Tag Archives: mercenaries

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”. …

“All those aircraft could have been provided to the Ukrainians on a lend-lease program just like American pilots showed up in World War I in France to help France fight the Germans. “Just like American pilots showed up in Britain to help fight the Battle of Britain. Just like American pilots showed up to fight the Japanese over Japan — …

Time Magazine reports: According to interviews with close associates and confidential documents detailing his ambitions, Prince hoped to hire Ukraine’s combat veterans into a private military company. Prince also wanted a big piece of Ukraine’s military-industrial complex, including factories that make engines for fighter jets and helicopters. His full plan, dated June 2020 and obtained exclusively by TIME this spring, …

The Independent reports: Donald Trump Jr is selling $500 video messages to fans on Cameo after complaining about “millions” in legal bills from the probe into the Trump Organization being carried out by the New York attorney general. Cameo is a platform that allows celebrities to sell short, personalized video messages to fans and supporters. In his profile on Cameo, …

Esquire reports: The massacre in Nisour Square for which the four Blackwater guards were doing time was as bad an incident as can be found in the history of that godawful cluster of fck. A cabdriver got shot in the back. A mother and her infant son were killed, and one of the Blackwater contractors kept firing into crowds of …

The Guardian reports: A Hong Kong-listed security firm founded by Erik Prince has signed a preliminary deal with authorities in China to build a training centre in Xinjiang, where Uighur Muslims have experienced a huge security crackdown. Frontier Services Group, which specialises in providing security and logistics for businesses operating in risky regions, said it had signed a deal to …

Slate reports: Erik Prince is a former Navy SEAL who founded the “security contractor” Blackwater in 1997 and acted as its CEO until 2009. Blackwater was heavily involved in the Iraq War, and in September 2007, Blackwater employees shot and killed 17 Iraqis in Baghdad’s Nisour Square in what numerous witnesses—including some Blackwater whistleblowers—described as the grotesque, unprovoked massacre of …