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☆ The Wagner boss is rejecting Putin's push for mercenaries to sign contracts with the Russian army, calling it 'the path of shame'
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-15 | by ( Rebecca Cohen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Wagner Group head Yevgeny Priogzhin rejected Vladimir Putin's push to have mercenaries sign contracts with the Russian army. Priogzhin has been a harsh critic of the Russian Military of Defense and Putin's handling of the war in Ukraine. That is why they will not sign the contracts," Priogzhin said, according to the UK's Ministry of Defense. On June 10, the Russian Ministry of Defense announced that "volunteer formations" like Wagner Group fighters must sign official contracts with the Russian Army, the UK intel sources said. One expert described the relationship between the Russian army and the Wagner Group as "dysfunctional."

Persons: Wagner, Yevgeny Priogzhin, Vladimir Putin's, Priogzhin, —, Putin Organizations: Russian Military of Defense, Service, Group, Russian Army, UK's Ministry of Defense, Russian Ministry of Defense, Wagner Group, intel, — Ministry of Defence Locations: Russian, Ukraine, Russia

☆ Russian military leaders can't seem to get Wagner and its boss, Prigozhin, to fall in line, and it's a mess that goes beyond dysfunction
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-13 | by ( Ryan Pickrell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

The Wagner Group is a wild card that has won victories in Ukraine but also created headaches for Russia's military command. The situation is increasingly messy, as Wagner and its founder and financier have repeatedly exacerbated the growing rift between the regular Russian military and the mercenary force. Its leader also appears to make battlefield decisions independently of the defense ministry. He said that Wagner's uneasy relationship with the Russian military has evolved from being awkward to being dysfunctional to what it is now, which is counterproductive. Prigozhin said recently that "Wagner will not sign any contracts with Shoigu," referring to the Russian defense minister.

Persons: Wagner, that's, —, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Prigozhin, Mark Cancian, they're, Russia's Wagner, Stepanenko, ISW, Valery Gerasimov, Sergey Surovikin, milblogger, Cancian Organizations: Service, Ukraine, Wagner Group, Russian, International Security, Center for Strategic, International Studies, Concord Press Service, REUTERS, Institute for, Press, Russian Ministry of Defense, Shoigu Locations: Ukraine, Paraskoviivka, Russian, Russia, Ukrainian, Concord, Bakhmut

☆ Russian mercenary chief says unsure if his men will continue fighting in Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-13 | by ( Andrew Osborn | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

"Regarding the further work of the Wagner private military company in Ukraine, I am not sure that we will work specifically in Ukraine," Prigozhin said in reply to a Danish media query. Wagner fighters have also fought in Africa and the Middle East, where they still have some contracts. Prigozhin has long been at odds with the Defence Ministry over what he says is everything from its poor leadership and tactics to ammunition shortages. The ministry has not responded to a request for comment on Prigozhin's refusal to sign up with it. Lieutenant-General Vladimir Alekseyev said after the signing ceremony that he was sure other volunteer groups would sign the same contract in the course of the next week.

Persons: Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Prigozhin, Sergei Shoigu, Vladimir Alekseyev, Ramzan Kadyrov, Andrew Osborn, Gareth Jones Organizations: Defence Ministry, Ukraine Defence Ministry, Wagner Group, Defence Ministry's Zvezda, Defence, Thomson Locations: Ukraine, Ukrainian, Bakhmut, Moscow, Danish, Africa, Chechen, Chechnya

☆ Putin backs push for mercenary groups to sign contracts despite Wagner's refusal
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-13 | by ( Andrew Osborn | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

But Putin on Tuesday made it clear he wanted to see all so-called private military companies sign up and that he also wanted to the law changed to legalise their activities. "This is the only way to ensure social guarantees (for mercenary fighters) because there is (currently) no contract with the state and no contract with the Defence Ministry," Putin told a group of war correspondents. "This has to be done and it has to be done as quickly as possible," Putin said. The ministry has not responded to a request for comment on Prigozhin's refusal to sign up with it. Lieutenant-General Vladimir Alekseyev said after the signing ceremony that he was sure other volunteer groups would sign the same contract in the course of the next week.

