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☆ Putin's military command reshuffle reveals a power struggle at the heart of the Ukraine war
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-13 | by ( Holly Ellyatt | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

Mikhail Svetlov | Getty Images News | Getty ImagesRussian President Vladimir Putin's latest reshuffle of the top brass in charge of Ukraine operations reveals a deeper power struggle between Moscow's military command and its domestic detractors, analysts say. One of the most prominent and powerful critics of Moscow's strategy in Ukraine is Yevgeny Prigozhin, the leader of the Wagner Group — a private military company fighting in Ukraine. His criticism seemed to bear fruit with the October appointment of Gen. Sergei Surovikin as the overall battlefield commander for Russian troops in Ukraine. Nonetheless, Prigozhin's criticism of Russia's military commanders and frequent boasts over the Wagner Group's triumphs have raised heckles in Moscow. Sergei Surovikin, the former commander of Russian forces in Ukraine, seen here in 2021.

☆ Analysis: Russian mercenary boss courts Putin with Ukrainian battlefield success
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-13 | by ( Andrew Osborn | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

Now as the founder of Russia's most powerful mercenary group, he is vying for Vladimir Putin's favour by claiming a rare battlefield win in Ukraine. Russia claimed victory on Friday after Ukraine said its forces were holding on after a 'hot' night of fighting. The defence ministry on Friday attributed victory to its airborne units, missile forces and "artillery of a grouping of Russian forces". Margarita Simonyan, editor-in-chief of the state-controlled RT channel and close to the Kremlin, thanked Prigozhin for Soledar. Despite its sometimes publicly strained ties with the Russian defence ministry, some Western military analysts suspect Wagner is closely affiliated with it.

Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin, center, with soldiers in what they said was a salt mine in Soledar, Ukraine in this image released on Jan. 11. By contrast, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov neither confirmed that Soledar had fallen to Russian forces or mentioned the Wagner group’s involvement in attempts to take it. Russia has consistently denied the involvement of the Wagner Group in its official military operations. Prigozhin during the funeral of Wagner group fighter near St. Petersburg, on Christmas Eve. To date, the hawks have been far louder than the pragmatists, and a chorus of hard-right bloggers have excoriated Russia’s military performance, while television pundits have called for a tougher approach.

☆ Ukraine war live updates: Battle for Soledar not over yet, Zelenskyy says; Putin's military reshuffle reflects power struggle
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-12 | by ( Holly Ellyatt | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

A Ukrainian soldier in his position as a tankman as the Russia-Ukraine war continues on the Bakhmut front line in Donetsk, Ukraine, on Jan. 8, 2023. Ukraine is continuing to reject Russian claims that its forces have captured the Donetsk town of Soledar. Serhiy Cherevatyi, spokesperson for the eastern military command, told Ukrainian television Wednesday that "Soledar is not under the control of the Russian Federation. Cherevatyi claimed Russians had "carried out a special information operation" to promote the claim that Russian forces had already captured Soledar but said "this is not true." Capturing Soledar would be a coup for Russia as it seeks to advance further and capture nearby Bakhmut.

☆ Notorious Russian arms dealer freed in Brittney Griner exchange awkwardly backs out of pledge to fight in Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-12 | by ( Mia Jankowicz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Freed arms dealer Viktor Bout appeared to reverse his position on whether he'd fight in Ukraine. After being freed in exchange for Brittney Griner last December, Bout said he'd "readily volunteer." It was a strong about-face from comments Bout made to Russian state TV only a month ago. Bout was freed from US jail on December 9, in exchange for WNBA star Brittney Griner, in a high-profile prisoner swap engineered by the Biden administration. Bout attracted the nickname of "The Merchant of Death" over his prominent arms dealing operation in the 1990s, as Insider previously reported.

☆ Russia Claims Success in Ukraine’s Soledar, Its First Advance in Months
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-11 | by ( Yaroslav Trofimov | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Russia claimed Wednesday its first significant success in Ukraine since July, seizing most of the eastern town of Soledar after weeks of heavy fighting led by the Wagner private military company. Wagner’s owner, Yevgeny Prigozhin , posted a photo of himself in what appeared to be Soledar, saying that, while the entire territory of the town is under his fighters’ control, street battles with the encircled remainder of Ukrainian forces are continuing in the downtown area.

