today the leader of the wagner mercenary group, yevgeny prigozhin said his group s next assignment may be in russia, defending its territory. in the latest in an ongoing public field with russian military officials, he asked officials to investigate whether senior defense officials committed a crime. for weeks prigozhin has increased his criticism of russian military leadership. he routinely appears in these self-produced videos where he dresses up like one of his mercenary fighters and verbally attacks russia s top generals. the question is what is his end game? melissa bell takes a look at the manned behind the powerful mercenary group. reporter: for months now yevgeny prigozhin has been leading the charge in ukraine and stealing the limelight. translator: guys, don t believe the russian military. reporter: the taunt typical as he announced the withdrawal of his wagner mercenaries last week after claiming the first russian advance in ukraine in months. power on the ground that
. ukraine is vowing to keep up the fight to defend the eastern city of bakhmut even as russian forces press on with their efforts to encircle it. ukrainian president vlodymyr zelenskyy said he s ordered reenforcement inside city where a fierce battle has been raging for month, russian forces have been making gradual gains new video shows fighters with the wagner mercenary group taking down a ukrainian flag and planting their own flag on top of a tank monument in the eastern part of bakhmut. meanwhile, the head of the wagner group, yevgeniy prigozhin is waging a different sort of war on moscow s top brass now opening fueding with russian military leadership and casting
used chemical weapons on civilians. appearing today before the house foreign relations committee james jeffrey, the special u.s. representative for syrian engagement provided no supporting evidence for the chemical attack but did call on fighting in syria to end. what we really need in idlib and throughout the rest of the country is a cease-fire. it s called for in the u.n. resolution. it reflects the reality on the ground. after the alleged attack, russian military leadership claimed that syrian rebels discussed faking a chemical offensive. the state department called those comments a disinformation campaign. bret? bret: trey yingst in our middle east newsroom. trey, thanks. immigration officials here in the u.s. say two ms-13 gang members accused of beating and stabbing a 14-year-old girl to death last month in maryland were sought by the agency last year but released by local authorities in maryland. ice says it lodged a detainer with prince george s county last may after the