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Cartridges lie on the flags of Russia and North Korea.

IMAGO/Christian Ohde

North Korea keeps shipping, Russia keeps shooting

For 20 months now, Russia has been shelling Ukraine nonstop — sometimes as often as 80,000 times a day. But even as the war grinds into a deepening stalemate, Western intelligence officials say the Kremlin still has the firepower to keep pounding Ukraine at least through the end of next year.

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The powerful Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu (R) and General Valery Gerasimov, the chief of the general staff of Russia armed forces

Russian brass collared for graft

Two top Russian generals have been arrested on charges that they signed away military land to civilian owners in exchange for bribes.
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Don't count Yevgeny Prigozhin out
Don't count Yevgeny Prigozhin out | GZERO World

Don't count Yevgeny Prigozhin out

In late June, the oligarch, longtime Putin ally, and Wagner mercenary group chief Yevgeny Prigozhin shocked the world (and Vladimir Putin) when he marched his troops through Russia in what appeared to be a coup against Moscow. Although he backed down, Marie Yovanovitch, former US Ambassador to Ukraine, thinks the story is far from over.

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Putin's endgame in Ukraine
Putin's endgame in Ukraine | GZERO World with Ian Bremmer

Putin's endgame in Ukraine

We still have a lot more questions than answers about Vladimir Putin’s political future and Russia’s war in Ukraine after Wagner Group head Yevgevny Prigozhin’s 24-hour attempted mutiny and subsequent exile to Belarus.

On the first episode of GZERO World’s newest season, Ian Bremmer spoke with former Carnegie Moscow Center director and Kremlin ally Dmitri Trenin about the Russian view of the war and Putin’s endgame in Ukraine, just hours before Prigozhin announced his armed rebellion.

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Podcast: Russia's view of the Ukraine war: a Kremlin ally's perspective

Transcript

Listen: After months of grueling warfare, heavy casualties, costly equipment losses, and with little to show for it, what are Russia’s goals heading into the Ukrainian counteroffensive? Is there any hope for resolution in a conflict the Kremlin describes as an existential battle with NATO for the future of Russia itself?

On the first episode of the GZERO World podcast’s newest season, Ian Bremmer sat down with former director of the Carnegie Moscow Center and Kremlin ally, Dmitri Trenin, to hear the Russian perspective of the war in Ukraine.

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Prigozhin's exit shakes Putin's regime
- YouTube

Prigozhin's exit shakes Putin's regime

Ian Bremmer's Quick Take: Hi, everybody. Ian Bremmer here and quite a weekend.

We have just gotten through an unprecedented turn of events challenging President Putin in a way that he has not since he's taken power in that country. Mr. Prigozhin, the head of the Wagner Group, built up directly by President Putin, he is solely responsible for Prigozhin's success and power and wealth, and then essentially declaring war against the Kremlin, moving his forces to within dozens of kilometers of Moscow. And then, at the last moment, "cutting a deal" brokered by Belarus's President Aleksandr Lukashenko. He is today still, to the best of our knowledge, a free man. But for how long? It's hard to imagine that's sustainable.

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Former Russian intelligence officer: Prigozhin's threat to Putin is “ludicrous”
Former Russian intelligence officer: Prigozhin's threat to Putin is “ludicrous” | GZERO World

Former Russian intelligence officer: Prigozhin's threat to Putin is “ludicrous”

President Vladimir Putin faced the greatest challenge to his power in decades as Wagner Group head Yevgeny Prigozhin led thousands of his men toward Moscow this weekend in what Putin himself called an “armed rebellion.”

Wagner forces appeared to take control of the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don, a major logistical base of operations for Russia’s war in Ukraine. Putin vowed swift action to crush the uprising. Prigozhin then made a deal to "avoid bloodshed" and called the whole thing off.

On next week’s Season 6 premiere of “GZERO World with Ian Bremmer,” Dmitri Trenin, former director of the Carnegie Moscow Center and former Russian intelligence colonel, explains the view of the war from inside Russia. Speaking just hours before Prigozhin began his march, Trenin told Bremmer that it’s “ludicrous” to believe there is any serious threat to the Kremlin.

The fact that a former Russian intelligence officer and Putin ally didn’t see Prigozhin as a “challenge” hours before the Wagner chief launched his rebellion raises questions about whether the Kremlin and those closest to Putin seriously underestimated Prigozhin’s threat. The events of the last 24 hours certainly show that the Russian president’s grip on power may not be as iron-tight as previously believed.

Tune in to “GZERO World with Ian Bremmer” on US public television starting this Friday, June 30, to watch the full interview. Check local listings.

Japanese chef Mitsuo Ise prepares a "Germany" version of okonomiyaki ahead of the G-7 summit in Hiroshima.

REUTERS

Hard Numbers: Hiroshima’s delicacies, Italy’s first world problems, Durham's report, Russia’s military spending, Rudy's alleged pardons grift

800: Ahead of the G-7 summit later this week in Hiroshima, Japan, some 800 restaurants specializing in a local comfort food known as okonomiyaki are hoping to make a global splash. Okonomiyaki, which means “cooked as you like it,” is a savory pancake-shaped delicacy usually made with cabbage, noodles, batter, and meat. But locals are cooking up special editions for foreign dignitaries, including a sauerkraut one for the Germans, a carbonara one for the Italians, and a burger stuffed one for the Americans. Not all locals approve.

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