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☆ Insight: Catholic clergy report surveillance, beatings amid Nicaragua's crackdown
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-07 | by ( David Alire Garcia | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega's five-year campaign against the Catholic church has intensified since February, according to interviews with five priests inside and outside the country. This week's brief release of Nicaraguan Bishop Rolando Alvarez raised hopes for a turning point. The priests describe heavy surveillance of church services by police or civilian members of government-sponsored community councils, especially since Easter. His latest restrictions seem aimed at silencing priests, Erick Diaz, 33, a Nicaraguan priest in exile in Chicago, said. Nine church leaders inside and outside Nicaragua did not respond to interview requests for this story.

Persons: Daniel Ortega's, Nicaraguan Bishop Rolando Alvarez, Mexican Bishop Ramon Castro, Pope Francis, Nicaragua's, Ortega, Rosario Murillo, Bishop Alvarez, Alvarez, Cardinal Leopoldo Brenes, Brenes, Martha Patricia Molina, Molina, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Erick Diaz, David Alire Garcia, Philip Pullella, Ismael Lopez, Suzanne Goldenberg Organizations: MEXICO CITY, Sunday, Nicaraguan, Catholic, Vatican, Reuters, Organization of American, Thomson Locations: MEXICO, Nicaraguan, Managua, Nicaragua, Mexican, Eastern Europe, Matagalpa, Texas, Leon, Vatican, Chicago, Rome, San Jose

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

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

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

☆ 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

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

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

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

☆ 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

☆ Ukraine war live updates: Moscow airport disrupted after drone attack; Russia stronger than ever, Putin tells Asian allies
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-04 | by ( Ruxandra Iordache | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Wagner mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin appears to have resurfaced on social media after being exiled to Belarus since his failed insurrection 11 days ago. A voice recording said to be of Prigozhin was posted on the Grey Zone Telegram page — an account supportive of Russian mercenaries, with more than 500,000 subscribers. "I want you to understand that our "March of Justice" was aimed at fighting traitors and mobilizing our society. NBC's Moscow bureau said the voice does sound like Prigozhin's, but that he is speaking more slowly than usual. The mercenary leader has not been seen in public since the uprising 11 days ago.

Persons: Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Prigozhin, — Karen Gilchrist Organizations: Grey, NBC News Locations: Belarus, Moscow

☆ Prominent Russian Journalist Injured in Attack in Chechnya
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-04 | by ( Victoria Kim | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

A Russian investigative journalist known for her work on human rights was severely beaten and badly injured, along with a lawyer, on Tuesday morning in an attack in Chechnya, according to a statement from her newspaper. Elena Milashina, a journalist with Novaya Gazeta who uncovered the torture and killings of gay men in Chechnya, was in Grozny to cover the trial of Zarema Musayeva, the mother of exiled opposition activists, according to the newspaper. Ms. Milashina suffered brain injuries, her fingers were broken and she repeatedly lost consciousness, the statement said. Mr. Nemov was stabbed, according to the newspaper. A photo posted by the newspaper showed the journalist sitting on a hospital gurney with her hands bandaged up to her wrists and most of her hair shaved off.

Persons: Elena Milashina, Zarema Musayeva, Milashina, Alexander Nemov, Musayeva, Nemov, gurney, Gazeta Organizations: Novaya Gazeta Locations: Chechnya, Grozny, Novaya

Hong Kong CNN —Hong Kong police on Monday placed bounties on eight prominent democracy activists in self-imposed exile overseas, offering HK$1 million ($127,603) rewards each for information leading to their arrests. After leaving Hong Kong in recent years, many of the activists have continued to speak out against what they say is Beijing’s crackdown on their home city’s freedoms and autonomy. The sweeping law was imposed by Beijing on Hong Kong in 2020, after huge pro-democracy protests roiled the semi-autonomous city in the previous year. The Hong Kong government has repeatedly denied the national security law is suppressing freedoms. “I feel no joy over this, but feel sad for Hong Kong that people now see things this way, because it is an indication of how low Hong Kong has gone in the eyes of many,” he told CNN from Australia.

