The previously secretive private military group Wagner on Friday opened its first official headquarters in Russia in the city of Saint Petersburg, according to AFP.
AFP reports:
Yevgeny Prigozhin, who recently confirmed he founded the group whose fighters have been deployed to Ukraine as well as countries in Latin America and Africa, last week announced the opening of the office on his company Concord’s social media page.
The shiny glass-fronted multistorey building topped with a big white “Wagner” sign opened on Friday.
People in camouflage clothing were wandering in the grey corridors of the building, looking at an exhibit displaying drones.
“The mission of the PMC Wagner Center is to provide a comfortable environment for generating new ideas to improve Russia’s defence capability,” Prigozhin said in his statement.
Last month Prigozhin put an end to years of rumours when he acknowledged he founded the group.
For years, the Wagner group has been suspected of playing a role in realising Moscow’s overseas ambitions, with the Kremlin denying any links.
The force - and its leader - have taken an increasingly prominent role in the Ukraine offensive.
Summary
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The western military alliance has released footage of its latest nuclear exercise over northwestern Europe, with the majority of its exercises being held at least 1,000km from Russia’s borders, over Belgium, the North Sea and the UK.
Russia wants the west to ease restrictions on state agriculture lender Rosselkhozbank to facilitate Russian grain exports, according to four sources familiar with the request.
Putin has warned that civilians still living in the Ukrainian province of Kherson, which Russia declared it had annexed in September, must be “evacuated” from the conflict zone, amid suggestions that Russian forces may be preparing to abandon the west bank of the Dnipro river.
The US talk show host David Letterman has travelled to Kyiv to interview Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the Ukrainian president. Netflix revealed the news on Twitter, adding that the president will appear in an upcoming episode of My Next Guest Needs No Introduction with David Letterman.
Ukraine’s state postal service has issued a commemorative wartime stamp dedicated to the strike on the Crimean Bridge last month, which sparked celebrations across the country.
Rishi Sunak, the British prime minister, and his Polish counterpart Mateusz Morawiecki discussed the situation in Belarus and agreed the need to keep sending a strong message to Russia that intimidation would not work, according to a statement by the prime minister’s office.
