Prigozhin says Wagner mercenary group for now will not fight in Ukraine
RIGA, Latvia — Wagner boss Yevgeniy Prigozhin, in what appeared to be the first video of him since he led a short-lived rebellion in late June, said the Russian mercenary group will for now not fight in Ukraine and repeated his criticism that Russia’s Ukraine invasion has been botched.
The blurry clip, apparently filmed at dusk, showed a man resembling Prigozhin addressing a crowd of at least several hundred men in military fatigues. He vowed to continue operating the Wagner Group in Africa and turn the military of Belarus, his new host country, into “the second army in the world.”
“Congratulations on the arrival to the Belarusian land. We fought well. You have done a lot for Russia,” Prigozhin said in the clip, posted by the ‘Wagner Unloading” Telegram channel and verified by The Post. “
Read the full story here.
RIGA, Latvia — Wagner boss Yevgeniy Prigozhin, in what appeared to be the first video of him since he led a short-lived rebellion in late June, said the Russian mercenary group will for now not fight in Ukraine and repeated his criticism that Russia’s Ukraine invasion has been botched.
The blurry clip, apparently filmed at dusk, showed a man resembling Prigozhin addressing a crowd of at least several hundred men in military fatigues. He vowed to continue operating the Wagner Group in Africa and turn the military of Belarus, his new host country, into “the second army in the world.”
“Congratulations on the arrival to the Belarusian land. We fought well. You have done a lot for Russia,” Prigozhin said in the clip, posted by the ‘Wagner Unloading” Telegram channel and verified by The Post. “
Read the full story here.
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Here is the latest from Ukraine:
- Missile strikes pummeled Ukraine’s Black Sea port region of Odessa for the third night in a row, while an attack on the nearby port city of Mykolaiv left two killed and 19 people wounded, including five children, Ukrainian officials said early Thursday.
- The United States slapped sanctions Thursday on Russian technology supply and development companies, as well as Kyrgyz companies that the U.S. accused of acting as intermediaries to allow Russia to import electronic equipment, bypassing Western sanctions.
- In the southeast, Ukraine has started using controversial U.S.-made cluster munitions, hoping to break up fortified Russian positions that have slowed its offensive, according to Ukrainian officials familiar with the matter.
- Ships headed to Ukrainian ports on the Black Sea could be considered potential carriers of military cargo as of Thursday, the Russian Defense Ministry said.
More live updates here.
- Missile strikes pummeled Ukraine’s Black Sea port region of Odessa for the third night in a row, while an attack on the nearby port city of Mykolaiv left two killed and 19 people wounded, including five children, Ukrainian officials said early Thursday.
- The United States slapped sanctions Thursday on Russian technology supply and development companies, as well as Kyrgyz companies that the U.S. accused of acting as intermediaries to allow Russia to import electronic equipment, bypassing Western sanctions.
- In the southeast, Ukraine has started using controversial U.S.-made cluster munitions, hoping to break up fortified Russian positions that have slowed its offensive, according to Ukrainian officials familiar with the matter.
- Ships headed to Ukrainian ports on the Black Sea could be considered potential carriers of military cargo as of Thursday, the Russian Defense Ministry said.
More live updates here.
Here is the latest from Ukraine:
- Russia struck Odessa early Friday in the fourth day of pounding the Ukrainian port region on the Black Sea, the governor said. The attack on an agricultural facility there injured two employees and destroyed tons of peas and barley, Oleh Kiper said, days after the Kremlin pulled out of a U.N.-backed grain export deal.
- On the battlefield, Ukraine is using U.S.-provided cluster munitions in an attempt to push through Russian lines in the southeast, The Washington Post reported.
- The CIA director suggested Russian President Vladimir Putin may still seek revenge on Wagner Group chief Yevgeniy Prigozhin over his short-lived mutiny last month.
- The U.N. Security Council will meet Friday to discuss Russia’s pullout from the grain deal and the humanitarian consequences, Britain’s Mission to the United Nations said.
More live updates here.
- Russia struck Odessa early Friday in the fourth day of pounding the Ukrainian port region on the Black Sea, the governor said. The attack on an agricultural facility there injured two employees and destroyed tons of peas and barley, Oleh Kiper said, days after the Kremlin pulled out of a U.N.-backed grain export deal.
