War In Ukraine: Russia Tests Nuclear Missile From Submarine Platform

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Putin in crisis: Wagner chief Prigozhin declares war on Russian military leadership

.....Russia’s FSB security service opens criminal case against mercenary boss, as he vows to steamroll over anyone who gets in his way....Vladimir Putin is facing a major military crisis after Russian mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin declared war on Moscow’s own defense ministry, claiming Kremlin officials had killed thousands of his soldiers....In a statement issued Friday night, the FSB security agency said it had “legally and reasonably begun criminal proceedings” against the Wagner Group warlord “for the organization of armed insurrection.” Russian media outlet TASS reported Saturday morning that Putin plans to make an address soon....Prigozhin claimed he had pulled his troops back from Ukraine and into the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don, and vowed: “If anyone gets in our way, we will destroy everything!” The outspoken mercenary commander also threatened to move on Moscow if his demands were not met, and Russian authorities responded by saying the key highway from Moscow to the south was blocked....

....The governor of Rostov warned residents to stay indoors....Russia’s defense ministry said Ukrainian forces are “taking advantage of Prigozhin’s provocation” on the front lines around Bakhmut....Prigozhin claimed around 100,000 Russian soldiers have been killed in the war on Ukraine....Putin has been briefed on the situation, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said, according to Russian state media....Prigozhin’s move comes after he claimed 2,000 Wagner men were killed as a result of strikes ordered by Russia’s Ministry of Defense....According to Russian state media, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said that Putin is aware of the rapidly unfolding situation and “all necessary measures are being taken.”

“Prigozhin’s statements and actions are actually the calls for the beginning of an armed civil conflict on the territory of Russia and are a ‘stab in the back’ for Russian servicemen,” the FSB was cited as saying...The move comes after Prigozhin accused Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu of having hidden “colossal” failings on the battlefield from Putin, claiming that 2,000 Wagner men were killed as a result of strikes ordered by the Russian Ministry of Defense... Prigozhin called Shoigu and Valery Gerasimov, chief of the general staff of the Russian Armed Forces and the overall commander of the war on Ukraine, “criminals” who had “destroyed around 100,000 Russian soldiers.”..... “Once again I’m warning everyone: we will … destroy everything around us. You can’t destroy us. We have goals. We are all ready to die. All 25,000 of us.”

.... Lieutenant General Vladimir Alekseev, first deputy chief of the general staff of the armed forces, said Prigozhin does not have the authority to give orders. “This is a state coup,” he insisted, “come to your senses!”....Meanwhile, the Deputy Commander of Russian forces in Ukraine Sergei Surovikin — known as “General Armageddon” — urged Wagner to hold its positions and not to turn on its own allies. “Stop the columns, return them to the points of permanent deployment,” he pleaded.....According to Ian Garner, a Russia expert.... the Wagner chief has overplayed his hand. “Prigozhin has rolled the dice, and now the state is going to do away with him for good....I suspect Prigozhin’s chances of launching a successful coup are slim. The state can offer everything he does — money, freedom, prestige — without him. Why would the Wagner fighters side with Prigozhin in a battle to the death?....This is the end of Prigozhin and the end of Wagner. An important moment: many within the elite will hold it against Putin that things have come this far and that the president did not react sooner. That’s why this entire story is also a blow to Putin.”

https://www.politico.eu/article/putin-in-crisis-as-wagner-chief-prigozhin-declares-war-on-russian-military-leadership/

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New audio statement by Prigozhin (00:03 BST), stating Wagner "crossed state borders in all areas" and is now entering Rostov, promising to "destroy anything standing in their way":

"The current situation: today, we were dealt a missile strike. After this strike, helicopters did their work. Then, artillery. The orders were coming from the Head of General Staff to destroy PMC Wagner. After a meeting with the Minister of Defence Shoygu where they made this decision - to destroy the rebellious units, who are ready to defend the motherland, but not their asses. As of now, we’ve crossed the state borders in all areas. Border guards came towards us and hugged our fighters.

