DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ No one from Wagner has visited barracks offered by Belarus, ministry adviser says
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

TSEL, Belarus, July 7 (Reuters) - No one from the Russian Wagner mercenary group has yet visited a disused military camp that Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has offered for Wagner's use, an adviser to the Belarus defence minister told reporters on Friday. Asked if Wagner had come to look at the site, the adviser, Leonid Kasinsky, said: "They have not come, they have not looked." [1/3]A view shows a tent camp, which, according to the Belarusian Defence Ministry, was set up for exercises at a disused military base near the village of Tsel in the Asipovichy District, Belarus July 7, 2023. Lukashenko said Belarus had offered Wagner the disused Soviet-era military quarters near Tsel, but added that "Wagner has a different vision for deployment", on which he declined to elaborate. Kasinsky said around 300 tents at the camp had been put up for an exercise, and were not connected to Wagner.

Persons: Russian Wagner, Alexander Lukashenko, Lukashenko, Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Leonid Kasinsky, Maxim Shemetov Lukashenko, Prigozhin, Vladimir Putin, Kasinsky, Guy Faulconbridge, Kevin Liffey, Mark Trevelyan Organizations: Russian Defence Ministry, Belarusian Defence Ministry, REUTERS, Thomson Locations: TSEL, Belarus, Russian, Tsel, Asipovichy District, Russia

☆ 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

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

☆ 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

☆ 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

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

☆ 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

☆ Belarusian dictator who negotiated the end of Prigozhin's mutiny says there's no way Putin is 'malicious and vindictive' enough to have him killed
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-06 | by ( Sonam Sheth | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko said he doesn't think Putin will have Yevgeny Prigozhin killed. Putin is not "malicious or vindictive enough" to order the murder, said the close Putin ally. Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko said on Thursday that he doesn't think Vladimir Putin would be so "malicious and vindictive" as to have Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin killed. But if you think that Putin is so malicious and vindictive that he will 'kill' Prigozhin tomorrow, no, this will not happen." The Russian leader has a long history of brutal and violent crackdowns on those he sees as disloyal.

Persons: Alexander Lukashenko, doesn't, Putin, Yevgeny Prigozhin, —, Vladimir Putin's, Vladimir Putin, Wagner, Lukashenko, Sergei Skripal, Alexei Navalny, Putin's, Prigozhin, Progozhin, Dmitry Peskov Organizations: Kremlin, Service, CNN Locations: Belarusian, Russian, Moscow, St . Petersburg

☆ 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

☆ 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

☆ 6 Paris Bistros to Try Now
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-06 | by ( Alexander Lobrano | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Paris has recovered its scents, and the city is suddenly ravenous. The whiffs of shallots sautéing in butter, bread baking, meat roasting and bouillon simmering that invisibly punctuate any stroll in this food-loving city are back. “I think it’s a carpe diem thing,” said Ezéchiel Zérah, the Paris-based editor of two popular French food publications. Some of them are pointedly traditional — the delightful Bistrot des Tournelles in the Marais, for example — while others offer a refined contemporary take on bistro cooking, notably the just opened Géosmine in the 11th Arrondissement. “No wants tweezer cooking anymore,” said Thibault Sizun, the owner of Janine, an excellent new modern bistro in Les Batignolles, a neighborhood in the 17th Arrondissement.

Persons: bouillon, ”, Ezéchiel Zérah, “, Thibault Sizun, Janine Locations: Paris, Marais, 11th, Les Batignolles, 17th Arrondissement

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

Putin used his moment to speak at the one-day summit to give his answer to that question. That event stretched over two in-person days in Samarkand, Uzbekistan and featured a number of sideline meetings between attending leaders. India announced last month that its leaders’ summit would be held virtually, without specifying why. At last year’s SCO summit, Modi told Putin in “today’s era is not an era of war.”And India has its own friction with neighboring China. In May, Pakistani Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari became the most senior-level official to visit India in seven years, when he joined a SCO foreign ministers meeting.

