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☆ Exclusive: Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin's secret calendar reveals a decade of deep Kremlin ties
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-07 | by ( Mattathias Schwartz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

A copy of Prigozhin's calendar obtained by Die Welt and shared with Insider shows just how deeply enmeshed he was with the Putin regime. Putin's name appears in Prigozhin's calendar only twice, and neither entry records a one-on-one meeting. Wagner employees typically identify themselves and sign documents using three or four-digit employee numbers, and most Prigozhin's meetings with Wagner Group employees are presented this way. These rows of data extracted from Yevgeny Prigozhin's private calendar show Wagner Group personnel identified solely by their employee numbers. In the end, his demands for a slot on Putin's calendar went unanswered.

Persons: Putin, Prigozhin, Aleksey Dyumin, Putin's, —, Vladimir Putin, It's, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Wagner — Sergei Surovikin, Ukraine —, Wagner, Dmitry Peskov, Sergei Shoigu, Ruslan Tsalikov, Anton Vaino, Valery Gerasimov, Shoigu, Sergei Surovikin, Matveev, Dmitry Medvedev, Yevgeny Prigozhin's, Walt Hickey, Mattathias Schwartz Organizations: Die Welt, Service, Russian Federation, Wagner Group, Insider, Putin, Politico, Defense, Prigozhin, Anadolu Agency, Getty, CNN, Welt, Kremlin Locations: Tula, Moscow, Ukraine, West, Africa, St . Petersburg, New, Dyumin, Russia, Belarus, Prigozhin, Russian, Rostov, Germany, Korea

☆ Prigozhin went back to Russia to get the pistol gifted to him by the defense minister he tried to oust
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-07 | by ( Erin Snodgrass | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Among the weapons he reclaimed was an honorary pistol given to him by Russia's defense minister. After months of castigating Russian military leaders, including Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, Prigozhin set about trying to depose them. Among the treasures Prigozhin reportedly recovered was an honorary Glock pistol that had previously been given to him by Shoigu — the very defense official Prigozhin sought to oust — before the men's relationship soured. "It's not the end of Prigozhin," the unnamed St. Petersburg businessman told The Post on Wednesday. An anonymous Pentagon official told The Times that Prigozhin had been between Moscow and St. Petersburg during most of the time since the revolt.

Persons: Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Prigozhin, —, Vladimir Putin's, Sergei Shoigu, Putin, Aleksandr Lukashenko, Lukashenko, Fontanka, Shoigu, It's, Glock Organizations: Service, Group, Independent, Washington Post, Kremlin, The New York Times, Federal Security Services, BMW, Glock, Pentagon, Times Locations: Russia, Russian, Belarus, St, Petersburg, Independent Russian, St . Petersburg, Moscow

☆ US official says 'exiled' Wagner boss Prigozhin may not have gone to Belarus at all — and may have used a body double to make it appear as though he fled Russia
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-07 | by ( Kelsey Vlamis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin was exiled to Belarus last month after staging an armed rebellion. But the former Putin ally apparently reappeared in St. Petersburg this week, sparking confusion. A Pentagon official told The New York Times it appears Prigozhin has mostly been in Russia. An unnamed Pentagon official told The New York Times that Prigozhin has actually been in Russia — Moscow or St. Petersburg — for most of the time since the mutiny. The official also said it was unclear if Prigozhin ever went to Belarus, noting he is believed to employ body doubles.