Persons: Nathan Law, Dennis Kwok, Ted Hui, Hong, Steve Li, “, ”, Kevin Yam Organizations: Hong Kong CNN, Hong, HK, CNN Locations: Hong Kong, United States, Canada, Britain, Australia, Beijing

☆ 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 'troll factory' accused of interfering in US elections shuts down after exile of Wagner boss
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-02 | by ( Chris Panella | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Russia's "troll factory," accused of interfering in US elections, has been shut down. The factory was created by Yevgeny Prigozhin, the now-exiled leader of the Wagner mercenary group. The Moscow Times reported last week that — with Prigozhin gone — the Internet Research Agency was looking for new management. "I was never just a financier of the Internet Research Agency," he said. Nevskiye Novosti, a Patriot Media Group newspaper located in St. Petersburg, announced it shut down on Friday.

Persons: Yevgeny Prigozhin, Wagner, —, Prigozhin, Yevgeny Zubarev —, Patriot Media Group —, Aleksandr Beglov, Andrei Krasnobayev, Vladimir Putin, Putin Organizations: Service, Internet Research Agency, Moscow Times, Reuters, US Treasury Department, RIA, Patriot Media Group, Kremlin, Petersburg Gov, Radio Free, Novosti, Putin, Catering, Concord Catering, Time Locations: Russia, Moscow, Belarus, United States, St, Petersburg, Nevskiye Novosti, St . Petersburg, Russian, Concord, Prague

☆ Putin, a germaphobe known for meeting with people at ridiculously long tables, took selfies kissing regular Russians this week
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-01 | by ( Kelsey Vlamis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

The images provided a stark contrast to the famously long tables he has used at the Kremlin. Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) meets French President Emmanuel Macron (R) on February 07, 2022 in Moscow, Russia. Reports have said the long table was used as a precaution against COVID-19, but the images were striking. Putin has pulled out the preposterously long table to meet with French President Emmanuel Macron and the United Nations secretary-general, among others. He's even used a round, but also still long, table to meet with the members of the Collective Security Treaty Organization.

Persons: Putin, Wagner, —, Vladimir Putin's, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Prigozhin, Vladimir Putin, Emmanuel Macron Organizations: Kremlin, Service, Financial Times, Military, Putin, Kremlin Press, Anadolu Agency, Getty, COVID, United Nations, Collective Security, Organization Locations: Derbent, Moscow, Belarus, Russia, Russian

☆ Cambodia's Hun Sen kicks off campaign for virtually unopposed election
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/8] Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Sen and president of the ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) attends an election campaign for the upcoming national election in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, July 1, 2023. Hun Sen said his Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) has ensured peace, socio-economic development and the strengthening of democracy, adding that rights and freedoms were being respected. The main opposition party was dissolved in 2017 over an alleged coup attempt, with scores of its members imprisoned. Hun Sen also recently ordered Cambodia's parliament to revise the law so that anyone who does not vote will be barred from contesting any future elections. This week Hun Sen quit Facebook for Telegram.

Persons: Hun Sen, Cindy Liu PHNOM, Hun Manet, Sam Rainsy, Phay Siphan, Hun Sen's, Poppy McPherson, Edwina Gibbs Organizations: Cambodia’s, Cambodian People’s Party, REUTERS, Cambodian, Saturday, Facebook, Post, Telecommunications, Royal Cambodian Armed Forces, United States Military Academy, West, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Cindy Liu PHNOM PENH, U.S

☆ Opinion: It’s time to bring these US military veterans home
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-01 | by ( Opinion Saúl Ramírez | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

CNN —Bartolomé, a US military veteran, has spent the last 15 Fourth of July holidays in Mexico. “It’s a stab in the back.”Between 2013 and 2018, 250 US military veterans were placed in removal proceedings and 92 were deported. Unfortunately, an accurate count of deported veterans is nonexistent, because Immigration and Customs Enforcement does not keep a comprehensive record of removed US veterans. Veterans who did not receive a dishonorable discharge are entitled to a military burial in the United States. As a result, the urgency in addressing noncitizen military members’ precarious situation is particularly palpable now.

