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After the death of Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin, the Kremlin is putting a new power structure in place that will take over the group’s sprawling operations in Africa, which have advanced Russian influence on the continent for almost a decade. Photo illustration: JJ Lin Wagner Group, the Russian paramilitary organization, plans to provide an air-defense system to Hezbollah, the Lebanese militia, U.S. officials say, citing intelligence. The Russian SA-22 system they plan to send uses antiaircraft missiles and air-defense guns to intercept aircraft.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky has said the death of Yevgeny Prigozhin – the Russian mercenary leader whose plane crashed weeks after he led a mutiny against Moscow’s military leadership – shows what happens when people make deals with Russian leader Vladimir Putin. As Ukraine’s counteroffensive moves into a fourth month, with only modest gains to show so far, Zelensky told CNN’s Fareed Zakaria he rejected suggestions it was time to negotiate peace with the Kremlin. “When you want to have a compromise or a dialogue with somebody, you cannot do it with a liar,” Volodymyr Zelensky said. He said when...

For quite a long time now, China has been behaving like a power that owns Africa and all its resources. Having debt trapped countries, the red rogue nation has been looking to seize control of their strategic assets, with the ultimate goal of establishing bases for itself across the continent. China has been pursuing a neo-colonial agenda for quite some time, but countries of Africa are now coming together to kick China out of the continent. An interesting phenomenon is beginning to make a comeback in Africa. The vast continent is no novice when it comes to military rule and...

President Vladimir Putin has ordered Wagner fighters to sign an oath of allegiance to the Russian state after a deadly plane crash believed to have killed Yevgeny Prigozhin, the volatile chief of the mercenary group. Putin signed the decree bringing in the change with immediate effect on Friday after the Kremlin said that Western suggestions that Prigozhin had been killed on its orders were an "absolute lie".

U.S. officials told media outlets on Thursday that they believe the plane presumed to be carrying mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin was deliberately taken down, though there was some disagreement as to how exactly the plane was destroyed. Russian air authorities have said Prigozhin, his right-hand man Dmitry Utkin, and eight other people were on the private plane that crashed with no survivors north of Moscow on Wednesday. Two U.S. officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told Reuters that it was likely a surface-to-air missile originating from inside Russia shot down the plane. The officials stressed that the information was...

Video showing what appears to be the trail of an anti-aircraft missile, as a business plane allegedly carrying Wagner chief Yegveny Prigozhin falls from the sky.There is no still no official confirmation if Prigozhin was on the plane, where he was listed as a passenger.⚡️ Самолёт, который разбился в Тверской области, принадлежит Евгению Пригожину, утверждают издание Baza и журналистка Ксения Собчак. На борту бизнес-джета Embraer, как утверждается, были 7 человек, они погибли.

Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin was killed Wednesday after a plane he was aboard crashed northwest of Moscow, according to Russian authorities. Prigozhin led a short-lived mutiny attempt against the Kremlin in June. Photo: Russian Investigative Committee Handout/Shutterstock…

President Biden on Wednesday suggested Russian President Vladimir Putin could be behind the plane crash in Russia that had Wagner Group chief Yevgeny Prigozhin listed as a passenger. “There’s not much that happens in Russia that Putin’s not behind,” Biden told reporters. President Biden on Wednesday suggested Russian President Vladimir Putin could be behind the plane crash in Russia that had Wagner Group chief Yevgeny Prigozhin listed as a passenger. “There’s not much that happens in Russia that Putin’s not behind,” Biden told reporters.

Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin was on the passenger list of a jet which crashed killing all on board, Russia's civil aviation authority has said. Earlier, Wagner-linked Telegram channel Grey Zone reported that the private plane, which belonged to Prigozhin, was shot down by air defences. It was flying from Moscow to St Petersburg, with seven passengers and three crew.

Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin was on the passenger list of a plane that crashed in Russia's Tver region on Wednesday, according to the press service of the Federal Air Transport Agency . Ten people were killed in the crash, but it is not yet clear whether he was actually on board the plane.

