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☆ Russia’s State Media Blamed Prigozhin, But Some Criticism of Putin Surfaced
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-25 | by ( Neil Macfarquhar | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

“Armed mutiny in Russia is not supported by the society,” said Dmitry Kiselyov, the anchor and senior Kremlin propagandist whose program — Vesti Nedelu or “News of the Week” — sets the tone for the government monopoly on broadcast news. “Treason in the time of war is a grave crime.”The newscast then showed in full Mr. Putin’s vehement, 5-minute speech from Saturday morning, in which he accused Mr. Prigozhin, without mentioning his name, of stabbing Russia in the back. Within hours of that address, the vows that Mr. Prigozhin would face criminal prosecution for his actions had evaporated. All news outlets carried the statement from Dmitri S. Peskov, the presidential spokesman, who broke the dramatic tension by announcing a behind-the-scenes deal credited to President Aleksandr G. Lukashenko of neighboring Belarus. In exchange for standing down, Mr. Prigozhin was granted safe passage out of the country and his troops were forgiven.

Persons: Yevgeny V, ”, Dmitry Kiselyov, Putin’s, Prigozhin, Dmitri S, Aleksandr G, Lukashenko Organizations: Kremlin Locations: Moscow, Russia, Belarus

☆ 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

☆ Debris From Russian Missile Kills Three in Kyiv Apartment Building
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-24 | by ( Megan Specia | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Russian forces fired more than 20 missiles at Ukraine’s capital in a predawn assault on Saturday that left at least three people dead. Moscow’s military leadership accuses Mr. Prigozhin of trying to mount a coup against Mr. Putin. Serhiy Popko, the head of the Kyiv military administration, said air defenses had shot down more than 20 missiles around the capital but that falling debris had hit a high-rise building and started a blaze that destroyed three floors. As rescuers worked at the scene, Vitali Klitschko, the mayor of Kyiv, said that there might be people under the rubble. Residents carefully stepped over the broken glass and building fragments that had scattered throughout the parking lot below.

Persons: Vladimir V, Putin, Yevgeny V, Wagner, Mr, Prigozhin, Serhiy Popko, Vitali Klitschko Organizations: Interior Ministry Locations: Kyiv, Russia

☆ U.S. Suspected Prigozhin Was Preparing to Take Military Action Against Russia
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-24 | by ( David E. Sanger | Julian E. Barnes | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Senior American national security officials had indications as early as Wednesday that Yevgeny Prigozhin, the leader of the Wagner Group, was preparing to take military action against senior Russian defense officials, according to officials briefed on the intelligence. The information suggests that the United States had at least some warning of impending chaos in Russia, just as it warned in late 2021 that Vladimir V. Putin was planning to invade Ukraine. In this case, the information was considered both solid and alarming because of the possibility that a major nuclear-armed rival of the United States could descend into chaos. While it is not clear exactly when the United States first learned of the plot, intelligence officials conducted briefings on Wednesday with the administration and defense officials. By Friday night, Prigozhin had dramatically escalated his feud, launching a march on Moscow that the Russian government described as an attempted coup.

Persons: Yevgeny Prigozhin, Vladimir V, Putin, Prigozhin Organizations: American, Wagner, United Locations: United States, Russia, Ukraine, Moscow, Belarus

☆ What’s happening in Russia? Here’s what we know.
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-24 | by ( Mike Ives | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Russian generals on Friday accused a Russian mercenary tycoon of trying to mount a coup against President Vladimir V. Putin. There were reports overnight of military movements in an area of southern Russia near the border with Ukraine. And on Saturday morning, the tycoon, Yevgeny V. Prigozhin, claimed to have control of parts of the military command headquarters in southern Russia. But the confrontation already amounted to the biggest challenge to Mr. Putin’s authority since Russia invaded Ukraine 16 months ago. In an address to the nation, Mr. Putin called the Wagner forces’ actions “a stab in the back of our country and our people” and vowed “decisive actions.”