Persons: CNN —, he’s, Saúl Ramírez Christopher Smith Bartolomé, ” Bartolomé, ”, “, Joe Biden, Mark Takano, Sen, Alex Padilla, “ I’m, I’m, ‘ I’m, ’, Bartolomé, ‘ Don’t, they’ve Organizations: Harvard University, CNN, US Armed Forces, Pew Research Center, United States, Judiciary, Department of Homeland Security, Immigration, Immigration Services, Department of Defense, Immigration Systems, New, of State, Department of Justice, DHS, of Homeland Security, Committee, Veterans Affairs, Veterans, Los, Twitter, Facebook, Bartolomé Locations: Mexico, United States, Los Angeles

☆ Opinion | Are We Seeing Cracks in Putin’s Regime?
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-30 | by ( The Ezra Klein Show | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Last weekend, in the course of about 36 hours, Vladimir Putin faced — and then survived — one of the most serious challenges to his rule in over 20 years. Then, as suddenly as the rebellion began, it was over: Prigozhin was quickly exiled to Belarus without facing criminal charges — an outcome that shocked many Russia watchers. What are the implications for the future of Putin’s rule — and the broader war in Ukraine? [You can listen to this episode of “The Ezra Klein Show” on Apple, Spotify, Amazon Music, Google or wherever you get your podcasts.] There are few people who understand the Putin regime as deeply as Stephen Kotkin, a pre-eminent scholar of Russian history at Stanford.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, —, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Prigozhin, Putin, “, Ezra Klein, Stephen Kotkin, Putin didn’t, Aleksandr Lukashenko Organizations: Apple, Spotify, Amazon Music, Google, Stanford Locations: Russian, Moscow, Belarus, Russia, Ukraine

The commander of the Russian air force Sergey Surovikin and the Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin have not been seen in public in days as questions swirl about the role Surovikin may have played in Prigozhin’s short-lived mutiny. The Russian air force commander Sergey Surovikin (left) and the Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin APWhy is everyone talking about Surovikin? Prigozhin meanwhile, played the central role in the short-lived insurrection – it was he who ordered Wagner troops to take over two military bases and then march on Moscow. Putin assembled Russian security personnel in Moscow Tuesday, telling them they “virtually stopped a civil war” in responding to the insurrection. Prigozhin was last spotted leaving the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don Saturday, after abruptly calling off his troops’ march on Moscow.

Persons: Sergey Surovikin, Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Vladimir Putin, Surovikin, “ Surovikin, ”, Alexey Venediktov –, –, Sergey Markov, Surovikin’s, “, Yevgeny Prigozhin’s, Putin, Dmitry Peskov, Prigozhin, Sergei Shoigu, Valery Gerasimov, Don Saturday, Alexander Lukashenko, Lukashenko, Peskov, ” Peskov, Mikhail Gorbachev, , Joe Biden, Josep Borrell Organizations: CNN, Moscow Times, Russian Telegram, Baza, Yevgeny Prigozhin AP, New York Times, PMC Wagner, Russian Ministry of Defense, Kremlin, Street, Belarusian, General Staff, Defense, Ministry, Washington DC, Jamestown Foundation, Russian Aerospace Forces, Human Rights Watch, Union’s, Foreign Affairs Locations: Kremlin, Russian, Moscow, Rostov, Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Minsk, St . Petersburg, Ukraine’s, Afghanistan, Syria, Idlib, ”, Brussels, Dagestan, Derbent

☆ Belarus wants exiled Wagner officers to use their experience in Ukraine to make its own army more deadly
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-28 | by ( Sinéad Baker | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

He said Wagner fighters could give its army advice on "tactics, and weapons, and how to attack, how to defend." "Now there is a lot of talk and chatter: 'Wagner, Wagner, Wagner'. Belarus, Russia's neighbor and closest ally, is run by Lukashenko, a dictator who has been in power since 1994. It's not clear what the future of Wagner fighters looks like in the country. Russian media outlet Verstka reported that Belarus is constructing a base for around 8,000 Wagner fighters 124 miles from its border with Ukraine.