- On the battlefield, Ukraine is using U.S.-provided cluster munitions in an attempt to push through Russian lines in the southeast, The Washington Post reported.
- The CIA director suggested Russian President Vladimir Putin may still seek revenge on Wagner Group chief Yevgeniy Prigozhin over his short-lived mutiny last month.
- The U.N. Security Council will meet Friday to discuss Russia’s pullout from the grain deal and the humanitarian consequences, Britain’s Mission to the United Nations said.
More live updates here.
Ukraine’s new Bradley Fighting Vehicles face damage and quick repairs
ZAPORIZHZHIA REGION, Ukraine — The Ukrainian commander of the Bradley infantry fighting vehicle was unloading troops at the front and then planned to transport three injured soldiers back to a field hospital. “But in that one minute, you suddenly have 30, 40, 50 shells flying in — everything explodes, soil is flying around, everything lights up,” said the commander, who asked to be identified by his call sign, CZ, in keeping with Ukrainian military protocol.
The Bradley — a heavily armed troop transporter that can destroy other armored vehicles — was damaged by shrapnel, but CZ and his crew survived. In the opening month of Ukraine’s long-anticipated counteroffensive, newly provided Bradleys and German Leopard tanks — predictably — have taken hits.
Read the full story here.
ZAPORIZHZHIA REGION, Ukraine — The Ukrainian commander of the Bradley infantry fighting vehicle was unloading troops at the front and then planned to transport three injured soldiers back to a field hospital. “But in that one minute, you suddenly have 30, 40, 50 shells flying in — everything explodes, soil is flying around, everything lights up,” said the commander, who asked to be identified by his call sign, CZ, in keeping with Ukrainian military protocol.
The Bradley — a heavily armed troop transporter that can destroy other armored vehicles — was damaged by shrapnel, but CZ and his crew survived. In the opening month of Ukraine’s long-anticipated counteroffensive, newly provided Bradleys and German Leopard tanks — predictably — have taken hits.
Read the full story here.
In Central Asia, a hidden pipeline supplies Russia with banned tech
On the shipping label, the Chinese drones were billed as heavy-duty cropdusters, the kind used by orchards and big farms. But the identity of the buyer — a Russian company that purchased a truckload of the aircraft in early May at nearly $14,000 each — hinted at other possible uses.
The drones’ potential military value, ironically, had been noted by Russia’s government, which last year seized four aircraft of the same model in eastern Ukraine and claimed that Kyiv was planning to use them for chemical warfare. The sturdy all-weather quadcopters are built to carry payloads of nearly 70 pounds and are designed to glide at treetop level trailing a fog of liquid chemicals.
Whatever their intended use, the drones were on the final leg of a trek across Central Asia when they were intercepted by customs officers near the border between Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.
Read the full story here.
On the shipping label, the Chinese drones were billed as heavy-duty cropdusters, the kind used by orchards and big farms. But the identity of the buyer — a Russian company that purchased a truckload of the aircraft in early May at nearly $14,000 each — hinted at other possible uses.
The drones’ potential military value, ironically, had been noted by Russia’s government, which last year seized four aircraft of the same model in eastern Ukraine and claimed that Kyiv was planning to use them for chemical warfare. The sturdy all-weather quadcopters are built to carry payloads of nearly 70 pounds and are designed to glide at treetop level trailing a fog of liquid chemicals.
Whatever their intended use, the drones were on the final leg of a trek across Central Asia when they were intercepted by customs officers near the border between Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.
Read the full story here.
Russia arrests Igor Girkin ex-security officer who led operations in Ukraine
RIGA, Latvia — Russian authorities on Friday detained Igor Girkin, a former Russian commander in Ukraine and prominent war blogger, reportedly on charges of promoting extremism — marking the first time Moscow has taken action against a fervent supporter of the war in Ukraine but one who voiced loud criticism of Russian leaders and their often botched military strategy.
Criticizing the war and the military is illegal in Russia, and authorities have cracked down mercilessly on those expressing antiwar views, including schoolchildren. But Russian law enforcement has ignored fierce, often fiery, criticism from pro-war hawks who have lambasted battlefield decisions, decried repeated military setbacks and demanded harsher attacks on Ukraine.
