The Ukrainian army on Sunday stated that they are still "holding" the embattled city of Bakhmut, which Wagner mercenary group, fighting on behalf of Russia, claimed to have captured "in a legal sense" by occupying the city's administration building.

"The enemy has not stopped its assault of Bakhmut. However, Ukrainian defenders are courageously holding the city as they repel numerous enemy attacks," said the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on its Facebook page.

On his Telegram channel, the Head of Wagner Yevgeny Prigozhin on Monday said, "In a legal sense, Bakhmut has been captured. The enemy is concentrated in western areas."

ALSO READ | <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/three-civilians-killed-in-fresh-russian-shelling-a-year-after-grisly-discovery-in-bucha-578249">Six killed, eight injured in fresh Russian shelling, a year after discovery of grisly Bucha killings</a>

In a video which accompanied the Telegram post, Prigozhin was seen holding a Russian flag which was inscribed to honour Russian military blogger Vladlen Tatarsky who lost his life in a bomb attack in Saint Petersburg's cafe on Sunday.

"The commanders of the units that took city hall and the whole centre will go and put up this flag. This is the Wagner private military company, these are the guys who took Bakhmut. In a legal sense, it's ours," he said.&nbsp;

Prigozhin had stated on March 20 (Monday) that the town's 70 per cent has been captured by Wagner units.&nbsp;

On Sunday evening, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky appreciated the efforts made by the Ukrainian army to defend the city.&nbsp;

"I am grateful to our warriors who are fighting near Avdiivka, Maryinka, near Bakhmut... Especially Bakhmut! It's especially hot there today!" said Zelensky in his own post to Telegram.&nbsp;

WATCH |&nbsp;Russia to place nuclear weapons near Belarus' border with NATO

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Near Bakhmut, around 27 kilometres (17 miles) from &nbsp;Kostyantynivka, three men and three women were killed and eleven others were wounded in a "massive attack" of Russian missiles.

Zelensky stated that the affected zones are "just residential areas", where "ordinary civilians of an ordinary city of Donbas" were targeted.

The battle for Bakhmut is the longest one to have continued after Russia invaded Ukraine.&nbsp;

(With inputs from agencies)

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The Ukrainian army on Sunday stated that they are still "holding" the embattled city of Bakhmut, which Wagner mercenary group, fighting on behalf of Russia, claimed to have captured "in a legal sense" by occupying the city's administration building.

The Ukrainian army on Sunday stated that they are still "holding" the embattled city of Bakhmut, which Wagner mercenary group, fighting on behalf of Russia, claimed to have captured "in a legal sense" by occupying the city's administration building. "The enemy has not stopped its assault of Bakhmut. However, Ukrainian defenders are courageously holding the city as they repel numerous enemy attacks," said the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on its Facebook page. On his Telegram channel, the Head of Wagner Yevgeny Prigozhin on Monday said, "In a legal sense, Bakhmut has been captured. The enemy is concentrated in western areas." ALSO READ | Six killed, eight injured in fresh Russian shelling, a year after discovery of grisly Bucha killings In a video which accompanied the Telegram post, Prigozhin was seen holding a Russian flag which was inscribed to honour Russian military blogger Vladlen Tatarsky who lost his life in a bomb attack in Saint Petersburg's cafe on Sunday. "The commanders of the units that took city hall and the whole centre will go and put up this flag. This is the Wagner private military company, these are the guys who took Bakhmut. In a legal sense, it's ours," he said. Prigozhin had stated on March 20 (Monday) that the town's 70 per cent has been captured by Wagner units. On Sunday evening, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky appreciated the efforts made by the Ukrainian army to defend the city. "I am grateful to our warriors who are fighting near Avdiivka, Maryinka, near Bakhmut... Especially Bakhmut! It's especially hot there today!" said Zelensky in his own post to Telegram. WATCH | Russia to place nuclear weapons near Belarus' border with NATO Near Bakhmut, around 27 kilometres (17 miles) from Kostyantynivka, three men and three women were killed and eleven others were wounded in a "massive attack" of Russian missiles. Zelensky stated that the affected zones are "just residential areas", where "ordinary civilians of an ordinary city of Donbas" were targeted. The battle for Bakhmut is the longest one to have continued after Russia invaded Ukraine. (With inputs from agencies) You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here. WATCH WION LIVE HERE

Ukraine says still 'holding' Bakhmut after Wagner claims its 'legal capture'

The United States may announce a fresh $2.6 billion military aid package for war-torn Ukraine. Quoting three&nbsp;US officials in the know, Reuters reports that the military aid package to help Kyiv in its war against Russian aggression is expected to be announced on Monday and could include air surveillance radars, anti-tank rockets and fuel trucks. The list of equipment will be finalised over the weekend, and the dollar amount or the specifics of the equipment to be donated could still change, said one of the officials on the condition of anonymity.

As per the official, the final list of equipment could include half a dozen types of munitions, including tank munition.&nbsp;

Watch |&nbsp;Ukraine Russia conflict: Ukraine's Avdiivka now 'second Bakhmut'

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Additionally, precision aerial munitions, bridging equipment that could be used by Ukraine to target Russian positions, and recovery vehicles to help disabled heavy equipment like tanks could also be included.&nbsp;

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/imf-board-approves-156-billion-loan-for-war-torn-ukraine-577840">IMF board approves $15.6 billion loan for war-torn Ukraine</a>

Finally, additional rounds for NASAMS air defences that the US and allies have given to Kyiv could be included in the latest batch of US military aid.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/let-him-go-us-president-biden-tells-russia-to-release-american-journalist-577795">‘Let him go’: US President Biden tells Russia to release American journalist</a>

According to the report, of the $2.6 billion, $500 million&nbsp;is being sourced from Presidential Drawdown Authority funds, which allow the president to access existing US&nbsp;stocks in a state of emergency. This will be&nbsp;used to purchase munitions to aid Kyiv in pushing a spring offensive against the Russian invasion.&nbsp;Apart from that, $2.1 billion will be taken from the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI) fund. According to Reuters, this permits the Biden administration to buy weapons from the industry instead of from US stockpiles.

(With inputs from agencies) 
 
 
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The United States may announce a fresh $2.6 billion military aid package for war-torn Ukraine. Quoting three US officials in the know, Reuters reports that the military aid package to help Kyiv in its war against Russian aggression is expected to be announced on Monday and could include air surveillance radars, anti-tank rockets and fuel trucks.

The United States may announce a fresh $2.6 billion military aid package for war-torn Ukraine. Quoting three US officials in the know, Reuters reports that the military aid package to help Kyiv in its war against Russian aggression is expected to be announced on Monday and could include air surveillance radars, anti-tank rockets and fuel trucks. The list of equipment will be finalised over the weekend, and the dollar amount or the specifics of the equipment to be donated could still change, said one of the officials on the condition of anonymity. As per the official, the final list of equipment could include half a dozen types of munitions, including tank munition. Watch | Ukraine Russia conflict: Ukraine's Avdiivka now 'second Bakhmut' Additionally, precision aerial munitions, bridging equipment that could be used by Ukraine to target Russian positions, and recovery vehicles to help disabled heavy equipment like tanks could also be included. Also read | IMF board approves $15.6 billion loan for war-torn Ukraine Finally, additional rounds for NASAMS air defences that the US and allies have given to Kyiv could be included in the latest batch of US military aid. Also read | ‘Let him go’: US President Biden tells Russia to release American journalist According to the report, of the $2.6 billion, $500 million is being sourced from Presidential Drawdown Authority funds, which allow the president to access existing US stocks in a state of emergency. This will be used to purchase munitions to aid Kyiv in pushing a spring offensive against the Russian invasion. Apart from that, $2.1 billion will be taken from the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI) fund. According to Reuters, this permits the Biden administration to buy weapons from the industry instead of from US stockpiles. (With inputs from agencies) WATCH WION LIVE HERE You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.

Russia-Ukraine war | US to announce $2.6 billion military aid package for Kyiv

The US on Tuesday said it will stop exchanging with Russia some data on its nuclear forces. The move is a response to Moscow suspending its participation in the New START nuclear arms treaty. Since "Russia has not been in full compliance and refused to share data which we ... agreed in New START to share biannually," the US has "decided to likewise not share that data,"&nbsp;John Kirby, the National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications, told reporters.

Watch |&nbsp;Will Russia-US respect 'new start treaty'?&nbsp;

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He added that Washington "would prefer to be able to do (this) but it requires them (Russia) being willing to as well."

A spokesperson for the National Security Council said that "under international law, the United States has the right to respond to Russia's breaches of the New START Treaty by taking proportionate and reversible countermeasures in order to induce Russia to return to compliance with its obligations."

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/russia-successfully-tests-supersonic-missiles-at-target-in-sea-of-japan-576736">Russian Navy successfully tests supersonic missiles at mock target in Sea of Japan: Russian defence ministry</a>

"That means that because Russia's claimed suspension of the New START Treaty is legally invalid, the US is legally permitted to withhold our biannual data update in response to Russia's breaches," they added.

While Russian President Vladimir Putin has not formally withdrawn from the New START treaty, his February 21 suspension imperils the last pillar of US-Russian arms control, Reuters said in a report.&nbsp;Between them, the two nations hold nearly 90 per cent of the world's nuclear arsenal.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/russias-nuclear-weapons-plans-in-belarus-dangerous-and-irresponsible-nato-575926">Russia's nuclear weapons plans in Belarus 'dangerous and irresponsible': NATO</a>

The treaty was signed in 2010 and was due to expire in 2026. Under the New START treaty's "Biannual Data Exchanges," the two nations are required to provide a declaration of deployed strategic delivery vehicles, launchers and warheads. The number&nbsp;is capped at no more than 1,550 strategic nuclear warheads and 700 land- and submarine-based missiles and bombers to deliver them.

(With inputs from agencies)

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The US on Tuesday said it will stop exchanging with Russia some data on its nuclear forces. The move is a response to Moscow suspending its participation in the New START nuclear arms treaty.

The US on Tuesday said it will stop exchanging with Russia some data on its nuclear forces. The move is a response to Moscow suspending its participation in the New START nuclear arms treaty. Since "Russia has not been in full compliance and refused to share data which we ... agreed in New START to share biannually," the US has "decided to likewise not share that data," John Kirby, the National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications, told reporters. Watch | Will Russia-US respect 'new start treaty'? He added that Washington "would prefer to be able to do (this) but it requires them (Russia) being willing to as well." A spokesperson for the National Security Council said that "under international law, the United States has the right to respond to Russia's breaches of the New START Treaty by taking proportionate and reversible countermeasures in order to induce Russia to return to compliance with its obligations." Also read | Russian Navy successfully tests supersonic missiles at mock target in Sea of Japan: Russian defence ministry "That means that because Russia's claimed suspension of the New START Treaty is legally invalid, the US is legally permitted to withhold our biannual data update in response to Russia's breaches," they added. While Russian President Vladimir Putin has not formally withdrawn from the New START treaty, his February 21 suspension imperils the last pillar of US-Russian arms control, Reuters said in a report. Between them, the two nations hold nearly 90 per cent of the world's nuclear arsenal. Also read | Russia's nuclear weapons plans in Belarus 'dangerous and irresponsible': NATO The treaty was signed in 2010 and was due to expire in 2026. Under the New START treaty's "Biannual Data Exchanges," the two nations are required to provide a declaration of deployed strategic delivery vehicles, launchers and warheads. The number is capped at no more than 1,550 strategic nuclear warheads and 700 land- and submarine-based missiles and bombers to deliver them. (With inputs from agencies) WATCH WION LIVE HERE You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.

In retaliation to Russia pulling back from New START treaty, US decides to withhold nuclear data

Britain's Challenger tanks as per reports have arrived in Ukraine. Speaking to AFP, Iryna Zolotar, spokesperson for the Kyiv-based defence ministry, said that "they (the tanks) are in Ukraine already." Zolotar did not provide any other details. These tanks will reportedly be part of Ukraine's counter-offensive operation against aggressor Russia. The Challenger 2 tanks use depleted uranium shells as ammunition.&nbsp;Last week, Russian President Vladimir Putin had warned that Moscow would be "forced to react" if Britain follows through on a promise to deliver the armour-piercing ammunition, reports AFP.

Earlier on Monday, Ukraine's defence minister Oleksiy Reznikov said that he inspected a "new addition" to the country's forces. AFP reports that Reznikov was referring to the Challenger tanks as well as Germany's Marder infantry fighting vehicles, plus Cougar armoured trucks and Stryker armoured personnel carriers from the United States.

Watch |&nbsp;Ukraine Receives 18 Leopard 2 main battle Tanks from Germany

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Taking to Facebook, the minister praised Britain's Challengers, calling them works of "military art" and said that "a year ago, no one would have thought that our partners' support would be so strong."

United Kingdom on Monday announced that Ukrainian troops have completed training on UK-donated Challenger tanks and are ready to be deployed on the front lines.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/sports/ukraine-allies-slam-ioc-say-not-a-single-reason-to-lift-olympics-ban-on-athletes-from-russia-and-belarus-576414">Ukraine allies slam IOC, say 'not a single reason' to lift olympics ban on athletes from Russia and Belarus</a>

"Ukrainian tank crews have completed training on Challenger 2 tanks in the UK and have returned home to continue their fight against Russia's illegal and unprovoked invasion," said the British ministry of defence in a statement.

Ukrainian tank crews began their training shortly after the UK in January announced that it will be donating 14 tanks to Kyiv.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/germany-confirms-delivery-of-18-leopard-tanks-to-ukraine-576384">Germany confirms delivery of 18 leopard tanks to Ukraine</a>

The crew, as per the UK defence ministry, learned how to command, drive, and "effectively identify and engage targets."&nbsp;

"It is truly inspiring to witness the determination of Ukrainian soldiers having completed their training on British Challenger 2 tanks on British soil," said Defence Secretary Ben Wallace, as per AFP.&nbsp;He added that the soldiers "return to their homeland better equipped but to no less danger. We will continue to stand by them and do all we can to support Ukraine for as long as it takes."

