Russia-Ukraine war live: Putin wanted to ‘wipe out’ Prigozhin during Wagner mutiny, says Belarus president

Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko said he persuaded Vladimir Putin not to “wipe out” Wagner mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin, in response to what the Kremlin cast as a mutiny.

While describing his Saturday conversation with Putin, Lukashenko used the Russian criminal slang phrase for killing someone, equivalent to the English phrase to “wipe out”.

“I also understood: a brutal decision had been made (and it was the undertone of Putin‘s address) to wipe out” the mutineers, Lukashenko said, according to Belarusian state media.

“I suggested to Putin not to rush. ‘Come on,’ I said, ‘Let’s talk with Prigozhin, with his commanders.’ To which he told me: ‘Listen, Sasha, it’s useless. He doesn’t even pick up the phone, he doesn’t want to talk to anyone’.”

It comes as twin girls and a child are among 10 people killed in a Russian strike on a restaurant in the city of Kramatorsk using a supersonic Iskander missile, authorities in Ukraine have said.

A man accused by Kyiv of collaborating with Moscow has been arrested over the strike in the Donetsk region which killed 14-year-old Yulia and Anna Aksenchenko, along with a child and a 17-year-old, and wounded at least 61 others.

Key Points

• Twin girls, aged 14, among 10 killed in Russian missile strike on restaurant

• Vladimir Putin ‘fears martyring Yevgeny Prigozhin and will seek to shatter his support’

• ‘Countdown has begun’ for end of Putin, claims Volodymyr Zelensky aide

• Prigozhin to be investigated after being paid $2bn in a year, says Putin

• Prigozhin jet lands in Belarus

• Putin finally admits how close Russia came to civil war after Wagner mutiny

Russia to be blocked from accessing UK legal advice

05:30 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar

The UK in its fresh bout of sanctions against Russia has banned Kremlin-linked individuals and businesses from accessing British legal expertise.

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) said a new law would be introduced today preventing UK lawyers from advising Russian companies on certain business deals in a move designed to thwart Moscow’s war machine in Ukraine.

Officials said the sanction could impact Russia’s ability to obtain legal advice on everything from trade deals between global corporations to international money lending.

Russia is highly dependent on western countries for legal expertise, according to the MoJ, with the UK previously exporting £56m in legal services to Russian businesses every year.

More here.

Russia to be blocked from accessing UK legal advice in latest sanction

Russian general Sergei Surovikin arrested after Wagner rebellion - report

05:29 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar

Russian General Sergei Surovikin has been arrested following the Wager Group’s rebellion, the Moscow Times reported, citing defence ministry sources.

The defence ministry is yet to officially comment on the alleged arrest of the general, who has not been seen in public since last Saturday, when Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin launched an armed rebellion against Vladimir Putin.

“The situation with him was not ‘OK’. For the authorities. I can’t say anything more,” one of the sources told the outlet.

A second source said the arrest was carried out “in the context of Prigozhin”.

“Apparently, he [Surovikin] chose Prigozhin’s side during the uprising” and they have gotten ahold of him, the source added.

Putin’s two-faced tirades over the Wagner mutiny could still be his undoing

05:00 , Joe Middleton

Claiming treachery one minute, then praising Wagner’s role in Ukraine the next, may have allowed the Russian leader to steer out of an immediate storm, writes Mary Dejevsky. But such mixed messages expose cracks in his authority that will be hard to repair

Opinion: Putin’s two-faced tirades over the Wagner mutiny could still be his undoing

Twin sisters among at least 11 dead in Russian missile strike

04:30 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar

Fourteen-year-old twin sisters were among at least 11 people killed in a Russian missile strike on a popular pizza restaurant in eastern Ukraine.

Another girl, aged 17, was among the bodies pulled from the rubble following the attack on the eastern city of Kramatorsk on Tuesday, which turned the restaurant into pile of twisted beams.

Around 60 people were wounded, with an eight-month-old baby suffering head wounds.

The strike, along with others across Ukraine into yesterday, show that the Kremlin is not easing up on its aerial bombardment of the country, despite the armed mutiny by the Wagner mercenary group that shook Russia over the weekend.