Persons: Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Putin, Prigozhin, —, he'd, Alexander Lukashenko, Vladimir Putin, Lukashenko, Insider's Sonam Sheth, Putin —, Petersburg Organizations: Pentagon, New York Times, Service, Wagner Group, CIA, Putin Locations: Belarus, St . Petersburg, Russia, Moscow, St, Ukraine, Chechnya

☆ Podcast: Where in the world is Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin?
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Yevgeny Prigozhin was supposed to be in Belarus under a deal brokered to end the Wagner Group’s mutiny. Now, Belarus' president says he's in Russia. Janet Yellen arrives in Beijing with a warning, Twitter threatens Meta Threads, and Silvio Berlusconi divides up his empire. Visit the Thomson Reuters Privacy Statement for information on our privacy and data protection practices. Further ReadingMercenary chief Prigozhin back in Russia, Belarus's Lukashenko saysYellen criticizes China's 'punitive' actions against U.S. companies, urges market reformsTwitter threatens Threads lawsuit against MetaBerlusconi leaves control of business empire to two eldest childrenOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Yevgeny Prigozhin, Wagner, he's, Janet Yellen, Silvio Berlusconi, Prigozhin, Belarus's Lukashenko, Yellen, China's, Meta Berlusconi Organizations: Apple, Google, Reuters, Thomson, Reading Mercenary, U.S Locations: Belarus, Russia, Beijing

☆ Alcaraz sparkles at Wimbledon but home hopes dashed as Murray, Norrie fall
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

"I feel like I'm ready to play more matches, to play more great matches on that court," U.S. Open champion Alcaraz said after reaching the third round. "It would be amazing to play a final here in Wimbledon. British hopes were further dashed as American Christopher Eubanks claimed the biggest win of his career by stunning 12th seed Cameron Norrie 6-3 3-6 6-2 7-6(3) on Court One. Twice former champion Petra Kvitova cruised into the third round after the ninth seed brushed aside Belarusian Aliaksandra Sasnovich 6-2 6-2. Last year's quarter-finalist Jannik Sinner of Italy, seeded eighth, recovered from a poor start to beat Frenchman Quentin Halys 3-6 6-2 6-3 6-4, while Russian third seed Daniil Medvedev downed Adrian Mannarino 6-3 6-3 7-6(5).

Persons: Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz, France’s Alexandre Muller, Andrew Couldridge, Muller, Murray, Eubanks, Norrie Sabalenka, Carlos Alcaraz, Andy Murray, Frenchman Alexandre Muller, Novak Djokovic, Alcaraz, Novak, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Andy, I'm, Tsitsipas, Christopher Eubanks, Cameron Norrie, Liam Broady, Denis Shapovalov of, SABALENKA, shrugged, Varvara Gracheva, Lesia Tsurenko, Ana Bogdan, Bai Zhuoxuan, Petra Kvitova, Ukraine's Marta Kostyuk, Paula Badosa, Badosa, Italy, Frenchman Quentin Halys, Daniil Medvedev, Adrian Mannarino, Shrivathsa Sridhar, Ken Ferris Organizations: Lawn Tennis, Croquet Club, France’s Alexandre Muller REUTERS, Court, Brit, Wimbledon, Thomson Locations: London, Britain, U.S, Wimbledon, Denis Shapovalov of Canada, Belarus, Romania, Russian, Bengaluru

"Given the events, their relationship with the Syrian defence ministry is now over." Mali authorities did not respond to a request for comment on the flights and whether any Wagner fighters had been redeployed from Syria to Mali. Wagner fighters secured Syrian oilfields and Western officials say Wagner is linked to Evro Polis, a company that profits from those assets. Reuters was unable to determine the fate of those commercial interests in the wake of the Russian defence ministry's moves against Wagner in Syria and Russia. In the wake of the Wagner uprising, Syria's leadership quickly restated publicly the importance of its military alliance with Russia.