A plane carrying notorious warlord Yevgeny Prigozhin, whose Wagner group launched a failed coup against president Vladimir Putin in June, has crashed on a flight from Moscow to St Petersburg. All 10 people on the plane, including three crew members, died in the crash, Russia’s emergency ministry said, according to state newswire RIA Novosti. Russian officials said a man with Prigozhin’s name was among the passengers, without elaborating further.

Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin killed in plane crash in Russia, with nine other people on board also dead

A private plane believed to be transporting Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin has crashed in Russia.

Wagner Group commander Dmitry Utkin was reportedly among the 10 people killed in a plane crash north of Moscow that also is believed to have claimed the life of Yevgeny Prigozhin. Utkin, a former Russian military intelligence officer, has Nazi tattoos on his body. He helped co-found the militant group and came up with the name “Wagner,” which derived from Adolf Hilter’s favorite composer, Richard Wagner. According to reports, Utkin and Prigozhin were just two of Wagner's top men who were listed as passengers on the flight.

Anyone rejoicing that Wagner Boss Yevgeny Prigozhin may have died in a fiery plane crash should hold back on the fireworks as one expert has warned it could have been a body double aboard the plane. The notorious mercenary boss, whose gang of blood thirsty soldiers has been blamed for warcrimes from Ukraine to Mali, is 'feared' dead in a plane crash along with 10 people on board. The Russian Civil Aviation Authority tonight offically claimed Prigozhin and his right hand man Dmitry Utkin were on board the plane, while the Wagner-affiliated Grey Zone Telegram channel also said their leader's...

Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko has reportedly kicked the Wagner PMC out of Belarus, after refusing to finance the Russian mercenaries. (snip) But reports have now emerged suggesting Lukashenko has refused to finance their stay in the country and the mercenaries are being 'bussed' back to Russia for a “vacation.” According to the VChK-OGPU Telegram channel, operations to remove all Wagner Group men began earlier in the month, with a second phase to remove the rest going into effect this weekend. Wagner’s services don’t come cheap. Putin recently admitted that the Kremlin has spent around $1bn on the private military company...

Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin on Tuesday mocked the United States after a senior U.S. diplomat met with members of the military junta in Niger. "The U.S. is trying to keep the Wagner group out of Niger," Prigozhin said in a message posted on Telegram, according to translations in Russian media. "'Heavy artillery' is being brought in for this. Acting Deputy Secretary of State Victoria Nuland is in a country that defeated colonialism under Russian flags." Prigozhin directly referenced Nuland's quote about the "risks to their sovereignty" in relation to Wagner and praised his fighters. "I am proud of the...

Mutinous Wagner mercenary group boss Yevgeny Prigozhin is likely either dead or jailed, and his much-publicized meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin after his botched rebellion was probably faked, according to a former senior US military leader. Retired Gen. Robert Abrams, an ABC News contributor who previously served as the commander of US Forces Korea, shared his thoughts on Prigozhin’s uncertain fate in the aftermath of the Wagner Group’s short-lived armed insurrection last month

A top Russian general has 'vanished' amid claims he had advance knowledge of the weekend armed revolt which threatened Vladimir Putin's regime. One theory is that General Sergei 'Armageddon' Surovikin is under interrogation over a plot to oust defence minister Sergei Shoigu amid a hunt to purge the enemies within. Surovikin, 56, is the second-in-command of the Russian armed forces. He has known links to 'coup leader' Yevgeny Prigozhin, the Wagner mercenary army chief. US officials briefed on American intelligence said a top Russian general had advance knowledge of Prigozhin's plans to rebel against Shoigu and chief of the armed...

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday said Moscow had paid the Wagner Group around $1 billion over the past year Putin's admission of funding the mercenary group follows Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin's weekend rebellion against Russia. The mercenary boss claimed Russia's military had killed about 30 Wagner troops in a missile strike, and he ordered his men to march on Moscow. The brief mutiny ended after peace was brokered on the agreement that Kremlin charges would be dropped against Prigozhin if he agreed to go into exile in Belarus.