How 'Putin's chef' built the world's most notorious private army
ON AUGUST 23RD 2023 a private jet crashed north-west of Moscow, killing everyone on board. Among the ten victims were senior members of the Wagner Group, a Russian mercenary firm, including its leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin (pictured). No one thought it was an accident. Prigozhin, once Vladimir Putin's favourite hired gun, had fallen out of favour by launching a mutiny against his boss. People who do such things rarely live long. The Kremlin denied involvement, but Mr Putin added ominously that Prigozhin had 'made serious mistakes in life'.
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Rhyl Journal
an hour ago
- Rhyl Journal
Starmer's defence spending plans under pressure as Nato pushes for more
The Prime Minister has committed to spend 2.5% of gross domestic product on defence from April 2027, with a goal of increasing that to 3% over the next parliament – a timetable which could stretch to 2034. But Nato secretary-general Mark Rutte is thought to be pushing for allies to commit to spending 3.5% on the military with a further 1.5% on defence-related measures as the alliance responds to Russian President Vladimir Putin's actions in Ukraine. Leaders from the alliance will meet in The Hague later this month with the total 5% spending target by 2035 set to be on the table. But Downing Street refused to be drawn on the possible increased spending commitment, which would put a further strain on the public finances into the middle of the next decade. The Prime Minister's official spokesman said: 'I'm not going to get into the discussions that are ongoing, in the usual way, ahead of (the) Nato (summit). 'The UK is already the third-highest spender in Nato in cash terms behind the United States and Germany, we are one of 22 allies of the 32 in Nato that already exceed the 2% of GDP Nato target. 'But it isn't just about cash, it's about contributions to capability that each Nato ally brings. 'Whether it is our nuclear capability, whether it's our world-class carriers with fifth-generation combat aircraft, our armed forces who are some of the most advanced in the world, the UK has been a leading contributor to Nato and will remain one.' Sir Keir and Defence Secretary John Healey have already come under pressure to spell out how the existing 3% goal could be met. Mr Healey insisted he was '100% confident' that military funding would increase as he promised to prepare the armed forces for the future. The Strategic Defence Review published on Monday recommended sweeping changes, including a greater focus on new technology including drones and artificial intelligence based on rising budgets. The authors of the review have suggested reaching that 3% target is vital to delivering their recommendations while US President Donald Trump has led the charge for Nato allies to spend 5%. Mr Healey denied he was gambling on economic growth to meet his target, telling BBC Breakfast: 'I'm 100% confident that we'll hit that 3%. 'The important thing for now is what we can do, and we can do now more than we've been able to do before, because of an extra £5 billion the Chancellor has put in to the defence budget this year and the 2.5% that we will deliver three years earlier than anyone expected. 'It means that a £60 billion budget this year will rise throughout this parliament and beyond.' The Ministry of Defence announced a £5 billion investment in the 'kit of the future' following the publication of the review on Monday. The funding includes £4 billion for drones and autonomous systems, and an extra £1 billion for lasers to protect British ships and soldiers. A new era of threat requires a new era for defence. The Strategic Defence Review marks a landmark shift in our deterrence and defence ⬇️ — Ministry of Defence 🇬🇧 (@DefenceHQ) June 2, 2025 Mr Healey said the investment would provide 'the most significant advance in UK defence technology in decades' and 'ensure our armed forces have the cutting-edge capabilities they need to meet the challenges of a rapidly changing world'. Part of the investment will see the establishment of a new 'drone centre' to accelerate the deployment of the technology by all three branches of the armed forces. The focus on drones comes as the technology has proved increasingly lethal on the battlefield in Ukraine, where it now kills more people than traditional artillery. At a meeting of allied defence ministers in April, Mr Healey said the UK estimated drones were inflicting 70-80% of battlefield casualties, while on Sunday Ukraine launched a major attack on Russian airfields deep behind the front line using a fleet of small drones. In addition to investment in drones and AI, the Government has announced an additional £1 billion for the development of 'directed energy weapons' (DEWs) during the current Parliament. This includes the DragonFire laser scheduled to be fitted to the Royal Navy's Type 45 destroyers from 2027, with a similar system provided for the Army by the end of the decade. DragonFire and other DEWs are intended to provide a lower-cost form of air defence against targets including drones, costing just £10 per shot compared with the thousands of pounds it costs to fire existing weapons. Shadow defence secretary James Cartlidge said the Government should 'urgently commit to spending 3% this Parliament'. 'This commitment from Nato contrasts with Labour's total failure to set out a plan to spend 3% on defence,' he said. 'As a result, their defence review has completely unravelled. The submarines and ships it promises are nothing but a fantasy fleet based on fantasy funding.'
