The Wagner mercenary organization has become “increasingly fragmented” in the year since its leader Yevgeny Prigozhin and founder Dmitry Utkin were killed in a plane crash, the British Ministry of Defense said. Defense (MoD).
“Compared to its maximum force of approximately 50,000 workers in 2023, Wagner is now likely to maintain an overall supplement of approximately 5,000 workers in its residual deployments to Belarus and Africa,” the Defense Ministry said in its latest update.
Prigozhin and Utkin were among ten other people who died when their plane crashed north of Moscow a year ago under mysterious circumstances.
It came two months after the day the Wagner chief led a brief mutiny against Russia’s top military leadership, issuing the most serious challenge to Vladimir Putin since he came to power in 1999.
The Wagner Group was made up of former detainees and mercenaries and played a key role on the battlefield of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
He has actively participated in conflicts in Syria, the Central African Republic, Sudan and Libya.
The Ministry of Defense also shared a map of the newest battlefield in eastern Ukraine:
Germany is investigating alleged drone espionage after drones flew over several commercial sites.
Yesterday, prosecutors announced that they had opened an investigation into repeated drone flights over infrastructure in northern Germany, suspected, according to them, of espionage for sabotage purposes.
The German military’s territorial command said it had agreed to a request from police to provide radar information on suspicious drone flights.
The German chemical company Covestro and the Swiss cement manufacturer Holcim are part of an organization of chemical, energy and logistics companies operating in the commercial ChemCoast Park in Brunsbüttel, in the northern state of Schleswig-Holstein.
Yesterday, German newspaper Bild cited state criminal police as saying the drones were likely Russian Orlan-10s, which have a range of 500 to 600 kilometers (310 to 372 miles) and can fly at more than 62 mph (100 km/h). h).
Germany has been one of the main providers of military aid to Ukraine since the Russian invasion in 2022 and is on high alert for sabotage activities.
Narfinishra Modi has suggested Volodymyr Zelenskyy to contact Russia to end the war.
The Indian prime minister told the Ukrainian president that he would act as a “friend” to help achieve peace at the two leaders’ meeting in kyiv.
Modi had arrived in the Ukrainian capital with a message of peace.
Modi said India has not been impartial or passive during the confrontation and is on the side of peace.
New Delhi has so far avoided condemning Russia’s invasion and Zelenskyy has in the past criticized Modi for his stopover in Moscow in July, chastising him for hugging Vladimir Putin during their meeting.
Readers submitted their questions to our senior correspondents and Army experts to get their perspectives on the changing battlefield environment.
Today, Thomas Heavner asks:
Should the fact that there has been no direct military reaction from Putin to Ukraine’s incursion into Russia a sign of a more catastrophic reaction from Russia? Or is it “how they play it”?
Military analyst Sean Bell responds:
When Ukraine first made its bold incursion into Russian territory a fortnight ago, some commentators feared the attack would trigger a swift and ruthless reaction from Vladimir Putin. However, after a fortnight of military operations in Ukraine, it now appears that Russia has struggled to scale up a coherent reaction, with Ukraine maintaining the initiative.
The Ukrainian operation appears to have been well planned and Ukraine has capitalized on its initial good fortune by increasing its forces and penetrating deeper into Russia. Although Ukraine has not declared the objectives of this dynamic operation, it appears that Volodymyr Zelenskyy seeks to seize the initiative, boost Ukrainian morale, and galvanize a reaction from Russia’s military that would ease tension on a long-suffering Ukrainian frontline in the Donbas.
Putin was obviously frustrated by the Ukrainian incursion, but a ruthless reaction from the Russian military is only one option. Ukraine lacks military functions (infantry and firearms) and it turns out that it has deployed up to 10,000 infantry soldiers (probably battle-hardened) on Russian territory. This “distances” those Ukrainian forces from Russian frontline action in the Donbass.
Putin knows that progress on the front line will slow when winter hits. His forces have perhaps 10 to 12 weeks left to achieve the objectives of their so-called special military operation. By focusing on the important Russian effort in the Donbass, Putin knows that Ukraine has diluted the forces needed to resist the Russian attack on Pokrovsk, which could allow for greater advances in the limited time it has. has.
Once Russia’s objectives in Donbass have been achieved, Putin could possibly approach the Kursk incursion more slowly.
