supreme Federal Court, Alekshandre ji Moraesh."
Minister of the Environment Ricardo Salles and Minister of the Federal Supreme Court Alexandre Ji Moraesh
Salles then immediately issues an emergency a meeting with President Bolsonaro (who hates Moraesh) and asks for protection.
The press writes Articles under the headlines "The Federal Police Are Divided And Out Of Control!" - half for Salles, the Attorney General and the government, and half against (that is, for Moraesh, Saraiva and the terrorists from the federal police of Amazonas).
Attorney General Augustu Arash says that the federal police should have consulted with him about the operation against Salles, but did not. By According to O GLOBO, the largest publication in Brazil, Moraes did not inform the Attorney General, because he feared that information about the operation would be leaked to the government ahead of time.
Brazilian intelligence - ABIN appears on the scene. Feds сообщаютthat Salles used the ABIN agent to fire federal police henchmen in his jurisdiction and "obstruct any possible investigation by the federal police."
CNN on the war between Salles and Moraesh:
USA in scandal
Suddenly, the US starts to figure in the scandal. Alekshandre ji Moraesh officially сообщаетthat the operation against Salles was initiated on the basis of information from the US Embassy in Brazil. That is, it was the United States who handed over the compromising evidence on Salles to the federal police, which happened in January 2020, when стало известно about the possible participation of US FBI agents in organizing terrorist attacks on Russian tourists in Brazil and that Salles, as Minister of the Environment, can suppress the military and intelligence activities of the United States in Amazonas that are completely unrelated to his ministry, disguised as environmental activities and carried out together with terrorists who attacked the Russians (see article in the Military Review “Under the guise of environmental cooperation. American militarization of the Amazon ").
Unfortunately, the Brazilian left (traditionally sympathetic to Russia), represented by the Labor Party, hates Salles so much (and there are objective reasons for this) and is so afraid of the federal police that they chose to side with Moraes, formally asking him to authorize Salles' resignation.
Recall that the capture of Russian tourists in Manaus in 2016 took place in almost the same place (at a distance of 1 km) and on the same day (June 22), when the negotiations of the Governor of the State of Amazonas Jose Melo with Rosneft on the development of the field took place Solimunes. This allows us to consider this crime as a hostage-taking in order to put pressure on the Russian company and influence the outcome of the negotiations (everyone knows the US attitude towards Rosneft and Igor Sechin).
This analysis makes it possible to understand why certain forces in Brazil are interested in interpreting internal political problems as Russian interference and even attracting Venezuela and the Russian GRU to this. Defesanet's statement about Russia's interference in the Brazilian judicial system looks absurd, since it is clear from the materials presented in this article that, acting absolutely legally and using the resources of the Brazilian judicial system and prosecutors to achieve its goals, the Russian side is primarily interested in the smooth operation of the websites. MPF and STF.
Illustration from the site defesanet.com.br:
Don't underestimate Defesanet's stuffing as insignificant articles on a low-impact website. This is the category of fighters on the information front who not only have literary abilities, but also try to transform their invented stories into the semblance of real facts. On May 18, DefesaNet publishes an article titled "Exclusive - Brazilian government confirms for the first time that Russians are operating at the border", in which he claims that "This is the first time an official representative of the Brazilian government confirms the presence of Russian armed forces operating on the borders of Brazil." In fact, this article is a wishful thinking, namely: a retelling of an attempt by one of the deputies to get the necessary comments from the Brazilian Defense Minister at a public hearing on "Russian interference" (monitoring, electronic warfare and jamming), referring to already the article we cited on Defesanet.com.br.
A public hearing where the Brazilian Defense Minister answered questions about "Russian electronic interference and attack on the judicial system":
In reality, as it becomes clear from a careful reading of the article, all that Defense Minister Braga Neto said is “Border maneuvers have taken place and the (Brazilian) armed forces have the ability to counter cyber threats. Every time there is a mobilization for an exercise, we (the military) monitor all kinds of such exercises. " That is, recently (March 30), the appointed minister did not succumb to the provocation, saying that everything that was happening on the territory of Venezuela was exclusively from the other side of the border and did not say a word about any radio-electronic sabotage that had taken place, never uttering the word “Russians "Or" Russia ", which does him credit as a politician (regardless of his personal ideas about the reality of the" Russian threat ").
A fragment of the deputy's question to the Brazilian Defense Minister with a request to comment on the publication of Defesanet about "Russian cyber threats and electronic attacks" from Venezuela:
In conclusion, it should be noted that among all the names listed in this article, there are no goodies.
Russia and the world community have a lot of claims against President Jair Bolsonar, most of Brazil hates Minister Ricardo Salles (for the environmental disaster in the Amazon), few people trust Attorney General Arash. And even the new superintendent of the federal police of Amazonas, Leandro Almada, who replaced Saraiva, raises a lot of questions about his competence. Since he previously headed the internal investigations service of the Amazonas Public Security System, where at that moment the first of the ISIS terrorists arrested in Brazil (a banned organization in Russia) was working Osiris Maurice Lundy.
But in the conflict under consideration with the federal police, these characters play a positive role, acting on the side of protecting democratic values and against terrorists who threw not only Russian tourists into prisons, but dozens of other innocent citizens. For example, Senator Omar Aziz (which made Manaus is the capital of the coronavirus pandemic and has led to the emergence of the most contagious strain of COVID-19), as well as an entrepreneur Nair Blair, which is now in the procurement of the Russian vaccine Sputnik V for Brazil (it recently gave video interview Russian press).
Investigation continues
On the morning of May 20, it became known that the materials on the investigation of the terrorist attack on the Russians were redirected from the Prosecutor's Office of Amazonas to the capital of the country - the Seventh Coordination and Control Chamber of the Prosecutor's Office in Brasilia.
Electronic notification of reopening (after filing an appeal against objections from federal police agents) of the terrorist attack on Russians:
If the investigation is carried out properly and the perpetrators are punished, then perhaps this will deal a serious blow to the terrorist wing of Brazil's most influential intelligence service, forcing the state to completely reformat the federal police, abandon the practice of the police state and return the country to the path of democratic development.
Influence diagram of the Brazilian Federal Police:
- СPLCRB-press
- https://www.brasil247.com, https://www.defesanet.com.br
Information