DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ Opinion: Putin, Trump, and a remarkable split-screen moment in world history
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-31 | by ( Sheena Mckenzie | Opinion Frida Ghitis | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

She is a weekly opinion contributor to CNN, a contributing columnist to The Washington Post and a columnist for World Politics Review. First, that Prigozhin had openly challenged Russian President Vladimir Putin, and second, that countless others who had defied Putin have met untimely, violent deaths. In different ways, both Putin and Trump are key players in that phenomenon. Neither Trump nor Putin are novices at the art of conjuring major victories by going to war against the truth. Putin launched the full-scale war in Ukraine around the 8th anniversary of his 2014 invasion of Crimea.

Persons: Frida Ghitis, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Prigozhin, Vladimir Putin, Putin, Donald Trump’s, Trump, Alexander Solzhenitzyn, Robert Mueller’s, indicting Prigozhin, ” Prigozhin, Anna Politkovskaya, Facebook Putin, Boris Nemtsov, Alexei Navalny Organizations: CNN, Washington Post, Politics, Frida Ghitis CNN, Soviet Union, Kremlin, Internet Research Agency, Ukraine, Twitter, Facebook Locations: Russian, Moscow, Russia, Ukraine, Atlanta, Soviet, United States, “, Crimea

CNN —Wagner mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin says he is in Africa “making Russia even greater on all continents, and Africa even freer,” in a video circulating on pro-Russian military blogs Monday. In the clip, Prigozhin is seen holding a rifle in a desert area while wearing camouflage. “The former colonizers are trying to keep the people of African countries in check. And this is the (the reason for the) love for PMC Wagner, this is the high efficiency of PMC Wagner. Following Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Wagner forces were heavily involved in capturing the eastern cities of Soledar and Bakhmut.

Persons: CNN — Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Wagner, Prigozhin, ” Prigozhin, ” Wagner, Sudan’s, ”, “, PMC Wagner, Vladimir Putin’s Organizations: CNN, “, Central African, PMC Wagner, PMC Locations: Africa “, Russia, Africa, Russian, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Central African Republic, In Sudan, West, St Petersburg, Ukraine, Soledar, Belarus

☆ Yevgeny Prigozhin: Where in the world is the Wagner warlord?
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-13 | by ( Nathan Hodge | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

It was a stark contrast to the fate of Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of the Russian mercenary group Wagner. Back in June, Prigozhin led the abortive mutiny that presented the biggest challenge to Russian President Vladimir Putin in over two decades of rule. Speaking after Wagner fighters relocated to Belarus, Prigozhin suggested he remained focused on this core African market. In a recent Telegram message, Prigozhin hinted that Wagner might be ready to offer its services there. “And this is the (the reason for the) love for PMC Wagner, this is the high efficiency of PMC Wagner.

Persons: Alexey Navalny, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Wagner, Prigozhin, Vladimir Putin, Putin, ”, Prigozhin hasn’t, –, CNN’s Christiane Amanpour, Andrei Kelin, Kelin, “, ” Kelin, Vladimir, Kara, Murza, … Prigozhin, CNN's Christiane Amanpour, Candace Rondeaux, Rondeaux, it’s, ” Rondeaux, Mateusz Morawiecki, Morawiecki, ” Prigozhin, Sudan –, PMC Wagner, Mohamed Bazoum, Tatiana Stanovaya Organizations: CNN, Central African Republic, Kremlin, Amanpour, Putin’s, NATO, Polish, Wagner Group, PMC Wagner, PMC, Russian Foreign Ministry, Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center, Putin Locations: Russian, Moscow, Russia, Africa, St . Petersburg, Orchestra_W, United Kingdom, Ukrainian, Bakhmut, America, Prigozhin, Putin’s Russia, Poland, Belarus, Lithuania, Sudan, Libya, Niger, Putin Russia

☆ Niger: Africa's latest coup is a headache for the West and an opportunity for Russia
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-03 | by ( Stephanie Busari | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +11 min

An important Western allyThe coup in Niger has deprived Western nations, particularly France and the United States, of a key ally in a troubled region. The largest country in West Africa, Niger had been touted as a democratic success story on the continent and Bazoum was seen as a crucial partner in the fight against Islamist jihadists in the region. Carley Petesch/AP/FileThe French military also maintains two permanent bases in the Sahel region, one of which is in Niamey. “The former colonizers are trying to keep the people of African countries in check. Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, and President of the Republic of South Africa Cyril Matamela Ramaphosa shake hands on the sideline of the Russia Africa Summit.