Read the full story here.
RIGA, Latvia — Russian authorities on Friday detained Igor Girkin, a former Russian commander in Ukraine and prominent war blogger, reportedly on charges of promoting extremism — marking the first time Moscow has taken action against a fervent supporter of the war in Ukraine but one who voiced loud criticism of Russian leaders and their often botched military strategy.
Criticizing the war and the military is illegal in Russia, and authorities have cracked down mercilessly on those expressing antiwar views, including schoolchildren. But Russian law enforcement has ignored fierce, often fiery, criticism from pro-war hawks who have lambasted battlefield decisions, decried repeated military setbacks and demanded harsher attacks on Ukraine.
Read the full story here.
Here is the latest from Ukraine:
- Russian forces held a live-fire exercise in the Black Sea on Friday, and also struck granaries in Ukraine’s port region of Odessa, ramping up tensions days after Moscow pulled out of a U.N.-backed grain export deal.
- Two children were killed in a Russian artillery strike on a village in the Donetsk region.
- Russian authorities detained Igor Girkin, a former Russian commander in Ukraine and prominent war blogger, on Friday.
- The CIA director suggested that Putin could still seek revenge on Wagner Group chief Yevgeniy Prigozhin over his short-lived mutiny.
- Tensions around maritime activity are simmering and the price of wheat futures has risen, though it has not reached its May 2022 high.
- Zelensky called for limits on funding cultural activities during the war in his nightly address.
More live updates here.
- Russian forces held a live-fire exercise in the Black Sea on Friday, and also struck granaries in Ukraine’s port region of Odessa, ramping up tensions days after Moscow pulled out of a U.N.-backed grain export deal.
- Two children were killed in a Russian artillery strike on a village in the Donetsk region.
- Russian authorities detained Igor Girkin, a former Russian commander in Ukraine and prominent war blogger, on Friday.
- The CIA director suggested that Putin could still seek revenge on Wagner Group chief Yevgeniy Prigozhin over his short-lived mutiny.
- Tensions around maritime activity are simmering and the price of wheat futures has risen, though it has not reached its May 2022 high.
- Zelensky called for limits on funding cultural activities during the war in his nightly address.
More live updates here.
Here is the latest from Ukraine:
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan it was an “absolute priority” to restore the Black Sea corridor, where ships carry Ukrainian grain to the world, according to the Ukrainian leader’s office. Turkey’s presidential office acknowledged the two held a phone call Friday and discussed the grain deal from which Russia withdrew this week.
- U.N. aid chief Martin Griffiths said millions of people are at risk of hunger after Russia’s withdrawal from the grain deal.
- Zelensky described the Crimean Bridge as a target for Ukraine that must be “neutralized.” “This is not just a logistical road, this is the road used to feed the war with ammunition,” he said at the Aspen Security Forum.
- Radar imagery appears to show newly arrived vehicles and equipment in Belarus, at a rumored base for fighters from the Wagner Group.
More live updates here.
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan it was an “absolute priority” to restore the Black Sea corridor, where ships carry Ukrainian grain to the world, according to the Ukrainian leader’s office. Turkey’s presidential office acknowledged the two held a phone call Friday and discussed the grain deal from which Russia withdrew this week.
- U.N. aid chief Martin Griffiths said millions of people are at risk of hunger after Russia’s withdrawal from the grain deal.
- Zelensky described the Crimean Bridge as a target for Ukraine that must be “neutralized.” “This is not just a logistical road, this is the road used to feed the war with ammunition,” he said at the Aspen Security Forum.
- Radar imagery appears to show newly arrived vehicles and equipment in Belarus, at a rumored base for fighters from the Wagner Group.
More live updates here.
Here is the latest from Ukraine:
- A drone struck a skyscraper in Moscow early Monday, shattering glass on its 17th and 18th floors, Russian officials reported. The wreckage of a second drone was found on Komsomolsky Prospect, a thoroughfare in central Moscow. Mayor Sergey Sobyanin said there were no casualties.
- The incident comes after another night of attacks on Ukraine’s Odessa region. Drones targeted port infrastructure along the Danube River, injuring six people and destroying a grain hangar, said Oleh Kiper, the regional governor.
