Prime Minister weighs in on Russian interest in Chatham Islands ...
Stuff/Stuff
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins was in Dunedin on Friday, which included a visit to KiwiRail’s Hillside workshops.
The Prime Minister has weighed in on the curious case of Russian interest in the Chatham Islands, saying there is “absolutely no evidence” of foreign interference.
And so confident is Chris Hipkins of his position, he says the government is not investigating the situation.
According to Hipkins, if something was going on, “the locals would know about it”.
The development follows a Russian oligarch and boss of the Wagner private military company, known as “Putin’s chef”, telling Stuff in a cryptic email that his group has plans for the Chatham Islands.
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Stuff revealed on Wednesday that mercenary boss Yevgeny Prigozhin was pictured in front of a world map which marked the Wagner group’s interests, with one of the pins pushed into the Chathams.
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But now, the Prime Minister has poured cold water on Prigozhin’s claim.
According to Hipkins, the government has seen “no evidence” of Wagner having plans or interest in the islands and are not investigating Prigozhin’s claim.
Telegram/Supplied
Wagner PMC appears to have interests in the Chatham Islands, according to a map behind leader Yevgeny Prigozhin caught in a recent video.
''The Chatham Islands is an important part of the New Zealand community, but I've seen absolutely no evidence to suggest there is any credibility to any claims that there has been any foreign interference in the Chatham Islands,” Hipkins told Stuff in Dunedin on Friday.
''As a regular visitor to the Chatham Islands, I can say if anything like that was happening down there the locals would know about it... It definitely isn't.”
In response to questions about what the group’s interest in the Chathams were, Prigozhin gave a short, cryptic response.
"We will not share this information, everything has its own time."
Telegram/Supplied
Pins on the board marked where the group had apparent interests.
Stuff then asked if the pin was a mistake intended for another place, or if it was just being used to hold the map on the wall.
A spokesperson for Prigozhin then said they would “not disclose the plans of the PMC ‘Wagner’ regarding Chatham Island.”
New Zealand has sanctioned the Wagner entity, as well as Prigozhin and other individual leaders in the group.
Stuff/Stuff
The Prime Minister said there was “absolutely no evidence” of foreign interference in the Chatham Islands.
In the video released on May 24, a world map behind Prigozhin is marked with different coloured pins, that appear to be marking where Wagner’s interests are.
There are red pins in Mozambique, the Central African Republic and Sudan, all where Wagner is in combat operations.
Prigozhin is a Russian oligarch and is known as “Putin’s chef” after having food business interests as well as personally serving the president at state banquets.
Dr Yuiry Sak, an advisor to Ukraine’s Ministry of Defence, said he didn’t know what Wagner’s interests were in the Chathams.
“But whatever it is – it is nothing good,” Sak told Stuff.
“If he is in NZ – the authorities should detain him.”
