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☆ I.C.C. Issues Arrest Warrants for 2 Senior Russian Security Officials
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-25 | by ( Anatoly Kurmanaev | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The International Criminal Court said on Tuesday that it had issued arrest warrants for two top Russian security officials over strikes against civilian targets, delivering a stinging, if largely symbolic, condemnation of the Kremlin’s invasion of neighboring Ukraine. The Hague-based court accused Russia’s most senior military officer, Gen. Valery V. Gerasimov, and a senior member of the country’s Security Council, Sergei K. Shoigu, of directing a campaign of strikes against Ukraine’s power plants in the winter of 2022. “The expected incidental civilian harm and damage would have been clearly excessive to the anticipated military advantage,” the court said in a statement on Tuesday, referring to the strikes. It issued the warrants on Monday. Russia’s Security Council denounced the warrants, calling them “pathetic” examples of “the West’s hybrid war against our country,” according to comments provided to the Moscow-based Interfax news agency.

Persons: Russia’s, Valery V, Sergei K, “ Organizations: country’s Security, Russia’s Locations: Ukraine, The Hague, Moscow

A top Russian general in Ukraine has lashed out at his bosses after being fired from his command, accusing them of undermining the war effort with dishonesty and politicking, in the latest sign of turmoil within the Kremlin’s military leadership. In a four-minute recording released late Wednesday night, Maj. Gen. Ivan Popov addressed his troops, accusing his superiors of inflicting a blow on his forces by removing him from his post in retaliation for voicing the truth about battlefield problems to senior leadership behind closed doors. His firing, and the unusual public airing of his grievances, reflected the disarray that has roiled Russia’s military command since a failed mutiny three weeks ago. While the 58th Combined Arms Army he commanded has been holding off a Ukrainian counteroffensive in the Zaporizhzhia region, “we were hit in the rear by our senior commander, who treacherously and vilely decapitated our army at the most difficult and tense moment,” General Popov said — an apparent reference to Gen. Valery V. Gerasimov, chief of the armed forces. Since the mutiny by the Wagner mercenary group and its boss, Yevgeny V. Prigozhin, several senior officers have been detained or pushed out of their posts, according to a person close to the Russian military, who spoke on condition of anonymity for security reasons.

Persons: Ivan Popov, vilely, General Popov, —, Valery V, Gerasimov, Wagner, Yevgeny V Organizations: Arms Army Locations: Russian, Ukraine, Ukrainian, Zaporizhzhia

Mr. Putin invited 35 people to the three-hour meeting on June 29, including Mr. Prigozhin and all of Wagner’s top commanders, the Kremlin spokesman said. “The only thing we can say is that the president gave his assessment of the company’s actions” during both the war in Ukraine and the uprising, Mr. Peskov said. Mr. Putin promised the harshest punishment for those who had “consciously chosen the path of betrayal.”But the harsh punishments didn’t come. The following week, on July 6, Mr. Peskov said the Kremlin had neither the “ability nor the desire” to track Mr. Prigozhin’s movements. The Kremlin spokesman added, “The details of it are unknown.”

Persons: Yevgeny Prigozhin, Wagner, Vladimir V, Putin, Yevgeny V, Prigozhin, Dmitri S, Peskov, Prigozhin hasn’t, “ Putin, Mr, “, —, Roman, Sergei K, Shoigu, Staff Valery V, Aleksandr G, Lukashenko, Libération, ” Organizations: Kremlin, Mr, Defense Ministry, Agence France, Defense, Staff Locations: Rostov, Don, Russia, Ukraine, Russian, Bakhmut, Moscow, Belarusian, Belarus

News of General Surovikin’s detention was earlier reported by The Financial Times. There were conflicting reports in the Russian news media about General Surovikin’s fate. One popular account posted a recording of an interview with a woman it said was General Surovikin’s daughter, who denied that her father had been arrested. The question is a critical one for Mr. Putin as well. For years, Mr. Putin has allowed different factions to exist inside the Russian military.

Persons: Wagner Group’s, Sergei Surovikin, Surovikin, Yevgeny V, Dmitri S, Peskov, Surovikin’s, ”, “ He’s, Vladimir V, Putin, Sergei K, Prigozhin, Putin’s, Shoigu, Valery V, Prigozhin’s, Shoigu’s, ’, Samuel Charap, “, Mr, Charap, ” Steven Erlanger, Anton Troianovski Organizations: New York Times, The Financial, RAND Corporation Locations: U.S, Russia, Ukraine, NATO

The Biden administration asked Ukrainian officials not to conduct covert attacks inside Russia as the Wagner group rebellion was underway and advised them not to do anything that would influence the outcome of events or take advantage of the chaos, according to American officials. They did not know how he intended to do that, or what he intended to do with them, said the officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive intelligence. The outreach came soon after Mr. Prigozhin began his rebellion, officials said. In urging Kyiv to exercise caution, U.S. officials did not want to give President Vladimir V. Putin an excuse to claim that Mr. Prigozhin’s rebellion was orchestrated by the United States or by Ukraine. They also said they believed that any high-profile operation by Ukrainian forces inside Russia was unlikely to have any major effect on Mr. Prigozhin’s goals, but would allow Mr. Putin to level accusations against the West, according to American assessments.