Persons: Mohamed Bazoum, Putin, France ”, Emmanuel Macron, “, Bazoum, Joe Biden, Washington “, Stringer, Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, jihadists, Carley Petesch, ” Maman Sani, Oluwole Ojewale, …, ” Ojewale, ” Françafrique, Remi Adekoya, ” Adekoya, ” Wagner, Prigozhin, ” Prigozhin, Vladimir Putin, Republic of South Africa Cyril Matamela Ramaphosa, Mikhail Metzel, Ibrahim Traore, ”, ” Traore, Ojewale Organizations: CNN, West, Kremlin, ISIS, Africa Center, Strategic Studies, European Union, World Nuclear Association ., Institute for Security Studies, Central African, CFA, Banque de France, UK’s York University, Russia Africa Summit, ISS Locations: Niger, Niamey, France, Paris, United States, Western, Africa, Russia, Moscow, Russian, Mali, West Africa, Nigerien, al Qaeda, US, Agadez, Sahel, Burkina Faso, West, Central Africa, China, Ukraine, Sudan, Central African Republic, Mozambique, Libya, St . Petersburg, Somalia, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Republic of South Africa

☆ Prigozhin blames former colonizers for situation in Niger without proof and hints Wagner is ready to help
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-29 | by ( Tim Lister | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —While the international community, including many African states, have condemned the coup in Niger, Russian mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin has his own take. Niger was once a French colony and, before this week’s putsch, it had been one of the few democracies in the region. He said that his private military company, Wagner, was capable of dealing with situations like that playing out in Niamey, the Nigerien capital. And this is the (the reason for) love for PMC (private military company) Wagner, this is the high efficiency of PMC Wagner. Because a thousand soldiers of PMC Wagner are able to establish order and destroy terrorists, preventing them from harming the peaceful population of states,” he said.

Persons: Yevgeny Prigozhin, Prigozhin, Prigozhin’s missive, Wagner, ” Prigozhin, “, PMC Wagner, ”, Prigozhin’s, Mohamed Bazoum Organizations: CNN, Kremlin, PMC, PMC Wagner, Central African, Russian Foreign Ministry Locations: Niger, Russian, French, Belarus, St . Petersburg, Russia, Niamey, Nigerien, Mali, Burkina Faso, Sudan, Central African Republic

Prigozhin’s rebellion posed one of the biggest challenges to the long rule of Russian President Vladimir Putin. In the video, a fighter seemingly addresses the Wagner leader as “Yevgeny Viktorovich,” Prigozhin’s first name and patronymic. The video is grainy and filmed in low light so CNN cannot definitively say the speaker is Prigozhin or when it was filmed. The fate of Wagner chief Prigozhin, meanwhile, remained subject to speculation. After the mutiny ended, Lukashenko claimed Prigozhin had arrived in Belarus.

Persons: Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, ”, Vladimir Putin, Yevgeny Viktorovich, ” Prigozhin, Alexander Lukashenko, Lukashenko, Prigozhin, Prighozin Organizations: CNN, Russian Ministry of Locations: Belarus, Russia, Ukraine, Belarusian, Africa, Prigozhin, St . Petersburg, Moscow

☆ Wagner ‘does not exist’: Why Putin claims a rift in the mercenary group
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-14 | by ( Nathan Hodge | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Weeks after an armed uprising by the Russian mercenary group Wagner revealed cracks in Russia’s system of one-man rule, the Kremlin has been on a PR offensive. “Wagner PMC does not exist,” Putin said when asked if Wagner would be kept on as a fighting unit. Roman Romokhov/AFP/Getty ImagesTensions between Wagner and the Kremlin boiled over in recent weeks, with Putin alleging that the paramilitary group "does not exist." So what is Putin’s aim in floating this account of a meeting with Prigozhin and Wagner commanders? “No, the guys do not agree with this decision,” the Wagner leader said, according to Putin.

