Wagner Group

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UK Pushing Back Hard on This Russian 'Military Tool'

Nation wants to deem Prigozhin-less Wagner Group a terrorist organization

(Newser) - Yevgeny Prigozhin may be out of the picture , but the Wagner Group is still causing leeriness around the globe—and the United Kingdom is now set to deem it a terrorist organization. "They are terrorists, plain and simple," Home Secretary Suella Braverman said Wednesday of the Russian mercenary...

Prigozhin Is Quietly Buried, With Fitting Subterfuge

Putin did not attend the secretive service in St. Petersburg

(Newser) - Yevgeny Prigozhin was a buried in a private service on Tuesday, and the Washington Post notes that it was especially fitting in one respect: The burial came amid the same kind of secrecy and subterfuge in which Prigozhin traveled while alive. Hearses went to at least three cemeteries in his...

After Prigozhin's Death, Putin Issues Wagner Force Decree

Mercenaries must swear allegiance to Russian government

(Newser) - All private military contractors working for Russia, including Wagner Group mercenaries, now must swear allegiance to the government under a decree signed by President Vladimir Putin. The decree, issued two days after the Wagner hierarchy apparently was killed in a plane crash, applies to anyone involved in military activities in...

Prigozhin Shrugged Off Risks: 'We Will All Go to Hell'

Wagner Group leader routinely donned wigs in recent years, was accustomed to living on the run

(Newser) - The Kremlin insists it had nothing to do with the death of Yevgeny Prigozhin. Much of the rest of the world isn't so sure about that. "To some, the fact that Mr. Prigozhin was able to survive for two months after staging his rebellion was more surprising than...

US Officials Believe Putin Ordered Prigozhin Killing

Kremlin calls suggestion an 'outright lie'

(Newser) - While facts around the plane crash that reportedly killed Yevgeny Prigozhin are murky, American and British officials believe the private jet was brought down by an explosion —and they are increasingly certain that the killing was ordered by Vladimir Putin, the New York Times reports. In a tweet Friday,...

Putin Breaks Silence on Prigozhin Crash

Russian leader offers his condolences, also says Wagner leader made 'serious mistakes'

(Newser) - Vladimir Putin made his first public comments Thursday about mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin since the latter was presumably killed in a plane crash. In something close to a eulogy, Putin praised the leader of the Wagner Group as a "talented person" but also as someone with a "complicated...

Prigozhin's Death Exposes 'Mafia-Like State'
'This Is No
Coincidence,
Comrade'
OPINION
Aug 24, 2023 6:48 AM CDT

'This Is No Coincidence, Comrade'

Prigozhin's apparent death in plane crash widely seen as payback for Wagner mutiny

(Newser) - Wagner Group chief Yevgeny Prigozhin and his deputy Dmitry Utkin are presumed dead in a Wednesday plane crash that many observers in Russia and beyond believe was no accident. The jet carrying Prigozhin, Utkin, and eight others went down northwest of Moscow two months to the day after the mercenary...

Russia Confirms Prigozhin Was on Crashed Plane

Jet carrying mercenary chief, deputy had 'dramatic descent'

(Newser) - Russia's aviation authority says it has confirmed that Wagner Group chief Yevgeny Prigozhin was on a private plane that went down north of Moscow Wednesday—with no survivors. Social media channels linked to the mercenary group claimed the jet was shot down by Russian air defenses, which the Wall ...

Report: Wagner Group Chief Among 10 Dead in Plane Crash

Authorities say Yevgeny Prigozhin's name was on passenger list in Russia crash

(Newser) - Two months after his failed mutiny against Russian military leadership, Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin has reportedly been killed in a plane crash. The AP reports that Russian authorities say Prigozhin's name was on the passenger list of a Embraer business jet that crashed on Wednesday, though they haven'...

Niger's Overthrown President: 'I Write This as a Hostage'
Niger's President:
'I Write This as a Hostage'
OPINION
Aug 4, 2023 6:28 AM CDT

Niger's President: 'I Write This as a Hostage'

Mohamed Bazoum warns of 'devastating consequences' if coup isn't quashed

(Newser) - The overthrown president of Niger, detained by soldiers at the presidential palace in Niamey for the past week, is speaking out via the Washington Post . "I write this as a hostage"—"one of hundreds of citizens who have been arbitrarily and illegally imprisoned," reads the message...