(With inputs from agencies)

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Britain's Challenger tanks as per reports have arrived in Ukraine. Speaking to AFP, Iryna Zolotar, spokesperson for the Kyiv-based defence ministry, said that "they (the tanks) are in Ukraine already.

Britain's Challenger tanks as per reports have arrived in Ukraine. Speaking to AFP, Iryna Zolotar, spokesperson for the Kyiv-based defence ministry, said that "they (the tanks) are in Ukraine already." Zolotar did not provide any other details. These tanks will reportedly be part of Ukraine's counter-offensive operation against aggressor Russia. The Challenger 2 tanks use depleted uranium shells as ammunition. Last week, Russian President Vladimir Putin had warned that Moscow would be "forced to react" if Britain follows through on a promise to deliver the armour-piercing ammunition, reports AFP. Earlier on Monday, Ukraine's defence minister Oleksiy Reznikov said that he inspected a "new addition" to the country's forces. AFP reports that Reznikov was referring to the Challenger tanks as well as Germany's Marder infantry fighting vehicles, plus Cougar armoured trucks and Stryker armoured personnel carriers from the United States. Watch | Ukraine Receives 18 Leopard 2 main battle Tanks from Germany Taking to Facebook, the minister praised Britain's Challengers, calling them works of "military art" and said that "a year ago, no one would have thought that our partners' support would be so strong." United Kingdom on Monday announced that Ukrainian troops have completed training on UK-donated Challenger tanks and are ready to be deployed on the front lines. Also read | Ukraine allies slam IOC, say 'not a single reason' to lift olympics ban on athletes from Russia and Belarus "Ukrainian tank crews have completed training on Challenger 2 tanks in the UK and have returned home to continue their fight against Russia's illegal and unprovoked invasion," said the British ministry of defence in a statement. Ukrainian tank crews began their training shortly after the UK in January announced that it will be donating 14 tanks to Kyiv. Also read | Germany confirms delivery of 18 leopard tanks to Ukraine The crew, as per the UK defence ministry, learned how to command, drive, and "effectively identify and engage targets." "It is truly inspiring to witness the determination of Ukrainian soldiers having completed their training on British Challenger 2 tanks on British soil," said Defence Secretary Ben Wallace, as per AFP. He added that the soldiers "return to their homeland better equipped but to no less danger. We will continue to stand by them and do all we can to support Ukraine for as long as it takes." (With inputs from agencies) WATCH WION LIVE HERE You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.

United Kingdom's armour-piercing Challenger 2 tanks arrive in Ukraine

Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin said on Saturday (March 25) that over 5,000 former criminals were pardoned after finishing their contracts to fight in the group against Ukraine. In an audio clip posted on Telegram, Prigozhin said, "At present, more than 5,000 people have been released on pardon after completing their contracts with Wagner," the news agency Reuters reported. Prigozhin added that only 0.31 per cent of those pardoned after serving with Wagner go on to commit a crime, a figure he said was 10-20 times less than the standard indicators.

ALSO READ | <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/russian-troops-lose-momentum-in-battle-of-bakhmut-as-ukraine-puts-up-strong-defence-575529">Russian troops losing momentum in Bakhmut battle as Ukraine puts up strong defence</a>

Wagner, the Russian mercenary group, has played an important role in the Ukraine war after the Russian army suffered a series of humiliating defeats last year. Yevgeny Prigozhin emerged from the shadows and recruited thousands from prisons, offering them freedom for serving in some of the most dangerous battles in Ukraine.

The announcement of criminals being pardoned comes after Prigozhin told Russia's Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu that the Ukrainian army was planning an imminent offensive aimed at cutting off his Wagner forces from the main body of Russian troops in eastern Ukraine.

In a letter to Shoigu on Monday, Prigozhin said that the large-scale attack was planned by Ukraine for late March or the start of April. He urged the defence minister to take all necessary measures to prevent Wagner from being "cut off from the main forces of the Russian army, which will lead to negative consequences for the special military operation."

This was the first time that the Wagner chief published such correspondence with Shoigu, who&nbsp;he frequently criticised over the conduct of the war. Prigozhin also said on Monday that he was providing details of the Ukrainian plan and of his proposal to counter it in an attachment to the letter, Reuters reported.&nbsp;

In separate comments published on Telegram, Prigozhin also said there was a "high probability" that the Russian city of Belgorod would be one of the targets of the coming Ukrainian offensive. 
 
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Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin said on Saturday (March 25) that over 5,000 former criminals were pardoned after finishing their contracts to fight in the group against Ukraine.

Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin said on Saturday (March 25) that over 5,000 former criminals were pardoned after finishing their contracts to fight in the group against Ukraine. In an audio clip posted on Telegram, Prigozhin said, "At present, more than 5,000 people have been released on pardon after completing their contracts with Wagner," the news agency Reuters reported. Prigozhin added that only 0.31 per cent of those pardoned after serving with Wagner go on to commit a crime, a figure he said was 10-20 times less than the standard indicators. ALSO READ | Russian troops losing momentum in Bakhmut battle as Ukraine puts up strong defence Wagner, the Russian mercenary group, has played an important role in the Ukraine war after the Russian army suffered a series of humiliating defeats last year. Yevgeny Prigozhin emerged from the shadows and recruited thousands from prisons, offering them freedom for serving in some of the most dangerous battles in Ukraine. The announcement of criminals being pardoned comes after Prigozhin told Russia's Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu that the Ukrainian army was planning an imminent offensive aimed at cutting off his Wagner forces from the main body of Russian troops in eastern Ukraine. In a letter to Shoigu on Monday, Prigozhin said that the large-scale attack was planned by Ukraine for late March or the start of April. He urged the defence minister to take all necessary measures to prevent Wagner from being "cut off from the main forces of the Russian army, which will lead to negative consequences for the special military operation." This was the first time that the Wagner chief published such correspondence with Shoigu, who he frequently criticised over the conduct of the war. Prigozhin also said on Monday that he was providing details of the Ukrainian plan and of his proposal to counter it in an attachment to the letter, Reuters reported. In separate comments published on Telegram, Prigozhin also said there was a "high probability" that the Russian city of Belgorod would be one of the targets of the coming Ukrainian offensive. WATCH WION LIVE HERE You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.

Wagner chief says over 5,000 criminals pardoned by Russia after fighting in Ukraine war

The Ukraine war could drag on for years,&nbsp;warned the war-torn nations' President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday, as he urged European leaders to speed up supplies of modern weaponry. Addressing a summit of his European Union counterparts via video link, the Ukrainian President thanked the EU leaders for the military aid they have already provided to Ukraine. However, he&nbsp;cautioned them that a delay in sending further assistance — fighter jets and long-range missiles&nbsp;— could give "evil"&nbsp;time to regroup and prolong the war. Zelensky, as per AFP, also urged the European leaders to step up sanctions against aggressor Russia.

Watch |&nbsp;Ukraine war has ‘profound impact’ on Asia, says US secretary of state Antony Blinken

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As per a readout and video released by the Ukrainian presidency, Zelensky said he was "grateful" to Poland and Slovakia for their pledges on presenting Ukraine with Soviet-era MiG-29 fighter jets, but added that the nation needs "more modern aircraft".&nbsp;

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/ukraines-reconstruction-and-recovery-will-take-several-years-and-411-billion-world-bank-574812">Ukraine’s reconstruction and recovery will take several years, cost $411 billion: World Bank</a>

He remarked that "the delay in supplying Ukraine with long-range missiles is already significant," adding that "we cannot delay the transfer of weapons to our soldiers, who can protect Ukrainians from terror."

"If Europe waits, the evil may have time to regroup and prepare for years of war. It is in your power to prevent this," he said, as reported by Reuters.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/china-hasnt-crossed-line-to-provide-russia-lethal-aid-says-top-us-diplomat-blinken-574827">China hasn't 'crossed line' to provide Russia 'lethal aid,' says top US diplomat Blinken</a>

Even as he urged his European counterparts to impose more sanctions on Moscow, the Ukrainian leader also pushed them to speed up work on Ukraine's EU membership bid and boost support for Kyiv's proposed peace plan.&nbsp;"Ukraine is ready for a decision on the start of accession negotiations on EU membership already this year. The same readiness is needed from all of you — every leader in Europe."&nbsp;

(With inputs from agencies)

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The Ukraine war could drag on for years, warned the war-torn nations' President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday, as he urged European leaders to speed up supplies of modern weaponry.

The Ukraine war could drag on for years, warned the war-torn nations' President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday, as he urged European leaders to speed up supplies of modern weaponry. Addressing a summit of his European Union counterparts via video link, the Ukrainian President thanked the EU leaders for the military aid they have already provided to Ukraine. However, he cautioned them that a delay in sending further assistance — fighter jets and long-range missiles — could give "evil" time to regroup and prolong the war. Zelensky, as per AFP, also urged the European leaders to step up sanctions against aggressor Russia. Watch | Ukraine war has ‘profound impact’ on Asia, says US secretary of state Antony Blinken As per a readout and video released by the Ukrainian presidency, Zelensky said he was "grateful" to Poland and Slovakia for their pledges on presenting Ukraine with Soviet-era MiG-29 fighter jets, but added that the nation needs "more modern aircraft". Also read | Ukraine’s reconstruction and recovery will take several years, cost $411 billion: World Bank He remarked that "the delay in supplying Ukraine with long-range missiles is already significant," adding that "we cannot delay the transfer of weapons to our soldiers, who can protect Ukrainians from terror." "If Europe waits, the evil may have time to regroup and prepare for years of war. It is in your power to prevent this," he said, as reported by Reuters. Also read | China hasn't 'crossed line' to provide Russia 'lethal aid,' says top US diplomat Blinken Even as he urged his European counterparts to impose more sanctions on Moscow, the Ukrainian leader also pushed them to speed up work on Ukraine's EU membership bid and boost support for Kyiv's proposed peace plan. "Ukraine is ready for a decision on the start of accession negotiations on EU membership already this year. The same readiness is needed from all of you — every leader in Europe." (With inputs from agencies) WATCH WION LIVE HERE You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.

Zelensky warns EU: Delaying military aid could give 'evil' time to regroup, prolong Ukraine war for years

One year into the war, the reconstruction and recovery needs of Ukraine, as per the latest World Bank estimates, have risen to $411 billion. Ukraine's reconstruction and recovery, as per Anna Bjerde, World Bank's vice president for Europe and Central Asia, will "take several years." As per the report released on Wednesday, these estimates "should be considered as minimums as needs will continue to rise as long as the war continues." Ukraine war which began on February 24, 2022 has caused widespread damage to the global economy. The Russian invasion has not only displaced millions of people, but has also triggered a global food and energy price surge.

Watch |&nbsp;Ukraine war: Zelensky visits front line near Bakhmut as Russia targets cities

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As per the latest assessment, it is expected that in 2023, Kyiv will require around $14 billion for critical and priority reconstruction and recovery investments.&nbsp;

It estimates that in addition to what the Ukrainian government has allocated in its 2023 budget, meeting these needs will require $11 billion in additional&nbsp;funding. AFP reports that the highest expected needs are in transport, while housing and energy are a close second.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/russia-slams-uk-for-sending-depleted-uranium-shells-to-ukraine-calls-it-serious-escalation-574777">Russia slams UK for sending depleted uranium shells to Ukraine, calls it ‘serious escalation’</a>

The latest assessment has been jointly reached by the Ukrainian government, the World Bank, the European Commission and the United Nations. It is around $62 billion&nbsp;more than an earlier estimate of $349 billion reported in September.

Undoing 15 years of development and progress, the war has forced 7.1 million people into poverty, states the assessment.&nbsp;

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/ukraine-war-uk-defends-sending-uranium-ammo-to-kyiv-after-putins-warning-says-report-574775">Ukraine war: UK defends sending uranium ammo to Kyiv after Putin's warning, says report</a>

As per AFP, the $411 billion needed is approximately 2.6 times Ukraine's estimated gross domestic product for 2022.

"Energy infrastructure, housing, critical infrastructure, economy and humanitarian demining are our five priorities for this year," said Ukraine's Prime Minister Denys Shmygal in a statement.&nbsp;He further warned that "the amount of damage and recovery needs currently does not include data on the loss of infrastructure, housing and businesses in the occupied territories."

(With inputs from agencies) 
 
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One year into the war, the reconstruction and recovery needs of Ukraine, as per the latest World Bank estimates, have risen to $411 billion. Ukraine's reconstruction and recovery, as per Anna Bjerde, World Bank's vice president for Europe and Central Asia, will "take several years.

One year into the war, the reconstruction and recovery needs of Ukraine, as per the latest World Bank estimates, have risen to $411 billion. Ukraine's reconstruction and recovery, as per Anna Bjerde, World Bank's vice president for Europe and Central Asia, will "take several years." As per the report released on Wednesday, these estimates "should be considered as minimums as needs will continue to rise as long as the war continues." Ukraine war which began on February 24, 2022 has caused widespread damage to the global economy. The Russian invasion has not only displaced millions of people, but has also triggered a global food and energy price surge. Watch | Ukraine war: Zelensky visits front line near Bakhmut as Russia targets cities As per the latest assessment, it is expected that in 2023, Kyiv will require around $14 billion for critical and priority reconstruction and recovery investments. It estimates that in addition to what the Ukrainian government has allocated in its 2023 budget, meeting these needs will require $11 billion in additional funding. AFP reports that the highest expected needs are in transport, while housing and energy are a close second. Also read | Russia slams UK for sending depleted uranium shells to Ukraine, calls it ‘serious escalation’ The latest assessment has been jointly reached by the Ukrainian government, the World Bank, the European Commission and the United Nations. It is around $62 billion more than an earlier estimate of $349 billion reported in September. Undoing 15 years of development and progress, the war has forced 7.1 million people into poverty, states the assessment. Also read | Ukraine war: UK defends sending uranium ammo to Kyiv after Putin's warning, says report As per AFP, the $411 billion needed is approximately 2.6 times Ukraine's estimated gross domestic product for 2022. "Energy infrastructure, housing, critical infrastructure, economy and humanitarian demining are our five priorities for this year," said Ukraine's Prime Minister Denys Shmygal in a statement. He further warned that "the amount of damage and recovery needs currently does not include data on the loss of infrastructure, housing and businesses in the occupied territories." (With inputs from agencies) WATCH WION LIVE HERE You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.

