MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that hand grenade fragments were found in the bodies of people who died in the Aug. 23 crash of mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin’s plane.
Experts investigating the crash found no indication the private jet had suffered an “external impact,” he said. Prigozhin and two of his top lieutenants of the Wagner private military contractor were among the 10 people killed when the jet came down as it flew from Moscow to St. Petersburgh.
There was no way to independently verify Putin’s statement.
A preliminary US intelligence assessment concluded that an intentional explosion caused the crash, and Western officials have pointed to a long list of Putin foes who have been assassinated. The Kremlin called allegations he was behind the crash as an “absolute lie.”
A Russian investigation was launched but no findings have been released. Moscow rejected an offer from Brazil, where the Embraer business jet was built, to join the inquiry.
While Putin noted the probe was still ongoing and stopped short of saying what caused the crash, his statement appeared to hint the plane was brought down by a grenade explosion.
Prigozhin’s aborted rebellion in June marked the most serious challenge to Putin, who has been in power for more than two decades. The crash came two months to the day after the rebellion’s start.
Putin also noted that while investigators haven’t tested the remains for alcohol and drugs, 5 kilograms (11 pounds) of cocaine was found during searches at Prigozhin’s office in St. Petersburg following the mutiny — an apparent attempt to denigrate the mercenary chief.
After his death, Putin described Prigozhin, 62, as “a man of difficult fate” who had “made serious mistakes in life.”
Prigozhin owed his fortune to his ties with the Russian leader dating to the early 1990s and was dubbed “Putin’s chef” for the lucrative Kremlin catering contracts.
The Wagner Group military contractor that he created has been active in Ukraine, Syria and several African countries and counted tens of thousands of troops at its peak. It played a key role in the fighting in Ukraine, where it spearheaded capture of the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut in May after months of bloody combat.
In the June 23-24 rebellion, Prigozhin said it was intended to oust the Defense Ministry’s leadership that he blamed for mistakes in pressing the fighting in Ukraine. His mercenaries took over Russia’s southern military headquarters in Rostov-on-Don and then rolled toward Moscow before abruptly halting the mutiny under a deal that offered them amnesty from prosecution. The mercenaries were given a choice to retire from the service, move to Belarus or sign new contracts with the Defense Ministry.
Last week, Putin met with one of Wagner’s top commanders to take charge of “volunteer units” fighting in Ukraine in a sign that the Kremlin intends to keep using the mercenaries after Prigozhin’s death.
Putin said Thursday that several thousand Wagner troops have signed contracts with the Defense Ministry.
Hand grenade fragments were found in the bodies of victims in Prigozhin's plane crash, Putin claims
https://arab.news/czqjz
Hand grenade fragments were found in the bodies of victims in Prigozhin's plane crash, Putin claims
- A preliminary US intelligence assessment concluded that an intentional explosion caused the crash
Albania approves luxury resort project linked to Jared Kushner’s company
Last year, Kushner announced plans to build a tourist resort in Zvernec in southern Albania
TIRANA: Albania’s government has granted strategic investor status to a company linked to Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner to build a luxury resort on an uninhabited Mediterranean island that was once a military outpost.
The Balkan country’s Strategic Investment Committee, headed by Prime Minister Edi Rama, on Dec. 30 accepted a proposal by Atlantic Incubation Partners LLC for the 45-hectare project on the small island of Sazan, involving a planned investment of 1.4 billion euros ($1.4 billion).
In the written decision, seen by Reuters on Thursday, the committee said the project complied with legislation on strategic investment and on the number of jobs required by the legislation, saying it would employ an estimated 1,000 people.
Under the law, the granting of strategic investment status allows companies to implement an investment project that is deemed strategic as part of a strategic sector of the economy such as tourism.
“The form of the state’s participation in this investment will be realized through the establishment of a joint legal entity,” the committee said, adding that it would include the state-run Albanian Investment Corporation.
