Russia’s Wagner Chief Warns Defense Minister of Coming Ukrainian Attack

Ukrainian servicemen with a M113 armored personnel carrier drive in the town of Chasiv Yar as smoke rises from the direction of Bakhmut on March 20, 2023. (AFP)
Ukrainian servicemen with a M113 armored personnel carrier drive in the town of Chasiv Yar as smoke rises from the direction of Bakhmut on March 20, 2023. (AFP)
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Russia’s Wagner Chief Warns Defense Minister of Coming Ukrainian Attack

Ukrainian servicemen with a M113 armored personnel carrier drive in the town of Chasiv Yar as smoke rises from the direction of Bakhmut on March 20, 2023. (AFP)
Ukrainian servicemen with a M113 armored personnel carrier drive in the town of Chasiv Yar as smoke rises from the direction of Bakhmut on March 20, 2023. (AFP)

Russian mercenary boss Yevgeny Prigozhin told Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu in a letter published on Monday that the Ukrainian army was planning an imminent offensive aimed at cutting off his Wagner forces from the main body of Russian troops in eastern Ukraine.

In the letter published by his press service, Prigozhin said the "large-scale attack" was planned for late March or the start of April.

"I ask you to take all necessary measures to prevent the Wagner private military company being cut off from the main forces of the Russian army, which will lead to negative consequences for the special military operation," he said, employing the term that Moscow uses for its war in Ukraine.

It was the first time Prigozhin has published such correspondence with the defense minister, whom he has frequently criticized over the conduct of the war.

The unusual move appeared to have two possible aims: to confuse Ukraine commanders and to seek to pin blame on Shoigu, not Prigozhin, if the purported Ukrainian maneuver proved successful.

Prigozhin said he was providing details of the Ukrainian plan and of his own proposal to counter it in an attachment to the letter, which he did not make public. He did not say how he knew of Ukraine's intentions.

He said Wagner forces currently controlled 70% of the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, which they have been trying to capture since last summer in the longest and bloodiest battle of the war.



Days of Monsoon Rains and Flash Floods Kill at Least 72 in Pakistan

Children playing in the water after a heavy rain in Lahore, Pakistan, Sunday, July 6, 2025. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)
Children playing in the water after a heavy rain in Lahore, Pakistan, Sunday, July 6, 2025. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)
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Days of Monsoon Rains and Flash Floods Kill at Least 72 in Pakistan

Children playing in the water after a heavy rain in Lahore, Pakistan, Sunday, July 6, 2025. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)
Children playing in the water after a heavy rain in Lahore, Pakistan, Sunday, July 6, 2025. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)

Ten days of heavy monsoon rains and flash floods across Pakistan killed at least 72 people and injured more than 130, the National Disaster Management Authority and local officials said Monday.

The fatalities, since June 26, were reported in several provinces: the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, eastern Punjab, southern Sindh and southwestern Balochistan provinces, The Associated Press reported.

The National Disaster Management Authority urged local officials to remain on high alert and advised tourists to avoid visiting affected areas, as more rains could block highways and trigger flash floods.

Emergency services have been on maximum alert since last month after 17 tourists from the same family were swept away by the Swat River in the northwest. Four were rescued and the bodies of the other 13 were later recovered. Videos circulating online of the family, stranded on a rooftop and pleading for help, sparked outrage and accusations of slow response by emergency crews.

Authorities have warned they cannot rule out a repeat of extreme weather like the 2022 devastating floods when rains at one point inundated a third of the country, killing 1,737 people.