A Navy chief was convicted of attempted espionage last week in a San Diego military court after he was accused of providing classified documents to a foreign contact while stationed in Norfolk and Japan. Chief Fire Controlman Bryce S. Pedicini was found guilty of attempted espionage, failure to obey a lawful order and attempted violation of a lawful order, according to the Naval Criminal Investigative Service. The verdict was handed down Friday after a seven-day trial in a general court-martial. Pedicini is facing up to life in prison and a dishonorable discharge, according to court documents. He is scheduled to be sentenced May 7. “This guilty verdict holds Mr. Pedicini to account for his betrayal of his country and fellow service members,” Omar Lopez, director of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, said in a news release. Pedicini was charged in February with one count of attempted espionage stemming from May 8-17, 2023, while he was stationed at or near Yokosuka, Japan, according to the charge sheet. Pedicini was assigned to the Japan-based guided missile destroyer USS Higgins in April 2023. He had also faced seven counts of espionage that allegedly occurred at or near Hampton Roads between November 2022 and February 2023, according to a charge sheet signed Jan. 18 by the commander of the Naval Surface Force Pacific Fleet. At the time, Pedicini was assigned to the Mid-Atlantic Regional Maintenance Center in Norfolk. Investigators had also accused Pedicini of failing to report foreign contacts to his chain of command, failing to report solicitation of classified information, taking a personal device into a secure room and transporting classified information, according to the charge sheet. Prosecutors argued in a March 15 motion that Pedicini was contacted on Oct. 24, 2022, through Facebook Messenger by someone claiming to be a defense researcher from a

Ukrainian Drone Strikes Target Russian Oil Refineries Again Despite White House Pleas Just days after the Biden administration signed a new military aid package worth billions of dollars to Ukraine, Kyiv launched a series of suicide drone attacks on Russian oil refineries. Biden’s top officials have pleaded with Kyiv to stop attacks on Russia’s energy infrastructure because of the fears that turmoil in crude markets would send pump prices in the US higher ahead of the presidential elections in November.  “Our region is again under attack by Ukrainian UAVs,” Smolensk Governor Vasily Anokhin wrote in a post on Telegram on Wednesday. Kamikaze drones damaged oil facilities in western Russia.  Another drone attack hit the Lipetsk region further south, which is home to steel production plants and pharmaceutical sites, Governor Igor Artamonov said. “The Kyiv criminal regime tried to hit infrastructure in Lipetsk industrial zone,” Artamonov said.  The Moscow Times pointed out: A source in the Ukrainian defense sector confirmed to AFP on Wednesday that drones in the service of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) had carried out the attacks. The source made no mention of the attack on Lipetsk but claimed two oil depots were destroyed in the Smolensk region. “Rosneft lost two storage and pumping bases for fuels and lubricants in the towns of Yartsevo and Rozdorovo,” the source said, referring to the Russian state-controlled energy giant. The Financial Times, citing unnamed US officials, recently said long-range drones have hit at least 20 energy facilities deep within Russia so far this year. Kyiv’s drone attacks on Russia’s energy complex have been frightening for the Biden administration, as Brent prices have risen to the $90/bbl level on higher war risk premiums. Higher energy costs feed into inflation as stagflation concerns mount in the US. Also, gasoline pump prices in the US are inching closer to the politically sensitive $4 level.  According to AAA data, the