Persons: Wagner, Vladimir Putin, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Sergei Shoigu, Prigozhin, Putin, Vladimir Alekseyev, Ramzan Kadyrov, Andrew Osborn, William Maclean Organizations: Defence, Defence Ministry, The Defence, Defence Ministry's Zvezda, Thomson Locations: Ukraine, Moscow, Chechen, Chechnya

"Wagner will not sign any contracts with Shoigu," Prigozhin said in response to a request for comment on the matter. The defence ministry did not respond to a Reuters request for comment. The defence ministry said that in the interests of increasing the effectiveness of "volunteer detachments", all such units - or their men - would have to sign a contract with the defence ministry by July 1. It did not mention Wagner by name but it routinely refers to Wagner as "volunteer assault detachments". "These measures will increase the combat capabilities and effectiveness of the armed forces and their volunteer detachments," Deputy Defence Minister Nikolai Pankov said.

Persons: Prigozhin, Wagner, Shoigu, Sergei Shoigu, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Vladimir Putin's, Staff Valery Gerasimov, WAGNER Prigozhin, Sergei Surovikin, Nikolai Pankov, Guy Faulconbridge, Jason Neely Organizations: MOSCOW, Defence, Staff, Shoigu, Thomson Locations: Ukraine, May, Ukrainian, Bakhmut, United States, Africa, Washington, Russia, Russian

☆ Wagner boss Prigozhin is escalating his feud with the Russian military to stay relevant after Bakhmut, but he risks taking it too far, war experts say
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-07 | by ( Ryan Pickrell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Wagner founder and financier Yevgeny Prigozhin continues to escalate his feud with the Russian defense ministry. But some prominent voices in Russia's pro-war ultranationalist community are troubled by his antics, ISW observed. But in that same information space, Prigozhin also voiced repeated, profane, and blunt criticisms of the regular Russian military and its leadership. This aspect of his online activities appears to have become more pronounced as Wagner forces come off the line and reposition to rear areas. "Prigozhin is exposing a similar hatred for select individuals within the Russian military command," she said.

Persons: Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, ISW, —, Prigozhin, Russia's ultranationalist, Bakhmut, Stepanenko, Roman Venevitin, Sergei Shoigu, Valery Gerasimov, Igor Girkin, Shoigu, Russian oligarch Organizations: Service, Wagner Group, Russia's, Kremlin, Institute for, Press, REUTERS, 72nd, Motorized Rifle Brigade, Wagner, Russian MoD, RIA, MoD, Washington DC Locations: Bakhmut, Ukraine, Ukrainian, Belgorod Oblast, Russia, Concord, Russian, Soledar

Shevtsova is one of thousands of Russians who have abandoned their homes and taken shelter in Belgorod, the nearest big Russian city to the border with Ukraine. Russia said it killed more than 70 of them and pushed the rest back across the border. Ukraine said it had nothing to do with the attack, which it cast as internal Russian strife. Alexandra Bespalova, another uprooted resident of Shebekino, said she still supported Moscow's actions in Ukraine, but that Russia needed to do something to protect its own territories. "I always believed that we were right, that our government is right taking Luhansk, the Donbas region, our Russian people under its wing," she said.

Persons: Irina Shevtsova, we’ve, Vladimir Putin, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Wagner, Lyudmila Rumyantseva, Ramzan Kadyrov, We’ll, Sergei, Shebekino, Prigozhin's Wagner, Vyacheslav Gladkov, Alexandra Bespalova, Mark Trevelyan, Grant McCool Organizations: Russian, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Shebekinsky, Russia's Belgorod, Russia, Ukraine, Belgorod, BELGOROD, Russian, Shebekino, Prigozhin, Russia's, Chechnya, Luhansk

☆ Clashes near Bakhmut continue despite easing, Ukraine's military says
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] An aerial view shows destructions in the frontline town of Bakhmut, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Donetsk region, Ukraine, in this handout picture released on May 21, 2023. "The enemy continues to suffer significant losses in the Bakhmut direction," Syrskyi said on the Telegram messaging app after what he said was a visit to troops around Bakhmut. Bakhmut, once home to 70,000 people, has no strategic value, according to military analysts. British defence intelligence said on Saturday that Russia continued to redeploy regular military units to the Bakhmut sector, replacing Wagner fighters. Russia now controls nearly all of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions as well as swaths of Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions.

