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☆ Putin is forming mysterious private armies across Russia to protect himself from Wagner soldiers, report says
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-31 | by ( Tom Porter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Russian President Vladimir Putin is forming private militias across Russia. The plans for the private military companies, or "special enterprises," were noted in a new bill that raises the draft age for the Russian military. It comes weeks after the mutiny by Russia's Wagner mercenary group, which exposed gaps in Putin's defenses. According to the report, Putin's militias would be under the command of regional governors, operate at Putin's behest, and would be armed by the Russian Ministry of Defense. "They are a tool to enhance security [important given very active clandestine actions by Ukrainian military intelligence], and can, as necessary, help against any new mutiny," said Sokov.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Wagner, Andrey Kartapolov, Russia's Wagner, Putin, Nikolai Sokov Organizations: Service, Daily Beast, Fighters, Kremlin, Russian Ministry of Defense, Barents Observer, Daily Locations: Russia, Russian, Wall, Silicon, Rostov, Moscow, Norwegian, Ukraine

☆ Moscow says it shot down Ukrainian missile over Russian city, arrested oil refinery bomber
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/7] View of a damaged building near the site of the blast in the center of Taganrog, Russia July 28, 2023. Telegram channel of Vasily Golubev, Governor of the Rostov region/Handout via REUTERSJuly 28 (Reuters) - The Russian military said on Friday it had shot down a Ukrainian missile over the southern Russian city of Taganrog and that fragments of the missile had injured civilians and damaged buildings. There was no immediate reaction from Ukraine, which rarely comments on attacks inside Russia or on Russian-controlled territory. Separately, an explosion was reported to have hit an oil refinery in the Russian city of Samara. Member of parliament Alexander Khinshtein said the explosion at the refinery owned by Rosneft (ROSN.MM) appeared to have been caused by a bomb.

Persons: Vasily Golubev, Alexander Khinshtein, Felix Light, Mark Trevelyan, Andrew Osborn Organizations: REUTERS, Rosneft, TASS, Energy, Thomson Locations: Taganrog, Russia, Rostov, Russian, Ukrainian, Ukraine, Russia's Rostov, Samara

☆ Russia says it shot down Ukrainian missile over southern city with 14 injured
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-28 | by ( Uliana Pavlova | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —Russia said it shot down a Ukrainian missile over the southern Russian city of Taganrog and that fragments from the blast injured several civilians. Vasily Golubev also said on Friday in a Telegram post that there was a rocket explosion in the middle of the city. The Russian Ministry of Health later said 14 people had been injured. Russian air defense systems intercepted the missile, fragments of which fell on the city and damaged buildings, the defense ministry said. There were no victims or severe damage reported at the site, Khinshtein said.

Persons: It’s, Ukraine —, Vasily Golubev, ”, Maria Zakharova, “, ” Zakharova, Alexander Khinshtein, Khinshtein Organizations: CNN, Russian Ministry of Defense, Regional Gov, Russian Ministry of Health, Russian Foreign Ministry, Foreign Ministry, Duma Locations: Russia, Ukrainian, Russian, Taganrog, Ukraine, Rostov Region, Rostov, Moscow, Kiev, Samara

☆ Russia's FSB says traces of explosives found on foreign grain ship
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

July 24 (Reuters) - Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) said on Monday that it had found traces of explosives on a ship travelling from Turkey to the port of Rostov-on-Don in Russia to pick up grain. The FSB said the ship had been docked in the Ukrainian port of Kiliia in May, and that it may have been used to deliver explosives to Ukraine. It said the ship had changed its name while in the Turkish port of Tuzla earlier this month and replaced its crew, which had consisted of 12 Ukrainian nationals. "These circumstances may indicate the possibility of using the foreign civilian ship to deliver explosives to the territory of Ukraine," it said. It came one week after Russia pulled out of an agreement that had enabled Ukraine to export grain from its Black Sea ports, with ships undergoing security inspections.