Sisters Anna and Yulia Aksenchenko would have turned 15 in September, Kramatorsk city council’s education department said in a Facebook post under a picture of the two girls smiling for the camera.

“Russian missiles stopped the beating of the hearts of two angels,” it said in a Telegram post. “We share the grief of your family and together with you we bow our heads in deep sorrow.”

Chris Stevenson reports.

Twin sisters, aged 14, among at least 11 dead in Russian missile strike in Ukraine

Russian ‘spy’ to be charged over Kramatorsk strike

04:05 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar

An alleged Russian agent involved in the attack on the city of Kramatorsk will be charged with treason, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said.

Three teenagers were among the 11 people killed in a missile strike on a popular restaurant. Those helping Russia destroy lives deserve the “maximum penalty”, the president said.

Ukrainian authorities said the man allegedly sent video footage of the restaurant to the Russian military hours before it was destroyed.

According to reports, at least 60 others, including Colombian nationals and a leading Ukrainian writer, suffered injuries in the blast.

The attack also damaged 18 multistory buildings, 65 houses, five schools, two kindergartens, a shopping centre, an administrative building and a recreational building, regional governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said.

UN report finds Russia tortured, executed civilians in Ukraine; Kyiv also abused detainees

04:00 , Joe Middleton

Russian forces carried out widespread and systematic torture of civilians who were detained in connection with its attack on Ukraine, summarily executing dozens of them, the United Nations human rights office said Tuesday.

The global body interviewed hundreds of victims and witnesses for a report detailing more than 900 cases of civilians, including children and elderly people, being arbitrarily detained in the conflict, most of them by Russia.

The vast majority of those interviewed said they were tortured and in some cases subjected to sexual violence during detention by Russian forces, the head of the U.N. human rights office in Ukraine said.

UN report finds Russia tortured, executed civilians in Ukraine; Kyiv also abused detainees

Wagner chief walks free after armed revolt. Other Russians defying the Kremlin aren’t so lucky

03:00 , Joe Middleton

Mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin led an armed rebellion against the Russian military — and walked free. Others who merely voiced criticism against the Kremlin weren’t so lucky.

On Tuesday, Russia’s main domestic security agency, the FSB, said it had dropped the criminal investigation into last week’s revolt, with no charges against Prigozhin or any of the other participants, even though about a dozen Russian troops were killed in clashes.

The Kremlin had promised not to prosecute Prigozhin after reaching an agreement with him that he would halt the uprising and retreat to neighboring Belarus. That came even though President Vladimir Putin vowed to punish those behind the rebellion.

Wagner chief walks free after armed revolt. Other Russians defying the Kremlin aren’t so lucky

NATO warns not to underestimate Russian forces, and tells Moscow it has increased preparedness

02:00 , Joe Middleton

NATO’s chief said Tuesday that the power of Russia’s military shouldn’t be underestimated following the weekend mutiny against it by Wagner Group mercenaries, and said the alliance has increased its readiness to confront Russia in recent days.

Jens Stoltenberg said the alliance may decide to further boost its strength and readiness to face Russia and its ally Belarus when NATO leaders meet in the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius on July 11-12.

”So, no misunderstanding and no room for misunderstanding in Moscow or Minsk about our ability to defend our allies against any potential threat,” Stoltenberg said.

NATO warns not to underestimate Russian forces, and tells Moscow it has increased preparedness

US sanctions gold companies suspected of supporting Wagner mercenaries in Russia

01:00 , Joe Middleton

The United States moved on Tuesday to punish companies accused of doing business with the infamous Russian mercenary army known as the Wagner Group, following the group’s insurrection attempt within Russia’s borders.

The move is not thought to be specifically related to the coup, however, instead being a response to Wagner’s participation in some of the bloodiest fighting taking place within Ukraine, where Russian forces launched a full-scale invasion last year.

A statement from the Treasury Department faulted companies in Africa and the Middle East for participating in a gold-selling scheme in violation of US sanctions to fund the Wagner Group’s ongoing activities. One executive at Wagner, Andrey Nikolayevich Ivanov, was also slapped with individual sanctions on his financial dealings.

