Russia’s Top Military Brass Brief Defense Minister on Current Situation, Plans

In this photo released by the Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Saturday, March 4, 2023, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu speaks during a meeting with military commanders in Russia. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service photo via AP)
In this photo released by the Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Saturday, March 4, 2023, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu speaks during a meeting with military commanders in Russia. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service photo via AP)
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Russia’s Top Military Brass Brief Defense Minister on Current Situation, Plans

In this photo released by the Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Saturday, March 4, 2023, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu speaks during a meeting with military commanders in Russia. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service photo via AP)
In this photo released by the Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Saturday, March 4, 2023, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu speaks during a meeting with military commanders in Russia. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service photo via AP)

Top commanders of what Russia calls its "special military operation" in Ukraine have briefed Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu on the current situation and action plans, his ministry said on Sunday.

Shoigu paid a rare visit to Russia's forces deployed in Ukraine, awarding medals to military personnel and meeting senior commanders during the trip, according to a statement and videos issued by the Defense Ministry on Saturday.

The minister held a meeting with commanders of the operation, the ministry said in a statement in its Telegram social media app on Sunday. It did not specify if the meeting took place during the trip.

"Sergei Shoigu paid special attention to the set-up of all the necessary conditions for the safe deployment of personnel in the field, the organization of comprehensive support for the troops, especially the work of medical and rear units."

Russia's top military chiefs have visited the front lines in Ukraine only occasionally since Moscow sent tens of thousands of Russian troops into the neighboring country just over a year ago.



US Revokes Plea Deal with 9/11 Mastermind

The mastermind of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed
The mastermind of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed
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US Revokes Plea Deal with 9/11 Mastermind

The mastermind of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed
The mastermind of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed

The US on Friday revoked a plea agreement reached earlier this week with the mastermind of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, after Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin relieved the senior official in charge of military commissions, Brig. Gen. Susan Escallier, from her oversight of the case.

The plea agreement would have seen the suspect avoid the death sentence.

In a memo released Friday evening, Austin said, “In light of the significance of the decision, I have determined that the authority to make a decision on accepting the plea agreements is mine.”

He added, “I hereby withdraw from the three pre-trial agreements that you signed on July 31, 2024 in the above-referenced case.”

The three agreements were signed with Mohammed and two alleged accomplices, Walid bin Attash and Mustafa al-Hawsawi, held at the Guantanamo Bay military base in Cuba.

The deals sparked anger among family members of the nearly 3,000 people who died in the Sept. 11, 2001 when hearing that the agreements would exempt the defendants from the death penalty.

In his order, Austin said he relieved Brig. Gen. Susan Escallier, from her oversight of the case. Escallier oversaw the cases in her capacity as the Department of Defense's Convening Authority for Military Commissions.

“Effective immediately, in the exercise of my authority, I hereby withdraw from the three pre-trial agreements...,” Austin wrote in his memo.