this post was submitted on 21 Feb 2026
700 points (98.1% liked)

World News

54211 readers
2155 users here now

A community for discussing events around the World

Rules:

Similarly, if you see posts along these lines, do not engage. Report them, block them, and live a happier life than they do. We see too many slapfights that boil down to "Mom! He's bugging me!" and "I'm not touching you!" Going forward, slapfights will result in removed comments and temp bans to cool off.

We ask that the users report any comment or post that violate the rules, to use critical thinking when reading, posting or commenting. Users that post off-topic spam, advocate violence, have multiple comments or posts removed, weaponize reports or violate the code of conduct will be banned.

All posts and comments will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. This means that some content that violates the rules may be allowed, while other content that does not violate the rules may be removed. The moderators retain the right to remove any content and ban users.


Lemmy World Partners

News !news@lemmy.world

Politics !politics@lemmy.world

World Politics !globalpolitics@lemmy.world


Recommendations

For Firefox users, there is media bias / propaganda / fact check plugin.

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/media-bias-fact-check/

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
top 50 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] RedRibbonArmy@sh.itjust.works 138 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago) (24 children)

The guy was Mossad/Israeli CIA. His accomplice Maxwell was the daughter of an Israeli spy. He had a map of a fantasy country called "greater Israel" on his wall in his home. He was best friends with former Israeli Prime Minister, Ehud Barak and let him live in one of his apartments. He called people "goyims," which come to find out is an Israeli supremacist term to refer to non-Jewish people. The whole US government is compromised with blackmail by Israel and/or bribed by Israel via AIPAC so that the US funds their wars and attack our own people for speaking out against genocide. Only online media will tell you this while the entire billionaire-owned corporate media covers for Israel.

[–] IndustryStandard@lemmy.world 39 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago)

The Mossad also managed the wiretapping and camera systems at Epsteins apartment and screened everyone going in and out. https://www.dropsitenews.com/p/israeli-government-surveillance-epstein-apartment-66th-street-ehud-barak

[–] teslekova@sh.itjust.works 24 points 6 days ago (1 children)

All true. If you know all this, you must know that Israel and Russia have been very close when it suits them to be. It's quite possible that Epstein had connections to lots of Russian powerful people.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] tackleberry@thelemmy.club 9 points 6 days ago

The editors of that article want to spin the story that Jeffrey Epstein is a Russian agent. 😂 maybe the folks on Reddit will believe it. They should post it there first

load more comments (21 replies)
[–] rushmonke@ttrpg.network 28 points 5 days ago (2 children)
load more comments (2 replies)
[–] BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today 29 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Officially, Putin collects a modest salary, though a financier alleged to Congress in 2017 that the Russian president "has accumulated $200 billion of ill-gotten gains" through corruption and criminal activity

He's been running Russia for decades, I would highly doubt that his net worth is less than a trillion dollars. He is in that rare atmosphere of wealth that travels ABOVE mere billionaires like Musk. He's up there with the people that are NOT included in the Forbes list, those who are so wealthy and powerful that Forbes knows not to mention their names in some gauche rich guy competition. That includes certain monarchs, Sheikhs, the Rothschilds, etc. Usually long generational wealth that is so large, there almost isn't even a category for it. Putin is in THAT club. Musk WISHES he could get in that club.

[–] BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today 8 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Valid. Good perspective.

We still haven't figured out exactly what Epstein was up to. We don't know if he was working for Israel, Russia, somebody else, or was a free agent, collecting material.amd selling to any and all buyers. We think about politics, but he was probably selling info to corporate interests as well.

We know something was up, the smoke is as thick and choking as any political tire fire in recent world history, but we just don't know the source. Blackmail is the usual assumption, but as far as I know, nothing has ever turned up in the files that indicates any hint of a blackmail plot from either side.

Perhaps they were just careful? SOMEBODY would have slipped, somewhere in all those years. Perhaps MAGA is keeping them all hidden? Plausible, but MAGA is notorious for being virtuosically incompetent, and they would have accidentally let slip a few clues and hints, or even downright proof.

So, perhaps Putin was somewhat "forced" to use Epstein in some way, through some currently unknown mechanism, but Putin would have kept him fairly quarantined.