Ukraine’s reconstruction and recovery will take several years, cost $411 billion: World Bank

United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday said that China has not 'crossed the line' and provided Russia with substantial aid despite it ramping up diplomatic aid to Moscow. Blinken, who as per AFP, has for weeks warned that Beijing is considering Russia's request for weapons for the Ukraine war said that "as we speak today, we have not seen them cross that line." He said this in response to a question on whether China was providing "lethal aid" to Russia. Talking to lawmakers at a Senate committee, the top diplomat as per Reuters said that China was "very carefully" watching how Washington and the world respond to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Blinken said that if Russia was allowed to attack Ukraine with impunity, it would "open a Pandora's box" for would-be aggressors and lead to a "world of conflict."

Watch |&nbsp;Key Takeaways from Xi- Jinping's Russia visit

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"The stakes in Ukraine go well beyond Ukraine. ... I think it has a profound impact in Asia, for example," he remarked.

Blinken's statement comes on the heels of a high-level meeting between Russia and China. Recently, 'dear friends' Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin met in Moscow to discuss the bilateral relations between the two nations.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/ukraines-reconstruction-and-recovery-will-take-several-years-and-411-billion-world-bank-574812">Ukraine’s reconstruction and recovery will take several years, cost $411 billion: World Bank</a>

"I think their diplomatic support, their political support, and to some extent material support for Russia certainly goes against our interest in bringing this war to an end," said Blinken when speaking about China.

Referring to the arrest warrant the International Criminal Court (ICC) has recently issued for the Russian President, Blinken said Washington would urge other nations to extradite Putin if he visits.&nbsp;

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/russia-slams-uk-for-sending-depleted-uranium-shells-to-ukraine-calls-it-serious-escalation-574777">Russia slams UK for sending depleted uranium shells to Ukraine, calls it ‘serious escalation’</a>

"I think that anyone who is a party to the court and has obligations should fulfil their obligations," he said.&nbsp;

However, he added that given that the US is "not actually a party to the ICC", he wants to avoid engaging in the hypothetical and that regards to Washington helping ICC extradite Putin, he would "have to look at the laws." "I don't think he (Putin) has any plans to travel here soon," he added.

(With inputs from agencies)

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United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday said that China has not 'crossed the line' and provided Russia with substantial aid despite it ramping up diplomatic aid to Moscow.

United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday said that China has not 'crossed the line' and provided Russia with substantial aid despite it ramping up diplomatic aid to Moscow. Blinken, who as per AFP, has for weeks warned that Beijing is considering Russia's request for weapons for the Ukraine war said that "as we speak today, we have not seen them cross that line." He said this in response to a question on whether China was providing "lethal aid" to Russia. Talking to lawmakers at a Senate committee, the top diplomat as per Reuters said that China was "very carefully" watching how Washington and the world respond to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Blinken said that if Russia was allowed to attack Ukraine with impunity, it would "open a Pandora's box" for would-be aggressors and lead to a "world of conflict." Watch | Key Takeaways from Xi- Jinping's Russia visit "The stakes in Ukraine go well beyond Ukraine. ... I think it has a profound impact in Asia, for example," he remarked. Blinken's statement comes on the heels of a high-level meeting between Russia and China. Recently, 'dear friends' Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin met in Moscow to discuss the bilateral relations between the two nations. Also read | Ukraine’s reconstruction and recovery will take several years, cost $411 billion: World Bank "I think their diplomatic support, their political support, and to some extent material support for Russia certainly goes against our interest in bringing this war to an end," said Blinken when speaking about China. Referring to the arrest warrant the International Criminal Court (ICC) has recently issued for the Russian President, Blinken said Washington would urge other nations to extradite Putin if he visits. Also read | Russia slams UK for sending depleted uranium shells to Ukraine, calls it ‘serious escalation’ "I think that anyone who is a party to the court and has obligations should fulfil their obligations," he said. However, he added that given that the US is "not actually a party to the ICC", he wants to avoid engaging in the hypothetical and that regards to Washington helping ICC extradite Putin, he would "have to look at the laws." "I don't think he (Putin) has any plans to travel here soon," he added. (With inputs from agencies) WATCH WION LIVE HERE You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.

China hasn't 'crossed line' to provide Russia 'lethal aid,' says top US diplomat Blinken

Chinese nationals were killed in cold-blood in the Central African Republic. Gunmen stormed a Chinese-operated gold mining site which was recently launched outside capital Bangui. Xi Jinping orders immediate evacuation of Chinese nations and demands severe punishment for the perpetrators. The suspected militant group behind the attack denies any involvement and blames the Russian mercenary group Wagner for the deadly attack.

Chinese nationals killed by Russian mercenaries in Central Africa?

Surprising everyone in the two warring nations and elsewhere around, the chief of the Russian mercenary group Wagner revealed his political ambitions and declared his intentions to run for Ukraine's President in 2024. In a video going viral on social media, Yevgeny Prigozhin announced his "political ambitions" for next year and said that he has "decided to run for president in 2024."

In the video, Prigozhin, who is dressed in combat gear, can be seen addressing the camera from an unknown location. Gunfire can be heard in the background, as he says, "I'm making a political coming out. Looking at everything around me, I've got political ambitions. I decided to run for president in 2024. For President of Ukraine."

Watch |&nbsp;Wagner Chief: Our men running short of ammunition | Battle of Bakhmut

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He goes on to add if he defeated incumbent Volodymyr Zelensky and his predecessor, Petro Poroshenko, "everything will be fine."

"If I win the presidential elections of Ukraine, then everything will be fine, guys, the shells will not be needed."&nbsp;

Watch the video here:

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⚡️In 2024 I will run for the presidency of Ukraine — head of Wagner PMC Yevgeny Prigozhin <a href="https://t.co/C0Ni5FMKVx">pic.twitter.com/C0Ni5FMKVx</a>
— War Monitor (@WarMonitors) <a href="https://twitter.com/WarMonitors/status/1634530100640206848?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 11, 2023</a></blockquote>
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Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/ordinary-bureaucracy-or-a-betrayal-wagner-chief-says-without-fresh-ammunition-bakhmut-could-collapse-569053">'Ordinary bureaucracy or a betrayal?': Wagner chief says without promised ammunition, Bakhmut could collapse</a>

As per reports, this could be a dig at Moscow's failure to supply the mercenary group with ammunition. The Wagner chief has in recent days repeatedly brought up the ammunition issue.

The Wagner chief has for some time been at odds with the Russian military chiefs, including Defence Minister Sergey Shoygu and head of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov. He has questioned their competence and has voiced his suspicions of the ministry's "jealousy" for the success of his mercenary troops.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/ukraine-war-russian-strike-in-kherson-kills-three-battle-for-bakhmut-rages-on-570951">Ukraine war: Russian strike in Kherson kills three; battle for Bakhmut rages on</a> 
 
Recently, Prigozhin accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of cutting him off completely and said that he has been unable to get through to anyone at the Kremlin. 
 
Prigozhin said on his Telegram channel, “To get me to stop asking for ammunition, all the hotlines to offices, to departments etc have been cut off from me. But the real humdinger is that they’ve also blocked agencies from making decisions [related to Wagner].”

Just last week, he had warned that unless his troops are fortified with ammunition, Moscow's position in the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut is in peril. Reportedly, Moscow has failed to keep its promise to deliver ammunition to Wagner. In February, Prigozhin as per Reuters even termed the withholding of munition supplies as "treason".

(With inputs from agencies) 
 
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Surprising everyone in the two warring nations and elsewhere around, the chief of the Russian mercenary group Wagner revealed his political ambitions and declared his intentions to run for Ukraine's President in 2024.

Surprising everyone in the two warring nations and elsewhere around, the chief of the Russian mercenary group Wagner revealed his political ambitions and declared his intentions to run for Ukraine's President in 2024. In a video going viral on social media, Yevgeny Prigozhin announced his "political ambitions" for next year and said that he has "decided to run for president in 2024." In the video, Prigozhin, who is dressed in combat gear, can be seen addressing the camera from an unknown location. Gunfire can be heard in the background, as he says, "I'm making a political coming out. Looking at everything around me, I've got political ambitions. I decided to run for president in 2024. For President of Ukraine." Watch | Wagner Chief: Our men running short of ammunition | Battle of Bakhmut He goes on to add if he defeated incumbent Volodymyr Zelensky and his predecessor, Petro Poroshenko, "everything will be fine." "If I win the presidential elections of Ukraine, then everything will be fine, guys, the shells will not be needed." Watch the video here: ⚡️In 2024 I will run for the presidency of Ukraine — head of Wagner PMC Yevgeny Prigozhin pic.twitter.com/C0Ni5FMKVx — War Monitor (@WarMonitors) March 11, 2023 × Also read | 'Ordinary bureaucracy or a betrayal?': Wagner chief says without promised ammunition, Bakhmut could collapse As per reports, this could be a dig at Moscow's failure to supply the mercenary group with ammunition. The Wagner chief has in recent days repeatedly brought up the ammunition issue. The Wagner chief has for some time been at odds with the Russian military chiefs, including Defence Minister Sergey Shoygu and head of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov. He has questioned their competence and has voiced his suspicions of the ministry's "jealousy" for the success of his mercenary troops. Also read | Ukraine war: Russian strike in Kherson kills three; battle for Bakhmut rages on Recently, Prigozhin accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of cutting him off completely and said that he has been unable to get through to anyone at the Kremlin. Prigozhin said on his Telegram channel, “To get me to stop asking for ammunition, all the hotlines to offices, to departments etc have been cut off from me. But the real humdinger is that they’ve also blocked agencies from making decisions [related to Wagner].” Just last week, he had warned that unless his troops are fortified with ammunition, Moscow's position in the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut is in peril. Reportedly, Moscow has failed to keep its promise to deliver ammunition to Wagner. In February, Prigozhin as per Reuters even termed the withholding of munition supplies as "treason". (With inputs from agencies) WATCH WION LIVE HERE You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.

Russian mercenary group Wagner’s chief reveals ‘political ambitions’, to run for Ukraine’s president in 2024

Disclaimer: A number of claims and counterclaims are being made on the Ukraine-Russia conflict on the ground and online. While WION takes utmost care to accurately report this developing news story, we cannot independently verify the authenticity of all statements, photos and videos. 
 
As Russia claims it is inching closer to seizing control of the Bakhmut city in the east, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has ruled out withdrawing the troops from the besieged city, saying that such a move will allow Russian forces to capture key cities in eastern Ukraine.

“This is tactical for us,” Zelensky told CNN in an interview on Tuesday.

“We understand that after Bakhmut they could go further. They could go to Kramatorsk, they could go to Sloviansk, it would be an open road for the Russians after Bakhmut to other towns in Ukraine, in the Donetsk direction,” he was quoted as saying. “That’s why our guys are standing there.”

He stressed that Ukraine’s military will prolong its defence of the city despite Russia gaining an upper hand.

The eastern city has been witnessing&nbsp;months of intense fighting, as Russian mercenary Wagner Group and Russian troops have been trying&nbsp;to seize it. Ukraine has been valiantly maintaining its defence,&nbsp;and stalling advancement of the Russian troops.

<h2>Ukraine vows to keep defending Bakhmut amid constant attacks by Russian forces</h2>

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Ukraine's president and military commanders have agreed to strengthen their defence of Bakhmut.

The Ukrainian leader said that there is a reason why they are stationing their troops there. “We understand what Russia wants to achieve there. Russia needs at least some victory – a small victory – even by ruining everything in Bakhmut, just killing every civilian there.”

Zelensky said that if Russia is able to capture Bakhmut, then it would give a major boost to their confidence after facing series of setbacks. He said that it would help “mobilize their society in order to create this idea they’re such a powerful army.”

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/ukraine-denies-involvement-in-nord-stream-pipelines-blast-569843">Ukraine denies involvement in Nord Stream pipelines blast</a>

Experts opine that Bakhmut holds little to no strategic significance for Russia. But they believe that fall of the eastern city would open doors to other cities like Kramatorsk and Sloviansk — two densely populated, industrial urban hubs to the northwest.

Responding to reports that some commanders and lower level officers have questioned the merit of holding Bakhmut amid a rising number of casualties, Zelensky said he has “never heard anything like that” from his commanders.

“We have to think about our people first and no one should be surrounded, encircled – this is very important,” he said.

(With inputs from agencies)

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Disclaimer: A number of claims and counterclaims are being made on the Ukraine-Russia conflict on the ground and online. While WION takes utmost care to accurately report this developing news story, we cannot independently verify the authenticity of all statements, photos and videos.

