Yevgeny Prigozhin, the founder of Russia’s Wagner mercenary group, has accused unspecified officials of deliberately denying his fighters enough ammunition amid an ongoing rivalry between him and some of Russia’s elite, Reuters reported.
Former catering entrepreneur Prigozhin, who previously shunned the public eye, has taken an increasingly public role in Russian politics since the start of the war in Ukraine a year ago, the agency said, noting that his Wagner Group is at the forefront of the months-long battle for the city of Bakhmut in the Ukrainian Donetsk region.
In a seven-minute audio message today, a visibly angry and emotional Prigozhin said he was being asked to “apologize and submit” to provide ammunition for his troops.
Speaking at times in a raised tone and at times with offensive phrases, he said: “I am not able to solve this problem, despite all my connections and contacts.”
Prigogine has said that Russia’s military production is currently sufficient to supply the troops fighting at the front, and that the supply difficulties experienced by its fighters are the result of deliberate decisions.
“Those who prevent us from winning this war are quite directly working for the enemy,” he said.
Since the beginning of the conflict, Prigozhin has been publicly at odds with the Kremlin’s generals and officials, accusing them of insufficient zeal in conducting the campaign against Kiev. He most sharply criticized the Ministry of Defense, which he accused of trying to take credit for Wagner’s achievements on the battlefield.
In his audio message, Prigozhin said the unspecified individuals he blamed for the ammunition shortage “eat breakfast, lunch and dinner from gold plates” and sent their relatives on holiday to Dubai, a popular destination for the Russian elite.
The White House said last week that the Wagner group had claimed more than 30,000 casualties since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, with about 9,000 of them killed in the fighting. About 90% of those killed in Ukraine since December have been convicted, Washington said, recalling Prigozhin’s recruitment of prisoners to take part in the fighting.
Zelensky: Macron is wasting his time with the dialogue with Russia
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said French leader Emmanuel Macron was wasting his time with the dialogue with Russia, Reuters reported.
The Ukrainian head of state said this in an interview with the Italian daily Corriere della Sera, asked to comment on Macron’s words that Russia must be defeated but not completely defeated and that the conflict in Ukraine must be settled through negotiations.
The two presidents spoke by phone on Sunday.
“Dialogue is useless. Macron is wasting his time. I have come to the conclusion that it is not in our power to change Russia’s position,” Zelensky told the Italian daily.
“If they have decided to isolate themselves, dreaming of rebuilding the old Soviet empire, there is nothing we can do. It is their business whether or not they choose to cooperate with the international community on the basis of mutual respect.”
Zelensky rejected the notion that Western sanctions had pushed Russian President Vladimir Putin into isolation.
“On the contrary, it was the decision to start the war that marginalized Putin.” the Ukrainian president was quoted as saying.
Zelensky added that Ukraine will continue to defend the city of Bakhmut, which has been fiercely fought for for months, as long as it makes sense.
“Yes, this is a particularly large city. After all, like many other cities in Donbas, it was destroyed by the Russians. It is important for us to defend it, but not at any cost and not so that all (defenders) in it die.” , said the Ukrainian president, quoted by BTA.
According to him, after Bakhmut, the Russian commanders want to advance further west in the Donetsk region towards Kramatorsk and Slavyansk, and then, if they can, reach the city of Dnipro in central Ukraine.
“We will resist and in the meantime we will prepare for another counterattack,” Zelensky said.
“People’s Court” in The Hague tried Putin for the war in Ukraine
A “people’s court” has put Russian President Vladimir Putin on trial for the crime of aggression in connection with his invasion of Ukraine, in a symbolic move to address “gaps in accountability” in the absence of an international tribunal with jurisdiction, the Associated Press reported.
The court has no legal jurisdiction, but prosecutors have said they will present evidence that Putin committed the crime of aggression by ordering the invasion nearly a year ago, unleashing a devastating war that has killed thousands and destroyed scores of villages and towns.
“This is a crime that belongs in the annals of infamy. This is a crime that must be held accountable,” said Drew White, a Canadian lawyer acting as one of the prosecutors in the trial.
The People’s Court is an initiative of the human rights organization Cinema for Peace, the Ukrainian Center for Civil Liberties and Ben Ferenc, the 102-year-old lawyer who is the last surviving prosecutor from the Nuremberg trials against top Nazi leaders after World War II.
Although the International Criminal Court has opened an investigation into crimes committed in Ukraine, it does not have jurisdiction to prosecute Russia’s leaders for aggression.
Nevertheless, international pressure is mounting for the creation of a special tribunal to investigate the crime. In January, the European Union legislature passed a non-binding resolution calling on the bloc’s 27 countries to work “closely with Ukraine to seek and build political support in the UN General Assembly and other international forums … for the creation of special tribunal for the crime of aggression against Ukraine”.
The Netherlands, home to several international courts, offered to host the court.
The week of hearings began in The Hague two days after US Vice President Kamala Harris said Washington had found Russian forces in Ukraine had committed crimes against humanity and demanded the perpetrators be brought to justice.
The court is expected to hand down its verdict on Friday, the first anniversary of the Russian invasion.
Putin was invited to participate in the hearing, but organizers did not receive a response from the Russian embassy in The Hague.
The first witness before the “people’s court” is Ukrainian journalist Angela Slobodian, who told three judges that she was in the city of Kherson when Russian troops entered and “shot at everything that moved.”
A possible supply of weapons from Beijing to Moscow would become a “red line” for the EU
A possible supply of weapons from China to Russia in support of its offensive in Ukraine would be a “red line” for the European Union, the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, warned today in Brussels, quoted by France Press.
Borrell explained that he pointed out to China’s top diplomat, Wang Yi, that “that would be a red line.”
“He told me that they were not going to do it, that they had no intention of doing it, but we will remain vigilant,” the EU’s top diplomat said on his arrival for a meeting with the foreign ministers of the EU countries.
If China decides to supply weapons to Russia, “of course there will be consequences”, commented Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billström, whose country holds the rotating presidency of the EU.
His Luxembourg counterpart Jean Asselborn expressed hope that China “will not make this mistake”.
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken warned yesterday that China plans to supply weapons to Russia.
The US is not in a position to make demands on China, the spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry said today, quoted by Reuters.
“We do not accept pressure or coercion,” Wang Wenbin said at a regular news conference after being asked about US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken warning China against helping Russia in the Ukraine war.
China also said it would never accept the US pointing fingers at Sino-Russian relations. The spokesman accused Washington of “spreading false information.”
Cavusoglu: Turkey does not export goods that can be used in Russia’s military actions
Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said Turkey was not selling items that could be used in Russia’s military operations following warnings from the US earlier this month regarding exports of chemicals, microchips and other products, Reuters reported. .
Speaking after a meeting with US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken in Ankara, Cavusoglu said Turkey would not allow US and European sanctions to be violated in or through Turkey, with Ankara taking steps to prevent this.
A senior US Treasury official visited Turkish government and private sector representatives earlier this month to call for better cooperation to cut off the flow of such goods that could be used by Moscow’s defense industry.
