Wagner founder calls on Russian society to be fully mobilized for war

A Russian military group fighting in Ukraine on behalf of Vladimir Putin attempted to buy weapons and equipment from an unlikely source: NATO member Turkey, according to a leaked US intelligence document that was obtained by CNN.

The leaked document appears to show the lengths the Russian private military group Wagner has gone to try to further strengthen its capabilities as the war in Ukraine — in which it is playing a key role — continues on with no signs of abating.

As a NATO member, Turkey is broadly considered a partner nation to the US and other nations providing direct military support to Ukraine and it has publicly expressed opposition to Russia’s invasion.

It is also home to a major US military base where nuclear weapons are stored and act as an obvious warning sign to deter Russian aggression against NATO members. 

Evidence that Turkey has discussed selling weapons to Russian mercenary forces would likely raise serious concerns in Washington and complicate Ankara’s relationship with other NATO members.

Not only does the document reference intelligence about Wagner seeking to purchase weapons from Turkey, it also states that the paramilitary group planned to resume recruitment of prisoners from Russia’s jails. 

According to the US signals intelligence reporting cited in the document, personnel from the Wagner Group met with “Turkish contacts” in early February with the intent “to purchase weapons and equipment from Turkey” that could then be used by Wagner mercenaries who are fighting alongside Russian forces in Ukraine.

Wagner also planned to use the weapons and equipment from Turkey in Mali, where the group maintains a significant presence, according to the leaked document.

While there is no evidence that shows that Turkey has moved forward with any arms sales to the Wagner Group, details about the February meeting — outlined in a section of the leaked document titled, “Mali, Russia, Turkey: Vagner seeks weapons from Ankara” — suggest US officials believe the Russian mercenary outfit has at least tested the waters. 

CNN has not independently confirmed the veracity of the document, but US officials have indicated that most of the leaked tranche are authentic. A State Department spokesperson said the “the Department of Defense and the intelligence community are actively reviewing and assessing the validity” of the leaked documents, adding “we are not in a position to confirm or comment on any specific information they contain.”

CNN has reached out to the US National Security Council, the office of the Turkish President and Turkey’s Embassy in Washington for comment on the document.

Read more here.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal has secured a $200 million loan from the World Bank to help rebuild the country’s energy sector.

“Today we signed the agreement with World Bank VP Anna Bjerde to provide an additional $200 million to restore power system in #Ukraine,” he tweeted Wednesday, after a meeting in Washington. “We are also preparing to implement a military risk insurance project for foreign investors.” 

“Grateful for the support for Ukraine’s recovery,” he added.

Shmyhal said Ukraine would begin rebuilding damaged areas this year.

“The funds attracted from the World Bank will be used to rebuild the power grid and heat supply systems in Kyiv, Kharkiv, Mykolaiv, Sumy and the cities of Chernihiv region,” he said, according to his office. “This winter, we have defeated Russia in the battle for light and are already preparing for the next heating season.”

Access to Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who was detained in Russia on suspicion of espionage, is being considered and will be worked out in due course, said Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova.

“Regarding the visit of Evan Gershkovich by representatives of the US Embassy in Moscow, we inform you that the issue is being considered and will be worked out in due time in accordance with consular practice and Russian law. The status assigned to him by the American authorities in this case does not matter,” said Zakharova in a statement published by the ministry Wednesday.

Zakharova said the “noise” staged in the Western media around the detention of a journalist “caught red-handed” is “an example of blatant hypocrisy.”

“It is kept silent that the American embassy in Moscow was notified in a timely manner about the detention of Evan Gershkovich. Our diplomats in similar cases, in violation of the bilateral consular convention, are informed either with a delay or not at all, especially in high-profile cases under the jurisdiction of the US Department of Justice and the FBI,” she said.

According to Zakharova, the calls by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and other US officials to its citizens to leave the Russian Federation are “hypocritical,” since it was Washington that launched “the real hunt for Russians in the US and third countries.”

“I emphasize that any attempts to put pressure on the Russian authorities and the courts, insisting on a ‘special treatment’ for US citizens who have broken the Russian law, are senseless and futile. It is time for Washington to learn that we will not tolerate interference in our internal affairs and will act exclusively in accordance with our national interests,” Zakharova added.

Some background: On Monday, the US State Department officially designated Gershkovich as wrongfully detained by Russia.

The designation gives further backing to the assertions by the US government and the Wall Street Journal that the espionage charges against the reporter are baseless. It will empower the Biden administration to explore avenues such as a prisoner swap to try to secure Gershkovich’s release.

Reporting from CNN’s Jennifer Hansler contributed to this post.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal thanked the United States for its continued military support as he met with US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin at the Pentagon on Wednesday.

The pair discussed Ukraine’s further needs, with Shmyhal asking Austin to supply Ukraine with more weapons. 

“Ukrainian soldiers have proven that they can master the latest equipment in a short time and use it effectively on the battlefield,” he said, according to his office. “For a quicker victory, Ukraine also needs more weapons: Air defense, heavy artillery and equipment, mortars and ammunition.”

Wagner private military company founder and financier Yevgeny Prigozhin has called for the entire Russian society to be mobilized, saying people are ready to contribute to Moscow’s war effort in Ukraine. 

“When we travel to the regions, our recruiters see that people are ready to be mobilized and understand that there is a war going on for the very existence of Russia,” he added. Unlike Prigozhin, the Russian government continues to deny it is waging a war in Ukraine, referring to the conflict as a “special military operation.”

