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  • China secretly sends enough gear to Russia to equip an army

    China secretly sends enough gear to Russia to equip an army

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    The pictures posted on the Chinese company’s website show a tall, Caucasian man with a crew cut and flattened nose inspecting body armor at its factory.

    “This spring, one of our customers came to our company to confirm the style and quantity of bulletproof vests, and carefully tested the quality of our vests,” Shanghai H Win, a manufacturer of military-grade protective gear, proudly reported on its website in March. The customer “immediately directly confirmed the order quantity of bulletproof vests and subsequent purchase intention.”

    The identity of the smiling customer isn’t clear, but there’s a fair chance he was Russian: According to customs records obtained by POLITICO, Russian buyers have declared orders for hundreds of thousands of bulletproof vests and helmets made by Shanghai H Win — the items listed in the documents match those in the company’s online catalog.

    Evidence of this kind shows that China, despite Beijing’s calls for peace, is pushing right up to a red line in delivering enough nonlethal, but militarily useful, equipment to Russia to have a material impact on President Vladimir Putin’s 17-month-old war on Ukraine. The protective gear would be sufficient to equip many of the men mobilized by Russia since the invasion. Then there are drones that can be used to direct artillery fire or drop grenades, and thermal optical sights to target the enemy at night.

    These shipments point to a China-sized loophole in the West’s attempts to hobble Putin’s war machine. The sale of so-called dual-use technology that can have both civilian and military uses leaves just enough deniability for Western authorities looking for reasons not to confront a huge economic power like Beijing.

    The wartime strength of China’s exports of dual-use products to Russia is confirmed by customs data. And, while Ukraine is a customer of China too, its imports of most of the equipment covered in this story have fallen sharply, the figures show.

    Russia has imported more than $100 million-worth of drones from China so far this year — 30 times more than Ukraine. And Chinese exports of ceramics, a component used in body armor, increased by 69 percent to Russia to more than $225 million, while dropping by 61 percent to Ukraine to a mere $5 million, Chinese and Ukrainian customs data show.

    “What is very clear is that China, for all its claims that it is a neutral actor, is in fact supporting Russia’s positions in this war,” said Helena Legarda, a lead analyst specializing in Chinese defense and foreign policy at the Mercator Institute for China Studies, a Berlin think tank.

    Were China to cross the red line and sell weapons or military equipment to Russia, Legarda said she would expect the EU to enforce secondary sanctions targeting enablers of Putin’s war of aggression.

    But, she added, equipment like body armor, thermal imaging, and even commercial drones that can be used in offensive frontline operations are unlikely to trigger a response.

    “Then there’s this situation that we’re in at the moment — all these dual-use components or equipment and how you handle those,” Legarda explained. “I would not expect the EU to be able to agree to sanctions on that.”

    Disappearing customer

    Shanghai H Win, like other Chinese companies producing dual-use equipment, has enjoyed a surge in business since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

    According to customs records obtained by POLITICO, Russia has ordered hundreds of thousands of bulletproof vests and helmets made by Shanghai H Win | Genya Savilov/AFP via Getty Images

    “Because of the war, a lot of trading companies are looking for us and ask: ‘Are you making this kind of vest?’ We received a lot of inquiries,” a sales representative told POLITICO over the phone.

    At first, the representative said Shanghai H Win wasn’t allowed to export directly to Russia unless the Chinese military issues a certificate and it can provide documentary proof of its final customer.

    Yet when asked who the man in the pictures was, and where he was from, the representative denied that he was even a customer — even though the website said so. 

    “He is our customer’s customer. We cannot ask him directly, ‘Where are you from?’ But I guess maybe he is from Europe — maybe Ukraine, maybe Poland, even maybe from Russia. I’m not sure.”

    Shortly after the call, Shanghai H Win took down the post featuring the mystery shopper from its website.

    Who are the buyers?

    So, who exactly are those customers? Evidence of deals — importers, suppliers, and product descriptions — can be found in a registry of declarations of conformity by anyone with access to the Russian internet who is familiar with international customs classifications.

    In an earlier story, POLITICO searched these filings and found evidence that sniper bullets made in the United States were reaching Russia, where they were freely available on the black market.

    The declarations enable the final buyer to certify that the products are genuine and, in effect, make it possible to import goods without the express consent of the maker. If goods are traded through an intermediary, the maker may not even be aware that its goods are going to Russia. The registry is, however, searchable so it’s still easy to find the ultimate buyers of the Chinese kit.

    One is Silva, a company headquartered in the remote Eastern Siberian region of Buryatia. It filed declarations in January of this year detailing orders for 100,000 bulletproof vests and 100,000 helmets. The manufacturer? Shanghai H Win.

    Such importers often bear the hallmarks of “one-day” firms, as shell companies are known in Russia, set up by actors who want to conceal their dealings. They tend to be new, listed at obscure residential addresses, and have few staff or assets. Their financial statements often don’t report the levels of turnover that the filings would imply.

    According to public records, Silva was registered only last September. It reported zero revenues for 2022. A Google Street View search of its address in Ulan-Ude, the capital of Buryatia, takes visitors to a dilapidated apartment block.

    POLITICO tried to contact Silva but the phone number given on its filings rang off the hook and a message sent to its email address bounced. 

    The sale of so-called dual-use technology that can have both civilian and military uses leaves enough deniability for Western authorities looking for reasons not to confront China | STR/AFP via Getty Images

    Another Russian company called Rika declared a smaller shipment of body armor from Shanghai H Win in March. Before that, in January, Rika declared a consignment of helmets from a company called Deekon Shanghai, which shares an address with Shanghai H Win. The two companies are affiliated, another Shanghai H Win representative said.

    A woman who answered the phone at Rika said: “We buy in Russia, not in China.” The company didn’t reply to a follow-up email from POLITICO.

    The denial is hardly plausible: In addition to the protective gear, a search of declarations by Rika threw up hits for deals for thermal optical equipment from China. That was corroborated by customs data accessed by POLITICO, which revealed more than 220 shipments, worth $11 million, for thermal optics and protective equipment since the outbreak of the war. Rika advertises Chinese-made night sights right at the top of its website.

    Another Russian company called Legittelekom, whose homepage reveals it to be a Moscow freight forwarding company, also appears as a buyer of 100,000 items of headgear and 100,000 suits of outerwear from Deekon Shanghai, according to filings dated last November 24.

    A man who answered a call to Legittelekom declined to comment on POLITICO’s findings and would not say whether the company supplied the Russian military. 

    “This is a commercial activity and we do not disclose our commercial activities,” the man said in response to both questions.

    Bigger deal

    Then there’s Pozitron, a company based in Rostov-on-Don, the southern city briefly captured by warlord Yevgeny Prigozhin’s Wagner mercenaries in their failed uprising last month. It imported more than $60 million-worth of “airsoft helmets,” “miscellaneous ceramics,” and other items from Chinese firm Beijing KRNatural in November and December 2022, according to customs data shared by ImportGenius.

    These flows check out with Pozitron’s own declarations of conformity between late October and December 2022, for a total of 100,000 helmets. The declarations also reveal that Pozitron acquired a range of drones from Chinese multinational SZ DJI Technology Co., Ltd last December.

    Although the quantity is unclear, the models specified include ones known to have been used in the Ukrainian theater of war, like DJI’s Mavic 2 Enterprise Advanced quadcopter or the Mini 2 lightweight drone.

    At first sight, the product descriptions in the declarations and customs records appear harmless enough — the “airsoft helmets,” for example, are said to be for use in paintball games and “not for military use, not for dual use.”

    Sanctions and defense experts say, however, that it’s common practice to mislabel dual-use goods as being for civilian purposes when they’re in fact destined for the battlefield.

    At any rate, Pozitron, which was only founded in March 2021, is having a very good war: Its revenues exploded from 31 million rubles — around $400,000 — in 2021 to 20 billion rubles — almost $300 million — in 2022, according to its financial statement.

    Reached by email, Pozitron’s general director, Andrey Vitkovsky, said that his company has “never imported drones and similar products” from the People’s Republic of China.

    “The main activity of Pozitron LLC is the purchase and sale of consumer goods, sporting goods, and fabrics, both produced in the Russian Federation and imported from China,” Vitkovsky added, saying that his company’s activities were “exclusively peaceful in nature, in compliance with all rules and restrictions.”

    The denial is typical — Russian companies have good reason to fear Western sanctions if they are implicated in trade that supports the Kremlin’s war effort. After POLITICO reported in March that a company called Tekhkrim was importing Chinese assault weapons, and declaring them as “hunting rifles,” the firm was sanctioned by the United States.

    Pozitron is on the West’s radar, said one sanctions expert, who was granted anonymity as they are not authorized to speak publicly.

    As for Beijing KRNatural, POLITICO was able to trace a company with a similar name at the address given in the Pozitron filings. The company, Beijing Natural Hanhua International Trade Co., Ltd, is listed as a “small and micro enterprise.” It was founded in April 2022, a few months before the Pozitron deals. Nobody answered when POLITICO called.

    Heavenly mechanics

    In contrast to the bulk consignments of protective gear that appear intended to equip a large fighting force, the orders for drones found by POLITICO are more dispersed among different buyers — both companies and individuals.

    In addition to Pozitron, buyers of drones from DJI and its subsidiaries include firms called Gigantshina and Vozdukh — neither of which responded to emailed requests for comment. Another is Nebesnaya Mekhanika (“Heavenly Mechanics”), which before the war was the Chinese company’s official distributor in Russia.

    A DJI spokesperson said that the company and its subsidiaries had voluntarily stopped all shipments to, and operations in, Russia and Ukraine on April 26, 2022 — two months after the war broke out. 

    “We stand alone as the only drone company to clearly denounce and actively discourage use of products in combat,” the spokesperson said in comments emailed to POLITICO.

