Day: October 25, 2023
MOSCOW, Sept 29 (Reuters) – Russian President Vladimir Putin was on Friday shown meeting one of the most senior former commanders of the Wagner mercenary group, Andrei Troshev, and discussing how best to use “volunteer units” in the Ukraine war.
Is Wagner back, who controls it and are its fighters returning to the Ukraine war?
WHAT IS WAGNER?
Wagner, one of the world’s most battle-hardened mercenary groups, was founded by Yevgeny Prigozhin and Dmitry Utkin, a former special forces officer in Russia’s GRU military intelligence.
Cast as a private army, Wagner enabled Russia to dabble in wars in countries including Syria, Libya and Mali with deniability. Opponents such as the United States cast Wagner as a brutal crime group which plundered African states and meted out sledehammer deaths to those who challenged it.
Wagner also fought in Ukraine and took the city of Bakhmut in May after the bloodiest battle of the war. After the fall of Bakhmut, Wagner fighters were withdrawn from the front.
At its peak, Wagner had tens of thousands of men – at least 50,000 convicts were offered their freedom if they survived the battles in Ukraine – and tens of thousands of Russian volunteers, including many former special forces troops.
Salaries were high and Prigozhin said the command structure was responsible and lacked the bureaucracy of the Russian army.
But Prigozhin, angered by what he said was the stupidity and incompetence of Russia’s top military brass, took control of the military headquarters of the southern city of Rostov and then marched on Moscow in a June 23-24 mutiny.
Putin initially said he would crush the mutiny, comparing it to the wartime turmoil that ushered in the revolutions of 1917, but hours later a deal was clinched to defuse the situation. The full details of the deal are still unclear.
WHAT HAS HAPPENED SINCE?
After Putin cast the mutineers as traitors, Wagner and Prigozhin came under attack by the Russian state. Police raided Wagner properties and state television said Prigozhin’s operations had received nearly $20 billion from the state.
The Kremlin looked for a way to bring the group’s fighters under control without losing the fighting capability of Wagner, which itself was riven by disputes over its future and who should lead it.
On Aug. 23, the private jet on which Prigozhin and Utkin were travelling to St Petersburg crashed north of Moscow killing all 10 people on board.
After Prigozhin’s death, Putin ordered Wagner fighters to sign an oath of allegiance to the Russian state – a step that Prigozhin had opposed due to his anger at the defence ministry that he said risked losing the Ukraine war.
Russian sources told Reuters that some of the group’s fighters have signed contracts with the defence ministry, though many more have joined a variety of different Russian private military groups.
Unconfirmed Russian reports said that Anton Yelizarov, known by the call sign “Lotus”, had been appointed commander of Wagner. Yelizarov, a former deputy of Utkin, commanded the storming of Bakhmut.
Besides Ukraine, Yelizarov saw action in Syria, Central African Republic and Mali. While Prigozhin criticised Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu, Yelizarov said Shoigu was “out of control” and seeking to destroy Wagner.
But it is unclear who within the Russian state is directing Wagner – and how far Wagner can keep operating abroad in places such as Syria, Libya, Central African Republic and Mali.
BACK IN THE WAR?
Putin’s Kremlin meeting with Wagner’s Troshev, who now works for the defence ministry, is a major hint that Wagner fighters – if not the group itself – are returning to the war.
Addressing Troshev, Putin said: “You know what it is, how it is done, you know about the issues that need to be resolved in advance so that the combat work goes in the best and most successful way.”
The meeting is also an indicator that Deputy Defence Minister Yunus-Bek Yevkurov, who attended, and Troshev will coordinate the work of Wagner fighters.
Russian, Ukrainian and Western sources have indicated that Wagner fighters are returning to the front.
British military intelligence said that up to hundreds of fighters formerly associated with Wagner have likely started to redeploy to Ukraine as part of a variety of different units.
“The exact status of the redeploying personnel is unclear, but it is likely individuals have transferred to parts of the official Russian Ministry of Defence forces and other PMCs,” British military intelligence said.
Russian war blog Rybar, which has over 1.2 million subscribers, said that Wagner fighters would return to Bakhmut.
“The first units of the PMC began to return to Bakhmut to conduct a counteroffensive against previously lost positions,” Rybar said.
Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Published: 02:42 BST, 12 October 2023 | Updated: 04:24 BST, 12 October 2023
A top ranking Hamas official said that Russian President Vladimir Putin is pleased with the conflict in Israel, which was planned by terrorists for two years, because it distracts America from the ongoing war in Ukraine.
Senior Hamas official Ali Baraka said during an interview with an Arab news channel that prior to the terrorist organization’s massacre of Israelis last Saturday, fewer than five Hamas leaders knew about the attack.
Baraka said that for the last few years, Hamas projected a ‘rational’ image to the outside world by claiming to focus on governing in Gaza as opposed to planning terror attacks.
That image, however, was part of the organization’s plan to covertly plan the massive attack on Israel that has launched the region back into war.
‘It (Hamas) did not go into any war. It did not join the Islamic Jihad in its recent battle,’ said Baraka.
‘But all this was part of Hamas’s strategy in preparing for this attack,’ the interviewer jumped in to say.
Senior Hamas member says Russia appreciates their attack on Israel because it divides America’s attention and thus helps Russia in Ukraine.
He also says the attack has been planned for 2 years and that less than 5 Hamas leaders knew exactly what and when it would happen pic.twitter.com/GEvbaM8ubb
— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) October 11, 2023
Palestinians in Gaza endure the fallout of Israeli airstrikes that began following Saturday’s massive terror attack on Israel
‘Of course. We made them think that Hamas was busy with governing Gaza, and that it wanted to focus on the 2.5million Palestinians (in Gaza), and has abandoned the resistance all together. All while under the table, Hamas was preparing for this big attack,’ Baraka readily admitted.
‘We have been preparing for this attack for two years,’ he said.
His comments confirm, among other things, that Hamas’ view of the Palestinian people is merely utilitarian. The terrorist organization infamously places headquarters in hospitals, near schools, and in residential neighborhoods to ensure that any retaliatory attacks will cost as many civilian lives as possible.
As the Israeli military began its onslaught against Hamas this week, the IDF and Israeli government repeatedly sent messages to civilians in Gaza to get out before the attacks begin. Hamas reportedly sent messages to those same civilians telling them to stay in place.
Baraka discussed the attitude toward human life taken by Hamas and Palestinian extremists when it comes to war with Israel.
‘The Israelis are known to love life,’ he said. ‘We, on the other hand, sacrifice ourselves. We consider our dead to be martyrs.’
‘The thing any Palestinian desires most is to be martyred for the sake of Allah, defending his land.’
He went on to say repeatedly that Russia is a country that ‘sympathizes with us.’ He said that following the attacks, the Russians sent Hamas leaders messages.
‘Russia is happy that America is getting embroiled in Palestine. It alleviates the pressure on Russians in Ukraine,’ he explained. ‘One war eases the pressure in another war.’
Ali Baraka said Russia is pleased that the United States has been distracted by the war in the Middle East. The US’ involvement alleviates some of the pressure on Putin for his ongoing war in Ukraine
‘The thing any Palestinian desires most is to be martyred for the sake of Allah, defending his land,’ Baraka said in an interview about the outbreak of the war
He explained some of the geopolitical dynamics surrounding Hamas’ actions in Israel
An IDF soldier reacts and covers his face before removing the body of a civilian killed days earlier in an attack by Hamas militants on October 10, 2023 in Kfar Aza, Israel
Aftermath of Israeli air strikes in Gaza on October 10, 2023. Israeli air strikes hammered Gaza on Tuesday, razing entire districts in retaliation for Saturday’s Hamas terror attacks
Also in the interview, Baraka explained that Iran is Hamas’ primary political and financial backer, and that the terror organization plans to expand the and escalate the war so that Israel is defending itself in the South and the North.
Rockets from Syria and Lebanon began flying into northern Israel early this week.
On Saturday, Iran-backed Palestinian terrorists stormed Israel in a coordinated attack that has so far taken the lives of 1,200 Israelis, some of whom were raped, burned alive, and beheaded mercilessly by agents of Hamas.
Today, residents in Gaza faced growing uncertainty after the territory’s only power plant ran out of fuel and shut down. Over the weekend, PM Netanyahu declared war on Hamas and made it clear that Gaza would feel the impact of Israel’s retaliation for decades to come.
This week, Israeli airstrikes demolished entire neighborhoods and sent people scrambling to find safety. The war is only expected to escalate from here.
Netanyahu has promised that his military will ensure the deaths of every Hamas agent.