Ukrainian forces have reportedly retaken nearly two kilometers of territory in the northeastern Kharkiv region.
The separate Third Assault Brigade said this was a counteroffensive, but did not provide key details about when it was introduced or which domains had been recaptured.
Therefore, it is difficult to wait if this will have any additional effect on the battlefield.
However, the Ukrainian army said it had seized a domain controlled by a Russian battalion.
Brigade commander Andrii Biletskyi said the ratio of forces on the battlefield is 2:5:1 in favor of Moscow.
Sky News is in a position to verify this report on the battlefield.
Russia had launched a primary offensive in the region in the spring, which produced initial gains, but the operation was later halted.
Ukrainian forces picked up momentum and altered the battlefield this month, launching a surprise offensive in Russia’s Kursk region.
They have also intensified drone warfare against the Russian military and oil targets, adding the destruction of a ferry transporting fuel materials to Crimea.
Ukraine is now hoping that this new momentum can improve Kyiv’s position on the diplomatic front.
At least two civilians were killed in a Russian attack in Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv region, the governor said.
Two other people were injured.
The attack hit the village of Kupiansk-Vuzlovyi, about 16 kilometers from the front line.
It is unclear what weapon was used in the attack.
An ERS organization captured hostages in Russia’s Volgograd region, state media said.
At least one member of criminal personnel killed.
The other detained persons are members of criminals and steps are being taken to release them, the crime department said.
He added that there are “victims. “
According to the TASS news agency, at least three prisoners took part in the attack.
The prison, located in the city of Surovikino, was designated a penal colony with a “severe regime. ”
It has a population of 1,241 male prisoners.
As we have reported, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is in kyiv to meet Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
We just won photos of the two leaders meeting and giving each other a hug.
It should be noted that Zelenskyy had criticized Modi earlier this year for offering Vladimir Putin a stopover in Russia.
The Indian prime minister is recently in Kyiv to meet with Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Ukrainian and Indian officials say the stopover is aimed at economic ties and cooperation in defense, science and technology.
However, analysts recommend that there may be a reason: to show India that it is taking a more even-handed stance in the wake of what has been seen as a tilt towards Russia.
Narendra Modi met with representatives of the Indian diaspora after arriving in the Ukrainian capital, as the crowd gathered around the minister shouted “Modi, Modi, Modi”.
The Indian leader later told X that he had gotten a “very welcome. ”
The head of the Ukrainian presidential office, Andriy Yermak, described the Yermak war as “historic” and said India could play a role in ending the war.
“We respect India as a wonderful democracy in the world and a tough country,” Yermak said in an interview with India Today.
“But now we have to say who is the aggressor and who is the victim. “
India has so far avoided condemning the Russian invasion and instead urged Russia and Ukraine to confront each other through debate and diplomacy.
Zelenskyy had already criticized Modi for his trip to Moscow in July, when the Indian prime minister met Vladimir Putin on the same day Russian missiles hit Ukraine.
The Ukrainian president said at the time that it was an “enormous sadness and a devastating blow to peace efforts. ”
He also criticized Modi for hugging Putin at their meeting.
Vladimir Putin has a plan to respond to Ukraine’s incursion into Russia, the country’s ambassador to the United States said.
“I tell you sincerely that the president has made a decision,” Anatoly Antonov was quoted by the official Russian news firm TASS.
“I am firmly convinced that everyone will be seriously punished for what happened in the Kursk region. “
The Russian ambassador provided additional details about Putin’s plans.
The Kremlin held a meeting with senior officials, attended by Putin and the governors of the border regions, probably to discuss Ukraine’s wonderful attack on Russia’s Kursk region.
The fighting represents the incursion into Russia through a foreign force since World War II.
Antonov also warned in comments published through the official RIA news agency that the United States would remove all restrictions on the use of weapons in Ukraine.
“The current leadership behaves like someone who stretches out one hand and with the other holds a dagger in his back,” Antonov said.
“They’re basically setting the bar [for a decision] to simply remove all existing restrictions at a given time, giving it a lot of thought. “
The United States has provided Ukraine with more than $55 billion in military aid since 2022, but has allowed Kiev to fire any of its weapons into Russian territory unless they are used for cross-border defensive operations or counterattacks.