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Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin dismissed Russia's claims to have inflicted heavy losses on Ukraine in the Donbas when Kyiv attempted offensive action. Prigozhin said the claims were "simply wild and absurd science fiction". But Russia's defence ministry doubled down on the claims on Tuesday, saying Ukraine suffered over 3,700 casualties. -snip- Speaking to state media, Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu insisted that his forces had inflicted over 3,715 casualties on Ukraine during the attack and destroyed dozens of pieces of military equipment. "The attempts at an offensive have failed. The enemy has been halted. Russian soldiers and officers displayed courage...

A former commander with the Russian paramilitary Wagner Group has claimed asylum in Norway after deserting from the mercenary outfit. Andrey Medvedev, 26, crossed the border into Norway last Friday, where he was detained by border guards. He is currently being held in the Oslo area where he faces charges of illegal entry to Norway, his lawyer Brynjulf Risnes told the BBC. Mr Risnes said his client left Wagner after witnessing war crimes in Ukraine. The Norwegian Border Guard confirmed to the BBC that a Russian man had been detained after crossing the country's 198km (123miles) long border with Russia,...

Russia's defence ministry has revealed a host of occupations it says will be exempted from conscription aimed at boosting its war effort in Ukraine. IT workers, bankers and journalists working for state media will escape the "partial mobilisation" announced by President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday. Around 300,000 citizens face being called up as part of the drive. The move has prompted a rush towards borders as young men attempt to flee to evade the draft. Announcing the exemptions on Friday, Russia defence ministry said employers must compile a list of workers who meet the criteria and submit it to its...

MONDAY UPDATE: MURPHY STEPS DOWN. Herman Cain's state director and lone New Hampshire staffer has resigned, leaving the campaign without a New Hampshire presence at least for the time being, the Granite Status has learned. Veteran GOP organizer Matt Murphy confirmed today that he stepped down last Friday as director of Cain's campaign in the first-in-the-nation primary state. He said the campaign refused to invest in a serious effort here. “There is no ill will toward Herman Cain,” Murphy said. “There was a strategic difference and I left the campaign because of those differences. The differences involved the New Hampshire...

The following speech was delivered at Wayne State College in Wayne, Nebraska.In remembering why we have come to support our troops today, it is worth taking a moment to reflect on something most of us never think about: our extraordinary luck in being Americans. We are, in a sense, lottery winners. There are something like 6.3 billion human beings currently living on the planet. Assuming that most of us were born sometime in the last half century, this works out to a roughly 1-in-20 chance of being born in the United States of America. There are plenty of other places...