Persons: Vladimir V, Putin, Wagner, Yevgeny V, Prigozhin, ” Locations: Russian, Ukraine, Russia

Image Mr. Prigozhin and President Vladimir Putin at one of Mr. Prigozhin’s factories in St. Petersburg in 2010. Mr. Prigozhin accused the Russian military of attacking his forces, vowed to retaliate, on Friday. In an earlier videotaped speech, Mr. Prigozhin did not explicitly impugn Mr. Putin, instead casting him as a leader being misled by his officials. But, during the battle for Bakhmut, Mr. Prigozhin also emerged as a populist political figure, excoriating Russia’s military leadership for corruption. Others theorized that the Kremlin had orchestrated Mr. Prigozhin’s tirades against Mr. Shoigu, the defense minister, to deflect blame from Mr. Putin himself.

Persons: Yevgeny V, Vladimir V, Putin, Prigozhin, Wagner, Mr, ” Gen, Vladimir Alekseyev, ” Mr, Prigozhin’s Wagner, Russia’s, ’, “, ”, GOH, Volodymyr Zelensky, Mykhailo Podolyak, Adam Hodge, Vladimir Putin, —, Sergei K, Shoigu, Dmitri S, diatribes, excoriating, Prigozhin’s, Igor Girkin, Girkin, ” Julian E, Barnes, Cassandra Vinograd Organizations: Russian, ., Reuters, Russian Defense Ministry, Russia’s, Defense Ministry, Telegram, Twitter, National Security, Associated Press, Bakhmut, Kremlin Locations: Ukraine, Moscow, Rostov, Don, Russia, White, St . Petersburg, St, Petersburg, Syria, Africa, Ukrainian, Bakhmut, Prigozhin, Russian, Ukraine’s, “

☆ Short-Lived Mutiny in Russia Sheds Light on Putin’s Hold on Power
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-24 | by ( Peter Baker | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

For more than a year, American officials have quietly asked themselves a question they would not dare pose in public: Could Russia’s botched invasion of Ukraine eventually lead to the downfall of President Vladimir V. Putin? For a few chaotic, head-snapping hours this weekend, the notion did not seem so far-fetched. But even with the apparent end to the immediate threat posed by Yevgeny Prigozhin’s rebellious mercenary army, the short-lived uprising suggested that Mr. Putin’s hold on power is more tenuous than at any time since he took office more than two decades ago. The aftermath of the mutiny leaves President Biden and American policymakers with both opportunity and danger in perhaps the most volatile moment since the early days of the invasion of Ukraine. “The main thing we care about is making sure that professional military remains in control of all of the nuclear facilities.”

Persons: Vladimir V, Putin, Yevgeny Prigozhin’s, Putin’s, Biden, ”, Evelyn N, Farkas Organizations: McCain Institute for International Leadership, Pentagon Locations: Ukraine, Russia, Washington, Syria

☆ Opinion: What Putin must be dreading
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-24 | by ( Peter Bergen | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Russian President Vladimir Putin made a speech Saturday condemning the mutiny by the Wagner group, comparing the uprising to the events sparked by Russia’s 1917 revolution. Putin claimed that the Russians were stabbed “in the back” by nameless enemies towards the end of World War I, which he said is why the Russians lost that war and that in turn led to “a civil war” in Russia, Putin said. The Russians were not stabbed in the back during World War I, as Putin suggested during his remarks on Saturday. During the 1917 revolution, a Marxist party known as the Bolsheviks seized power. A year later, Nicholas II and other members of the ruling Romanov family ended up on the wrong end of a firing squad.

Persons: Peter Bergen, Peter Bergen ”, Vladimir Putin, Wagner, Putin, “, Nicholas II, Romanov, Josef Stalin’s, Mark Twain, Putin doesn’t Organizations: CNN, New, Arizona State University, Apple, Spotify, Peter Bergen CNN, Communist, Russo, Marxist, Communist Party, KGB, Soviet, Twitter, Facebook Military, Romanovs Locations: New America, Russian, Russia, Ukraine, Europe, Soviet Union, Dresden, East Germany, Afghanistan, Japanese, Soviet

☆ Mutinous Russian mercenary boss turn his fighters back from Moscow to avoid bloodshed
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

MOSCOW, June 24 (Reuters) - Mutinous Russian mercenary boss Yevgeny Prigozhin said on Saturday he had ordered his fighters advancing on Moscow in convoy to turn around and return to their bases to avoid bloodshed. Prigozhin had earlier said that he wanted to oust the army's top brass and "restore justice". In an audio message released by his press service, Prigozhin said:"They wanted to disband the Wagner military company. In this time we did not spill a single drop of our fighters' blood. Understanding responsibility [for the chance] that Russian blood will be spilled on one side, we are turning our columns around and going back to field camps as planned."