    DJI said it had also broken off its relationship with Nebesnaya Mekhanika, although the Russian company filed further declarations for shipments of the Chinese company’s drones last September 15 and on March 27 of this year.

    The spokesperson said that DJI was not in any way involved in the drafting of the declarations of conformity found by POLITICO: “These documents would have been filled out by Russian parties, and they do not indicate in any shape or form who ex- or imported the products that are being declared conform.”

    “We have seen media reports and other documents that appear to show how our products are being transported to Russia and Ukraine from other countries where they can be bought off-the-shelf,” the spokesperson added. “However, it is not in our power to influence how our products are being used once they leave our control.”

    Still, a search of ImportGenius shows that a Chinese company called Iflight has continued to ship DJI drones to Nebesnaya Mechnika via Hong Kong, care of a local company called Lotos. The most recent consignment was delivered last October 10. In an apparent anomaly, Russia is stated as the country of origin for the shipments.

    Nebesnaya Mekhanika, which still advertises DJI drones on its website, did not respond to a request for comment.

    Political will

    The trafficking of low-tech body armor to high-tech drones and thermal optics highlights a vulnerability in the Western sanctions regime. The ambiguity surrounding the dual-use status of this equipment, coupled with the fact that a significant portion of it is manufactured in China, seems, at least for now, to have placed the possibility of the West taking meaningful action beyond reach.

    Then there is the flow of technology through China that may include components made in the West that could be of direct military use.

    Russia is fully aware of the China loophole and is using it to buy Western technology to fight its war against Ukraine, according to a recent analysis by the KSE Institute, a think tank affiliated to the Kyiv School of Economics. More than 60 percent of imported critical components in Russian weapons found on the battlefield came from U.S. companies, the researchers found.

    It’s an issue that U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken brought up on a visit to Beijing last month — the first by Washington’s top diplomat in five years. He told reporters that China had given assurances that “it is not and will not provide lethal assistance to Russia for use in Ukraine.” Blinken, however, expressed “ongoing concerns” that Chinese firms may be providing technology that Russia can use to advance its aggression in Ukraine. “And we have asked the Chinese government to be very vigilant about that.”

    U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters that China had given assurances that “it is not and will not provide lethal assistance to Russia for use in Ukraine” during a visit to Beijing last month | Pool photo by Leah Millis/AFP via Getty Images

    France is also concerned that China is delivering dual-use equipment to Russia. “There are indications that they are doing things we would prefer them not to do,” Emmanuel Bonne, President Emmanuel Macron’s top diplomatic adviser, told the recent Aspen Security Forum. Pressed on whether China was supplying weapons, Bonne said: “Well, kind of military equipment … as far as we know they are not delivering massively military capacities to Russia but (we need there to be) no delivery.”

    Yet there’s little the West can do to twist Beijing’s arm into halting flows of dual-use products into Russia. Only the United States would have the real power to impose an outright ban on dollar-denominated transactions — as Washington did when it sanctioned Iran over its secret nuclear program.

    The EU, however, lacks such a strong sanctions weapon because the euro is far less ubiquitous on global markets. It’s also been hesitant to act. In its latest package of Russia sanctions last month, the EU compiled a list of seven Chinese companies that shouldn’t be allowed to trade with the bloc. But, after lobbying by Beijing, Brussels dropped four companies from the blacklist.

    Elina Ribakova, one of the authors of the KSE Institute report, said indirect shipments via China pose challenges in terms of both the scope and enforcement of Western sanctions. Secondary sanctions may not be sufficient, she said. She called for manufacturers to be forced to take responsibility for where their products end up — just as banks were required by regulators to step up customer oversight and anti-money laundering operations in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis.

    “What we can do differently is to create the same infrastructure for the corporates,” explained Ribakova, who is director of the international program at the Kyiv School of Economics. “We have to threaten them with serious fines.”

    Maxim Mironov, a sanctions expert and assistant professor of finance at the IE Business School in Madrid, reckons that the West, despite expanding sanctions to punish Putin’s helpers, lacks the political conviction to enforce them against Beijing.

    “Do politicians have enough will to put sanctions on China? Basically, the answer is no,” said Mironov.

    “China signals: You can try, but I don’t care what you are trying to do,” Mironov added. “And the European Union is like: If you don’t like it, we are not going to do it. And if the Chinese see that, they are just going to continue doing what they think is in their best interest.”

    The European Commission, the U.S. National Security Council and the Chinese Mission to the EU did not respond to requests for comment.

    Stuart Lau contributed reporting.

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    Sarah Anne Aarup, Sergey Panov and Douglas Busvine

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  • Prigozhin’s rebellion undermined Putin’s standing among Russian elite, officials say

    Prigozhin’s rebellion undermined Putin’s standing among Russian elite, officials say

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    Members of Russia’s elite have questioned Russian president Vladimir Putin’s judgment in the aftermath of the short-lived armed rebellion mounted last month by his former caterer and Wagner mercenary group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin, senior Western officials said at an annual security conference this week.  


    Where is Yevgeny Prigozhin? Wagner chief’s whereabouts unknown

    01:38

    “For a lot of Russians watching this, used to this image of Putin as the arbiter of order, the question was, ‘Does the emperor have no clothes?’ Or at least, ‘Why is it taking so long for him to get dressed?'” CIA Director William Burns said Thursday. “And for the elite, I think what it resurrected was some deeper questions…about Putin’s judgment, about his relative detachment from events and about his indecisiveness.”  

    Burns and other top Western officials spoke at the annual Aspen Security Forum in Colorado. While acknowledging the fallout from the attempted mutiny was not yet fully known, several of the officials, citing Putin’s known penchant for revenge, had macabre expectations for Prigozhin’s fate. 

    “In my experience, Putin is the ultimate apostle of payback. So I would be surprised if Prigozhin escapes further retribution for this,” Burns, a former ambassador to Russia, said Thursday. “If I were Prigozhin, I wouldn’t fire my food taster,” he said, echoing similar remarks made previously by President Biden.   

    “If I were Mr. Prigozhin, I would remain very concerned,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken told the conference on Friday. “NATO has an open-door policy; Russia has an open-windows policy, and he needs to be very focused on that.”  

    National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan later said the aftermath of the assault was still “unsettled and uncertain,” but that Prigozhin’s actions were an illustration of frustration with the course of the war in Ukraine. 

    “If Putin had been succeeding in Ukraine, you would not have seen Prigozhin running pell-mell down the track towards Moscow,” Sullivan said.   

    Burns said Prigozhin had “moved around” between Belarus and Russia in the weeks following his 24-hour assault, during which he and a cohort of Wagner troops claimed to have seized military headquarters in Rostov before coming within 125 miles of Moscow.  

    After an apparent and still ambiguous deal brokered by Belarusian president Aleksandr Lukashenko, Prigozhin announced he and his troops would turn back. Last week the Kremlin revealed that Putin later met with Prigozhin and Wagner commanders and exacted loyalty pledges from them.   

    “[W]hat we’re seeing is the first cracks are appearing on the Russian side rather than on our side,” British foreign minister James Cleverly told the conference on Wednesday. “And it doesn’t matter how Putin tries to spin it: an attempted coup is never a good look.” 

    Still, officials said Putin appears as yet unmoved toward the contemplation of any peace negotiations, even as Ukrainian forces push forward with a grinding counteroffensive. 

    “Unfortunately, I see zero evidence that Russia’s interested” in entering into talks, Blinken said. “If there’s a change in President Putin’s mindset when it comes to this, maybe there’ll be an opening.”  

    “Right now, we don’t see it,” he said.  

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  • Putin warns Poland an attack on Belarus would be an attack on Russia

    Putin warns Poland an attack on Belarus would be an attack on Russia

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    Russian President Vladimir Putin warned Poland that any attack on Belarus will be considered an attack on Russia, in a direct threat to the NATO country televised on Friday.

    “Aggression against Belarus will mean aggression against the Russian Federation,” Putin told a televised Security Council meeting on Friday, shown by Reuters. “We will respond to it with all means at our disposal,” he said.

    Putin appeared to be responding to Warsaw’s decision this week to re-station military units to the east of the country, closer to the Belarusian border, following the Russian ally’s hosting of Wagner mercenary fighters.

    Putin said that Poland appears to have interests in retaking eastern territories it lost to former Soviet Union leader Joseph Stalin, including “a good chunk of Ukraine … to take back the historic lands.” He added that “it’s well known that they dream of Belarusian lands as well.”

    Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki hit back later on Friday, tweeting that “Stalin was a war criminal, guilty of the death of hundreds of thousands of Poles.” He said that the ambassador of the Russian Federation will be summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

    Morawiecki’s defense minister defended the relocation of troops on Friday, pointing to reports that the Wagner mercenaries were carrying out training exercises with the Belarusian army.

    “Training or joint exercises of the Belarusian army and the Wagner group are undoubtedly a provocation,” said Zbigniew Hoffmann, secretary of the government’s National Security Committee, according to a report by Polish state-run news agency PAP.

    Belarus has been Russia’s ally throughout Putin’s war on Ukraine. In addition to hosting the Wagner Group following an insurrection on Moscow led by Yevgeny Prigozhin, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has allowed Putin to station tactical nuclear weapons on its territory.

    Germany said Berlin and NATO were prepared to support Poland in defending the eastern border, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said on Friday, according to Reuters.

    Bulgaria, meanwhile, has agreed to provide Ukraine with some 100 armored personnel carriers, marking a U-turn in the NATO member’s policy on sending military equipment to Kyiv following the appointment of a new, pro-Western government. The parliament in Sofia late Friday approved the administration’s proposal to make the first shipment of heavy military equipment to Ukraine since the beginning of the war, the AP reported.