Disclaimer: A number of claims and counterclaims are being made on the Ukraine-Russia conflict on the ground and online. While WION takes utmost care to accurately report this developing news story, we cannot independently verify the authenticity of all statements, photos and videos. As Russia claims it is inching closer to seizing control of the Bakhmut city in the east, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has ruled out withdrawing the troops from the besieged city, saying that such a move will allow Russian forces to capture key cities in eastern Ukraine. “This is tactical for us,” Zelensky told CNN in an interview on Tuesday. “We understand that after Bakhmut they could go further. They could go to Kramatorsk, they could go to Sloviansk, it would be an open road for the Russians after Bakhmut to other towns in Ukraine, in the Donetsk direction,” he was quoted as saying. “That’s why our guys are standing there.” He stressed that Ukraine’s military will prolong its defence of the city despite Russia gaining an upper hand. The eastern city has been witnessing months of intense fighting, as Russian mercenary Wagner Group and Russian troops have been trying to seize it. Ukraine has been valiantly maintaining its defence, and stalling advancement of the Russian troops. Ukraine vows to keep defending Bakhmut amid constant attacks by Russian forces Ukraine's president and military commanders have agreed to strengthen their defence of Bakhmut. The Ukrainian leader said that there is a reason why they are stationing their troops there. “We understand what Russia wants to achieve there. Russia needs at least some victory – a small victory – even by ruining everything in Bakhmut, just killing every civilian there.” Zelensky said that if Russia is able to capture Bakhmut, then it would give a major boost to their confidence after facing series of setbacks. He said that it would help “mobilize their society in order to create this idea they’re such a powerful army.” Also read | Ukraine denies involvement in Nord Stream pipelines blast Experts opine that Bakhmut holds little to no strategic significance for Russia. But they believe that fall of the eastern city would open doors to other cities like Kramatorsk and Sloviansk — two densely populated, industrial urban hubs to the northwest. Responding to reports that some commanders and lower level officers have questioned the merit of holding Bakhmut amid a rising number of casualties, Zelensky said he has “never heard anything like that” from his commanders. “We have to think about our people first and no one should be surrounded, encircled – this is very important,” he said. (With inputs from agencies) WATCH WION LIVE HERE

‘Won’t withdraw from Bakhmut,’ says Ukraine’s Zelensky with Russia on cusp of seizing control city

Wagner's chief Yevgeny Prigozhin said on Thursday (February 23) that his group started receiving additional supplies of ammunition for the war in Ukraine following a public row with the top brass of the Russian military. Taking to Telegram, Prigozhin said, "Today at 6 am, it was announced that the shipment of ammunition has started. Most likely, the ball is now rolling. So far, it's all on paper, but, as we were told, the principal documents have already been signed."

"Many thanks to those who acted various ways - to those ordinary citizens who did everything they could, and to those, including those in high offices, who exerted pressure and made decisions...so that they began to give us ammunition. Thank you. Thank you from the lads," he said in a separate message, reported the news agency Reuters.

ALSO READ | <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/wagner-chief-accuses-russian-military-of-treason-against-homeland-564467">Wagner chief accuses Russian military of 'treason' against homeland</a>

Recently, Wagner's feud with Russian military bosses had escalated with Prigozhin claiming that officials were denying the group ammunition out of personal animus against him. Two days back, Prigozhin accused Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu and the Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov of treason, claiming they were behind the shortages (in ammunition).&nbsp;

In a voice message, the Wagner chief said on Tuesday&nbsp;that Shoigu and Gerasimov were giving orders right and left not to give his group ammunition, and also not to help it with air support. He further said the military command even prohibited delivering Wagner fighters "shovels which allow them to dig trenches".

ALSO READ | <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/more-than-30000-wagner-fighters-suffered-injuries-or-died-in-ukraine-war-claims-us-563378">More than 30,000 Wagner fighters died or suffered injuries in Ukraine war, claims US</a>

On Wednesday, Prigozhin urged Russian citizens to pressure the army into sharing ammunition with his fighters taking part in the Ukraine war. He said that Wagner was losing scores of men daily because of the lack of ammunition.&nbsp;

The defence ministry, meanwhile, responded to Prigozhin's claims on Tuesday by saying that attempts to drive a wedge between regular forces and fighters were counterproductive, the news agency AFP reported. In a statement, the ministry said it was providing both regular forces and "volunteers" with the necessary ammunition.&nbsp;

(With inputs from agencies)

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Wagner's chief Yevgeny Prigozhin said on Thursday (February 23) that his group started receiving additional supplies of ammunition for the war in Ukraine following a public row with the top brass of the Russian military.

Wagner's chief Yevgeny Prigozhin said on Thursday (February 23) that his group started receiving additional supplies of ammunition for the war in Ukraine following a public row with the top brass of the Russian military. Taking to Telegram, Prigozhin said, "Today at 6 am, it was announced that the shipment of ammunition has started. Most likely, the ball is now rolling. So far, it's all on paper, but, as we were told, the principal documents have already been signed." "Many thanks to those who acted various ways - to those ordinary citizens who did everything they could, and to those, including those in high offices, who exerted pressure and made decisions...so that they began to give us ammunition. Thank you. Thank you from the lads," he said in a separate message, reported the news agency Reuters. ALSO READ | Wagner chief accuses Russian military of 'treason' against homeland Recently, Wagner's feud with Russian military bosses had escalated with Prigozhin claiming that officials were denying the group ammunition out of personal animus against him. Two days back, Prigozhin accused Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu and the Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov of treason, claiming they were behind the shortages (in ammunition). In a voice message, the Wagner chief said on Tuesday that Shoigu and Gerasimov were giving orders right and left not to give his group ammunition, and also not to help it with air support. He further said the military command even prohibited delivering Wagner fighters "shovels which allow them to dig trenches". ALSO READ | More than 30,000 Wagner fighters died or suffered injuries in Ukraine war, claims US On Wednesday, Prigozhin urged Russian citizens to pressure the army into sharing ammunition with his fighters taking part in the Ukraine war. He said that Wagner was losing scores of men daily because of the lack of ammunition. The defence ministry, meanwhile, responded to Prigozhin's claims on Tuesday by saying that attempts to drive a wedge between regular forces and fighters were counterproductive, the news agency AFP reported. In a statement, the ministry said it was providing both regular forces and "volunteers" with the necessary ammunition. (With inputs from agencies) WATCH WION LIVE HERE You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.

Ukraine war: Wagner to receive additional ammunition supplies after row with Russian military

#Gravitas | The Chief of Russia's Wagner Group has publicly slammed the Russian Army for delaying supplies. He wants the generals to be charged with treason. Why? Molly Gambhir explains.

Gravitas: Wagner chief accuses Russian Generals of Treason

Amid the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine, all does not seem well between the Wagner group and Russia. Wagner group head accuses Russian command of treason. Watch the video for more details.

Wagner group head accuses Russian command of treason

Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin has dropped another bombshell statement, for second day in a row. First, Prigozhin on Monday accused several unnamed officials of refusing to provide the group with key arms supplies out of personal animosity to him. Again on Tuesday he came down heavy on some of the Russian top brass, calling their acts, an act of "treason."

He accused Russia's Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and the nation's most senior soldier, Valery Gerasimov for trying to destroy the Wagner group by deliberately putting roadblocks in ammunition supplies. Wagner said with the ongoing opposition from the officials over the arms supply the group is suffering setbacks in its fight in the town of Bakhmut in Ukraine's Donetsk region.

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"There is simply direct opposition going on," Prigozhin said in a voice message posted on his Telegram channel. "This can be equated to high treason". "The chief of the general staff and the defence minister are giving orders right and left not just not to give Wagner PMC ammunition, but not to help it with air transport," Prigozhin said.

This is not the only time when Wagner group chief has criticized senior Russian officials. It has been slamming senior commanders for their "competence." He also blamed the defence ministry is trying to take credit for Wagner successes around the Donetsk region town of Bakhmut.

Also Read | <a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/indian-poet-javed-akhtar-at-lahore-event-says-2611-terrorists-roaming-free-in-pakistan-564306">Indian Poet Javed Akhtar, at Lahore event, says 26/11 terrorists roaming free in Pakistan</a>

Earlier, in an interview on 10 February, the head of Russia’s Wagner mercenary group, Yevgeny Prigozhin admitted facing fierce resistance from Ukrainian troops in the Bakhmut.&nbsp;The Wagner chief also said it could take one and a half to two years and if Russia wants to capture the eastern Ukrainian city of Dnipro then it would take about three years. &nbsp;

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Additionally, the Wagner chief had said that one of those goals could be to firmly establish its presence in eastern Ukraine or push forward to capture more of the country and that Bakhmut was the key to those plans. “Bakhmut is needed so our troops can operate comfortably”, said Prigozhin. He added, “Why is it called the meat grinder? Because the Ukrainian army is sending more and more and more units.”&nbsp; 
&nbsp;

(Disclaimer: A number of claims and counterclaims are being made on the Ukraine-Russia conflict on the ground and online. While WION takes utmost care to accurately report this developing news story, we cannot independently verify the authenticity of all statements, photos and videos.)

&nbsp;

Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin has dropped another bombshell statement, for second day in a row. First, Prigozhin on Monday accused several unnamed officials of refusing to provide the group with key arms supplies out of personal animosity to him.

Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin has dropped another bombshell statement, for second day in a row. First, Prigozhin on Monday accused several unnamed officials of refusing to provide the group with key arms supplies out of personal animosity to him. Again on Tuesday he came down heavy on some of the Russian top brass, calling their acts, an act of "treason." He accused Russia's Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and the nation's most senior soldier, Valery Gerasimov for trying to destroy the Wagner group by deliberately putting roadblocks in ammunition supplies. Wagner said with the ongoing opposition from the officials over the arms supply the group is suffering setbacks in its fight in the town of Bakhmut in Ukraine's Donetsk region. Also Read | Miracle baby 'Aya', born under Turkey quake rubble, adopted by her aunt, uncle "There is simply direct opposition going on," Prigozhin said in a voice message posted on his Telegram channel. "This can be equated to high treason". "The chief of the general staff and the defence minister are giving orders right and left not just not to give Wagner PMC ammunition, but not to help it with air transport," Prigozhin said. This is not the only time when Wagner group chief has criticized senior Russian officials. It has been slamming senior commanders for their "competence." He also blamed the defence ministry is trying to take credit for Wagner successes around the Donetsk region town of Bakhmut. Also Read | Indian Poet Javed Akhtar, at Lahore event, says 26/11 terrorists roaming free in Pakistan Earlier, in an interview on 10 February, the head of Russia’s Wagner mercenary group, Yevgeny Prigozhin admitted facing fierce resistance from Ukrainian troops in the Bakhmut. The Wagner chief also said it could take one and a half to two years and if Russia wants to capture the eastern Ukrainian city of Dnipro then it would take about three years. Watch | Air India begins massive hiring, pilots' salary crosses Rs 2 crore Additionally, the Wagner chief had said that one of those goals could be to firmly establish its presence in eastern Ukraine or push forward to capture more of the country and that Bakhmut was the key to those plans. “Bakhmut is needed so our troops can operate comfortably”, said Prigozhin. He added, “Why is it called the meat grinder? Because the Ukrainian army is sending more and more and more units.” (Disclaimer: A number of claims and counterclaims are being made on the Ukraine-Russia conflict on the ground and online. While WION takes utmost care to accurately report this developing news story, we cannot independently verify the authenticity of all statements, photos and videos.)

Wagner chief accuses Russian military of 'treason' against homeland

Yevgeny Prigozhin, the chief of Russia's mercenary group Wagner claimed on Friday (February 17) that a village near Bakhmut has been captured.

"The settlement of Paraskoviivka is completely under the control of Wagner PMC units. Despite the blockade of ammunition, despite heavy losses and bloody battles, the guys completely occupied the entire territory of Paraskoviivka," Yevgeny Prigozhin said, quoted by his press service.

Paraskoviivka is a village just north of Bakhmut in the Donetsk region. Russia has been trying hard to fully control the region.

For several weeks, Russian forces have been posting painstaking incremental gains north of Bakhmut and said they had cut off three out of four Ukrainian supply routes to the city.

But Prigozhin has also said it could take months to capture the embattled city that has turned into a key political and symbolic prize.

Kyiv on Monday conceded a "difficult" situation north of Bakhmut, shortly after Moscow claimed control of the village of Krasna Gora, adjacent to Paraskoviivka.

There was no immediate comment from Russia's defence ministry on Paraskoviivka's capture.

(With inputs from agencies)

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Yevgeny Prigozhin, the chief of Russia's mercenary group Wagner claimed on Friday (February 17) that a village near Bakhmut has been captured. "The settlement of Paraskoviivka is completely under the control of Wagner PMC units.

Yevgeny Prigozhin, the chief of Russia's mercenary group Wagner claimed on Friday (February 17) that a village near Bakhmut has been captured. "The settlement of Paraskoviivka is completely under the control of Wagner PMC units. Despite the blockade of ammunition, despite heavy losses and bloody battles, the guys completely occupied the entire territory of Paraskoviivka," Yevgeny Prigozhin said, quoted by his press service. Paraskoviivka is a village just north of Bakhmut in the Donetsk region. Russia has been trying hard to fully control the region. For several weeks, Russian forces have been posting painstaking incremental gains north of Bakhmut and said they had cut off three out of four Ukrainian supply routes to the city. But Prigozhin has also said it could take months to capture the embattled city that has turned into a key political and symbolic prize. Kyiv on Monday conceded a "difficult" situation north of Bakhmut, shortly after Moscow claimed control of the village of Krasna Gora, adjacent to Paraskoviivka. There was no immediate comment from Russia's defence ministry on Paraskoviivka's capture. (With inputs from agencies) You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here. WATCH WION LIVE HERE ×

Village near Bakhmut captured, claims Wagner chief

The Ukrainian government on Friday (February 3) unveiled a case against Yevgeny Prigozhin, the chief of the Russian mercenary group Wagner which has been supporting Russia in its offensive in Ukraine, news agency Reuters reported. Taking to Facebook, Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin said that the Prosecutor General's Office served a notice to the head of Wagner.

Without naming Prigozhin, the statement said, "The head of this group is directly responsible for thousands of war crimes. He openly admits his role in the war against Ukraine and, with the Kremlin's permission, resolves staff issues by recruiting tens of thousands of prisoners."

ALSO READ | <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/dear-mr-kirby-wagner-boss-writes-to-white-house-over-fresh-us-sanctions-554903">'Dear Mr Kirby...': Wagner boss writes to White House over fresh US sanctions</a>

Kostin listed accusations against the Wagner group including encroachment on Ukraine's territorial integrity and waging an aggressive war and said that mercenaries (from the group) of all ranks would be held responsible, including those who fled abroad. "I am certain together with international partners we will ensure comprehensive responsibility both for every criminal who came to our land with weapons in his hands and also for their patrons who do business in blood," the prosecutor general added.&nbsp;

Kostin also said the Ukrainian government would send Norway a request against a former Wagner commander who was arrested (in Norway) last month.&nbsp;

Earlier on Friday, the Norwegian police said they intended to continue investigating former Wagner commander Andrei Medvedev, who fled from Russia to Norway last month.&nbsp;

According to a statement, Kripos- a unit of the police which investigates war crimes- said Medvedev handed some digital material to the police. Kripos said the material was being examined, adding the former Wagner commander remained a witness and was not under any obligation to talk to investors. "Medvedev gives the impression that he wants to continue to say more," the statement added.&nbsp;

Wagner has not only been involved in the Ukraine war but also in conflicts in Africa, Latin America and the Middle East. On Tuesday (January 31), United Nations (UN) experts called for an immediate independent investigation into abuses and possible war crimes committed in Mali by government forces and Wagner. According to a statement, the experts said that since 2021, they received "persistent and alarming accounts" of violations committed by Mali's armed forces and their allies in the Mopti area and elsewhere, a report by the news agency AFP said.&nbsp;

The UN experts said they were especially concerned about reports of mass executions in central Mali's Moura village in March last year. As per their information, "Malian forces, accompanied by military personnel believed to belong to the Wagner Group, executed several hundred people who had been rounded up."

