Russia’s presidential is a foregone conclusion, but the appearance of democracy still matters greatly to its leader
In news that likely shocked no one, Vladimir Putin last month announced that he will seek a fifth presidential term in the upcoming March elections.
In a country where Putin, 71, has come to dominate Russia’s political system and the media over the past two decades, the outcome will probably leave little room for imagination.
Continue reading...Russian president suggests Yevgeny Prigozhin was on drugs when he died in explosion on private jet from Moscow to St Petersburg in August
Vladimir Putin has claimed that the plane crash that killed Yevgeny Prigozhin was caused by hand grenades detonating inside the aircraft, and suggested the Wagner boss may have been on drugs.
Prigozhin died when his business jet crashed on 23 August, two months after he staged an aborted mutiny against Russian military commanders in which his Wagner mercenary troops briefly took control of the southern city of Rostov and advanced towards Moscow. Two other top Wagner commanders, Prigozhin’s four bodyguards and a crew of three were also killed.
Continue reading...Wagner boss apparently seen in Africa saying ‘everything’s fine’ as he addressed rumours about wellbeing
A newly released video of Yevgeny Prigozhin purports to show the Wagner group boss in Africa addressing rumours about his wellbeing and threats to his life, just days before his death.
“For everyone discussing whether I’m alive or not and how I’m doing. It’s currently a weekend in the second half of August 2023. I’m in Africa,” Prigozhin says in the short video published by the Grey Zone Telegram channel that is linked to Wagner group.
Continue reading...Kremlin earlier said president’s presence ‘not envisaged’ at funeral of Wagner chief who was killed in plane crash last week
The funeral of Wagner head Yevgeny Prigozhin was held at a private cemetery on the outskirts of his home town of St Petersburg, his press service said on Tuesday hours after the Kremlin announced that Vladimir Putin would not be attending.
“The farewell to Yevgeny Viktorovich took place in a closed format. Those who wish to say goodbye may visit Porokhovskoye cemetery,” the press service said in its first post on Telegram in two months, ending days of speculation over how the warlord would be laid to rest.
Continue reading...Committee says body of Wagner mercenary chief among 10 recovered from site and identified through forensic testing
Russia’s investigative committee, which investigates serious crimes in the country, has confirmed that the head of the Wagner mercenary group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, was among the people killed in a plane crash.
The committee said on Sunday that after forensic testing, all 10 bodies recovered at the site had been identified, and their identities “conform to the manifest”.
Continue reading...Moscow aiming to increase influence in Africa, winning lucrative contracts and gaining access to key resources
Social media channels associated with the Russian state have launched a major effort to exploit last month’s military coup in Niger, seeking to reinforce Moscow’s influence in the country and possibly open opportunities for intervention.
Mohamed Bazoum, the pro-western elected president, was ousted by senior army officers on 26 July and is being held prisoner in his official residence in Niamey. African leaders have threatened military action to oust the new regime but advocates of intervention have so far been unable to rally sufficient support.
Continue reading...The mercenary leader’s reputation as patriot, martyr or traitor will be dictated by two linked factors – Putin and the result of the war
In a 2018 documentary, Vladimir Putin answers instantly when asked if there is anything he cannot forgive. “Betrayal,” he says with no hesitation.
Wagner mercenary group chief Yevgeny Prigozhin, who was killed in a probable assassination last week on board his Embraer private jet, held a similar belief. One of his fighters’ tactics to punish deserters was to tape their heads to a block of concrete and then bludgeon them to death with a sledgehammer. The hammer became their symbol.
Continue reading...Flight recorders also recovered, Russian officials say; Alexander Lukashenko says he warned Wagner bosses to be aware of threats to their lives. This live blog is closed
Rishi Sunak has reaffirmed the UK defence ministry’s comments from Friday morning, saying intelligence suggested Prigozhin was “most likely” on the plane.
“We’re obviously monitoring the situation very closely, working with our allies to establish what happened,” the British prime minister told reporters.
Continue reading...Spokesperson says western claims that Vladimir Putin was behind assassination are ‘an absolute lie’
The Kremlin has denied that it assassinated the Wagner chief, Yevgeny Prigozhin, calling western intelligence assessments of Vladimir Putin’s potential involvement “an absolute lie”.
Prigozhin is believed to have been killed when his Embraer jet crashed north-west of Moscow on Wednesday, according to Russian officials. Western intelligence officials have briefed media that Prigozhin was most likely to have been killed by an explosion onboard the plane on President Putin’s orders.
Continue reading...Speculation grows that Wagner chief’s plane was downed by bomb after it took off from Moscow
Vladimir Putin has confirmed the death of Yevgeny Prigozhin, saying the Wagner chief had made some made “some serious mistakes” and met with a “difficult fate”, as speculation grew his plane was brought down by a bomb after it took off from Moscow.
US and western officials said it was likely that an intentional explosion had brought down the plane, which crashed into a field 185 miles (300km) north of of the Russian capital.
