Yevgeny Prigozhin

Researchers from Microsoft’s Threat Analysis Center (MTAC) told NBC News on Tuesday that a fake video of a purported Hamas operative threatening to attack the Paris Olympics appears to have originated in Russia.

The world is approaching the conclusion of President Joe Biden’s third year in office in a state of elevated geopolitical chaos.

Private army boss Prigozhin and his men were probably drunk and high, and accidentally set off a grenade, Russian President Putin implied.

Ukrainian Army spokesman Capt. Ilya Yevlash said on Wednesday that about five hundred mercenaries from the infamous Wagner Group have returned to fight for Russia on the battlefield, a month after Wagner’s founders Yevgeny Prigozhin and Dmitry Utkin were reportedly killed in a highly suspicious plane crash near Moscow.

Russian President Vladimir Putin boasted on Tuesday that hundreds of thousands of volunteers are rushing to join the Russian military and fight in Ukraine.

The U.K. will declare Russia´s Wagner mercenary group a banned terrorist organization, saying it remains a threat to global security.

Several Russian journalists on Monday published photos of Gen. Sergei Surovikin, the commander known as “General Armageddon” for his aggressive tactics who has not been seen in public since Wagner Group founder Yevgeny Prigozhin launched his ill-fated mutiny in June.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday that Wagner Group founder Yevgeny Prigozhin’s fatal plane crash might have been caused on purpose, but Russia will not allow an investigation measuring up to international standards to discover the truth.

Russian state media outlets, citing alleged sources close to the Wagner Private Military Company (PMC), reported that the head of that organization Yevgeny Prigozhin was buried in a small, private service in St. Petersburg on Tuesday, preventing hoards of supporters from organizing a mass gathering.

Russian officials on Monday appointed Gen. Andrey Averyanov, head of covert offensive operations for Russian military intelligence, to supervise the mercenary Wagner Group’s valuable operations in Africa following the reported death of its founders, Yevgeny Prigozhin and Dmitry Utkin, in a plane crash last week.

Russian authorities confirmed that Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin’s body was among those killed in a plane crash outside of Moscow.

Vladimir Putin signed a decree requiring paramilitary fighters in “volunteer formations” to swear an oath of allegiance to the Russian flag.

Cuban diaspora media outlets, citing military and political experts, suggested this week that agreements between the communist Castro regime and its comrades in the government of Belarus could result in Cuban special forces taking on a significant role in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The Chinese state propaganda outlet Global Times condemned President Joe Biden and other Western leaders for implying that Russian strongman Vladimir Putin orchestrated a plane crash believed to have killed Wagner Private Military Company (PMC) leader Yevgeny Prigozhin this week.

The Kremlin on Thursday dismissed Western suggestions Wagner Group warlord Yevgeny Prigozhin had been murdered on its orders in a plane crash as an “absolute lie” while adding confirmation of his death is dependent on test results.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky denied any involvement in the plane crash north of Moscow on Wednesday that reportedly killed Wagner Private Military Company (PMC) chief Yevgeny Prigozhin, telling reporters “everyone realizes” who the true culprit is.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday made his first comments on the death of mercenary leader Yevgeny Priogzhin.

Satellite images from Belarus suggest that organizers had begun to dismantle a large tent camp believed to house Wagner PMC fighters.

Moscow refers to a “crash” and “incident”, but Western govts have treated the event with cynicism, considering whether it was deliberate. 

The reported potential death of Wagner Group founder Yevgeny Prigozhin on Wednesday concludes a curious post-mutiny career during which Prigozhin appeared to find some measure of acceptance in Moscow even though he led a column of mercenaries to within a few miles of it.

Russia says a private jet experienced an ‘incident’, killing all aboard including Yevgeny Prigozhin. Wagner PMC claims it was shot down.

The founder and leader of the Wagner Private Military Company (PMC) Yevgeny Prigozhin resurfaced on Monday in what appeared to be his first video production since a failed attempt to oust the leaders of the Russian Defense Ministry in June, urging “real heroes” to join the mercenary organization.

Britain’s Ministry of Defence said on Sunday there is a “realistic possibility” that Russia is no longer funding the mercenary Wagner Group.

Rhissa Ag Boula, a former leader in Niger’s Tuareg uprisings three decades ago, announced on Wednesday he is forming a Council of Resistance for the Republic (CRR) to oppose the ruling junta and restore President Mohamed Bazoum to power.

President Mohamed Bazoum of Niger, deposed by a military coup d’etat last week and believed to be trapped in his presidential residence, declared himself a “hostage” and in a Washington Post column published on Thursday asked for American intervention on his behalf.

A message claiming to be from the head of the Wagner Private Military Company (PMC), Yevgeny Prigozhin, published on social media on Monday suggested that the mercenary organization would continue to remain active only in Africa for the time being – mere days after another claiming to be Prigozhin praised the coup against a pro-Western president in Niger.

Protesters in Niger marched through the capital on Sunday in support of the military coup before attacking the French embassy.

A Russian paramilitary group called COSI said in a Sunday post on the messaging platform Telegram that hundreds of “experienced” Wagner Group mercenaries are pouring into the Central African Republic (CAR) to “ensure security” ahead of a July 30 referendum that could give President Faustin-Archange Touadera a third term in office.

Belarus said that instructors from Russia’s Wagner forces were training its troops, following weeks of uncertainty about the group’s future.

Russian strongman Vladimir Putin on Friday pressured members of the federal lawmaking body, the Duma, to pass laws to address the existence of private military companies, a response to the brief attempted uprising by Wagner warlord Yevgeny Prigozhin.

A senior Russian lawmaker ominously told reporters on Wednesday that General Sergei Surovikin, a top Russian military leader who has not been seen in public since the Wagner Private Military Company (PMC) staged a brief uprising against the Russian armed forces in late June, was “currently resting.”

A top spokesman for Russian leader Vladimir Putin confirmed on Monday that the strongman met with the head of the Wagner Private Military Company (PMC), Yevgeny Prigozhin, on June 29, five days after Prigozhin led thousands of his soldiers in an abruptly halted mutiny against the Russian military.

Alexander Lukashenko, the despotic president of Belarus, said on Thursday that Wagner Group founder Yevgeny Prigozhin is back in Russia.

Police in St. Petersburg, Russia on Tuesday announced they have returned about $111 million worth of rubles, U.S. dollars, and gold bars seized in raids on June 24 to Yevgeny Prigozhin, the billionaire owner of the Wagner Group mercenary company who led a very brief “mutiny” against the Russian military command on that day.

The surprising and short-lived mutiny by Wagner Group founder Yevgeny Prigozhin on June 24 brought new attention to the shadowy mercenary organization, which has been active in Africa and the Middle East for many years.

Admiral Nikolay Yevmenov, the commander-in-chief of the Russian Navy, met with Chinese Defense Minister Li Shangfu on Monday during a visit to Beijing, the first such highest-level military visit of a Russian official to China since the head of the Wagner paramilitary group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, apparently attempted an armed mutiny in June.