The Kremlin honors a killed far-right military blogger – and blames Kiev for the bomb attack. Ukraine, in turn, wants to see Russia punished for war crimes. The news at a glance.
Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin has posthumously awarded a medal to the Russian military blogger who was killed in a bomb attack in St. Petersburg. The authorities now classify the assassination as an act of terrorism and have leveled blame in the direction of Kiev, but also against the opposition in their own country. There are already plans in the Russian parliament to tighten the legislation further.
Order for nationalist bloggers
According to a decree published yesterday by President Putin, blogger Maxim Fomin, who goes by the pseudonym Vladlen Tatarski, will be awarded the Order of Bravery for the courage and boldness he has shown in fulfilling his professional duties.
The far-right blogger was killed in a bomb explosion at a café in downtown St. Petersburg on Sunday, and more than 30 people were injured. In the café, Fomin, who himself had called for the “total annihilation of Ukraine,” wanted to talk about his experiences as a war reporter in the combat zone in eastern Ukraine. The authorities have now upgraded the original charge of an assassination to terrorism and arrested a suspect. According to media reports, the young woman was transferred to Moscow.
According to the Russian leadership, Ukrainian forces and the liberal opposition in Russia led by the imprisoned Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny are responsible for the attack. However, they deny their partnership – and rather see inner-Russian power struggles behind the assassination.
London: Russia wants to replace Wagner
According to information from British secret services, Russia is now planning to set up more mercenary troops. The goal is to replace the Wagner group in its “significant” role, the Ministry of Defense said in London. Because of the “high-profile feud” between the Ministry of Defense and Wagner, Russia’s military leadership wants a private army that they can better control. “However, no other known Russian private army currently matches the size or fighting power of Wagner,” it said.
In principle, Russia finds the use of private mercenaries in Ukraine useful, according to the British ministry. These would pay better and be more efficient than the regular army. In addition, the Russian leadership probably had the impression that the loss of private troops would be tolerated more by society than dead and wounded regular soldiers, it was said in London.
Russian parliament wants to further tighten legislation
According to official information, the Russian parliament, the State Duma, is planning further tightening of the law against the background of the attack. “In the near future we will propose changes that will increase the penalties for terrorism,” Vasily Piskarev, head of the parliamentary security committee, wrote on his Telegram channel yesterday.
The changes not only affect terrorist attacks themselves, but also aid and terrorism propaganda, announced the influential deputy of the Kremlin party United Russia. This is necessary to protect Russia from the growing threat from Ukraine, Piskarev claimed. No one who carries out, plans or even justifies an attack can avoid “the severest penalties”.
Both the Ukrainian leadership and the accused camp of the imprisoned Kremlin critic Navalny reject the allegations and spoke of a false flag action in which the perpetrators intentionally laid the wrong tracks. In addition to power struggles, the creation of an alibi to justify further repression against government critics was mentioned as a possible motive. After launching its war of aggression against Ukraine, the Kremlin has tightened numerous laws to quell opposition to its policies.
Selenskyj speaks of a difficult journey and reconstruction
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy did not comment on the allegations from Moscow. Instead, after a trip to northern Ukraine, he promised to rebuild the country devastated by the Russian attack. “Ukraine will never be a land of ruins, no matter how much the Kremlin dreams of it,” Zelenskyy said in his daily video address last night.
During his visit to the Chernihiv region, the Ukrainian President was accompanied by Germany’s Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck. According to Zelenskyj, the old town of Chernihiv should be given UNESCO World Heritage status.
Zelenskyj also reported on a visit to the village of Jahidne, where a year ago Russian occupiers crammed 300 residents into the basement of a school that had been converted into a command post as a “living shield”. For weeks, people, including the elderly and children, had to endure in the confinement. It was “one of the most emotionally difficult trips” for him, said Selenskyj. Those responsible would certainly be punished for war crimes. “The Kremlin will not be able to match its seat on the UN Security Council, its gas pipelines or anything else,” he said.
Ukraine: has interceptors for five air brigades
Meanwhile, military aircraft from the West are supposed to contribute to Ukraine’s victory. The military described the handover of Soviet MiG-29 fighter jets from Poland as a historic step. “We now have five brigades of interceptors: two Su-27 brigades and three MiG-29 brigades,” Ukrainian Air Force spokesman Yuriy Ihnat told Ukrainian television yesterday. Nevertheless, Kiev needs Western-type aircraft because the MiG jets are outdated. According to Ihnat, Russia could deploy at least five times the Ukrainian number of aircraft around Ukraine.
Before Poland, Slovakia had also delivered several MiGs to the neighboring country. The governments in Bratislava and Warsaw promised Ukraine more than a dozen MiG-29s.
What does the day bring?
Today, Russia’s neighbor Finland officially joins NATO. This is a consequence of the Russian war of aggression, which Moscow justified, among other things, with security concerns about Ukraine’s allegedly threatening NATO membership.
Meanwhile, Kremlin chief Putin is visiting a railway plant in the city of Tula south of Moscow and is chairing a government meeting on the development of Russian industry. Tula is considered a center of the Russian armaments industry. The Kremlin has repeatedly rejected speculation about a reorientation of the Russian economy towards a war economy.