     Separately, a drone attack on an ammunition depot in Crimea prompted an evacuation and brief suspension of road traffic on the bridge linking the peninsula to Russia, Reuters reported. Sergei Aksyonov, the Moscow-installed regional governor, said on Saturday that there was an explosion at the depot in Krasnohvardiiske in central Crimea but reported no damage or casualties, according to the report.

    The brief halting of traffic on the Crimean Bridge came five days after blasts there killed two people and damaged a section of the roadway — the second major attack on the bridge since the start of the war.

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    Helen Collis

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  • Wagner troops won’t go back to fight in Ukraine, Prigozhin says

    Wagner troops won’t go back to fight in Ukraine, Prigozhin says

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    Troops from Russia’s Wagner paramilitary group, who are relocating to Belarus following last month’s aborted mutiny, will not go back to fight in Ukraine and will stay in Belarus to train local troops, their leader Yevgeny Prigozhin said Wednesday.

    “We did a lot for Russia. What is happening at the front now is a disgrace. We want no part of it,” Prigozhin said in his first appearance since his troops marched on Moscow in a failed uprising last month.

    In a shaky mobile phone video shot at dusk, Prigozhin can be seen in silhouette wearing a baseball cap. He speaks to a crowd of men who appear to be Wagner fighters and break repeatedly into applause and cheers.

    “Therefore we have taken the decision to be in Belarus for a while. In this time, we will turn the Belarusian army into the second most powerful in the world and, if needed, we will take its place,” Prigozhin pursued, in a jab at Russia, which currently has the second largest army in the world.

    He then hinted his troops could later go to Africa, where Wagner has been active in Mali and the Central African Republic.

    Prigozhin’s deputy, Dmitry Utkin, whose nom de guerre gave the mercenary army its name, speaks: “This is not the end. This is the beginning. The biggest task in the world will begin very soon,” he said before switching to English: “Welcome to hell.”

    After months of tension with Russia’s military leadership, Prigozhin turned his troops against the Russian authorities last month. He led his men deep into Russian territory, taking the southwestern city of Rostov-on-Don and only stopping a few dozen kilometers from Moscow.

    The mutinous warlord then went off the grid after he struck a deal with the Kremlin and Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko under which Wagner fighters would be spared prosecution in Russia, while he and his men would go in exile in Belarus.

    He resurfaced a few days later, posting a voice message on social media to thank the supporters of the aborted uprising while signalling that Minsk had offered options for his troops to continue operating from Belarus.

    Since then, there have been contradicting reports about Prigozhin’s whereabouts. Lukashenko initially confirmed Prigozhin had popped up in Belarus three days after the rebellion, on June 27, before later saying that he wasn’t actually there — and could even be in Russia.

    Last week, the Kremlin said the Wagner boss was in Moscow on June 29, where he met with Russian President Vladimir Putin together with other Wagner commanders.

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    Nicolas Camut and Douglas Busvine

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  • Russia won’t say where Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin is, but photos purportedly show his raided home

    Russia won’t say where Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin is, but photos purportedly show his raided home

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    Minsk, Belarus — The mercenary leader who led a short-lived mutiny against the Kremlin is in Russia and his troops are in their field camps, the president of Belarus claimed Thursday, raising new questions about the deal that ended the extraordinary challenge to President Vladimir Putin’s rule.

    Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko’s claim could not be independently verified, and the Kremlin refused to comment on Wagner Group boss Yevgeny Prigozhin‘s whereabouts.

    Where is Wagner’s Prigozhin and why does it matter?

    Russian media have said the Wagner chief was recently spotted at his offices in St. Petersburg, however, and pro-Kremlin outlets published photos Thursday purportedly taken inside a mansion belonging to Prigozhin in the city, which is Russia’s second largest.

    A U.S. official told CBS News on Thursday that Prigozhin was not believed to be in Belarus and could be in Russia.  


    Fate unclear for Russian general who may have known about Wagner revolt

    04:25

    It was not clear if Prigozhin’s presence in Russia would violate the deal, which allowed the head of the Wagner Group military contractor to move to Belarus in exchange for ending his rebellion and a promise of amnesty for him and his troops. The reports signaled that the agreement may have allowed him to finalize his affairs in Russia.

    If that’s true, it could suggest the threat posed by Prigozhin has not yet been fully defused and that the Kremlin is treading carefully with him until it can figure out what to do with troops who may still be loyal to him. Putin has said that Wagner troops can join the Russian military, retire from service or move to Belarus.

    But much about the agreement, which was brokered by Lukashenko, remains murky.

    Last week, Lukashenko said the mercenary leader was in Belarus, but on Thursday he told international reporters that Prigozhin was in St. Petersburg and could also travel to Moscow if he so wishes, while Wagner’s troops were in their camps. He did not specify the location of the camps, but Prigozhin’s mercenaries fought alongside Russian forces in eastern Ukraine before their revolt and also have bases on Russian territory.

    Russia Wagner Convicts
    In this image taken from video and released by the press service of Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the Wagner private military contractor, May 20, 2023, he speaks while holding a Russian flag in front of his forces in Bakhmut, Ukraine.

    Prigozhin Press Service via AP, File


    He also said that Prigozhin has been given back the cash and weapons that were confiscated by Russian authorities.

    Asked where Prigozhin is, Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov shrugged off the question, saying the Kremlin has neither the desire nor the means to track his movements — but he reaffirmed that the deal that ended the mutiny envisaged his move to Belarus.

    Lukashenko said his government offered Wagner — which has sent troops around the world to fight for Russia’s interests and, as a CBS News investigation revealed, to make money — the use of Belarusian military camps but that the company had not made a final decision.


    How Russia’s Wagner group exploits Africa to fund the Ukraine war

    05:24

    waThe Kremlin has played down the fact that Prigozhin escaped punishment for his mutiny while other Putin’s critics have been met with harsh prison sentences, exile or even death, saying that the deal with the Wagner chief was necessary to avoid massive bloodshed.

    The Belarusian leader shrugged off suggestions that Putin might order Prigozhin killed, saying: “If you think that Putin is so vicious and vindictive to finish him off, no, it’s not going to happen.”

    Photos purportedly show Prigozhin’s raided home

    On Wednesday, Russian online newspapers Fontanka and Izvestia, both of which are pro-Kremlin, posted videos and photos they said were of Prigozhin’s opulent mansion in St. Petersburg.

    prigozhin-mansion-izvestia.jpg
    A photo posted online by pro-Kremlin news outlet Izvestia on July 6, 2023 purportedly shows the inside of a mansion in St. Petersburg belonging to Wagner Group boss Yevgeny Prigozhin. The photo, which cannot be verified by CBS News, is one of many posted by pro-Kremlin media after an alleged raid on Prigozhin’s mansion, amid questions over his whereabouts.

    The outlets said the images were taken following a raid by Russian authorities, and they showed stacks of cash, gold bullion and a jacket fully covered in medals Prigozhin was awarded, including the Hero of Russia medal, one of the country’s highest awards.

    Izvestia also published a collection of photos it said were selfies taken by Prigozhin, showed him posing in various wigs, fake beards and foreign uniforms — an apparent reflection of Wagner’s deployments to Syria and several African countries.

    prigozhin-mansion-uniform.jpg
    A photo posted online by pro-Kremlin news outlet Izvestia on July 6, 2023 purportedly shows a jacket covered in medals belonging to Wagner Group boss Yevgeny Prigozhin. The photo, which cannot be verified by CBS News, is one of many posted by pro-Kremlin media after an alleged raid on Prigozhin’s mansion in St. Petersburg.

    A photo hanging in the mansion showed a lineup of decapitated heads. In one published image, an oversized souvenir sledgehammer could also be seen with the inscription “for important negotiations.” The sledgehammer has become a symbol of Wagner after reports its troops used the tool to beat defectors to death.

    Lukashenko on Russian nuclear weapons in Belarus

    Asked about the deployment of Russia’s tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus, Lukashenko said they are intended to deter any aggression against the country. Putin and Lukashenko both have said that some of the weapons have already been moved to Belarus, and the Belarusian leader reaffirmed Thursday that a “certain number” were there and the rest would be delivered before the year’s end.

    Lukashenko said Russia would consult him on any possible use of those weapons, adding that it could only happen in response to an act of aggression by NATO against Russia or Belarus.

    TOPSHOT-RUSSIA-BELARUS-POLITICS-DIPLOMACY
    Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with his Belarus’ counterpart Alexander Lukashenko in Sochi, Russia, June 9, 2023.

    GAVRIIL GRIGOROV/SPUTNIK/AFP/Getty


    “If I don’t want something, if our people and the state don’t want it, it means it won’t happen,” he said, adding that “these weapons serve strictly defensive purposes.”

    “Don’t touch us,” Lukashenko said, “and we will never use these deadly weapons.”

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  • Putin’s media machine turns on ‘traitor’ Prigozhin

    Putin’s media machine turns on ‘traitor’ Prigozhin

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    From national hero to drug-addled, bewigged zero: the Kremlin’s propaganda machine has turned against Wagner Group founder Yevgeny Prigozhin.

    In a sensational report on state-run Rossiya-1’s “60 Minutes” program on Wednesday evening, the Kremlin’s propaganda attack dogs played footage of what they claimed was a raid of Prigozhin’s mansion and offices, showing cash, guns, drugs, a helicopter, multiple (Russian) passports — and a closet full of terrible wigs.

    “The investigation is continuing,” said pundit Eduard Petrov at the top of the program, referring to the probe into the mutiny led by Prigozhin last month, during which the leader of the Wagner Group of mercenaries marched his men to within 200 kilometers of Moscow in a bid to oust the country’s military leadership. “In reality, no one planned to close this case,” he added.

    It was an open declaration of war on Prigozhin, and came after Russian President Vladimir Putin and his aides issued improbable assurances that the criminal case into those who had organized the mutiny would be dropped if the warlord and his Wagnerites agreed to either disarm, sign contracts with the Russian defense ministry, or leave for Belarus. On Thursday morning, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, who ostensibly negotiated the exile agreement with Prigozhin and Putin, told state media the warlord was not in the country.