Now, we’re entering Rostov. Units of the Ministry of Defence, in fact, the conscripts who were thrown to block our path, moved away. We do not fight with children. We do not kill children. Shoygu is killing children by throwing untrained soldiers, conscripts included, into the war. He set up 18-year-old lads against us. They’re like children and grandchildren to us. Therefore, these lads will live and return to their mothers.

We only fight with professionals. But if someone stands in our path, we will destroy EVERYTHING in our way. We lend a hand to anyone. No need to spit in this hand. We are moving forward, going to the end. Regarding claims regarding the arrest: this brotherhood, this justice, this honour, this conscience is what we have. But when you make these claims, you haven’t got these feelings. These feelings are destroyed. Thus, you cannot understand anything but betrayal."

 

 

Leader of Wagner mercenaries says forces entered Russian city of Rostov facing no resistance

....The owner of the Wagner private military contractor made his most direct challenge to the Kremlin yet on Friday, calling for an armed rebellion aimed at ousting Russia’s defense minister. The security services reacted immediately by calling for the arrest of Yevgeny Prigozhin and opening a criminal investigation....security was heightened in Moscow and in Rostov-on-Don, which is home to the Russian military headquarters for the southern region and also oversees the fighting in Ukraine...

....Prigozhin claimed early Saturday that his forces had crossed into Russia from Ukraine and had reached Rostov, saying they faced no resistance from young conscripts at checkpoints and that his forces “aren’t fighting against children.”.... “We are moving forward and will go until the end.”....He claimed that the chief of the General Staff, Gen. Valery Gerasimov, scrambled warplanes to strike Wagner’s convoys, which were driving alongside ordinary vehicles.

.....Prigozhin said Wagner field camps in Ukraine were struck by rockets, helicopter gunships and artillery fire on orders from Gerasimov following a meeting with Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, at which they decided to destroy Wagner.....The Wagner forces have played a crucial role in Russia’s war in Ukraine, succeeding in taking the city where the bloodiest and longest battles have taken place, Bakhmut. But Prigozhin has increasingly criticized Russia’s military brass, accusing it of incompetence and of starving his troops of weapons and ammunition.....Prigozhin said late Friday his troops would punish Shoigu in an armed rebellion and urged the army not to offer resistance. “This is not a military coup, but a march of justice,” Prigozhin declared....The National Anti-Terrorism Committee, which is part of the Federal Security Services, or FSB, has charged him with calling for an armed rebellion, which carries a penalty of up to 20 years in prison...

....Heavy military trucks and armored vehicles were seen in several parts of central Moscow early Saturday, and soldiers toting assault rifles were deployed outside the main building of the Defense Ministry. The area around the presidential administration near Red Square was blocked, snarling traffic....Prigozhin, whose feud with the Defense Ministry dates back years, had refused to comply with a requirement that military contractors sign contracts with the ministry before July 1. In a statement late Friday, he said he was ready to find a compromise but “they have treacherously cheated us.....The evil embodied by the country’s military leadership must be stopped.....” 

....The Defense Ministry said in a statement that Ukraine’s military was concentrating troops to launch an attack around Bakhmut to take advantage of “Prigozhin’s provocation.” It said Russian artillery and warplanes were firing on Ukrainian forces as they prepared to start an offensive in the area.....In other developments in the Ukraine war, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called on other countries to heed warnings that Russia may be planning to attack an occupied nuclear power plant to cause a radiation disaster....Although the last of the plant’s six reactors was shut down last fall to reduce the risk of a meltdown, experts have warned that a radiation release could still happen if the system that keeps the reactors’ cores and spent nuclear fuel cool loses power or water.....

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/leader-of-wagner-mercenaries-says-forces-entered-russian-city-of-rostov-facing-no-resistance

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Russian agents’ threat to family made Prigozhin call off Moscow advance

.....Russian intelligence services threatened to harm the families of Wagner leaders before Yevgeny Prigozhin called off his advance on Moscow, according to UK security sources.....It has also been assessed that the mercenary force had only 8,000 fighters rather than the 25,000 claimed and faced likely defeat in any attempt to take the Russian capital.....Vladimir Putin will now try to assimilate Wagner Group soldiers into the Russian military and take out its former leaders, according to insights shared with The Telegraph....There remains speculation about what formal deal was struck, if any. The Kremlin said on Saturday that Prigozhin would head to Belarus in exchange for a pardon from charges of treason....

