Yesterday, the New York Times reported on the arrest of one Jamal Yousef of the Syrian military, who tried to trade a buttload of machine guns and high grade explosives in exchange for 2,000 lbs. of high grade cocaína. (more…)

A few weeks ago, the Daily Mail wrote about a low-ranking British diplomat named James Hudson who was caught on hidden camera by the FSB (formerly the KGB, formerlier the MVD, formerlierer the NKVD, formerliest the Cheka) getting it on with two Russian hookers in a Yekaterinburg brothel. The paper published a couple of frame grabs from the video, but I wanted to check out the raw footage for myself. It looked like one of those classic sex scandals set up to blackmail someone into cooperation, and there’s nothing cooler than being able to watch real spy games in action. So I headed straight for kompromat.ru, Russia’s biggest muckraking/political scandal news site. (more…)

[Interview with Ames starts at 2:00 mark]

Mark Ames appeared on MSNBC earlier this week as a guest on Dylan Ratigan’s new “Morning Meeting” show. Ames squared off against Jack Matlock, ex-American ambassador to the Soviet Union, now known as perhaps the last true “Grumpy Old Man” kickin’ it grump-skewl.

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Nikolai Usatykh, serving 22 years in Arkhangelsk (or is he just 22 years old?)

Twitter may be all the rage here in the United States, but social networking over the World Wide Web has just jumped over a 15-ft. fence and, barely missing a few coils of barbed wire, landed in the middle of Russia’s brutal penal system. These scary-looking, chronically underfed, TB-infected criminals may be serving twenty to life, but that doesn’t mean they can’t have one.  With the democratizing power of Internet technology, even the most downtrodden have a voice!

Now, you don’t want to know how they snuck these photos out of their cells or what they did to smuggle the cameras in. Main thing is that once you get an account at Odnoklassniki.ru, you’ll be able to “friend” your favorite zek and start a friendship that will last a decade, at least. Some are somber and introspective, others pretty and simple-minded, while a few, like Dima Khrulyov below, are born with a natural gift with words and philosophy. But don’t expect quick replies to your private messages; it might be a few months or a year or more before you hear back from your new buddy. Sure, they don’t call them Gulags anymore, but visitation hour is still a 72-hour train ride away.

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The reigning czarina of Russian sluts, the ever-ambitious Karina Barbie, released a poorly-edited video of herself practicing her poledancing moves when she was 17. Note that she’s poledancing in her parents’ home, with her babushka walking back and forth sans underwear (like babushka, like Karina). That’s right, mom and grandma bought their little baby Karina a pole and set it up in the middle of their provincial apartment living room so that their daughter could practice sliding around on it. Ah, the Third Rome, where would we be without it… (more…)

From the moment Georgia launched its invasion against the breakaway region of South Ossetia this past August, sparking a wider war with neighboring Russia, the New York Times’s news coverage depicted Georgia as an innocent victim of Russia’s neo-imperialist evil. In doing so, the Times engaged in the sort of media malpractice that it promised its readers wouldn’t happen again after its disastrous coverage of the lead-up to the Iraq War. (more…)

Today’s question comes from a reader named Artiom. Send in your own questions, concerns and worries to ask@exiledonline.com. Team eXiled is here to help.

******

Dear eXiled,

I need to sneak out of Russia and travel to Belgium without getting caught. I am a citizen of both countries, but Russia wouldn’t let me out, they want me to serve in the army first.
So how the hell do I get out of here??

******

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Ho ho he-ro-in!

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This is part two of our ongoing Russian Calendar Girl series, in which we showcase hot Russian office workers featured in their companies’ souvenir calendars.

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First Estonia, then Georgia and now America:

“Suspicions of Russian involvement … Military electronics experts have not pinpointed the source or motive of the attack.”