(With inputs from agencies)

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The Ukrainian government on Friday (February 3) unveiled a case against Yevgeny Prigozhin, the chief of the Russian mercenary group Wagner which has been supporting Russia in its offensive in Ukraine, news agency Reuters reported.

The Ukrainian government on Friday (February 3) unveiled a case against Yevgeny Prigozhin, the chief of the Russian mercenary group Wagner which has been supporting Russia in its offensive in Ukraine, news agency Reuters reported. Taking to Facebook, Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin said that the Prosecutor General's Office served a notice to the head of Wagner. Without naming Prigozhin, the statement said, "The head of this group is directly responsible for thousands of war crimes. He openly admits his role in the war against Ukraine and, with the Kremlin's permission, resolves staff issues by recruiting tens of thousands of prisoners." ALSO READ | 'Dear Mr Kirby...': Wagner boss writes to White House over fresh US sanctions Kostin listed accusations against the Wagner group including encroachment on Ukraine's territorial integrity and waging an aggressive war and said that mercenaries (from the group) of all ranks would be held responsible, including those who fled abroad. "I am certain together with international partners we will ensure comprehensive responsibility both for every criminal who came to our land with weapons in his hands and also for their patrons who do business in blood," the prosecutor general added. Kostin also said the Ukrainian government would send Norway a request against a former Wagner commander who was arrested (in Norway) last month. Earlier on Friday, the Norwegian police said they intended to continue investigating former Wagner commander Andrei Medvedev, who fled from Russia to Norway last month. According to a statement, Kripos- a unit of the police which investigates war crimes- said Medvedev handed some digital material to the police. Kripos said the material was being examined, adding the former Wagner commander remained a witness and was not under any obligation to talk to investors. "Medvedev gives the impression that he wants to continue to say more," the statement added. Wagner has not only been involved in the Ukraine war but also in conflicts in Africa, Latin America and the Middle East. On Tuesday (January 31), United Nations (UN) experts called for an immediate independent investigation into abuses and possible war crimes committed in Mali by government forces and Wagner. According to a statement, the experts said that since 2021, they received "persistent and alarming accounts" of violations committed by Mali's armed forces and their allies in the Mopti area and elsewhere, a report by the news agency AFP said. The UN experts said they were especially concerned about reports of mass executions in central Mali's Moura village in March last year. As per their information, "Malian forces, accompanied by military personnel believed to belong to the Wagner Group, executed several hundred people who had been rounded up." (With inputs from agencies) WATCH WION LIVE HERE You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.

Ukraine unveils case against Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin

The Russia-Ukraine war will complete one year on February 24 this year, however, there is no end in sight with many still unsure of what the future holds for them.&nbsp;Amid the bomb shellings and the sanctions&nbsp;since Russia invaded Ukrainian territory a year ago, stories emerge from the battleground every now and then that shake people to their core.&nbsp;In an interview with CNN, a former Wagner mercenary narrates his experience from ground zero where he speaks about the brutality he witnessed in Ukraine. Andrei Medvedev, who is presently seeking asylum in Norway's Oslo, talked at length and gave an insider story about the Wagner group, a private military company which Russia is reportedly using to mobilise hundreds of mercenary soldiers.&nbsp;

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Andrei Medvedev shed light on how the Wagner fighters often have no clue when they are pushed into the battle. 26-year-old Medvedev, who joined the group as a volunteer, also described Wagner's behaviour towards the fighters as ruthless.&nbsp;

He even went on saying, “They would round up those who did not want to fight and shoot them in front of newcomers."&nbsp;

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“They brought two prisoners who refused to go fight and shot them in front of everyone and buried them right in the trenches that were dug by the trainees.” Medvedev signed his contract in July 2022 and moved to Ukraine after 10 days of signing. He termed the Wagner group founders, Dmitry Utkin and Russian oligarch Yevgeny Prigozhin, as “the devil”.

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“If (Prigozhin) was a Russian hero, he would have taken a gun and run with the soldiers,” Medvedev said. The bitterness is mutual as Wagner earlier said that Medvedev “should have been prosecuted for attempting to mistreat prisoners”.

“There were more dead bodies and more, and more, people coming in. In the end, I had a lot of people under my command,” Medvedev said, adding, “I couldn’t count how many. They were in constant circulation. Dead bodies, more prisoners, more dead bodies, more prisoners.”

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The Russia-Ukraine war will complete one year on February 24 this year, however, there is no end in sight with many still unsure of what the future holds for them.

The Russia-Ukraine war will complete one year on February 24 this year, however, there is no end in sight with many still unsure of what the future holds for them. Amid the bomb shellings and the sanctions since Russia invaded Ukrainian territory a year ago, stories emerge from the battleground every now and then that shake people to their core. In an interview with CNN, a former Wagner mercenary narrates his experience from ground zero where he speaks about the brutality he witnessed in Ukraine. Andrei Medvedev, who is presently seeking asylum in Norway's Oslo, talked at length and gave an insider story about the Wagner group, a private military company which Russia is reportedly using to mobilise hundreds of mercenary soldiers. Also Read | Canada’s three-year pilot programme to decriminalise possession of illicit drugs begins in BC Andrei Medvedev shed light on how the Wagner fighters often have no clue when they are pushed into the battle. 26-year-old Medvedev, who joined the group as a volunteer, also described Wagner's behaviour towards the fighters as ruthless. He even went on saying, “They would round up those who did not want to fight and shoot them in front of newcomers." Also Read | Norway's sovereign wealth fund suffers historic losses of $164 billion “They brought two prisoners who refused to go fight and shot them in front of everyone and buried them right in the trenches that were dug by the trainees.” Medvedev signed his contract in July 2022 and moved to Ukraine after 10 days of signing. He termed the Wagner group founders, Dmitry Utkin and Russian oligarch Yevgeny Prigozhin, as “the devil”. Watch | China: Beijing says city has achieved 'temporary herd immunity' “If (Prigozhin) was a Russian hero, he would have taken a gun and run with the soldiers,” Medvedev said. The bitterness is mutual as Wagner earlier said that Medvedev “should have been prosecuted for attempting to mistreat prisoners”. “There were more dead bodies and more, and more, people coming in. In the end, I had a lot of people under my command,” Medvedev said, adding, “I couldn’t count how many. They were in constant circulation. Dead bodies, more prisoners, more dead bodies, more prisoners.” WATCH WION LIVE HERE You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.

Wagner Group defector recalls horrific killings of non-submissive fighters in Ukraine

Former Commander of Russia's Wagner Group who recently fled to Norway has spoken about how he witnessed some of his fellows being shot while trying to flee from Ukraine's front line after security concern.

Ex-Wagner Commander living in secret location in Ukraine speaks out

Late last summer, a plot of land on the edge of a small farming community in southern Russia began to fill with scores of newly dug graves of fighters killed in Ukraine. The resting places were adorned with simple wooden crosses and brightly coloured wreaths that bore the insignia of Russia's Wagner Group - a feared and secretive private&nbsp;army.

There were around 200 graves at the site on the outskirts of Bakinskaya village in Krasnodar region when Reuters visited in late January. The news agency matched the names of at least 39 of the dead here and at three other nearby cemeteries to&nbsp;Russian&nbsp;court records, publicly available databases and social media accounts. Reuters also spoke to family, friends and lawyers of some of the dead.

Many of the men buried at Bakinskaya were convicts who were recruited by Wagner last year after its founder, Yevgeny Prigozhin, promised a pardon if&nbsp;prisoners survived six months at the front, this reporting showed. They included a contract killer, murderers, career criminals and people with alcohol problems.

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For months, Wagner has been locked in a bloody battle of attrition to take the towns of Bakhmut and Soledar in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region. Western and Ukrainian officials have said Wagner is using convicts as cannon fodder to overwhelm Ukraine's defences. Toughening sanctions on Wagner this month, White House national security spokesman John Kirby branded the group "a criminal organisation that is committing widespread atrocities and human rights abuses." In a short open reply to the U.S. government, Prigozhin asked Kirby to "please clarify what crime was committed" by Wagner.

Videos and photographs of the graves first appeared on social media channels in the Krasnodar region in December. Reuters geolocated these images to the Bakinskaya cemetery and reviewed satellite imagery of the site from Maxar Technologies and Capella Space. Satellite pictures show that the Wagner plot was empty in the summer, had three rows of graves by the end of November and was three-quarters full by early January. Virtually the entire plot was used by Jan. 24.

Local activist Vitaly Votanovsky, who took the first pictures and has documented soldiers killed in Ukraine and buried in Krasnodar region&nbsp;graveyards, told Reuters he observed a truck delivering bodies to the cemetery. He said gravediggers told him the bodies had come from the&nbsp;Russian&nbsp;city of Rostov-on-Don, close to Russia's border with Donetsk region. When Reuters visited the cemetery in January, fences and security cameras were being installed around the plot and another burial was underway.

Russian&nbsp;state-owned news agency RIA Novosti published footage in early January of Prigozhin visiting the cemetery, crossing himself and laying flowers on one grave. He told local media that the men buried there had expressed a wish to be laid to rest at a Wagner chapel outside the nearby town of Goryachiy Klyuch, rather than having their bodies returned to relatives. The Bakinskaya plot was provided by the local authorities, he said, after the chapel ran out of space. In 2019, Reuters reported on the existence of a Wagner training camp in the village of Molkino, around 5 miles (9 km) from Bakinskaya.

Of the 39 convicts Reuters identified, 10 had been imprisoned for murder or manslaughter, 24 for robbery and two for grievous bodily harm. Other crimes included manufacturing or dealing in drugs and blackmail. Among the convicts were citizens of Ukraine, Moldova, and the&nbsp;Russian-backed breakaway Georgian region of Abkhazia. Wooden markers on their graves at Bakinskaya and three nearby cemeteries show the men perished between July and December 2022, at the height of the battle for Bakhmut.

One of the youngest, buried at the nearby Martanskaya cemetery, is Vadim Pushnya. He was just 25 years old when he died on Nov. 19. Pushnya was imprisoned in 2020 for burgling garages, a beer shop and a cement factory in his hometown of Goryachiy Klyuch, close to the Wagner chapel. The birthdate on Pushnya's grave matches the date given on his social media accounts and in court records.

The oldest, Fail Nabiev, was serving one-and-a-half years for burglary in Ivanovo region's Penal Colony No. 2, 200 miles northeast of Moscow, at least his second such prison spell. He had been convicted in May 2022 by a court in the picturesque tourist town of Suzdal of stealing a string trimmer and a sanding machine valued at a total of 5,500 roubles ($80) from a garage. According to his simple wooden grave marker, emblazoned with an Islamic crescent moon, Nabiev died in October, less than five months after being sentenced. He was 60.

Nabiev's common-law wife, Olga Viktorova, confirmed to Reuters that Nabiev had been killed while serving with Wagner in the military campaign in Ukraine. She said that her husband had been nearing the end of his prison term, and that he had substantial credit card debts that she was now left to pay. She said she did not know that her husband had joined Wagner until after his death.&nbsp;Russian&nbsp;independent news site iStories has reported that Prigozhin visited Penal Colony No. 2 to recruit fighters in August. Reuters couldn't independently verify the report.

"He always had crazy ideas. An incorrigible optimist," Viktorova said. Nabiev probably "thought that he'd take a quick trip to Ukraine and earn some money."

The Kremlin, Russia's Defence Ministry and&nbsp;Russian&nbsp;prison authorities did not reply to questions for this article. The&nbsp;Russian&nbsp;government has in the past praised the "courageous and selfless actions" of Wagner fighters. Wagner's founder Prigozhin, who also didn't comment, has said previously he is giving convicts "a second chance at life."

Though Reuters was unable to confirm where exactly the men died, the mother of one said that her son was killed in the Donetsk region. The social media accounts of several others also indicate that they were in Ukraine prior to their deaths.

Since the beginning of Russia's war in Ukraine, the previously secretive Wagner and founder Prigozhin have assumed an increasingly public profile. In the past, Wagner fighters have deployed to Syria, Libya and the Central African Republic in support of Russia's allies. Prigozhin, known in Russia as "Putin's chef" because of his Kremlin catering contracts, consistently denied any links to Wagner. Then, last September, he confirmed he founded the private&nbsp;army, which he described as a "group of patriots."

Since then, Prigozhin has repeatedly visited the frontlines in eastern Ukraine, while also criticising Russia's military leadership and some senior officials, and personally spearheading a drive to recruit fighters from Russia's sprawling penal system.

According to a regular report published by the&nbsp;Russian&nbsp;Federal Penitentiary Service, Russia's penal colony population decreased by about 8% from 353,210 in August to 324,906 in early November, the largest drop in more than a decade. The report gave no reasons for the sudden, sharp decline, which coincided with the beginning of Wagner's prison recruitment push. The Federal Penitentiary Service did not reply to detailed questions for this article.

Last month, Reuters reported that the U.S. intelligence community believes that Wagner had approximately 40,000&nbsp;prisoner&nbsp;recruits deployed in Ukraine as of December, accounting for the vast majority of Wagner personnel in the country. Wagner has not commented on the figure or provided any information on fighter numbers. In a Jan. 14 video message, Prigozhin described Wagner as a fully independent force with its own aircraft, tanks, rockets and artillery. It is "probably the most experienced&nbsp;army&nbsp;that exists in the world today," he said.