Persons: Hong Kong CNN — Vladimir Putin, Narendra Modi, Putin, Wagner, ”, ” Putin, China’s Xi, Belarus ’ Alexander Lukashenko, Iran’s Ebrahim Raisi, ” Modi, Modi, Joe Biden, Xi, ” Xi, Biden, “, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, Yevgeny Prigozhin Organizations: Hong Kong CNN, Shanghai Cooperation Organization, SCO, Indian, India, China’s Foreign Ministry, India’s Ministry, External, CNN, Pakistani, Belarus Locations: Hong Kong, Moscow, Russian, Ukraine, Belarus, Russia, spreadheaded, China, India, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Eurasia, Tuesday’s, Iran, Beijing, Samarkand, New Delhi, Pacific, ”

☆ Putin reassures Asian allies of Russia's stability after mutiny
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a summit of leaders of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) via a video conference call at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, July 4, 2023. Sputnik/Alexander Kazakov/Kremlin via REUTERSMOSCOW, July 4 (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin reassured Asian leaders of Russia's stability and unity on Tuesday in his first appearance at an international forum since the country was rocked by a brief armed mutiny last month. "The Russian people are consolidated as never before," Putin told a virtual meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), a group that also includes China and India. Putin told the group there was a growing risk of a new global economic and financial crisis fuelled by developed countries' debts and worsening food and environmental security. Reporting by Reuters, writing by Mark Trevelyan Editing by Andrew Osborn and Raju GopalakrishnanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Alexander Kazakov, Putin, Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Alexander Lukashenko, Mark Trevelyan, Andrew Osborn, Raju Gopalakrishnan Organizations: Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, Kremlin, Sputnik, REUTERS, Fatherland, Moscow, Belarus, SCO, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Moscow, Russia, Kremlin, REUTERS MOSCOW, China, India, Russian, Ukraine, Iran, United States

☆ After Wagner's mutiny, Russia's military is now fighting with war bloggers because they won't celebrate its few wins the way they want
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-03 | by ( Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Russia's claims of a small battlefield victory have drawn criticism from military bloggers. The milbloggers won't celebrate with Moscow, causing the defense ministry to clash with the writers. Russian military bloggers, or milbloggers, have disputed some of the defense ministry's claims, according to a Sunday assessment by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a Washington-based think tank. The milbloggers, said Ukrainian forces had managed to establish positions and that fighting was ongoing. Ukrainian forces, meanwhile, continue to make use of their huge inventory of heavy Western armor — including advanced tanks and infantry fighting vehicles from the US and its NATO allies — to liberate territory in eastern and southern Ukraine.

Persons: Russia's, Putin, —, Wagner Group's, Vladimir Putin, Wagner, Sergei Shoigu, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Alexander Lukashenko, Prigozhin, Pat Ryder, Volodymyr Zelenskyy Organizations: Service, Institute for, Russian MoD, Russia's Defence Ministry, Military District, Russian Defence Ministry, REUTERS Wagner Group, Kremlin, Pentagon Press, Air Force, NATO, The General Staff of, Armed Forces, Facebook, Twitter Locations: Moscow, Ukraine, Dnipro, Kherson, Russian, Washington, Russia, Rostov, Belarus, Ukrainian, —

☆ Here's what could happen to the Wagner Group after the armed rebellion against Russia failed
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-02 | by ( Sophia Ankel | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

The Wagner paramilitary group attempted an armed rebellion in Russia but failed. Around 1,000 Wagner fighters have already decided to go to Belarus, the independent Russian media outlet Meduza reported, citing a source in Russia's Ministry of Defense. Putin admitted earlier this week that from May last year to May 2023, the Russian state paid more than 86 billion rubles ($940 million) to the Wagner Group. De Deus Pereira told Insider that this is where many fighters will return. Lukashenko told reporters earlier this week that he convinced Putin not to "wipe out" the Wagner chief after the failed rebellion, though some experts have disagreed.

