Russian Defense Minister Appears for First Time Since Wagner Mutiny 

In his photo taken and released by Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Thursday, June 8, 2023, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu inspects the preparation of equipment and weapons for shipment to the zone of the special military operation at the arsenals and storage bases of the Western Military District at an undisclosed location in Russia. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP, File)
In his photo taken and released by Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Thursday, June 8, 2023, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu inspects the preparation of equipment and weapons for shipment to the zone of the special military operation at the arsenals and storage bases of the Western Military District at an undisclosed location in Russia. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP, File)
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Russian Defense Minister Appears for First Time Since Wagner Mutiny 

In his photo taken and released by Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Thursday, June 8, 2023, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu inspects the preparation of equipment and weapons for shipment to the zone of the special military operation at the arsenals and storage bases of the Western Military District at an undisclosed location in Russia. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP, File)
In his photo taken and released by Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Thursday, June 8, 2023, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu inspects the preparation of equipment and weapons for shipment to the zone of the special military operation at the arsenals and storage bases of the Western Military District at an undisclosed location in Russia. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP, File)

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu appeared for the first time since a deal was struck on Saturday to end what the authorities had called an armed mutiny by the Wagner mercenary group aimed at ousting him. 

In a video released on Monday morning by the Russian Defense Ministry, Shoigu was shown flying in a plane with a colleague and hearing reports at a command post run by Russia's Zapad (West) military grouping. 

There was no sound on the video and it was not immediately clear where or when the visit had taken place. 

Russia's Zvezda Defense Ministry TV Channel said Shoigu, who looked physically unharmed and calm, had listened to a report by Colonel General Yevgeny Nikiforov, the group's commander, about the current situation on the frontlines in Ukraine. 

In his mutiny during which he seized control of Russia's military headquarters in southern Russia, renegade Wagner mercenary boss Yevgeny Prigozhin had demanded that Shoigu and Valery Gerasimov, the Chief of the General Staff, be handed over to him so that he could "restore justice." 

Prigozhin accused both men of gross incompetence and corruption and had long been agitating for their removal. 

Gerasimov has not been seen since in public, and there was no word from the Kremlin about any new personnel changes when it described the deal which had ended the mutiny. 

The Kremlin said the question of personnel changes was the sole prerogative of President Vladimir Putin and could hardly have been part of any deal. 

Zvezda said Shoigu on his visit had heard about the formation of new reserve forces for the "Zapad" military grouping and had noted what it called the Russian army's "high efficiency" at "detecting and destroying enemy military equipment and accumulations of personnel in tactical areas." 

He had tasked them with continuing active reconnaissance in order to reveal the enemy's plans to thwart Ukrainian forces' movements far behind the frontlines, it said. 

Zvezda said Shoigu had also paid particular attention to what it called "the organization of all-round support for the troops involved in the Special Military Operation and the creation of conditions for the safe housing of personnel." 

Mutineers led by Prigozhin on Saturday advanced towards Moscow to remove what they called Russia's corrupt and incompetent military leadership, before suddenly heading back to a Russia-held area of eastern Ukraine after a deal with the Kremlin brokered by Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko. 

The deal, as publicly described by the Kremlin, saw criminal charges against the mutineers dropped in exchange for their return to camps. Prigozhin will relocate to Belarus under the agreement. 



Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso Rule Out Returning to the ECOWAS Regional Bloc

Head of the military junta in Niger Abdourahamane Tchiani (L) and Interim leader of Burkina Faso Captain Ibrahim Traore (R) salute at the first ever Alliance of Sahel States summit in Niamey, Niger, 06 July 2024. EPA/ISSIFOU DJIBO
Head of the military junta in Niger Abdourahamane Tchiani (L) and Interim leader of Burkina Faso Captain Ibrahim Traore (R) salute at the first ever Alliance of Sahel States summit in Niamey, Niger, 06 July 2024. EPA/ISSIFOU DJIBO
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Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso Rule Out Returning to the ECOWAS Regional Bloc

Head of the military junta in Niger Abdourahamane Tchiani (L) and Interim leader of Burkina Faso Captain Ibrahim Traore (R) salute at the first ever Alliance of Sahel States summit in Niamey, Niger, 06 July 2024. EPA/ISSIFOU DJIBO
Head of the military junta in Niger Abdourahamane Tchiani (L) and Interim leader of Burkina Faso Captain Ibrahim Traore (R) salute at the first ever Alliance of Sahel States summit in Niamey, Niger, 06 July 2024. EPA/ISSIFOU DJIBO

Military junta leaders of Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso on Saturday ruled out returning their nations to the West Africa regional bloc whose division could further jeopardize efforts to undo coups and curb violence spreading across the region.
The leaders of the three countries announced that position during their first summit in Niamey, the capital of Niger, after their withdrawal from the West Africa bloc known as ECOWAS in January, The Associated Press said.
They also accused the bloc of failing its mandate and pledged to consolidate their own union — the Alliance of Sahel States — created last year amid fractured relations with neighbors.
The nearly 50-year-old ECOWAS has become “a threat to our states,” said Niger’s military leader, Gen. Abdourahmane Tchiani.
"We are going to create an AES of the peoples, instead of an ECOWAS whose directives and instructions are dictated to it by powers that are foreign to Africa,” he said.
The meeting of the three countries that border one another came a day before an ECOWAS summit being held in Nigeria by other heads of state in the region.
Analysts said the two meetings show the deep division in ECOWAS, which had emerged as the top political authority for its 15 member states before the unprecedented decision of the three countries to withdraw their membership.
Despite efforts by ECOWAS to keep its house united, the alliance between the three military junta-led countries will most likely remain outside the regional bloc as tensions continue to grow, said Karim Manuel, an analyst for the Middle East and Africa with the Economist Intelligence Unit.
“Attempts at mediation will likely continue nonetheless, notably led by Senegal’s new administration, but it will not be fruitful anytime soon,” said Manuel.
Formed last September, the Alliance of Sahel States has been touted by the three junta-led countries as a tool to seek new partnerships with countries like Russia and cement their independence from former colonial ruler France , which they accuse of interfering with ECOWAS.
At the meeting in Niamey, Burkina Faso's leader, Capt. Ibrahim Traoré, reaffirmed those concerns and accused foreign countries of exploiting Africa.
“Westerners consider that we belong to them and our wealth also belongs to them. They think that they are the ones who must continue to tell us what is good for our states. This era is gone forever; our resources will remain for us and our populations,” Traoré said.
“The attack on one of us will be an attack on all the other members,” said Mali’s leader, Col. Assimi Goïta.
With Goïta elected as the new alliance's leader, the three leaders signed a pact in committing their countries to creating a regional parliament and a bank similar to those operated by ECOWAS. They also committed to pooling their military resources to fight insecurity in their countries.
At a meeting of regional ministers on Thursday, Omar Alieu Touray, the president of the ECOWAS Commission, said it had not received "the right signals” about any possible return of the three states despite ECOWAS lifting coup-related sanctions that the three nations blamed for their decision to quit the bloc.
It is not only the three countries that are angry at ECOWAS, observers say. The bloc has lost goodwill and support from West African citizens so much that some celebrated the recent spate of coups in the region where citizens have complained of not benefitting from rich natural resources in their countries.
For the most part, ECOWAS is seen as representing only the interests of its members' leaders and not that of the masses, said Oge Onubogu, director of the Africa Program at the Washington-based Wilson Center think tank.