Persons: Yevgeny Prigozhin, Prigozhin, Putin, Alexander Lukashenko, Wagner, Andrew Osborn, Kevin Liffey Organizations: Wagner, Thomson Locations: MOSCOW, Russian, Moscow

1 11 a.m. Friday Prigozhin questions war rationaleIn a 30-minute video released at 11 a.m. on Friday, Mr. Prigozhin challenged the wisdom of the Russia-Ukraine war. The Federal Security Service, Russia’s main intelligence agency, opened an investigation against Mr. Prigozhin for armed rebellion. 3 7:30 a.m. Saturday Wagner forces take Rostov-on-DonConcord Press ServiceDespite the defense measures, Wagner forces took Rostov-on-Don with little resistance. Around 7:30 a.m., Mr. Prigozhin posted a video from the regional military headquarters, claiming to have control of key city installations. Mr. Prigozhin was among those leaving, driving out of the city in a heavily guarded black S.U.V.

Persons: Yevgeny V, Wagner, Prigozhin, Sergei K, ”, Prigozhin’s, Saturday Wagner, Don Sea, Putin, Alexsandr G, Lukashenko, ’, Don Wagner Organizations: Wagner, Federal Security Service, Don Concord Press, Don, Saturday, Reuters, Moscow, Moscow russia belarus Elets, Volgograd UKRAINE Bakhmut Rostov, Moscow russia Elets, New York Times, Ukraine Locations: Russia, Moscow, Ukraine, Rostov, Russia’s Voronezh, Moscow russia belarus, Moscow russia belarus Elets Voronezh, Volgograd UKRAINE, Don, Azov, Moscow russia, Moscow russia Elets Voronezh, Russian, Voronezh, Elets, Lipetsk, Belarus, ”

☆ As Putin’s Trusted Partner, Prigozhin Was Always Willing to Do the Dirty Work
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-24 | by ( Anatoly Kurmanaev | Kyle Crichton | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Yevgeny V. Prigozhin, the mercenary leader who led an armed rebellion in Russia on Saturday, was never afraid of a dirty task, many say. Emerging from jail as the Soviet Union was collapsing, he began his post-criminal career selling hot dogs on street corners in St. Petersburg, Russia. Mr. Prigozhin quickly earned the trust of his benefactor, who assigned him a number of important tasks that were best handled at arm’s length from the government. From there, he raised mercenaries to fight in Syria and Libya, and, most fatefully, founded the private military group Wagner, which emerged during Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014. It quickly earned a reputation for ruthless violence in pursuit of lucrative diamond and gold concessions, while building political influence for the Kremlin in countries like the Central African Republic, Libya, Mali and Sudan.

Persons: Yevgeny V, Vladimir V, Putin, Vladimir, Prigozhin, Wagner Organizations: Internet Research Agency, Kremlin, Central African Locations: Russia, Soviet Union, St . Petersburg, United States, Europe, Syria, Libya, Crimea, Central African Republic, Mali, Sudan

In the war-torn Chechnya region, Mr. Kadyrov built up a private fiefdom while professing loyalty to no official but Mr. Putin himself. A judo sparring partner from Mr. Putin’s youth became a construction billionaire and built Mr. Putin’s landmark bridge to Crimea. And then there was Mr. Prigozhin, who has said that he met Mr. Putin in 2000 as a St. Petersburg restaurateur. In Ukraine, as Mr. Prigozhin tells it, Wagner troops were only called in after Mr. Putin’s initial invasion plan failed. But Mr. Putin seemed to vacillate on his own support for Mr. Prigozhin.