And Epstein was known to play up his connections to influential people he barely knew, portraying them as close friends, if he thought it would ingratiate himself to a new prospect.

[–] borkborkbork@piefed.social 7 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago) (5 children)

We don’t know if he was working for Israel, Russia, somebody else, or was a free agent, collecting material.amd selling to any and all buyers.

I can't help but suspect the CIA is on that list due to the lack of interference from US law enforcement time and time again.

[–] UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 6 points 5 days ago

CIA and Mossad are joined at the hip

load more comments (4 replies)
[–] OwOarchist@pawb.social 53 points 6 days ago (2 children)

I kind of doubt this, actually.

I don't think Putin is the type to trust anybody else with his wealth. Not all of it, anyway, or even most of it.

Maybe I'd believe Epstein was a wealth manager for Putin, not the wealth manager. Just one of the many pies Putin has his fingers in.

[–] frischkaesbagett@feddit.org 29 points 6 days ago (3 children)

Please don't use straw man arguments.

Nowhere in the article it says Epstein was the only one. So you are opposing something that is never said.

The source claimed that Epstein served as a wealth manager for Russian President Vladimir Putin, as well as former Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe

[–] OwOarchist@pawb.social 23 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Nowhere in the article it says Epstein was the only one.

You expect me to read articles?!?!? Preposterous!

I'm just going off of the title, where it says:

Jeffrey Epstein Was Vladimir Putin's Wealth Manager

Not 'one of Putin's wealth managers'.

So ... yeah. I blame the poorly worded title. No ragrets.

[–] idiomaddict@lemmy.world 14 points 6 days ago (4 children)

I’m my father’s daughter. I have two sisters who are also my father’s daughters. I am also one of my father’s daughters, but that doesn’t make my first sentence incorrect.

load more comments (4 replies)
[–] hector@lemmy.today 16 points 6 days ago (3 children)

This whole article is a plant to try and associate epstein with russia away from Israel.

[–] ChunkMcHorkle@lemmy.world 9 points 6 days ago

Thank you. Exactly. If they can't distract they redirect and/or flood the zone. Whatever works to keep the real systems hidden even as it's all coming out anyway.

load more comments (2 replies)
load more comments (1 replies)
load more comments (1 replies)
[–] hector@lemmy.today 40 points 6 days ago (19 children)

The establishment is trying to turn this into a russian thing, as that's their go to move. But this was a mossad honeypot, clearly done in conjunction with the CIA, which is a great betrayal of their mission, an executable offense, of treason, or it's facsimile, and carries a death sentence to hear the president talk about it.

The CIA isn't allowed to conduct operations in the country, allowing a foreign intelligence agency to accrue blackmail on politicians, and rich people, and the like, is a great betrayal, I don't know why no one has even dug into this, who was in charge when all of this happened, who authorized this at the CIA? Why are they given a pass?

[–] Corkyskog@sh.itjust.works 9 points 6 days ago

Who was in charge? This starts back with the OSS and Donald Barr, spanning like more than a half dozen administrations.

load more comments (18 replies)
[–] minorkeys@lemmy.world 35 points 6 days ago (8 children)

Shit, how much did Epstein's death fuck Putin? Or perhaps cover his ass?

[–] 474D@lemmy.world 12 points 6 days ago

Could have been a message to a certain someone to keep them in line.

load more comments (7 replies)
[–] noobdoomguy8658@feddit.org 19 points 6 days ago (7 children)

We're not in the timeline to doubt anything, but Putin strikes me, a Russian living in Russia and closely following the politics at least of my own country, especially from the not-so-safe side, as someone who would not choose someone he can't control and have in his grasp to run anything like this.

Not to mention his paranoia, ego mania and the alleged financial skills that, again, allegedly let him win a lot of trust among the people de-facto making big decisions in Russia before he wriggled into presidency.

I don't doubt that Putin had dedicated financial managers at some point, it's just hard to belive it could've been anyone like Epstein, i.e. someone outside Russia or even Moscow where Putin could blackmail and hurt them or at least first treaten them into obedience, even with the eventual murder somewhere outside Russia (Litvinenko poisioning).

Not that nothing unexpected and hard-to-believe hasn't been surfacing for a while already, though.

