"A senior Russian general [Surovikin] had advance knowledge of Yevgeny Prigozhin's plans to rebel against Russia's military leadership, according to U.S. officials ...there are signs that other Russian generals may have also supported Prigozhin's attempt"https://t.co/435vUQKP87 pic.twitter.com/7P5RICzVAv
— Rob Lee (@RALee85) June 28, 2023
Of course Prigozhin had help from Russian generals. You don't march 800 km through 4 Russian oblasts virtually unimpeded if there is no significant support in the Russian generality. Putin had to order mayors with dump cars and excavators to set up barricades, because the Russian… pic.twitter.com/eaN5bf2Nq0
— (((Tendar))) (@Tendar) June 28, 2023
"The Kremlin wants an ideologically motivated, technically competent and politically apathetic force, but the best it can achieve with any of the structures it is creating are just two of these three characteristics." https://t.co/MFsENvzidI pic.twitter.com/mHfqmNmghc
— Shashank Joshi (@shashj) June 28, 2023
Ukraine’s main troop reserves, including most brigades recently trained in the west and equipped with modern Nato tanks and armoured vehicles, have yet to be used in the operation.
— Valentina Pop (@valentinapop) June 28, 2023
https://t.co/DrHEOpiNJh
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Then it turns out that Vladimir Putin actually paid for the mutiny with taxpayers’ money: the president admitted this week that the “private” military company Wagner was in fact funded entirely by the state all along, and that it received 86.3 billion rubles ($1.01 billion) from the state budget between May 2022 and May 2023. Another 110 billion rubles was spent on insurance payments to mercenaries. Prigozhin’s catering firm, Concord, earned 80 billion rubles supplying food to the military during the same period.
No Return for Yevgeny Prigozhin—or Russia - Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
The companies hit with sanctions on Tuesday included Central African Republic-based Midas Ressources SARLU and Diamville SAU, Dubai-based Industrial Resources General Trading and Russia-based Limited Liability Company DM.
The United States also issued an advisory highlighting risks raised by gold trade in sub-Saharan Africa due to what it said was increasingly concerning reporting related to the role of illicit actors, including the Wagner Group.
Sergei Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, said this week "private military contractors" would remain in Central African Republic (CAR) and Mali, the two countries in sub-Saharan Africa where Wagner has the biggest presence. The group has been accused of widespread atrocities in both countries.