Russia

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 …

The Independent reports: US President Joe Biden has been briefed and his administration is closely monitoring fast-moving developments in Russia as Vladimir Putin vowed “decisive actions” to suppress mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin and his armed rebellion. The president and Vice President Kamala Harris were briefed by their national security team on Saturday morning, according to a White House statement. Mr …

Deutsche Welle reports: Moscow’s Mayor Sergey Sobyanin has issued a statement telling residents in the capital to avoid unnecessary travel and also declared that Monday would not be a working day for most people — except for core services, security services, the military and so forth. “In order to minimize risks, I, within the framework of the operational headquarters, decided …

Politico Europe reports: EU countries bordering Russia were on alert Saturday, with some beefing up their border security, after the Wagner paramilitary group seized control of a strategic Russian city and threatened to move on Moscow. Estonia and Latvia have stepped up their border security in response, according to the countries’ governments, while Latvia suspended visa applications and entry to …

“I think you have to start thinking through every worst-case scenario. So obviously Putin out of the picture, I think generally it would be great for the world, but you think about the instability in Russia that will inevitably come from that. Even if this whole supposed coup fails, there will be some instability in Russia, which has nuclear weapons. …

Axios reports: Secretary of State Tony Blinken held a secure conference call this morning with several Western foreign ministers to consult about the escalating situation in Russia, a source with direct knowledge of the issue told Axios. The foreign ministers of France, Germany, the U.K., Italy, Canada and the European Union were on the call with Blinken, according to the …

The Guardian reports: Glued to their mobile phones, millions of Ukrainians spent a sleepless night on Friday, after the head of the Wagner mercenary group declared war against his rivals in the Russian military, sparking unprecedented political turmoil in Moscow. “Events are developing according to the scenario we talked about all last year,’’ said Mykhailo Podolyak, a key adviser to …

The New York Times reports: Despite years of creeping Kremlin control over the internet, the mercenary tycoon Yevgeny V. Prigozhin continued to comment live on Saturday through videos, audio recordings and statements posted on the messaging app Telegram. His remarkable continued access to a public platform amid a crisis demonstrated both the limits of official restrictions and the rise of …

Reuters reports: Russian military helicopters opened fire on Saturday afternoon on a convoy of rebel mercenaries already more than half way towards Moscow in a lightning advance after seizing a southern city overnight. President Vladimir Putin vowed to crush an armed mutiny he compared to Russia’s Civil War a century ago. Fighters from Yevgeny Prigozhin’s [photo] private Wagner militia were …

The Telegraph reports: Joe Biden has been briefed on the chaotic situation in Russia with US officials describing it as “serious”. The president was being kept informed as Wagner mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin was accused by Moscow of launching an armed rebellion. A White House National Security Council spokesman said: “We are monitoring the situation and will be consulting with …

The New York Times reports: President Vladimir V. Putin vowed “decisive actions” early Saturday to quell what he called an armed rebellion by the outspoken mercenary tycoon Yevgeny V. Prigozhin, whose forces had claimed control of the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don and were threatening to march to Moscow. In a five-minute address to the nation, Mr. Putin called the …

The BBC reports: The head of Russia’s Wagner mercenary group is being investigated for inciting mutiny after accusing the Russian military of a launching a deadly missile strike on his troops. Yevgeny Prigozhin said the “evil” in the military leadership must be stopped and vowed to “march for justice”. Authorities have denied the strike and demanded he halt “illegal actions”. …

The New York Times reports: As President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia has pursued enemies abroad, his intelligence operatives now appear prepared to cross a line that they previously avoided: trying to kill a valuable informant for the U.S. government on American soil. The clandestine operation, seeking to eliminate a C.I.A. informant in Miami who had been a high-ranking Russian …

CNN reports: Millions of people in Louisiana and Oregon have had their data compromised in the sprawling cyberattack that has also hit the US federal government, state agencies said late Thursday. The breach has affected 3.5 million Oregonians with driver’s licenses or state ID cards, and anyone with that documentation in Louisiana, authorities said. Casey Tingle, a senior official in …

Reuters reports: Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has said his country has started taking delivery of Russian tactical nuclear weapons, some of which he said were three times more powerful than the atomic bombs the US dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. The deployment is Moscow’s first move of such warheads – shorter-range less powerful nuclear weapons that could potentially …

Reuters reports: Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said on Tuesday that Russian tactical nuclear weapons would be physically deployed on the territory of Belarus “in several days” and that he had the facilities to host longer-range missiles too if ever needed. Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that Russia, which will retain control of the tactical nuclear weapons, would start …

“I think the job of the U.S. president is to look after American interests. And what I think the number one threat to the U.S. Military right now, our top military threat, is the Sino-Russian alliance. I think that by fighting further in Russia, by further arming Ukraine, we are driving Russia into China’s hands, and that Sino-Russian alliance is …

France 24 reports: After a six-month inquiry and more than 50 hearings, the cross-party parliamentary inquiry found that the National Rally (Rassemblement national or RN) party had served as a “communication channel” for Russian power. The text, due to be published next week, was adopted on Thursday by eleven votes to five – to the dismay of the inquiry’s chair …

Reuters reports: Moscow cannot stop Ukraine from becoming a NATO member, the alliance’s chief Jens Stoltenberg said on Thursday, as divisions among allies about the speed of Kyiv’s accession became apparent only weeks before a decisive mid-July summit in Vilnius. “All allies agree that Moscow does not have a veto against NATO enlargement,” Stoltenberg told reporters as NATO foreign ministers …

Media Matters reports: Newsmax used footage of an Iowa building collapse while discussing a drone strike in Russia during a Tuesday broadcast. The error occurred during the latest edition of The Record With Greta Van Susteren where she broke down the latest news of the strike that hit Moscow on Tuesday, the first to hit a civilian area in Russia …