.....There has been no comment from Prigozhin over the suggestion. It also remains unclear if Sergei Shoigu, the Russian defence minister, is set to be demoted or fired, as Prigozhin demanded.....On Sunday, the Russian MP Andrey Gurulyov, a prominent Kremlin propagandist, said there was “no option” but for Prigozhin and another high-profile Wagner figure to be executed.....Figures in Washington, DC were said to have become concerned that Putin could lose control of his nuclear arsenal if a full coup was mounted against the Kremlin.....

.....Russia’s ministry of defence said Ukraine used the chaos unleashed by Prigozhin’s coup attempt to step up its attacks around Bakhmut in Donbas. On Sunday, Ukraine’s military said that it had taken ground.....“Any chaos behind the enemy lines works in our interests,” said Ukrainian foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba.....The Kremlin didn’t withdraw any units to defend Moscow against Wagner fighters but Prigozhin called for regular army soldiers to desert....

....Meanwhile, members of Russia’s convict army have issued threats against Prigozhin, claiming he betrayed them by abandoning the Kremlin coup attempt.....A video posted online by the prisoners-turned-fighters accused Prigozhin of “cowardice”, saying his supporters had been “double crossed” and now faced retribution....One of the Storm-Z soldiers could be heard saying that Prigozhin had “promised everything” to them and then “turned the steering wheel in the other direction”.

https://news.yahoo.com/russian-agents-threat-family-made-204246993.html

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Wagner chief accused of 'cowardice' for ordering troops to halt Russia march

.....Members of Russia’s convict army have issued threats against Yevgeny Prigozhin, the Wagner mercenary group boss, claiming he betrayed them by abandoning his Kremlin coup. In a video online, a group of prisoners-turned fighters accused Mr Prigozhin of “cowardice” for ordering his troops to pull back just before they reached Moscow. They said his supporters now faced retribution from Russia’s military high command, and that he had “double-crossed them”.

....The video purported to be from members of one of the regular Russian army’s Storm-Z brigades, made up of ex-convicts offered pardons in exchange for front-line service.....Although separate from the Wagner Group, which also uses convicts, many Storm-Z fighters regard Prigozhin as an unofficial commander-in-chief. He once served jail time himself for robbery, and has traded on his convict credentials when touring Russia’s jails on recruitment drives.....One of the Storm-Z soldiers, whose speech was peppered with Russian jail slang, claimed that Prigozhin had “leaked” at the last minute – an expression equivalent to losing his nerve....He said that when the coup had begun unfolding on Saturday, he and his comrades had issued expressions of support for it online. That now meant they were at risk from reprisals by Russia’s army top brass.....“Our commanders are angry with us now,” he added. “We thought you’d be with us till the end, now it turns out you’re inhuman. You double-crossed us. Believe me, guys like us will not just let this matter lie.”

.....a deal brokered by the Belarusian leader, Alexander Lukashenko. It gives Mr Prigozhin sanctuary in Belarus, and includes pledges that Wagner troops who took part will not be prosecuted....There are signs that the coup attempt may widen divisions within the Russian elite....

https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/canada/wagner-chief-accused-of-cowardice-for-ordering-troops-to-halt-russia-march

 

Russia's mutiny case against Prigozhin remains open - Russian media

...A Russian criminal case against mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin for mutiny remains open and is still being investigated, the Kommersant newspaper and Russia's three main news agencies reported on Monday, citing unidentified sources.... Russia's Kommersant newspaper reported on Monday that the criminal case remained open and that the Federal Security Service (FSB) was continuing its investigation as part of the case.....Russia's three main news agencies - TASS, RIA and Interfax - also reported that the criminal case against Prigozhin remained open and that the investigation was continuing....