Persons: Wagner, Nawar Shaban, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Bashar al, Assad, Vladimir Putin, Prigozhin, Russian Wagner, Evro Polis, Asmaa al, Laila Bassam, Tom Perry, Ed McAllister, Joanna Plucinska, Mike Collett, White, Daniel Flynn Organizations: Omran Center, Strategic Studies, Syrian Republican Guard, Republican Guard, Reuters, Russian Reconciliation Center, Moscow State University, Thomson Locations: BEIRUT, Moscow, Syria, Russian, Russia, Istanbul, Damascus, Ukraine, Belarus, Syrian, Syria's, Homs, Hmeimim, Latakia, Bamako, West African, Mali, Evro Polis, Libya, elswhere, Africa, Western, U.S, Deir, Beirut, London

NUCLEAR WEAPONS? Amid today's Ukraine war, the biggest land war in Europe since 1945, the town is again being enclosed by the tentacles of distant tumult. "No one is ever going to tell you where the tactical nuclear weapons are stationed - you should understand that," Kasinsky said. He repeatedly refused to confirm or deny whether the nuclear weapons were outside Osipovichi. "You should not try to make some sort of horror story out of the tactical nuclear weapons," said Kasinsky.

Persons: Wagner, Vladimir Putin, Mikhail Gorbachev, Alexander Lukashenko, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Prigozhin, Leonid Kasinsky, Kasinsky, Osipovichi, Hans Kristensen, Vladimir Lenin, Ilya Petrov, Lukashenko, Guy Faulconbridge, Mark Heinrich Our Organizations: Putin, Town, Bolshevik, Foreign, Belarus OSIPOVICHI, Red Army, U.S . Central Intelligence Agency, Federation of American Scientists, CIA, Communist, Thomson Locations: Belarus, Belarusian, Russia, Osipovichi, Tsel, Russian, Minsk, Ukrainian, Grand Duchy, Lithuania, Nazi Germany, Ukraine, Europe, Moscow, West

☆ Opinion: Putin faces a challenging task that threatens his power
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-07 | by ( Opinion Frida Ghitis | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

The Russian president needs to restore his image of a man in full command of his country to audiences at home and abroad. Speaking at the summit, Putin tried to reinforce the message he had delivered to the Russian people, the claim that all Russians had stood with him. It wasn’t just his use of “alternative facts” that undermined Putin’s effort to leverage the SCO summit into a place to restore his standing as Russia’s czar for the foreseeable future. In fact, in the aftermath of the Prigozhin uprising, Putin has echoed the traditional strongman’s playbook of buying loyalty. Putin now faces a triple task: reclaiming the mantle of invincibility in Russia, rebuilding that image abroad and winning his calamitous war in Ukraine.

Persons: Frida Ghitis, Vladimir Putin, Yevgeny Prigozhin —, —, Alexander Lukashenko, Prigozhin, Putin, Xi Jinping, Narendra Modi, ”, “, Modi, Ebrahim Raisi, Xi, Dmitry Peskov, India’s Modi, Antony Blinken, Janet Yellen Organizations: CNN, Washington Post, Politics, Shanghai Cooperation Organization, SCO, Frida Ghitis CNN, Wagner Group, Belarussian, Indian, Biological Safety, Twitter, Financial Times, Russian Locations: Russia, China, India, Russian, Moscow, St . Petersburg, Belarus, Ukraine, Iran, Rostov, New Delhi, Iranian, Republic, Dagestan, Kremlin, Asia, Washington, Beijing

☆ Scream therapy pays dividends for Sabalenka
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-07 | by ( Christian Radnedge | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

"I was little bit crazy in that moment. I mean, I can't throw my racket on the grass, so I felt like at least I need to scream, kind of lose it a little bit. After that I felt a little bit better. "I felt like I started thinking a little bit better." "After the first match I felt amazing.