Persons: Vladimir V, Putin, Yevgeny V, Prigozhin, Putin’s, “, ”, —, “ Putin, Tatiana Stanovaya, ” Mr, Ramzan Kadyrov, Aleksandr G, Lukashenko, Mr, Wagner, tycoons, Boris N, Yeltsin, Kadyrov, Prigozhin’s, K.G.B, Donald J, Trump, Weeks, ’, Putin “, Andrei Soldatov, Prigozhin “, ” Mark Galeotti, ” Neil MacFarquhar, Valerie Hopkins Organizations: Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center, ., Reuters, Federal Security Service, Kremlin, Television, Defense, Defense Ministry, Center for Locations: Russia, Moscow, Russian, Rostov, Chechnya, Belarus, Russia’s, Don, Ukraine, Putin’s, Crimea, St, Petersburg, United States, Syria, Africa, Ukrainian, Bakhmut

☆ Timeline: What Led to the Standoff Between Russia and Prigozhin
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-24 | by ( Gaya Gupta | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

For years, Yevgeny V. Prigozhin, the Wagner mercenary leader who conducted a brief rebellion against the Russian military, had been a loyal supporter of President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia. In recent months, he continued to steer clear of directly criticizing Mr. Putin, even as he increasingly used social media to lambaste Russia’s military, accusing its leaders of treason and blaming them for failing to provide his forces with enough resources. Mr. Putin mobilized Russian troops to quell what he called an armed rebellion, and the Belarusian president, a Putin ally, negotiated a halt to the Wagner advance. Here’s a look at Mr. Prigozhin’s history and some of the claims he has made:December 2016The United States imposed sanctions against 15 Russian entities, including Mr. Prigozhin, for their dealings in Crimea, which Russia illegally annexed in 2014, and in Ukraine, where Russian-backed separatists seized territory the same year. The Treasury Department targeted businesspeople who were associates of Mr. Putin or were involved in activities that aided in Russia’s destabilization of Ukraine.

Persons: Yevgeny V, Wagner, Vladimir V, Putin, Putin’s, Prigozhin, Mr Organizations: Russian, Treasury Department, Russia’s Locations: Russia, Ukraine, Russian, Rostov, Moscow, Belarusian, United States, Crimea, Russia’s destabilization

☆ Putin embraced turmoil, and now it is rattling his leadership.
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-24 | by ( Anton Troianovski | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia always seemed to thrive on chaos. For the last few months, as the mercenary chieftain Yevgeny V. Prigozhin escalated his feud with the Russian military, Mr. Putin did not publicly reveal any discomfort with his diatribes. The Russian leader’s key litmus test was loyalty — a fact that Mr. Prigozhin showed he understood, even amid his recent criticism of the military leadership: “I listen to Putin,” he said in May. At no point since being named acting president on Dec. 31, 1999, has Mr. Putin faced such a dramatic challenge. And it comes from a man who — like much of Russia’s elite — owes his power and status to the informal, personalist style of the Russian president.

Persons: Vladimir V, Putin, Yevgeny V, Prigozhin, Putin’s, “, ”, — Locations: Russia, Russian, Rostov, Moscow

☆ Lithuanian prime minister compares Wagner mutiny in Russia to 'spiders in a jar' as neighboring countries secure borders
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-24 | by ( Katie Balevic | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

The Lithuanian prime minister compared the conflict between Prigozhin and Putin to 'spiders in a jar.' As all eyes were on Russia during the Wagner Group's stunning advance, Lithuania's prime minister compared the rebellion to poisonous spiders trapped in a jar. "Spiders in a jar is an unpleasant spectacle but the end result is always a reduced amount of poison, whatever the outcome," Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė tweeted on June 24. Russian security forces meanwhile took positions inside Moscow to protect against a looming Wagner advance. NATO allies on Russia's border said they are securing their borders in light of the insurrection inside Russia.

Persons: Yevgeny Prigozhin, Putin, —, Wagner, Vladimir Putin, Ingrida Šimonytė, Prigozhin Organizations: Service, Russian, Russian Ministry of Defense, Wagner Group, Ukraine, Putin, NATO Locations: Russian, Moscow, Lithuanian, Prigozhin, Ukraine, Russia, St, Petersburg, Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, Poland, Norway

Yevgeny V. Prigozhin became rich through 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. In recent months, Mr. Prigozhin (pronounced pree-GOH-zhin) has also emerged as a public power player, using social media to turn tough talk and brutality into his personal brand. At the same time, though, he began launching accusations at Russia’s military leadership, blaming it for failing to provide his forces with enough ammunition and ignoring soldiers’ struggles. But until Friday — when Russian generals accused Mr. Prigozhin of mounting a coup — Mr. Putin had not checked Mr. Prigozhin’s online accusations, despite jailing or fining many other critics of the war. It was a significant turnabout for Mr. Prigozhin, who acknowledged only last fall that he had founded Wagner.

