A war memoir written by a former Russian paratrooper who fought in Syria for the Kremlin-backed mercenary Wagner Group, owned by Yevgeny Prigozhin, a plutocrat nicknamed “Putin’s chef,” had been eagerly awaited.
Reports this week that the United Arab Emirates is potentially financing Russian mercenaries in Libya affiliated with the notorious Wagner Group, according to a Pentagon watchdog, appear to be sending mini shockwaves through Washington. But the UAE has long had a fixation on mercenaries, and the fact that Russia is a regular supplier of soldiers of fortune should surprise no one. Much more worrying is the lack of policy coherence in Washington on what to do about it.
Turkey has announced that an agreement was reached with Russia on the technical details of a joint center soon to be established to monitor the ceasefire between Armenia and Azerbaijan in the Nagorno-Karabakh region.
Combatant from the Russian mercenary group tied to ‘Putin’s chef’ grants Meduza the first interview of its kind
How Russian banking regulators got rich on federal bailouts. A joint investigation by Meduza, Proekt, and VTimes.
Russian President Vladimir Putin declared on Tuesday that Azerbaijan and Armenia had signed a peace agreement, ending six weeks of fierce fighting between the two countries over Nagorno-Karabakh. The mountainous region is internationally-recognised as part of Azerbaijan but has been occupied and run by ethnic Armenians since 1994.
Russian Wagner Group mercenaries and the Sudanese Janjaweed forc es are still flooding into the city of Sirte to bolster the forces of Haftar, the Burkan Al-Ghadab (Volcano of Rage) operation said Wednesday.
The key city of Sirte, which lies some 450 kilometers (280 miles) east of the capital, is currently under the control of Haftar’s forces.
The naval vessels and units participating in the drill departed from Alexandria Naval Base in formation on their way to the Black Sea
A number of Egyptian naval vessels participating in the Egyptian-Russian maritime drill dubbed Friendship Bridge 3 have crossed the Dardanelles and Bosporus straits on their way to the Black Sea, the Egyptian Armed Forces said on Monday.
This Week’s Highlights
While European officials hope U.S. President-elect Joe Biden will soften America’s tone with traditional allies, senior Western officials in the U.S. capital are braced for an abrasive change when it comes to U.S.-Russia relations, the Financial Times reports. “We expect a massive toughening of the stance towards Russia,” a high-ranking Western diplomat in Washington told the Financial Times. “There is a hatred for Russia amongst [Biden’s team] that is really amazing. It’s not just rational; it’s also very emotional.”
Syrian President Bashar Assad on Thursday met with a high-level Russian delegation advocating for jointly hosting an international conference on refugees in the capital Damascus next month.
Eforturi disperate şi teste majore pentru ONU, Rusia şi Turcia în Libia, în perspectiva retragerii trupelor străine, de mercenari şi stoparea aprovizionării cu arme a părţilor rivale şi a puzderiei de miliţii de tot felul, pentru a încerca trimiterea în negocieri politice de pace a haosului libian.