Persons: Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Prigozhin, —, group's, Vladimir Putin, Alexander Lukashenko, Putin, Joana de Deus Pereira, Belarussian, Mikhail Svetlov, De Deus Pereira, Julia Stanyard, Lukashenko Organizations: Service, The Times, Prighozin, Russia's Ministry of Defense, Guardian, Prigozhin, Press, REUTERS Russia's Ministry of Defense, Marshall Fund, Wagner, Royal United Services Institute, Ministry of Defense, Russian, Central African, Global Initiative, Transnational, BBC Locations: Russia, Belarus, Moscow, Eastern Europe, Africa, Prigozhin, British, Russian, Luhansk, Donbas, Krasnodar, North Caucasus, Concord, Europe, Sochi, Libya, Syria, Central African Republic, Mali

☆ Russian ex-arms dealer freed for Brittney Griner to run for far-right party in local vote
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

July 2 (Reuters) - A Russian arms dealer freed last December in a prisoner swap for U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner has been chosen as the candidate of a far-right party for a seat in a Russian regional legislature, state news agency RIA reported on Sunday. RIA cited an official in Russia's ultra-nationalist Liberal Democratic Party (LDPR)'s local organisation as saying that Bout had been nominated as a candidate for the legislative assembly of the Ulyanovsk region in central Russia. Bout publicly joined the LDPR following his return to Russia. Despite its name, the LDPR holds far-right, ultra-nationalist views and strongly supports President Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine. Lugovoi has served as an LDPR member of Russia's national parliament since 2007.

Persons: Brittney Griner, Viktor Bout, RIA, Bout, Griner, Vladimir Putin's, Andrei Lugovoi, Alexander Litvinenko, Lugovoi, Felix Light, Gareth Jones Organizations: U.S, Liberal Democratic Party, U.S . Department of Justice, Thomson Locations: Russian, United States, Ulyanovsk, Russia, Thailand, Washington, Ukraine, Britain

CNN —At least 21,000 Wagner mercenaries have been killed fighting in Ukraine, according to President Volodymyr Zelensky. The Ukrainian leader said the private military company had suffered “enormous losses,” particularly in eastern Ukraine where its “most powerful group” was fighting. “Our troops killed 21,000 Wagnerites in eastern Ukraine alone,” Zelensky told reporters in Kyiv on Saturday, adding that another 80,000 Wagner fighters had been wounded. Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Because it’s only in Russia that they want to kill me, whereas the entire world wants to kill him.”

Persons: Wagner, Volodymyr Zelensky, ”, “, ” Zelensky, Zelensky, Pedro Sanchez, Sanchez, William Burns, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Prigozhin, Alexander Lukashenko, Lukashenko, Vladimir Putin, Mike Pence, Ukraine – Organizations: CNN, Wagner PMC, Spanish, of, European Union, CIA, Moscow, Belarusian, Wagner, Republican Locations: Ukraine, Kyiv, Spain, Russian, Belarus, United States, Russia

☆ Ukraine's Zelenskiy orders moves to strengthen northern military sector
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

KYIV, June 30 (Reuters) - President Volodymyr Zelenskiy ordered top military commanders on Friday to strengthen Ukraine's northern military sector following the arrival of Russian mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin in Belarus. He said a meeting with government and military leaders had also heard a report from Ukrainian intelligence and security forces about the situation in Belarus, Ukraine's northern neighbour. "The decision...is for Commander-in-Chief (Valeriy) Zaluzhnyi and 'North' commander (Serhiy) Naev to implement a set of measures to strengthen this direction," Zelenskiy said on the Telegram messaging app. Zelenskiy said the situation in other frontline areas, supplies of artillery and shells, and advances by Ukrainian troops against Russia's occupying forces were also discussed at the meeting. After pushing Russian out of northern regions last year, Ukraine implemented measures to tighten the defence of its border with Belarus, a close ally of Russia.

Persons: Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Serhiy, Naev, Zelenskiy, Wagner, Prigozhin, Alexander Lukashenko, Olena Harmash, Timothy Organizations: Saturday, Media, Russia, Timothy Heritage, Thomson Locations: Belarus, Russia, Asipovichi, Minsk, Ukraine

☆ Opinion | Putin Thinks He’s Still in Control. He’s Not.
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-30 | by ( Mikhail Zygar | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

Mr. Prigozhin, riding a wave of popularity, became increasingly personal and insulting in his denunciations of Mr. Shoigu. Yet Mr. Putin failed to mediate. Sources close to him tell me he hasn’t met with Mr. Prigozhin for months. The situation for Mr. Putin is equally serious. Until now, such figures — hard-liners operating largely on the Telegram social messaging app, who generally support Mr. Prigozhin — could criticize the authorities with some impunity.

