By occupying a command center and drawing his troops closer to Moscow, the head of the paramilitary group has challenged the Russian president’s hitherto unwavering authority.

After the Wagner Group uprising against the Russian army, Russia is trying to bring the situation under control on Monday, June 26th. The “anti-terrorist operational regime” established during the uprising was lifted and Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, who disappeared over the weekend, appeared on Russian state television in an undated video appraising military personnel in Ukraine.

>> War in Ukraine: Follow our live broadcast of the conflict

For his part, Vladimir Putin reappeared in a Kremlin video shot during an industry and youth forum. Despite this apparent normalcy, this uprising exposed several weaknesses within the Russian regime.

Weak security forces

Within hours on Saturday, troops from the Wagner militia occupied the army headquarters in the city of Rostov, a key command center for Russia’s attack on Ukraine, “without firing a shot,” according to Yevgeny Prigozhin. The head of the paramilitary group also claimed that his teams shot down a Russian helicopter that “opened fire on a civilian column.”

On the same day, the advance of the mercenaries towards Moscow continued without much resistance from the forces sent by the Kremlin: the FSB, the security services and Rosgvardia (the National Guard). According to the US Institute For The Study of War, the surprise and aftermath of his heavy losses in Ukraine meant that the Kremlin had difficulty responding quickly and effectively to Wagner’s advances.

The National Guard therefore could not stop Wagner’s advance in Rostov, as the militia arrested Russian soldiers. Russian observers quoted by the Institute For The Study of War (ISW) pointed out that the personnel mobilized in Rosgvardia were conscripts and not regular members of the Russian security forces. Wagner “probably could have reached the outskirts of Moscow if Prigoyine had ordered it,” the American think tank estimates.

“Is it a lack of will, a lack of means, or an unpreparedness on the part of the security forces? It’s hard to say,” nuanced Dimitri Minic, a specialist in the Russian army, in Le Monde.

“Today, the Kremlin’s image and credibility were shaken again on the central issue of control and maintaining security.”

Dimitri Minic, Russian Army Specialist

in the world”

On the part of Russian power, “there may have been a desire not to enter into an episode of general confrontation,” adds researcher David Teurtrie, author of franceinfo’s “Russia, the Return of Power” (ed. Armand Colin). “Vladimir Putin seemed to want more compromises. It’s difficult to distinguish what the real weakness is or the strategy,” he weighs. Be that as it may, this initiative by Yevgeny Prigoyine to “march on Moscow” is in addition to recent events that have called into question the Russian state’s ability to defend its territory, such as the armed invasion Groups from Ukraine to the Belgorod region Drone attack in Moscow.

Putin’s omnipotence is tainted

On closer inspection of all law firms, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken estimated that this crisis was showing “real cracks” at the highest level of the Russian state. “The fact that there is someone inside questioning Putin’s authority and asking directly why he launched this aggression against Ukraine is in itself something very powerful,” the chief of US diplomacy said Sunday.

Through this revolt, “Prigoyine showed that it was possible to frighten the Kremlin and the Russian regime,” adds Carole Grimaud-Potter, Russia specialist, in an interview with franceinfo. “Putin no longer embodies coercion and violence, a stronger one has prevailed. (…) Godfather Putin’s throne is weakened,” adds military expert Pierre Servent on France Inter.

“Vladimir Putin got into his own game of always trying to create competition between his armed forces to put himself in the position of referee. This time Wagner escaped him.”

David Teurtrie, Russia Specialist

at franceinfo

The tone of the Russian president’s speech on June 24 also bears witness to this fragility, analyzes sociologist Anna Colin Lebedev, a specialist in post-Soviet Russia, in Le Monde. The parallel, particularly with the events of 1917 in Russia, when the tsarist regime was overthrown by the Bolsheviks, leading to a civil war, contrasted with his earlier speeches, in which he insisted on saying “that everything is under control may be”.

The mediation of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko to end the Wagner revolt also calls Vladimir Putin’s authority into question. “We can see the feverishness of the president, who is not in the culture of negotiation with his opponents,” says Carole Grimaud-Potter. Vladimir Putin allowed Lukashenko to negotiate and called on his most loyal allies, such as the Kazakh President, to ensure their support.”