Persons: Yevgeny V, Prigozhin, Vladimir V, Putin, Wagner, GOH, ’, Mr, ” Organizations: Kremlin Locations: Russia, Russian, Ukraine

☆ Google News Blocked in Russia as Feud With Mercenary Leader Intensifies
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-23 | by ( Nico Grant | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Several Russian internet service providers are preventing users inside the country from accessing Google News after Russian generals accused a mercenary leader, Yevgeny V. Prigozhin, of attempting a coup. At least five telecommunications companies — including Rostelecom, U-LAN and Telplus — have blocked Google News, which aggregates news from various sources, according to an analysis from NetBlocks, an internet observatory. Several other internet service providers have begun reducing access as well, according to the analysis. Google didn’t immediately respond to a request for a comment. Late Friday, Russian officials accused Mr. Prigozhin, the leader of the Wagner Group, a mercenary organization, of trying to mount a coup against President Vladimir V. Putin, with Russian authorities opening an investigation into Mr. Prigozhin for “organizing an armed rebellion.”Russia’s internet regulator, Roskomnadzor, said in March 2022 that it would block Google News from the country’s internet users after the company paused advertising in Russia and took steps to block online content that spread false information to support Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Persons: Yevgeny V, Google didn’t, Mr, Prigozhin, Vladimir V, Putin Organizations: Google, Wagner Locations: Russian, Russia, Ukraine

☆ It’s a War-Themed Restaurant, but There Is No Need to Pretend
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-23 | by ( Patricia Cohen | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Sievda Kerimova had recently arrived in Lviv from Kyiv for a happier reason. She had come to meet her husband, a 26-year-old military officer who had 10 days off. Kryivka is one of several themed restaurants and gift shops operated by !FEST, a Ukrainian restaurant group. Upstairs is another one, The Most Expensive Galician Restaurant, decorated as a masonic clubhouse. Around the corner is the Lviv Coffee Mine, an enormous underground coffee house and shop where patrons can wear a miner’s helmet and dig for coffee beans and sip lattes.

Persons: Sievda Kerimova, Kerimova, Vladimir V, Putin Organizations: ! FEST, Ukrainian Insurgent Army Locations: Lviv, Kyiv, Russia, Ukrainian, Kryivka, Ukraine

☆ Belarus Is Fast Becoming a ‘Vassal State’ of Russia
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-22 | by ( Valerie Hopkins | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Schools give patriotic lessons and teach students how to assemble rifles, while textbooks have been rewritten to favor Russia’s view of history. These by-now familiar scenes would hardly bear mention in wartime Russia, except that these were drawn recently from Belarus, an autocratic country of 9.4 million neighboring Russia, Ukraine and the NATO members Poland, Lithuania and Latvia. Long uneasily in the orbit of President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, Belarus is increasingly doing his bidding, socially, militarily and economically. It is also an important step, democracy advocates and military experts say, toward Russia’s absorption of Belarus, a longtime goal of Mr. Putin. “Belarus’ sovereignty is evaporating very fast,” said Pavel Slunkin, a former Belarusian diplomat who is now a fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations.

Persons: Long, Vladimir V, Putin, Moscow —, Mr, ”, Pavel Slunkin Organizations: NATO, European Council, Foreign Relations Locations: Ukraine, Russia, Belarus, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Moscow, “ Belarus, Belarusian

☆ Ukraine’s counteroffensive has been brutal and slow. But Kyiv has many cards left to play
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-21 | by ( Nick Paton Walsh | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

And this is likely why we are seeing a slow – and at times incremental – start to this first phase of open operations. It has also been grueling, with Ukrainian losses reported around Mala Tokmachka, and now intense fighting near Pyatykhatky. Some estimates suggest only a quarter of Ukraine’s fresh units, bolstered by NATO training and supplies, are now in the fight. Ukrainian forces firing an S60 anti-aircraft canon placed on a truck on Juune 19, 2023. Kyiv needs to cement a change in the frontlines to validate the huge investment in its forces made by NATO.