Persons: Prigozhin, Shoigu, Putin, Wagner, — Mr, hasn’t, Prigozhin couldn’t, Mr, Alexander Lukashenko of, Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus —, Putin’s, Prigozhin —, Sergei Surovikin Organizations: Kremlin, Central African Locations: Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus, Belarus, Central African Republic, Ukraine

☆ What next for Wagner? Russia’s Putin battles to regain control after short-lived revolt
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-30 | by ( Sam Meredith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

Members of Wagner group looks from a military vehicle in Rostov-on-Don late on June 24, 2023. It marked what many regard as the greatest challenge to Russian President Vladimir Putin's authority in his more than two decades in power. Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with servicemen at the Kremlin in Moscow on June 27, 2023. At best, Granville said the Wagner Group was likely to be "a shadow of its former self" in Ukraine following the revolt. Russia's political crisisRussian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Friday dismissed questions about a political crisis.

Persons: Wagner, Roman Romokhov, Vladimir Putin's, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Vladimir Putin, Mikhail Tereshchenko, nationalize Wagner, Putin, Wagner Group's Prigiozhin, Alexander Lukashenko, that's, Pat Ryder, Faustin, BARBARA DEBOUT, Ryder, It's, Christopher Granville, Granville, Sergey Lavrov, Lavrov, Sergei Surovikin, Surovikin Organizations: AFP, Getty, Wagner Group, Kremlin, Russian Ministry of Defense's, Wagner, Russian Armed Forces, Belarusian, Analysts, CNBC, Pentagon, Central African, TS Lombard, Reuters, Associated Press Locations: Rostov, Ukraine, Moscow, Europe, U.S, Russia, Asipovichy, Belarus, Belarusian, Africa, Syria, BANGUI, Central African Republic, Bangui, France, AFP, Russian

☆ Belarus leader says nuclear arms will not be used
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

June 30 (Reuters) - Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, the Kremlin's staunchest ally in its war in Ukraine, said on Friday he was certain Russian tactical nuclear weapons deployed in his country would never be used. The Belarusian president, in an address marking his ex-Soviet state's national day, said the stationing of the weapons in Belarus was "my firmest initiative". Lukashenko, like Russia, has repeatedly accused Western countries of trying to destroy his state and says the nuclear deployment is necessary to deter potential aggressors. In his remarks, he said the same Belarusian opposition politicians, now mostly in exile, who denounced the weapons deployment also criticised the construction of a Russian-built nuclear power station now operating in Belarus. "If they shout that nuclear weapons are bad, just do the opposite."

Persons: Alexander Lukashenko, Lukashenko, Vladimir Putin, Sergei Ryabkov, Putin, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Jacek Siewiera, Wagner, I've, Ronald Popeski, Cynthia Osterman Organizations: Russia's Tass, Poland's National Bureau of Security, Financial Times, Thomson Locations: Ukraine, Russian, Belarus, Belarusian, Soviet, Russia, Poland's, Africa, Europe, Poland

☆ Five top contenders for the Wimbledon women's crown
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

[1/5] Jun 10, 2023; Paris,France; Iga Swiatek (POL) returns a shot during the French Open final against Karolina Muchova (CZE) on day 14 at Stade Roland-Garros. Mandatory Credit: Susan Mullane-USA TODAY Sports/File photoJune 30 (Reuters) - Five top contenders for the women's title at Wimbledon, which starts on Monday. The 22-year-old exited last year's Championships in the third round and is yet to demonstrate her strengths consistently on grass. ARYNA SABALENKA (BELARUS)* World ranking: 2The big-hitting Belarusian has polished her game this year and become less erratic with her shot-making, which helped her win the Australian Open in January. The 33-year-old, who stunned Elena Rybakina to win the Miami Open, has not reached a Wimbledon quarter-final since her title run in 2014.