Persons: Aryna Sabalenka, Varvara Gracheva, Sabalenka, Christian Radnedge, Ed Osmond Organizations: Wimbledon, All England Club, French, Thomson Locations: Belarusian, Russia, Belarus

☆ Lukashenko Says Prigozhin Is in Russia, Not Belarus
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-06 | by ( Matthew Mpoke Bigg | Juston Jones | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +4 min

MINSK, Belarus — The mercenary leader Yevgeny V. Prigozhin is in Russia, the leader of Belarus said on Thursday, adding to the questions swirling around Mr. Prigozhin’s fate nearly two weeks after he called off his stunning armed rebellion against Moscow’s military leadership. None of Mr. Lukashenko’s claims could be verified, and Mr. Prigozhin has not been seen in public since the rebellion nearly two weeks ago. Mr. Prigozhin was “not on the territory of Belarus,” Mr. Lukashenko said, and nor were Wagner troops, who he said remained in their “permanent camps,” believed to be in the Luhansk region of eastern Ukraine. Mr. Lukashenko also signaled that at least some of Wagner’s fighting force — which was instrumental in Russia’s capture of the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut this spring — could stay intact. But on Thursday, Mr. Lukashenko appeared less definitive about the possible presence of Wagner troops in Belarus.

Persons: Yevgeny V, Aleksandr G, Lukashenko, Prigozhin, Wagner, Lukashenko’s, ” Mr, ”, Vladimir V, “, Dmitri S, Mr, Putin, ’, Putin’s, Anatoly Kurmanaev, Ivan Nechepurenko Organizations: Independence, Kremlin, Russia, The New York Times, West, Mr Locations: MINSK, Belarus, Russia, Russian, St, Petersburg, Luhansk, Ukraine, Ukrainian, Bakhmut, Belarusian, Minsk, Moscow

☆ Opinion: Whatever happened to Mutually Assured Destruction?
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-06 | by ( David A. Andelman | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

On June 14, Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko announced that his country had taken delivery of the first of a collection of tactical nuclear weapons from Russia. Belarus has both a nuclear arsenal and a president who for decades has quietly played the role of Putin’s lap dog. And indeed, in a press conference Thursday in Minsk, he did claim to being in lockstep with Putin — adding that the nuclear weapons were for defensive purposes only. In the same press conference, Lukashenko nodded to the fact that those nuclear weapons were under Russia’s control. “In the early ’60s American officials worried that the Soviet Union would launch a less-than-all-out attack, reasoning that the US would not respond in a way that might trigger Armageddon,” he said.

Persons: David A, David Andelman, Bill Clinton, Boris Yeltsin, Ukraine’s Leonid Kuchma, Alexander Lukashenko, Putin, Lukashenko nodded, “, Joe Biden, Jens Stoltenberg, Kaja Kallas, Stoltenberg, nukes, Izumi Nakamitsu, Donald Trump, Biden, Vladimir Putin, Antony Blinken, crouch, ” Michael Mandelbaum, ”, Mandelbaum, – Vladimir Putin, hewing Organizations: CNN, French Legion of, The New York Times, CBS News, Soviet Union, Warsaw, David Andelman CNN, NATO, Belarus, Ukraine, Security Council, Nuclear Forces, Treaty, Twitter, Facebook, Johns Hopkins School, International, American Foreign, Power, MAD Locations: Russia, Europe, Soviet, Ukraine, Soviet Union, Crimea, Belarus, Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Minsk, lockstep, Vilnius, Lithuania, Brussels, Moscow, Russian

☆ The war in Ukraine will define Biden’s legacy, but peril and uncertainty lie ahead
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-06 | by ( Stephen Collinson | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

They include:— A war of words between Ukraine and Russia over the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russia of readying a bomb attack. The back-and-forth is raising fears of another alarming new dimension to a war already marred by alleged war crimes and terrible suffering among civilians. In response, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov warned that the potential for “sabotage” by Ukraine at the plant was high. Given Russia’s previous nuclear rhetoric and fog of war misinformation, many Western observers are likely to give Zelensky the benefit of the doubt. Zelensky argued in the interview that the uprising exposed splits inside Russia over the war and an erosion of Russians’ positions.

