The troops of the Wagner group will not return to fight in Ukraine, the chairman of the State Duma defense committee said. As speculation continues about the whereabouts of the mercenary leader and general Surovikin, the Russian leader gave evidence of life and normality by working closely with a mob in the southwest of the country.
The army and deputy Andrei Kartapolov, chairman of the defense committee of the lower house of the Russian parliament, said Yevgeny Prigozhin was told his troops would stop fighting in Ukraine after he refused to hand over the army to the defense ministry. enemy Sergei Shoigu. “Everyone started to implement this decision, everyone except Mr. Prigozhin,” Kartapolov said. He added that after Prigozhin’s refusal, he was told that his men would no longer receive state money and, as a result, would no longer fight in Ukraine.
The head of Ukraine’s military intelligence said there are mercenaries from the Wagner group in occupied Ukraine, specifically at a Russian base established in 2014 in the Lugansk region. “But they do not take part in hostilities,” Kirilo Budanov assured. He also believes that those men will not fight on Ukrainian soil again. Good news for Kiev, because “they were the most efficient unit in the Russian army, capable of achieving results at any cost.”
Prigozhin – who will be exiled to Belarus after rumors the day before indicated he had traveled to Moscow – claims to have 25,000 men. Satellite images show recent construction on a Belarusian military base that has been closed since 2018, about 100 kilometers southeast of Minsk, and the day before the Polish government said it had information that up to 8,000 soldiers were headed to that country.
Faced with the news that General Surovikin had been arrested, the Kremlin confined itself to saying that it “unfortunately” does not know where the soldier is.
hours after the The New York Times write that General Sergei Surovikin knew about the plans of Prigozhin’s attempt, the Moscow Times – who has since been transferred to Armenia under repressive laws – caused the former commander of the Russian armed forces in Ukraine to be arrested.
When asked if he knew where “General Armageddon” was located, Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov limited himself to an “unfortunately, no” and advised journalists to contact the Defense Ministry. For the Kremlin, the most important thing was to highlight the “amazing demonstration of support and joy of the local population” in Derbent, Dagestan, in light of the rapid and surprising incursion among the people of its leader, who has had limited personal contacts since the pandemic. .
Pennies in Kyiv
US Republican primary nominee Mike Pence traveled to Ukraine in a show of support increasingly rare among his party’s ranks. The former vice president visited Bucha, Irpin and Moschun, locations on the outskirts of the capital, and later met President Zelensky.
Republicans have increasingly adopted a critical discourse on military and financial aid to Kiev, close to Donald Trump’s uncritical stance on Putin. A recent poll for NBC News indicates that 52% of Republicans said they would be less likely to vote for a candidate who favors sending more money and guns to Ukraine.
Pence tries to stand out. “When Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine, the former president called him a genius,” he said a few days ago in reference to Trump. “I know the difference between a genius and a war criminal.” Now in Kiev, he explained the initiative: “I sincerely believe that now more than ever we need leaders in our country who demonstrate the importance of American leadership in the world,” he told NBC.
On Saturday, Volodymyr Zelensky should receive a visit from Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez. Spain takes up the rotating presidency of the Council of the EU in the second half, in the wake of the summit of European leaders in Brussels, which ends today.
Stoltenberg another year of NATO
In the absence of a consensual alternative, Norwegian Jens Stoltenberg will remain in the position of secretary-general of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization for another year, the AFP argued, after hearing several diplomats on the subject.
Stoltenberg, the second-longest-serving secretary-general, had already agreed to a one-year extension of his term in October last year in light of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. In February, NATO spokeswoman Oana Lungescu said Stoltenberg would leave in October. “The Secretary-General’s mandate has been renewed three times and he has held office for almost nine years,” Lungescu said at the time.
More or less officially, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace were candidates for his seat, who had said a few days ago that this hypothesis would be ruled out.
Source: DN