    “We need to figure out who was on whose side,” Petrov pronounced on “60 Minutes.” “Who was on the mutineers’ side? They should be punished and brought to criminal justice. So the nation understands that if a person acts against their government, they will be punished very, very harshly. Not ‘see you later, I’m going out.’”

    “Tomes” of evidence is being combed over by Russian authorities, a gloating Petrov told the audience of the evening show. “Very soon, very very soon, we will hear what stage the criminal case is at.”

    Cue: Footage — obtained from unnamed siloviki (a term used to describe members of the military or security services) — of Russia’s special forces raiding what Petrov described as Prigozhin’s “nest” — aka the offices of his now-shuttered Patriot Media company, and his palatial home.

    “I believe the image of Yevgeny Prigozhin as a champion of the people was entirely created by Yevgeny Prigozhin’s well-fed media empire,” Petrov said contemptuously and seemingly unironically — never mind that Rossiya-1 itself portrayed Prigozhin as a hero mere weeks ago.

    Remaking a murder

    Until recently, the Kremlin’s propagandists painted Prigozhin, a 62-year-old one-time caterer and convicted felon, as a macho hero, a Russian Rambo decapitating traitors with sledgehammers on the front line.

    Things got complicated when Prigozhin began publicly railing against Russia’s Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov, ranting and raging to his growing cadre of devoted fans on social media.

    Still, Prigozhin never criticized Putin, and Putin allowed Prigozhin to continue building his brand, so long as his men kept holding down the fort in the most brutal battles in the war on Ukraine. Then Prigozhin crossed the line by marching his men on Moscow.

    Putin’s retribution was always going to be brutal — first, though, he’s destroying Prigozhin’s image and undermining his reputation.

    Back to Wednesday night’s “60 Minutes.”

    “Why did we forget about Prigozhin’s past?” an impassioned Petrov asked. “Everyone knew about it. Everyone talked about it. Spoke about the fact that he has been on trial twice. His criminal past.”

    Showing footage of what he said was Prigozhin’s 600 million ruble (€6 million) mansion, Petrov crowed: “Let’s see how this champion of the truth lived — a twice-convicted champion — a champion who spoke about how everyone around him is stealing.

    “Inside Yevgeny Prigozhin’s little house there’s currency lying around like this, in a box, held together by rubber bands,” Petrov continued. “Now let’s see the palace of the fighter of corruption and criminality, Yevgeny Prigozhin. Here’s his palace. Here’s his house. His daughter sometimes posts videos from here, by the way — and she’s not always in good condition.”

    Then, the pièce de résistance of the video: a closet full of bad wigs.

    “Oh!” exclaimed Petrov as the footage rolled. “This is a closet full of Yevgeny Prigozhin’s secrets — wigs! Why does he need wigs at his house?”

    It wasn’t long until Telegram, the social media platform popular among Russians, was flooded with photos of Prigozhin in a variety of wigs and disguises. (Though intriguingly, the photos appeared to come from a Prigozhin-friendly account called “Release the Kraken,” which said it had sourced them from the Patriot Media archive.)

    The program also aired footage of what Petrov speculated were drugs found in Prigozhin’s mansion. A Prigozhin-friendly Telegram account which has previously featured voice messages from the warlord himself denied the house in the video belonged to Prigozhin, and claimed the “drugs” were actually laundry detergent.

    Divide and conquer

    Wednesday night’s program was also designed to reassure Russians that not all Wagner fighters were traitors and mutineers — with his war effort stuttering, Putin can’t afford to lose tens of thousands of men from the front.

    “There were worthy people in Wagner,” Petrov insisted — moments after a diatribe about Prigozhin recruiting some of Russia’s worst criminals into the mercenary army’s ranks.

    “The majority!” cut in “60 Minutes” host Yevgeny Popov. “The majority of people acted heroically, took cities, served in good faith … and bought their freedom with blood.”

    “What’s absolutely clear: Prigozhin is a traitor,” Popov continued. “But Wagnerites — the majority of them are heroic people who with guns in hand defended our motherland. And many of them were lied to.”

    Referring to Prigozhin’s Concord catering company and other businesses that Putin admitted were fully funded by the Russian state, Popov said the warlord had received “billions in contracts.”

    And seeking to cleave Prigozhin’s men from their exiled boss, Petrov said: “The question is whether this money reached the fighters and heroes of Wagner!”

    Translation: Watch your back, Yevgeny.

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    Zoya Sheftalovich

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  • Wagner chief Prigozhin isn’t in Belarus, says Lukashenko

    Wagner chief Prigozhin isn’t in Belarus, says Lukashenko

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    Mutinous warlord Yevgeny Prigozhin is not currently in Belarus, Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko said Thursday morning, hinting the Wagner Group founder could still be in Russia.

    “As for Yevgeny Prigozhin, he is in St. Petersburg. Where is he this morning? Maybe he went to Moscow, maybe somewhere else, but he is not on the territory of Belarus,” Lukashenko said, according to Belarusian state media.

    The Belarusian strongman added that, “as far as I know,” Wagner’s fighters have remained at their encampments following Prigozhin’s announcement that they would stand down from their march on Moscow to avoid further bloodshed.

    The mercenary chief was supposed to be in Belarus, after being exiled from Russia following an aborted mutiny he led against Moscow’s military establishment in June.

    Last week, Lukashenko claimed Prigozhin had arrived in Belarus, having taken credit for brokering a cease-fire between Wagner and Moscow’s forces as its mercenaries closed in on the capital.

    Since then, his whereabouts have been a mystery, with his private jet having landed in Minsk and unverified sightings of the outspoken oligarch taking social media by storm.

    However, speaking to POLITICO on Wednesday, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said that Prigozhin’s men had not moved en masse to the neighboring country.

    “We have seen some preparations for the hosting of Wagner forces,” Stoltenberg said, while adding “we have so far not yet seen so many of them arriving.”

    Last week, Russian President Vladimir Putin gave Prigozhin’s fighters three choices — return to the front lines in Ukraine as regular Russian soldiers; go back to their families; or join their leader in Belarus.

    “Wagner Group soldiers are also patriots, loyal to the state, they have proven this in combat,” the embattled Russian leader said. “They were used blindly, forced to turn on their comrades with whom they fought shoulder to shoulder.”

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    Ali Walker

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  • Russia says it foiled Ukrainian drone attack on Moscow as Kyiv’s counteroffensive grinds on

    Russia says it foiled Ukrainian drone attack on Moscow as Kyiv’s counteroffensive grinds on

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    Russian air defenses on Tuesday foiled a Ukrainian drone attack on Moscow that prompted authorities to briefly close one of the city’s international airports, officials said, as a Western analysis said that Russia has managed to slow Kyiv’s recently launched counteroffensive.

    The drone attack, which follows previous similar raids on the Russian capital, was the first known assault on the city since an abortive mutiny launched 11 days ago by mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin. His Wagner troops marched on Moscow in the biggest — though short-lived — challenge to Russian President Vladimir Putin in more than two decades of his rule.

    Authorities in Ukraine, which generally avoids commenting on attacks on Russian soil, didn’t say whether it launched the drone raid.

    Greece’s conservative government is promising to continue a multi-billion euro defense modernization program during its second term in office, setting its sights on acquiring F-35 fighter jets in five years.

    Pentagon spokesman U.S. Air Force Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder speaks during a media briefing at the Pentagon, Thursday, July 6, 2023, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

    The Biden administration has agreed to provide controversial cluster munitions to Ukraine that it says could help its forces penetrate Russia’s defensive lines, but that many nations have pledged not to use again due to risks to civilians.

    FILE - Smoke billows from the Donnie Creek wildfire burning north of Fort St. John, British Columbia, Canada, Sunday, July 2, 2023. (AP Photo/Noah Berger, File)

    Wildfires raging across Canada have already broken records for total areas burned, the number of people forced to evacuate their homes and the cost of fighting the blazes, and the fire season is only halfway finished.

    FILE - Cattle graze on land recently burned and deforested by cattle farmers near Novo Progresso, Para state, Brazil, on Aug. 23, 2020. After four years of rising destruction in Brazil’s Amazon, deforestation dropped by 33.6% during the first six months of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's term, according to government satellite data released Thursday, July 6, 2023. (AP Photo/Andre Penner, File)

    Deforestation in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest dropped 33.6% in the first six months of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s term, providing an encouraging sign for his administration’s environmental efforts.

    The Russian Defense Ministry said that four of the five drones were downed by air defenses on the outskirts of Moscow and the fifth was jammed by electronic warfare means and forced down.

    There were no casualties or damage, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said.

    As with previous drone attacks on Moscow, it was impossible to verify the Russian military’s announcement that it downed all of them.

    The drone attack prompted authorities to temporarily restrict flights at Moscow’s Vnukovo airport and divert flights to two other Moscow main airports. Vnukovo is about 15 kilometers (nine miles) southwest of Moscow.

    In May, two daring drone attacks jolted the Russian capital, in what appeared to be Kyiv’s deepest strikes into Russia.

    Tuesday’s raid came as Ukrainian forces have continued probing Russian defenses in the south and the east of their country in the initial stages of a counteroffensive.

    Oleksiy Danilov, the secretary of Ukraine’s Security and Defense Council, said that the military was currently focusing on destroying Russian equipment and personnel, and that the past few days of fighting have been particularly “fruitful.” He provided no evidence and it wasn’t possible to independently verify it.

    The Ukrainians are up against minefields, anti-tank ditches and other obstacles, as well as layered defensive lines reportedly up to 20 kilometers (12 miles) deep in some places as they attempt to dislodge Russian occupiers.

