World
Putin's warlord ally adds 3,000 former Wagner mercenaries to his forces: 'Fulfilling the task of the state'
A Chechen warlord has added 3,000 former Wagner mercenaries to his growing forces, giving him control over a sizable force inside the Russian army.
“One of the Wagner commanders with the call sign Ratibor will join the legendary Akhmat special forces,” Chechen commander Ramzan Kadyrov said. “With him, 3,000 former fighters of the Wagner PMC [private military company] will join the special forces.”
The Chechen commander, Maj. Gen. Apti Alaudinov, said the former mercenaries joining Ratibor will have previously served him while in service for Wagner.
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Ratibor hailed the Chechen forces, insisting that the former Wagner troops “can once again prove our efficiency and that we are fulfilling the task of the state,” according to East2West.
Chechen warlord Ramzan Kadyrov, left, with Maj. Gen. Apti Alaudinov, adds another 3,000 former Wagner mercenary fighters to a burgeoning armed force under his control. (East2West)
Kadyrov, the 47-year-old head of the Chechen Republic since 2007, proudly touted the “great news” that the much-feared mercenaries would bolster his army. While not giving clear indication as to how involved the Chechen military could be in the coming months, he said they could have a “significant impact” in Ukraine.
Some have speculated that Kadyrov is keeping the force at the ready to defend Russian President Vladimir Putin against another potential coup – the first of which, ironically, Wagner had carried out under its founder and leader Yevgeny Prigozhin, which led to the force’s dissolution.
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Prigozhin died when his private plane exploded, killing him and some fellow passengers, along with both pilots.
Another theory suggested that Kadyrov may be waiting in case Putin should die, leaving Chechnya the chance to make a move to establish its independence and shore up power in the scramble to fill the vacuum Putin’s death would leave.
Ramzan Kadyrov’s armed units raises questions about him building up his own army while claiming he arms men for Russia’s war with Ukraine. (East2West)
Kadyrov has proudly tried to integrate Wagner to his forces since the group’s dissolution, bringing in a large contingent of the mercenaries to train his Akhmat Special Forces, according to Reuters.
“I am glad that today the ranks of the famous (Akhmat) unit have been joined by fighters who have excellent combat experience and have proven themselves as brave and efficient warriors,” Kadyrov wrote in a message on Telegram posted in Nov. 2023. “I am confident that in the upcoming battles they will fully live up to their reputation.”
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The new additions help to strengthen what some consider Kadyrov’s “personal army” on the Russian federal dime, according to Kavkaz Realii, an independent media outlet that is part of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.
Formation of Ramzan Kadyrov’s armed units raises questions about him building up his own army while claiming he arms men for Russia’s war with Ukraine
Kadyrov’s approach to governance relies on highly repressive measures, including a ban on all music outside 80 to 116 beats per minute – a measure seen as generally helping to ban Western music and helping to align with the “Chechen mentality and musical rhythm” to help preserve “the future” of the Chechen people, Euronews reported.
“(I) have announced the final decision, agreed with the head of the Chechen Republic Ramzan Akhmatovich Kadyrov, that from now on all musical, vocal and choreographic works must correspond to a tempo of 80 to 116 beats per minute,” Chechen culture minister Musa Dadayev said, according to the Russian state new agency TASS.
United Nations human rights experts in 2017 also urged authorities to investigate allegations that gay men in the almost entirely Muslim republic were targeted, detained, tortured and murdered for their sexuality.
Reuters contributed to this report.
The United States and China will discuss guardrails on artificial intelligence, including establishing a protocol for keeping powerful A.I. models out of the hands of nonstate actors, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Thursday.
Mr. Bessent, who was speaking from Beijing in an interview with CNBC, did not give more details, including when these discussions would take place. But Xi Jinping, China’s leader, and President Trump had been expected to discuss A.I. during their summit in the Chinese capital.
If these talks happen, it would be the first time the two countries formally take up the issue during Mr. Trump’s second term. The capabilities and usage of A.I. have grown rapidly, and so have concerns that this technology could be weaponized by hackers and terrorists, or spiral out of human control.
“The two A.I. superpowers are going to start talking,” Mr. Bessent said. “We’re going to set up a protocol in terms of, how do we go forward with best practices for A.I. to make sure nonstate actors don’t get ahold of these models.”
Still, Mr. Bessent made clear that the fierce competition between the United States and China for supremacy in A.I. — which has been a major hurdle to cooperation on safety — remained front of mind for U.S. policymakers. Officials and experts in both countries have argued that they cannot slow technological development and risk losing out to their rivals.
Mr. Bessent said that the United States was willing to cooperate with China on A.I. safety because “the Chinese are substantially behind us” in terms of the technology’s development.
“I do not think we would be having the same discussions if they were this far ahead of us. So we’re going to put in U.S. best practices, U.S. values, on this, and then roll those out to the world,” Mr. Bessent said.
Experts have suggested that China’s A.I. models may be a few months behind the leading U.S. models.
Another hurdle to the United States and China working together on A.I. safety is that they have generally focused on different potential threats.
American experts have generally highlighted existential risks, such as the possibility of artificial general intelligence, or super-intelligence that exceeds that of humans. Chinese researchers and officials have more often highlighted risks related to social stability and information control, such as the possibility of chatbots producing content that challenges China’s leadership and policies.
Still, researchers in both countries have highlighted some shared risks, such as the possibility of A.I. being used to develop new biological weapons.
Ship SEIZED near UAE coast, UK military says
Iranian forces seized a vessel 38 nautical miles off the UAE coast early Thursday, a brazen provocation occurring just as President Donald Trump and Xi Jinping met in Beijing discussing key issues like the Strait of Hormuz.
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A ship was seized off the coast of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) near the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday morning, the British military reported.
The ship was boarded and “taken by unauthorized personnel” while it was roughly 38 nautical miles northeast of the United Arab Emirates’ oil export terminal Fujairah, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) reported Thursday.
UKMTO spotted the ship heading toward Iranian territorial waters after the seizure, it reported Thursday.
British authorities did not release information on who the ship belonged to or who seized it. Despite the lack of official corroboration, the BBC reported that the Honduras-flagged Hui Chuan was seized in the Strait on Thursday.
CARGO SHIP ATTACKED BY SMALL CRAFT NEAR STRAIT OF HORMUZ, UK MARITIME AGENCY SAYS
Ships are anchored in the Strait of Hormuz off Bandar Abbas in southern Iran on May 4. A report on May 15 said a ship was seized off the coast of the United Arab Emirates and is being brought toward Iranian waters. (Amirhossein Khorgooei/ISNA/AFP)
Citing the risk-management company Vanguard, the BBC reported that the ship’s operators told Vanguard that the Hui Chuan was operating as a “floating armory” for ships in the Strait to defend themselves from pirates.
A container ship sits at anchor in the Strait of Hormuz off Bandar Abbas, Iran, as a motorboat passes in the foreground on May 2, 2026. (Amirhosein Khorgooi/ISNA via AP)
At least two other ships have already been seized in the Strait of Hormuz since February.
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A cargo ship sails in the Persian Gulf toward the Strait of Hormuz on April 22, 2026. (AP Photo)
In April, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) seized the Panamanian-flagged MSC Francesca and the Epaminondes ships in the Strait.
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Fox News Digital contacted UKMTO and Vanguard for further information but did not immediately receive a response.
Al Jazeera’s Manuel Rapalo reports from Washington, where the first of two days of US-mediated ambassador-level talks between Israel and Lebanon concluded on Thursday. A ceasefire between them expires on Sunday, though Israel has killed 512 Lebanese since its implementation on April 17.
Published On 15 May 2026
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