Prigozin, the founder of the Wagner paramilitary company, along with several top officials including its co-founder Dmitry Utkin and deputy head Valery Chekalov, were on board a flight that crashed in Russia’s Tver region

President Vladimir Putin’s video conference with the permanent members of the Security Council in Moscow last Friday and his meeting with Belarus President Belarus Alexander Lukashenko in St. Petersburg on Sunday provide glimpses into Russia’s perspective at this point of time

The relocation of Yevgeny Prigozhin, chief of the private military contractor, PMC Wagner, to Belarus following his failed mutiny in Russia has put the Baltic countries on high alert, prompting further militarization of the region

Former Indian diplomat M.K. Bhadrakumar analyzes the coup attempt by Yevgeny Prigozhin of the Wagner group. He maintains that Russian intelligence was aware of the possibility of this insurrection attempt and Prigozhin’s likely ties to western spy agencies

It wouldn’t have escaped the attention of Russian intelligence analysts that Prigozhin’s ranting and ravings from Donetsk from last autumn and winter began originally on the operational aspects of the Bakhmut war front in Donetsk oblast, but incrementally began acquiring political overtones. The ‘known known’ here is that the Russian intelligence was under instructions to be in ‘listening mode’

That Zelensky’s visit to the US was long on weapons and abysmally short on peace talks will cause disquiet in Berlin and Paris

In this episode, Newsclick’s Prabir Purkayastha talks about the recent refugee crisis on Poland’s borders with Belarus in the context of the former’s tangled relationship with the European Union

Political hostilities between the European Union and Belarus have led to a humanitarian crisis as hundreds of refugees remain stranded at Belarus’ borders with Poland, Lithuania and Latvia

The European Union has imposed sanctions on Belarus in retaliation to the forced landing of a Ryanair passenger plane in Minsk and the arrest of a dissident journalist. Communists in the country have termed it an instance of hybrid war

Newsclick’s Prabir Purkayastha talks about the recent incident in Belarus where a plane carrying dissident and anti-government activist Roman Protasevich was made to land and he was detained

The protesters have alleged massive rigging in Sunday’s election results through which incumbent Alexander Lukashenko won his sixth presidential term with over 80% votes

Five-time president Alexander Lukashenko is likely to win due to the lack of strong opposition candidates but the possibility of major protests remains. The country is a key part of both Russian and western strategies in the region