Persons: Wagner, Oleksandr Syrskyi, Syrskyi, Bakhmut, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Zelenskiy, Lidia Kelly, William Mallard Organizations: Press Service, Brigade, Ukrainian Armed Forces, REUTERS, Wagner Group, Defence, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Bakhmut, Ukraine, Donetsk region, Moscow, Donbas, Hiroshima, Donetsk, Luhansk, Russia, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, Melbourne

☆ Wagner's chief says his army isn't strong enough to topple Putin, responding to rumors he is planning a coup: report
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-30 | by ( Tom Porter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Wagner Group chief Yevgeny Prigozhin denied planning a coup. Kremlin ally Igor Girkin had claimed that Prigozhin may be preparing to topple Vladimir Putin. Prigozhin instead implied that Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu could stage a coup because he has access to the Russian Special Forces, the ISW added. Wagner, Prigozhin said on Telegram, simply wants reforms in Russia, according to the report. Girkin said insults Prigozhin has made about top Russian officials in expletive filled videos indicate he is planning to seize power.

☆ Wagner boss Prigozhin says Putin's plan to 'demilitarize' Ukraine has been a bust as Ukraine now has one of the 'strongest' armies
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-24 | by ( Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

"The Ukrainians are one of the strongest armies today," Yevgeny Prigozhin said in an interview. It turns out that on the contrary, we have militarized Ukraine," Prigozhin said in a video interview now circulating around social media. The nod to demilitarization refers to one of Russian President Vladimir Putin's key ambitions in the unprovoked assault on Ukraine in February 2022. Praising his adversary while calling attention to Russia's failures, Prigozhin said that "the Ukrainians are one of the strongest armies today." Kyiv's troops have used these systems to inflict devastating casualties on both Wagner and Russia's regular military.

☆ Ukraine's Zelenskyy denies that Bakhmut is occupied by Russian forces
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-21 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

Her comments came after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, at the Group of Seven summit in Japan, appeared to suggest that Bakhmut had fallen. And the spokesman for Ukraine's Eastern Group of Forces, Serhii Cherevaty, said that the Ukrainian military is managing to hold positions in the vicinity of Bakhmut. Russian forces still seek to seize the remaining part of the Donetsk region still under Ukrainian control, including several heavily fortified areas. Prigozhin tried to use the battle for the city to expand his clout amid the tensions with the top Russian military leaders whom he harshly criticized. "We fought not only with the Ukrainian armed forces in Bakhmut.

☆ G-7 stiffens resolve to thwart Russia, gives Zelenskyy chance to win over fence sitters
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-21 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy (C-Rear) joins G7 world leaders at a working session on the final day of the G7 Summit on May 21, 2023 in Hiroshima, Japan. But even as the G-7 leaders began wrapping up their three-day meeting on Sunday, Russia claimed to have finally captured the battered eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, following a months-long siege that marked the bloodiest battle of the war. Ukraine has not won commitments for delivery of the planes, but President Joe Biden and senior U.S. officials told G-7 leaders Washington supports joint allied training programs for Ukrainian pilots on F-16s. Macron made the comment to reporters a day after calling Zelenskiy's surprise visit at the summit a "game changer". Shortly after Zelenskiy arrived in Japan, Russia claimed victory in Bakhmut.

☆ Explainer: How important is Wagner's claimed capture of Bakhmut?
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-20 | by ( Andrew Osborn | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

[1/4] A general view shows a building damaged by a Russian military strike, amid their attack on Ukraine, in the front line city of Bakhmut, in Donetsk region, Ukraine February 27, 2023. REUTERS/Alex... Read moreLONDON, May 20 (Reuters) - Russian mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin said on Saturday that his Wagner fighters had completed the capture of the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut after months of intense fighting, a claim denied by Ukraine. Zelenskiy portrayed "Fortress Bakhmut" as a symbol of defiance which he said was bleeding the Russian military dry. If confirmed, Bakhmut would be Russia's first major capture since July last year and a morale-boosting battlefield win after a string of defeats. The city's capture would be a boost for Russia's most high-profile mercenaries - Wagner - and their publicity-hungry founder Prigozhin.