Persons: Joe Biden’s, Biden, Volodymyr Zelensky, Wagner, Vladimir Putin’s, CNN’s Erin Burnett, Zelensky, Dmitry Peskov, –, CNN’s Christian Edwards, Yevgeny Prigozhin, ” Zelensky, Putin, Mike Turner of, CNN’s Jake Tapper, ”, Burnett, “, Hanna Maliar, Donald Trump, Mitch McConnell, Xi Jinping, what’s, ” McConnell, “ That’s, it’s, McConnell Organizations: CNN, NATO, Kremlin, UN, International Atomic Energy Agency, Wagner Group, Senior, House Intelligence, Ukrainian, Republican, Senate, Kentucky Republican, America, Trump Locations: Ukraine, Lithuania, Baltic, Soviet Union, Russia, readying, Russian, Belarus, Moscow, Mike Turner of Ohio, Klishchiivka, Bakhmut, Washington, Europe, Fort Knox

☆ Putin 'clearly is stumbling' and may be weaker than we thought for letting exiled Wagner boss Prigozhin back into Russia after his revolt, ex-spies say
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-06 | by ( Sonam Sheth | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin is reportedly back in Russia after revolting against Putin's military leaders. It's a shocking and confusing development for former spooks, who told Insider that it may indicate the Russian leader's grip on power is more tenuous than it seems. "The thought that immediately comes to mind is this is a sign of Putin's weakness" amid Russia's continued losses in the Ukraine war, Glenn Carle, a former CIA spy who was stationed in Russia, told Insider. Prigozhin, for now at least, is an anomaly in that he's been allowed back into Russia after leading an armed rebellion against key Russian military officials. British intelligence sources told The Telegraph that Prigozhin called off the advance after Russian officials threatened the families of Wagner leaders if they continued.

Persons: Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Putin, —, Vladimir Putin's, It's, Alexander Lukashenko, Prigozhin, Fontanka, Russia's, Glenn Carle, John McLaughlin, McLaughlin, Sergei Skripal, Alexei Navalny, he's, Lukashenko, Putin's, excoriate Prigozhin, Carle Organizations: Service, Russian, CIA, Kremlin, Telegraph, Putin Locations: Russia, Belarus, Belarusian, St . Petersburg, Moscow, Ukraine, Russian

☆ Russian state TV attacks mutiny leader Prigozhin, says investigation still live
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-06 | by ( Andrew Osborn | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

July 5 (Reuters) - Russian state TV on Wednesday launched a fierce attack on Yevgeny Prigozhin, the exiled mercenary leader of an aborted armed mutiny last month, and said an investigation into what had happened was still being vigorously pursued. Under the agreement which ended the mutiny, Prigozhin, whose aim had been to topple the defence minister and chief of the General Staff for what he cast as their incompetent prosecution of the war, was meant to relocate to neighbouring Belarus. Images of armed Russian law enforcement agents entering Prigozhin's office were shown. "I consider that the creation of Yevgeny Prigozhin's image as a people's hero was all done by media fed by Yevgeny Prigozhin," said Petrov, referring to media outlets financed by Prigozhin. The programme showed what it said were multiple passports which Prigozhin had used and which carried different names.

Persons: Yevgeny Prigozhin, Prigozhin, Wagner, Vladimir Putin, Yevgeny Popov, Eduard Petrov, Petrov, Yevgeny, Putin, Andrew Osborn, Christopher Cushing Organizations: Wednesday, Kremlin, General Staff, Prigozhin, Thomson Locations: Russian, Rostov, Russia, Ukraine, Moscow, Belarus, St Petersburg

☆ Prigozhin Is Said to Be in Russia, as Wagner Mystery Deepens
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-06 | by ( Valerie Hopkins | More About Valerie Hopkins | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

In a rare news conference with local and foreign journalists at the marbled presidential palace in Minsk, Mr. Lukashenko, always eager to be seen as an international statesman, clearly enjoyed the limelight cast on him by the most dramatic challenge to Mr. Putin’s authority in his 23 years in power. But days after offering a haven to Wagner fighters and their leader in his country, Mr. Lukashenko gave no clarity about where they would go or what role they would play. He added that he had spoken to Mr. Prigozhin on Wednesday, and that Wagner would continue to “fulfill its duties to Russia for as long as it can,” though he did not elaborate. Mr. Putin has long sought to pull Belarus deeper into the Russian political, economic and military orbits. For years, Mr. Lukashenko, whose power depends heavily on managing that relationship, did well enough to maintain some independence and even tried to build trade ties to the West.