The new bill put forward by the Kremlin, which is set to be signed into law by President Vladimir Putin, would tighten the rules for Russians drafted into the conflict to prevent them from leaving the country — as many did in droves during last year’s “partial mobilization.” The Wagner leader criticized Russian officials who fled the country with their wealth and said the whole “system” needs to be shaken. 

“Why don’t we want to clean out this anthill that has been created over the years and which over the years has turned from a community of people who are ready to develop something in this country into a community of people who are only interested in their own well-being?” he questioned. “The system requires global sanitation and a reduction in the number of participants in this bureaucratic community.”

Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal repeated Ukraine’s requests for F-15 and F-16 fighter jets and longer-range missiles from the US directly to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin in remarks at the top of their meeting at the Pentagon.

Austin did not comment on the specific requests, but did commit to expanding the production of military assets in the US for Ukraine.

“We will keep investing in our own defense industrial base to further ramp up production,” said Austin.

Austin also thanked Ukraine for its focus on accountability for the security assistance the US has already provided.

“Let me commend you for the unprecedented level of transparency that Ukraine has provided to ensure our security assistance remains in the hands of Ukraine’s defenders,” said Austin.

Austin ignored a question about the effect of the leaked classified documents from the Pentagon on Ukraine.

More on jets: In March, Slovakia joined fellow NATO member Poland in pledging to send MiG-29 fighter jets to Ukraine. The White House had said that Poland’s decision to send the fighter jets is a “sovereign decision” that won’t spur US President Joe Biden to send F-16 aircraft.

The United States imposed a large tranche of sanctions on more than 100 people and entities around the world for their ties to Russia’s war in Ukraine.

Wednesday’s sanctions are the latest action meant to diminish Moscow’s abilities in its war in Ukraine and punish those who are supporting it, including through helping Russia to evade existing sanctions.

Sanctions on Russian billionaire and associates: The latest sanctions target a wide network tied to Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov, who is already under sanction in multiple countries, and were taken in coordination with the United Kingdom.

According to the US Treasury Department, Usmanov “is one of Russia’s wealthiest billionaires” who “holds significant interests in the metals and mining, telecommunications, and information technology sectors.”

Sanctions on international companies and a bank: The US also imposed sanctions on companies based in China, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates, which the US Treasury Department said is supporting Russia’s military industrial complex in defiance of existing sanctions. 

The Treasury also sanctioned the International Investment Bank, “a Russia-controlled financial institution” in Budapest, as well as its Moscow-based subsidiary and several former and current executives. 

Sanctions on organizations that target children: In addition, the US State Department is sanctioning two Russian entities “that support Russia’s efforts to undermine the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine through the militarization and indoctrination of schoolchildren: The All Russian Children’s And Youth Military Patriotic Public Movement Youth Army, and the State Budgetary Educational Institution of Additional Education of the Republic of Crimea Crimea Patriot Center,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement. 

The Serbian government has denied it sold weapons and ammunition to Ukraine, after a report emerged claiming otherwise.

“Serbia has not and will not sell weapons to either Ukraine or Russia,” Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence Milos Vucevic said in a statement Wednesday. “We have rejected those allegations more than ten times, and we will do it again.”

Vucevic was responding to a Reuters report that claimed a leaked Pentagon document names Serbia as having sent or is planning to send lethal aid to Ukraine. 

“Someone obviously aims to drag Serbia into that conflict, but we adhere to our policy consistently,” Vucevic said.

More about the documents: CNN has reviewed 53 leaked documents, all of which appear to have been produced between mid-February and early March.

The highly classified Pentagon documents have provided a rare window into how the US spies on allies and foes alike, deeply rattling US officials, who fear the revelations could jeopardize sensitive sources and compromise important foreign relationships.

Many of the documents, which US officials say are authentic, had markings indicating that they had been produced by the Joint Chiefs of Staff’s intelligence arm, known as J2, and appear to be briefing documents.

CNN’s Zachary Cohen, Natasha Bertrand and Kylie Atwood contributed to this post.

Ukrainian and Spanish defense ministers have denied claims that NATO troops are fighting against Russian armed forces in Ukraine, refuting allegations that emerged from a leak of highly classified Pentagon documents.

“It is totally false that there are NATO troops in Ukraine,” Spanish Defense Minister Margarita Robles said Wednesday at a joint news conference in Madrid with her visiting Ukrainian counterpart. 

Responding to a question about the document leak, Reznikov said it “has a lot of data that’s not true (and) is no longer current. The beneficiary of this operation is Russia or its allies or sympathizers,” adding that he is confident that Ukraine’s US allies will work to “neutralize this leak and avoid this in the future.”

Ukraine has “full confidence in our in our American allies” in spite of the leak, he said. From Spain’s perspective, Robles said the unity of NATO and European Union allies remains strong and Russia will “not achieve a break in that.” 

Update on tanks: Robles said Spain’s first shipment of six modern battle tanks for Ukraine will leave soon via ship and should arrive in the war-torn country by the end of this month. Along with these six Leopard 2A4 tanks, Spain will also send 20 armored vehicles, she added. Spain will later send four more of the Leopard tanks “as soon as possible,” after they are repaired.

Reznikov said Ukraine asked Spain for air defense systems, including combat jets, artillery rounds, and for training and technical advice in amphibious military operations, including undersea mine removal. The Ukrainian defense minister said he would meet with executives of Spanish arms makers on this visit. He and the Spanish defense minister were also expected to tour a military hospital in Madrid treating Ukrainian troops severely wounded in combat, including those whose limbs have been amputated.