☆ Russia's Wagner claims Bakhmut; Kyiv says situation critical
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

But meanwhile, to the north and south, they have made their most rapid gains for six months in the surrounding area, seizing swathes of territory from Russian troops. "Wagner troops climbed into Bakhmut like rats into a mousetrap," Oleksander Syrskyi, commander of Ukraine's ground forces, told troops at the Bakhmut front this week. The battle for Bakhmut has revealed a deepening split between Wagner, a mercenary force that has recruited thousands of convicts from Russian prisons, and the regular Russian military. For two weeks, Prigozhin has been issuing daily video and audio messages denouncing Russia's military leadership, often in expletive-laden rants. Moscow has long claimed that capturing Bakhmut would be a stepping stone towards advancing deeper into the Donbas region it claims to have annexed from Ukraine.

Prigozhin made the claim in a video in which he appeared in combat fatigues in front of a line of fighters holding Russian flags and Wagner banners. "Today, at 12 noon, Bakhmut was completely taken," Prigozhin said. Our units are fighting in Bakhmut." Bakhmut has been the focus of the longest and bloodiest battle of Russia's war in Ukraine, which is nearly at the end of its 15th month. His victory claim followed fierce fighting around the city in the past week in which Ukraine said it pushed back some Russian forces.

☆ Hiroshima G7 marks costs of war and welcomes Ukraine's Zelenskiy
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-20 | by ( Trevor Hunnicutt | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

[1/5] Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and French President Emmanuel Macron shake hands during the G7 leaders' summit in Hiroshima, Japan May 20, 2023. Zelenskiy will receive a hero's welcome during the closing day of the G7 summit hosted in Hiroshima, Japan, where leaders debated how to respond to a conflict that many expect only to escalate after nearly 15 months of fighting. On Sunday, Japan and South Korea, two of China's wealthiest neighbours, will highlight their improved ties with a joint meeting. But Zelenskiy has pushed the countries to go further on both economic and military measures. "Important meetings with partners and friends of Ukraine," Zelenskiy said on Twitter as he arrived in Hiroshima.

☆ Russian troops taking over from Wagner in Bakhmut are abandoning their positions, Ukrainian officer claims: 'As soon as they are afraid, they just run'
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( Sinéad Baker | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A Ukrainian officer said Russian troops are abandoning their Bakhmut positions out of fear. "As soon as Wagner left and the regular Russian troops stepped in, they abandoned their positions," he said, adding: "The Wagner fighters would hold positions until the very end. The Wagner Group, which has thousands of mercenary fighters and prisoners serving in Ukraine, has spearheaded Russia's efforts to capture the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut. Western officials estimated in early March that up to 30,000 Russian troops had been killed or injured in the city. Zhydkov described a day when Russian soldiers used a grenade launcher to get into a five-story apartment building that was controlled by Ukrainian forces.

☆ 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.

☆ Wagner boss Prigozhin is going off the rails in Ukraine, and Putin may not have much choice but to let him, war expert says
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-13 | by ( Ryan Pickrell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

Though he strikes hardest at the defense ministry, he has seemingly aimed his frustrations at Putin as well. During the intense fighting in Bakhmut, where the mercenaries have suffered tremendous losses, simmering tensions between the Russian defense ministry and the Wagner boss have boiled over. With the replacement of Gen. Sergei Surovikin, an infamous Russian leader pushed by ultranationalists like Prigozhin, in January, the Russian defense ministry retook control. The situation got so bad for Wagner at one point that expert observers speculated that the Russian military was purposefully decimating the group. Prigozhin said he was threatened with treason over his assertions that Wagner forces would pull out of Bakhmut.

☆ Russian mercenary chief says he's still not getting enough shells for Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( Andrew Osborn | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

May 10 (Reuters) - Russian mercenary boss Yevgeny Prigozhin complained on Wednesday that his Wagner fighters were still not getting enough shells from the defence ministry to underpin what he said was their advance in the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut. "We're not receiving enough shells, we're only getting 10% (of what we need)," Prigozhin, whose forces have been spearheading the assault on Bakhmut despite taking heavy losses, said in the statement. Prigozhin said that the Russian leadership had asked the defence ministry to check the status of Wagner's shell request, but that bureaucracy meant the process was a slow one. There was no immediate comment on his latest assertions from the defence ministry while the Kremlin earlier on Wednesday said it had not seen a public appeal for more shells that Prigozhin had made on May 9. Prigozhin said the target of his anger remained the same however - the army's top brass.