Some of the convicts identified by Reuters were violent offenders who had spent much of their adult life in prison or were facing long sentences. Court papers reviewed by Reuters also portray men who had struggled with alcohol problems. The names of some others are on banking blacklists, suggesting personal financial troubles.

Their lives bring into bleak focus the realities of Russia's criminal underclass. Wagner founder Prigozhin in December told&nbsp;Russian&nbsp;news site RBC that he is giving convicts an opportunity "to redeem themselves." In January, he appeared alongside the first group of fighters to be pardoned, having survived their stints in Ukraine. A few weeks later, he wrote an open letter to the speaker of Russia's parliament, Vyacheslav Volodin, asking him to criminalise any actions or publications that discredit Wagner fighters and to outlaw public disclosure of their criminal pasts. He wrote that those "who are risking their lives every day and dying for the Motherland are being portrayed as second-class people, stripping them of the right to atone for their guilt." Volodin did not reply to Reuters' request for comment.

Among the&nbsp;prisoners identified by Reuters was 43-year-old Anatoly Bodenkov. He was serving a 16-year sentence after his conviction as a contract killer, court papers show. According to a local news report on the case, in 2016 Bodenkov murdered a local real estate agent in the northern city of Kirovo-Chepetsk with a sawn-off shotgun for 400,000 roubles ($5,720). The grave marker says Bodenkov died on Nov. 27, 2022. It doesn't say where.

A second&nbsp;prisoner, Viktor Deshko, 40, was sentenced to 10 years for a murder in 2021, according to court documents and local media reports. He cut a woman's throat during a drunken argument over money in the forests near the mining town of Shakhty, close to the border with the&nbsp;Russian-controlled Donbas. Court documents describe Deshko as "an aggressive person, given to abusing alcohol." He was on probation at the time of the killing, having previously served three and a half years for assault with a deadly weapon.

For Bodenkov and Deshko, the full names and dates of birth on the grave markers matched their social media and court records. Reuters was not able to contact friends or family of the two men, and their lawyers did not reply to requests for comment.

A third man, Vyacheslav Kochas, was sentenced to 18 years in prison by a St. Petersburg court for murder and armed robbery in 2020, when he was 23. According to&nbsp;Russian&nbsp;court documents, Kochas and another man burst into the apartment of an acquaintance while drunk in an attempted robbery. He beat the acquaintance and a female victim unconscious, using an iron and a metal clothes horse. Kochas then set fire to an item of clothing and threw it at the unconscious man. Much of the apartment was gutted by the fire, and the man succumbed to his wounds two days later.

Photographs of Kochas on social media show a baby-faced man. In some, he is embracing an unidentified young woman. Kochas' profile on VKontakte, Russia's Facebook equivalent, now reads: "Killed in the Donbas." Kochas' grave marker at Bakinskaya gives his date of death as July 21, shortly after his 25th birthday and in the earliest days of Russia's push towards Bakhmut.

Kochas' lawyer, Stepan Akimov, described his former client as "a really ordinary guy" whom he said had been unfairly convicted. The last he heard from Kochas was a text message after his appeal failed, thanking Akimov for his help. Akimov learned from Reuters that his ex-client had joined Wagner.

"I can imagine, given the length of his sentence, and how young he was, it seemed to him a way to go free," said Akimov. "When a&nbsp;prisoner&nbsp;has a double-digit sentence, here they're offering release in six months. Apparently, Vyacheslav thought this offer was a way out."

Reuters was unable to reach Kochas' surviving relatives.

Russia has one of the world's largest prison populations per capita. Mark Galeotti, author of The Vory: Russia's super mafia, a book on Russia's criminal and prison cultures, says the potential appeal of Wagner to inmates is wider than just a bid for clemency. Service with Wagner, he said, offers pride and a sense of purpose to convicts with few prospects after release, people who have spent time in a prison culture suffused with "a very strong&nbsp;Russian&nbsp;nationalist tinge."

"Yes, this will give you the chance to get out of prison, but also it gives you the chance to actually be someone," said Galeotti. "This is a way in which actually Wagner can appeal to people who definitely are, or believe themselves to be, marginalised, outsiders, losers in some way in the system, and gives them the chance to think of themselves as becoming winners."

At least one of the men buried at Bakinskaya concealed their criminal record and prison time from loved ones.

For over half a decade after she got married and left her hometown of Luhansk in eastern Ukraine, Svitlana Holyk believed that her brother Yury Danilyuk was working somewhere in the far north of Russia. The two Ukrainian-born siblings had few living relatives and rarely spoke after&nbsp;Russian-backed proxies seized their home city in 2014, she said. Svitlana knew only that her brother travelled regularly for work to the&nbsp;Russian&nbsp;border city of Bryansk, 500 miles (800 km) away.

But while Svitlana was building a new life in the Ukrainian city of Dnipro, Yury was using social media to subscribe to pro-Russian&nbsp;groups supporting the Donbas separatist insurgency, his online activity shows. In 2016, having been out of touch for a year and a half, Yury told his sister that he had moved to Russia's Arctic north. She said his messages were short, and he said little about his life.

"I suspected then that something had happened, that he might have some troubles that he did not want to or could not talk about for some reason," she told Reuters, speaking Ukrainian, in a telephone call from Dnipro. The city is now a major logistics hub for the Ukrainian&nbsp;army&nbsp;fighting in the Donbas, and a constant target of&nbsp;Russian&nbsp;missiles.

A close friend of Yury Danilyuk spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity. The friend said that Yury lied to his sister, whom he deeply loved, to avoid upsetting her with news of his imprisonment. In reality, he had been sentenced in 2016 to nine years and eight months in prison on drugs charges. The two men were incarcerated together in Krasnodar region's Penal Colony No. 6.

The friend said he last spoke to Yury in September 2022 and heard later that month from other inmates that Yury had joined Wagner. Olga Romanova, a&nbsp;prisoners-rights activist with the Russia Behind Bars watchdog group, told Reuters that Yevgeny Prigozhin has visited Penal Colony No. 6 to recruit inmates on two separate occasions. Reuters couldn't independently verify these visits.

The friend said that during his time in jail, Yury fell in with a faction of&nbsp;prisoners who refuse to cooperate with prison authorities on principle – a common phenomenon in Russia's penitentiary system. That meant Yury forfeited the chance of early release for good behaviour. He said Yury's decision to join Wagner was motivated by the knowledge that he would likely otherwise serve his long sentence in full.

According to his grave, Yury Danilyuk died on Nov. 30, 2022. He was 28.

Danilyuk's sister, Svitlana, said she had known nothing of her brother's prison sentence, service with Wagner, and eventual death during Russia's war against the country of their birth until contacted by Reuters journalists. Holyk said: "The fact that Yury died I learned from you. I re-read your message several times when you wrote to me. Somehow I couldn't believe it."

The inmate friend recalled Yury as a fierce patriot of his native Donbas, with a passion for cars. "I blame it all on him not wanting to cooperate with the prison authorities," the friend said. "If he had agreed, he'd be alive. But he refused, so he's a fool."

&nbsp;

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Late last summer, a plot of land on the edge of a small farming community in southern Russia began to fill with scores of newly dug graves of fighters killed in Ukraine.

Late last summer, a plot of land on the edge of a small farming community in southern Russia began to fill with scores of newly dug graves of fighters killed in Ukraine. The resting places were adorned with simple wooden crosses and brightly coloured wreaths that bore the insignia of Russia's Wagner Group - a feared and secretive private army. There were around 200 graves at the site on the outskirts of Bakinskaya village in Krasnodar region when Reuters visited in late January. The news agency matched the names of at least 39 of the dead here and at three other nearby cemeteries to Russian court records, publicly available databases and social media accounts. Reuters also spoke to family, friends and lawyers of some of the dead. Many of the men buried at Bakinskaya were convicts who were recruited by Wagner last year after its founder, Yevgeny Prigozhin, promised a pardon if prisoners survived six months at the front, this reporting showed. They included a contract killer, murderers, career criminals and people with alcohol problems. Also Read | US claims Chinese firm helped Russia's Wagner group in Ukraine, places sanctions For months, Wagner has been locked in a bloody battle of attrition to take the towns of Bakhmut and Soledar in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region. Western and Ukrainian officials have said Wagner is using convicts as cannon fodder to overwhelm Ukraine's defences. Toughening sanctions on Wagner this month, White House national security spokesman John Kirby branded the group "a criminal organisation that is committing widespread atrocities and human rights abuses." In a short open reply to the U.S. government, Prigozhin asked Kirby to "please clarify what crime was committed" by Wagner. Videos and photographs of the graves first appeared on social media channels in the Krasnodar region in December. Reuters geolocated these images to the Bakinskaya cemetery and reviewed satellite imagery of the site from Maxar Technologies and Capella Space. Satellite pictures show that the Wagner plot was empty in the summer, had three rows of graves by the end of November and was three-quarters full by early January. Virtually the entire plot was used by Jan. 24. Local activist Vitaly Votanovsky, who took the first pictures and has documented soldiers killed in Ukraine and buried in Krasnodar region graveyards, told Reuters he observed a truck delivering bodies to the cemetery. He said gravediggers told him the bodies had come from the Russian city of Rostov-on-Don, close to Russia's border with Donetsk region. When Reuters visited the cemetery in January, fences and security cameras were being installed around the plot and another burial was underway. Russian state-owned news agency RIA Novosti published footage in early January of Prigozhin visiting the cemetery, crossing himself and laying flowers on one grave. He told local media that the men buried there had expressed a wish to be laid to rest at a Wagner chapel outside the nearby town of Goryachiy Klyuch, rather than having their bodies returned to relatives. The Bakinskaya plot was provided by the local authorities, he said, after the chapel ran out of space. In 2019, Reuters reported on the existence of a Wagner training camp in the village of Molkino, around 5 miles (9 km) from Bakinskaya. Of the 39 convicts Reuters identified, 10 had been imprisoned for murder or manslaughter, 24 for robbery and two for grievous bodily harm. Other crimes included manufacturing or dealing in drugs and blackmail. Among the convicts were citizens of Ukraine, Moldova, and the Russian-backed breakaway Georgian region of Abkhazia. Wooden markers on their graves at Bakinskaya and three nearby cemeteries show the men perished between July and December 2022, at the height of the battle for Bakhmut. One of the youngest, buried at the nearby Martanskaya cemetery, is Vadim Pushnya. He was just 25 years old when he died on Nov. 19. Pushnya was imprisoned in 2020 for burgling garages, a beer shop and a cement factory in his hometown of Goryachiy Klyuch, close to the Wagner chapel. The birthdate on Pushnya's grave matches the date given on his social media accounts and in court records. The oldest, Fail Nabiev, was serving one-and-a-half years for burglary in Ivanovo region's Penal Colony No. 2, 200 miles northeast of Moscow, at least his second such prison spell. He had been convicted in May 2022 by a court in the picturesque tourist town of Suzdal of stealing a string trimmer and a sanding machine valued at a total of 5,500 roubles ($80) from a garage. According to his simple wooden grave marker, emblazoned with an Islamic crescent moon, Nabiev died in October, less than five months after being sentenced. He was 60. Nabiev's common-law wife, Olga Viktorova, confirmed to Reuters that Nabiev had been killed while serving with Wagner in the military campaign in Ukraine. She said that her husband had been nearing the end of his prison term, and that he had substantial credit card debts that she was now left to pay. She said she did not know that her husband had joined Wagner until after his death. Russian independent news site iStories has reported that Prigozhin visited Penal Colony No. 2 to recruit fighters in August. Reuters couldn't independently verify the report. "He always had crazy ideas. An incorrigible optimist," Viktorova said. Nabiev probably "thought that he'd take a quick trip to Ukraine and earn some money." The Kremlin, Russia's Defence Ministry and Russian prison authorities did not reply to questions for this article. The Russian government has in the past praised the "courageous and selfless actions" of Wagner fighters. Wagner's founder Prigozhin, who also didn't comment, has said previously he is giving convicts "a second chance at life." Though Reuters was unable to confirm where exactly the men died, the mother of one said that her son was killed in the Donetsk region. The social media accounts of several others also indicate that they were in Ukraine prior to their deaths. Since the beginning of Russia's war in Ukraine, the previously secretive Wagner and founder Prigozhin have assumed an increasingly public profile. In the past, Wagner fighters have deployed to Syria, Libya and the Central African Republic in support of Russia's allies. Prigozhin, known in Russia as "Putin's chef" because of his Kremlin catering contracts, consistently denied any links to Wagner. Then, last September, he confirmed he founded the private army, which he described as a "group of patriots." Since then, Prigozhin has repeatedly visited the frontlines in eastern Ukraine, while also criticising Russia's military leadership and some senior officials, and personally spearheading a drive to recruit fighters from Russia's sprawling penal system. According to a regular report published by the Russian Federal Penitentiary Service, Russia's penal colony population decreased by about 8% from 353,210 in August to 324,906 in early November, the largest drop in more than a decade. The report gave no reasons for the sudden, sharp decline, which coincided with the beginning of Wagner's prison recruitment push. The Federal Penitentiary Service did not reply to detailed questions for this article. Last month, Reuters reported that the U.S. intelligence community believes that Wagner had approximately 40,000 prisoner recruits deployed in Ukraine as of December, accounting for the vast majority of Wagner personnel in the country. Wagner has not commented on the figure or provided any information on fighter numbers. In a Jan. 14 video message, Prigozhin described Wagner as a fully independent force with its own aircraft, tanks, rockets and artillery. It is "probably the most experienced army that exists in the world today," he said. Some of the convicts identified by Reuters were violent offenders who had spent much of their adult life in prison or were facing long sentences. Court papers reviewed by Reuters also portray men who had struggled with alcohol problems. The names of some others are on banking blacklists, suggesting personal financial troubles. Their lives bring into bleak focus the realities of Russia's criminal underclass. Wagner founder Prigozhin in December told Russian news site RBC that he is giving convicts an opportunity "to redeem themselves." In January, he appeared alongside the first group of fighters to be pardoned, having survived their stints in Ukraine. A few weeks later, he wrote an open letter to the speaker of Russia's parliament, Vyacheslav Volodin, asking him to criminalise any actions or publications that discredit Wagner fighters and to outlaw public disclosure of their criminal pasts. He wrote that those "who are risking their lives every day and dying for the Motherland are being portrayed as second-class people, stripping them of the right to atone for their guilt." Volodin did not reply to Reuters' request for comment. Among the prisoners identified by Reuters was 43-year-old Anatoly Bodenkov. He was serving a 16-year sentence after his conviction as a contract killer, court papers show. According to a local news report on the case, in 2016 Bodenkov murdered a local real estate agent in the northern city of Kirovo-Chepetsk with a sawn-off shotgun for 400,000 roubles ($5,720). The grave marker says Bodenkov died on Nov. 27, 2022. It doesn't say where. A second prisoner, Viktor Deshko, 40, was sentenced to 10 years for a murder in 2021, according to court documents and local media reports. He cut a woman's throat during a drunken argument over money in the forests near the mining town of Shakhty, close to the border with the Russian-controlled Donbas. Court documents describe Deshko as "an aggressive person, given to abusing alcohol." He was on probation at the time of the killing, having previously served three and a half years for assault with a deadly weapon. For Bodenkov and Deshko, the full names and dates of birth on the grave markers matched their social media and court records. Reuters was not able to contact friends or family of the two men, and their lawyers did not reply to requests for comment. A third man, Vyacheslav Kochas, was sentenced to 18 years in prison by a St. Petersburg court for murder and armed robbery in 2020, when he was 23. According to Russian court documents, Kochas and another man burst into the apartment of an acquaintance while drunk in an attempted robbery. He beat the acquaintance and a female victim unconscious, using an iron and a metal clothes horse. Kochas then set fire to an item of clothing and threw it at the unconscious man. Much of the apartment was gutted by the fire, and the man succumbed to his wounds two days later. Photographs of Kochas on social media show a baby-faced man. In some, he is embracing an unidentified young woman. Kochas' profile on VKontakte, Russia's Facebook equivalent, now reads: "Killed in the Donbas." Kochas' grave marker at Bakinskaya gives his date of death as July 21, shortly after his 25th birthday and in the earliest days of Russia's push towards Bakhmut. Kochas' lawyer, Stepan Akimov, described his former client as "a really ordinary guy" whom he said had been unfairly convicted. The last he heard from Kochas was a text message after his appeal failed, thanking Akimov for his help. Akimov learned from Reuters that his ex-client had joined Wagner. "I can imagine, given the length of his sentence, and how young he was, it seemed to him a way to go free," said Akimov. "When a prisoner has a double-digit sentence, here they're offering release in six months. Apparently, Vyacheslav thought this offer was a way out." Reuters was unable to reach Kochas' surviving relatives. Russia has one of the world's largest prison populations per capita. Mark Galeotti, author of The Vory: Russia's super mafia, a book on Russia's criminal and prison cultures, says the potential appeal of Wagner to inmates is wider than just a bid for clemency. Service with Wagner, he said, offers pride and a sense of purpose to convicts with few prospects after release, people who have spent time in a prison culture suffused with "a very strong Russian nationalist tinge." "Yes, this will give you the chance to get out of prison, but also it gives you the chance to actually be someone," said Galeotti. "This is a way in which actually Wagner can appeal to people who definitely are, or believe themselves to be, marginalised, outsiders, losers in some way in the system, and gives them the chance to think of themselves as becoming winners." At least one of the men buried at Bakinskaya concealed their criminal record and prison time from loved ones. For over half a decade after she got married and left her hometown of Luhansk in eastern Ukraine, Svitlana Holyk believed that her brother Yury Danilyuk was working somewhere in the far north of Russia. The two Ukrainian-born siblings had few living relatives and rarely spoke after Russian-backed proxies seized their home city in 2014, she said. Svitlana knew only that her brother travelled regularly for work to the Russian border city of Bryansk, 500 miles (800 km) away. But while Svitlana was building a new life in the Ukrainian city of Dnipro, Yury was using social media to subscribe to pro-Russian groups supporting the Donbas separatist insurgency, his online activity shows. In 2016, having been out of touch for a year and a half, Yury told his sister that he had moved to Russia's Arctic north. She said his messages were short, and he said little about his life. "I suspected then that something had happened, that he might have some troubles that he did not want to or could not talk about for some reason," she told Reuters, speaking Ukrainian, in a telephone call from Dnipro. The city is now a major logistics hub for the Ukrainian army fighting in the Donbas, and a constant target of Russian missiles. A close friend of Yury Danilyuk spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity. The friend said that Yury lied to his sister, whom he deeply loved, to avoid upsetting her with news of his imprisonment. In reality, he had been sentenced in 2016 to nine years and eight months in prison on drugs charges. The two men were incarcerated together in Krasnodar region's Penal Colony No. 6. The friend said he last spoke to Yury in September 2022 and heard later that month from other inmates that Yury had joined Wagner. Olga Romanova, a prisoners-rights activist with the Russia Behind Bars watchdog group, told Reuters that Yevgeny Prigozhin has visited Penal Colony No. 6 to recruit inmates on two separate occasions. Reuters couldn't independently verify these visits. The friend said that during his time in jail, Yury fell in with a faction of prisoners who refuse to cooperate with prison authorities on principle – a common phenomenon in Russia's penitentiary system. That meant Yury forfeited the chance of early release for good behaviour. He said Yury's decision to join Wagner was motivated by the knowledge that he would likely otherwise serve his long sentence in full. According to his grave, Yury Danilyuk died on Nov. 30, 2022. He was 28. Danilyuk's sister, Svitlana, said she had known nothing of her brother's prison sentence, service with Wagner, and eventual death during Russia's war against the country of their birth until contacted by Reuters journalists. Holyk said: "The fact that Yury died I learned from you. I re-read your message several times when you wrote to me. Somehow I couldn't believe it." The inmate friend recalled Yury as a fierce patriot of his native Donbas, with a passion for cars. "I blame it all on him not wanting to cooperate with the prison authorities," the friend said. "If he had agreed, he'd be alive. But he refused, so he's a fool." WATCH WION LIVE HERE You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.

