Russia’s Private Military Problem Explained [Video]

A lot happened in Russia over the weekend that tested the leadership of the country’s president Vladimir Putin.

RUSSIA’S PRIVATE ARMIES
It all started a few days ago when 25,000 troops from a private army that’s been working with the Russian government decided to march towards the Russian capital, Moscow. You see, it’s not just the Russian army fighting in Ukraine there are also private armies that are made up of soldiers who work for money, not for a particular country or cause. One of those is the Wagner Group which is led by this man, Yevgeny Prigozhin. For months now he’s been angrily calling out Russia’s top military leaders for how they’ve been handling the war in Ukraine and over the weekend he decided to take things one step further and march his troops to Moscow to demand changes. In an emergency address President Putin said Wagner troops had betrayed the country and ordered Prigozhin’s arrest. And right as things were starting to boil over, it all just stopped after Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenka helped broker a deal. Prigozhin is now reportedly in Belarus and Wagner troops are going back to their barracks. So at the end of the day this whole ruckus wasn’t exactly the end of President Putin’s time in charge the fact that private soldiers were able to get within a few hundred kilometres of the capital pretty much unchallenged show that his grip over power might not be as tight as many expected.

THE HAJJ
More than 2 million Muslims have made their way to the holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia for the Hajj pilgrimage. It’s a journey that lasts five to six days to the Kaaba, or ‘House of God’ at the centre of the Great Mosque of Mecca. All Muslim adults are required to make the journey at least once in their life and this year officials are expecting one of the largest crowds ever!

FIFA BRIDGE WALK
Thousands of football fans walked across the Sydney Harbour Bridge yesterday, but why? Well, they were marking 25 days until kick off in the FIFA Women’s World Cup. There was a lot of colour, and a unity jersey was unveiled, representing each competing nation.

YOUNG ARCHIES
The winners of the 11th annual Young Archie competition have been announced! That’s right, hanging on these walls are the four lucky winners and 70 finalists of this year’s Young Archie competition! The comp is run by the Art Gallery of New South Wales and it’s the junior version of Australia’s most famous portrait prize, the Archibald. It asks young artists to draw or paint someone who is special to them. So who won? Phoebe took out the 5-8 year old category with this self-portrait. Toby won the 9-12 year old category with this painting of his grandpa. Jasmine represented for 13-15 year old’s. And this portrait by Lily took the top spot for 16-18 year olds. Good job everyone, see you next year!

FIRST OLYMPIC E-SPORTS SERIES
First up! To the first-ever Olympic Esports Series! Which wrapped up in Singapore over the weekend. More than 130 participants from 60 countries took part in the 10 virtual sporting events that included archery, taekwondo played in VR, tennis played on a mobile phone, and even a spot of Fortnite.

SHOT PUTTER RUNS HURDLES
Now to the European Team Championships, where Belgian shotputter Jolien Boumkwo took one for the team, and competed in the hurdles race! You see, both hurdles runners for Belgium were injured, but someone needed to run, or the team risked certain disqualification! Jolien completed the race in 32.8 seconds finishing in last place.

WORLDS UGLIEST DOG
And finally to the US for the annual World’s Ugliest Dog competition! This year’s winner was Scooter. Hundreds of spectators rocked up to catch a glimpse of the ugly dogs, which, to some, were not very ugly at all.

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For the past 50 years, Behind the News has been helping to break down current issues and events for young people all around the world. The program is a high-energy, fun way for people to learn about the stories we see in the news while providing background information that isn’t usually given by other news bulletins.