Persons: Lukashenko, Wagner, Putin, ”, Prigozhin Organizations: Mr, Russia Locations: Minsk, Russia, Belarus

☆ Belarus' dictator says he told Prigozhin he was ready to send special forces to defend Moscow against the Wagner rebellion and hoped he wouldn't be offended
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-06 | by ( Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Belarus' Lukashenko said he was ready to help defend Moscow from the Wagner Group's mutiny. The dictator told Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin he hoped he wouldn't be offended by the decision. A special forces brigade from Belarus' military was ready to deploy to Moscow immediately after Prigozhin and Wagner launched their short-lived mutiny against Russia's military leadership, Lukashenko told foreign and domestic reporters in Minsk. The dictator just hoped Prigozhin wouldn't mind that he was preparing to have his forces act against him. We will defend Moscow together with Putin," Lukashenko recalled, according to a translation of his remarks by state-run news agency BelTA.

Persons: Lukashenko, Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, —, Alexander Lukashenko, Prigozhin, Vladimir Putin, Yevgeny, Putin, BelTA, Russia's, Pat Ryder Organizations: Service, Privacy, Belarusian, Army, Sputnik, Kremlin, Institute for, Putin, Pentagon Press, Air Force Locations: Belarus, Moscow, Minsk, Rostov, Russia, Russian, Sochi, Kremlin, Belarusian, Washington, Ukraine

☆ Belarus leader Lukashenko says Prigozhin is back in Russia
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

MINSK, July 6 (Reuters) - Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, who last month brokered a deal to end an armed mutiny in Russia, said on Thursday that Russian mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin was no longer in Belarus. Lukashenko said on June 27 that Prigozhin had arrived in Belarus as part of the deal. He is not on the territory of Belarus." Lukashenko said an offer for Wagner to station some of its fighters in Belarus - a prospect that has alarmed neighbouring NATO countries - still stands. He said he did not see it as a risk to Belarus and did not believe Wagner fighters would ever take up arms against his country.

Persons: Alexander Lukashenko, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Lukashenko, Prigozhin, Wagner Organizations: Reuters, Thomson Locations: MINSK, Russia, Belarus, he's, St Petersburg, NATO

☆ Wagner's Prigozhin is in Russia, Belarus leader says, despite Putin deal to end mutiny
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-06 | by ( Elliot Smith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

A screen grab captured from a video shows Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin making a speech after Headquarters of the Southern Military District surrounded by fighters of the paramilitary Wagner group in Rostov-on-Don, Russia on June 24, 2023. (Photo by Wagner/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)Wagner Group mercenary boss Yevgeny Prigozhin is currently in the Russian city of St. Petersburg, Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko told reporters Thursday, despite supposedly being exiled to Belarus. On June 27, Lukashenko apparently confirmed that Prigozhin had arrived in Belarus per the terms of a deal with the Kremlin that saw him avoid prosecution for leading Wagner in an aborted mutiny. Lukashenko did not confirm whether Prigozhin had actually been in Belarus since the coup, and his whereabouts have been somewhat of a mystery. The deal reportedly granted him exile in Belarus and immunity from prosecution.