US sanctions gold companies suspected of supporting Wagner mercenaries in Russia

Mapped: Has Ukraine made advances against Russia?

Wednesday 28 June 2023 23:59 , Joe Middleton

With Russia’s invasion of Ukraine raging for 16 months, Ukraine is now pushing back with its long-awaited counteroffensive that has already recorded a number of gains.

On Monday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky praised Ukrainian troops for advancing “in all sectors”, having spent the day presenting awards to front-line soldiers in the east and south.

“Today in all sectors, our soldiers made advances. It is a happy day,” Mr Zelensky said in his nightly video address, which was delivered from a train after visiting two frontline areas.

Mapped: Has Ukraine made advances against Russia?

Joe Biden says Putin is ‘clearly losing the war in Iraq’

Wednesday 28 June 2023 22:45 , Joe Middleton

Joe Biden told reporters that Vladimir Putin is “clearly losing the war in Iraq” in his latest blunder.

The US president on the South Lawn of the White House when he was asked how damaged Mr Putin was in the aftermath of Wagner Group’s aborted uprising.

“He’s clearly losing the war in Iraq. He’s losing the war at home and has become a bit of a pariah around the world,’ Mr Biden said, clearly referencing the war in Ukraine.

He was heading to Chicago to deliver an address on the economy when he made the gaffe.

Joe Biden says Putin is ‘clearly losing the war in Iraq’

Footage shows of scale destruction after Russian strike on Kramatorsk restaurant

Wednesday 28 June 2023 21:45 , Joe Middleton

Twin sisters, aged 14, among at least 11 dead in Russian missile strike on pizza restaurant in Ukraine

Wednesday 28 June 2023 20:24 , Joe Middleton

Fourteen-year-old twin sisters were among at least 11 people killed in a Russian missile strike on a popular pizza restaurant in eastern Ukraine.

Another girl, aged 17, was among the bodies pulled from the rubble following the attack on the eastern city of Kramatorsk on Tuesday, which turned the restaurant into pile of twisted beams. Around 60 people were wounded, with an eight-month old baby suffering head wounds.

The strike, along with others across Ukraine into early on Wednesday, show that the Kremlin is not easing up on its aerial bombardment of the country, despite the armed mutiny by the Wagner mercenary group that shook Russia over the weekend.

Chris Stevenson reports.

Failed mutiny has weakened Putin, says German chancellor Scholz

Wednesday 28 June 2023 19:21 , Joe Middleton

German chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Wednesday the failed mutiny in Russia last weekend had weakened Vladimir Putin but it was unclear if it would make the Kremlin any more likely to withdraw its troops from Ukraine to allow for peace talks.

“I do believe he is weakened as this shows that the autocratic power structures have cracks in them and he is not as firmly in the saddle as he always asserts,” Scholz said in an hour-long interview with German broadcaster ARD.

Asked about the impact of the failed mutiny on the Ukraine war, the German chancellor said the pre-condition for successful peace talks was Russia accepting it needed to withdraw its troops from the country.

“Whether this has become easier or harder through these events is not really clear,” he said in the interview recorded on Wednesday afternoon for airing later in the evening.

Scholz said he did not want to participate in speculation about how long Putin would likely remain in office, saying the West’s aim in supporting Ukraine was to help it defend itself, not to bring about regime change.

Reuters

Mapped: Has Ukraine made advances against Russia?

Wednesday 28 June 2023 18:51 , Joe Middleton

With Russia’s invasion of Ukraine raging for 16 months, Ukraine is now pushing back with its long-awaited counteroffensive that has already recorded a number of gains.

On Monday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky praised Ukrainian troops for advancing “in all sectors”, having spent the day presenting awards to front-line soldiers in the east and south.

“Today in all sectors, our soldiers made advances. It is a happy day,” Mr Zelensky said in his nightly video address, which was delivered from a train after visiting two frontline areas.

Mapped: Has Ukraine made advances against Russia?