Persons: Bernadette Baum Organizations: Federal Security Service, Don, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Turkey, Rostov, Russia, Ukrainian, Kiliia, Ukraine, Turkish, Tuzla, Kerch

☆ Putin is trying to buy time with Prigozhin but will get revenge since he is the 'ultimate apostle of payback,' CIA director William Burns says
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-21 | by ( Azmi Haroun | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The director of the CIA believes that Putin has yet to play all of his cards against Yevgeny Prigozhin. Right now, Putin is buying time and seeing how he can still benefit from Prigozhin and Wagner Group. But Putin is the 'ultimate apostle of payback' CIA director William Burns said at the Aspen Security Forum. CIA Director William Burns, speaking at the Aspen Security Forum 2023 on Thursday, discussed Prigozhin's failed mutiny and the potential blowback to come. For now, Burns said, Putin is buying time, but when the time is right, Prigozhin may have a target on his back.

Persons: Putin, Yevgeny Prigozhin, William Burns, Wagner, Vladimir Putin, Joe Biden, Prigozhin's, Burns, NPR's Mary Louise Kelly, Prigozhin, Russia's, Alexander Lukashenko, Kelly Organizations: CIA, Wagner, Aspen Security, Service, Wagner Group, Belarusian Locations: Wall, Silicon, Ukraine, Russian, Rostov, Moscow, Belarus, Ukrainian, Bakhmut, Syria, Africa

☆ Wagner boss Prigozhin was just winging it with his armed revolt and making things up as he went along, CIA director says
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-21 | by ( Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Yevgeny Prigozhin shocked the world when he called on his Wagner Group fighters to invade Russia. CIA Director Bill Burns said this week that Prigozhin was likely improvising during the armed rebellion. Prigozhin was "making some of this up as he went along," Burns told the Aspen Security Forum. Head of the Wagner Group Yevgeny Prigozhin left the Southern Military District headquarters on June 24, 2023 in Rostov-on-Don, Russia. Within hours, the Wagner Group had captured the southern city of Rostov-on-Don without meeting any resistance.

Persons: Yevgeny Prigozhin, Bill Burns, Prigozhin, Burns, Wagner, Joe Biden, I'm, William Burns, Sergei Shoigu, Valery Gerasimov, Wagner Group Yevgeny Prigozhin, Stringer, he'd, Alexander Lukashenko, Reuters Prigozhin, he'll, Russia —, Vladimir Putin, they've, Putin's misjudgment, Russian Wagner, Mark Milley, Milley Organizations: Wagner Group, CIA, Aspen Security, Service, Russian Defense, Southern Military, Anadolu Agency, Getty, Kremlin, Reuters, Belarus —, Wagner, Belarusian Defence Ministry, REUTERS, Ukrainian, Joint Chiefs, Staff, NATO Locations: Russia, Wall, Silicon, Moscow, Ukraine, Rostov, Don, Prigozhin, Russian, Voronezh, Belarus, Belarusian, Africa, Osipovichi, Kyiv

☆ Prigozhin's uprising failed, but it triggered China's 'psychology about warlords,' top White House official says
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-21 | by ( Christopher Woody | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

A brief, failed revolt by Russian mercenaries in June raised doubts about Putin's hold on power. It also worried officials in China, which has its own history with "warlords," a US official said. They were unnerved by what happened two weekends ago in Moscow," Campbell said in an interview with The Wire China published on July 16, after several senior US officials visited China. China presented a peace plan in April — shortly after President Xi Jinping visited Moscow — that was widely seen as vague and self-interested. Putin and Xi have been a driving force behind the strengthening of Sino-Russian relations over the past 15 years.

