Andrei Troshev at a banquet in Moscow, 2016. Kremlin
Russian invasionRussian reactions
Analysis: It is likely that "Gråhår" is seen as a traitor by Wagner
Andrey Troshev, one of the founders of the Wagner group, has been tasked by President Putin to oversee and establish "volunteer combat units" in Ukraine.
The message is an indication that Russia wants to continue using private military groups and pave the way for the future of the Wagner group, writes the British Ministry of Defense in a situation update.
According to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, Troshev, nicknamed "Gray Hair", works for the Russian Ministry of Defense.
- This shows that we are in a post-Prigozhin era, where the Ministry of Defense takes full control of the so-called special military operation in Ukraine, Natia Seskuria from the think tank Royal United Services Institute in London told the BBC.
The British Ministry of Defense believes that Troshev's position may arouse discontent within the Wagner group, whose rebellion in June was directed precisely at the Russian military leadership.
"It is likely that many Wagner veterans consider him a traitor," writes the department.
Dmitry Medvedev when he visited the front in Ukraine recently. AP
Kremlin: It may become relevant to annex more of Ukraine
The Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev states that Russia can annex more regions in Ukraine, writes AFP.
The announcement comes a year after Russia annexed the Ukrainian regions of Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhya. Recently, Russian, so-called, elections were also held in the areas. This despite the fact that Russia does not have full control over any of them.
- The special military operation will continue until the Nazi regime in Kyiv is completely destroyed, says Medvedev, who was previously both president and prime minister of Russia.
Ever since the outbreak of war, Russia has stubbornly and baselessly claimed that Ukraine is led by Nazis.
Russian recruits. AP
Russian invasionRussian reactions
Conscripts are called up from occupied regions
On Sunday, Russia calls up conscripts, which routinely happens twice a year. This time, conscripts from the annexed Ukrainian regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhya and Kherson are also called in, writes the ISW think tank.
130,000 conscripts will be called up under a presidential order from Putin, compared to 147,000 last spring.
The four regions were annexed exactly one year ago – on September 30, 2022 – following “referendums” dismissed by Ukraine and its allies as invalid and illegal.
According to the Russian annexation laws, conscription in the regions was to begin in 2023, but this spring it was postponed "until further notice"
Margrethe Vestager and Ursula von der Leyen. Jean-Francois Badias / AP
The Russian invasion, the EU's future
Analysis: The war in Ukraine has fundamentally changed the EU
Russia's war of invasion of Ukraine has forever fundamentally changed the European Union. The Guardian's Patrick Wintour draws that conclusion. And he bases it on statements from a long line of high-ups in the EU machinery.
EU chief Ursula von der Leyen, EU commissioner Margrethe Vestager and foreign minister Josep Borrell have all, in different ways, pointed out the importance of standing up for the values on which the EU was founded. Values that, according to analysts, could be devalued, should Russia win the war.
Russia's invasion has also forced the EU to take a harder line than the Union previously chose, such as blocking Russian banks from Swift and freezing large financial assets.
The news agency Reuters writes that another move is the EU's decision to make itself independent of Russian gas. Before the invasion, Russian gas accounted for 15 percent of European consumption, and there was concern for a long time about how the loss would affect both industry and households.
"Norway has replaced Russia as the EU's largest supplier of natural gas via pipeline, followed by supplies from the United States," writes Reuters.
Volodymyr Zelensky. Henrik Montgomery/TT
Russian invasionUkraine's response
Zelenskyy wants to attract the arms industry to Ukraine
On Thursday, Ukrainian President Zelenskyi opened an international forum for the arms industry in Kyiv, AFP reports.
Ukraine wants to attract arms manufacturers to the country amid growing fears that support from the West could wane.
The president also announced the creation of a defense industrial alliance, which the State Department says includes 38 companies from 19 countries, according to Meduza.
He calls it "an alliance that stands guard over international law and can act for its real protection", both in Ukraine and other countries exposed to aggression.
Representatives of over 30 countries and 250 companies – some of them Swedish – in the defense industry attend the meeting.