A rapidly expanding cemetery in Russian village reveals Wagner’s prisoner army

In Russia, a plot which was empty in summer of 2022 is fully occupied by the graves of fighters of the Wagner group who were killed in Ukraine in the last few months. Satellite images revealed that the number of graves at a cemetery in Southwestern Russia has dramatically grown over the last two months.

Russia: Cemetery for Wagner mercenaries; 200 graves in Southwestern Russia

Russian mercenary group Wagner's chief Yevgeny Prigozhin wrote a short letter to the White House on Saturday (January 21) asking what crime his group is accused of after the United States imposed new sanctions on the group and declared&nbsp;it a transnational criminal organisation. Taking to Telegram, Prigozhin's press service addressed a letter to the White House national security spokesperson John Kirby. "Dear Mr Kirby, Could you please clarify what crime was committed by PMC Wagner?" the letter read, a report by news agency Reuters said early Sunday (January 22).&nbsp;

Wagner, which has been supporting Russia in its offensive on Ukraine, has claimed credit for many battlefield advances. The mercenary group has also been involved in conflicts in Africa, Latin America and the Middle East.&nbsp;

ALSO READ | <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/us-designates-mercenary-group-wagner-as-international-criminal-organisation-554630">US designates mercenary group Wagner as 'transnational criminal organisation'</a>

On Friday, the White House announced that it would impose additional sanctions next week against Wagner and its support across multiple continents. "These actions recognise the transcontinental threat that Wagner poses, including through its ongoing pattern of serious criminal activity," John Kirby told reporters as he designated the group as a "transnational criminal organisation".

Kirby said that Wagner has about 50,000 fighters in Ukraine, 80 per cent of them drawn from prisons. The White House national security spokesperson also showed US intelligence photographs of North Korea supplying arms to Wagner for its Ukraine operations,&nbsp;a claim that Pyongyang called groundless and denounced the US for providing lethal weapons to Ukraine. Prigozhin also denied taking delivery of arms from North Korea.&nbsp;

ALSO READ | <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/outrage-in-serbia-over-russias-mercenary-wagner-group-hiring-locals-for-ukrainian-war-554316">Outrage in Serbia over Russian mercenary Wagner Group hiring locals for Ukraine&nbsp;war</a>

Reuters reported early Saturday that designating Wagner as a transnational criminal organisation under US executive order 13581 would freeze any US assets of the group and prohibit Americans from providing funds, goods or services to it (Wagner).

"With these actions and more to come, our message to any company that is considering providing support to Wagner is this: Wagner is a criminal organisation that is committing widespread atrocities and human rights abuses, and we will work relentlessly to identify, disrupt, expose, and target those assisting Wagner," Kirby further said on Friday.&nbsp;

(With inputs from agencies)

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Russian mercenary group Wagner's chief Yevgeny Prigozhin wrote a short letter to the White House on Saturday (January 21) asking what crime his group is accused of after the United States imposed new sanctions on the group and declared it a transnational criminal organisation.

Russian mercenary group Wagner's chief Yevgeny Prigozhin wrote a short letter to the White House on Saturday (January 21) asking what crime his group is accused of after the United States imposed new sanctions on the group and declared it a transnational criminal organisation. Taking to Telegram, Prigozhin's press service addressed a letter to the White House national security spokesperson John Kirby. "Dear Mr Kirby, Could you please clarify what crime was committed by PMC Wagner?" the letter read, a report by news agency Reuters said early Sunday (January 22). Wagner, which has been supporting Russia in its offensive on Ukraine, has claimed credit for many battlefield advances. The mercenary group has also been involved in conflicts in Africa, Latin America and the Middle East. ALSO READ | US designates mercenary group Wagner as 'transnational criminal organisation' On Friday, the White House announced that it would impose additional sanctions next week against Wagner and its support across multiple continents. "These actions recognise the transcontinental threat that Wagner poses, including through its ongoing pattern of serious criminal activity," John Kirby told reporters as he designated the group as a "transnational criminal organisation". Kirby said that Wagner has about 50,000 fighters in Ukraine, 80 per cent of them drawn from prisons. The White House national security spokesperson also showed US intelligence photographs of North Korea supplying arms to Wagner for its Ukraine operations, a claim that Pyongyang called groundless and denounced the US for providing lethal weapons to Ukraine. Prigozhin also denied taking delivery of arms from North Korea. ALSO READ | Outrage in Serbia over Russian mercenary Wagner Group hiring locals for Ukraine war Reuters reported early Saturday that designating Wagner as a transnational criminal organisation under US executive order 13581 would freeze any US assets of the group and prohibit Americans from providing funds, goods or services to it (Wagner). "With these actions and more to come, our message to any company that is considering providing support to Wagner is this: Wagner is a criminal organisation that is committing widespread atrocities and human rights abuses, and we will work relentlessly to identify, disrupt, expose, and target those assisting Wagner," Kirby further said on Friday. (With inputs from agencies) WATCH WION LIVE HERE You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.

'Dear Mr Kirby...': Wagner boss writes to White House over fresh US sanctions

The United States administration on Friday (January 20) designated Russian mercenary group Wagner as a&nbsp;transnational criminal organisation with White House national security spokesperson John Kirby saying that the group is committing widespread atrocities and human rights abuses. Kirby said that Wagner has about 50,000 fighters in Ukraine and 80 per cent of them are drawn from prisons. Wagner "is a criminal organisation that is committing widespread atrocities and human rights abuses. We will work relentlessly to identify, disrupt, expose and target those who are assisting (it)," Kirby said, according to a report by news agency AFP.&nbsp;

Showing photographs of North Korea supplying arms to Wagner for its operations in Ukraine, Kirby said the mercenary group has become a rival to the formal Russian military. The photographs from November 18-19 last year, showed Russian rail cars entering North Korea, picking up a load of infantry rockets and missiles, and returning to Russia, Kirby said, adding, the US presented its intelligence on Wagner's purchase to the United Nations Security Council's (UNSC) unit on North Korea sanctions.&nbsp;

The arms transfers from North Korea are in direct violation of United Nations Security Council resolutions, he further said.&nbsp;

The White House national security spokesperson also pointed out that Wagner is becoming a rival power centre to the Russian military and other Russian ministries.&nbsp;

"Prigozhin is trying to advance his own interest in Ukraine and Wagner is making military decisions based largely on what they will generate for Prigozhin, in terms of positive publicity," Kirby further said on Friday. He added that the US Treasury was formally designating Wagner as a transnational criminal organisation. The designation would allow the wider application of sanctions on the group's sprawling network across the world, which includes operations in Africa and elsewhere too.

Since the beginning of Russia's offensive in Ukraine, Wagner's boss Yevgeny Prigozhin has claimed credit for Moscow's advances over several months towards the eastern Ukraine city of Bakhmut, including the capture last week of neighbouring Soledar. On Thursday, Prigozhin, a businessman close to Russian President Vladimir Putin, said that Russia had a lot to learn from Ukraine's army.&nbsp;

(With inputs from agencies)

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The United States administration on Friday (January 20) designated Russian mercenary group Wagner as a transnational criminal organisation with White House national security spokesperson John Kirby saying that the group is committing widespread atrocities and human rights abuses.