Persons: Yevgeny Prigozhin's, Vladimir Putin's, Putin, Prigozhin, Kurt Campbell, Campbell, Xi Jinping, Wagner, We've, Putin Putin, SERGEI GUNEYEV, Yu Sui, Joseph Torigian, China's, Torigian, Xi, Ryan Haas, PAVEL BYRKIN, Haas, Obama, Mark Galeotti, Galeotti Organizations: Service, Pacific Affairs, White House National Security Council, China, Wagner Group, REUTERS, Kremlin, SPUTNIK, Getty, Chinese Communist Party tabloid Global Times, Communist, Central Propaganda Department, China Center, Contemporary World, American University, Brookings Institution, The New York Times, Getty Images, National Security Locations: Russian, China, Russia, Wall, Silicon, Moscow, Ukraine, —, Rostov, Beijing, lockstep, Getty Images Beijing

More than two weeks later, the Kremlin disclosed that Mr. Prigozhin and other Wagner leaders had met with Mr. Putin for three hours in the days after the rebellion ended. “I think he probably feels under some pressure,” Mr. Moore said of Mr. Putin, speaking at the British ambassador’s residence in the Czech capital. Mr. Prigozhin is known to have spent several days in Russia afterward, and video posted on the Telegram messaging app on Wednesday appears to show him in Belarus. “He is clearly under pressure,” Mr. Moore said of Mr. Putin. Mr. Cleverly said the rebellion underscored the falsity of Mr. Putin’s assertions that Russia would be more committed to a long war in Ukraine than the West would be.

Persons: Richard Moore, Vladimir V, Putin, Yevgeny V, Wagner, Prigozhin’s, Prigozhin, “, Mr, Moore, “ Prigozhin, ” Mr, ’, James, ”, Vladimir Putin Organizations: Politico, Kremlin, Mr, Prigozhin, The New York Times, ”, Russian Army, British, Aspen Security Locations: London, Prague, Russia, British, Czech, “, Belarus, Moscow, Belarusian, Minsk, Ukraine, Rostov, Afghanistan, Russian

Summary Prigozhin welcomes mercenaries to BelarusPrigozhin says the front is 'a disgrace'Mercenaries should prepare for AfricaIt's only just begun, top Wagner commander says'Welcome to hell!' The footage, reposted by his press service on Telegram, is the first video evidence of Prigozhin's whereabouts since the night of the mutiny. In the video, the authenticity of which Reuters could not immediately verify, a man whose voice and Russian sounded like Prigozhin's, is heard welcoming his men. It is also unclear what Wagner, which Prigozhin said had 25,000 men, would do next. The video posted on Wednesday showed Prigozhin receiving a Wagner black flag, decorated with the motto "Blood, honour, Motherland, Courage", from their camp in southern Russia.

Persons: Belarus Prigozhin, Wagner, Utkin, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Wagner's, Vladimir Putin's, Prigozhin, honourably, Putin, Dmitry Utkin, Sergei Shoigu, Staff Valery Gerasimov, Guy Faulconbridge, Andrew Osborn, Jon Boyle Organizations: West, Kremlin, Reuters, Islamic, Central African, Putin, Staff, Thomson Locations: Belarus, Africa, MOSCOW, Ukraine, Russian, Belarusian, Russia, Rostov, Dagestan, Minsk, Syria, Libya, Mali, Crimea, Central African Republic, Ukrainian, Bakhmut

CNN —Russian tour operators are pleading with vacationers to Crimea not to make decisions “based on emotions,” as Ukraine’s strike on the Crimea bridge on Monday played havoc on travel between the occupied Ukrainian peninsula and Russia. Hundreds of cars were waiting Tuesday to cross the bridge both to and from Crimea, and Russian-backed officials were encouraging drivers to travel along the land route through occupied southern Ukraine. Or we shift their reservations in Crimea to later dates.”Road traffic over the Crimea bridge resumed overnight over one of the bridge’s four lanes, but there is heavy traffic. TASS reported that bus services from Rostov, in southern Russia, to Crimea had been restored – via southern Ukraine, rather than over the Crimea bridge. A tourist from the Russian city of Rostov told the Russian tourism website Tourdom about her experience driving to Crimea.