Persons: Wagner, Weeks, Vladimir Putin, Putin, Yevgeny Prigozhin, “ Wagner, ” Putin, ”, State Duma —, —, “ It’s, ” Wagner, Romokhov, Putin winkingly, “ We’ve, “, Prigozhin, Internet Research Agency —, Russia —, “ I’ve, ” Prigozhin, Prigozhin’s, ‘ Organizations: CNN, Kommersant, “ Wagner PMC, State Duma, PMCs, Getty, Kremlin, TV, Internet Research Agency, “ Locations: Russian, Moscow, Rostov, Russia, AFP, Ukraine, Ukrainian, Bakhmut, Donbas, St . Petersburg, Prigozhin

☆ Opinion: The Wagner mutiny shows Ukraine can win
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-27 | by ( Opinion Keir Giles | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

What the Wagner showdown demonstrates is that, instead, now is the time to redouble support to Ukraine. It also means lifting all of the artificial constraints of what Ukraine can do with the weapons they are provided. Above all, the fear in some Western capitals of Ukrainian victory, and Russian defeat, must be overcome. Our unanimous conclusion is that the only way to make Europe safer from Russia lies through urgently increasing assistance to allow Kyiv to win. Arms supplies to Ukraine, and full backing for Kyiv to defeat and evict Russia’s invading army, are an investment in peace.

Persons: Keir Giles, “, Yevgeny Prigozhin’s, Wagner, Keir Giles Munira Mustaffa, they’re, Vladimir Putin, Putin, Prigozhin, ‘, hasn’t, –, Ukraine hasn’t, Russia’s Organizations: Chatham House, CNN, Kremlin, Ukraine, Western, Twitter, Kyiv Locations: Russia, Eurasia, Moscow, Ukraine, Ukrainian, Kyiv, Germany, Europe

☆ Analysis: Why Prigozhin's short-lived Russian rebellion failed
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-26 | by ( Nic Robertson | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

When he packed up his tanks and pulled out of the Russian military headquarters in Rostov-on-Don on Saturday, well-wishers rushed up to say thank you. For weeks, months even, he’d been arguing Russia’s war in Ukraine was being badly and unnecessary fought by an elite who couldn’t care less how many Russian lives were lost. Prigozhin claimed his troops were being starved of ammunition by another of Putin’s trusted inner circle, Russia’s Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu. What the Russian public was hearing from Prigozhin, about how badly the war was going, was dangerous for Putin. Prigozhin's actions followed months of feuding with Russia's military top brass.

Persons: CNN — Wagner, Yevegeny Prigozhin, he’d, Putin, Prigozhin, Sergey Shoigu, Wagner, Shoigu, boss’s, Mikhail Mizintsev, Sergey Surovkin, ” Prigozhin, Alexander Ermochenko, Reuters Wagner, Don, Roman Romokhov, Ramzan Kadyrov, “, ” Kadyrov, Kadyrov, ”, kingmakers, Vladimir Putin, Alexander Lukashenko Organizations: CNN, Moscow, Don, Russia’s, Kremlin, Army, Reuters, Getty, Wagner PMC, Shoigu, Ministry of Defense Locations: Rostov, Ukraine, Africa, Russian, Kremlin, Moscow, AFP, Belarus, Russia, Mali, Central African Republic, Sudan, Libya

☆ Opinion: It’s not over yet in Russia, not by a long shot
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-26 | by ( David A. Andelman | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Halted indeed was the immediate crisis, but not the underlying foundations that Prigozhin and Putin had laid long before. “The oligarchic clan that rules Russia needed the war,” Prigozhin said. Now, in theory, though he is beyond the long arm of Putin’s justice system, he could still be brandishing a powerful cell phone and laptop. Indeed, Prigozhin’s Wagner Group seems to be the only force that’s winning at all methodically in Ukraine these days. Russia is not winning this war that was supposed to be over in a matter of days or weeks more than a year ago.

