Latest news with #Mercenary
Daily Mail
14-05-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Third Aussie feared dead in Ukraine after Queensland tradie, 25, flew to the war-torn country after he was rejected by the Australian Defence Force
A young Australian tradie who travelled to Ukraine to fight against Russia is feared dead after he disappeared during heavy fighting several weeks ago. Queensland man Caleb List had been serving the Ukrainian army along with other international recruits since first joining its Foreign Legion in 2022. The 25-year-old, from Gladstone, is believed to have died last month after being hit with artillery fire in a contested territory near the city of Izyum, in the Kharkiv region. His remains are yet to be found, a source from Ukraine's Armed Forces told the ABC. Mr List was previously rejected from serving in the Australian Defence Force before he moved abroad to fight against Russia's invasion. While at school Mr List had applied to join the army cadets on several occasions but his applications were also rejected. 'I tried a couple attempts to get in there. For obvious reasons I got rejected, just a bit young and dumb, made some bad choices,' he told SBS. Mr List decided to ditch his job at Queensland's Yarwun refinery as a trade assistant and sign up to fight for Ukraine in 2022. 'At the end of the day I'm just a mercenary and a soldier of fortune,' Mr List told SBS. 'I'm just looking for an experience and enjoyment and something to get me through life, because in Australia I didn't really have much going for me so I decided [to start] a new page.' He initially wanted to join the French Foreign Legion, but his focus changed when Russia's President Vladimir Putin launched an attack on Ukraine. Mr List explained he 'got drunk in Poland' and crossed the border, where he ended up at a gazebo with the word 'legionnaire' written across it. He fell unconscious and woke up at a training base where he eventually signed contracts to join the army, during which time he witnessed dozens of his comrades being killed and hundreds of others injured. In an interview with German international public broadcaster Deutsche Welle (DW), the tradie reaffirmed his motivation for fighting abroad. 'I wanted to test myself; I wanted to join the French Foreign Legion, I wanted to push myself to the extreme,' Mr List told DW. 'I came here with the same motivation, and I've basically done that and now I just do this because it's the only thing I'm really good at.' The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) has not confirmed Mr List's death and declined to comment. At least seven Australians are believed to have been killed in Ukraine, as of January 2025, however it remains unclear how many have died. Victorian man Sage O'Donnell, 24, was killed in Ukraine in December 2022 after signing up to fight one year after he left the Australian Army. Nick Parsons, a former Australian soldier was killed in Ukraine while working for a charity that clears landmines from war-torn countries. The landmine clearing expert died on May 6 after suffering extensive injuries near the city of Izyum, in eastern Ukraine. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese expressed his condolences to Mr Parsons family - who he did not name citing DFAT advice - on Monday. 'It is important to express the deepest condolences and sympathies with his family and his loved ones at this very difficult time,' Mr Albanese said. 'I can confirm he wasn't a participant in the conflict, he was volunteering with a humanitarian organisation. 'I do want to remind Australians that Ukraine is a do not travel zone. The situation is extremely dangerous and we continue to strongly advise all Australians not to travel to Ukraine, under any circumstances. DFAT has reminded Australians of the risks of travelling to a war-torn country. 'The Australian government has consistently advised Australians not to travel to Ukraine or Russia since Russia's full-scale invasion began in February 2022,' a spokesperson said. The federal government's travel advice has also remained unchanged. 'We've reviewed our travel advice for Ukraine and continue to advise do not travel due to the volatile security environment and military conflict,' its website reads. 'The security situation continues to be volatile. There have been many casualties. Foreigners have been killed and may be targeted. There is a serious risk to life. If you're in Ukraine... We urge you to depart if it's safe to do so.'
