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Reposted by Elise Thomas

Szabolcs Panyi @szabolcspanyi.bsky.social · 3d

💥🔎💰NEW INVESTIGATION: Across the Visegrád countries, politicians use paid social media ads to attack journalists, human rights activists, and NGOs – while Meta & Google profit from this #SponsoredHate. Such ads reach tens of thousands of users while evading platform moderation. @vsquare.bsky.social

Sponsored Hate: How Politicians Paid for Meta Ads to Attack Journalists - VSquare.org

Across the Visegrád countries, politicians have increasingly used paid social media ads to attack journalists, human rights activists, and civil society organizations.

vsquare.org

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Elise Thomas @elisethomas.bsky.social · 4d

Wi$h Li$t is extremely funny in the context of being written by a billionaire making five versions of the same album in an attempt to wring every last dollar out of her fans

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Elise Thomas @elisethomas.bsky.social · 4d

Relatedly, a @financialtimes.com investigation published today found that A7 has moved another ~$6 billion through A7A5 since new sanctions were imposed www.ft.com/content/5eff...

Kremlin-backed crypto coin moves $6bn despite US sanctions

A7A5 token enables Russian financial flows after Washington cracks down on related exchange

www.ft.com

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Elise Thomas @elisethomas.bsky.social · 5d

If you’re interested in sanctions evasion, money laundering, Russian foreign interference or the broader economic battle between Russia and the West, go check out the full report! www.info-res.org/reports/a7-a...

A7 Abroad: Sanctions evasion as a service

A7, led by convicted fraudster Ilan Shor and backed by sanctioned Russian banks, claims to have moved over $86 billion in less than a year. CIR’s investigation details how A7 uses shell companies and ...

www.info-res.org

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Elise Thomas @elisethomas.bsky.social · 5d

What’s different about A7, however, is that it’s officially backed by Russian state institutions and it’s trying to operate as a legitimate business within Russia while operating illicitly outside of Russia.

That, I think, may prove to be a fatal weakness – or could, with a little help.

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Elise Thomas @elisethomas.bsky.social · 5d

I found this investigation fascinating from multiple angles. What they’ve created is essentially a money-laundering network along the lines of other large-scale Russian criminal money laundering networks investigated by @icij.org @occrp.org @frederikobermaier.com and others.

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Elise Thomas @elisethomas.bsky.social · 5d

However, there are also some reasons to suspect that A7’s network may be being used in support of Russia’s broader geostrategic goals.

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Elise Thomas @elisethomas.bsky.social · 5d

Primarily, A7 is geared towards enabling sanctions evasion and propping up Russia’s worsening economy. Putin’s personal involvement in the Vladivostok office opening underscores that this is a political as well as commercial endeavour.

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Elise Thomas @elisethomas.bsky.social · 5d

All of the research in our report is based on OSINT. However, hacked A7 internal files published by Elliptic and others appear to confirm some of our findings. www.elliptic.co/blog/the-a7-...

The A7 leaks: The role of crypto in Russian sanctions evasion and election interference

Discover how Russia-backed groups uses cryptocurrency to evade sanctions and interfere in elections, backed by insights from leaked data on Ilan Shor's operations and A7's crypto transactions.

www.elliptic.co

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Elise Thomas @elisethomas.bsky.social · 5d

Our investigation found that enabling trade with China while evading sanctions is a major focus of A7’s activity, making up roughly 78% of A7’s import payments.

We also found indications that the UAE and Kyrgyzstan appear to be used as key jurisdictions for A7’s operations.

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Elise Thomas @elisethomas.bsky.social · 5d

A7A5 is only one of the ways in which A7 is moving money illicitly, or illegally, across borders. Our new investigation uncovers how A7 is using a network of shell companies around the world to move money via methods which are effectively forms of trade-based money laundering.

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Elise Thomas @elisethomas.bsky.social · 5d

A7 claims to have moved about US$86 billion in less than a year, and has set up offices across Russia. In September, Putin himself officially opened A7’s new Vladivostok office to focus on Asian trade.

Weeks later, A7 also opened offices in Nigeria and Zimbabawe.

