Ukraine war live: Putin orders Wagner’s mercenaries to sign oaths of loyalty after Prigozhin’s death

Russian soldiers fighting in Ukraine are supported on the battlefield by tens of thousands of mercenaries from a shadowy group led by a businessman and longtime ally of President Vladimir Putin.

The Wagner Group is a private military company that was under the control of Yevgeny Prigozhin until his death in a plane crash on Wednesday, August 23.

The unit cut its teeth on deployments to Crimea – which Russia illegally annexed in 2014 – and the Donbass region of eastern Ukraine in the wake of that action, and has since sent troops to several conflicts in the Middle East and Africa, including the Syrian civil war. .

In Russia’s conquest of Ukraine, Wagner was a major part of Moscow’s fighting force, but the power struggle between the Kremlin and the outspoken Prigozhin threatened – for at least 24 hours – to drag Russia into a civil war of its own.

my colleagues Liam James And Joe Somerlad More in this report:

The apparent punishment was relatively quick, writes Yevgeny Prigozhin, as is usually the case when former politicians, journalists or spies reveal inconvenient truths. John KempnerExecutive Director of Chatham House.

“The methods are many and varied: poisoning, shooting, plane crashes, and the simplest of all, the mysterious fall out of a window. Sometimes they are done secretly, but more often they are done in the open, to send a signal about the dangers of defiance.

“To be fair, targeted killings began before Putin came to power in 2000. In the 1990s, such incidents were often sanctioned by the Chechen leadership. Or it was criminal gangs (and their political overlords) who settled scores. What he did Putin is industrializing state assassinations.”

You can read more about Putin’s hit list in this long read:

Iran’s Defense Ministry has claimed that several unnamed “Western and European countries” are interested in acquiring the Shahed attack drones, amid allegations that the United States is seeking to prevent Tehran from selling them to Russia.

Russia began using Iranian-made Shahed jets to attack deep into Ukraine last year. So-called kamikaze drones do not need a runway to take off and explode on impact.

And while Russia’s deputy foreign minister insisted that Moscow and Tehran “will not submit to the dictates of the United States and its satellites,” Iran’s defense ministry said: “None of the transactions[related to drones]we have had…were with other countries,” such as Russia. , has been cancelled.

A White House official said in June that Iran had transferred several hundred drones to Russia since August.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said that Russia’s military cooperation with Iran will not be subject to geopolitical pressure, following a report that Washington had asked Tehran to stop selling drones to Moscow.

“There are no changes, and cooperation with Iran will continue,” RIA news agency quoted Ryabkov as saying. “We are independent countries and we are not subject to the dictates of the United States and its dependencies.”

the financial times The Washington Post reported this month that the United States is pressuring Iran to stop selling so-called Shahed drones, which Russia is using in the war in Ukraine, citing an Iranian official and another person familiar with the talks.

Analysts said that Ukraine made further gains near the village of Robotyn in Zaporizhia, where Ukrainian forces crossed Russia’s first line of defence.

The Institute for the Study of War, a think tank, said that geolocated combat footage released on Friday indicated that Ukrainian forces had moved south about 1.5 kilometers to the tree line northeast of Novopokrupivka.

“Ukrainian forces are now geographically positioned within 2.5 kilometers of the large antivehicle trench – the next major military engineering hurdle within Russia’s layered defence,” said George Barros, a Russia analyst at the Institute for the Study of War.

After news of the death of Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin, The IndependentInternational Editor Chris Stevenson He shared his thoughts on the mercenary chief.

He argues that readers should not let Prigozhin’s rebellion against Putin cloud their thinking about a man who was little more than a monster.

he is writing: “And it is not surprising that the Russian authorities announced this Yevgeny Prigozhin dead. Given the attempted rebellion he led with Wagner Mercenary Group Against Moscow, the assumption was that he might not last long in this world. When it comes to the iron-fisted boss Russian President Vladimir Putin On His Nation – If you come for the King, as the saying goes, you better not miss it.

But with speculation mounting about Prigozhin’s demise and Putin’s embarrassment too much to bear, it might be easy to overlook the terrible things Brogozhin’s mercenaries are believed to have done. Let’s be clear, Prigozhin deserved the end that all signs point to.

It’s Putin’s invasion Ukraine Which really catapulted Prigozhin into the public consciousness, as the group was at the forefront of some of the war’s bloodiest battles around the eastern city of Bakhmut.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said an investigation is underway into the deaths of three pilots who died after two training planes collided on Friday.

President Zelensky, who is counting on quickly training Ukrainian crews to fly as many as 61 F-16 fighter jets promised to his Western allies, said the three men included Andrei Pilshchikov, “a Ukrainian officer, one of those who have helped our country greatly. “

In his evening video address, he added that the investigation is continuing. “It is too early to discuss the details. Certainly all the circumstances will be clarified.”

The Air Force said one of the dead pilots used the callsign “juice”. She added that the pilot became known after giving numerous interviews to the international media.

An unofficial memorial to Wagner’s chief Yevgeny Prigozhin has appeared in Moscow, Russia.

Here are some pictures from the memorial today and those who came to lay flowers at it.

Regional officials said Russian forces bombed a cafe in a key front-line area in northeastern Ukraine, killing two civilians and wounding a third.

The bombing near the city of Kobyansk came at a time when British officials said that Russia might try to recapture the area that Kiev seized in a lightning counterattack last September after more than six months of Russian occupation.

Heavy fighting there earlier this month led to mandatory evacuations and fears of a second Russian takeover.

The regional governor, Oleh Sinyhopov, said in a post on the Telegram application that on Saturday Russian shells hit the cafe in Podoli, an eastern suburb of Kobyansk.

He added that rescue teams are working at the site.