However, this strategy is not necessarily a rejection by the Kremlin chief. “Putin could neither kill Prigoyine, who was too popular, nor ignore his expedition, which was too dangerous,” analyzes Franak Viacorka, close adviser to Belarusian exile opponent Svetlana Tikhanovskaïa, quoted in Le Figaro. So the solution was to “call on Lukashenko to stop Prigoyine without eliminating him”.

An internal attack

“Wagner’s uprising destroyed the myth of the unity of all Russia behind its president,” Françoise Daucé, former French ambassador to Russia, told franceinfo. According to this former diplomat, this rebellion “promoted the idea of ​​a sacred union behind the president by exposing the divisions within power itself.”

For the first time since arriving in the Kremlin in 1999, Vladimir Putin has shown that he may not be able to protect his people. However, the Russian president based his power on promises of stability and prosperity. “For the enrichment of the elites, for ordinary Russians for the predictability of the next day,” Anna Colin Lebedev summarizes to Le Monde.

“The vertical of Russian power is seriously compromised, the elites are questioning it,” said Carole Grimaud-Potter. This crisis could therefore have repercussions on Russia’s internal political system. At the regional level, local governors will be able to assert themselves as “political actors” and not simply as the Kremlin’s executive, estimates Anna Colin Lebedev in Liberation. A situation that risks weakening a power “that was committed to having only technocrats with no political ambitions around”.

The uprising has also undermined the base of support for the Russian president in ultra-nationalist circles. For example, former army officer and Russian nationalist Igor Girkin said on Sunday that Vladimir Putin would have to “transfer” some of his functions to others if he could not control the war in Ukraine, the ISW quoted as saying. But the Russian President has not yet said his last word. Vladimir Putin “never changes under pressure. However, in a second step he could reorganize the army, the Ministry of the Interior or even the secret services,” analyzes David Teurtrie. The consequences of this revolt are still difficult to predict.

Giant Snail – themagazinetech

The giant snails have arrived, an unexpected invasion has led to an action in the city: they are so big that they destroy all the plantations they come across

It is an incredibly large species of snail cause some problems to the vegetation it encounters. It would be able to eat so much that entire crops would be destroyed, and probably due to climate change, many cities have had to deal with the problem of invasion.

Giant African land snails trouble new cities. They had never seen each other before, except in African areas, but for some time now they have been starting to create panic, especially in the United States. Florida has set up regular quarantines to eradicate the animal. There is not only one danger and above all the risk also seems to be man.

In fact, the attacked fields represent only a small part of the risks. They eat over 500 species of plantsThey eat pretty much anything that gets in their way. However, fears are not limited to the local agricultural industry. The snails are actually larger than a human hand, slimy, and spiral-housed, just like their smaller sisters.

Giant snails in the US, what’s happening and why they’re so dangerous they’re triggering a quarantine alert

Not only do they damage entire landscapes and agriculture in general, but they are also dangerous because crawling on vegetables, which people then eat raw, can lead to serious infections. The Florida Department of Agriculture fears for the agribusiness, but also for the consequences if these animals start infecting people through their “drool.”

The infection that could be transmitted to humans is essentially a parasite a rat lungworm which is already well known to science as it is among the most dangerous. In fact, the effects of his infection are also known: Apparently he would be one of the recognized Transmission of meningitis in humans.

Giant Snail – themagazinetech

What was decided regarding the disinfestation of giant snails?

The authorities have decided to spray the anti-snail chemical bait in all invaded areas. According to the authorities, the US is doing everything it can to eradicate them, as they are also capable of eating plaster and stucco, destroying entire buildings over time. The disinfestation will be long and complicated, and there is also a special alert among the population because one fears contracting the parasite from eating vegetables.

This content was posted on Jun 26, 2023 – 4:43pm. Jun 26, 2023 – 4:43 p.m

Luxembourg, 26 June (EFE). – Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares hoped this Monday that the summit between the European Union (EU) and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) would give “a boost” during the Spanish EU Presidency, which begins on January 1. July begins working to place Latin America “in the heart of Europe.”