☆ Ukraine war live updates: Conflicting reports on whether strategic town has been captured by Russians; Kyiv says its forces are holding out
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-11 | by ( Holly Ellyatt | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

The best fighters from Russia's paramilitary group, known as the Wagner Group, have been deployed to fight in Soledar in Donetsk in eastern Ukraine, where Russian forces have made tactical gains in recent days. Serhiy Cherevaty, spokesman for Ukraine's eastern forces, told local TV channel 24 that Russian forces were deploying their best Wagner fighters at Soledar, which had been struck 86 times by artillery over the past 24 hours. The Wagner Group is a private military company whose forces are fighting alongside Russia's standard military units. Wagner fighters have been privately recruited and the group is estimated to be around 50,000-men strong. Some Wagner fighters have reportedly already received pardons having fulfilled their military contracts.

☆ Ukraine war live updates: Russians make 'tactical advances' near key target of Bakhmut; Kyiv says situation is 'extremely difficult'
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-10 | by ( Holly Ellyatt | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Soledar is around 6 miles north of Bakhmut, the capture of which likely continues to be Russia's "main immediate operational objective," the ministry noted. A Ukrainian multiple-launch rocket system is hiding among the trees near Soledar as the fighting in the Donbas region continues. The ministry noted that "Russia's Soledar axis is highly likely an effort to envelop Bakhmut from the north, and to disrupt Ukrainian lines of communication." "Part of the fighting has focused on entrances to the 200km-long disused salt mine tunnels which run underneath the district. He conceded, however, that the fighting was "extremely difficult" around Soledar, a place where he said there were barely any walls left standing.

☆ U.S. thinks Putin ally Prigozhin wants control of salt, gypsum from mines near Bakhmut
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-05 | by ( Steve Holland | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] A destroyed house is seen, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Bakhmut, Donetsk region, Ukraine January 5, 2023. REUTERS/Anna KudriavtsevaWASHINGTON, Jan 5 (Reuters) - The United States is of the view that Russian President Vladimir Putin's ally Yevgeny Prigozhin, who is the founder of Russia's most powerful mercenary group, is interested in taking control of salt and gypsum from mines near the Ukrainian-held city of Bakhmut, a White House official said on Thursday. There are indications that monetary motives are driving Russia's and Prigozhin's "obsession" with Bakhmut, the official added. Prigozhin is the owner of private Russian military company Wagner Group. Reporting by Steve Holland; writing by Kanishka Singh; Editing by Leslie Adler and Cynthia OstermanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ North Korea fires missiles amid tension over Russia arms aid
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-23 | by ( ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +1 min

North Korea fired two ballistic missiles towards the sea off its east coast on Friday, the South Korean military said, the latest in an unprecedented number of missile tests this year. South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said the missiles were fired from the Sunan area of North Korean capital Pyongyang. Pyongyang’s foreign ministry on Friday also denied a Japanese media report on munitions shipments to Russia, calling it “groundless”. Tokyo Shimbun reported that North Korea had shipped artillery shells and other munitions to Russia via train last month, with additional shipments expected in coming weeks. North Korea’s foreign ministry said it has never conducted arms transactions with Russia and criticised Washington for giving lethal weapons to Ukraine, with no mention of Wagner.

☆ North Korea fires missile amid tension over Russia arms aid
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-23 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

A North Korean flag flies above the North Korean embassy in Beijing on February 12, 2013. North Korea fired two ballistic missiles toward the sea off its east coast on Friday, the South Korean military said, the latest in an unprecedented number of missile tests this year. South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said the missiles were fired from the Sunan area of North Korean capital Pyongyang. Pyongyang's foreign ministry on Friday also denied a Japanese media report on munitions shipments to Russia, calling it "groundless". Tokyo Shimbun reported that North Korea had shipped artillery shells and other munitions to Russia via train last month, with additional shipments expected in coming weeks.

☆ Canada condemns N.Korean arms sale to Russia's Wagner Group -statement
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

OTTAWA, Dec 23 (Reuters) - Canada on Friday condemned what it said were North Korean arms deliveries to Russia, saying Pyongyang's transaction with the private military company the Wagner Group "clearly violates international law and United Nations Security Council resolutions." "We will continue to work with international partners to address these developments and respond to further arms deliveries should they take place," Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly said in a statement. North Korea's foreign ministry, in a statement, has denied that it has supplied munitions to Russia but did not make any mention of Wagner. The United States on Thursday said North Korea had completed an initial arms delivery to the Wagner Group to help bolster Russian forces in Ukraine, confirming news first reported by Reuters. Reporting by Steve Scherer in Ottawa; writing by Susan Heavey; Editing by Andrew HeavensOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ North Korea has delivered rockets, missiles to Russian Wagner Group mercenaries for use in Ukraine, White House says
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-22 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Courtney-Kube-Circle-Byline-Template.Jpg | Courtney Kube | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

North Korea has delivered rockets and missiles to the Russian private military company known as the Wagner Group for use in Ukraine, according to White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby. “Today we can confirm that North Korea has completed an initial arms delivery to Wagner, which paid for that equipment. Last month, North Korea delivered infantry rockets and missiles into Russia for use by Wagner,” he said Thursday. There are likely to be more actions, like sanctions, taken against the Wagner Group in the coming days, Kirby said. After the White House said North Korea had supplied arms to the Wagner Group, British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said, “The U.K. supports the U.S. assessment that North Korea has completed an arms delivery to Russia for use by the Wagner Group, which paid for this equipment and has thousands of troops in Ukraine.