Continue reading...The Wagner leader appeared down but not out in the months after his mutiny, but his fate may already have been sealed
The Kremlin meeting was like a scene from The Godfather. Shortly after their mutiny was quelled in June, 35 Wagner commanders were summoned for a sit-down with Vladimir Putin. Putin said he offered them the chance to continue fighting in Ukraine. But Yevgeny Prigozhin, their leader and financier, was defiant.
“A lot of them nodded their heads” at the offer, Putin claimed. “But Prigozhin … didn’t see [their reaction] and said: ‘No, the guys won’t agree with that decision.’”
Continue reading...Putin may have shored up unity, but watching his back for pro-Wagner traitors may be a distraction
Yevgeny Prigozhin apparently being killed on the same day that it emerged Gen Sergei Surovikin had been relieved of his command of Russia’s air force means the two most effective leaders in the first phase of the Ukraine war are now gone; their removal a victory of sorts for the old guard at the Kremlin.
The Wagner group, headed by Prigozhin, led the capture of Bakhmut, Russia’s only battlefield gain so far this year, and it was his ally Surovikin, in his short period of overall command in Ukraine, who began building the defensive fortifications that are seen as so important to the invader’s position today.
Continue reading...The Embraer Legacy 600 jet, long linked to the Wagner group, rapidly lost altitude and contact 33 minutes into its flight
The aircraft on which Yevgeny Prigozhin was travelling had long been linked with the Wagner group. An Embraer Legacy 600 jet, the flight tracking service FlightRadar identified it as being in regular use in recent months, flying from both St Petersburg and Moscow.
According to some reports, the Wagner party on board had been attending a meeting with officials from Russia’s defence ministry.
Continue reading...Smooth transition of mercenary group’s network and holdings in Africa may not be straightforward for Moscow
The reported death of the founder and leader of the Wagner group in a plane crash in Russia could have huge consequences for a motley crew of regimes and warlords across Africa, but also for hundreds of millions of ordinary people, the west and all the powers battling for influence on the continent.
Some analysts now suggest that the demise of Yevgeny Prigozhin may strengthen the Kremlin’s hand in Africa among powerful actors who have relied on Wagner’s loose network of shadowy companies and paramilitaries to bolster their own power – and impress others who may be thinking of doing the same.
Continue reading...Officials say Wagner chief behind June mutiny was on jet that crashed in Tver region, killing all 10 onboard
Yevgeny Prigozhin, the Wagner paramilitary chief who launched an armed mutiny in June, has been reported dead. Russia said he was onboard a private jet that crashed in the Tver region near Moscow, killing all 10 onboard.
Rosaviatsia, the Russian aviation authority, said Prigozhin and senior Wagner commander Dmitry Utkin were among 10 people travelling on the Embraer business jet that crashed on Wednesday evening.
Continue reading...Commander seen as an ally of Wagner has not been seen in public since Yevgeny Prighozin’s mutiny in June
Russia has relieved Gen Sergei Surovikin of his command of the Russian aerospace forces, in the highest-level sacking yet of a military commander after Yevgeny Prigozhin’s abortive mutiny in June.
The extended absence and now removal of Surovikin, a prominent commander, indicates the shock waves sent through the military establishment by Prigozhin’s armed uprising. He sent thousands of troops to seize a military headquarters in the city of Rostov-on-Don and try to march on Moscow to protest against the dismantling of his Wagner private military company.
Continue reading...Person who appears to be mercenary leader seen in desert area, saying his group is recruiting
The Russian mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin has posted his first video address since leading a short-lived rebellion in Russia, appearing in a clip – possibly shot in Africa – on Telegram channels affiliated with the Wagner group.
A person who appears to be the 62-year-old mercenary leader is seen in the video standing in a desert area in camouflage and with a rifle in his hands. In the distance, there are more armed men and a pickup truck.
Continue reading...President says Russia will replace blocked Ukrainian exports after it abandoned pact on passage of ships
Vladimir Putin has promised free grain supplies to six African nations as Moscow seeks to capitalise on the collapse of the Black Sea grain deal.
Speaking on the first day of a Russia-Africa summit in St Petersburg, the Russian president claimed his country would be able to replace Ukrainian grain exports blocked by Moscow’s decision to abandon the UN-brokered arrangement which had allowed the export of grain and other products from Ukraine through the Black Sea to markets, many of them in Africa.
Continue reading...Foreign affairs select committee condemns government’s ‘dismal lack of understanding’ about group’s hold in Africa
A decade-long failure by the British government has allowed the Wagner network to grow, spread its tentacles deep into Africa and exploit vulnerable countries, according to a highly critical report from the UK’s foreign affairs select committee.
It called on the government to proscribe the Wagner group in the UK and to make a far more concerted effort to stop it using the City of London as a financial centre.
Continue reading...Russian president reacts angrily after Polish defence minister sends troops to guard eastern border
Vladimir Putin has said Russia will use “all means at its disposal” to defend Belarus after Poland and other EU countries voiced concerns about the deployment of Russian paramilitaries near their borders.
Putin delivered a series of aggressive remarks during a meeting of his security council, where he claimed without evidence that Poland was seeking to invade Belarus, a Russian ally, and that their elites were “dreaming of Belarusian lands”.
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