In what was described as an emergency address to the nation, Putin did not mention Prigozhin by name, but vowed to crush those taking part in the uprising.įor his part, Prigozhin refrained from criticizing Putin’s rule directly, but cast himself as a popular savior against “corruption, deceit and bureaucracy.” He said the Russian president was “deeply mistaken” in describing the rebellion as an assault on the homeland. During the bloody struggle for the eastern city of Bakhmut, Wagner used prisoner recruits for “human wave” attacks and executed those from its own ranks who faltered or tried to run away. Prigozhin’s mercenaries have fought alongside Russian troops in Ukraine, where they have been known for their use of spectacularly brutal tactics. The 16-month-old war has leveled entire cities, pummeled national infrastructure, sent millions of Ukrainians fleeing their homes and killed and maimed thousands of civilians.Īn overnight missile barrage on the capital, Kyiv, killed at least three people, Ukrainian officials said Saturday. Many ordinary Ukrainians reacted to word of Putin’s troubles with unrestrained glee. Russian private military contractor Wagner is busy boosting its brand as its fighters try to subdue Ukraine, trading secrecy for war propaganda movies. World & Nation Welcome to the Wagner-verse, where action films serve up propaganda for Russia’s notorious mercenary army While most said it was too soon to say how the turmoil might affect the battlefield picture, President Volodymyr Zelensky declared that it showed Ukraine stands as a bulwark against “the spread of Russian evil and chaos.” The bizarre turn of events across the border was regarded with caution by Ukrainian officials. While not immediately clear how, the crisis in Russia was bound to affect the war in Ukraine. “It looks like Putin’s power of centralized, vertical strong government control is in question for the first time,” said Rajan Menon, a political scientist who specializes in war and ethics at City University of New York and Columbia University. Blinken was in urgent consultations with his counterparts in six nations, including Germany and Japan, as well as the European Union as all sought to make sense of the rapidly unfolding developments. Officials in numerous European capitals went into emergency sessions. officials from intelligence, Defense and diplomatic parts of government. President Biden on Saturday was briefed in a rare meeting of all senior U.S. The prospect of a nuclear-armed superpower falling into disarray terrified neighboring countries throughout Europe and put the White House on alert. It is not fully clear now what Prigozhin’s future is and what exactly motivated him to back down. And it reveals a fragility to Putin’s authority. Whatever the next moves are, the uprising was a shocking episode in a country that Putin has ruled with an iron fist for nearly a quarter-century. The head of the Russian private militia Wagner says his forces have started pulling out of Bakhmut and handing control over to the Russian military. World & Nation Russia’s Wagner militia says it’s handing control of Bakhmut over to Moscow
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