The prison term under Russian law for such a crime is 12-20 years.

https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/russias-prigozhin-remains-under-investigation-mutiny-kommersant-newspaper

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NATO needs to strengthen eastern flank if Prigozhin is in Belarus: Lithuania

....Lithuania’s president warned Sunday that if Belarus is to host Wagner mercenary group chief Yevgeny Prigozhin then NATO will need to strengthen its eastern flank.....The head of state, whose Baltic country neighbors both Belarus and Russia and will host next month’s NATO summit, spoke after a state security council meeting to discuss Wagner’s aborted revolt against the Kremlin.....“If Prigozhin or part of the Wagner group ends up in Belarus with unclear plans and unclear intentions, it will only mean that we need to further strengthen the security of our eastern borders,” Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda told reporters.....“I am not only talking about Lithuania here, but without a doubt the whole of NATO,” he said.

https://english.alarabiya.net/News/world/2023/06/25/NATO-needs-to-strengthen-eastern-flank-if-Prigozhin-is-in-Belarus-Lithuania

 

Wagner’s Prigozhin could lead attack on Kyiv from Belarus: British general

.....Ukraine should bolster its defenses against a potential attack led by Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin launched at Kyiv from Belarus, the former British Army chief of general staff General Richard Dannatt said on Sunday.....“The fact that he's gone to Belarus is a matter of some concern,” .....if Prigozhin has “kept an effective fighting force around him then he presents a threat again to the Ukrainian flank closest to Kyiv,” where the war began....Lord Dannatt said it “is quite possible” that Russia may use Wagner forces to try and take the Ukrainian capital again....

https://english.alarabiya.net/News/world/2023/06/25/Wagner-s-Prigozhin-could-lead-attack-on-Kyiv-from-Belarus-British-general

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Russians cremate their dead without keeping records to avoid paying compensation

.....According to the Ukrainian General Staff, the Russians are using mobile crematoria in an attempt to deprive the families of dead Russian servicemen of benefits and compensation....."The occupiers suffer significant losses every day, which they try to conceal, and they continue to employ the traditional Russian practice of depriving the families of the dead of the benefits and compensation advertised by Russian propaganda. Extensive use is being made of mobile crematoria in order to do this....In particular, it has been established that one of these crematoria is currently operating 24/7...."

https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/news/2023/07/1/7409444/

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‘Yevgeny Prigozhin will never be discussed again’: Russian media to erase all traces of mutinous warlord

.....“This call to go get those thieves in Rublyovka was revolutionary,” said Konstantin Remchukov, editor-in-chief of Nezavisimaya Gazeta, who saw Vladimir Putin last week at a closed-door meeting for top editors. “The elite truly fear Prigozhin as a possible alternative to Putin. There would be no guarantees, no protection, no rules to the game.”....Instead, it is Prigozhin’s empire that will now crumble.....Russia blocked the websites of the Ria Fan, Politics Today, Economy Today, Neva News and People’s News online media outlets, part of a constellation of online sites that.... support of Prigozhin’s agenda.....The St Petersburg-based outlet Rotunda also reported that Prigozhin’s Internet Research Agency....writing aggressive comments under news and social media posts, had also been closed down....

....Prigozhin had for years denied that he was the founder of the organization until earlier this year. “I’ve never just been the financier of the Internet Research Agency,” he said. “I invented it, I created it, I managed it for a long time. It was founded to protect the Russian information space from boorish aggressive propaganda of anti-Russian narrative from the west.”.....“Until the war and Bakhmut, we would rarely write about Prigozhin – he was seen as an unclear character, not anti-government but best not to touch,” said a former editor at a Russian state news agency, citing contacts with colleagues. “Now it is as though he never existed.”

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jul/01/yevgeny-prigozhin-russian-media-erase-warlord-wagner-moscow

[HellToupee 1,783]

Good stuff today 

 

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[wiffleball 4,790]

Wouldn't buy any green bananas

[RLLD 4,232]

That guy is going to be running for the rest of his life....what he did is akin to having dirt on the Clintons.....its a death sentence....

[JustinCharge 2,397]

its either:

1.  Putin keeps his generals in check by going thru stretches where he praises them and other stretches where he denigrates them.
2.  Prig got cold feet and decided to stop.
3.  Putin and Prig were playing a game to test everyones loyalty.  anyone in the Russian military command structure a bit too eager to jump to Prigs fake coup got smoked out.

