Russia

Deutsche Welle reports: Russian investigators on Sunday confirmed that Yevgeny Prigozhin was among those who died in a plane crash in Russia earlier this week. Prigozhin was the leader of the Wagner private military group, which staged a mutiny against the Kremlin in late June. Russia’s Investigation Committee said that the results of genetic tests had confirmed the identities of …

Reuters reports: The Kremlin said that Western suggestions Russian mercenary boss Yevgeny Prigozhin had been killed on its orders were an “absolute lie” while declining to definitively confirm his death, citing the need to wait for test results. Russia’s aviation authority has said that Prigozhin, head of the Wagner mercenary group, was on board a private jet which crashed on …

The Washington Post reports: In Russian President Vladimir Putin’s first remarks on the mysterious plane crash in the Tver region of Russia on Wednesday, he appeared to eulogize Wagner Group chief Yevgeniy Prigozhin, but stopped short of confirming his death. He promised a full investigation, saying it would take “some time.” He said he had known Prigozhin, an ally-turned-rival who …

The Independent reports: Masked men claiming to belong to the Wagner Group have warned the Kremlin to “get ready for us” after the reported death of their leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin. “There’s a lot of talk right now about what the Wagner Group will do. We can tell you one thing, we are getting started, get ready for us,” the masked …

Sky News reports: Ten people have been killed in a private jet crash north of Moscow – with the Russian Civil Aviation Authority saying Yevgeny Prigozhin was on the passenger list. Seven passengers and three crew were on board the Embraer aircraft, which was en route from Moscow to St Petersburg, TASS news agency reported. The jet is said to …

Reuters reports: Russia’s first moon mission in 47 years failed when its Luna-25 space craft spun out of control and crashed into the moon after a problem preparing for pre-landing orbit, underscoring the post-Soviet decline of a once mighty space program. Russia’s state space corporation, Roskosmos, said it had lost contact with the craft at 11:57 GMT on Saturday after …

The New Republic reports: Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy has a reckless plan for achieving U.S. global dominance: giving away other countries’ territory. Ramaswamy is already under fire for his objectively terrible plan to let China invade Taiwan after 2028 if he were elected. Now, the presidential hopeful thinks that Russia should be allowed to keep the parts of Ukraine …

The Daily Beast reports: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. debated Fox News host Sean Hannity during a town hall event Tuesday about the United States’ role in the Russia-Ukraine war, with the 2024 presidential candidate claiming that the U.S. had been “pushing” Ukraine into the war. Kennedy Jr. claimed that the expansion of NATO after the fall of the Soviet Union …

The Insider reports: The exodus of Russians started after many highly educated professionals — such as academics, finance, and tech workers — left Russia in the early days of the war. By October 2022, about 700,000 Russians had left the country, Reuters reported citing Russian media — however, the Kremlin rejected those numbers saying it doesn’t have this data. Many …

The Guardian reports: A sweeping Russian draft law to ban legally or medically changing gender has been approved by the lower house of parliament in its final reading, part of a crackdown against LGBTQ+ rights under the president, Vladimir Putin. The bill would bar Russians from changing their gender on official identity documents, which had been legal since 1997. Health …

Reuters reports: Russia said on Monday that it had halted participation in a landmark UN-brokered deal which allowed Ukrainian grain to be exported through the Black Sea just hours after Moscow said Ukraine had attacked the Crimean Bridge. The Kremlin said the halting of the Black Sea grain deal, brokered by the United Nations and Turkey to combat a global …

The Associated Press reports: Russian mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin is in St. Petersburg and his Wagner troops have remained at the camps where they had stayed before a short-lived mutiny against Moscow, the president of Belarus said Thursday. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko helped broker a deal for Prigozhin to end his rebellion on June 24 in exchange for amnesty and …

Bloomberg News reports: A Russian general who’s been questioned over the failed mutiny by Wagner mercenaries was conspicuously absent at a meeting of top army chiefs where Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu denounced the rebellion. Sergei Surovikin, 56, a career military officer dubbed “General Armageddon” for his ruthless tactics in Syria, hasn’t been seen since the short-lived rebellion ended on June …

The Guardian reports: A Russian general who previously led the invasion force in Ukraine has not been seen in public since Saturday, with US intelligence reportedly claiming he had prior knowledge of the uprising led by the Wagner chief, Yevgeny Prigozhin. Gen Sergei Surovikin is the head of the Russian aerospace forces and formerly Moscow’s supreme commander in Ukraine. Prigozhin …

The New York Times reports: With palpable anger, President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia made his first public comments since a paramilitary revolt was called off on Saturday, saying in a five-minute speech that the uprising led by Yevgeny V. Prigozhin — who he did not mention by name — failed because “the entire Russian society united and rallied everyone.” …

The New York Times reports: Yevgeny V. Prigozhin, the leader of the Wagner mercenary group who mounted a brief uprising against Russia’s military command over the weekend, broke a long period of silence on Monday to deny, once more, that he had any intention of seizing power with his march on Moscow. “We went to demonstrate our protest, and not …

The Telegraph reports: Russian intelligence services threatened to harm the families of Wagner leaders before Yevgeny Prigozhin called off his advance on Moscow, according to UK security sources. It has also been assessed that the mercenary force had only 8,000 fighters rather than the 25,000 claimed and faced likely defeat in any attempt to take the Russian capital. Vladimir Putin …

Reuters reports: Russia has faced “a challenge to its stability” and must remain united behind President Vladimir Putin, its prime minister said on Monday, after mercenaries briefly occupied a strategic command centre for its Ukraine war and marched on Moscow. The armed mutiny over the weekend by the powerful Wagner Group and its abrupt ending with no apparent penalties for …

The New York Times reports: The outlines of a deal that appeared to defuse a rapidly evolving Russian security crisis began to come into focus late Saturday, as the Kremlin announced that a Russian mercenary leader, who for nearly 24 hours led an armed uprising against the country’s military leadership, would flee to Belarus and his fighters would escape repercussions. …

The Washington Post reports: Mercenaries are halting their travel toward Moscow and turning back from the city, Wagner Group leader Yevgeniy Prigozhin said in an audio message Saturday. After a day of mounting tension in Russia as Prigozhin’s forces advanced in the direction of the capital, his statement appeared to signal a possible end to the immediate crisis. Prigozhin said …