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Prigozhin's murder was organized by Nikolay Patrushev, Secretary of the Security Council of Russia - The Wall Street Journal.
According to the WSJ, Patrushev warned Putin that relying on Prigozhin and his mercenaries in the war with Ukraine was giving Prigozhin more and more influence and posing a threat to the Kremlin. When Prigozhin started the mutiny, Patrushev saw it as an opportunity to get rid of the PMC head permanently.
Patrushev started warning Putin about the danger of Prigozhin back in the summer of 2022, according to the WSJ, but Putin did not listen to him as the Wagnerites were making progress on the battlefield. According to the publication's interlocutor, a former Russian intelligence officer, that changed in October 2022.
That's when Prigozhin allegedly called Putin and complained in crude terms about ammunition shortages leading to heavy casualties. Patrushev was in Putin's office at the time, the WSJ source claims. The head of the Security Council felt that Prigozhin had become dangerous and no longer respected the Kremlin's authority.
Putin ignored Prigozhin's subsequent complaints about the supply and including public conflicts with Russia's military leadership - and did not answer any calls from the head of the PMC, the WSJ writes. In June 2023, when Prigozhin started the mutiny, Patrushev "took control," according to the material.
The head of the Security Council called officers sympathetic to Prigozhin and asked them to persuade the head of Wagner PMC to stop the mutiny, according to the WSJ sources. Patrushev was also looking for mediators to resolve the conflict in neighboring countries. In addition to Lukashenko (who eventually became such a mediator), it was the president of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.
In case the Russian army could not contain the mercenaries, Kazakhstan's armed forces were supposed to help - as a return favor for the introduction of CSTO forces in January 2022, the WSJ sources claim. Tokayev, however, refused.
After the rebellion ended, Patrushev began to develop an assassination plan. According to the publication's sources from Western intelligence services, Putin was later shown these plans and he did not object. On August 23, the head of the PMC waited at Sheremetyevo airport until his plane was checked and prepared for departure. At that moment, a small bomb was planted under the wing, according to the WSJ interlocutors in the Western intelligence services.
The bomb exploded half an hour after takeoff at an altitude of about 8,500 meters. All ten people on board were killed. The Kremlin denies involvement in Prigozhin's death.
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Ukrainian forces have begun training and testing exoskeletons for battlefield use. Soldiers from the 147th Separate Artillery Brigade are using them in the Pokrovsk sector for both logistics and frontline operations. The goal is to reduce physical strain, especially when loading heavy artillery shells into howitzers without automatic loaders. Artillery crews can handle up to 1200 kg of ammunition per day, and early tests show that exoskeletons help them work faster and with less fatigue Above all, by improving the conditions for those soldiers on the front lines who handle such heavy loads, plus the stress of work. Seeking to reduce overall fatigue in the troops
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