Persons: David A, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Wagner, Vladimir Putin —, Prigozhin, Alexander Lukashenko, Putin, ”, ” Prigozhin, scumbags, Konstantin Dolgov, renege, Prigozhin’s Wagner, Lukashenko, Dmitry Peskov, Antony Blinken, Dana Bash, “, Volodymyr Zelensky Organizations: CNN, French Legion of, The New York Times, CBS News, Kremlin, Putin, Twitter, Facebook Locations: Russia, Moscow, Belarus, Ukraine, Russian, Bakhmut, Kyiv, “ State

☆ Russia pulls back from brink of crisis after deal reached to end Wagner insurrection
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-25 | by ( Jessie Yeung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +17 min

Sovfoto/Universal Images Group via Getty Images Putin poses for a picture with his wife, Lyudmila, and daughters, Yekaterina and Maria. Brooks Kraft LLC/Corbis via Getty Images Putin rides a horse during a vacation in Southern Siberia in August 2009. Alexey Nikolsky/AFP via Getty Images Putin judges an arm wrestling match while visiting the Seliger youth educational forum in Russia's Tver region in August 2011. Dmitry Astakhov/RIA Novosti/AFP via Getty Images Putin plays with his dogs Yume, left, and Buffy at his home in Novo-Ogaryovo, Russia, in March 2013. Chris McGrath/Getty Images Putin and Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman attend the G20 summit in Buenos Aires in November 2018.

Persons: Vladimir Putin’s, Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, ” Prigozhin, ” Wagner, ”, Dmitry Peskov, “, Prigozhin, ” Peskov, Putin, Putin Putin, Joseph Stalin, –, “ Putin, Evelyn Farkas, ’, Vladimir Putin, Maria Putina, Archivio GBB, ZUMA Press Wire Putin, Laski, Maria, Vladimir, Anatoly Sobchak, Lyudmila, Yekaterina, Boris Yeltsin, Yeltsin, Fidel Castro, Reuters Putin, George W, Bush, Stephen Jaffe, Camp David, Brooks Kraft, Alexey Druzhinin, Alexey Nikolsky, Mikhail Metzel, Ivan Sekretarev, AP Putin, Dmitry Medvedev, Dmitry Astakhov, Buffy, Angela Merkel, Jochen Lübke, Thomas Bach, Medvedev, Vladimir Konstantinov, Alexei Chalyi, Sergei Aksyonov, Sergei Ilnitsky, Kirill Kudryavtsev, Alexander Lukashenko, Merkel, Francois Hollande, Petro Poroshenko, Mykola Lazarenko, Barack Obama, Ban, Chip Somodevilla, Turkey Andrei Karlov, Karlov, Donald Trump, Chris McGrath, Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, LUDOVIC MARIN, Emmanuel Macron, Volodymyr Zelensky, Eliot Blondet, Joe Biden, Antony Blinken, Biden, Sergey Lavrov, Denis Balibouse, Macron, Sergey Ponomarev, Mikhail Gorbachev, —, Alexander Nemenov, Alexey Danichev, Xi Jinping, Pavel Byrkin, Pavel Bednyakov, Peter Zwack, Beth Sanner, ” Sanner, “ He’s, … Putin, Moscow’s, Priogozhin Organizations: CNN, Kremlin, Communist, McCain, Putin, Getty, Russian, ZUMA Press, KGB, ZUMA Press Wire, Getty Images, Reuters, US, White House, Camp, Brooks, Brooks Kraft LLC, RIA Novosti, AP, AFP, International Olympic, Crimean, Ukrainian, United Nations, UN, Assembly, Russian Foreign Ministry, Sputnik, World, Saudi Arabia's Crown, Macron, SPUTNIK, New York Times, Central Clinical Hospital, AP Putin, Belarus, State Russian Museum, Russia’s Southern Military District, US Army, National Intelligence for Mission, State Department, European Union Locations: Moscow, Belarus, Ukraine, Russia, Kremlin, Russia’s Belgorod, Putin Russian, Russian, Rostov, St . Petersburg, Leningrad, Germany, AFP, Kazan, Cuba, Soviet Union, Southern Siberia, Russia's Tver, Novo, Ogaryovo, Hanover, Sevastopol, Crimea, Belarusian, Minsk, France, Turkey, Helsinki, Finland, Buenos Aires, Ukrainian, Paris, Geneva, Switzerland, Taganrog, Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, –, Canada, Italy, Japan, United Kingdom, Soviet, Kazakhstan