Amid His Biggest Threat, Vladimir Putin Froze
Facing His Biggest
Threat, Putin Couldn't Act
analysis
Jul 25, 2023 9:39 AM CDT

Facing His Biggest Threat, Putin Couldn't Act

'Washington Post' reports he seemed unable to make decisions as Yevgeny Prigozhin advanced

(Newser) - Last month, the world watched the seemingly unthinkable spectacle of Wagner mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin advancing to within 120 miles of Moscow before turning his tanks around. How on earth did his forces move so easily through Russian towns? As the Washington Post reports in a new assessment of the...

Thousands of Wagner Troops Are in Belarus: Monitor

Defense ministry says mercenaries are training with its forces

(Newser) - Thousands of Russia-linked Wagner group mercenaries have arrived in Belarus since the group's short-lived rebellion, a military monitoring group said Monday. Between 3,450 and 3,650 soldiers have traveled to a camp close to Asipovichy, a town 140 miles north of the Ukrainian border, according to Belaruski Hajun,...

Prigozhin: Wagner Fighters Won't Go Back to Ukraine

Mercenary group launches joint drills with Belarus military

(Newser) - Wagner Group commander Yevgeny Prigozhin is alive and well and making big plans for the mercenary group, according to a video released Wednesday on Wagner-linked Telegram video channels. In the video, his first public appearance since last month's failed mutiny against Russian military leadership, Prigozhin speaks at dusk to...

Diet Is Especially Critical for Wagner Boss, Biden Suggests

Putin has been accused of poisonings in the past

(Newser) - President Biden conceded in Helsinki on Thursday that he knows nothing about where Wagner Group chief Yevgeny Prigozhin is now, the state of his relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin, or his chances of living a long life. But Biden knows a straight line when he hears one. Asked during...

Russian Official Comments on Missing General's Whereabouts

Sergei Surovikin was last seen in public hours after the rebellion began

(Newser) - The world hasn't had eyes on Russian General Sergei Surovikin since Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin's short-lived rebellion against Russia's military in late June. A Russian lawmaker shed some vague light on Surovikin's whereabouts Wednesday, reports Reuters . In a video that appeared on social media, the...

Days After Mutiny, Putin Gave Wagner 'an Assessment'

Kremlin says Putin met with Wagner chief Prigozhin in 3-hour meeting on June 29

(Newser) - Russian President Vladimir Putin met with Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin days after a short-lived rebellion by the mercenary chief and his private army, the Kremlin's spokesman said Monday. As the AP reports, the three-hour meeting took place at the Kremlin on June 29 and also involved commanders from...

Lukashenko: Wagner Chief Is Back in Russia

He says no decision has been made on Wagner fighters moving to Belarus

(Newser) - Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin reportedly went to Belarus last week as part of the deal to end the mercenary group's mutiny against Russian military leadership—and while some observers expected him to end up falling out of a tall building in Minsk, he is now back in Russia,...

Exiled Wagner Leader Says He Was Fighting Traitors
Prigozhin Issues New Message
Jul 3, 2023 5:15 PM CDT

Prigozhin Issues New Message

Leader of failed rebellion tells supporters to watch for victories in Ukraine

(Newser) - Supporters hoping to hear from Yevgeny Prigozhin got their way Monday. After a week of public silence, the exiled head of the Wagner Group posted a 41-second voice message about his failed uprising in Russia last month, Politico reports. "I want you to understand that our 'March of...

Post-Mutiny, Wagner Group Is 'Business as Usual'

Journalists are told when calling recruitment centers that 'nothing has stopped'

(Newser) - The mutiny in Russia was over almost as soon as it began, and details over what's going on with rebellion leader Yevgeny Prigozhin remain murky , but none of this has seemed to put a damper on recruitment efforts by the Wagner Group. The BBC reported Thursday that it had...

WSJ: Prigozhin Intended to Capture 2 Russians

Sources: Gen. Valery Gerasimov, Sergey Shoigu were in Wagner Group leader's crosshairs

(Newser) - A new report from the Wall Street Journal is doubling down on the Yevgeny Prigozhin vs. Chief of General Staff Gen. Valery Gerasimov/Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu narrative. The Wagner Group leader had made no secret of his disdain for the men, and the Journal's sources say Prigozhin's...

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