[–] chonglibloodsport@lemmy.world 13 points 6 days ago

I think it’s a pretty safe bet that Putin has tried to keep as many of his eggs in different baskets as possible. Having Epstein manage a bit of his money would be pretty low risk if he’s got most of it in other ventures.

For all the many public failures Putin has had over the past few years, he’s proved himself frustratingly resilient. He’s like some kind of nuclear powered cockroach.

[–] ameancow@lemmy.world 10 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago) (2 children)

Did Russian money pass through Epstein? Assuredly.

Was he THE man who managed Putin's vast fortune through Russia and the rest of the world? Assuredly not.

"Epstein was President Vladimir Putin's wealth manager and provided the same service for Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe," the source claimed. PEOPLE has reached out to the Kremlin for comment.

People magazine, you keep shooting your shots... maybe one day you'll knock it out of the park.

load more comments (2 replies)
load more comments (5 replies)
[–] orbituary@lemmy.dbzer0.com 26 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago) (6 children)

There are some gullible-ass mother fuckers in this thread.

Stop taking the fucking bait.

[–] 4am@lemmy.zip 16 points 6 days ago (1 children)

I dunno, I’m sure it can be both

[–] hector@lemmy.today 12 points 6 days ago

Israel first. Any russian involvement was after the fact, and done with the blessing of Israel, probably done after Russia started to back the far right across the west, which started at least years before 2016, I remember them giving the National Front of France a loan of 20 or so million, idk if 2014.

But these articles and this talk is all to protect Israel and disassociate from them. Any russian involvement was in effect at the behest of Israel, for their interests, he was an israeli agent through and through.

load more comments (5 replies)
[–] Allero@lemmy.today 9 points 5 days ago (9 children)

There's no citation of the files, though. Did anyone find a confirmation? For all known previously, Epstein attempted to make ties with Russian government officials, including Putin, but it wasn't known that Epstein actually was working for Putin.

load more comments (9 replies)
[–] Naevermix@lemmy.world 5 points 5 days ago (1 children)

Lmao yeah sure, anything but Mossad

[–] xxam925@lemmy.zip 4 points 5 days ago (1 children)

It’s not beyond imagination that they are controlling Russia as well.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] SlurpingPus@lemmy.world 14 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago)

Pu doesn't need Epstein to ‘hide his money offshore’. There are more than enough knowledgeable people in Russia who'll teach any aspiring businessman to create LLCs that own each other in a circle, while the actual decision-maker is nowhere to be seen. Pu likes his confidants to be close to him, he wouldn't hire some schmuck from the other side of the world for this, especially seeing as he himself was involved in money-hiding since his days in the KGB.

An actual wealth holder for Pu is cellist Sergei Roldugin, his friend since Roldugin's military service in 1977. Roldugin holds positions in multiple state-funded culture-related initiatives that Putin personally oversaw. He's also a businessman, or rather a business owner, somehow having shares in private companies worth dozens of millions of bucks each. He's been shown to own offshore companies that traded shares in state-owned companies and got loans without collateral and with small interest. Lithuanian government confirmed Roldugin's offshore operations — as Lithuanian banks were involved in the transactions — and considers them to be money laundering. Roldugin is named in the Pandora Papers and other journalist investigations, is indirectly a suspect in state investigations in Panama and Switzerland, and is sanctioned since 2022 by the US, EU, and some other countries.

Roldugin is also involved with the Rossiya bank, which is considered the personal ‘wallet’ for Putin's friends, and which bank is separately sanctioned by the US since 2014 and the EU since 2022.

The founder and owner of the largest share in the Rossiya bank is Yury Kovalchuk, who's sanctioned by the US since 2014 for being Putin's personal banker. Well, again, Putin knew him since early nineties, and they founded the Ozero cooperative together with Putin's other friends, who all hold top positions in the government or business.

[–] tackleberry@thelemmy.club 9 points 6 days ago (3 children)

At this rate, by 2028, these assholes will tell us Jeffrey Epstein was a Russian KGB agent

[–] mattyroses@lemmy.today 11 points 6 days ago (3 children)

British press is already there. Anything to pretend it wasn't Israel.

load more comments (3 replies)
load more comments (2 replies)
load more comments
view more: next ›