CNN —Russian President Vladimir Putin is facing the greatest threat to his authority in two decades after Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of the Wagner paramilitary group and Putin’s former ally, launched an apparent insurrection. Prigozhin has been highly critical of Russia’s military leadership and their handling of the war in Ukraine, but he had always stopped short of criticizing Putin directly. Wagner group also claimed to have seized Russian facilities in a second city, Voronezh, some 600 kilometers (372 miles) to the north of Rostov-on-Don. Alexander Gusev, the governor of the Voronezh region, said the Russian military was engaging in “combat measures” in the area. Stunning escalationSaturday’s dramatic events come off the back of Prigozhin’s very public and months-long feud with Russia’s military leadership.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Wagner, Sergei Shoigu, Valery Gerasimov, Prigozhin, Putin, ” Putin, Igor Artamonov, Sergei Sobyanin, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, “, ”, Don “, ” “, ” Prigozhin, Rostov, Don, Alexander Gusev, Shoigu, –, Gen, Vladimir Alekseev, Sergei Naryshkin, Naryshkin, Ramzan Kadyrov, Vladimir Rogov, Rogov saif, ” Wagner, Stringer, Dmytro Kuleba, Serhii Cherevatyi Organizations: CNN, Prigozhin, Moscow, Terrorism, Security, Russian, RIA Novosti, Kremlin, Russian Southern Military Headquarters, Ministry of Defense, Russian Ministry of Defense, Foreign Intelligence Service, Russian Historical Society, Telegram, Southern Military District, Reuters, Russian Foreign, European Union, US State Department, Britain’s Ministry of Defense, Russian National Guard, Ukrainian, Twitter, Ukrainian Armed Forces Locations: Moscow, Ukraine, Russian, Rostov, Voronezh, Lipetsk, Russia, St . Petersburg, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Turkey, Prigozhin’s, Prigozhin, Don, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, EU

☆ Wagner’s leader said the Kremlin attacked his forces
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-23 | by ( Justin Porter | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Yevgeny Prigozhin accused the Russian military of attacking his private forces, shortly after he released a scathing video that described the invasion of Ukraine as a “racket” meant to enrich Russia’s corrupt elite. Prigozhin, who leads the Wagner private military company, accused the Russian minister of defense, Sergei Shoigu, of sending missiles and helicopters to attack camps in Ukraine, where his fighters were bivouacked. “The evil carried by the country’s military leadership must be stopped,” Prigozhin said. Russian law enforcement immediately accused him of fomenting an “armed rebellion.”For months, the feud between Prigozhin and Russia’s military leadership has hampered the war effort, but these new accusations took the conflict to a new level. Never before had Prigozhin accused military leaders of attacking his forces, nor had asserted in such stark terms that the Kremlin’s stated justification for the war was nonsense.

Persons: Yevgeny Prigozhin, Wagner, Sergei Shoigu, “, ” Prigozhin Locations: Ukraine, Prigozhin

In a series of Telegram posts on Friday, Prigozhin accused Russian forces of striking a Wagner military camp. “A huge amount of our fighters were killed,” he said, in a radical escalation of a longstanding feud with Russia’s military leaders. In a later Telegram post, Prigozhin said that his criticism of the Russian military leadership was a “march of justice” and not a coup. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Russian President Putin is aware of the situation and “all necessary measures are being taken,” according to state media RIA Novosti. In the interview, he claimed the ministry misled Russian President Putin entirely.

Persons: CNN —, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Wagner, Prigozhin, ”, ” Prigozhin, Sergei Shoigu, Valery Gerasimov, Prigozhin “, “, Dmitry Peskov, Putin, Russia’s, Sergey Surovikin, Prigozhin’s, Igor Strelkov, Tatyana Stanovaya, Mykhailo Podolyak, ’ Prigozhin, , Shoigu – Organizations: CNN, Kremlin, Russia’s Ministry of Defense, Prigozhin's Press Service, –, Russian, Federal Security Service, PMC, Novosti, Social, State, Russia, Russian Ministry of Defense, Security, Defense, Twitter, Internet Research Agency, of Defense, Ministry of Defense, NATO Locations: Russia, Russian, Ukraine, Moscow, Donetsk People’s Republic, “, Putin’s Russia, St . Petersburg, NATO, Crimea