Comment: Putin’s two-faced tirades over the Wagner mutiny could still be his undoing

Wednesday 28 June 2023 18:07 , Joe Middleton

Claiming treachery one minute, then praising Wagner’s role in Ukraine the next, may have allowed the Russian leader to steer out of an immediate storm, writes Mary Dejevsky. But such mixed messages expose cracks in his authority that will be hard to repair.

Opinion: Putin’s two-faced tirades over the Wagner mutiny could still be his undoing

Footage shows scale destruction after Russian strike on Kramatorsk restaurant

Wednesday 28 June 2023 17:15 , Joe Middleton

Putin has become ‘a pariah’ around the world, says Biden

Wednesday 28 June 2023 16:31 , Joe Middleton

US president Joe Biden said Wednesday that Vladimir Putin has become “a pariah” around the world but it is hard to say if he has been weakened by recent events involving the head of the militant Wagner Group.

Biden, speaking to reporters at the White House prior to departing on a trip to Chicago, made a gaffe when he told reporters that Putin was “clearly losing the war in Iraq”.

“He’s losing the war at home and has become a bit of a pariah around the world,” Mr Biden said, clearly referencing the war in Ukraine.

Joe Biden says Putin is ‘clearly losing the war in Iraq’

Latest pictures from the scene of a Russian strike on the city of Kramatorsk that killed 10 people

Wednesday 28 June 2023 16:01 , Joe Middleton

Ukraine wants signal it can join NATO after war is over, says Zelensky

Wednesday 28 June 2023 15:33 , Joe Middleton

Volodymyr Zelensky said today that Ukraine understood it could not join NATO while the war with Russia was ongoing, but that Kyiv wanted to receive a signal that it can join the military alliance after the war ends.

“We understand that we cannot be a member of NATO during the war, but we need to be sure that after the war we will be,” Zelensky told a press conference with the visiting Polish and Lithuanian presidents.

“That is the signal we want to get - that after the war Ukraine will be a member of NATO”.

Reiterating Kyiv’s stance before a NATO summit in Lithuania next month, he said Ukraine also wanted security guarantees for the period until it can join the alliance.

“We would want a third signal at the NATO summit that Ukraine will get security guarantees - not instead of NATO but for the time until we are in the alliance,” he said.

Lukashenko says he persuaded Putin not to ‘wipe out' Wagner mercenary chief Prigozhin

Wednesday 28 June 2023 15:06 , Joe Middleton

Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko said he persuaded Vladimir Putin not to “wipe out” Wagner mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin, in response to what the Kremlin cast as a mutiny.

Putin initially vowed to crush the mutiny, comparing it to the wartime turmoil that ushered in the revolution of 1917 and then a civil war, but hours later a deal was clinched to allow Prigozhin and some of his fighters to go to Belarus. Prigozhin flew to Belarus from Russia on Tuesday.

While describing his Saturday conversation with Putin, Lukashenko used the Russian criminal slang phrase for killing someone, equivalent to the English phrase to “wipe out”.

“I also understood: a brutal decision had been made (and it was the undertone of Putin‘s address) to wipe out” the mutineers, Lukashenko told a meeting of his army officials and journalists on Tuesday, according to Belarusian state media.

“I suggested to Putin not to rush. ‘Come on,’ I said, ‘Let’s talk with Prigozhin, with his commanders.’ To which he told me: ‘Listen, Sasha, it’s useless. He doesn’t even pick up the phone, he doesn’t want to talk to anyone’.”

Switzerland expands sanctions against Russia

Wednesday 28 June 2023 14:34 , Andy Gregory

Switzerland has expanded financial and travel sanctions against Russian entities and persons in step with the most recent sanctions imposed by the European Union.

Among those targeted are people, companies and organisations that support the illegal deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia, a statement said.

They also include members of the Russian armed forces, leading representatives of state-controlled Russian media and members of the Wagner mercenary group. The sanctions include asset freezes and a ban to travel to and transit through Switzerland.

However, the Swiss Federal Council also said it had rejected a request by Swiss defence firm Ruag for the trade of 96 Leopard 1 A5 main battle tanks for use in Ukraine, with the cabinet warning that such a sale would be contrary to the war material act and would entail an adjustment of Switzerland's neutrality policy.