Persons: “, ” Elena Bazhenova, ”, ” Bazhenova, Multitour, ” Kizey, Viktor Korotaev, ” Denis Pushilin, ” Ilya Umansky Organizations: CNN, Russian Union of Tourist Industry, Tourists, AP Rail, Novosti, TASS, Russian Union of Travel Industry, Crimean Locations: Russian, Crimea, Ukrainian, Russia, Ukraine, Kerch, Russia’s Krasnodar, –, Krasnodar Territory, Moscow, Ukraine’s Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, Mariupol, Donetsk People’s Republic, Chonhar, Ukraine’s Kherson, Rostov, Alushta

☆ 'Chaos' is fueling fights among Putin's top commanders. These are the players battling for power.
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-17 | by ( Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +14 min

More than three weeks after the historic challenge to Russian President Vladimir Putin's authority, there's still internal power plays and high-level purges in motion. "We are seeing a lot of military formations and military figures that are pushing for their own objectives." For example, in Kadyrov's case, he may be pushing for control to shield his fighters from the battlefield in Ukraine and send conventional Russian forces instead. Consequences for disobedienceInsubordination against Moscow's military leadership, such as Teplinsky's criticisms or the Wagner's rebellion, has undermined Russian military leaders but has also come with consequences for members of the anti-Gerasimov camp. The instability increasingly endemic to the Russian military comes as the Ukrainians try to break through their defensive lines.

Persons: Wagner Group's, Vladimir Putin's, Wagner, Putin, doesn't, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Prigozhin, Alexander Lukashenko, Alexander Ermochenko, he's, Stepanenko, Valery Gerasimov, Sergei Shoigu, Ramzan Kadyrov, Kadyrov, there's, Gerasimov, Vladimir Putin, Staff Valery Gerasimov, Alexei Nikolsky, Gen, Mikhail Teplinsky, Russia's, Teplinsky, Sergei Surovikin, There's, Friedemann Kohler, hasn't, Russia's Aerospace Forces Sergei Surovikin, Russian Armed Forces Valery Gerasimov, Staff Sergei Rudskoi, Mikhail Metzel, Ivan Popov, Vladimir Seliverstov, Popov, vilely, Viktor Zolotov, it's, ISW, Vyacheslav Gladkov Organizations: Service, Institute for, Wagner Group, Kremlin, Southern Military, REUTERS, Russian Ministry of Defense, Russian Armed Forces, Russian Defense, Russian, Staff, AP, Russia's VDV Airborne Forces, Getty, Russia's Aerospace Forces, Armed Forces, Sputnik, Arms Army, 106th Guards Airborne, Russian MoD, National Guard, Russian National Guard Service, PMC Wagner Group Locations: Russian, Russia, Wall, Silicon, Ukraine, Moscow, Prigozhin, Belarus, Rostov, Don, Russia's Belgorod, Sputnik, Washington, Chechnya, Sochi, REUTERS Maj, Belgorod

☆ Ukraine, Poland say Wagner fighters arrive in Belarus
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] A fighter from Russian Wagner mercenary group conducts training for Belarusian soldiers on a range near the town of Osipovichi, Belarus July 14, 2023 in this still image taken from handout video. "Wagner is in Belarus," Andriy Demchenko, a spokesman for the Ukrainian border agency, said in a statement on the Telegram messaging app. Some Wagner fighters have been in Belarus since at least Tuesday, two sources close to the fighters told Reuters. The Belarusian defence ministry released a video on Friday, showing what it said were Wagner fighters instructing Belarusian soldiers at a military range near the town of Osipovichi. Poland's deputy minister coordinator of special services, Stanislaw Zaryn, said Warsaw also has confirmation of Wagner fighters' presence in Belarus.

