All articles tagged with #mercenary
A Swiss military court sentenced a suspected Ukrainian mercenary to 18 months in prison, suspended for four years, in the first such trial in Switzerland. The 49-year-old, living in Israel, fought for Ukraine against Russia and claimed he did so voluntarily. The case involved evidence from social media and Europol, and the verdict can be appealed.
Former U.S. soldier Craig Austin Lang has been extradited from Ukraine to face federal charges in the U.S. for an alleged international crime spree, including a double murder in Florida. Lang, who fought against Russian separatists in Ukraine, is accused of killing a Florida couple in 2018 to fund mercenary activities. He faces multiple charges, including conspiracy to commit passport fraud and aggravated identity theft, and could face life in prison if convicted.
Dozens of people gathered at the grave site of Yevgeny Prigozhin, the late Russian mercenary chief, on the 40th day since his death in a plane crash. Supporters and fans of the Wagner mercenary group paid tribute, expressing hopes that his death was staged and that he and other Wagner leaders are still alive. The circumstances of the crash remain unclear, leading to speculation that Prigozhin's death was orchestrated by Russia's top leadership. The future of Wagner is uncertain, with analysts suggesting it may cease to exist as an autonomous organization and its fighters absorbed into other military units under the Defense Ministry's control.
The funeral of Russian mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin, who was killed in a plane crash, was held privately at a cemetery in St Petersburg. The ceremony was in contrast to Prigozhin's self-publicizing style and prevented a large-scale public show of support for him. The Kremlin has denied any involvement in his death, and President Vladimir Putin did not attend the funeral. Another top Wagner figure, Valery Chekalov, was also buried in St Petersburg.
Dmitry Utkin, also known as "Wagner," was a former Russian military intelligence officer and a key figure in the Wagner Group, a Russian private mercenary group. Utkin played a significant role in conflicts in Ukraine, Syria, and Africa, and was involved in the group's activities until his death in a plane crash alongside Yevgeny Prigozhin. Utkin's involvement in the group's formation remains unclear, but he was known for his Nazi sympathies and had tattoos of Nazi symbols.
Makeshift memorials have been set up in various Russian cities following the death of Yevgeny Prigozhin, the leader of the controversial mercenary group Wagner Group. Prigozhin, who was known for his involvement in the invasion of Ukraine and his strained relationship with Russia's military leadership, died in a plane crash. The memorials feature portraits of Prigozhin and the Wagner Group logo, with people paying tribute and leaving flowers at the sites.
Yevgeny Prigozhin, the chief of the Wagner Group, a Russian mercenary organization, has been confirmed dead after his plane crashed in what appeared to be an explosion. Genetic testing confirmed his identity along with the other nine bodies recovered from the crash site. The cause of the crash remains unknown, but suspicions of a Kremlin-orchestrated hit have been raised. Prigozhin recently led a mutiny against Russia's military but reached a deal with the Kremlin to avoid charges and resettle in Belarus. His second-in-command and the group's logistics mastermind were also killed in the crash.
Yevgeny Prigozhin, the leader of the Wagner group, had planned to capture Russia's military leadership during the recent mutiny. Western officials revealed that Prigozhin accelerated his plans after Russia's domestic intelligence agency became aware of the plot.
Russian authorities have dropped charges against Yevgeny Prigozhin, the owner of the Wagner Group military company, and others involved in an armed rebellion aimed at ousting Russia's defense minister. The security services had called for his arrest after he made his most direct challenge to the Kremlin yet.
Russian mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin agreed to go into exile in Belarus after his Wagner mercenaries' march on Moscow was stopped. The deal has left questions about Putin's power and the stability of the Kremlin. Prigozhin has criticized how the Russian military has conducted the war and called Putin's justification for the invasion a lie. The failed rebellion has weakened Putin's regime, and the US has reaffirmed its support for Ukraine. A former CIA director warned Prigozhin to be careful around open windows, referencing the number of prominent Russians who have died in unclear circumstances since Russia invaded Ukraine.
Yevgeniy Prigozhin, the Wagner mercenary boss known as "Putin's chef," declared war on the Russian Defense Ministry, seized a strategic military headquarters near the border with Ukraine, sent a convoy of fighters rolling toward Moscow, and got labeled a traitor by President Vladimir Putin. Prigozhin's rebellion ended without the ouster of his archenemies, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and the overall commander of the war in Ukraine, Chief of the General Staff Gen. Valery Gerasimov. Prigozhin's rebellion briefly raised the prospect of civil war in Russia.
Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chairman of Russia's Security Council, warned that the world would be on the brink of catastrophe if Russian nuclear weapons fell into the hands of "bandits" led by mercenary boss Yevgeny Prigozhin, who is attempting a coup. Prigozhin leads Wagner, a private army that includes thousands of former prisoners recruited from Russian jails, and has defied orders to place his troops under Defense Ministry command.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has vowed to punish the organizers of an armed rebellion led by mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin, who spearheaded his troops out of Ukraine and into a key southern city. Prigozhin’s private army appeared to control the military headquarters in Rostov-on-Don, a city 660 miles south of Moscow that runs Russian operations in Ukraine. Putin denounced the uprising as “a stab in the back” in an address to the nation. The rebellion marks an escalation in Prigozhin's struggle with Russian military leaders, whom he accused of botching the war in Ukraine and hobbling his forces in the field.
Yevgeny Prigozhin, the founder of the Wagner Group, has vowed to stage a mutiny against Russia's Defense Ministry after it signed a decree mandating all volunteer fighters to sign a contract with the ministry by July 1. Prigozhin accused Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu of jealousy and said he would take other defectors under his wing to build the mercenary group's ranks. He claimed the Defense Ministry had repeatedly attempted to "destroy" the group and accused top military brass of jealousy. The move is seen as a bid to centralize military control and limit Prigozhin's influence in the war.
A missile attack on a residential building in Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s hometown of Kryvyi Rih killed at least six people. Zelensky called it evidence of Russia’s war against “ordinary cities and people.” NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg is in Washington to discuss long-term security assistance to Ukraine. Meanwhile, Yevgeniy Prigozhin, the head of the Wagner Group mercenary force, is flouting political taboos in Russia by criticizing top military officials and displaying possible political ambitions.