VIDEOS
1. Wagner Group still recruiting despite Russia mutiny - BBC News
14.4M subscribers
Jun 30, 2023 2:30 p.m. EDT
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xcYrD-UjtWc
The Wagner Group is still recruiting fighters across Russia, days after staging a mutiny that led Vladimir Putin to raise fears of civil war, the BBC has found.
BBC News journalists called more than a dozen Russian recruitment centres and was told it’s business as usual.
From Kaliningrad in the west to Krasnodar in the south, no-one believed the group was being disbanded.
Last week, mercenary troops led by Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin took over the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don, marched on Moscow and shot down Russian military helicopters and a plane on their way.
Their mutiny was later aborted after a deal was struck.
2. Ukraine war: a closer look at Putin’s inner circle
The Telegraph
3.91M subscribers
Jun 30, 2023 3:00 p.m.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pLhb4LOGoq8
Telegraph journalists took a closer look into Russia’s President, Vladimir Putin and his closest allies.
Yevgeny Prigozhin, the leader of the mercenary group, called off his advance on Moscow and has gone into exile in Belarus after striking a deal with the Kremlin.
The leverage that Prigozhin developed over the last few years clearly altered his vision, leading him to believe that his authority outstripped Russia’s generals and even Sergei Shoigu, the defence minister.
With this in mind, his march on Moscow was not an attempted coup d’état aimed at replacing Vladimir Putin, but rather a fight for the redistribution of power, influence and wealth.
A top Russian general has reportedly been detained after Vladimir Putin launched a purge targeting supporters of the Wagner mutiny at the weekend.
Sergei Surovikin, the former commander of Russia’s forces in Ukraine, nicknamed “General Armageddon”, has not been seen since early on Saturday when he released a brief video calling on the mercenaries to end their rebellion.
ARTICLE
Zaluzhnyi: Counteroffensive underequipped but advances daily
Kyiv Independent
6-30-2023 1:06 PM
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/zaluzhnyi-counteroffensive-underequipped-but-advances-daily/ar-AA1dgLwN?cvid=356b2f8038a44b5b9cf585d3870932a2&ocid=winp2fptaskbarhover&ei=5
Ukrainian forces are advancing “at least 500 meters” every day in the counteroffensive despite the lack of crucial hardware like F-16 fighter jets, the Ukrainian armed forces’ commander-in-chief Valerii Zaluzhnyi said in an interview the Washington Post published on June 30.
Zaluzhnyi criticized those who complain of “slow progress,” adding the counteroffensive is “not a show.” President Volodymyr Zelensky also noted that the advance is “slower than desired” but that the campaign is not a movie.
Zaluzhnyi compared advancing without modern fighter jets to fighting with “bows and arrows.” Russian artillery fire sometimes outnumbers Ukraine’s by ten times, he added.
The Ukrainian commander pointed to NATO’s own doctrine, which calls for air superiority before launching an offensive. In spite of that, Western leaders are slow to supply the jets, Zaluzhnyi complained.
Denmark and the Netherlands said they may provide the coveted aircraft to Ukraine with U.S. consent, and Washington supported the plan to supply Kyiv with F-16s. It is not yet clear when will the Ukrainian Air Force receive them, however.
The general said he shared his concerns with his U.S. counterpart, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley, who is helpful and sympathetic to Ukraine’s needs. However, the decision on crucial hardware such as the F-16s does not lie with Milley, Zaluzhnyi noted.
Referring to the Wagner rebellion between June 23-24, Zaluzhnyi said it made no impact on the situation on the battlefield, as the private military company exited the front after the capture of Bakhmut in late May.
Ukraine’s military intelligence chief Kyrylo Budanov said on June 29 that despite some Wagner presence in southern Ukraine and occupied Luhansk Oblast, the mercenaries will no longer take part in hostilities against Ukraine. According to the Kremlin and Minsk, Wagner founder Yevgeny Prigozhin and part of the group’s fighters are being transferred to Belarus.
Zaluzhnyi emphasized that despite being undersupplied, Ukrainian troops are carrying out their given tasks and advancing at least 500 meters every day, even though the progress is slower than some observers would hope for.
The long-awaited counteroffensive is underway across the front line in the east and south of Ukraine. Ukrainian forces have successfully liberated nine settlements in Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia oblasts, though, according to Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov, the main attack is yet to come.
These links are several days old, but give some background and predictions related to Prigozhin’s recent rebellion and Putin’s reactions, including uncertainty with decisions. The first link mentions that many of the Wagner troops did not want to go into the regular Russian army. The writer of the second link predicts this event is the beginning of the end of Putin, and also that he probably will not let Prigo live long.
https://www.businessinsider.com/prigozhin-mutiny-against-russia-beginning-of-the-end-of-putin-2023-6