CNN —The boss of the Russian private military company Wagner says he won’t sign contracts with Russia’s Defense Ministry, rejecting an attempt to bring his force in line. Yevgeny Prigozhin’s comments follow an announcement by the Russian Ministry of Defense Saturday that “volunteer units” and private military groups would be required to sign a contract with the ministry. The order – signed by Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu – said the move would “give the voluntary formations the necessary legal status,” and create “unified approaches” to their work. “The orders and decrees issued by (Defense Minister Sergei) Shoigu apply to employees of the Ministry of Defense and military personnel. PMC ‘Wagner’ will not sign any contracts with Shoigu,” Prigozhin said in a Telegram post.

Persons: Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin’s, –, Sergei Shoigu –, ”, Prigozhin –, “, Sergei, Shoigu, PMC ‘ Wagner ’, ” Prigozhin, The Wagner Organizations: CNN, Russia’s Defense Ministry, Russian Ministry of Defense, Russian Defense, Ministry of Defense, PMC, Shoigu, Russian Federation, Russia, Russian Defense Ministry Locations: Ukraine, Russian, Bakhmut

CNN —Russia is blaming Ukraine for launching a drone attack on Moscow early Tuesday which reportedly left two people injured and several buildings damaged, a rare incident in the Russian capital after months of war. At least three residential buildings in Moscow were damaged by drones on Tuesday, Russian state news agency RIA Novosti reported, citing emergency services and residents. Sobyanin added in a subsequent update that investigators had concluded work at the Moscow apartment buildings hit by drones and that evacuated residents would be able to return to their homes. Ukraine has denied direct involvement with Tuesday’s drone attack on Moscow. A view shows a damaged multi-storey apartment block following a reported drone attack in Moscow on Tuesday.

☆ Yevgeny Prigozhin: Wagner boss denies Washington Post report that he offered intelligence to Kyiv in exchange for territory
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( Kostan Nechyporenko Victoria Butenko Anna Chernova Sana Noor Haq | Kostan Nechyporenko | Victoria Butenko | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Ukrainian soldiers, pictured in Bakhmut on Friday, fire a cannon near the eastern city, where a fierce battle for control against Russian forces rages. Prigozhin made the offer to Ukraine’s military intelligence directorate, known as HUR, in January, the Post alleged. It quoted one leaked document as stating that Prigozhin met HUR officers in an unspecified country in Africa. “Therefore, I simply could not meet with anyone there physically.”In his message, Prigozhin asked rhetorically, “Who is behind this? Kyiv also said it was operating “effective counterattacks” in the Bakhmut area, matching remarks by Prigozhin that Kyiv had recaptured some territory.

But a new audio message posted Sunday on Telegram suggests he has changed his mind after concessions from the Russian government. The Russian Ministry of Defense did not immediately comment on Prigozhin’s latest claim. Yulia Morozova/ReutersBakhmut has been the site of a months-long assault by Russian forces that has driven thousands from their homes and left the area devastated. Prigozhin’s blunt and brutal tactics in Bakhmut have long been likened to a “meat grinder.” But, in his repeated threats to withdraw from Bakhmut, Prigozhin claimed this approach was no longer viable. The Wagner boss had said Wagner positions in and around Bakhmut would be transferred to Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov’s forces from May 10.

For this last 5%, the ‘Red Army’ [the Russian Armed Forces] are not playing any role,” Prigozhin said. His most recent challenge to Russian defense officials comes as Bakhmut remains heavily contested. In his Telegram message Saturday, Prigozhin said Wagner’s role in Bakhmut had been to grind down Ukrainian forces while allowing Russian forces to regroup. In Bakhmut, we grinded (the Ukrainian forces), hence the name – ‘Bakhmut meat grinder,’” Prigozhin said. “With regards to the Bakhmut meat grinder, there will be no more meat grinder because there’s nothing left to grind the meat with,” Prigozhin said.