☆ Mercenary chief makes cryptic but profane remark about Russian war leadership
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MOSCOW, May 9 (Reuters) - Russian mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin on Tuesday made a cryptic but profanity-laced comment about those in charge of Russia's war on Ukraine that risks getting him into more trouble with the Kremlin. The defence ministry has said it is working to ensure all battlefield units have what they need. The identity of the grandfather figure Prigozhin referred to was unclear, but sufficiently ambiguous to invite speculation. Prigozhin has previously poured scorn on Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and Valery Gerasimov, the chief of the General Staff, but has avoided all personal criticism of President Vladimir Putin. Reporting by Reuters Writing by Andrew Osborn Editing by Guy FaulconbridgeOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Russia's war on Ukraine latest: Wave of attacks ahead of Victory Day holiday
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

May 8 (Reuters) - Russia carried out drone, missile and air strikes on Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities through the night, escalating attacks in the run-up to its cherished Victory Day holiday that celebrates the defeat of Nazi Germany. CONFLICT* Ukraine's top military command said its forces destroyed all 35 Iranian-made Shahed drones that Russia had launched overnight at targets around the country. * Kyiv's mayor said at least five people were wounded in the capital amid damage to a fuel depot, cars, buildings and infrastructure. * Russia has intensified shelling of Bakhmut hoping to take it by Tuesday - Russia's Victory Day holiday, Ukraine's top general in charge of the defence of the besieged city said, vowing to do everything to prevent it. EU WEIGHS SANCTIONS ON CHINA* The European Union has proposed sanctions on Chinese firms accused of selling equipment that could be used in weapons to support Russia's war machine, the Financial Times said.

☆ Russia's war on Ukraine latest: Wave of attacks ahead of Russian holiday
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

CONFLICT* Ukraine's top military command said its forces destroyed all 35 Iranian-made Shahed drones that Russia had launched overnight at targets around the country. * Russia's Wagner mercenary group appeared to ditch plans to withdraw from Bakhmut, saying it had been promised more arms and suggesting it may keep up the assault on what Russia sees as a stepping stone in the Donbas region. * At least five people were wounded by Russian strikes on Kyiv, officials in the Ukrainian capital said. Press service of "Concord"/Handout via REUTERSEU WEIGHS SANCTIONS ON CHINA* The European Union has proposed sanctions on Chinese companies accused of selling equipment that could be used in weapons to support Russia's war machine, the Financial Times said. RECENT IN-DEPTH STORIES* ANALYSIS-Russia's mercenary boss deepens fog of Ukraine war while deflecting blame* INSIGHT-Ukraine's nuclear deal with Canada's Cameco carries big risks, rewards* ANALYSIS-Kremlin incident gives Putin cover to deepen war* COLUMN-Global ammunition race may decide Ukraine warEditing by Clarence FernandezOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Wagner chief said his troops are no longer withdrawing from Bakhmut after being promised as many artillery shells as they need
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-07 | by ( Alia Shoaib | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The leader of the Wagner fighters said they would not retreat from Bakhmut after being promised ammo. Wagner Group fighters have played a key role in bloody fighting in the city of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine for months. Concord Press Service/via REUTERSThe outspoken Prigozhin and Russia's military leaders have been feuding for months. Recent leaked Pentagon documents shared by National Guard airman Jack Teixeira revealed analysis suggesting Russia's military leadership has struggled to deal with Prigozhin. The Wagner Group had become a major power player in the war, scoring some publicized wins in Ukraine when Russia's invasion was floundering.

☆ Russia's war on Ukraine latest: Wagner group appears to do U-turn on withdrawal
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

CONFLICT* Russian forces are evacuating residents from the town that serves the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine, the Ukrainian military said. * Russian missiles targeted an industrial site in the Mykolaiv region of southern Ukraine, while Ukrainian and Russian media reported multiple explosions across Russian-occupied Crimea. * Russia's defence ministry said its air defences had detected and destroyed 22 Ukrainian drones over the Black Sea overnight. * Air raid alerts blared for several hours overnight into early Sunday over roughly two-thirds of Ukraine, with officials saying air defence systems shot down a number of drones. * The head of the U.N.'s nuclear power watchdog warned on Saturday that the situation around the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear station has become "potentially dangerous" as Moscow-installed officials began evacuating people from nearby areas.

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