Latest news, headlines and top stories you need to know RIGHT NOW about Russia, the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe.
Days after Wagner’s short-lived mutiny in southern Russia as the group of mercenaries marched toward Moscow, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told reporters in Lithuania, “I think what we’re seeing in Russia over the last days demonstrates the fragility of the [Russian] regime, and, of course, it is a demonstration of weakness.”
As Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s 5-year term is set to end in 2024, he told BBC last week that there will not be a Ukrainian presidential election in 2024 if the country is still under martial law due to Russia’s war in the country. The Ukrainian leader said that both the 2024 presidential election and the parliamentary elections, which are supposed to be held this October, will be extended indefinitely.
According to a U.S. military official, Ukrainian forces have lost more than 15 percent of the Bradley fighting vehicles the U.S. has provided to Kyiv. Many of the vehicles have been destroyed as Ukraine began its counteroffensive about three weeks ago amid heavy minefields laid by Russian troops and other difficult resistance.
On Tuesday, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko confirmed that Wagner head, Yevgeny Prigozhin, had arrived in Belarus 3 days after he led an armed rebellion against Russia’s defense ministry.
According to the AFP, Russians in some large cities have reported mixed emotions such as “sympathy” and “relief” after the head of Wagner Group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, mounted a short-lived armed rebellion that made its way halfway to Moscow from the Rostov region on Saturday before Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko mediated a ceasefire between Prigozhin and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
While the armed rebellion launched by Yevgeny Prigozhin, leader of the Wagner Group, came as a surprise for most of the world over the weekend, U.S. intelligence officials knew of the plot and briefed Congress on the situation days ahead of Saturday’s mutiny after intelligence officials reportedly observed Wagner fighters mustering forces and gathering weapons.
Putin Humiliated By Wagner Coup With ’39 Pilots And Crew’ Lost In Worst Day For Air Force
Looks Like Wagner Gets Paid – Crisis Averted In Russia With Lukashenko Negotiating