- Ukraine attacked an ammunition depot in Crimea with drones overnight, the Russian-backed head of the peninsula said.
- Ukraine has taken back about half of the land that Russia initially seized in the invasion, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said during an interview with CNN.
- Ukrainian pilots will begin training with F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft developed by the U.S. Air Force next month, the Ukrainian Defense Minister told CNN.
More live updates here.
- A drone struck a skyscraper in Moscow early Monday, shattering glass on its 17th and 18th floors, Russian officials reported. The wreckage of a second drone was found on Komsomolsky Prospect, a thoroughfare in central Moscow. Mayor Sergey Sobyanin said there were no casualties.
- The incident comes after another night of attacks on Ukraine’s Odessa region. Drones targeted port infrastructure along the Danube River, injuring six people and destroying a grain hangar, said Oleh Kiper, the regional governor.
- Ukraine attacked an ammunition depot in Crimea with drones overnight, the Russian-backed head of the peninsula said.
- Ukraine has taken back about half of the land that Russia initially seized in the invasion, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said during an interview with CNN.
- Ukrainian pilots will begin training with F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft developed by the U.S. Air Force next month, the Ukrainian Defense Minister told CNN.
More live updates here.
Russia comes under global criticism for grain deal pullout, port attacks
Russia is facing a barrage of criticism from countries around the world — including some of its friends — for its strikes on Ukrainian ports and its decision this week to suspend participation in a U.N. deal that allowed Ukrainian grain to be exported through the Black Sea.
Senior diplomats at a meeting of the U.N. Security Council on Friday excoriated Russia’s moves, which have sent grain prices soaring and which officials warned would exacerbate global food insecurity, leading some people in the world’s poorest countries to starve.
“Russia is waging war on the world’s food supply,” Linda Thomas-Greenfield, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said. “Russian exporters are already benefiting while millions who cannot afford higher-priced grain suffer, especially people in the Middle East and Africa. Let’s be clear: Russia has zero, zero legitimate reason to suspend its participation in this arrangement.”
Read the full story here.
Russia is facing a barrage of criticism from countries around the world — including some of its friends — for its strikes on Ukrainian ports and its decision this week to suspend participation in a U.N. deal that allowed Ukrainian grain to be exported through the Black Sea.
Senior diplomats at a meeting of the U.N. Security Council on Friday excoriated Russia’s moves, which have sent grain prices soaring and which officials warned would exacerbate global food insecurity, leading some people in the world’s poorest countries to starve.
“Russia is waging war on the world’s food supply,” Linda Thomas-Greenfield, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said. “Russian exporters are already benefiting while millions who cannot afford higher-priced grain suffer, especially people in the Middle East and Africa. Let’s be clear: Russia has zero, zero legitimate reason to suspend its participation in this arrangement.”
Read the full story here.
Ukraine is now the most mined country. It will take decades to make safe.
In a year and a half of conflict, land mines — along with unexploded bombs, artillery shells and other deadly byproducts of war — have contaminated a swath of Ukraine roughly the size of Florida or Uruguay. It has become the world’s most mined country.
The transformation of Ukraine’s heartland into patches of wasteland riddled with danger is a long-term calamity on a scale that ordnance experts say has rarely been seen, and that could take hundreds of years and billions of dollars to undo.
Efforts to clear the hazards, known as unexploded ordnance, along with those to measure the full extent of the problem, can only proceed so far given that the conflict is still underway. But data collected by Ukraine’s government and independent humanitarian mine clearance groups tells a stark story.
Read the full story here.
In a year and a half of conflict, land mines — along with unexploded bombs, artillery shells and other deadly byproducts of war — have contaminated a swath of Ukraine roughly the size of Florida or Uruguay. It has become the world’s most mined country.
The transformation of Ukraine’s heartland into patches of wasteland riddled with danger is a long-term calamity on a scale that ordnance experts say has rarely been seen, and that could take hundreds of years and billions of dollars to undo.
Efforts to clear the hazards, known as unexploded ordnance, along with those to measure the full extent of the problem, can only proceed so far given that the conflict is still underway. But data collected by Ukraine’s government and independent humanitarian mine clearance groups tells a stark story.
Read the full story here.
Here is the latest from Ukraine:
- A drone struck a skyscraper in Moscow early Monday, shattering glass on the 17th and 18th floors, Russian officials reported.