Full report: Kramatorsk pizza restaurant missile strike kills 10 including twin sisters aged 14

Wednesday 28 June 2023 14:11 , Andy Gregory

My colleague Chris Stevenson has this extensive report on the strike on a restaurant in Kramatorsk:

Twins, aged 14, among 10 dead in missile strike on Ukraine restaurant

What happened in the Kramatorsk attack?

Wednesday 28 June 2023 13:53 , Chris Stevenson

The Pizza RIA restaurant was popular with both locals, as well as aid workers and journalists – and was said to be crowded when it was hit on Tuesday evening.

“I ran here after the explosion because I rented a cafe here.... Everything has been blown out there,” said Valentyna, a 64-year-old woman who declined to give her surname. “None of the glass, windows or doors are left. All I see is destruction, fear and horror. This is the 21st century,” she told Reuters.

Police said at least 61 people were injured in the strike, which turned the restaurant into a pile of twisted beams. Emergency services posted pictures online of rescue teams sifting through the site with cranes and other equipment.

The Donetsk regional governor – the area where Kramatorsk is located – Pavlo Kyrylenko told national television that people were visible under the rubble. Their condition was unknown, he said, but “we are experienced in removing rubble”.

Video footage on military Telegram channels showed one man, his head bleeding, receiving first aid on the pavement.

Eight people had been rescued alive from the rubble and at least three more were believed to be trapped, Md Bakhal, the spokeswoman for the Donetsk region emergency services said.

The attack also damaged 18 multi-story buildings, 65 houses, five schools, two kindergartens, a shopping center, an administrative building and a recreational building, the regional governor, Mr Kyrylenko, said.

Zelensky says Russian ‘bandit’ leaders should not escape justice

Wednesday 28 June 2023 13:34 , Andy Gregory

Volodymyr Zelensky has described Russia’s political and military leaders as bandits, as he ruled out any peace plan that would turn the war on Ukraine into a “frozen” conflict.

The Ukrainian president made his remarks in a speech to parliament on Ukraine’s Constitution Day, and warned that Russia’s leaders must not escape justice for waging war on his country, which he declared was “on the way to victory”.

“The political and military leadership of the Russian Federation should not escape justice due to the fact that they supposedly have immunity, like state leaders,” Mr Zelensky said.

“They are not the leaders of the state – they are bandits who seized control of the state institutions of Russia ... and began to terrorise the whole world.”

Kramatorsk strike now blamed on supersonic missiles

Wednesday 28 June 2023 13:21 , Andy Gregory

While Urkainian officials initially blamed the strike in Kramatorsk on an S-300 missile, a surface-to-air weapon that Russia’s forces have repurposed for loosely targeted strikes on cities, the National Police later said Iskander short-range ballistic missiles were used.

Zelensky rules out any ‘frozen’ conflict peace proposals

Wednesday 28 June 2023 13:04 , Andy Gregory

Volodymyr Zelensky has said he will not accept any peace proposal that turns Russia’s war on Ukraine into a frozen conflict.

The president’s remarks, made in a speech to parliament on Ukraine’s Constitution Day, signalled that he remains opposed to any peace plan that would freeze any territorial gains made by Russia.

“Ukraine will not agree to any of the variants for a frozen conflict,” he said.

Mr Zelensky has drawn up a 10-point peace “formula” that includes restoring Ukraine’s territorial integrity, the withdrawal of Russian troops and the restoration of Ukraine’s state borders.

Twin sisters among 10 killed in Kramatorsk restaurant strike

Wednesday 28 June 2023 12:48 , Andy Gregory

Here are more details on the twin sisters reported to have been killed in the Kramatorsk restaurant strike.

Yulia and Anna Aksenchenko were due to celebrate their 15th birthdays in September, according to Kramatorsk City Council.

A 17-year-old and a boy of an unknown age are also reported to be among the 10 people officials say were killed in the Russian strikes.

Kremlin asked if ‘General Armaggedon’ knew of Prigozhin’s mutiny in advance

Wednesday 28 June 2023 12:44 , Andy Gregory

The Kremlin has dismissed “gossip” and “speculation” around the shortlived mutiny last weekend.