    The U.K. Defense Ministry said Tuesday the Kremlin’s forces have “refined (their) tactics aimed at slowing Ukrainian armored counteroffensive operations in southern Ukraine.”

    Moscow has placed emphasis on using anti-tank mines to slow the onslaught, the assessment said, leaving the attackers at the mercy of Russian drones, helicopters and artillery.

    “Although Russia has achieved some success with this approach in the early stages of Ukraine’s counteroffensive, its forces continue to suffer from key weaknesses, especially overstretched units and a shortage of artillery munitions,” the assessment said.

    Western analysts say the counteroffensive, even if it prospers, won’t end the war, which started with Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022.

    Russia, meanwhile, has continued its missile and drone barrage deep behind the front line.

    Russian shelling of Pervomaiskyi, a city in Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv region, wounded 43 civilians, Kharkiv Gov. Oleh Syniehubov said Tuesday. Among the wounded were 12 children, including two babies, according to officials.

    Oleksandr Lysenko, mayor of the city of Sumy in northeastern Ukraine, said that three people were killed and 21 others were wounded in a Russian drone strike on Monday that damaged two apartment buildings.

    Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the attack also damaged the regional headquarters of the Security Service of Ukraine, the country’s main intelligence agency. He argued that the country needs more air defense systems to help fend off Russian raids.

    In all, Ukraine’s presidential office reported Tuesday, at least seven Ukrainian civilians were killed and 35 others injured in the fighting over the previous 24 hours.

    Putin referred to the recent mercenary rebellion that rattled the Kremlin during a video call Tuesday with leaders of the countries of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, or SCO, which is a security grouping dominated by Moscow and Beijing.

    Putin said that “Russian political circles, the entire society have shown unity and responsibility for the fate of the motherland by putting up a united front against the attempted mutiny.”

    He thanked the SCO members for what he described as their support during the uprising.

    Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu also said that a united front thwarted Prigozhin’s mutiny. He said Monday in his first public comment about the episode that it “failed primarily because the armed forces personnel have remained loyal to their military oath and duty.” He said that the uprising had no impact on the war in Ukraine.

    Dmitry Medvedev, head of Russia’s Security Council chaired by Russian President Vladimir Putin, said Tuesday that the mutiny had not changed the attitude of Russian citizens toward signing up as professional contract soldiers in Ukraine. In a video posted on Telegram, he said almost 10,000 new recruits had joined up in the last week, with 185,000 joining the Russian army as professional contract soldiers since the start of the year.

    In contrast, Prigozhin said that he had the public’s backing for his “march of justice” toward Moscow.

    On Tuesday, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe adopted a resolution recognizing Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism and the Wagner private mercenary group as a terrorist organization.

    The declaration urges member states to take measures against the Wagner Group and any affiliated or successor structures. In addition, the document calls on members to recognize “the responsibility of Russia as a state sponsor of this terrorist organization.”

    Meanwhile, Russia’s Foreign Ministry said Tuesday it saw “no grounds” to extend a deal that has allowed Ukraine to ship grain through the Black Sea to parts of the world struggling with hunger. The statement came less than two weeks before the expiration of the agreement, which was extended for two months in May.

    Moscow has complained that a separate agreement with the United Nations to overcome obstacles to shipments of its fertilizers has not produced results.

    ___

    Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine: https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

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  • Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin resurfaces with new message

    Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin resurfaces with new message

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    Russian warlord Yevgeny Prigozhin gave his first sign of life in a week on Monday as he issued a voice message expressing thanks to supporters of his recent failed uprising.

    “I want you to understand that our ‘March of Justice’ was aimed at fighting traitors and mobilizing our society,” Prigozhin, chief of the Wagner mercenary army, said in a 41-second voice message posted on Telegram. “In the near future, I am sure that you will see our next victories at the front. Thanks guys!”

    Prigozhin, 62, went from folk hero to public enemy number one in Russia after leading a 36-hour armed insurrection last month, capturing the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don and sending his men to within 200 km of the capital Moscow.

    He bottled out after President Vladimir Putin condemned the mutiny as a “stab in the back,” winning a judicial reprieve in a deal brokered by Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko under which Prigozhin and his men would go into exile.

    In the last statement posted on his own Telegram channels on June 26, the warlord said he had orders his men back to base to prevent a bloodbath and hit back at the suggestions that he was trying to pull off a coup.

    Lukashenko confirmed that Prigozhin arrived in Belarus last Tuesday. The warlord’s whereabouts remain unclear and he has in the meantime been stripped of his Russian media assets. Prigozhin’s latest voice message was posted by Grey Zone, a sympathetic Telegram channel.

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    Ketrin Jochecová

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  • After the short-lived insurrection, questions swirl over top Russian commander and Prigozhin | CNN

    After the short-lived insurrection, questions swirl over top Russian commander and Prigozhin | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    One is known as “General Armageddon,” the other as “Putin’s chef.” Both have a checkered past and a reputation for brutality. One launched the insurrection, the other reportedly knew about it in advance. And right now, both are nowhere to be found.

    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.

    Kremlin has remained silent on the topic, embarking instead on an aggressive campaign to reassert the authority of the Russian President Vladimir Putin.

    Here’s what we know about the two men in the spotlight.

    On Wednesday, the Russian-language version of the independent Moscow Times cited two anonymous defense sources as saying that Surovikin had been arrested in relation to the failed mutiny. CNN has been unable to independently verify that claim.

    A popular blogger going by the name Rybar noted on Wednesday that “Surovikin has not been seen since Saturday” and said nobody knew for certain where he was. “There is a version that he is under interrogation,” he added.

    A well-known Russian journalist Alexey Venediktov – former editor of the now-shuttered Echo of Moscow radio station – also claimed Wednesday Surovikin had not been in contact with his family for three days.

    But other Russian commentators suggested the general was not in custody. A former Russian member of Parliament Sergey Markov said on Telegram that Surovikin had attended a meeting in Rostov on Thursday, but did not say how he knew this.

    “The rumors about the arrest of Surovikin are dispersing the topic of rebellion in order to promote political instability in Russia,” he said.

    Adding further to the speculation, Russian Telegram channel Baza has posted what it says is a brief interview with Surovikin’s daughter, in which she claimed to be in contact with her father and insists that he has not been detained. CNN cannot confirm the authenticity of the recording.

    Surovikin has been the subject of intense speculation over his role in the mutiny after the New York Times reported on Wednesday that the general “had advance knowledge of Yevgeny Prigozhin’s plans to rebel against Russia’s military leadership.” The paper cited US officials who it said were briefed on US intelligence.

    Surovikin released a video Friday, just as the rebellion was starting, appealing to Prigozhin to halt the mutiny soon after it began. The video message made it clear he sided with Putin. But the footage raised more questions than answers about Surovikin’s whereabouts and his state of mind – he appeared unshaven and with a halting delivery, as if reading from a script.

    Asked about the New York Times story, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said: “There will be now a lot of speculation and rumors surrounding these events. I believe this is just another example of it.”

    One European intelligence official told CNN there were indications that top Russian security officials had some knowledge of Prigozhin’s plans, and may not have passed on information about them, preferring instead to see how they played out.

    “They might have known, and might have not told about it, [or] known about it and decided to help it succeed. There are some hints. There might have been prior knowledge,” the official said.

    Documents shared exclusively with CNN suggest that Surovikin was a VIP member of the Wagner private military company. The documents, obtained by the Russian investigative Dossier Center, showed that Surovikin had a personal registration number with Wagner. Surovikin is listed along with at least 30 other senior Russian military and intelligence officials, whom the Dossier Center says are also VIP Wagner members.

    It is unclear what Wagner’s VIP membership entails, including whether there is a financial benefit. Wagner has not answered CNN’s request for a response.

    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.

    Why he did so depends on who you ask.

    The Wagner chief himself claimed the whole thing was a protest, rather than a real attempt to topple the government. In a voice message released Monday, he explained the “purpose of the march was to prevent the destruction of PMC Wagner.” The comment seemed to be a reference to a statement by the Russian Ministry of Defense that it would employ Wagner’s contractors directly, essentially forcing Prigozhin’s lucrative operations to shutter.

    He also said he wanted to “bring to justice those who, through their unprofessional actions, made a huge number of mistakes during the special military operation,” referring to Russia’s war on Ukraine with the Kremlin-preferred term “special military operation.”

    It is clear the Kremlin sees the events of last weekend differently. Putin assembled Russian security personnel in Moscow Tuesday, telling them they “virtually stopped a civil war” in responding to the insurrection.

    The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday that Western officials believe Prigozhin planned to capture Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and top army general Valery Gerasimov. When asked about the WSJ report, two European security sources told CNN that while it was likely Prigozhin would have expressed a desire to capture Russian military leaders, there was no assessment as to whether he had a credible plan to do so.

    Nobody knows. Prigozhin was last spotted leaving the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don Saturday, after abruptly calling off his troops’ march on Moscow.

    He released an audio message Monday, explaining his decision to turn his troops back. The Kremlin and the Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko claimed on Saturday that Prigozhin agreed to leave Russia for Belarus.

    Lukashenko said he brokered a deal that would see Prigozhin exiled in Belarus without facing criminal charges. According to Lukashenko, the Wagner chief arrived in Belarus Tuesday. While there are no videos or photos showing Prigozhin in Belarus, satellite imagery of an airbase outside Minsk showed two planes linked to Prigozhin landed there on Tuesday morning.

    As for Surovikin, the commander of the Russian air force has not been seen in public since overnight on Friday when he issued the video.

    Not much. CNN has reached out to the Kremlin and Russian Ministry of Defense for comment on Surovikin’s whereabouts. The Kremlin said on Wednesday, “no comment,” and a defense ministry spokesperson said: “I can’t say anything.”