☆ Exclusive: US says Russia's Wagner Group bought North Korean weapons for Ukraine war
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-22 | by ( Steve Holland | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

"We can confirm that North Korea has completed an initial arms delivery to Wagner, which paid for the equipment. Last month, North Korea delivered infantry rockets and missiles into Russia for use by Wagner," the official said, speaking to Reuters on condition of anonymity. The Biden administration on Wednesday unveiled new curbs on technology exports to the Wagner Group in a bid to further choke off supplies to the contractor. The Wagner Group, staffed by veterans of the Russian armed forces, has fought in Libya, Syria, the Central African Republic and Mali, among other countries. "It is apparent that Wagner is emerging as a rival power center to the Russian military and other Russian ministries," the official said.

☆ Head of Russia's Wagner group dismisses talk of N. Korean weapons as gossip
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

Dec 22 (Reuters) - The head of private Russian military company the Wagner Group on Thursday dismissed as "gossip and speculation" a U.S. assertion that it had taken delivery of an arms shipment from North Korea. "Everyone knows that North Korea has not been supplying any weapons to Russia for a long time. And no such efforts have even been made," Wagner owner Yevgeny Prigozhin said in a statement. Reporting by David Ljunggren and Ron Popeski; editing by Jonathan OatisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ North Korea denies media report it supplied munitions to Russia
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-22 | by ( Soo-Hyang Choi | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SEOUL, Dec 23 (Reuters) - North Korea's foreign ministry denied a media report it supplied munitions to Russia, calling it "groundless," and denounced the United States for providing lethal weapons to Ukraine, the North's official KCNA news agency reported on Friday. Japan's Tokyo Shimbun reported earlier that North Korea had shipped munitions, including artillery shells, to Russia via train through their border last month and that additional shipments were expected in the coming weeks. The North Korean foreign ministry statement did not make any mention of Wagner. South Korea's foreign ministry said on Thursday they have been monitoring North Korea's activities amid concerns over possible arms transactions with Russia. In a separate statement, the North Korean foreign ministry also slammed the United States' attempt to issue a U.N. Security Council presidential statement on its latest intercontinental ballistic missile launch.

☆ Navalny: mercenary boss visited his jail to recruit for Ukraine war
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Dec 21 (Reuters) - Jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny said on Wednesday that Yevgeny Prigozhin, founder of the Wagner private military company that has taken a major part in the Ukraine war, had visited his prison to recruit convicts. He did not say when the alleged visit took place. The Wagner Group, which Prigozhin has said he founded in 2014, has become increasingly prominent during the Ukraine war, including during a brutal, long-running battle for the small city of Bakhmut. In his Twitter post, he said the recruitment of convicts to fight in Ukraine showed the corrosion of the Russian state. In his response, Prigozhin took issue with the fact that many of Navalny's supporters had been allowed by the state to flee abroad.

☆ Ukraine’s Zelensky Visits Front-Line City of Bakhmut
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( Isabel Coles | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky made an unannounced visit to the front-line city of Bakhmut on Tuesday, rallying troops on the country’s deadliest battlefield as Russia intensifies efforts to seize it. Russian forces, including the Wagner private military company, have been fighting for the town for nearly six months. Both sides have poured troops, tanks and artillery into the city, where brutal trench warfare has drawn comparisons to World War I.

