While there have been attempts to curtail corruption in UA that appear to be having some success, corruption in Russia is an accepted way of life, indeed, it is at times a national past time if not an actual sport.
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White phosphoric bombs are a grey area, not banned as such, but regulated. Some claim that they are banned in civilian locations because of their incendiary effects .
Yowzers.
- If true, wow!
- Ukraine playing games with the Russians?
In late January, with his mercenary forces dying by the thousands in a fight for the ruined city of Bakhmut, Wagner Group owner Yevgeniy Prigozhin made Ukraine an extraordinary offer.
Prigozhin said that if Ukraine’s commanders withdrew their soldiers from the area around Bakhmut, he would give Kyiv information on Russian troop positions, which Ukraine could use to attack them. Prigozhin conveyed the proposal to his contacts in Ukraine’s military intelligence directorate, with whom he has maintained secret communications during the course of the war, according to previously unreported U.S. intelligence documents leaked on the group-chat platform Discord.
Prigozhin has publicly feuded with Russian military commanders, who he furiously claims have failed to equip and resupply his forces, which have provided vital support to Moscow’s war effort. But he is also an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who might well regard Prigozhin’s offer to trade the lives of Wagner fighters for Russian soldiers as a treasonous betrayal.
The leaked document does not make clear which Russian troop positions Prigozhin offered to disclose.
Two Ukrainian officials confirmed that Prigozhin has spoken several times to the Ukrainian intelligence directorate, known as HUR. One official said that Prigozhin extended the offer regarding Bakhmut more than once, but that Kyiv rejected it because officials don’t trust Prigozhin and thought his proposals could have been disingenuous.
A U.S. official also cautioned that there are similar doubts in Washington about Prigozhin’s intentions. The Ukrainian and U.S. officials spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive information.
In an interview with The Washington Post this month, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky would not confirm the contacts with Prigozhin. “This is a matter of [military] intelligence,” he said. The Ukrainian leader also objected to airing classified information publicly and said he believed that the leaks had benefited Russia.
But there is no debating Prigozhin’s bitter frustration with the grinding fight in Bakhmut. He has complained, publicly and privately, that the Russian Defense Ministry has not given his fighters the ammunition and other resources they need to succeed. Bakhmut, in eastern Ukraine, has seen some of the bloodiest fighting of the war. Over the past few months, in a grinding back and forth measured by city blocks, Ukrainian and Russian forces have taken steep casualties.
Prigozhin, who promised to take control of the city by May 9, in time for Russia’s Victory Day celebrations, has recently threatened publicly to pull his forces out of the fight.
Other leaked documents reveal Russian Defense Ministry officials privately wondering how to respond to Prigozhin’s criticism of the military’s performance and his demands for more resources, which they apparently conceded were not illegitimate grievances. The documents also speak to a power struggle between Prigozhin and top officials, including Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu.
Against that tense backdrop, Prigohzin has carried on a secret relationship with Ukrainian intelligence that, in addition to phone calls, includes in-person meetings with HUR officers in an unspecified country in Africa, one document states. Wagner forces provide security to several governments on the continent.
The leaked U.S. intelligence shows Prigozhin bemoaning the heavy toll that fighting has taken on his own forces and urging Ukraine to strike harder against Russian troops.
According to one document, Prigozhin told a Ukrainian intelligence officer that the Russian military was struggling with ammunition supplies. He advised Ukrainian forces to push forward with an assault on the border of Crimea, which Russia has illegally annexed, while Russian troop morale was low. The report also referred to other intelligence noting that Prigozhin was aware of plummeting morale among Wagner forces and that some of his fighters had balked at orders to deploy in the Bakhmut area under heavy fire, for fear of suffering more casualties.
The Kremlin did not respond to a request for comment about Prigozhin’s communications with Ukraine.