    When questioned whether Putin continued to trust Surovikin, Peskov said during his daily phone call with reporters: “He [Putin] is the supreme commander-in-chief and he works with the defense minister, [and] with the chief of the General Staff. As for the structural divisions within the ministry, I would ask you to contact the [Defense] Ministry.”

    Peskov also told journalists that he did not have information about the whereabouts of Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin.

    One Russian official has said that Surovikin is not being held in a pre-trial detention center in Moscow, as some independent media and blogs have suggested.

    “He is not in Lefortovo or any other pre-trial detention facility. I don’t even want to comment on the nonsense about “an underground detention facility in Serebryany Bor,” Alexei Melnikov, executive secretary of the Public Monitoring Commission in Russia, said on his Telegram channel.

    The Lefortovo facility is where suspects accused of espionage or other crimes against the state are often held.

    Prigozhin was once a close ally of Putin. Both grew up in St. Petersburg and have known each other since the 1990s. Prigozhin made millions by winning lucrative catering contracts with the Kremlin, earning him the moniker “Putin’s chef.”

    He then cast his net wider, becoming a shadowy figure tasked with advancing Putin’s foreign policy goals. He bankrolled the notorious troll farm that the US government sanctioned for interference in the 2016 US presidential election; created a substantial mercenary force that played a key role in conflicts from Ukraine’s Donbas region to the Syrian civil war; and helped Moscow make a play for influence on the African continent.

    He gained notoriety after Russia launched its full-scale war on Ukraine in February 2022. The private military chief seemingly built influence with Putin over the course of the conflict, with his Wagner forces taking a leading role in the labored but ultimately successful assault on Bakhmut earlier this year. The capture of that city was a rare Russian gain in Ukraine in recent months, boosting Prigozhin’s profile further.

    His forces are known for their brutal tactics and little regard for human life and have been accused of several war crimes and other atrocities. Several former Wagner fighters have spoken of the brutality of the force. Prigozhin himself has previously told CNN that Wagner was an “exemplary military organization that complies with all the necessary laws and rules of modern wars.”

    Using his new-found fame, Prigozhin criticized Russia’s military leadership and its handling of the war in Ukraine – with few consequences. But he crossed numerous red lines with Putin over the weekend.

    Surovikin is known in Russia as “General Armageddon,” a reference to his alleged brutality.

    He first served in Afghanistan in the 1980s before commanding a unit in the Second Chechen War ​in 2004.

    That year, according to Russian media accounts and at least two think tanks, he berated a subordinate so severely that the subordinate took his own life.

    A book by the Washington DC-based Jamestown Foundation, a think tank, said that during the unsuccessful coup attempt against former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev in August 1991, soldiers under Surovikin’s command killed three protesters, leading to Surovikin spending at least six months in prison.

    As the Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Aerospace Forces during Russia’s operations in Syria, he oversaw Russian combat aircraft causing widespread devastation in rebel-held areas.

    In a 2020 report, Human Rights Watch named him as “someone who may bear ​command responsibility” for the dozens of air and ground attacks on civilian objects and infrastructure in violation of the laws of war​” during the 2019-2020 Idlib offensive in Syria. ​

    The attacks killed at least 1,600 ​civilians and forced the displacement of an estimated 1.4 million people, according to HRW​​, which cites UN figures.

    The general consensus among western officials and analysts is clear: in his entire 23 years in power, the Russian president has never looked weaker.

    US President Joe Biden told CNN on Wednesday that Putin has “absolutely” been weakened by the short-lived mutiny and said Putin was “clearly losing the war.”

    The European Union’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs said the Wagner rebellion showed Putin was “not the only master in town” and “has lost the monopoly of force.”

    Speaking to journalists in Brussels on Thursday, Josep Borrell cautioned that the global community has to be “very much aware of the consequences” adding that “a weaker Putin is a greater danger.”

    As for his domestic image, Putin appears to have embarked on a charm offensive, trying to reassert his authority.

    He has attended an unusually high number of meetings in the past few days and was even seen greeting members of public. That is a stark reversal of tactic. Putin has stayed in near-seclusion for the past three years.

    On Wednesday though, he flew for an official visit to Dagestan, meeting local officials and supporters in the streets of the city of Derbent, according to video posted by the Kremlin. On Thursday, he attended – once again in person – a business event in Moscow.

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  • Intelligence indicates Russian general had advanced knowledge of Wagner leader’s mutiny effort

    Intelligence indicates Russian general had advanced knowledge of Wagner leader’s mutiny effort

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    Intelligence indicates Russian general had advanced knowledge of Wagner leader’s mutiny effort – CBS News


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    According to U.S. intelligence, a senior Russian general may have had advanced knowledge of Wagner Group mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin’s failed mutiny last week, CBS News has learned. The Kremlin has denied the allegations. Ian Lee reports.

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  • Wagner head arrives in Belarus, Lukashenko says

    Wagner head arrives in Belarus, Lukashenko says

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    Wagner head arrives in Belarus, Lukashenko says – CBS News


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    Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said Tuesday that exiled Wagner Group chief Yevgeny Prigozhin had arrived in the country. Russia has agreed to drop charges against Prigozhin stemming from his short-lived revolt. Ian Lee reports.

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  • Gaming out Russia’s future

    Gaming out Russia’s future

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    Press play to listen to this article

    Voiced by artificial intelligence.

    All eyes are on Moscow — but no one knows what they’re looking at. 

    Are there more uprisings in the works? Will Vladimir Putin escalate his brutality in Ukraine to compensate? Are his nukes secure? Will everything somehow return to a tense, war-time status quo? 

    These types of questions have gripped conversations after a failed mutiny saw the Wagner Group’s mercenaries march within hours of Moscow before turning back. 

    While Putin and Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin continue to spin dueling narratives about the rebellion, one thing appears certain: the Russian leader’s veneer of invincibility has shattered. 

    That does not mean the end of the Putin regime is imminent. But a host of hard-to-imagine and even bizarre scenarios are now being teased out as everyone speculates over what comes next.

    There are “more unknowns than knowns,” said a senior Central European diplomat, who like others was granted anonymity to discuss sensitive security matters. 

    POLITICO lays out a few of those knowns — and unknowns — about what will now unfold in the world’s largest country. 

    Putin’s next act: Repression? More war? Ousted?

    Images of Wagner troops capturing a major military headquarters before marching toward Moscow with few consequences, only to turn around without even facing arrest, have prompted confused musings about what the strongman leader’s potential next move. 

    Often, it’s a crackdown. 

    “What I think naturally follows from this now is even more repression in Russia,” said Laurie Bristow, who served as British ambassador to Russia from 2016 until 2020. 

    That hasn’t yet happened, though. In fact, despite deriding the mutiny’s leaders as having betrayed Russia, Putin claims to be offering those involved a way out. 

    On Monday, he said Wagner soldiers would be free to join regular forces, go home or head to Belarus — heightening speculation that the Moscow regime’s once-dominant position of power is withering. 

    Putin said an armed mutiny by Wagner mercenaries was a “stab in the back” and that the group’s chief Yevgeny Prigozhin had betrayed Russia | Natalia Kolesnikova/AFP via Getty Image

    One Eastern European diplomat said their assessment is that Prigozhin was “used by a particular group of the Kremlin/FSB elite dissatisfied with the current leadership” in the defense ministry. And, the diplomat added, Putin could still change the terms of his deal with the Wagner boss at any moment.

    That has just created more speculation about what the coming months will entail.

    Edgars Rinkēvičs, Latvia’s foreign minister and president-elect, listed a host of options, from “Putin trying to put more repression in place back home” to the Russian leader “trying to maybe launch some offensive in Ukraine, trying to show to his own public that he’s in full control.” 

    And while most experts believe Putin will hold on to power, for now, there is recognition that the West needs to consider a scenario where he is replaced. Powerful figures within Putin’s orbit and the FSB intelligence service are likely already eyeing the unfolding events — and Putin’s muddled response — to spot any opportunity. 

    “Chaos always carries risks, but there will come a time when the position of Putin is eroded and he is replaced,” said a Western European diplomat. 

    Speaking on Tuesday night alongside a group of European leaders, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte insisted NATO allies do not want instability.

    “I refute what Putin suggested yesterday, that we in the West want Russia to descend into domestic chaos,” Rutte said. “On the contrary, instability in Russia creates instability in Europe. So we are concerned. These developments are further proof that Putin’s war has achieved nothing but more instability — above all, it has inflicted intolerable suffering on the Ukrainian people.” 

    John Lough, a Russia specialist at Chatham House, said he believed Putin is unlikely to still be in power a year from now. 

    How that process unfolds — via coup or planned succession — would, of course, influence who comes next. 

    Emily Ferris, a research fellow at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), a leading London-based security and foreign policy think tank, argued the next Russian leader will likely be “a placeholder that’s very similar to him — somebody that has the ear of the security services, has some sort of security background, is able to control the oligarchs.”

    “The person that comes after that,” she added, “would be where the change comes from.” 

    Wagner’s next boss: Putin? Prigozhin? Belarus?

    The mutinous Wagner Group is, remarkably, not dead yet. Who it’s working for, however, is unclear. 

    On Tuesday, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko confirmed that Prigozhin had arrived in his country, where the Wagner boss said he will be allowed to keep operating his paramilitary firm. 

    The pledge befuddled many — why would Putin let a rogue force operate next door under the guise of a charismatic, traitorous leader? What is Belarus getting out of this arrangement? 

    Sergei Guneyev/Sputnik via AFP/Getty Images

    Officials in the region are anxiously eyeing the situation as they try to sort it out.

    Minsk has long been a close Moscow ally, and even let Russia launch attacks on Ukraine from within its borders. Earlier this month, Putin also said he had stationed a first batch of tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus. 

    Now, some of the Wagner fighters are apparently heading there. 

    “We have to monitor very closely all the movements of Wagner Group,” Estonian Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur warned Tuesday when asked whether the arrival of Wagner personnel in Belarus poses a regional risk.