☆ Russian Wagner founder accuses France of being behind attack on Russian official in CAR
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

Dec 16 (Reuters) - The founder of the Russian private military company Wagner accused France on Friday of being behind an assassination attempt on a Russian official who was wounded by a parcel bomb in the Central African Republic. "Before losing consciousness, Dmitry Syty managed to say: 'I saw a note: This is for you from all the French, the Russians will get out of Africa'," Yevgeny Prigozhin, a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, said in a statement posted on Telegram. "I have already applied to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation to initiate the procedure for declaring France a state sponsor of terrorism, as well as a thorough investigation of the terrorist methods of France and its Western allies - the United States and others," Prigozhin said. Reporting by ReutersOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Live updates: Russian troops ready to advance in Donetsk, official says; U.S. responds to recent airbase strikes
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( Holly Ellyatt | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Pro-Russian official Denis Pushilin, the acting head of the separatist "Donetsk People's Republic" in eastern Ukraine, has claimed that Russian forces in the region — arguably the most hotly-contested region in the Ukraine war at the moment — could soon be in a position to advance and capture Bakhmut. Denis Pushilin (C), leader of the separatists in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DNR) arrives to deliver a press conference in Donetsk, on April 11, 2022. Fighting in Donetsk has descended into bloody trench warfare in recent months with fierce battles over every mile of territory and settlement surrounding Bakhmut. The General Staff of Ukraine's armed forces said Wednesday morning that Russian forces continued to focus their efforts on "conducting offensive operations" in the area around Bakhmut. It's not the first time that Pushilin has claimed that Bakhmut is close to encirclement, having said the same thing last week.

☆ Mysterious aircraft dropped bombs near a base for Russia's Wagner Group mercenaries fighting in Central African Republic
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-29 | by ( Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

An unknown aircraft dropped bombs near a Wagner Group base in the Central African Republic. The Wagner Group is a Kremlin-linked private military contractor founded by Yevgeny Prigozhin, a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Specifically, in the Central African Republic, the Russian fighters work with the country's military. The International Crisis Group, a non-profit think tank, says up to 2,000 Wagner fighters are in the country and have helped to combat rebel groups. Additionally, Wagner fighters have been accused of atrocities in other African nations — like killing hundreds of civilians in Mali or committing war crimes in Libya.

☆ U.S. targets supply of Iranian drones to Russia in new sanctions
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( Daphne Psaledakis | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The United States is seeking to increase pressure on Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine, which has reduced cities to rubble and killed or wounded thousands. Russia has procured drones from Iran that have been used to attack cities and power infrastructure in Ukraine. Iranian military entities and industries are already under heavy U.S. sanctions over Tehran's nuclear development program. Iran has acknowledged that it had supplied Moscow with drones but said they were sent before the war in Ukraine. Treasury also targeted Abbas Djuma and Tigran Khristoforovich Srabionov, accusing the two of being involved in the Wagner group's acquisition of Iranian drones to support combat operations in Ukraine.

☆ Russia's hopes for a Republican landslide to hurt Ukraine are vanishing fast
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-09 | by ( Holly Ellyatt | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +9 min

Shift in power ... and Ukraine support? Russia could well hope that a shift in power after the the midterm elections could herald a cooler attitude toward Ukraine. "Further, most Republicans remain staunchly committed to Ukraine support, despite House minority leader Kevin McCarthy's announcement of 'no blank check' for the Ukrainians under a Republican-led House. Russia's President Vladimir Putin listens while then-U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a press conference in Helsinki, Finland, in 2019. "The war in Ukraine must provide the U.S. with the best chance for regime change in Russia, of taking Putin out.

☆ Pope Francis condemns use of mercenaries in Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

VATICAN CITY, Nov 9 (Reuters) - Pope Francis on Wednesday condemned the use of mercenaries in Russia's war against Ukraine, saying they were inflicting "so much cruelty" on the population. The pope did not specifically mention Russia and he did not elaborate. The Wagner Group, a Russian private military company, has been accused by the European Union and the United States of mounting clandestine operations on the Kremlin's behalf in Ukraine, which Russian forces invaded in February. Russian President Vladimir Putin has said the group does not represent the state but that private military contractors have the right to work anywhere in the world as long as they do not break Russian law. Reporting by Philip Pullella, Editing by Angus MacSwanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Ukrainian troops fire on Russians with captured weapons near key city
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-04 | by ( Joseph Campbell | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Clodagh KilcoyneBAKHMUT, Ukraine, Nov 4 (Reuters) - Ukrainian forces using captured weapons fired at Russian targets near the key eastern city of Bakhmut on Friday as fighting dragged on in an area that Moscow is trying hard to capture. Russian forces have repeatedly launched attacks against Bakhmut and nearby Avdiivka in the Donetsk region but are being pushed back with what Kyiv says are heavy losses. Reuters journalists saw a captured Russian T-80 tank and a 2S23 Nona SVK self-propelled mortar, now controlled by Ukrainian crews, firing at targets outside Bakhmut. Britain's defence ministry says the Wagner Group private military company "likely remains" heavily involved in the Bakhmut fighting. Reporting by Joseph Campbell in Bakhmut, Ukraine Editing by David Ljunggren and Matthew LewisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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