Wagner Group boss is advancing his political ambitions, Russian opposition outlet claims
Yevgeny Prigozhin, founder of the Wagner private military company
Mikhail Svetlov | Getty Images
Wagner Group boss Yevgeny Prigozhin has political ambitions that he is advancing, Russian opposition outlet Meduza reports.
The head of Russia’s infamously brutal private military organization has had a very public falling out with the Russian state defense establishment, as he vocally criticizes its performance in the Ukraine war and accuses it of sidelining and sabotaging his group.
“Two Kremlin sources and one St. Petersburg government insider claimed that Prigozhin is pursuing a leadership position within [political party] A Just Russia — For Truth’s St. Petersburg branch to compete with St. Petersburg Governor Alexander Beglov for influence in the city,” the think tank Institute for the Study of War wrote.
ISW cited Meduza in its daily update, saying that the outlet’s sources “claimed that Prigozhin previously was interested in investing in the ‘Motherland’ political party and may be interested in pursuing a position at the federal level.”
Wagner is believed to have at least 50,000 men fighting on the ground in Ukraine, many of them convicts. The group has been accused of war crimes.
— Natasha Turak
U.S. tries to quell tensions after leaked Pentagon intel angers allies
The Biden administration is working to mend ties among some key allies who are upset over revelations from recently leaked U.S. intel documents.
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin held a phone call with South Korea’s defense minister, after lawmakers in Seoul were angered over reports of the CIA spying on their discussions about arms sales to Washington.
“If the report is true, it would be an action that can never be acceptable between allies of 70 years, and an infringement of sovereignty and diplomatic foul play that breaks bilateral trust head-on,” Park Hong-keun, the leader of South Korea’s Democratic party, told local media on Monday.
Another report from the leak is a purported CIA update from early March saying that Israel’s intelligence agency, Mossad, encouraged its officers to join local protests against controversial reforms being pushed by the Israeli government. The Israeli administration denied Mossad had any part in the protests.
— Natasha Turak
Russia makes more territorial gains in Bakhmut, says Institute for the Study of War
Russian forces are continuing to make gains in the destroyed eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut after months of bloody fighting, the Institute for the Study of War reported.
“Russian forces continued to make territorial gains in and around Bakhmut on April 9 and 10 but likely continue to suffer significant casualties. Geolocated footage posted on April 9 and 10 shows that Russian forces made marginal advances northwest of Khromove (2km west of Bakhmut), in southwest Bakhmut, and north of Sacco i Vanzetti (15km north of Bakhmut),” the institute wrote in its daily update.
Russian Airborne forces have started appear in Bakhmut “likely to reinforce conventional, rather than Wagner Group, forces,” it wrote, adding that a Ukrainian commander said that “Ukrainian forces have exhausted Wagner forces so much that the Russian military command has had to send SPETSNAZ and VDV elements to Bakhmut.”
— Natasha Turak
Ukrainian prime minister arrives in Canada for official visit
Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal attending a press conference in Kyiv on March 16, 2023.
Hennadii Minchenko | Future Publishing | Getty Images
Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal has landed in Canada for an official visit, during which he will request more aid and ammunition for Ukraine’s anticipated counteroffensive, according to local reports.
“Now, we need heavy armoured vehicles. And we need more artillery shells: ammunition for howitzers and ammunition for tanks,” Shmyhal told Canadian newspaper The Globe and Mail in an interview. “It’s crucially important for the organization of our counteroffensive.”
In a tweet, Shmyhal wrote that meetings with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland are coming up, and that “We are preparing new agreements and deals to strengthen the macro-financial and economic stability of [Ukraine]. We are working for victory.”
Canada has been a consistent backer of Ukraine and is home to a large Ukrainian diaspora community.
— Natasha Turak
Leaked U.S. documents reveal Egypt secretly planning to provide rockets to Russia
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.
Philippe Wojazer | Reuters
More information has come out of the leaked U.S. intelligence documents that began surfacing online last week.
One document detailed by the Washington Post purports to describe a conversation between Egyptian President Abdel Fatah El-Sisi and his top military officials — in it, Sisi directs officials to keep certain rocket exports and production hidden “to avoid problems with the west” and discusses plans to send Russia gunpowder and other ammunition
Asked for comment by the Post, a spokesperson for Egypt’s foreign ministry said that “Egypt’s position from the beginning is based on noninvolvement in this crisis and committing to maintain equal distance with both sides, while affirming Egypt’s support to the UN charter and international law.”
— Natasha Turak
U.S. intelligence leak could change our understanding of the war in Ukraine, says Harvard professor
The U.S. military document leak is an opportunity to recalibrate our understanding of what is happening in Ukraine, said a political science professor at Harvard University.
Graham Allison, Harvard’s Douglas Dillon professor of government, said the Ukrainian government has said its military is “killing ten times as many Russians as Russians are killing Ukrainians.” But the intelligence leak suggests, instead, that there are four times as many Ukrainians killed, he told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Asia.”
“It’s one of the rare occasions where you can study the differences between what is being said in public and … what the realities are on the battlefield,” he added.
A senior U.S. official previously told NBC News that the leaked documents are likely real, but some may have been altered before they were posted.
The classified documents that surfaced on social media last week include details on Ukraine’s air defenses and plans for a spring offensive against Russian troops. Allison called this a “big loss” for Ukraine, as information about its air defenses “make it possible for Moscow to bring its aircraft and bombers back into the fight.”
“The order of battle of your enemy … [is] one of the most valuable things that an adversary can have,” he said.
— Audrey Wan
U.S. designates WSJ reporter Evan Gershkovich wrongfully detained by Russia
A picture taken on July 24, 2021 shows WSJ journalist Evan Gershkovich, who has been detained in Russia.
Dimitar Dilkoff | Afp | Getty Images
The U.S. State Department officially declared that journalist Evan Gershkovich is being wrongfully detained in Russia, NBC News reported.
This designation means that the WSJ reporter’s case will now be handled by the Office of the Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs and gives the government other resources to work on freeing him.
“Journalism is not a crime,” State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel said in a statement. “We condemn the Kremlin’s continued repression of independent voices in Russia, and its ongoing war against the truth.”
Gershkovich was arrested on spying allegations in Russia.
— Riya Bhattacharjee