Persons: Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Alexander Lukashenko, Lukashenko, Prigozhin, Chris Weafer Organizations: Southern Military, Anadolu Agency, Getty, Wagner Group, Kremlin, CNBC Locations: Rostov, Don, Russia, Russian, St . Petersburg, Belarusian, Belarus, Moscow, Ukraine

☆ Russia said it raided Wagner boss' home and found gold bars, wigs, and a trove of weapons
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-06 | by ( Sinéad Baker | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Russian media shared photos that allegedly show the home of the Wagner Group boss taken during a raid. The photos show a lavish home with bizarre features like shelves of wigs and a medical room. IzvestiaRussian pro-Kremlin media outlet Izvestia shared images of what it said were photos obtained of Prigozhin's home from a raid conducted by Russian security forces. But his feud with Russia's military escalated over time, climaxing in last month's short-lived uprising. The images released showed gold bars and piles of cash.

Persons: Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, —, Vladimir Putin, Prigozhin Organizations: Service, Kremlin, Sky News, Reuters Locations: Russia, Russian, Moscow, Belarus, Ukraine, St Petersburg

☆ In his new spotlight, the Belarusian leader could gain leverage.
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-06 | by ( Matthew Mpoke Bigg | More About Matthew Mpoke Bigg | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

A stray remark by President Alexander G. Lukashenko of Belarus neatly encapsulated the imbalance in his relationship with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia in recent years. As the cameras rolled, Mr. Putin thanked him in February for traveling to Moscow for a meeting. But the brief mutiny in Russia last month led by the mercenary leader Yevgeny V. Prigozhin has also given Mr. Lukashenko — at least temporarily — an opening to upend the relationship. In the aftermath, the Belarusian leader has positioned himself as the mediator, stepping into help bring an end to the armed rebellion. He again gloried in the spotlight on Thursday, as the purveyor of information about the whereabouts of Mr. Prigozhin.

Persons: Alexander G, Lukashenko, Vladimir V, Putin, ”, Yevgeny V, Prigozhin, Lukashenko —, gloried Locations: Belarus, Russia, Moscow, Belarusian

☆ Xi personally warned Putin against launching a nuclear strike in Ukraine, report says, drawing a red line for Russia
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-06 | by ( Tom Porter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

China's Xi Jinping warned Vladimir Putin against using nuclear weapons, The Financial Times reported. If Putin ignored Xi and acted on his nuclear threats to Ukraine, it'd humiliate the Chinese leader, an analyst said. He has provided the Russian president with crucial economic and diplomatic support amid sanctions and international isolation. This gives him leverage over the Russian president in seeking to deter him from a potentially catastrophic escalation of the conflict. Putin has previously shown a willingness to defy China, declaring he'd position nuclear weapons in Belarus in an apparent snub to Xi in March.

Persons: China's Xi Jinping, Vladimir Putin, Xi, Putin, it'd, —, Vladimir Putin of, Putin's, Dmitry Peskov, Sumantra Maitra, China Xi, Ali Wyne, Xi Jinping, Wagner Organizations: Financial Times, Service, Ukraine, Putin, Wednesday, European Union, Eurasia Group, Russian Locations: Ukraine, Moscow, Vladimir Putin of Russia, China, Russian, Russia, Beijing, Belarus, West

Lukashenko put a gulf of distance between himself and Prigozhin the Wagner boss when he said that neither Prigozhin nor his mercenaries were in Belarus, and it was unclear if they would ever move here. One of the final straws for Prigozhin’s longstanding tensions with the Russian Defense Ministry was the insistence that Wagner mercenaries sign contracts with the Russian government; Prigozhin refused. But on Thursday, Lukashenko insisted that were Wagner to come to Belarus, its mercenaries would have to sign documents with Belarus’ government. Just as we were learning that Prigozhin was in Russia, not Belarus, Russian state media released images from a reported police raid on Prigozhin’s office and residence in St. Petersburg. Yevgeny Prigozhin was last seen in public leaving Russian military headquarters in Rostov-on-Don on June 24.