Persons: –, Wojciech Grzedzinski, Rykove, recalibrations, Vladimir Putin, Velyka, Blahodatne, Brigade perilously, Igor Strelkov, Melitopol –, Kreminna, Ukraine’s, General Valerii Zaluzhnyi, Zalyuzhnyi, gridlock Organizations: CNN, 73rd Naval Special Operations Center, NATO, Anadolu Agency, Getty, Moscow, Kyiv, Brigade, Donetsk People’s Republic Locations: Ukrainian, Ukraine, Rykove, Kherson, Bakhmut, Crimea, Russia, Kyiv, Moscow, Volnovakha, Mariupol, Zaporizhzhia, Orikhiv, Mala Tokmachka, Pyatykhatky, Donetsk, Zherebyanki, Kamyanske, Dnipro, Melitopol, Azov, Kupyansk, Kharkiv, Russian

CNN —Jailed opposition leader Alexey Navalny appeared before a Russian court Monday to defend himself against fresh charges of extremism, in a trial that could extend his prison term by decades. In comments posted to his Twitter account, Navalny said the “absurd” charges could lead to him serving a further 30 years behind bars. Navalny’s team challenged judge Andrey Suvorov, and asked him to recuse himself, according to the team’s Telegram posts. Also present at the hearing is Daniel Kholodny, the former technical director of the Navalny Live YouTube channel, accused in the same extremism case. Putin himself said in December 2020 that if Russian security services had wanted to kill Navalny, they “would have finished” the job.

Persons: CNN —, Alexey Navalny, Vladimir Putin, Navalny, Navalny’s, Vadim Kobzev, Olga Mikhailova, Svetlana Davyodva, Andrey Suvorov, Vladimir, ”, Daniel Kholodny, Evgenia Novozhenina, Lilia Chanysheva, Chanysheva, “, Novichok, Putin Organizations: CNN, TASS, IK, Journalists, Russian Security Service Locations: Melekhovo, Moscow, Russian, Ufa, Russia, Germany, Soviet, Berlin, Siberian, Omsk, Siberia

☆ Putin Asserts Ukraine’s Counteroffensive Has ‘No Chance’ at Economic Forum
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-16 | by ( Neil Macfarquhar | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia wrapped up what was for him an extraordinary and sometimes rambling week of upbeat commentary on the Ukraine war by asserting on Friday that Russia was so assured of prevailing against the Ukrainian counteroffensive that he had ruled out using nuclear weapons. Yet, Mr. Putin’s assertions of success in the face of repeated setbacks seemed to rankle a small but ever louder chorus of critics. They point to the counteroffensive, drone attacks on Moscow, incursions by pro-Ukraine militias into southern Russia and cross-border shelling of Russian towns as evidence that things could be spiraling out of control. That could explain why Mr. Putin took care this week to present himself as a hands-on, knowledgeable commander in chief, even asserting at one point Friday that “right now” the Ukrainians were attacking with two tanks here and five tanks there. But his strategy of proclaiming success while brushing off problems with key military elements like smart weapons or border protection is a contradiction, his critics say, that cannot endure endlessly.

Persons: Vladimir V, Putin Organizations: St ., Economic Forum, Russian Locations: Russia, Ukraine, St, St . Petersburg, Moscow

☆ Opinion: In Ukraine, the Russian military response to the counteroffensive shows how it’s improved – and how it hasn’t
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-16 | by ( Opinion Sébastien Roblin | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

CNN —The beginning of the much-anticipated Ukrainian counteroffensive against Russia seems not to have been a resounding success for Kyiv. But they don’t mean that all is lost for Ukraine – or even that Ukraine is now losing. Russia’s artillery ammunition, missile stockpiles and most-modern ground combat vehicles were gravely depleted, so 60-year-old tanks have been withdrawn from storage. It was while attempting to breach a path through one such fortified minefield that the 47th Brigade’s vehicles bogged down last week. Notably, a parallel drive toward Mariupol at the same time as the 47th’s failed attack last week has made fast gains, compelling Russian forces to withdraw from several settlements.

Persons: Sébastien Roblin, Bradley, ” Sebastien Roblin, Sebastien Roblin, Putin, Biden, —, Jens Stoltenberg, ” Organizations: Popular Mechanics, NBC, Forbes.com, Georgetown University, Peace Corps, CNN, Kyiv, Ukraine’s 47th Brigade, Ukraine, Red Army, 47th Brigade, NATO, Twitter, Facebook Locations: China, Russia, Ukraine, Ukrainian, Kursk, Kherson, Normandy, Berdyansk, Crimea

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