The culture minister dismissed the manager of Novosibirsk opera house on Sunday after senior clerics complained that the production of Wagner's Tannhaeuser desecrated the image of Jesus Christ.Delyn Newmon reports.
According to the Africa Command statement, Russia has employed Wagner mercenaries in Libya to conceal its direct role there, and to afford Moscow plausible deniability of its malign actions.
What a feat to whittle down the fourteen hours of Wagner's Ring of the Nibelung to six minutes of highlights, and it's a great example of the use of music in Chuck Jones's cartoons.
Separately America warned Mali against signing a deal with Wagner, reportedly worth almost $11m a month, for it to supply 1,000 mercenaries to train Mali's army and protect officials.
Following the death of Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the Wagner mercenary group, which has been active in Mali, Russia pledged to keep giving " comprehensive assistance" to the country.
The claims followed a deadly rebel attack in late July that reportedly killed dozens of Malian government troops as well as allied mercenaries from Russia's Wagner Group.
The failed rebellion by Wagner Group raised questions about the future of its operations in Africa, where it is thought to have some 5,000 mercenaries and extensive business interests.
Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya Thursday warned that if in fact the Wagner Group's present in her country is true, it represented a huge threat for its people.
And Britain is reportedly preparing to designate the Wagner Group, a Russian private army that is deeply involved in the invasion of Ukraine, as a terrorist organization.
More than a dozen Western powers on Thursday expressed anger that Russian mercenaries working for the controversial Wagner Group have started to deploy in Mali.
The Polish prime minister says more than 100 fighters belonging to the Russian-linked Wagner group in Belarus have moved close to the border with Poland.