Wagner in Africa: Its fighters can be deployed quickly, have sophisticated arms and are ruthless
Overall, Wagner has done nearly nothing to make life better for Africans: its activities have served to entrench dictators and undermine democracies; to extend and deepen civil conflicts; to murder innocent civilians; to exploit natural resources for Russia’s gain; and to vilify the only alternative that Africans have to China for investment.
Real test for fragile Somalia as African Union forces start handing over to national army
Speaking at UN headquarters in New York, Ambassador Mohamed El-Amine Souef, AU Commission Chair Special Representative and ATMIS Head, told the Security Council: “Stability ushered in last May delivered dividends and, in many instances, exceeded expectations. Progress thus far is testament to the resilience and determination of the Somali people”.
Russian MP proposes radical military reforms that’ll create 7 million strong national army
When sending troops to Ukraine in February 2022 Putin assumed he would take Kyiv within days, but the war is still far from over, with many weaknesses of the Russian army and internal disputes of how to lead the campaign coming to the fore.
Weak Russian President Putin blasts weekend insurrection organisers and Wagner ‘traitors’
Abbas Gallyamov, a former Kremlin speechwriter turned political analyst, called the address weak. In a Facebook post, he said it was a sign that Putin is “acutely dissatisfied with how he looked in this whole story and is trying to correct the situation.”
Former Putin political strategist calls for an end to mercenary groups in Russia in wake of mutiny
As first deputy chief of the Kremlin administration from 1999 to 2011, Vladislav Surkov helped Putin forge his tightly controlled political system. He then worked in the government and later returned to the Kremlin as an adviser to Putin.
President Biden distances US, Nato from Wagner mutiny, calls it ‘struggle within the Russian system’
A feud between Prigozhin and Russia’s military brass that has festered throughout the war erupted into the mutiny that saw the mercenaries leave Ukraine to seize a military headquarters in a southern Russian city. They rolled for hundreds of kilometres toward Moscow, before turning around on Saturday, in a deal whose terms remain uncertain. Biden’s national security team briefed him hourly as Prigozhin’s forces were on the move, the president said. He had directed them to “prepare for a range of scenarios” as Russia’s crisis unfolded, he said.