    “It seems that there is much more to discover regarding the deal of Prigozhin and Lukashenka,” he said in a text message. 

    Asked about the presence of Wagner in Belarus, former U.S. Army Europe commanding general Ben Hodges said on Tuesday that this poses “not more risk for Ukraine … but potentially strengthens Lukashenko’s hand vs. his opposition and/or a future push by Russia.”

    “I imagine,” Hodges added, “he’ll also look at this Wagner connection as a business opportunity for himself in Africa.” 

    Speaking in the Hague on Tuesday, Polish President Andrzej Duda said that Wagner’s presence in Belarus is “really serious and very concerning” and that in his view the move requires a “very tough answer of NATO.” 

    Wagner forces are already in several African countries, including Mali and the Central African Republic, helping prop up anti-Western governments in exchange for access to natural resources. And Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has vowed they will keep working there. But not everyone is convinced that work will always be for Moscow.

    “Could Lukashenko be now smarter than Putin?” exclaimed a second Eastern European diplomat. “That would be the ultimate blow to Moscow!”  

    Moscow’s next chapter in Ukraine: Deflated troops? Fewer mercenaries? Dueling paramilitaries?

    Officials are working through how Wagner’s failed mutiny will impact the battlefield in Ukraine — both in terms of how many Wagner members return to fighting in Ukraine and how their mutiny affects the regular Russian military’s thinking. 

    “One of the things that we should be watching very closely over the next few days is whether morale takes a dive in the Russian army,” said Bristow, the former British ambassador. 

    But, he added, “We should be very cautious not to think this means that Ukraine does not still face a long, hard fight.”   

    Rescuers work in a 24-storey building hit by Russian missiles in Kyiv | Sergei Supinsky/AFP via Getty Images

    A senior Central European defense official underscored that if Wagner troops are no longer involved in Ukraine, it could change dynamics. 

    “Wagner Group was for many months the most effective fighting force on the Russian side in Ukraine,” the official said. “If the group is disbanded and will no longer be deployed in Ukraine, it will reduce Russia’s military offensive capacity.”

    And it’s not all about Wagner: the weekend mutiny could also impact the calculus of oligarchs, companies and commanders within Russia who control their own armed groups. 

    Rinkēvičs, Latvia’s foreign minister and president-elect, underscored that there are multiple private military entities in Russia — and that even more could emerge amid Putin’s weakening position. 

    “It’s not only about regular army in Russia, not about FSB,” Rinkēvičs said in a phone interview, “but also how this situation can develop if more and more oligarchs, or private companies or people in power are going to form their own private, mercenary forces, everyone needs to take this seriously.”

    The nukes’ next owner: The Russian state? A future mutineer?

    Russia’s vast nuclear arsenal is one element that sets it apart from most other countries undergoing political tumult. Officials are more than happy to see Putin weakened — but they also want to see nuclear weapons in stable hands.

    In fact, even at this frosty stage of the relationship with Moscow, Washington still appeared to be checking in with the Kremlin over the weekend about its nukes. Speaking on Monday, Lavrov said the American ambassador in Moscow had passed along a message “that the United States hopes that everything is fine with the nuclear weapons.” 

    But experts and officials say that they are confident nuclear weapons won’t fall into the wrong hands. 

    “It’s very hard to imagine a situation where the Russian state loses control of its nuclear arsenal,” said Bristow, the former British ambassador. 

    Others agree — but say that Russia’s nuclear arsenal could still play a role in a future power struggle. 

    “We’ve pretty good sight on what they do for security,” said William Alberque, a former director of NATO’s arms control center who now works at the International Institute for Strategic Studies and has in the past visited Russian nuclear sites. 

    “I have very high confidence that their nuclear weapons remain secure and under the command of the 12th GUMO,” he said, referring to a directorate of the Russian Ministry of Defense that manages Russia’s nuclear arsenal.

    People near Rostow-on-Don greeted the Wagner group mercenaries with waves and open arms | Roman Romokhov/AFP via Getty Images)

    But the 12th GUMO itself, Alberque said, could become a kingmaker in a future Russian game of thrones. Should Putin lose power, his successors may court the powerful directorate’s leadership — and whoever wins their backing would be in pole position to win a succession fight. 

    “If there were chaos in Moscow,” Alberque said, “if there was one or more pretenders, I think the smartest one would say, ‘I just talked to the commander of 12th GUMO.’”

    Paul McLeary and Tim Ross contributed reporting.

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  • Biden is turning the screw on Putin even as US denies role in Russia’s insurrection | CNN Politics

    Biden is turning the screw on Putin even as US denies role in Russia’s insurrection | CNN Politics

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    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.

    Every US commander in chief since Bill Clinton has sought in some way to engage the former KGB officer, whose mission to restore Russian greatness was ignited by his humiliation at the fall of the former Soviet Union. Most have sought some kind of reset of US-Russia relations. But all failed to avert the plunge in ties between the two nuclear superpowers.

    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. Barack Obama initially saw the Russian leader as a partner in a drive to end the threat of nuclear Armageddon. That didn’t stop Putin from annexing Crimea in 2014. And Donald Trump adopted a fawning approach to an autocrat and US foe he often seemed to want to emulate more than condemn.

    Biden, who came of age in Washington as a senator during some of the most embittered years of the US-Soviet standoff in the 1970s and 1980s, had fewer illusions about Putin than most. 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. Western support has not only enabled Ukraine to fight back against invading forces, it has helped turn the war into a quagmire that spiked political pressure on Putin and created battlefield conditions that likely helped lead to mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin’s revolt over the weekend.

    Putin appeared on camera on Monday, defiantly warning that he would have had no trouble suppressing the uprising had the Wagner Group leader not chosen to halt his march on Moscow in a deal that ostensibly will see him exiled to Belarus.

    But there was widespread agreement outside Russia that the showdown represented the most serious challenge to Putin’s grip on power during his generation in control and could even be a crack that spells the beginning of the end of his authority.

    So Biden, therefore, faces a possibility that none of the predecessors who wrestled with Putin had to contemplate – that he is dealing with the endgame of this modern czar, and the prospect of instability rocking a nuclear superpower that could have global implications.

    During the chaos that engulfed Russia this weekend, the US and its allies made clear that the eventually aborted showdown between Putin and Prigozhin was an internal Russian affair. After Moscow opened a propaganda front on Monday by claiming it was probing whether Western intelligence was involved in the coup attempt, Biden went out of his way to dismiss the idea, discussing how he had consulted with Western leaders on the right approach.

    “They agreed with me that we had to make sure we gave Putin no excuse. Let me emphasize, we gave Putin no excuse to blame this on the West or to blame this on NATO. We made clear that we were not involved. We had nothing to do with it,” the president told reporters.

    CNN reported Monday that the US had warning of Prigozhin’s intentions in advance, but only shared it with select senior officials and allies, including the British. The revelation appeared to be the latest indication that the US is getting high-grade, accurate intelligence from inside Russia, as it appears to have done for the last year. This in itself must be deeply irksome to Putin and may deepen his bunker mentality.

    Biden’s comments, meanwhile, also reflected the odd dichotomy of his strategy toward Putin. While sending Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky billions of dollars in arms and ammunition to fight for his country’s survival, Biden has simultaneously insisted that the US is not involved in a showdown with Russia, doing everything he can to avoid a direct clash between NATO and Russian forces that could risk a world war-style escalation.

    But the red lines have been constantly expanding. The stocks of ammunition, heavy artillery, Patriot anti-missile missiles and tanks that have been flowing into Ukraine would have been considered unthinkable when Putin ordered his troops over the border last February.

    Still, Biden’s insistence that there was no US involvement in the weekend rebellion is almost certainly a statement of fact. The US has no dog in a fight between a warlord like Prigozhin, whose guns for hire are accused of a catalog of atrocities in Ukraine and Syria, and a Russian leader who is the subject of an arrest warrant for war crimes.

    Moscow’s claims that the West was complicit in the uprising come across as a diversion from splits threatening to erode Putin’s rule. They appear designed to convince Russians to unite against an outside enemy. Putin has repeatedly styled the war in Ukraine as a struggle against what he sees as a Western effort to deny Russia its rightful status as a global power. This is a distraction from the fact he sent his troops into Ukraine in contravention of international law, sparking a conflict that has exposed the supposedly mighty Russian army as poorly led and equipped – a shell of the Red Army that upheld the Soviet Empire.

    While the US and its allies took care not to show triumphalism while Prigozhin’s rebellion was taking place, Western governments are now seeking to capitalize on it politically, as they try to build pressure on Putin inside Russia.

    Secretary of State Antony Blinken argued on America’s Sunday talk shows that while the US was not involved in the rebellion, it showed cracks in Putin’s power. This was a refrain taken up in Europe on Monday.

    “Prigozhin’s rebellion is an unprecedented challenge to President Putin’s authority, and it is clear that cracks are emerging in the Russian support for the war,” British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said. European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell adopted a similar line, after several days of consultation between top officials in the Western alliance. He said events show Russia’s military power “is cracking,” adding that the instability is also “affecting [Russia’s] political system.”

    Some experienced American observers have warned that it is far too soon to write Putin off.

    “This struck me as a desperation by Prigozhin to somehow keep the Wagner Group in operation. I don’t see it as a populist threat to Putin, I don’t see it as cracking the aura of Putin’s invincibility,” former Trump national security adviser John Bolton told CNN Monday, though he did allow that Putin’s military position is “undeniably” weakened.

    Putin has shown no sign that outside heat from Moscow’s foes will force him to retreat and bring his troops home. Indeed, his position may be so vulnerable that doing so without gains he could pass off publicly as a victory could pose an existential threat to his leadership. This explains why thousands of Russian troops have been sent into a “meat grinder” of a conflict, as Prigozhin called the battle in Bakhmut, that has shattered Russian prestige and worsened its strategic position in Europe.