Persons: Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Prigozhin, Sergei K, Valery V, Vladimir V, Putin, Prigozhin’s Organizations: Biden, Ukrainian, West Locations: Russia, Ukraine, U.S, Kyiv, United States

But now, as Mr. Putin seeks to project an image of restored stability and control, he has been putting his defense minister on display, even if Mr. Shoigu has not addressed the public or even been heard speaking. Mr. Shoigu was also present on Monday as Mr. Putin convened a meeting of his top security chiefs. On Tuesday, as Mr. Putin praised his security forces in a grandly choreographed speech, Mr. Shoigu was again present, wearing his military uniform. Mr. Shoigu, who was a very popular minister of emergency situations before becoming defense minister in 2012, has had a long and friendly relationship with Mr. Putin. Mr. Putin may have kept both men in charge as part of his decades-long efforts to place the sprawling Russian military more under his control.

Persons: Vladimir V, Sergei K, Shoigu, Valery V, Putin, Yevgeny V, Wagner, ” Mr, Gerasimov, Mr, Prigozhin, Ramzan Kadyrov, —, ”, ” Andrei Guryulov, Aleksandr Dugin, Aleksandr G, Lukashenko, Dugin, Long, General Gerasimov, It’s, Andrei Soldatov, Putin “, ” Oleg Matsnev Organizations: Putin, Cuban, National Defense Control Center of Russia, Russian military’s Zvezda, United, Defense Ministry, General Staff Locations: Moscow, Russia, Ukraine, United States, Cuba, Russian, Ukrainian, Lyman, Chechnya, United Russia, Belarus

☆ Gripped by Uncertainty After Mutiny, Russians Note Absence of Kremlin Leaders
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-25 | by ( Neil Macfarquhar | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Confusion and uncertainty pervaded Russia on Sunday, with neither President Vladimir V. Putin nor Yevgeny V. Prigozhin, the head of a mutinous mercenary group, appearing anywhere in public a day after the most profound government crisis in three decades — an open military rebellion — appeared defused. And some wondered aloud why much of Russia’s leadership was being neither seen nor heard. Aside from Mr. Putin, neither Sergei K. Shoigu, the minister of defense, nor Valery V. Gerasimov, the military chief of staff, had put in a public appearance since the uprising started on Friday night. Many heads of the country’s security services also proved invisible. Could a foreign enemy, he asked, march with equal ease on the capital?

Persons: Vladimir V, Putin, Yevgeny V, —, ”, Sergei K, Valery V, Yuri Kotenok Organizations: Ministry of Defense Locations: Russia, Moscow, Ukraine

☆ After Years in the Shadows, Prigozhin Becomes a Player in Russia
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( Anton Troianovski | Ben Shpigel | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Yevgeny V. Prigozhin quietly profited from his personal ties to President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, winning lucrative catering and construction contracts with the Russian government while building a mercenary force known as Wagner. After throwing his fighters into Ukraine, their ranks swelled with prisoner recruits, Mr. Prigozhin emerged as a public power player, using social media to turn tough talk and brutality into his personal brand. In a scorching video posted Friday on social media, Mr. Prigozhin threatened to pull his fighters next week out of Bakhmut, the embattled city where he has thrown thousands of convicts into the maw of Ukraine’s defenses, taking extraordinary casualties in a stubborn effort to wear down the other side. Citing a lack of ammunition, Mr. Prigozhin delivered the ultimatum after walking among rows of bodies that he claimed were Wagner fighters killed in the battle for Bakhmut. He called out Russia’s defense minister, Sergei K. Shoigu, and Gen. Valery V. Gerasimov, the chief of the military general staff, as responsible for their deaths.

☆ Russian Mercenary Leader Threatens to Pull Forces From Bakhmut Next Week
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( Neil Macfarquhar | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +4 min

“These are Wagner guys who died today; the blood is still fresh,” Mr. Prigozhin said, in a speech marked by frequent bleeped-out expletives. The Wagner chief has long criticized Russian military leadership openly, with some analysts attributing the tensions to rivalries for President Vladimir V. Putin’s favor. Mr. Prigozhin has never pointed a finger directly at Mr. Putin over Russia’s setbacks in the war. In February, Mr. Prigozhin accused Mr. Shoigu and General Gerasimov of treason, claiming they were starving Wagner of ammunition. The problem for Wagner was not a lack of ammunition, Mr. Cherevaty said, but a shortage of people to fight and die.

☆ Wagner Leader Threatens to Pull Out of Bakhmut: Russia-Ukraine War Live News
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( Matt Surman | Ivan Nechepurenko | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +4 min

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