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China has acted as a backdoor for Russia to conduct business and obtain much-needed technology to continue its invasion in Ukraine, thereby bypassing Western sanctions, according to a new intelligence report. ... The eight-page report from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence on "Support Provided by the People’s Republic of China to Russia" found that Beijing has "become an even more critical economic partner for Russia" since the invasion started. Most notably, the report claims that "Beijing has also significantly increased the use of its currency … and its financial infrastructure in commercial interactions with Russia," which has...

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has hit a slow-burn phase after nearly 18 months of intense fighting, focusing primarily on Kyiv’s counteroffensive and Moscow’s efforts to hold their gains after ensuring Ukraine will not be able to join NATO. "The Russian offensive is grinding on a low-intensity pace as the Russians are focused primarily on holding on to the territory they’ve captured and thwarting [the] Ukrainian counteroffensive, which has not produced much gain for Kyiv," Rebekah Koffler, president of Doctrine & Strategy Consulting and a former Defense Intelligence Agency officer, told Fox News Digital. "Putin is unlikely to push for any...

Mercenary chief of the Wagner Group, Yevgeniy Prigozhin, has threatened to keep his men from returning to Ukraine if Moscow continues under the leadership of "clowns," widening the rift that has been growing between his group and military command. "If the whole chain (of command) is 100% failed and will only be led by clowns who turn people into meat, then we will not participate in it," Prigozhin said during an interview to celebrate his 62nd birthday. "It has been a tough year," he added, confirming that his men will leave the city of Bakhmut on June 5 after handing...

China in July purchased 80.1 tons of gold valued at $4.6 billion China and Russia may be working toward a new gold-backed currency in a move that would aim to dethrone the dollar as the primary reserve currency of the world, but any such currency would unlikely achieve that goal. "The USD remains the safest, most convenient and most widely used currency in Asia and in the world today," Min-Hua Chiang, a research fellow and economist at the Heritage Foundation’s Asian Studies Center, told FOX Business. "No other currency (backed by gold or otherwise) is comparable, and that is unlikely...

"The fact that several municipal deputies in St. Petersburg, Putin’s hometown, came forward accusing [him] of treason and calling for his removal is highly significant," Rebekah Koffler, a former DIA intelligence officer and author of "Putin’s Playbook," told Fox News Digital. "They know the punishment will be severe. They can easily face a death sentence based on Russian federal law. The significance of this act of defiance and dissent by a handful of Russian officials cannot be possibly overstated."

Germany will support the European embargo of Russian oil, marking another significant turnaround in the nation’s position as the invasion of Ukraine continues. Ambassadors will reportedly table the proposal at an ambassadors summit in Brussels on Wednesday, with expectations to approve the embargo by the end of next week. Germany has resisted such an embargo, but government sources told German news agency dpa on Sunday that Chancellor Olaf Scholz will back the embargo. Scholz previously urged caution against any outright ban over concerns of the consequences, which he believed would prove devastating to Germany’s economy and the continent as a...

Russia previously insisted on completing payments in rubles. Russia appeared to narrowly avoid default on Friday as it paid off a number of overdue international debts in dollars, reversing its recent policy requiring transactions occur in rubles. The finance ministry said it paid $564.8 million on a 2022 Eurobond and $84.4 million on a 2042 bond in dollars, as specified on the bonds, Reuters reported.

Police have identified the victims of a car crash Saturday involving a human smuggler as a mother and daughter from Texas. The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) confirmed the mother, 59, and daughter, 22, were locals from Mission. The alleged smuggler ran a stop sign while fleeing from police and T-boned the victims’ vehicle. He also allegedly had six illegal immigrants in his vehicle, all of whom are now in custody. One of the immigrants flew through the windshield upon impact, but survived. Officers have not yet released the pair’s identities, but did confirm they were the only deaths...