“We are lacking 70% of the needed ammunition!” Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin says in a video posted on Telegram. Shining a small flashlight on the corpses laying outdoors near what appears to be the front lines of the war, Prigozhin claims they are the casualties of just one day of fighting. “Shoigu, Gerasimov, where … is the ammunition?” says Prigozhin, calling out Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and chief of the Russian armed forces Gen. Valery Gerasimov. In February, he accused the two men of “treason” for their alleged failures to support and supply the Wagner group in Ukraine. Shortly after that posting, he made another saying a shipment of ammunition was on its way to the Wagner troops.

☆ Head of Wagner mercenary group threatens to withdraw from Bakhmut
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-30 | by ( Josh Pennington | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

CNN —The head of the Russian private military company Wagner has threatened to withdraw his mercenaries from the embattled eastern city of Bakhmut if they don’t receive more munitions to continue the fight. The pointed warnings for Russian defense officials, including Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, come as Bakhmut remains heavily contested. “I am appealing to Sergei Shoigu with a request to issue ammunition immediately. The mercenary leader has a track record of misleading statements and did not provide evidence for his statements. Prigozhin, whose forces have played a key role in Russian assaults on Ukrainian territory including Bakhmut, has often clashed with Putin’s generals and other defense officials in Moscow.

Wagner private military company founder and financier Yevgeny Prigozhin has called for the entire Russian society to be mobilized, saying people are ready to contribute to Moscow’s war effort in Ukraine. "It is not only the mobilized who should be mobilized, those who go to the front, but all the society should be mobilized,” Prigozhin said in an audio posted on his Telegram channel, in reaction to Russia’s new electronic conscription bill. Unlike Prigozhin, the Russian government continues to deny it is waging a war in Ukraine, referring to the conflict as a "special military operation." The Wagner leader criticized Russian officials who fled the country with their wealth and said the whole "system" needs to be shaken. "The system requires global sanitation and a reduction in the number of participants in this bureaucratic community."

☆ Wagner’s convicts tell of horrors of Ukraine war
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +11 min

They are identified as pardoned former convicts, returned from the front in Ukraine after joining Wagner from prison. Four of the men said they were personally recruited by Yevgeny Prigozhin as he toured Russia’s prison system to bolster his private army. I wish all real men would join Wagner.”The war in Ukraine is straining Russia’s military capacity. One of the convict recruits told Reuters he travelled to a Wagner training camp in the Russian-controlled part of eastern Ukraine’s Luhansk region. According to the United States, by mid-February Wagner had suffered more than 30,000 casualties in Ukraine, including 9,000 dead, almost all of them convicts.

☆ Putin ally Prigozhin grants freedom to first Russian convicts who fought in Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-05 | by ( ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

Yevgeny Prigozhin, the founder of Russia’s most powerful mercenary group, bade farewell on Thursday to former convicts who had served out their contracts in Ukraine and urged them to avoid the temptation to kill when back in civilian life. Wagner Group, originally staffed by battle-hardened veterans of the Russian armed forces, has fought in Libya, Syria, the Central African Republic and Mali as well as in Ukraine. After President Vladimir Putin sent troops into Ukraine on Feb. 24, Prigozhin emerged from the shadows and recruited thousands of men from prisons, offering them the chance of freedom in return for serving in some of the most dangerous battles in Ukraine. “Don’t booze too much, don’t take drugs, don’t rape women — (sex) only for love or for money as they say,” Prigozhin was shown saying to the former convicts, who laughed. “The police should treat you with respect.”“You have learned a great deal — first of all: how to kill the enemy,” Prigozhin told them on a bus.

☆ Putin ally Prigozhin says he has interfered in U.S. elections
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-07 | by ( ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +1 min

Russian businessman Yevgeny Prigozhin said on Monday he had interfered in U.S. elections and would continue doing so in future, the first such admission from a figure who has been formally implicated by Washington in efforts to influence American politics. In comments posted by the press service of his Concord catering firm on Russia’s Facebook equivalent VKontakte, Prigozhin said: “We have interfered (in U.S. elections), we are interfering and we will continue to interfere. “During our pinpoint operations, we will remove both kidneys and the liver at once,” Prigozhin said. In September he admitted to founding the Kremlin-aligned Wagner Group mercenary group, which is active in Syria, Africa and Ukraine. Last Friday it opened a defense technology center in St Petersburg, a further step by Prigozhin to highlight his military credentials.

Search resuls for: "” Prigozhin"

25 mentions found