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Elise Thomas @elisethomas.bsky.social · 5d

A7A5 is operated by A7, a Russian cross-border payment company owned by Moscow-backed Moldovan oligarch Ilan Shor and Russian state-owned military bank Promsvyazbank. A7 specifically advertises itself as a sanctions evasion service for international money flows.

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Elise Thomas @elisethomas.bsky.social · 5d

A few months ago, we put out a report on A7A5, a cryptocurrency registered in Kyrgyzstan. The clear goal of this stablecoin pegged to the Russian rouble is to enable large-scale Russian sanctions evasion around the world. bsky.app/profile/elis...

Elise Thomas @elisethomas.bsky.social · Jun 25

NEW: Do you want to know how a businessman wanted for a billion-dollar fraud in Moldova, accused of enabling Russian political influence and working with a Russian state-owned military bank is linked to a new cryptocurrency in Kyrgyzstan?

Then I've got the OSINT investigation for you 1/

A7A5: Circumventing sanctions with stablecoin cryptocurrency

A CIR investigation suggests that Russian company A7 has been constructing a system based on both fiat currency and cryptocurrency to transfer money into and out of Russia.

www.info-res.org

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Elise Thomas @elisethomas.bsky.social · 5d

New @cen4infores.bsky.social investigation: Sanctions, shell companies and Russian state-backed money laundering.

Here’s how Ilan Shor and the Kremlin are laundering tens of billions of dollars around the world.

www.info-res.org/reports/a7-a...

A7 Abroad: Sanctions evasion as a service

A7, led by convicted fraudster Ilan Shor and backed by sanctioned Russian banks, claims to have moved over $86 billion in less than a year. CIR’s investigation details how A7 uses shell companies and ...

www.info-res.org

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Elise Thomas @elisethomas.bsky.social · 5d

I think it hinges pretty heavily on what you mean by 'collapse.' As in, will it recede back to the status quo pre-Trump, probably not. Will it fracture into three or four chaotic factions in varying states of war or alliance with each other, probably yes, IMO.

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Elise Thomas @elisethomas.bsky.social · 7d

Almost aspirational levels of pettiness here. I too would like a pillar erected to my personal gripes.

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Elise Thomas @elisethomas.bsky.social · 7d

For displaying a Pride flag on his desk *last year*. Not even recently. Not even under the Trump administration.

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Reposted by Elise Thomas

WarTranslated (Dmitri) @wartranslated.bsky.social · 9d

The Albanian Prime Minister picked up on the theme of "ending the war between 'Aber-Baijan' and Albania." Edi Rama joked while greeting French President Emmanuel Macron and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev.

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Elise Thomas @elisethomas.bsky.social · 10d

I've also kept the West German oregano. It's what she would have wanted. Eventually my grandchildren can donate it to a museum or eat it and develop superpowers or something.

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Reposted by Elise Thomas

Meduza in English @meduza.io · 10d

Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, which is under Russian control, has been without external power for a week. “The generators and the plant were not designed for this,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned.
meduza.io/en/news/2025...

Ukraine warns of ‘critical’ situation as Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant left without external power for a week — Meduza

The Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in the Ukrainian city of Enerhodar, which is under Russian control, has been without external power for a week. Shelling cut it off from the grid, forcing…

meduza.io

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Elise Thomas @elisethomas.bsky.social · 10d

Winners: investors, banks.

Losers: home buyers, taxpayers. www.abc.net.au/news/2025-10...

Property prices rise as buyers try to beat rush of first home buyers

Home values have gained for the eighth month in a row. Experts warn that a rush of first home buyers signing up to the Home Guarantee Scheme will only fuel price growth.

www.abc.net.au

Elise Thomas @elisethomas.bsky.social · 10d

Some people remember their grandmothers through recipes or jewelry or beautiful family rituals.

I’m remembering mine by working my way through using the huge stash of stationery she stole from the work cupboard in the 1960s. This feels appropriate for us both.

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Elise Thomas @elisethomas.bsky.social · 10d

oh my god

Drew Harwell @drewharwell.com · 10d

OpenAI employees are very excited about how well their new AI tool can create fake videos of people doing crimes and have definitely thought through all the implications of this

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Elise Thomas @elisethomas.bsky.social · 10d

I have no context for this and yet immediately assume it is about the President of the United States on the basis that it's a thing he would do

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