The United States administration on Friday (January 20) designated Russian mercenary group Wagner as a transnational criminal organisation with White House national security spokesperson John Kirby saying that the group is committing widespread atrocities and human rights abuses. Kirby said that Wagner has about 50,000 fighters in Ukraine and 80 per cent of them are drawn from prisons. Wagner "is a criminal organisation that is committing widespread atrocities and human rights abuses. We will work relentlessly to identify, disrupt, expose and target those who are assisting (it)," Kirby said, according to a report by news agency AFP. Showing photographs of North Korea supplying arms to Wagner for its operations in Ukraine, Kirby said the mercenary group has become a rival to the formal Russian military. The photographs from November 18-19 last year, showed Russian rail cars entering North Korea, picking up a load of infantry rockets and missiles, and returning to Russia, Kirby said, adding, the US presented its intelligence on Wagner's purchase to the United Nations Security Council's (UNSC) unit on North Korea sanctions. The arms transfers from North Korea are in direct violation of United Nations Security Council resolutions, he further said. The White House national security spokesperson also pointed out that Wagner is becoming a rival power centre to the Russian military and other Russian ministries. "Prigozhin is trying to advance his own interest in Ukraine and Wagner is making military decisions based largely on what they will generate for Prigozhin, in terms of positive publicity," Kirby further said on Friday. He added that the US Treasury was formally designating Wagner as a transnational criminal organisation. The designation would allow the wider application of sanctions on the group's sprawling network across the world, which includes operations in Africa and elsewhere too. Since the beginning of Russia's offensive in Ukraine, Wagner's boss Yevgeny Prigozhin has claimed credit for Moscow's advances over several months towards the eastern Ukraine city of Bakhmut, including the capture last week of neighbouring Soledar. On Thursday, Prigozhin, a businessman close to Russian President Vladimir Putin, said that Russia had a lot to learn from Ukraine's army. (With inputs from agencies) WATCH WION LIVE HERE You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.

US designates mercenary group Wagner as 'transnational criminal organisation'

Wagner group which is helping Russia in the Ukraine war has been designated as an international criminal organisation by the United States of America. US officials said that next set of sanctions against the Wagner group will come into effect from the next week.

US designates Wagner as criminal organisation, new sanction to be put on them from next week

The Russian army on Wednesday (January 11) countered mercenary group Wagner's claim a day back that its fighters had taken control of the Soledar City in Ukraine. Issuing a statement, the Russian army said the battle for Soledar is ongoing, adding assault squads were fighting in the city, a report by news agency AFP said.&nbsp;The army said its forces blocked Soledar from the&nbsp;northern and southern areas and that the air force was striking enemy households.&nbsp;

ALSO READ | <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/germany-us-to-supply-armoured-combat-vehicles-to-ukraine-549894">Germany, US to supply armoured combat vehicles to Ukraine</a>

Earlier, Wagner's chief Yevgeny Prigozhin claimed late Tuesday that the group took control of the entire territory of the city. Prigozhin added the number of captives would be announced on Wednesday but there is no update yet. The Wagner chief also published a photograph of himself in military uniform surrounded by the group's fighters.&nbsp;

Before the Russian army's response, the Ukrainian government denied Wagner's claim of taking control of Soledar.&nbsp;"Soledar&nbsp;was, is and will be Ukrainian," the strategic communications branch of the Ukrainian military said in a statement, an earlier AFP report said.&nbsp;The branch said that photographs released by Wagner&nbsp;that Russian media said were taken in&nbsp;Soledar&nbsp;had been taken elsewhere.

ALSO WATCH | German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock visits Kharkiv

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As the war in Ukraine continues, the Russian military struck Kharkiv city in eastern Ukraine on Tuesday, just hours after a visit by German foreign minister Annalena Baerbock.

Taking to Telegram, regional governor Oleg Synegubov warned Kharkiv's residents to stay in shelters as occupiers were bombing again. The city has faced heavy bombardment since the beginning of Russia's offensive in Ukraine in February last year. &nbsp;

ALSO READ |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/russia-ukraine-war-is-the-western-press-asking-same-agenda-driven-motivated-questions-462899">'Give Ukraine weapons': Is the western press asking same, agenda-driven, motivated questions?</a>

German foreign minister Annalena Baerbock became the first highest-level Western official to visit Kharkiv, AFP reported. Baerbock vowed further German support for Ukraine and stressed that her government will keep supplying weapons that Ukraine needs to free its citizens who are still suffering under the terror of Russian occupation.

The German foreign minister provided Ukraine with the following- a &nbsp;"further help package" of power generators, 20 million euros ($21 million) for demining and 20 million euros as financial help for the Starlink project ensuring internet access.&nbsp;

(With inputs from agencies)

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The Russian army on Wednesday (January 11) countered mercenary group Wagner's claim a day back that its fighters had taken control of the Soledar City in Ukraine.

The Russian army on Wednesday (January 11) countered mercenary group Wagner's claim a day back that its fighters had taken control of the Soledar City in Ukraine. Issuing a statement, the Russian army said the battle for Soledar is ongoing, adding assault squads were fighting in the city, a report by news agency AFP said. The army said its forces blocked Soledar from the northern and southern areas and that the air force was striking enemy households. ALSO READ | Germany, US to supply armoured combat vehicles to Ukraine Earlier, Wagner's chief Yevgeny Prigozhin claimed late Tuesday that the group took control of the entire territory of the city. Prigozhin added the number of captives would be announced on Wednesday but there is no update yet. The Wagner chief also published a photograph of himself in military uniform surrounded by the group's fighters. Before the Russian army's response, the Ukrainian government denied Wagner's claim of taking control of Soledar. "Soledar was, is and will be Ukrainian," the strategic communications branch of the Ukrainian military said in a statement, an earlier AFP report said. The branch said that photographs released by Wagner that Russian media said were taken in Soledar had been taken elsewhere. ALSO WATCH | German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock visits Kharkiv As the war in Ukraine continues, the Russian military struck Kharkiv city in eastern Ukraine on Tuesday, just hours after a visit by German foreign minister Annalena Baerbock. Taking to Telegram, regional governor Oleg Synegubov warned Kharkiv's residents to stay in shelters as occupiers were bombing again. The city has faced heavy bombardment since the beginning of Russia's offensive in Ukraine in February last year. ALSO READ | 'Give Ukraine weapons': Is the western press asking same, agenda-driven, motivated questions? German foreign minister Annalena Baerbock became the first highest-level Western official to visit Kharkiv, AFP reported. Baerbock vowed further German support for Ukraine and stressed that her government will keep supplying weapons that Ukraine needs to free its citizens who are still suffering under the terror of Russian occupation. The German foreign minister provided Ukraine with the following- a "further help package" of power generators, 20 million euros ($21 million) for demining and 20 million euros as financial help for the Starlink project ensuring internet access. (With inputs from agencies) WATCH WION LIVE HERE You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.

Russia responds to Wagner’s claim of control over Soledar, says fight for city ongoing

The brutal death of a Russian mercenary in Ukraine who changed sides in September to fight against the Russians has received a strong reaction from Yevgeny Prigozhin, the founder of the Wagner private military group.

Wagner group is a network of Russian mercenaries. Originally staffed by veterans of the Russian armed forces, the mercenaries have fought in Libya, Syria, the Central African Republic, Mali and Ukraine, among other countries.

In September, an unverified video emerged on Telegram which showed a man who gave his name as Yevgenny Nuzhin, 55, brutally executed by a sledgehammer. The gory incident was captured on camera.&nbsp;

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Nuzhin, in the video was shown with his head taped to a brick wall. He said he was abducted in Kyiv on October 11 and came around in a cellar. "I got hit over the head and lost consciousness and came around in this cellar," he said. "They told me I was to be tried," reported Reuters quoting the mercenary.&nbsp;

Later, the video shows Nuzhin, who is identified as a former Wagner mercenary, admitting that he had changed sides in September to "fight against the Russians". Outraged at the mercenary who defected to Ukraine, an unidentified man in combat is seen attacking Nuzhin's head and neck&nbsp;with a sledgehammer.&nbsp;

After the smashing, Nuzhin collapsed onto the floor and the unidentified man delivered another blow to his head. In response to the emerged video, Russian President Vladimir Putin's close aid Yevgeny Prigozhin on Sunday termed it "a dog's death for a dog." He said the mercenary was a traitor.&nbsp;

ALSO READ |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/unga-passes-resolution-seeking-reparation-from-russia-to-ukraine-india-abstains-from-voting-534268">UNGA passes resolution seeking reparation from Russia to Ukraine; India abstains from voting</a>

The video which Reuters was unable to verify was posted under the title "The hammer of revenge". "Nuzhin betrayed his people, betrayed his comrades, betrayed consciously," said Prigozhin, who has been sanctioned by the United States and European Union for his role in Wagner. "Nuzhin was a traitor."

Prigozhin confirmed in September that Wagner Group was founded in 2014. It was the first public acknowledgement of a link he has refuted. He has also sued journalists for reporting over the group and its linkages. In a video which was released in September, he was seen hiring convicts in a Russian jail for the war.&nbsp;

WATCH |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/videos/g20-summit-2022-indian-pm-modi-speaks-on-impact-of-supply-chain-crisis-534253">G20 Summit 2022: Indian PM Modi speaks on impact of supply chain crisis</a>

Prigozhin on Sunday also issued a warning to others in Russian society whom he described as traitors. "Do not forget, there are not only traitors who throw away their automatic guns and go over to the enemy," he said.

"Some traitors are holed up in offices, not thinking about their own people. Some of them use their own business jets to fly to those countries that seem neutral to us so far. They fly away so as not to participate in today's problems. They are traitors too." 
&nbsp;

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The brutal death of a Russian mercenary in Ukraine who changed sides in September to fight against the Russians has received a strong reaction from Yevgeny Prigozhin, the founder of the Wagner private military group.

The brutal death of a Russian mercenary in Ukraine who changed sides in September to fight against the Russians has received a strong reaction from Yevgeny Prigozhin, the founder of the Wagner private military group. Wagner group is a network of Russian mercenaries. Originally staffed by veterans of the Russian armed forces, the mercenaries have fought in Libya, Syria, the Central African Republic, Mali and Ukraine, among other countries. In September, an unverified video emerged on Telegram which showed a man who gave his name as Yevgenny Nuzhin, 55, brutally executed by a sledgehammer. The gory incident was captured on camera. ALSO READ | US, Russia spy chiefs discuss Russian nuke threats in first talks since Ukraine war Nuzhin, in the video was shown with his head taped to a brick wall. He said he was abducted in Kyiv on October 11 and came around in a cellar. "I got hit over the head and lost consciousness and came around in this cellar," he said. "They told me I was to be tried," reported Reuters quoting the mercenary. Later, the video shows Nuzhin, who is identified as a former Wagner mercenary, admitting that he had changed sides in September to "fight against the Russians". Outraged at the mercenary who defected to Ukraine, an unidentified man in combat is seen attacking Nuzhin's head and neck with a sledgehammer. After the smashing, Nuzhin collapsed onto the floor and the unidentified man delivered another blow to his head. In response to the emerged video, Russian President Vladimir Putin's close aid Yevgeny Prigozhin on Sunday termed it "a dog's death for a dog." He said the mercenary was a traitor. ALSO READ | UNGA passes resolution seeking reparation from Russia to Ukraine; India abstains from voting The video which Reuters was unable to verify was posted under the title "The hammer of revenge". "Nuzhin betrayed his people, betrayed his comrades, betrayed consciously," said Prigozhin, who has been sanctioned by the United States and European Union for his role in Wagner. "Nuzhin was a traitor." Prigozhin confirmed in September that Wagner Group was founded in 2014. It was the first public acknowledgement of a link he has refuted. He has also sued journalists for reporting over the group and its linkages. In a video which was released in September, he was seen hiring convicts in a Russian jail for the war. WATCH | G20 Summit 2022: Indian PM Modi speaks on impact of supply chain crisis Prigozhin on Sunday also issued a warning to others in Russian society whom he described as traitors. "Do not forget, there are not only traitors who throw away their automatic guns and go over to the enemy," he said. "Some traitors are holed up in offices, not thinking about their own people. Some of them use their own business jets to fly to those countries that seem neutral to us so far. They fly away so as not to participate in today's problems. They are traitors too." WATCH WION LIVE HERE You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.

Putin's ally lauds sledgehammer execution of Russian mercenary who 'defected' to Ukraine

An enormous trench being dug by Wagner, the Russian-backed mercenaries in war-torn Libya is threatening to derail UN-brokered peace deal, said CNN. The peace deal insists that all foreign fighters should leave Libya by this Saturday. However, the kilometres-long trench by Russian proxies suggests that they intend to further fortify their position.

Libya has seen conflict between internationally recognised Government of National Accord (GNA) and Libyan National Army (LNA). The LNA has dominant presence in eastern Libya and enjoys support from Russia and UAE.

On Friday, CNN published satellite images that showed construction of 'dozens of kilometers' long trench being dug from coastal region around Sirte. The trench extends to al-Jufra, a stronghold of Wagner mercenaries in the south. The trench is apparently being dug to repel attack against LNA defensive lines.

As per UN data, the conflict between GNA and LNA has caused 2000 deaths and has further shattered oil-rich, strategically important middle eastern nation.

"I don't think anyone digging a trench today and making these reinforcements is leaving anytime soon," GNA Defense Minister Salaheddin Al-Namroush told CNN.&nbsp;

An enormous trench being dug by Wagner, the Russian-backed mercenaries in war-torn Libya is threatening to derail UN-brokered peace deal, said CNN. The peace deal insists that all foreign fighters should leave Libya by this Saturday.

An enormous trench being dug by Wagner, the Russian-backed mercenaries in war-torn Libya is threatening to derail UN-brokered peace deal, said CNN. The peace deal insists that all foreign fighters should leave Libya by this Saturday. However, the kilometres-long trench by Russian proxies suggests that they intend to further fortify their position. Libya has seen conflict between internationally recognised Government of National Accord (GNA) and Libyan National Army (LNA). The LNA has dominant presence in eastern Libya and enjoys support from Russia and UAE. On Friday, CNN published satellite images that showed construction of 'dozens of kilometers' long trench being dug from coastal region around Sirte. The trench extends to al-Jufra, a stronghold of Wagner mercenaries in the south. The trench is apparently being dug to repel attack against LNA defensive lines. As per UN data, the conflict between GNA and LNA has caused 2000 deaths and has further shattered oil-rich, strategically important middle eastern nation. "I don't think anyone digging a trench today and making these reinforcements is leaving anytime soon," GNA Defense Minister Salaheddin Al-Namroush told CNN.

Libya: Huge trench by Russian proxies may derail peace process, says report

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