Persons: Iga Swiatek, Karolina Muchova, Susan Mullane, Swiatek, Ash, SABALENKA, Sabalenka, Roland Garros, Alexander Lukashenko, ELENA RYBAKINA, Rybakina, PETRA KVITOVA, Kvitova, Elena Rybakina, KAROLINA MUCHOVA, raring, Iga, Muchova, Aryna, Hritika Sharma, Christian Radnedge Organizations: Stade Roland, Garros, Wimbledon, IGA, All England Club, Bad, Eastbourne, Indian, Miami, All England, Thomson Locations: Paris, France, POLAND, Bad Homburg, BELARUS, Iga, Madrid, Belarusian, Belarus, KAZAKHSTAN, Berlin, Moscow, Indian Wells, CZECH REPUBLIC, Eastbourne, Hyderabad

☆ Ukraine, US agree: counteroffensive creeps ahead, measured in blood
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-30 | by ( Olena Harmash | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/2] Students of the school for drone pilots Dronarium Academy practice during a lesson, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in an undisclosed location, Ukraine, June 30, 2023. REUTERS/Alina SmutkoJune 30 (Reuters) - Ukraine has been publicly cautious in counting gains in a counteroffensive it launched this month to reclaim territory occupied by Russian forces, and on Friday its president and a U.S. general acknowledged that progress is measured in blood. In real war, real people die. After pushing Russian forces out of northern regions last year, Ukraine took steps to tighten the defense of its border with Belarus, a close ally of Russia. But at the end of the day, Ukrainian soldiers are assaulting through minefields and into trenches" against Russia's much larger army.

Persons: Alina Smutko, Mark Milley, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Zelenskiy, Hanna Maliar, RTVE, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Alexander Lukashenko, Prigozhin's Wagner, Milley, Olena Harmash, Michael Martina, Elaine Monaghan, Grant McCool Organizations: Dronarium Academy, REUTERS, National Press Club, Reuters, NATO, Kyiv, U.S, Russian, Thomson Locations: Ukraine, U.S, Washington, Russia, Lithuania, Spanish, Kyiv, Spain, Belarus, Asipovichi, Minsk, Russian

☆ What is Wagner Group doing? Operations in Africa and rest of world explained
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

Several hundred Wagner fighters were killed by U.S. forces during a confrontation in Syria in 2018. U.N. sanctions monitors reported in 2020 that Wagner had deployed up to 1,200 people in Libya and the U.S. military Africa Command said Russian military aircraft were supplying Wagner fighters there. As well as bringing in Syrian fighters as mercenaries, Wagner worked alongside foreign fighters from Sudan, Chad and elsewhere. Russian mercenaries including from Wagner intervened in 2018 on the side of the government to quell a civil war that has raged since 2012. Wagner fighters have been accused of involvement in an incident last year in Moura, in central Mali, where local troops and suspected Russian fighters allegedly killed hundreds of civilians.

Persons: Russia's Wagner, Wagner, UKRAINE Wagner, BELARUS Wagner, Prigozhin, Alexander Lukashenko, Vladimir Putin, Bashar al, Assad, LIBYA Wagner, Khalifa Haftar's, Haftar, U.N, Omar al, Bashir, Angus McDowall, Alison Williams Organizations: Defence Ministry, Evro Polis, United States Department of Defense, United Arab Emirates, U.S ., Africa Command, CENTRAL, Central African, Reuters, Russian, Rapid Support Forces, Reuters newsrooms, Thomson Locations: Europe, East, Africa, UKRAINE, Ukraine, Bakhmut, BELARUS, Belarus, Asipovichi, Minsk, SYRIA Russia, Syria, U.S, Syrian, Libya, Hmeimim, Russia, LIBYA, Tripoli, Egypt, UAE, Russian, Sudan, Chad, Republic, Central African Republic, States, MALI, Mali, Moura, SUDAN, Moscow, Middle East

Search resuls for: "Alexander L"

25 mentions found