Persons: Wagner, —, Alexander Lukashenko, Belta, Lukashenko, Viktor Khrenin, Vladimir Putin, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Putin, Prigozhin, It's Organizations: Service, Kremlin, Pravda, Don, Saturday, Wagner Group, Washington DC Locations: Belarus, Russia, Ukraine, Africa, Russian, Rostov, Moscow, Minsk, Washington

☆ Yevgeny Prigozhin's future — what could be next for Russia’s mutinous mercenary chief
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-28 | by ( Elliot Smith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Yulia Morozova | ReutersOnce a close ally and caterer to Russian President Vladimir Putin, Yevgeny Prigozhin now finds himself exiled to Belarus after leading his private mercenary group in an armed mutiny against the Russian military. Despite the apparent amnesty granted in exchange for halting the offensive, Eurasia Group President Ian Bremmer told CNBC on Monday that Prigozhin is a "dead man walking." watch nowIn the absence of further details on the deal struck between Prigozhin and the Kremlin, analysts are broadly uncertain as to what the future holds for the Wagner Group and its leader. Atlantic Council CEO Fred Kempe told CNBC's "The Exchange" that this would not be a "one-act play" for either the Russian president or his former friend. Kempe mused, adding that the unknowns at this stage are the most important aspect of Prigozhin's banishment.

Persons: Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Maxim Fomin, Vladlen Tatarsky, Yulia Morozova, caterer, Vladimir Putin, Prigozhin, Alexander Lukashenko, Ian Bremmer, Putin, Fred Kempe, CNBC's, Will Prigozhin, Kempe, Christopher Granville, Granville, Russia Michael McFaul, I'm, who's Organizations: Reuters, Wagner Group, Eurasia Group, CNBC, Kremlin, Atlantic, EMEA, TS Lombard, Former U.S Locations: St Petersburg, Moscow, Russia, Russian, Belarus, Rostov, Prigozhin, Africa, Syria, Ukraine

☆ Putin didn't kill Prigozhin after his revolt, but that doesn't mean he isn't trying to destroy the Wagner boss
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-28 | by ( Ryan Pickrell | Kelsey Vlamis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin launched an armed revolt against Russian military leadership and survived. Members of Wagner group looks from a military vehicle in Rostov-on-Don late on June 24, 2023. Head of the Wagner Group Yevgeny Prigozhin left the Southern Military District headquarters on June 24, 2023 in Rostov-on-Don, Russia. And it could make Prigozhin into a martyr," English said, arguing that Putin is likely to seek out other ways to destroy Prigozhin. For individuals higher up in the mercenary organization considered responsible for the rebellion, people like Prigozhin, Russian leadership has hinted at unspecified consequences.

Persons: Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Putin, —, Vladimir Putin's, Alexander Lukashenko, Prigozhin, It's, ROMAN ROMOKHOV, ISW, Wagner Group Yevgeny Prigozhin, Stringer, Robert English, burnish, Prigozhin's Organizations: Russian, Service, Wagner Group, Getty, Institute for, Southern Military, Anadolu Agency, University of Southern, Wagner, Kremlin Locations: Russian, Belarus, Bakhmut, Rostov, AFP, Ukraine, Moscow, Russia, Don, University of Southern California, Soviet Union, Eastern Europe, Prigozhin

☆ A former Russian diplomat says the attempted Wagner mutiny is 'just another step' toward Putin's eventual ouster
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-28 | by ( Kwan Wei Kevin Tan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Boris Bondarev told Newsweek he believes the Wagner mutiny will hasten Putin's ouster. His war was from the very beginning doomed," Boris Bondarev told Newsweek on Tuesday. He quit his post in May 2022 after criticizing Russia's war in Ukraine. The Wagner Group's mutiny erupted after a long-running feud between its chief, Yevgeny Prigozhin, and the Russian military leadership. In the lead-up to the attempted mutiny, the mercenary group leader had been growing increasingly critical of Russia's war in Ukraine.