“I reiterated the importance of this summit, which will be the political starting point for our relations with Latin America this semester (the presidency) and the impetus for the work that will last throughout the semester of our presidency. bringing Latin America back to the heart of Europe,” he said.

He added during a press conference following the EU foreign ministers’ meeting in Luxembourg today that this work “must go beyond the Spanish Presidency”.

“I proposed that we hold these high-level meetings regularly and I indicated that we must not miss this opportunity to strengthen the bi-regional political agenda, all the more so in this context where Europe needs to stand together with its partners more than ever “Friends and allies in the world,” he explained.

He stressed that the “credibility of the EU in the world” was “at stake”.

“I am convinced that the European Union-CELAC Summit will create momentum in our European Semester that we will see clearly when it concludes in December. It will be a success with very concrete results to be announced throughout the semester,” he revealed.

Albares pointed out that all his counterparts from the 27 countries spoke today “without exception” about the “huge importance” of the EU-CELAC summit that will take place in Brussels on July 17-18, “the first of its kind “, agree in almost ten years.”

He added that most ministers had expressed that their countries would be represented at the summit “by their head of state or government”.

On the other hand, he pointed out that Sweden, the country that currently holds the presidency of the Council of the EU, already today, in a purely solemn act, “handed over the baton” to Spain, since the meetings of the Union’s foreign ministers took place differently than any other Others would be led by the chief of community diplomacy, Josep Borrell, and not by the community state, which holds the rotating presidency.

“We had a ceremony and took advantage of a moment of calm where the baton with the European flag was physically handed over to us,” Albares said. EFE

Pitcher/Cat/Psh

(Photo)

© EFE 2023. The redistribution of all or part of the content of the Efe Services is expressly prohibited without the prior and express consent of Agencia EFE SA

The head of the Russian Wagner mercenary unit, Yevgeny Prigozhin, denied in his first speech after the unsuccessful uprising at the weekend that he had sought a change of power in Moscow. “We went to protest, not to overthrow the country’s authorities,” the 62-year-old said in a voicemail distributed by his Telegram press office on Monday. He did not provide information about his current whereabouts.

According to Prigozhin, the uprising revealed “serious security problems” in Russia. The month-long power struggle between the head of the mercenary force and the Russian military leadership intensified late on Friday. Wagner’s fighters invaded Russia from Ukraine – Prigozhin said the aim was to overthrow the military leadership in Moscow. In Rostov-on-Don, in the south of Russia, troops occupied the headquarters of the Russian army.

moved 780 kilometers inland

After about 24 hours of uprising, he surprisingly turned on Saturday night and ordered his mercenaries back to their camps. According to the Kremlin, he and his mercenaries should go unpunished and Prigozhin should go into exile in Belarus. However, the Russian prosecution said on Monday that Prigozhin would be investigated.

Wagner’s boss now said in his audio message that his troop’s military column had advanced 780 kilometers into Russia and reached about 200 kilometers from Moscow. The mercenaries “locked down all military infrastructure”, including air bases along the route. “The march highlighted serious security issues in the country,” he said. At the same time, he ensured that civilians in towns along the route supported his people. “Civilians came towards us with Russian flags and Wagner badges, they were happy when we arrived and we passed them by.”

Prigozhin also paid tribute to the fact that Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko made possible a mediated solution on Saturday, which led to the end of his people’s uprising. Lukashenko “offered to find solutions so that the Wagner group can continue working legally”, emphasized the mercenary boss. (apa/afp/dpa)

Sergey Lavrov. (Photo: Reproduction)

The US is an enthusiastic supporter of regime change whenever it can benefit from the process, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told RT. If a coup is aimed at a government that is more flexible about US interests, Washington will inevitably oppose it, the diplomat added.

There have been numerous attempts at regime change around the world in recent years, and the US response “depends on who was in power and who wanted to carry out the coup,” Lavrov said on Monday.

“Where the West is satisfied with the current government, no protest can be legitimate in such situations. But when the government does not reflect hegemonic interests and pursues national interests, in these cases we see various illegal forces being promoted. [para atacar as autoridades]’ the diplomat added.

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