North Wales Chronicle
an hour ago
- North Wales Chronicle
Zelensky condemns ‘brutal' rocket attack after four killed in Ukrainian city
According to authorities, a barrage of multiple rockets struck apartment buildings and a medical facility in the centre of the north-eastern city a day after direct peace talks made no progress on ending the three-year war. Mr Zelensky said one of the rockets fired at Sumy pierced the wall of an apartment building but failed to detonate. 'That's all you need to know about Russia's 'desire' to end this war,' Mr Zelensky wrote in a post on Telegram. 'It is clear that without global pressure, without decisive action from the United States, Europe, and everyone in the world who holds power, (Russian president Vladimir) Putin will not agree even to a ceasefire.' At talks in Istanbul on Monday, delegations from the warring countries agreed to swap dead and wounded troops. But their terms for ending the war remained far apart. The war has killed more than 12,000 Ukrainian civilians, according to the United Nations, as well as tens of thousands of soldiers on both sides along the roughly 620-mile front line where the war of attrition is grinding on despite US-led efforts to broker a peace deal. Though Russia has a bigger army and more economic resources than Ukraine, a spectacular Ukrainian drone attack that Ukrainian officials said damaged or destroyed more than 40 warplanes at air bases deep inside Russia was a serious blow to the Kremlin's strategic arsenal and its military prestige. Both Mr Zelensky and Mr Putin have been eager to show US president Donald Trump that they share his ambition to end the fighting, thereby aiming to avoid possible punitive measures from Washington. Ukraine has accepted a US-proposed ceasefire, but the Kremlin effectively rejected it. Mr Putin has made it clear that any peace settlement has to be on his terms. A senior Ukrainian delegation led by first deputy prime minister and economy minister Yuliia Svyrydenko has travelled to Washington for talks about defence, sanctions and post-war recovery, Andrii Yermak, the head of Ukraine's presidential office, said. The delegation will meet with representatives from both major US political parties, as well as with advisers to Mr Trump, Mr Yermak added. Dmitry Medvedev, a former Russian president who now serves as deputy head of the country's Security Council chaired by Mr Putin, indicated there would be no let-up in Russia's invasion of its neighbour. 'The Istanbul talks are not for striking a compromise peace on someone else's delusional terms but for ensuring our swift victory and the complete destruction of (Ukraine's government),' he said. In an apparent comment on the latest Ukrainian strikes, he declared that 'retribution is inevitable'. 'Our army is pushing forward and will continue to advance,' Mr Medvedev said, adding that 'everything that needs to be blown up will be blown up, and those who must be eliminated will be'. Ukrainians on the streets of Kyiv welcomed their country's stunning drone strike on Russian air bases but were gloomy about the chances for a peace agreement. The Russians 'won't negotiate peace with anyone,' said 43-year-old Ukrainian serviceman Oleh Nikolenko. 'Russia has invested too many resources in this war to just … stop for nothing.' Anastasia Nikolenko, a 38-year-old designer, said diplomacy cannot stop the fighting. 'We need to show by force, by physical force, that we cannot be defeated,' she said. Russia has recently expanded its attacks on Sumy and in the Kharkiv region following Mr Putin's promise to create a buffer zone along the border that might prevent long-range Ukrainian attacks hitting Russian soil. Sumy is about 15 miles from the Russian border. It had a prewar population of around 250,000.
Daily Mirror
2 hours ago
- Daily Mirror
Emmanuel Macron waxwork is brazenly stolen from museum in France
Greenpeace France said Paris was "playing a double game" in supporting Ukraine while allowing French companies to continue with gas and fertiliser imports from Russia A waxwork figure of Emmanuel Macron was stolen from a French museum and placed outside the Russian embassy to highlight his alleged double standards on Ukraine. Greenpeace activists reportedly posed as tourists when they entered Paris' Grevin Museum before covering the statue and taking it out through an emergency exit. It later reappeared outside the Russian embassy, where activists said the French president was a hypocrite for allowing French companies to continue doing business with Russia despite vocally supporting Ukraine. No arrests have been made and the waxwork, worth a reported £33,765, has not yet been recovered. Greenpeace said they would return the statue but could not yet confirm when. Jean-Francois Julliard, head of Greenpeace France, said Paris was "playing a double game" in supporting Ukraine while allowing French companies to continue with gas and fertiliser imports from Russia. He said Macron "embodies this double discourse" and "should be the first" among European leaders to end trade contracts with Russian companies. Analysis by the BBC last month revealed that Russia has continued to make billions from fossil fuel exports to the West, including to the EU, since invading Ukraine in 2022. While it led to sanctions, EU states have paid Russia £176bn for fossil fuels since the February 2022 invasion. This includes £15.1bn from France. Despite threatening further sanctions on Moscow if it does not cooperate in efforts to negotiate a ceasefire to the Ukraine conflict, it remains to be seen if the EU can wean itself off Russian gas. The news came as the mounting instability of France's banking sector jeopardises its role as a key EU partner, Italian journalist Nicola Porro warned. "France, under Macron, is now the new sick man of Europe. It faces a massive fiscal deficit of over 6% of GDP — double the EU's 3% limit — along with a stagnating economy and political instability,' he said. He highlighted that France's 2025 draft budget proposed £50.5 billion in spending cuts and tax increases to reduce its deficit to 5% of GDP, but warned of serious doubts over its ability to deliver on these promises. He said: "During the eurozone debt crisis, Greece caused a financial panic with just 1.3% of the EU's GDP. "France accounts for over 16%. If things go wrong, the consequences will be on an entirely larger scale: banks risk hundreds of billions, and the ripple effects could reach British shores (because of UK investments in French banks)." Mr Porro said that the ongoing political situation in France is making matters worse. Macron's party was decisively defeated in the 2024 European elections by Marine Le Pen's Rassemblement National, leaving the French president struggling to maintain a stable government. Adding to the concern are France's military operations in Mali, which ended in 2023, and in Burkina Faso and the Sahel - where French troops continue to help governments fight Islamists-backed insurgencies. Under Macron, France's influence in the region has waned, highlighted by Burkina Faso's president, Captain Ibrahim Traore, saying in January that the French president is 'insulting all Africans" and urged all African nations to end military pacts with Paris. These failures have damaged EU credibility abroad, paving the way for Russia and China to fill the vacuum, heightening security concerns across North Africa and the Mediterranean, Mr Porro said. Despite these setbacks, Macron persists in projecting himself as a global statesman, Mr Porro said. However, he claimed that many see his foreign policy as increasingly erratic and self-serving. Mr Porro added: "His resistance to trade deals like the EU-Mercosur agreement (a free trade deal between the bloc and several South American countries) has been criticised for blocking economic opportunities across the continent. It's always about national interest over EU unity — every time." He added: "And Britain should be very wary of getting too close to that."