In wartime, it is not unusual for opposing parties to maintain some form of communication. And the documents don’t reveal Prigozhin’s intention in talking to his erstwhile foes in Ukraine. In an interview, a Ukrainian official characterized the contacts in the spirit of “keeping your friends close and your enemies closer.”
The documents also suggest that Kyiv suspects, or may know, that the Kremlin is aware of Prigozhin’s communications with Ukrainian intelligence, if not his secret negotiations over Bakhmut.
One document, based on “sigint” — or intercepted communications — states that Ukraine’s military intelligence chief, Kyrylo Budanov, “expected the Russians to use details of Prigozhin’s secret talks with the HUR and his meetings with their officers in Africa to make him appear to be a Ukrainian agent.” It doesn’t specify whether Budanov suspects Moscow may already know that Prigozhin is talking to HUR officers.
When informed that U.S. intelligence documents revealed Prigozhin’s communications with Ukrainian intelligence, the mercenary commander appeared to make light of the situation. “Yes of course I can confirm this information, we have nothing to hide from the foreign special services. Budanov and I are still in Africa,” Prigohzin wrote on Sunday via his Telegram channel.
Prigohzin didn’t immediately respond to a question about his offer to disclose Russian troop positions in exchange for a Ukrainian pullback in Bakhmut.
Mary Ilyushina in Riga, Latvia, contributed to this report.
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Progress towards meeting requirements for accession to the EU have spurred anti corruption measures. Public procurement has been extended to EU suppliers, many of whom would be engaged in civilian reconstruction. I would expect EU procurement rules to apply. IMF loan facilities would also require strict auditing, as would World Bank emergency funding raised through donors, together with any EU civilian financing.
UN financial assistance goes directly to agencies on the ground, not channeled through the Ukraine Givernment.
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Several media reports of Zelensky visit to Paris from Germany and of joint statement announcing the supply of dozens of French armed vehicles, light tanks and training. However, the joint statement is not up on the official sites.
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With an ally like this, who needs friends? Trading RU soldiers lives for the lives of his own forces sure sounds like treason to me. Putin now has a dilemma. Does he take strong action against the head of Wagner, or let it slide by? Either way it is a sensational development.
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Putin won’t do anything yet, because without Wagner his front will collapse like a pack of cards.
But I’m sure there are plans, for at the end of this conflict, to deal with Prigohzin.
Almost certainly there’s contingency plans to deal with him too.
Of course, Prigohzin will be well aware of this, so he will be making plans of his own too.
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No corruption in Russia, it is a legitimate government & business practice.
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bacchus if you put likes on all my posts I will put likes on yours.
even if I don’t like 'em.
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Reported on France 24, La Liberation, Le Figaro and Le Monde. Only one refers to ‘more’
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Corruption is so pernicious that it permeates every level of Russian society. For a good introduction to how corruption works in Russia have a look at some of the work of film maker Yuri Bykov, in particular The Major and The Fool. They are both available to view for free on The Russian Film Hub. I have seen both of them and they are chilling, but l have sworn off watching anything else on there until the war is over.
In 2021 Russia ranked equal 136 out of 180 countries on the Corruption Perception Index, tied with Angola, Liberia and Mali (I wonder if any of these African countries have toes to Wagner), but just above Mauritania and Myanmar. Uraine was ranked at 122, but has since taken steps to clean up their act, while Russia has probably become worse as the effect of the various sanctions kick in. Australia was ranked at equal 18 with Belgium, Japan and Uruguay.
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This is a really good video on the subject from Perun:
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Interesting discussion into the mindset of the Russian people, how the war is progressing, how Ukraine’s moral high ground strategy could be a strength or a weakness.
There seems to be a lot of internal political developments becoming more visible both in Russia and the USA.
This forum has a lot of coverage on the military battles. Good to see more coverage of the recent political developments eg the Strelkov “Club” and now Prigozhin along with wapo’s coverage.
Getting to grips with this background requires reading longer articles than twitter threads.