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Putin Sent Wagner to Belarus to Prepare Attack on Poland: Russian Lawmaker

.....Russian lawmaker Andrey Kartapolov suggested that President Vladimir Putin expelled the Wagner Group to Belarus to allegedly prepare for an attack against Poland during a recent appearance on Russian state television.....However, Kartapolov said during a recent appearance on Russia-1's Evening with Vladimir Solovyov that Wagner forces may be preparing for a new attack against Poland, a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)....

.....Kartapolov said Wagner troops were sent to "train" Belarusian soldiers in preparation for a potential attack against Poland to potentially seize control of the Suwałki Gap, a small but strategically important strip of Polish territory between Russia and the exclave of Kaliningrad that has long been a sticking point for Russia. His remarks come after Poland moved troops last week to its Eastern border due to Wagner concerns.....The geopolitical importance of the corridor has long drawn concerns about its vulnerability to a Russian attack, which would also draw a NATO response due to the alliance's Article 5, which states that an attack on one NATO country would be treated as an attack against all members of the coalition....

https://www.newsweek.com/putin-sent-wagner-belarus-prepare-attack-poland-russian-lawmaker

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Wagner head Prigozhin rejected offer to join Russia's army - Putin

.....Wagner mercenary group head Yevgeniy Prigozhin has rejected an offer to his fighters to serve as a unit in Russia's army, President Vladimir Putin says.....He told Kommersant newspaper that many group commanders had backed the plan to be led by a senior Wagner figure during recent talks in Moscow. He said Prigozhin's reply was "the guys do not agree with this decision".....Under the deal that ended the short-lived rebellion, the mercenaries were told they could join the regular Russian army or head to Belarus, a close ally of Russia....

.....Wagner has fought some of the bloodiest battles since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. However, the US military now assesses that the group is no longer "participating in any significant capacity in support of combat operations in Ukraine".....In a separate development, Belarus' defence ministry said on Friday that Wagner fighters were now acting as military instructors for the country's territorial defence forces.....He also said that "Wagner does not exist" when asked whether the group would be preserved as a fighting unit. "There is no law on private military organisations. It just doesn't exist....."

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe

[JustinCharge 2,397]

a lot of high ranking russian commanders have recently been "fired". the rumor is they are teaming up with Prig and Wagner to forge a new army that is going to storm Kiev and end the war in a few months.

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Oops. Sam Bankman-Fried’s implosion took down Democrats’ second-biggest donor with it as the party gears up to regulate crypto

The explosive demise of crypto giant FTX, led by billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried, may have an outsized impact on politics — snuffing out the wealth of a budding potential Democratic megadonor.....Bankman-Fried was the second-largest Democratic donor this election cycle by a longshot, according to the most recently available campaign finance data from the Federal Election Commission, second only to philanthropist George Soros....He donated more than $39.7 million to primarily Democratic causes during the 2022 federal election cycle, including six-figure checks to the Democratic National Committee and the Senate Democrats' main super PAC, as well as $6 million to the super PAC leading Democrats' efforts to hold the House.

The only Democratic donor to give more last cycle was philanthropist George Soros, whose $129 million dwarfed Bankman-Fried's.....In fact, Bankman-Fried about as much as Democrats this cycle than each of the next-largest Democratic donors combined — Illinois businessman Fred Eychaner and Indiana philanthropist Deborah Simon.....But while Bankman-Fried had mused about the idea of spending hundreds of millions of dollars — perhaps even a billion dollars — on the upcoming presidential election, those predictions may be in jeopardy based on the latest developments

Before the downfall of his cryptocurrency exchange, Bankman-Fried joined "Meet the Press Reports" for a special episode on America's wealthiest political donors, where he outlined his hope to "support great public servants." He had said his goal was to "do this in a bipartisan way," but this cycle had given 90% of his money toward Democratic causes.

https://fortune.com/2022/11/10/sam-bankman-fried-ftx-joe-biden-democratic-party-second-biggest-donor/

https://www.nbcnews.com/meet-the-press/meetthepressblog/sam-bankman-frieds-downfall-deprives-dems-key-donor-rcna57091

 

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