- The overnight drone attack in Odessa lasted four hours, Ukrainian officials said on Telegram, part of a string of attacks in the port region since Russia pulled out of a U.N.-backed grain export deal.
- Ukraine attacked an ammunition depot in Crimea with drones overnight, the Russian-backed head of the peninsula said.
- Ukraine has taken back about half of the land that Russia initially seized in the invasion, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said.
- Russia is putting a “renewed emphasis on military induction for children,” Britain’s Defense Ministry said.
- Russian President Vladimir Putin accused Western partners of the Black Sea grain deal of failing to address global food insecurity.
- Putin and Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko met in St. Petersburg on Sunday, Russian state media reported.
More live updates here.
- A drone struck a skyscraper in Moscow early Monday, shattering glass on the 17th and 18th floors, Russian officials reported.
- The overnight drone attack in Odessa lasted four hours, Ukrainian officials said on Telegram, part of a string of attacks in the port region since Russia pulled out of a U.N.-backed grain export deal.
- Ukraine attacked an ammunition depot in Crimea with drones overnight, the Russian-backed head of the peninsula said.
- Ukraine has taken back about half of the land that Russia initially seized in the invasion, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said.
- Russia is putting a “renewed emphasis on military induction for children,” Britain’s Defense Ministry said.
- Russian President Vladimir Putin accused Western partners of the Black Sea grain deal of failing to address global food insecurity.
- Putin and Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko met in St. Petersburg on Sunday, Russian state media reported.
More live updates here.
Here is the latest from Ukraine:
- Russia said it had the “right to take tough retaliatory measures” after claiming it thwarted two drone attacks in Moscow on Monday, which shattered windows on the 17th and 18th floors of a skyscraper but left no casualties.
- Ukrainian authorities continue to warn citizens of strikes in Odessa, a southern port city that has sustained Russian attacks for several days in a row, killing at least one person and injuring many more, including children.
- Ukraine’s defense minister said the country will continue to launch attacks on Crimea and the Crimean Bridge, which connects the peninsula to Russia.
- Experts found land mines on the periphery of Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant during a walk-through this week, International Atomic Energy Agency Director Rafael Mariano Grossi said.
More live updates here.
- Russia said it had the “right to take tough retaliatory measures” after claiming it thwarted two drone attacks in Moscow on Monday, which shattered windows on the 17th and 18th floors of a skyscraper but left no casualties.
- Ukrainian authorities continue to warn citizens of strikes in Odessa, a southern port city that has sustained Russian attacks for several days in a row, killing at least one person and injuring many more, including children.
- Ukraine’s defense minister said the country will continue to launch attacks on Crimea and the Crimean Bridge, which connects the peninsula to Russia.
- Experts found land mines on the periphery of Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant during a walk-through this week, International Atomic Energy Agency Director Rafael Mariano Grossi said.
More live updates here.
Putin appeared paralyzed and unable to act in first hours of rebellion
When Yevgeniy Prigozhin, the head of the Wagner mercenary group, launched his attempted mutiny on the morning of June 24, Vladimir Putin was paralyzed and unable to act decisively, according to Ukrainian and other security officials in Europe. No orders were issued for most of the day, the officials said.
The Russian president had been warned by the Russian security services at least two or three days ahead of time that Prigozhin was preparing a possible rebellion, according to intelligence assessments shared with The Washington Post. Steps were taken to boost security at several strategic facilities, including the Kremlin, where staffing in the presidential guard was increased and more weapons were handed out, but otherwise no actions were taken, these officials said.
Read the full story here.
When Yevgeniy Prigozhin, the head of the Wagner mercenary group, launched his attempted mutiny on the morning of June 24, Vladimir Putin was paralyzed and unable to act decisively, according to Ukrainian and other security officials in Europe. No orders were issued for most of the day, the officials said.
The Russian president had been warned by the Russian security services at least two or three days ahead of time that Prigozhin was preparing a possible rebellion, according to intelligence assessments shared with The Washington Post. Steps were taken to boost security at several strategic facilities, including the Kremlin, where staffing in the presidential guard was increased and more weapons were handed out, but otherwise no actions were taken, these officials said.
Read the full story here.