I’m struck by the complexity of the relations among the fascist opposition in Russia and warlords such as Prigozhin and the actual ruling circles around Putin.
My (very superficial) impression is that there is some degree of unity among them despite open undermining of “Grandpa” Putin by Strelkov and Prigozhin.
They all know they are losing the war and that Russian autocracy cannot survive defeat. They are all preparing for mass repression to enable serious mobilization for war. Putin’s propagandists are attempting to prepare public opinion for it, but seem quite demoralized.
Putin’s theoretician, Alexander Dugin, is openly calling for a traditional “Oprichinka” to purge the “elite” along the same lines as Ivan the Terrible:
Oddly enough (for a very odd theoretician) he regards Prigozhin and his Wagner forces as the forerunners for the heroic leadership of armed gangs engaged in mass terror to restore patriotism.
The Wagner Factor and the Thesis of Justice - April 9
At the same time Dugin simultaneously upholds Putin as the great ruler and undermines him by discussing what comes after him:
Putin as a great ruler and “after-Putin” - April 12
Strelkov’s “Angry Patriots” are also openly engaged in a double game that would logically result in Putin becoming no more than a figurehead for the armed gangs “defending” the authorities:
In mid-April 2023, two weeks after the creation of the club, it became known about the intention of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Saint Petersburg to check Strelkov for “discrediting the armed forces”.[6]
Ideology
Club members said Russia would inevitably face defeat in Ukraine and could endure a pro-Western coup or civil war unless Moscow radically improves the situation on the front lines. Participants argued that Russian officials are unable to improve the military operations and their impact on Russian society because most Kremlin officials belong to the anti-war faction. The club claimed it was seeking to help the Russian authorities complete a “special military operation” in a timely manner, arguing that a protracted war in Ukraine could spur anti-war officials to revolt. The group also said it was trying to create a defense network to counter a coup in Russia in such a case.[4][1]
Compared to the January 25 Committee, the emphasis has shifted greatly from opposition to the liberal “Moscow Maidan” to the need to prevent “Russia’s military defeat in its proxy war with the entire NATO bloc in Ukraine”.[2]
My (wildly speculative) guess is that Putin and his circle cannot repress this opposition both because they need it against others and because they have no other program themselves.
Meanwhile articles in wapo (unpaywalled) are also getting “curiouser and curiouser”, with recent Zelensky interview starting to get quite explicit about what he thinks of US government and its journalists. Chronologically:
Wagner Group surges in Africa as U.S. influence fades, leak reveals - April 23
At U.S. behest, Ukraine held off anniversary attacks on Russia
Leaked U.S. files show deep rift between Russian military and Wagner chief - May 5
Zelensky, in private, plots bold attacks inside Russia, leak shows - May 13
THE DISCORD LEAKS | U.S. intercepts reveal the Ukrainian’s leader’s aggressive instincts, a marked contrast to his public-facing image as the stoic statesman weathering Russia’s brutal onslaught
(above posted 1 minute before Zelensky interview so that it could be linked from it)
Zelensky interview transcript: ‘Ukraine must win’ - May 13
Wagner chief offered to give Russian troop locations to Ukraine, leak says - May 14
Anyway, Zelensky interview is worth studying. Others are background noise that suggests to me wapo is up to something, but I don’t know what.
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The whole of that debate between Girkin and Starikov is well worth watching (with proper English subtitles) , even though it is 90’ long.
Starikov seems to be from closer to the inner circles of the regime.
This discussion 8 years ago is about their common interests and different perspectives on forming armed gangs of thugs to break up protests and prevent a “Maidan” in Russia.
It helps understand that the original invasion in 2014 and current continuation are both about preventing democratic revolution in Russia.
Sheds light on recent developments with Dugin and the “Angry Patriots” Committee.
L8R gone
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Zelensky is on a tour of Europe.
Italy > Germany > France > UK
Unsure if that’s the list or if he’ll swing by some extra nations to help secure more support.
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