Reuters could not immediately reach Atlantic Incubation Partners for comment.
Last year, Kushner announced plans to build a tourist resort in Zvernec in southern Albania as part of a wider investment by his Affinity Partners in the Balkans that also includes the project on Sazan, off the Albanian coast, and a project in a former army headquarters in the Serbian capital Belgrade.
Kushner, who served as a top aide to Trump during his father-in-law’s first term as US president, set up the investment firm in 2021. Trump is due to be inaugurated for a second term on Tuesday.
The projects could boost local economies by enticing visitors, but the company faces opposition from critics who say they will harm the environment or, in the case of Belgrade, threaten sites of cultural significance.
Pakistan ex-PM Khan’s party holds talks with government ahead of ruling in graft case
- The verdict in the graft case due on Friday is the largest that Khan faces in terms of financial impropriety
- The case is linked to the Al-Qadir Trust that Khan and his wife set up while he was in office
ISLAMABAD: The party of jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday held formal reconciliatory talks with the government, aimed at cooling political instability in the 241-million South Asian nation, both sides said.
The talks come a day ahead of a crucial court ruling in a land corruption case against the 72-year-old former cricket star-turned-politician.
The verdict in the graft case due on Friday is the largest that Khan faces in terms of financial impropriety, involving possible bribes of land in return for a 190-million-British-pound favor to a real estate tycoon.
The case is linked to the Al-Qadir Trust that Khan and his wife set up while he was in office. Prosecutors say it was a front for Khan to receive land as a bribe from a real estate developer. Khan’s party says the land was not for personal gain but was a spiritual educational institution.
Khan’s removal from office in 2022 stoked the instability, which has worsened with his party leading violent protests to urge his release, and threatens an economic recovery under a $7 billion IMF bailout.
“We have presented our demands to the government,” Khan’s aide Omar Ayub, who is leading his side in the talks, told reporters. The government agreed to party leaders’ meeting with Khan in jail, which should be done without any monitoring, he said.
Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party’s demands mainly include setting up two judicial commissions to probe into the events which led to his arrest in August 2023, and the violent protest rallies, including one on May 9, 2023, when his supporters rampaged through military offices and installations.
Speaker of the parliament Ayaz Sadiq who is facilitating both the parties said he had received the PTI’s list of demands.
“We will respond to the demands within seven working days,” said Iran Siddique, lead negotiator from the government of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
Novo Nordisk, other companies meet Danish prime minister following Trump’s Greenland threat
- Frederiksen summoned business leaders after speaking on Wednesday with US President-elect Donald Trump
- The Danish leader said Trump had not retracted his threats of economic coercion during the 45-minute phone conversation
COPENHAGEN: The CEO of obesity drugmaker Novo Nordisk and heads of other Danish companies met on Thursday with Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen to discuss preparations for a possible trade conflict with the United States over Greenland.
Frederiksen summoned business leaders after speaking on Wednesday with US President-elect Donald Trump, who last week refused to rule out military or economic action to take control of Greenland, which is strategically important to Washington.
Trump has suggested he would impose tariffs on Danish goods if it resists his offer to buy the vast Arctic island, a semi-autonomous territory of Denmark.
The Danish leader said Trump had not retracted his threats of economic coercion during the 45-minute phone conversation, in which she told him it was up to Greenland to decide its future and offered to do more to strengthen security in the Arctic.
“We don’t want to have any kind of conflict with the Americans in the trade area, but of course we are working with the companies, with the business organizations and with our European colleagues,” Frederiksen told journalists.
She said she had informed Greenland’s Prime Minister Mute Egede ahead of the phone call with Trump, and that she had also spoken to Egede right afterwards.
“We’re not preparing for specific things we don’t know yet, but it has been hinted at from the US side that there may unfortunately be a situation where we work less together than we do today,” she added.
