A preliminary U.S. intelligence assessment has found that the plane crash presumed to have killed Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin was intentionally caused by an explosion. German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has commented on the incident, noting the pattern of deaths and dubious suicides in Putin's Russia. President Joe Biden had previously commented on the incident, saying he was not surprised and that there is not much that happens in Russia that Putin is not behind.
Posts tagged as “Vladimir Putin”
On Wednesday, a plane crash north of Moscow killed mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin and all 10 people on board, raising suspicions as Prigozhin had led a brief armed rebellion against the Russian military earlier this year. Gen. Sergei Surovikin, a top general linked to Prigozhin, was dismissed from his position as commander of the air force and has not been seen in public since the mutiny. The cause of the plane crash is still under investigation and it is unclear if Prigozhin’s death will be confirmed or if the crash was related to the mutiny.
Charles McGonigal, the former top FBI counterintelligence official in New York, pleaded guilty to a federal charge of conspiring to violate U.S. sanctions by taking money from Oleg Deripaska, a sanctioned Russian oligarch and ally of Vladimir Putin. He admitted to laundering $17,500 from Gazprom Bank in Russia to his private account and is facing up to five years in prison when he is sentenced on August 3.
Alexey Navalny, a Russian opposition leader and vocal critic of President Vladimir Putin's government, was sentenced to 19 years in prison on Friday for promoting "extremism". He was already serving a nine-year sentence for parole violations, fraud, and contempt of court. Navalny's team has denounced the charges as politically motivated and the international community has called for his immediate release.
At the Russia-Africa Summit in St. Petersburg, Russian President Vladimir Putin promised African leaders tens of thousands of tons of free grain in an attempt to appease the international community and improve Russia's image in the region. The free grain announcement follows criticism of Russia's involvement in the Ukrainian conflict, which has caused a disruption in the global food supply chain. The summit was attended by 21 African leaders, with notable absentees including the leaders of several large African nations.
On Monday, a married couple and their daughter were killed and wounded, respectively, after a section of the Kerch Bridge between Russia and the Moscow-annexed Crimean Peninsula was blown up. The incident has caused tension between the two countries, with both accusing each other of being responsible, and has sparked international outrage. The United Nations Security Council is expected to hold an emergency meeting to discuss the incident.
President Joe Biden concluded his five-day European tour in Finland, where he declared that Russian President Vladimir Putin has already lost the war in Ukraine. He also expressed his commitment to pursuing a prisoner exchange for Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who has been detained in Russia for more than 100 days. Biden also celebrated Finland's new membership and Sweden's likely ascension into NATO.
NATO leaders opened their summit on Tuesday with a show of unity against Russian aggression in Ukraine, leading to the agreement of Sweden joining the alliance. This is seen as a signal to Russian President Vladimir Putin that his unprovoked war has backfired, uniting the West against him. The summit will focus on the threat Russia poses to eastern Europe, and the addition of Sweden to the alliance will strengthen NATO's presence in Northern Europe.