Persons: Russian Wagner, Wagner, Andriy Demchenko, Wagner's, Vladimir Putin, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Stanislaw Zaryn, Zaryn, Alexander Lukashenko, Hajun, Lidia Kelly, Mark Trevelyan Organizations: Belarusian Defence Ministry, REUTERS, Fighters, Reuters, Twitter, Thomson Locations: Russian, Osipovichi, Belarus, Russia, Minsk, Ukrainian, Belarusian, Moscow, Rostov, Warsaw, Poland, Ukraine, Donetsk, Luhansk, Tsel, Melbourne, London

☆ Wagner mercenaries entering Belarus as Minsk announces 'road map' for joint military drills
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-15 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

A fighter from Russian Wagner mercenary group conducts training for Belarusian soldiers on a range near the town of Osipovichi, Belarus July 14, 2023 in this still image taken from handout video. Separately, a spokesperson for Ukraine's State Border Guard Service said Saturday that the force also had observed "some groups" of Wagner fighters crossing from Russia into Belarus. The Belarusian Defense Ministry said in an online statement late Friday that it had developed a "road map" with Wagner's management for joint training exercises drills by the nation's military personnel and the private mercenaries. Earlier Friday, the Defense Ministry said that Wagner fighters had begun training Belarusian soldiers. Prigozhin had accused the senior Russian military leadership for months of bungling the war in Ukraine and starving his troops of ammunition.

Persons: Russian Wagner, Wagner, Belaruski Hajun, Alexander Lukashenko, Lukashenko, couldn't, Andriy Demchenko, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Vladimir Putin, Prigozhin, Putin, denigrate Prigozhin Organizations: country's Defense Ministry, Russian, The Associated Press, Lukashenko, AP, Ukraine's, for National Resistance, State Border Guard Service, Ukrainska Pravda, Belarusian Defense Ministry, Defense Ministry, General Staff, Russia's Kommersant Locations: Russian, Osipovichi, Belarus, Russia, Ukraine, Ukrainian, Minsk, Moscow, Rostov, Prigozhin

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

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

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

CNN —Russian President Vladimir Putin has proposed to Wagner Group fighters that a senior mercenary named Andrey Troshev now command the private military group, according to comments the Russian leader made to the Kommersant newspaper. Who is Andrey Troshev? “Andrey Troshev is directly involved in the military operations of the Wagner Group in Syria. Troshev is also associated with Wagner group commanders Aleksandr Sergeevich Kuznetsov and Andrey Bogatov. Members of Wagner group sit atop of a tank in a street in the city of Rostov-on-Don, on June 24, 2023.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Andrey Troshev, Putin, Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, –, ‘, ” Putin, Troshev, “ Andrey Troshev, Bashar al, “ Andrey Nikolaevich Troshev, ”, Dimitriy Utkin, Aleksandr Sergeevich Kuznetsov, Andrey Bogatov, Roman Romokhov, Prigozhin, Alexander Lukashenko Organizations: CNN, Wagner Group, Kommersant, Prigozhin, Wagner, European Union, Soviet Union, Federal District, Red Star, Courage, Merit, Fatherland, Kremlin, Getty, Troshev, Belarusian Locations: Russian, France, Syria, Leningrad, Deir, United Kingdom, Chechnya, Afghanistan, Soviet Union, Rostov, AFP, Ukraine, Belarus, Belarusian, Russia, St . Petersburg

The Kremlin said on Monday that Putin had held talks with Wagner commanders and Prigozhin at a meeting on June 29, five days after the mutiny. But Kommersant, one of Russia's top newspapers, published Putin's remarks to its most experienced Kremlin correspondent, Andrei Kolesnikov, which suggested the future of Prigozhin and Wagner was in doubt. "But Wagner does not exist," Putin told Kommersant when asked if it would be preserved as a fighting unit. "All of them could have gathered in one place and continued to serve," Kommersant quoted Putin as saying. "'No, the boys won't agree with such a decision'," Putin quoted Prigozhin as saying.