NBC News
22-03-2025
- Politics
- NBC News
Putin said he prayed for ‘his friend' Donald Trump after 2024 assassination attempt, U.S envoy says.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said that he prayed for 'his friend' Donald Trump after an assassin's bullet grazed the then-presidential candidate's ear last year, U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff said in an interview on Friday. Appearing on Tucker Carlson's podcast, Witkoff praised Putin's willingness to discuss how to end the war in Ukraine and said it was 'preposterous' to say that Russia had designs on eventually attacking other countries in Europe. Witkoff, who has met with Putin twice, said during his second visit to Moscow the Russian president's messages for Trump 'got personal,' in a roughly 90-minute interview on Tucker Carlson's podcast. The Russian autocrat recounted his deep concern after Trump was targeted in an assassination attempt in July in Butler, Pa. during a campaign stop, Witkoff said. Putin 'told me a how when the president was shot, he went to his local church and met with his priest and prayed for the president,' Witkoff said. Putin did it 'not could become the president of the United States, but because he had a friendship with him, and he was praying for his friend.' During the same visit, the Russian president presented a painting of Trump that he commissioned from a Russian artist as a gift to the American president, Witkoff said. 'I came home and delivered that message to our president, and delivered the painting, and he was clearly touched by it,' Witkoff said. 'So this is the kind of connection that we've been able to re-establish through, by the way, a simple word called communication.' Witkoff praised Putin's willingness to discuss how to end the war in Ukraine and said it was 'preposterous' to say that Russia had designs on eventually attacking other countries in Europe. Witkoff dismissed criticism of the Trump administration's outreach to Putin, saying the only way to resolve the war in Ukraine is to speak to all sides in the conflict. He also rejected portrayals of Putin as a nefarious actor who can't be trusted. Witkoff said some people might question if he should have met with the Russian president because they see Putin as 'a bad guy.' But he said: 'I don't regard Putin as a bad guy.' A real estate tycoon and friend of the president who has become a top diplomatic envoy for Trump, Wiktoff said he appreciated Putin being open to meeting with him and communicating in a 'straightforward' way. 'I liked him. I thought he was straight up with me,' he said, adding that 'it was gracious of him to accept me, to see me.' Poisonings, shootings and plane crashes Putin, a former KGB officer who has ruled Russia for the last 25 years, has been blamed for the killings of multiple Russian opposition leaders, most recently Alexei Navalny who died in a Russian prison last year. Mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin died in a plane crash last year, just months after leading his Wagner Group forces in an aborted mutiny against Putinn. His short-lived rebellion, sparked by disagreements about the war in Ukraine. No investigative findings were released after the fiery crash, which also killed nine other people. Boris Nemtsov, once considered the leader of Russia's opposition and one of Putin's fiercest critics, was shot dead in 2015, just a few feet away from the Kremlin. And in 2018 former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia were poisoned in the U.K. with a nerve agent believed to be the same Novichok poison later used on Navalny. Two Russians also allegedly poisoned former KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko, an outspoken critic of Putin's who had fled to the U.K. Renowned journalist Anna Politkovskaya was gunned down outside her Moscow apartment in 2006 after warning reporters in Russia about the risks of challenging the Kremlin's narrative. Putin blamed Biden Witkoff said Putin pointed out in their meeting that he and former President Joe Biden did not speak for three years, which Witkoff called a mistake. 'How do you settle a conflict unless we establish trust and good feelings with one another?' Witkoff said. Trump's envoy said an administration official had warned him beforehand that Putin was a former KGB officer. But Witkoff said that background merely meant that Putin was among the elite in the former Soviet Union, as he said the spy service recruited highly capable people. 'In the old days, the only people who went into the KGB were the smartest people in the nation,' Witkoff said. 'That's who went into the KGB. He's a super smart guy.' Putin's 2022 invasion of Ukraine violated international law and Russian forces appear to have committed war crimes there, according to European, UN and Biden administration officials. But Witkoff suggested the media coverage of the war had been distorted and that the conflict could not be blamed entirely on one side. 'That is a complicated situation that war and all the ingredients that led up to it,' he said. The special envoy said the key to resolving the war in Ukraine was Russia's claim to four eastern regions in Ukraine — Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson. He called the issue 'the elephant in the room.' Ukraine opposes ceding the territory which remains part of Ukraine's internationally recognized borders. Russian troops occupy most of the regions and Moscow has held referenda on joining Russia, which Western countries and Ukraine have denounced as shams conducted under repression. But Witkoff, who struggled to name all four of the regions in the interview, cited the Russian-organized votes as an indication that people in the area preferred Russian rule. 'They're Russian-speaking,' he said. 'There have been referendums where the overwhelming majority of the people have indicated that they want to be under Russian rule.' Wikoff said it was unclear if Ukraine could accept ceding that territory to Russia and if Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy could survive politically if he acknowledged Russian control of the area. 'The Russians are de facto in control of these territories,' Witkoff said. Will the world acknowledge that those are Russian territories?' He added that Russia did not want to absorb all of Ukraine and that it already has what it wants, by taking the four eastern regions and the Crimean peninsula.