Persons: Alexander Lukashenko, it’s, Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Lukashenko, Prigozhin, ” Lukashenko, ”, Prigozhin’s, Dmitry Peskov, Putin, Vladimir Putin, “ Organizations: Belarus CNN, CNN, Russian Defense Ministry, Belarus ’, Anadolu Agency, Getty Locations: Minsk, Belarus, St Petersburg, Moscow, Russia, Russian, St . Petersburg, Rostov

☆ Russia is 'accepting risks' and dropping its guard against other threats to hold its ground in Ukraine, British military says
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-06 | by ( Christopher Woody | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Shifting the bulk of its military to Ukraine has made Russia vulnerable elsewhere, experts say. The war has become a nearly all-consuming effort for Russia's military. Units from across Russia are now "bearing the brunt" of the Ukrainian counteroffensive that kicked off in early June, the British Ministry of Defense said in an update published Thursday. "The way Russia is accepting risks across Eurasia highlights how the war has dislocated Russia's established national strategy," the ministry said. "Russia has really made itself vulnerable globally," Dara Massicot, an expert on the Russian military at the Rand Corporation think tank, said in April.

Persons: —, Ukraine's, Ben Wallace, Muhammed Enes Yildirim, Dara Massicot, Adm, Tony Radakin, Radakin, ANATOLII STEPANOV, Christopher Cavoli, Cavoli, we've, Justin Bronk, They'd, Bronk, they're Organizations: Service, British Ministry of Defense, Russian, Eastern Military District, 61st Naval Infantry Brigade, NATO, Anadolu Agency, Getty, Arms Army, Rand Corporation, US European Command, Royal United Services Institute Locations: Russia, Ukraine, Eurasia, Belarus, Zaporizhzhia, Zaporizhzhia Oblast, Crimea, Velyka, Donetsk Oblast, Bakhmut, Moscow, Russian, Oskol, Ukraine's Kharkiv, AFP, British, Kaliningrad, Finland

Prigozhin had reportedly traveled to Belarus as part of a deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin following the failed uprising, but Lukashenko told CNN’s Matthew Chance that the Wagner leader is now in Russia. Prigozhin has not been seen in public since June 24 when he left Rostov-on-Don in southern Russia. “I don’t think that Wagner will rise up somewhere and turn its guns against the Belarusian authorities and the Belarusian state,” Lukashenko said. Until recently, Russian state television lionized Wagner’s operations in Ukraine, but the outlets now appear to be vilifying the founder of the private military company following the failed uprising. Russian state television often airs dramatic footage of what are described as raids by security services and foiled terrorist plots.

Persons: Belarus CNN — Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Alexander Lukashenko, Prigozhin, Vladimir Putin, Lukashenko, CNN’s Matthew Chance, Wagner, ” Lukashenko, ”, Prigozhin’s, Were Wagner Organizations: Belarus CNN, CNN, Weapons, “, Kremlin Locations: Minsk, Belarus, Belarusian, Russia, Rostov, Vesti, St . Petersburg, Moscow, Ukraine

☆ Ukraine's Zelenskiy says sought Western weapons to start counteroffensive sooner
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

"I wanted our counteroffensive to happen much earlier, because everyone understood that if the counteroffensive unfolds later, then a bigger part of our territory will be mined," Zelenskiy said. The Ukrainian leader has consistently pushed the United States and other Western allies to supply his armed forces with more sophisticated weaponry, such as U.S.-made F-16 fighter jets and longer range missiles. He did so again in the CNN interview while also thanking Washington and the European allies for their support. "It's not even about the Ukrainian advantage in the sky over the Russians," Zelenskiy said. Last week, Zelenskiy said the counteroffensive was "slower than desired", without getting too specific but he said advances had been made "in all directions".

Persons: Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Zelenskiy, It's, Vladimir Putin, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Prigozhin, Putin, Costas Pitas, Grant McCool, Sandra Maler, Jacqueline Wong Organizations: CNN, quicken, Washington, Reuters, Ukrainian, Wagner Group, Thomson Locations: Russian, Western, Ukraine, Russia, United States, Belarus, Moscow

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