Russian invasion

 

Vladimir Putin. Sergei Guneyev / AP   

 

Russian invasionWagner rebellion  

Expert: Purges underway within the Russian military 

 

Purges are expected within the Russian military leadership after the Wagner group's failed uprising last weekend. That is what the Russia expert and journalist Malcolm Dixelius tells Ekot. 

 

- This will have some kind of consequence. It was clear that some parts of the military probably knew what Prigozhin was up to and in some cases sympathized.  

 

Ryhor Nizhnikau, Belarusian expert at the Finnish Foreign Policy Institute, believes that Putin does not know what to do next. Forgiving Prigozhin would make him appear weak, but going too hard on the Wagner group is risky, writes SvD.  

 

- He has to choose between plague or cholera. If Putin pardons him, he shows that a coup d'état does not go unpunished. But Prigozhin also has quite strong support among parts of the Russian elite, says Ryhor Nizhnikau. 

 

Russian soldiers in Crimea, July 2022. AP 

 

Russia claims assassination of Crimean leader has been averted 

 

The Russian security service FSB claims that an assassination of Sergei Aksyonov, the Russian-appointed leader of occupied Crimea, has been prevented. The data is published by state-run Russian media and reported by international news agencies.  

 

According to Russia, Ukrainian special forces planned to kill Aksyonov by blowing up his car. Russia says a Ukrainian man from the special forces has been arrested and has published a clip of the man. Ukraine has not commented on the statement from Russia. 

 

Archive image. Ariel Schalit / AP  

 

Russian invasionThe effects of the war  

 

The war increases the appetite for oil - hunting for boreholes hot again The search for new oil and gas deposits has picked up again after the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine.  

 

The rush has caused oil rig leasing costs to rise to the highest level since 2014, Reuters reports. This year, investments in the sector are expected to be the highest since 2015, according to the international energy authority IEA.  

 

Oil giants such as BP and Shell have backtracked on earlier promises to shift operations to renewable energy – something that even prompted BP to lay off most of its exploration staff three years ago.  

 

Historically, extraction of fossil fuels has given a margin of 15-20 percent, compared with up to 8 percent for renewable energy, writes Reuters.