Persons: Putin, Wagner, Prigozhin Biden, Vladimir Putin, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Andrei Kolesnikov, Prigozhin, Joe Biden, I’d, Biden, Ron Popeski, Nick Starkov, Rosalba O'Brien, Simon Cameron, Moore Organizations: Kommersant, Kremlin, Ukraine, Thomson Locations: MOSCOW, Belarus, Afghanistan, Chechnya, St Petersburg, Russian, Rostov, United States, Russia

☆ Russian leadership suffers 'friction and confusion' since mutiny, US general says
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-13 | by ( Idrees Ali | Thomson Reuters | National Security Correspondent Focusing On The Pentagon In Washington D.C. Reports On U.S. Military Activity | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

"At the strategic level it is pretty clear that you have a significant amount of friction and confusion," General Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told a small group of reporters traveling with him in Asia. Milley said that lower-level Russian troops in Ukraine were likely more focused on the situation on the ground and surviving day to day. Since the mutiny, which posed the biggest domestic challenge to the Russian state in decades, President Vladimir Putin has so far kept Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov in their jobs. In the latest surprise, the Kremlin said this week that Putin met Prigozhin and his commanders just five days after the mutiny. Lukashenko first announced Prigozhin was in Belarus, then said last week that he was back in Russia.

Persons: Wagner, Stringer, group's, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Alexander Lukashenko, Prigozhin, Mark Milley, Milley, Vladimir Putin, Sergei Shoigu, Staff Valery Gerasimov, Putin, Lukashenko, Idrees Ali, Peter Graff Organizations: Southern Military District, REUTERS, U.S, Joint Chiefs of Staff, Staff, Thomson Locations: Rostov, Don, Russia, Ukraine, United States, Moscow, Asia, Russian, decamp, Belarus

☆ Video captures the disarming of Wagner in the aftermath of its mutiny, showing the Russian military now has its T-90 tanks and other heavy weapons
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-12 | by ( Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Russia's defense ministry said it has disarmed the Wagner Group, which launched a failed mutiny a few weeks ago. A video shared by Moscow shows a vast collection of weapons, tanks, artillery pieces, and more. Russia's defense ministry published a video to Telegram on Wednesday that shows a massive collection of military equipment Moscow claims to have received from Wagner Group units. Wheeled vehicles arrive on their own," Russia's defense ministry said. A Pentagon spokesperson told reporters in late June that the US had, at the time, observed "elements" of the Wagner Group in the Russian-occupied regions of Ukraine.

Persons: Wagner, Russia's, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Stringer, Alexander Lukashenko, —, Vladimir Putin, Don, Putin, Jens Stoltenberg, meanwhile Organizations: Wagner Group, Service, Russian Armed Forces, Southern Military District, REUTERS, Kremlin, Belarusian, Don REUTERS, Pentagon, NATO, Wagner Locations: Moscow, Wall, Silicon, Russia, Ukraine, Rostov, Don, Prigozhin, Belarus, Minsk, Russian

☆ A former Wagner fighter described Prigozhin as a 'cocky idiot' who pitted soldiers against each other for personal gain
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-11 | by ( Sophia Ankel | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Some Wagner fighters have condemned Yevgeny Prigozhin for leading the armed revolt against Russia. One fighter, identified only as Roman, told the Moscow Times that Prigozhin is a "cocky idiot." He blamed the mercenary leader for pitting soldiers against each other for personal reasons. "My comrades and I fought for the country, not for some cocky idiot and his personal ambitions," Roman told the Moscow Times, referring to the infighting between Prigozhin and Russian military leaders that preceded the attempted rebellion. Another former Wagner fighter, identified only as Vlad, told the Moscow Times that he signed up for Wagner to "defend his country" and not "out of sympathy for Prigozhin."