DISCUSSIONS WITH BUSINESS LEADERS
Frederiksen said she had emphasized in her conversation with Trump that Danish companies contribute to growth and jobs in the United States and that the EU and the US have a common interest in increased trade.
The CEO of Danish obesity and diabetes drugmaker Novo Nordisk, Lars Fruergaard Jorgensen, will participate in the meeting, the company said on Thursday.
Novo, which competes with US drugmaker Eli Lilly in the fast-growing weight-loss drug market, makes the main active ingredient — semaglutide — in its popular obesity and diabetes injections Wegovy and Ozempic in Denmark, and exports it to the United States.
In the first nine months of 2024, Novo’s US sales totalled 115 billion Danish crowns ($15.86 billion), of which obesity drug Wegovy accounted for 31.1 billion.
Other participants in the meeting include CEOs of jewelry maker Pandora, toymaker Lego, brewer Carlsberg , wind turbine maker Vestas and offshore wind farm developer Orsted, the companies said.
Shipping group Maersk said its executives were traveling and would not participate.
Tanker seized by Finland over ripped cables won’t face cargo sanctions probe
- Police seized the tanker last month on suspicion of damaging a Finnish-Estonian power line and four telecoms cables
- Police have said nine crew members are suspects in a criminal investigation
HELSINKI: The Eagle S tanker seized by Finnish authorities on suspicion of ripping up subsea cables will not face a separate criminal investigation into whether its fuel cargo violates sanctions imposed on Russia, the Customs Office said on Thursday.
Police seized the tanker last month on suspicion of damaging a Finnish-Estonian power line and four telecoms cables.
The Customs Office believes the Eagle S is part of a shadow fleet of tankers used to circumvent sanctions on Russian oil, and has impounded its cargo of unleaded petrol and diesel.
“The cargo of the ship will remain detained by Finnish Customs for the time being,” it said in a statement.
Police have said nine crew members are suspects in a criminal investigation into possible sabotage of the subsea cables.
The ship’s cargo is subject to sanctions imposed against Russia by the European Union, and thus barred from importation into Finland. But because the vessel entered Finnish territorial waters at the request of Finnish authorities, the crew cannot be considered to have intentionally violated those sanctions, the Customs Office said.
A lawyer representing the ship’s owner, Caravela LLC FZ, has said the ship’s alleged damage to undersea equipment happened outside of Finland’s territorial waters and therefore Helsinki lacked jurisdiction to intervene.
Baltic Sea nations are on high alert after a string of power cable, telecom link and gas pipeline outages since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. The NATO military alliance in response plans to boost its presence in the region.
Ukraine confirms attack on oil depot in western Russia
- The attack is the latest aerial assault by Ukraine to target Russian energy sites
- “Ukrainian Defense Forces hit the Liskinska oil depot,” the Ukrainian General Staff said
KYIV: Ukraine confirmed Thursday that its forces had struck an oil depot in western Russia, where officials had said earlier that Kyiv’s drones had sparked a blaze in the Voronezh region bordering Ukraine.
The attack is the latest aerial assault by Ukraine to target Russian energy sites and military facilities in a campaign that has escalated this week.
“Ukrainian Defense Forces hit the Liskinska oil depot,” the Ukrainian General Staff said in a statement, claiming that “a large-scale fire broke out at the facility.”
It added that three drones had struck the storage facilities, which it claimed was used by the Russian army.
The governor of the Voronezh region had said earlier that several drones “sparked a fire at an oil depot.”
Governor Alexander Gusev said Voronezh was attacked by more than 10 drones, with most striking a depot in the Liskinsky district.
He said that there were no casualties and that reinforcement firefighters had been dispatched to put out the blaze.
Videos posted by witnesses showed a substantial blaze.
Kyiv said earlier this week that it had carried out its largest aerial attack of the war on Russian army factories and energy hubs hundreds of kilometers from the front line.
Russia responded with a mass missile and drone attack that primarily targeted Ukrainian energy facilities in the west of the country.