CBS News
09-02-2025
- Entertainment
- CBS News
Metal guitarist turned crooner plays annual Valentine's show at Du Nord
A longtime figure on the Bay Area's rock and metal scene explores a different side of music when vocalist Sven Söderlund and his Masterful Orchestra play their annual Valentine's Day gala at the Cafe Du Nord Friday. A well-regarded metal guitarist who came up during the rise of the thrash-metal scene in San Francisco during the early '80s, Soderlund was raised in a musical family (both his parents played jazz) and picked up the six-string at the age of nine. By 1984, he had been invited to join then fledgling thrash outfit Mordred before eventually striking out on to found Mercenary with Mordred guitarist Danny White. While Mercenary would only play a couple of gigs and record a demo in 1986 during it's initial existence before imploding, the group achieved a sort of legendary status locally and in Europe as their demo was shared between metal fans. Söderlund would also work in the music industry as a roadie and guitar tech, working extensively with Exodus at local shows and touring with Megadeth. As the '80s turned into the '90s, Söderlund played guitar in a number of projects (Exterminator, Morticious and Mercyful Fate tribute Hail Satan) as well as a stint in Laaz Rockit. Later, he would participate in an onstage reunion with Mercenary in the early 2000s and live performances with Mordred and Heathen. Though Mercenary would reform as an active group in 2007, more recently the musician decided to try his hand at the music he heard his parents playing during his youth. Convening a large ensemble featuring horns and strings in 2017, the group rehearsed a set of jazz and swing standards made famous by the likes of Sinatra and Tony Bennett. Last July, Söderlund and the band he christened the Masterful Orchestra made their debut at the Bottom of the Hill, cramming onto the stage for a full house of fans. They have since performed at the Lesher Center in Walnut Creek and Sweetwater Music Hall. The singer and his group celebrated the release of their debut CD with an outdoor concert at the Jerry Garcia Amphitheater in McLaren Park a few years ago, drawing a big crowd to enjoy an afternoon of classic standards, Sinatra deep cuts, a song written by his composer mother and even a nod to his hard-rock roots with a swinging take on the Thin Lizzy hit "Dancing in the Moonlight." In the fall of 2021, the band returned to the stage for it's first public performance in over a year, drawing a large crowd for a free Saturday afternoon concert at the Golden Gate Park bandshell. Söderlund is preparing to release his sophomore album summer that will feature more standards, a rock hit, an R&B tune and an original song. Last year, the lead single for the album -- a version of Neil Diamond's classic hit "Love on the Rocks" -- becomes available on all digital streaming platforms. The song was recorded at San Francisco's Hyde St. Studios with engineer and producer Jamieson Durr (who has worked with Sammy Hagar, Joe Satriani, Don Felder of the Eagles, Nancy Wilson and Wyclef Jean), before the finished track was mastered in London at iconic Abbey Road Studios by Andy Walter (David Bowie, Jimmy Page, U2, Coldplay, Radiohead). The singer and his group bring their annual Valentine's Day show to the stage at the Cafe Du Nord Friday night. Opening the show will be creative local tribute Bond Gir l. Fronted by guitarist/vocalist Cherie Lebow, the quartet covers hit songs from 007 films throughout the years as well as other spy-related soundtrack tunes (the themes to "Mission: Impossible," "The Avengers" and "Peter Gunn").