Persons: Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Prigozhin, Roman, Vlad, Sergei Shoigu, Staff Valery Gerasimov Organizations: Russia, Moscow Times, Service, Wagner PMC, Prigozhin, Russian Defence, Russian, Staff Locations: Wall, Silicon, Moscow, Rostov, Belarus, Prigozhin, Bakhmut, Russian, Russia, Ukraine, St . Petersburg

☆ Ukraine's intelligence chief claimed Wagner's mutineers almost reached a Russian base holding Cold War-era nuclear bombs small enough to be carried in backpacks
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-11 | by ( Matthew Loh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Ukraine's spy chief claimed the Wagner Group almost reached a Russian nuclear base in late June. Kyrylo Budanov told Reuters that the base, Voronezh-45, housed small nukes that fit in a backpack. While Reuters could only track the fighters until they were around 70 miles from the base, Budanov said they headed further in and wanted to seize the munitions inside. Russia does not say if Voronezh-45 houses nuclear weapons, but the base is believed by outside observers like the Russian Nuclear Forces Project to be one of the Kremlin's 12 main storage sites. It's also unlikely that troops from a private military company like Wagner would have possessed the knowledge to arm and deploy nuclear weapons on their own.

Persons: Ukraine's, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Kyrylo Budanov, Wagner, Budanov, Alexander Lukashenko, Vladimir Putin, It's Organizations: Wagner Group, Reuters, Service, Kremlin, Pentagon, Washington Post, Russian Nuclear Forces Project, Soviet Union, Russia's Ministry of Defense Locations: Russian, Moscow, Voronezh, Wall, Silicon, Ukrainian, Rostov, Russia, Soviet, Washington

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

Summary Gerasimov shown in public on state TVHad not been seen in public since early JunePutin keeps Gerasimov in his jobGerasimov shown giving ordersWhereabouts of Surovikin still unclearMOSCOW, July 10 (Reuters) - Russia's most senior general, Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov, was shown ordering subordinates to destroy Ukrainian missile sites in a video released on Monday, his first appearance in public since a failed June 24 mercenary mutiny. It described him as chief of the general staff of Russia's armed forces and commander of Moscow's forces in Ukraine, the positions he held before the mutiny. In the video, Gerasimov was shown asking for and listening to a report by Viktor Afzalov, deputy to General Sergei Surovikin in the aerospace forces, who has not been since in public since the mutiny. It was unclear where Surovikin, who before the rebellion was deputy commander of Russia's forces in Ukraine and who was repeatedly praised by Prigozhin, was. "We note that the aerospace forces have coped with the task," Gerasimov was shown as saying.

Persons: Putin, Surovikin, Staff Valery Gerasimov, Gerasimov, Vladimir Putin, Sergei Shoigu, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Viktor Afzalov, Sergei Surovikin, Prigozhin, Guy Faulconbridge, Andrew Osborn, Toby Chopra, Alex Richardson Organizations: Staff, Defence, Kremlin, Afzalov, Thomson Locations: MOSCOW, Ukrainian, Crimea, Moscow, Ukraine, Rostov, Kaluga, Russia, Russian

☆ Why Wagner chief Prigozhin's absence is so damaging to Putin
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-10 | by ( Nick Paton Walsh | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Instead, the Kremlin on Monday tried to provide some clarity, after French newspaper Liberation reported a meeting between Putin and Prigozhin on June 29. Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin spokesman, confirmed in a conference call with journalists the meeting had taken place. I can’t tell you more.”It is important to pause and conjure just how surreal the meeting Peskov is describing sounds. But this is in keeping with the Kremlin’s bid to contain the fallout from Putin’s most dangerous weekend yet. If Prigozhin has been forgiven – as the Kremlin meeting might suggest - then why is there no public acknowledgement of that, a bid to at the least file down the fangs of stray Wagner fighters?

