Russia Watch Thread

[Time_Traveller]

[Vector]

[weatheriscool]

[raklian]

I guess Prigozhin was just the opening act.

[weatheriscool]

Budanov Says Russian FSB Assigned to Eliminate Prigozhin
Source: Kyiv Post

Following an attempted armed rebellion in Russia, the country’s Federal Security Service (FSB) has been assigned the task of eliminating Yevhen Prigozhin, the owner of the private military company “Wagner.”

This statement was made by Kyrylo Budanov, the head of the Main Directorate of Intelligence (HUR) of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, in an interview with American journalist Howard Altman.

The Ukrainian intelligence press service reported this information on Friday, June 30, via Telegram.

According to the head of Ukraine’s HUR, the Russian special services have been given the assignment to assassinate the Wagner PMC leader.

Read more: https://www.kyivpost.com/post/18903

[lechwall]

I guess Prigozhin was just the opening act.

Who is Igor Sushko and why should we trust him?

[Powers]

Who is Igor Sushko and why should we trust him?

Blue checkmark.

[firestar464]

Lmao

Besides this is likely nonsense; ISW and other news sources have not reported on this

[caltrek]

Wagner’s Real Money Never Came from Diamonds and Gold
by Ellen Ioanes
July 2, 2023

Introduction:

(Vox) The US Treasury Department on Tuesday sanctioned gold and diamond mining concerns connected to the Wagner group in Mali and the Central African Republic after Yevgeny Prigozhin, the mercenary group’s founder, attempted to stage a mutiny in Russia last weekend.

The gold and diamond mining enterprises, as well as a UAE-based distributor and a Russian company that the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) says is involved in the scheme, serve to enrich some members of Wagner and their collaborators in Russia and the African countries where they have a foothold. However, the amount the group earns from its illicit mining activities is negligible compared to its significant funding from the Russian government.

For several years part of Wagner’s appeal was that it furthered Russia’s foreign policy goals with a modicum of plausible deniability. Wagner’s connection to the Russian government has been an open secret since the mercenary group started in 2014 and brought Crimea and the Donbas under Russian control, but it wasn’t until Russia’s invasion of Ukraine that that connection was made explicit.

Part of Wagner’s appeal has been its effectiveness compared to its relatively small price tag for the Russian government. Putin has admitted that the Russian government funds Wagner, to the tune of $1 billion over the year completed May 2023, while Prigozhin made just over $900 million on top of that. Though the Russian government isn’t the only entity that funds Wagner and its leaders, all indications are that it is by far the primary underwriter. Anything else, whether that’s diamonds, gold, oil, nickel, or gas, is just a drop in the bucket — “pocket money, some tips for the Russian generals who control the mercenaries,” according to Pavel Luzin, a Russian military analyst and non-resident senior fellow with the Democratic Resilience Program at the Center for European Policy Analysis.

Read more here: https://www.vox.com/world-politics/202 ... uae-putin

[weatheriscool]

Russia has 'lost nearly half' of its combat effectiveness since invading Ukraine, UK defense official
Charles R. Davis Jul 4, 2023, 4:07 PM GMT-4

https://www.businessinsider.com/ukraine ... S42MC4wLjA.

"SNIP........

* Russia has "lost nearly half" its combat power since invading Ukraine, a top UK defense official said.

* Admiral Sir Tony Radakin claimed Russia is now "so weak" it cannot wage a counter-offensive.

* A classified US assessment previously said Russian forces may have suffered over 200,000 casualties.