Target: Vladimir Putin. “We’re ready to kill him. “Our primary task is to destroy the unit commander who is ordering his men to attack,” Deputy Ukrainian Intelligence Chief Vadim Skibitsky told German newspaper Die Welt in an interview. The founder and head of the Wagner Group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, is also on the same list. Threats confirming that “the special military operation is more than justified, more than necessary,” according to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, who assured that “the Russian security services know their job and what they are doing.” Then came the clarification from the main intelligence directorate of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry: “We can make extraordinary efforts to physically eliminate a person like Putin”, “but there is a need to arrest him and his accomplices as war criminals and bring them before an international tribunal bring.” is of course a matter of just punishment being implemented.
Russian warship in the Black Sea encounters sea drones in an attempted attack
So Putin is “target number one”, but “with a view to imprisonment and transfer to the International Court of Justice and the Hague Tribunal”. Certainly, given the threats from Kyiv and the drone attack on the Kremlin earlier this month, the president’s security remains a priority in Moscow. An attack behind which, according to the New York Times, special forces or the Ukrainian 007 are hiding, according to the US secret service. Commenting on the Ukrainian threats, Prigozhin called the decision to “eliminate myself and Putin” “understandable”.
Wagner, on the other hand, sees himself as an integral part of the invasion of Ukraine and played a leading role in what Moscow calls the “liberation” town of Bakhmut, a Donetsk town that has become one of the main fronts of the war. And from there, Prigozhin announced, the paramilitaries began to withdraw “the units.”
It was precisely during the battles for the capture of the city that a harsh long-distance confrontation broke out between Prigozhin himself and the Russian defense. The Wagner boss remains critical of Moscow; If Russian losses in Ukraine continue to mount, he warned, “it may all lead to a revolution, just like in 1917,” because “first the soldiers will rise, and then their loved ones will rise.”
Prigozhin announces the withdrawal of the Wagner group from Bakhmut
Meanwhile, Moscow has signed an agreement with Minsk, its main ally, on the transfer of non-strategic nuclear weapons to Belarusian territory. “The transfer has already started,” emphasized President Alexander Lukashenko. Kiev, on the other hand, is waiting for the announced delivery of F-16 fighter jets by its western allies. “We hope that training will begin in the coming weeks,” said US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin. And while the authorities of Russia’s Belgorod region announce that they have shot down another drone on its territory, the diplomatic struggle to resolve the crisis remains complex. After his stay in Kyiv, Chinese Special Envoy for Eurasian Affairs Li Hui is ready to arrive in Moscow where he will meet with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
Learn more
Analysis – When Wagner’s butcher becomes “comfortable opponent”.
Interview – Russia: “We defenders of freedom: It’s just the beginning, we will overthrow the regime”
The case – Vladimir Putin in the crosshairs. The 007 Ukrainians: “We’re getting closer and closer, use the doubles to mislead us.” Now he’s afraid of being killed by his own people.
What happened yesterday, May 25?
Important points
07:04
Explosions in Krasnodar, a city in southern Russia
00:03
Moscow: Ukrainian missile shot down in Rostov region
07:04
Explosions in Krasnodar, a city in southern Russia
Explosions erupted this morning in the center of the Russian city of Krasnodar in the south of the country. This was reported by The Kiev Independent. The city’s air defenses went into action after the downtown area was attacked by drones. Already on May 5, explosions occurred at the Ilsky oil refinery in Russia’s Krasnodar Oblast, also allegedly caused by a drone attack. A similar incident had been reported in the area the day before. Reports of attacks on Russian territory have mounted in recent weeks, most notably a cross-border incursion into Russia’s Belgorod Oblast by two groups of Russian militants claiming to be fighting from part of Ukraine. In early May, Russia was rocked by a series of attacks and acts of sabotage, including two freight trains being derailed and an oil depot set on fire by a drone strike. On Monday, two armed groups claiming to be Russians attacked Russia’s Belgorod region from Ukraine, in the heaviest raid since the war began.
00:16
“Denmark and Netherlands lead F-16 training for Ukrainians”
Minister to “consider donating jets to Kiev”
STOCKHOLM. Denmark and the Netherlands will lead the Ukrainian Air Force’s military training program in the use of F-16 fighter-bombers. This was stated by the Danish interim defense minister, Troels Lund Poulsen. “The first step is to identify the countries that are willing to take part in the training mission and we are doing that now. Denmark is ready to play a central role together with the Netherlands,” the Danish minister said, the reported Agency Ritzau. “It is agreed that this is an important long-term strategic step. Whether this means Denmark will also donate F-16s to Ukraine remains to be clarified,” Poulsen concluded. In neighboring Sweden, a small group of Ukrainian Air Force pilots will have the opportunity to test Sweden’s Gripen fighter-bomber, according to reports from the TT Agency, which also covered statements by Swedish Defense Minister Pål Jonson: “The planes that Sweden has.” We need planes for our national defense and at the moment there is no intention to lend planes to Ukraine,” Jonson told Swedish TV channel TV4.
00:03
Moscow: Ukrainian missile shot down in Rostov region
“The Russian air defense system went into action near Morozovsk in the Rostov region of Russia and shot down a Ukrainian missile.” The soldiers are doing their job.” The governor of the southern region of Russia Vasily Golubev, quoted by Tass, claims this in the Telegram and urges the public to remain calm. In the Donbass, the Rostov region borders on the self-proclaimed People’s Republics of Donetsk and Lugansk.