Persons: Yevgeny Prigozhin’s, Alexander Lukashenko’s, Putin, Prigozhin, Dmitry Peskov, ” Peskov, –, Wagner, Lukashenko, Mikhail Khodorkovsky –, Sergey Surovikin, Valery Gerasimov Organizations: CNN, Kremlin, Russia’s, French, Liberation, Defense Ministry Locations: Russia’s Rostov, Belarusian, St . Petersburg, Belarus, Russian, Derbent, Kremlin, Russia, Ukraine

☆ Exclusive: Wagner fighters neared Russian nuclear base during revolt
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +20 min

Reuters GraphicsOnce the Wagner fighters reach more rural regions, the surveillance trail goes cold – about 100 km from the nuclear base, Voronezh-45. But in an exclusive interview, Ukraine's head of military intelligence, Kyrylo Budanov, said that the Wagner fighters went far further. The only barrier between the Wagner fighters and nuclear weapons, Budanov said, were the doors to the nuclear storage facility. It is one of Russia's 12 "national-level storage facilities" for nuclear weapons, according to a report by U.N. scientists. Another female resident also said Wagner had widespread support in the town, and that many Wagner fighters are from Boguchar.

Persons: Wagner, Ukraine's, Kyrylo Budanov, Budanov, Alexander Lukashenko, Adam Hodge, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Matt Korda, Vladimir Putin's, Hans Kristensen, David Jonas, Amy Woolf, Jonas, Prigozhin, Dmitry Utkin, Putin, Sergei Shoigu, Staff Valery Gerasimov, Shoigu, Oleksiy Danilov, Don, Anna Sandrakova, Maxim Yantsov, Mikhail Vedernikov, Talovaya, Alexei Yablokov, Kristensen, Alexsandr Lukashenko, Dmitry Peskov, Lukashenko, he's, Mari Saito, Tom Balmforth, John Shiffman, Phil Stewart, Polina, Maria Tsvetkova, Anton Zverev, Christian Lowe, David Gauthier, Stephen Grey, Reade Levinson, Eleanor Whalley, Milan Pavicic, Daria Shamonova, Janet McBride Organizations: Reuters, Kremlin, Belarusian, U.S, White, National Security, Nuclear, Federation of American, Federation of American Scientists, U.S . National Nuclear Security Administration, Library, Congress, Wagner, State, Staff, Russian, Defence Ministry, Defence Council, Main, Russian Defence, U.S . Congress, Telegram, Thomson Locations: Moscow, Russian, Voronezh, United States, Ukraine, Russia, Rostov, Talovaya, Soviet, Washington, dabble, Syria, Libya, Mali, ., Pavlovsk, Elizavetovka, Vorontsovka, Buturlinovka, Talovaya district, Pskov, Soviet Union, Belarus, Minsk, he's, St Petersburg, Kyiv, London, New York, Paris, Villars, Istanbul, Gdansk

☆ Opinion: Welcome to the ‘looking-glass’ world of Putin’s Russia
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-10 | by ( Opinion Daniel Treisman | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

Welcome to the weird, through-the-looking-glass world of Vladimir Putin’s Russia, where everything is its opposite and almost nothing is what it seems. That may hold as well for the still-murky fate of last month’s mutineer, Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the Wagner group. Daniel TreismanWorse yet for the Kremlin, Prigozhin’s claim — coming from a diehard nationalist — will seem quite believable to many Russians. In this looking-glass world, the president has no time for politics. After the war started, Navalny offered a 15-point program for ending it and rebuilding a democratic Russia.

Persons: Daniel Treisman, “, ”, Vladimir Putin’s, mutineer, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Wagner, Alexander Lukashenko, Dmitry Peskov, Peskov, Prigozhin, Putin, Alexey Navalny, Alexander Zemlianichenko, Orwell, Vladimir Kara, Murza, Emmanuel Macron, Navalny, Angela Merkel Organizations: University of California, CNN, Russian Federal Penitentiary Service, Russian, Putin, Kremlin, Twitter, Facebook Locations: Los Angeles, Moscow, Belarus, Vladimir Putin’s Russia, Belarusian, Minsk, St . Petersburg, Kremlin, Russian, Melekhovo, Vladimir, Russia, Kara, Rostov, Sochi, Ukraine, Dagestan, Crimea, “

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