And we get a claw back by the Wagner Group boss on ‘why’ he marched his troops 400 miles up to 120 miles of Moscow….
Seems that the same Russian’s that Prigozhin wanted to take his troops just isn’t gonna happen…
We ARE reminded that the Wagner group isn’t just Russia….
They are in Africa and had their hands in the 2016 Trump win….
Prigozhin has released a video saying he did NOT want to overthrow the Russian government…..
But?
HIS troops DID march close to Moscow….
His troops shot down Russian aircraft’s.…
No Russian troops countered his troops …..
Oh?
Wagner troops are NOT fighting the Ukraine….
Ukraine Troops ARE pushing against Russian troops while this Wagner/Puitn thing plays out…
The unknown location of the mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin, and the conspicuously low profile of President Vladimir Putin, fueled uncertainty two days after Mr. Prigozhin called off his armed rebellion in Russia.
Here’s what we’re covering:
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The Kremlin seeks to demonstrate business as usual after the mutiny.
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Prigozhin has not been seen publicly since Saturday, and reports say the case against him remains open.
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Global markets are muted after the short-lived mutiny in Russia.
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Tracking Ukraine’s counteroffensive: Here’s the latest on the fighting.
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As the Dnipro River recedes after flooding, residents are returning home….
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- Prigozhin said in his video message that the rebellion, which he refers to as a “march of justice,” came after orders that would have resulted in the absorption of Wagner mercenary forces in Ukraine into the conventional military, beginning July 1. He claimed that most Wagner members had refused to sign contacts with Russia’s minister of defense, accusing military commanders of incompetence, and reiterated accusations that his fighters came under attack from Russian forces.
- The success of Wagner’s rapid advance toward Moscow suggests that the group should have been responsible for the drive to take Kyiv in the early days of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Prigozhin said. If that attack “was carried out by a unit of a similar level of training and moral composure such as Wagner then perhaps the ‘special operation’ would have lasted a day.”
- Prigozhin did not reveal his location. He did not discuss his reported acceptance of exile in Belarus.
- Russia’s Defense Ministry published a video Monday claiming to show Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu inspecting a command post in Ukraine. It was not immediately clear when or where the footage was recorded. Prigozhin has long accused Shoigu of fumbling Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and called for his ouster. Shoigu, one of the targets of Wagner’s rebellion, was nowhere to be seen over the weekend.
- The brief rebellion in Russia “raises profound questions” about the country’s stability, Secretary of State Antony Blinken told CBS’s “Face the Nation.” Blinken and Zelensky attributed the revolt, at least in part, to Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. “The longer Russian aggression lasts, the more degradation it causes in Russia itself,” Zelensky said Sunday.
- Western officials are questioning whether the truce will last and are concerned that instability in Russia, a major nuclear power, could pose a risk to the United States and its allies. Under Russia’s reported agreement with Prigozhin, the Wagner Group leader and some of his forces will go to Belarus, but Western officials were unsure of the exact terms.
- Footage released Monday. by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s office shows him visiting troops in Ukraine’s Donbas region.
- Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda has called for reinforcing the border with Belarus following a weekend of political instability in Russia that resulted in Prigozhin’s reported acceptance of exile to Belarus. “We need to tighten security of our eastern borders even more,” Nauseda said Monday at a Lithuanian State Defense Council meeting, the Interfax news agency reported.
- Germany wants to permanently station about 4,000 soldiers in Lithuania to strengthen NATO’s eastern flank, Defense Minister Boris Pistorius announced Monday. “It is about “defending our common freedom,” he said,according to German media.
- China has downplayed Russia’s political instability, branding the recent rebellion as “internal affairs” in Moscow. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning made the comment when asked if recent events could weaken Putin. She said Beijing supports Moscow in “maintaining national stability and achieving development and prosperity.”
- Australia announced a new assistance package to Ukraine that includes 70 military vehicles and ammunition. The package, worth 110 million Australian dollars, or about $75 million, “demonstrates that Ukraine can count on Australia,” Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said in a statement. It also includes money for a U.N. humanitarian fund for civilians in Ukraine.
Mercenary boss warned of revolution in Russia, but his own was short-lived: Before Prigozhin sent his army marching on Moscow in an act of defiance over the weekend, he told Russians that for the country to stand a chance of winning its war in Ukraine, it must become a “North Korea-style” state with the death penalty in force.
Now, following the short-lived rebellion, Prigozhin has reportedly agreed to go into exile in Belarus, a dictatorship even more isolated than Russia and often referred to as the North Korea of Europe, Mary Ilyushina reports….
Ukrainian forces have reportedly crossed the Dnipro River and retaken territory on the left bank of Kherson province, in a move that paves the way for a future possible advance towards Crimea.
According to pro-Russian Telegram channels, Ukrainian troops have seized the village of Dachi, opposite the city of Kherson, and near the destroyed Antonivskyi Bridge. They have dug in and are seeking to establish a bridgehead, the channels said….