Russian civil rights activists present figures on prison inmates used in attack on Ukraine. Meanwhile, the Russian foreign minister is repeating the allegations that "the West" is waging war against his country in Ukraine.
According to civil rights activists, of the 50,000 recruits recruited in Russian prisons for the war in Ukraine, only 10,000 are still with the troops. "The rest are killed, injured, missing, surrendered or deserted, including to Russia with weapons in their hands," said the non-governmental organization (NGO) "Rus Sidyashchaia ("Russia behind bars") on Monday on its Telegram - Kanal with The prisoners were mainly recruited by the mercenary unit "Wagner".
In Norway, the police announced on Monday that they had arrested an escaped mercenary from the Wagner group. The person concerned was arrested under Norwegian Immigration Law. It will be checked whether she should be arrested.
In particular, the prisoners who had escaped and been taken prisoner of war were a potential problem for the head of the "Wagner" force, the oligarch Yevgeny Prigozhin, said the founder of the NGO, Olga Romanova. Romanova said that Prigozhin should not show these statistics to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Because the oligarch known as "Putin's cook" was given unlimited powers to recruit prisoners on the condition that he completely controlled them.
Prigozhin, who himself was in prison during Soviet times, recruited some of the prison inmates personally. When he was recruited, he promised the prisoners that they would be released after they had completed their military service. At the same time he threatened deserters with summary killings. A video distributed weeks ago by the Wagner squad is intended to demonstrate the seriousness of the threat: it shows a prisoner being beaten to death with a sledgehammer. The man had previously been taken prisoner of war by the Ukraine, but returned to Russia as part of a prisoner exchange.
Prigozhin thanks mercenaries for Soledar
Prigozhin spoke up on Monday with a video. In it he thanked his fighters for their efforts in the battle for the eastern Ukrainian city of Soledar. "We now have half a year of war behind us, like neither your grandfathers nor great-grandfathers experienced," said Prigozhin. Compared to the battles for Soledar, the Red Army's battle for Stalingrad in 1942 against the German Wehrmacht was "more of a vacation". During weeks of bitter fighting for the small town of Soledar in eastern Ukraine, mercenaries from Wagner's troops spearheaded the Russian attacks. The mercenaries suffered the heaviest casualties in capturing the town.
Lavrov renewed accusations against the West
During a visit to South Africa on Monday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov again raised allegations that the West was waging war against Russia in Ukraine. "When we talk about what's going on in Ukraine, it's not a hybrid war, it's almost a real war that the West has been preparing against Russia for a long time," Lavrov said after meeting his South African colleague Naledi Pandor According to the Russian state news agency Tass. The West wants to destroy everything Russian, from the language to the culture, he said.
South Africa, part of the Brics group of emerging economies along with Russia, China, India and Brazil, has taken a neutral stance on the war in Ukraine. South Africa abstained in a United Nations vote condemning the Ukraine conflict last year. Nevertheless, South Africa has traditionally maintained close ties with Moscow, also because the then Soviet Union supported the fight against apartheid.
Moscow: Ukraine hides weapons on nuclear power plant site
Russia's foreign intelligence service has accused Ukraine of stationing Western-supplied weapons on nuclear power plant sites to protect against destruction. The head of the foreign intelligence service, Sergey Naryshkin, announced in Moscow that Kiev's calculations are that the Russian troops will not strike at the nuclear power plants because of the danger of a nuclear catastrophe. This information cannot be verified. Naryshkin claimed that there is credible evidence that Himar-type multiple rocket launchers and large-caliber artillery are housed there.
London sees skepticism about new Russian commander-in-chief
The new Russian supreme commander in Ukraine, Valeri Gerassimov, was met with skepticism by the British and by Wagner's private army, according to British estimates. The chief of staff attaches great importance to increasing discipline, the British Ministry of Defense said on Monday, citing intelligence information. "The prioritization of primarily small regulations should confirm the fears of his many skeptics in Russia." Gerasimov is concerned with non-compliant uniforms, the use of mobile phones and civilian vehicles, and haircuts that do not conform to the norm. "But the biggest mockery was for improving the standard of troop shaving."
Money laundering investigation into ex-FBI officials
A former senior FBI official and another American have been arrested in the United States for illegally helping a Russian oligarch. The two men are said to have agreed to launder money with billionaire Oleg Deripaska in order to circumvent sanctions imposed on him in the wake of the Ukraine conflict. On Monday, the New York prosecutor's office published an indictment with five allegations - the suspects have been in custody since Saturday evening, according to the statement.
What is also striking about the case is that the former FBI employee was responsible for investigations against oligarchs, including Deripaska, when he was with the federal police. Together with the second American, who is originally of Russian origin and worked as a court translator, he recently tried to have the sanctions against the billionaire lifted.
Deripaska himself was charged with sanctions violations in the United States in September. If convicted, Deripaska - who was not in the US - could face up to 20 years in prison, according to the US Department of Justice.