    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.

    Unless the Russian leader can reestablish his authority, Biden may end up being the first 21st century American president who ends up outmaneuvering the strongman in the Kremlin.

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  • Biden says U.S. and allies

    Biden says U.S. and allies

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    Biden: U.S. and allies “had nothing to do with” Wagner rebellion in Russia


    Biden: U.S. and allies “had nothing to do with” Wagner rebellion in Russia

    02:40

    Washington — President Biden said Monday that the U.S. and its allies made clear to Moscow that they were not involved in the Wagner mercenary group’s brief uprising in Russia over the weekend, calling it “part of a struggle within the Russian system.” 

    Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin led an armed rebellion targeting Russia’s military leaders, accusing them of botching the war in Ukraine, and also criticized Russian President Vladimir Putin. Wagner fighters appeared to seize control of the Russian military headquarters in Rostov-on-Don, which oversees fighting in Ukraine, and were advancing toward Moscow until they were ordered back to their field camps when a truce brokered by Belarus was announced between Putin and Prigozhin. 

    Mr. Biden said he spoke with U.S. allies over the weekend to coordinate a response to the rebellion and asked his national security team to prepare for a “range of scenarios.” 

    “They agreed with me that we had to make sure we gave Putin no excuse — let me emphasize, we gave Putin no excuse — to blame this on the West, to blame this on NATO,” Mr. Biden said. “We made clear that we were not involved. We had nothing to do with it. This was part of a struggle within the Russian system.” 
    National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters Monday that the message was delivered to the Russians through various diplomatic channels. 

    “We also made clear to all our allies and partners that the United States was not involved and would not get involved in these events, and that we view them as internal Russian matters,” Kirby said at the White House press briefing. “We delivered that same message to the Russians themselves through appropriate diplomatic channels.” 

    The details of the deal between Putin and Prigozhin to end the rebellion were vague. As part of the truce, Prigozhin had agreed to move to Belarus to avoid prosecution. But Russian authorities said Monday the criminal charges hadn’t yet been dropped. 

    In a statement Monday, Prigozhin, whose whereabouts are unclear, said the mutiny was not aimed at overthrowing the Russian government, but was meant to prevent the loss of the Wagner Group’s autonomy to the Russian military. 

    The mutiny was one of the fiercest challenges to Putin’s leadership. Mr. Biden said the U.S. is still assessing the fallout and the implications for Russia and its invasion of Ukraine. 

    “It’s still too early to reach a definitive conclusion about where this is going,” Mr. Biden said. “The ultimate outcome of all this remains to be seen.” 

    Mr. Biden said the U.S. and its allies will continue to support Ukraine “no matter what happened in Russia.” 

    The president spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Sunday to reaffirm U.S. support for the country and the events in Russia. 

    “What we’re going to stay focused on is making sure that Ukraine can continue to succeed on the battlefield and not speculate about what this might or might not do on the political spectrum inside Russia,” Kirby said, later adding that the U.S. is “not taking sides in this internal matter” between Putin and Prigozhin. 

    Caitlin Yilek

    Caitlin Yilek is a politics reporter for CBS News Digital. Reach her at caitlin.yilek@cbsinteractive.com. Follow her on Twitter: https://twitter.com/hausofcait

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  • Wagner Group leader speaks for first time since uprising

    Wagner Group leader speaks for first time since uprising

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    Wagner Group leader speaks for first time since uprising – CBS News


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    The Kremlin made a deal with Yevgeny Prigozhin and his mercenary army, the Wagner Group, after he led uprising over the weekend. Prigozhin was given amnesty, along with his soldiers, and ordered to relocate to Belarus to prevent a potential crisis in Moscow. CBS News reporter Mary Ilyushina joins us with more.

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  • Uneasy calm settles on Moscow after deal struck between Russia, Wagner mercenary group

    Uneasy calm settles on Moscow after deal struck between Russia, Wagner mercenary group

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    Uneasy calm settles on Moscow after deal struck between Russia, Wagner mercenary group – CBS News


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    As Wagner troops were just 124 miles from the Russian capital Moscow on Saturday, the Kremlin announced a deal had been reached with Wagner group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin, who will head to Belarus and will not be charged. Ian Lee reports.

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  • Former U.S. ambassador to Russia John Sullivan says Putin-Wagner truce is

    Former U.S. ambassador to Russia John Sullivan says Putin-Wagner truce is

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    Former U.S. ambassador to Russia John Sullivan says Putin-Wagner truce is “evidence of weakness” of Putin – CBS News


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    Former U.S. Ambassador to Russia John Sullivan and U.S. national security correspondent David Martin join “Face the Nation” to discuss the Wagner march toward Moscow, which Martin said the speed of which “came as a surprise” to U.S. intelligence, and the deal between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Wagner group chief Yevgeny Prigozhin.

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  • Secretary of State Antony Blinken says “we haven’t seen the last act yet” in Russia’s Wagner rebellion

    Secretary of State Antony Blinken says “we haven’t seen the last act yet” in Russia’s Wagner rebellion

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    Secretary of State Antony Blinken says “we haven’t seen the last act yet” in Russia’s Wagner rebellion – CBS News


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    Secretary of State Antony Blinken tells “Face the Nation” that although a deal has been brokered between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Wagner group chief Yevgeny Prigozhin, “we haven’t seen the last act yet.”

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  • Russian Mercenaries’ Revolt Undermines Putin, Could Lead To More Challenges

    Russian Mercenaries’ Revolt Undermines Putin, Could Lead To More Challenges

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    For the first time in his more than 20-year rule, President Vladimir Putin’s power appeared to hang in the balance this weekend.

    And even though the rebellious Russian mercenary forces who descended on Moscow have turned back, Putin will struggle to project the image of a man in total control that he once did. That could set the stage for further challenges to his rule at home and could weaken Russia’s hand in the war in Ukraine.

    With spectacular ease and a stated aim of ousting Russia’s defense minister, Yevgeny Prigozhin’s Wagner troops swept into Rostov-on-Don, a city of 1.1 million people, and seized the military headquarters there. They then continued hundreds of kilometers (miles) north on a lightning march toward the capital without meeting any serious resistance.

    Some were even cheered — a sign that Prigozhin’s positioning of himself as an enemy of a corrupt and incompetent elite resonated and a detail that will not be lost on those surrounding Putin in the coming days.

    “This whole episode has sowed really profound anxiety across Russia’s elites,” said Nigel Gould-Davies, a senior fellow for Russia and Eurasia at the Institute for Strategic Studies. The actions of the Russian leader’s one-time protégé “severely shake confidence in Putin among those around him who matter.”

    For several tense hours, the Kremlin seemed powerless as Wagner convoys rolled through Russia, smashing occasional roadblocks and shooting down aircraft sent by the military in a desperate attempt to stop them.

    With the bulk of Russian forces tied up in the fighting in Ukraine, authorities rushed a motley collection of troops and police to protect Moscow, dug up roads and even blew up bridges to slow down the onslaught.

    Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and General Staff chief Gen. Valery Gerasimov vanished from public view on that decisive day, amplifying the sense of weakness and lack of control.

    In a televised address to the nation broadcast early Saturday, a somber-looking Putin accused Prigozhin of betrayal and compared the situation to the collapse of the Russian empire in 1917.

    But hours later, the Russian leader granted Prigozhin amnesty — on condition that he goes into exile in Belarus.

    TV Appeal of the President of Russia Vladimir Putin to the citizens of Russia, personnel of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation and law enforcement officers in connection with the situation with PMC Wagner as shown on TV.

    Artem Priakhin/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

    While the Kremlin tried to cast the deal as a wise move that helped avoid a looming bloodbath, it was a remarkable compromise for a man who has relentlessly suppressed any sign of dissent and sometimes violently silenced foes daring to criticize him.

    The quick pardon for Prigozhin stood in contrast to the Kremlin’s methodical crackdown on dissidents and critics of the war in Ukraine, who have faced prosecution, forced exile or even violent deaths. For many in Putin’s Russia, his handling of the revolt was a sign of unforgivable weakness.

    “Prigozhin demonstrated that it’s possible to capture a city of a million people with impunity, put demands to the country’s leadership, refuse to obey its orders and mount military marches on Moscow while killing Russian soldiers on the way,” said Viktor Alksnis, a retired Soviet air force colonel and current hardliner who expresses views shared by many Russian hawks, who have been increasingly critical of Putin’s rule and his handling of the war in Ukraine. “Russia has moved a step closer to its final and irreparable collapse.”

    The blow to Putin comes on top of repeated Russian failures in his 16-month war in Ukraine.

    Gould-Davies noted that the mutiny has destabilized the military and badly hurt troop morale, opening new opportunities to Ukraine, now in the initial stages of its counteroffensive.

    “This is Russians killing Russians on Russian territory while Russia is trying to contain a Ukrainian counteroffensive,” Gould-Davies observed. “This is not what Russia wants in wartime.”

    While the deal with Prigozhin could bring some Wagner troops under the control of the Defense Ministry — a demand that the mercenary leader had previously rejected, precipitating the conflict — it’s a small compensation for the huge damage to the government authority that the crisis has inflicted.

    Kirill Rogov, a political analyst who has long studied Putin’s politics, observed that the problem was of the Russian president’s own making: He tolerated Prigozhin’s feud with the top military leaders as part of his strategy to shift blame for the military blunders in Ukraine and play members of the elite against one another in an apparent belief that he could fully control Prigozhin.

    “Golem’s creator always thinks that he can be stopped and he makes him look increasingly convincing in order to scare others,” Rogov wrote in a commentary, referring to a clay creature brought to life in Jewish folklore.

    Putin did stop Prigozhin in the end — but at a steep price.

    Associated Press writer Danica Kirka in London contributed to this report.

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