Persons: Boris Bondarev, Wagner, Bondarev, —, Wagner Group's, Putin, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Prigozhin, Prigozhin's Organizations: Newsweek, Service, UN, Moscow Times, Foreign Affairs, Russian, The New York Times, Russian Embassy, Times, Defense Ministry Locations: Russian, Ukraine, Geneva, Switzerland, Belarus

☆ Belarus' second-rate dictator Lukashenko is 'humiliating' Putin by bragging about how he saved Moscow from an armed Wagner revolt, experts say
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-28 | by ( Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Belarusian President Lukashenko says he helped negotiate an end to the Wagner Group's armed mutiny. Hail-mary negotiations, mediated by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, stopped the potential bloodshed in the capital. After Wagner fighters captured the southern city of Rostov-on-Don early Saturday, they continued north toward Moscow as the city prepared its defenses for battle. By that point, Wagner fighters had already shot down several Russian military aircraft. Russian President Vladimir Putin (C) and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko (R) arrive to the Palace of Independence prior to their talks in Minsk, Belarus, on December 19, 2022.

Persons: Lukashenko, Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Putin, —, mary, Alexander Lukashenko, Vladimir Putin, Prigozhin, Lukashenko's, BelTA, It's, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, doesn't, Pat Ryder Organizations: Service, Wagner Group, Russian, Kremlin, Reuters, Institute for, NATO, Pentagon Press, Air Force Locations: Moscow, Rostov, Belarus, Minsk, Russian, Voronezh, Belarusian, Washington, Ukraine, Russia, Lithuania

☆ Ukraine says it caught a sleeper agent who sent video of a crowded restaurant to Russia before a deadly missile strike blew it apart
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-28 | by ( Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

A Russian missile strike in the Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk left several dead and dozens injured. Kyiv said it caught a Russian sleeper agent who was monitoring the restaurant before the strike. This photograph shows a restaurant in Kramatorsk, eastern Ukraine, after a missile strike hit it on June 27, 2023. Photo by GENYA SAVILOV/AFP via Getty Images'The russian agent will undoubtedly stand trial in a Ukrainian court. Search and rescue efforts continue after a Russian missile attack hit Ria Restaurant, popular place of meeting in the city of Kramatorsk, Ukraine on June 27, 2023.

Persons: —, GENYA SAVILOV, Wojciech Grzedzinski, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Kramatorsk, Tuesday's, Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Vladimir Putin's Organizations: Russian, GRU, Service, Security Service, Getty, Anadolu Agency, Russia's Locations: Ukrainian, Kramatorsk, Russian, Ukraine, Russia, Ukraine's Donetsk, Moscow, AFP, russia, Belarus

☆ Live updates: Russia responds after Wagner rebellion, war in Ukraine continues
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-27 | by ( Kathleen Magramo | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

Joe Biden speaks during an event in Washington, DC. Chip Somodevilla/Getty ImagesRussia’s short-lived insurrection has handed Joe Biden the most perilous version yet of a dilemma that has confounded the last five US presidents: how to handle Vladimir Putin. But all failed to avert the plunge in ties between the two nuclear superpowers. But even he tried to break the chill, by meeting his counterpart at a summit in Geneva in 2021. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, however, led him instead to reinvigorate the NATO alliance with an extraordinary pipeline of arms and ammunition designed to ensure the country’s survival.

Persons: Joe Biden, Chip Somodevilla, Vladimir Putin, Bill Clinton, Biden, Putin, Yevgeny Prigozhin’s, Wagner Organizations: KGB, Soviet Union, Soviet, Wagner Group Locations: Washington ,, Russia, Washington, Geneva, Russia’s, Ukraine, Moscow, Belarus

☆ Analysis: Belarus leader, long the supplicant, feted in Russia after mutiny role
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-27 | by ( Andrew Osborn | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

[1/2] Russian President Vladimir Putin and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko speak during a meeting at the Bocharov Ruchei residence in Sochi, Russia June 9, 2023. It was Lukashenko, according to his own narrative and Putin, who played a major role in ending a mutiny that threatened to destabilise the world's largest nuclear power. "Without Putin's support, the Lukashenko regime will not be able to survive," exiled Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya said on Twitter. High-profile Russian state TV presenter Vladimir Solovyov said Lukashenko deserved to be made a Hero of Russia and Dmitry Peskov, Putin's spokesman, on Tuesday lavished praise on the Belarusian leader. Independent Belarusian media outlet Zerkalo (the Mirror), which monitored Belarusian state TV coverage of Lukashenko's role, cited presenter Yevgeny Pustovoi as saying that Minsk was becoming "the peacemaker of Slavic civilisation".

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Alexander Lukashenko, Russia's Vladimir Putin, Wagner, Lukashenko, Putin, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Prigozhin, you'll, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, Vladimir Solovyov, Russia, Dmitry Peskov, Yevgeny Pustovoi, Zerkalo, Andrew Osborn, Mike Collett, White, Alex Richardson Organizations: Belarusian, Sputnik, REUTERS LONDON, Twitter, Russia's, Duma, NATO, Independent, Thomson Locations: Sochi, Russia, Kremlin, defusing, Belarusian, Moscow, Soviet, Belarus, Independent Belarusian, Minsk

☆ Live updates: Putin slams rebels as criminals; Zelenskyy lauds military advances 'in all directions'
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-27 | by ( Elliot Smith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

The eyes of the world remain on Russia after Wagner Group chief Yevgeny Prigozhin's attempted mutiny on Saturday posed what many regard as the greatest challenge yet to President Vladimir Putin's two-decade grip on power. In a televised address to the nation on Monday, Putin called the organizers of the uprising "criminals" and vowed to bring them to justice. The revolt raised questions about President Vladimir Putin's grip on power and what could be next for the country. Stateside, President Joe Biden clarified on Monday that the United States was not involved in the aborted weekend rebellion. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, meanwhile, called for further support from Western leaders to repel the Russian invasion.

Persons: Yevgeny Prigozhin's, Vladimir Putin's, Putin, Prigozhin, Joe Biden, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Zelenskyy Organizations: Wagner Group, Kremlin, NATO Locations: Russia, Belarus, United States, Ukrainian, Ukraine

☆ Biden is turning the screw on Putin even as US denies role in Russia’s insurrection
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-27 | by ( Stephen Collinson | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

CNN —Russia’s short-lived insurrection has handed Joe Biden the most perilous version yet of a dilemma that has confounded the last five US presidents: how to handle Vladimir Putin. Ex-President George W. Bush looked into Putin’s eyes and got “a sense” of his soul, only for Putin to invade Georgia on his watch. Let me emphasize, we gave Putin no excuse to blame this on the West or to blame this on NATO. Putin has shown no sign that outside heat from Moscow’s foes will force him to retreat and bring his troops home. But with the war going poorly in Ukraine, Putin is now facing a new political front at home after his personality cult of an all-powerful autocrat impervious to challenge was punctured by Prigozhin.

Persons: CNN —, Joe Biden, Vladimir Putin, Bill Clinton, George W, Bush, Putin, Barack Obama, didn’t, Donald Trump, Biden, Yevgeny Prigozhin’s, Wagner, Prigozhin, “, Volodymyr Zelensky, Antony Blinken, Putin’s, James, Josep Borrell, John Bolton Organizations: CNN, KGB, Soviet Union, Soviet, Wagner Group, Western, NATO, British, Putin, Russian, US, Red Army, Union High Representative, Foreign Affairs, Trump Locations: Russia, Georgia, Crimea, Washington, Geneva, Russia’s, Ukraine, Moscow, Belarus, Syria, Russian, Soviet, Europe, Bakhmut, Kremlin

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