Asked on Wednesday about a New York Times report suggesting top Russian general Sergei Surovikin had known in advance about Yevgeny Prigozhin’s armed rebellion, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said there would be “a lot of speculation” in the aftermath of the events.

“There will now be a lot of speculation, gossip and so on around these events. I think this is one such example,” said Mr Peskov.

Mr Surovikin, who has not been seen in public since Saturday when he made an appeal for the mutiny to be called off, has often been praised by Mr Prigozhin , and the New York Times cited US officials who were “trying to learn if ... the former top Russian commander in Ukraine helped plan Mr Prigozhin’s actions last weekend”.

Ukraine arrest man accused of helping Russia with Kramatorsk restaurant strike

Wednesday 28 June 2023 12:34 , Andy Gregory

Ukrainian authorities have arrested a man they accused of helping Russia direct the missile strikes which killed at least 10 people, including four children, at a popular pizza restaurant in Kramatorsk.

The Tuesday evening attack on Kramatorsk wounded another 61 people, Ukraine’s National Police said, with two sisters, both aged 14, and a 17-year-old said by officials to be among the dead, as rescuers continue to search the rubble.

The attack also damaged 18 multi-story buildings, 65 houses, five schools, two kindergartens, a shopping center, an administrative building and a recreational building, according to regional governor Pavlo Kyrylenko.

Kramatorsk is a frontline city which houses the Ukrainian army’s regional headquarters. The pizza restaurant was frequented by journalists, aid workers and soldiers, as well as locals.

The Security Service of Ukraine said it had detained a man whom it suspects directed the strike on the restaurant, who is an employee of the local gas transportation company. He filmed the restaurant for the Russians and informed them about its popularity, the service claimed, providing no evidence.

Putin ‘trying to shatter populist appeal’ of potential ‘martyr’ Prigozhin

Wednesday 28 June 2023 12:04 , Andy Gregory

Vladimir Putin has likely decided that he is unable right now to directly eliminate [Yevgeny] Prigozhin without making him a martyr and has instead decided to “break” his popular support by branding him “corrupt” and “a liar”, a Western think-tank has suggested.

For the first time, the Russian president has now claimed that the Kremlin “fully funds” and “fully supplies” the Wagner mercenary group, as he tries to ensure that the mercenaries – and wider Russian society – “become disillusioned” with Mr Prigozhin, according to the Institute for the Study of War.

In his statements, Mr Putin deliberately attempted to separate Mr Prigozhin from the Wagner Group “so that the Kremlin can accuse Prigozhin of corruption or conspiring with Ukraine or the West and alienate Prigozhin from Wagner personnel”, the analysts said.

“Prigozhin had built his personal brand on criticising the Russian military command and bureaucrats for corruption and ties to Western countries, and Putin is likely attempting to shatter Prigozhin’s populist appeal by accusing him of the same sins.”

Kremlin says papal envoy in Moscow for talks on Ukraine

Wednesday 28 June 2023 11:49 , Andy Gregory

The Kremlin appreciates the efforts of the Vatican to help resolve the Ukraine crisis, Vladimir Putin’s spokesperson has said, as he claimed that papal envoy had arrived in Moscow for peace talks.

“We highly value the efforts and initiatives of the Vatican and welcome the aspiration of the pope to contribution to ending the armed conflict,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told a regular briefing.

He said Mr Putin’s foreign affairs adviser would hold talks with the envoy, Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, at the Russia president’s request.

Large majority of Americans support military aid for Ukraine, poll suggests

Wednesday 28 June 2023 11:34 , Andy Gregory

Around two thirds of Americans support providing weaponry to Ukraine to defend itself against Russia – rising from 46 per cent just a month ago, new Ipsos polling for Reuters has found.

Eighty-one percent of Democrats, 56 per cent of Republicans and 57 per cent of independents favour supplying US weapons to Ukraine, suggests the two-day poll of 1,004 adults, conducted just days after Yevgeny Prigozhin’s shortlived mutiny.

“This definitely reinforces Biden’s decision to be all-in on this,” William Taylor, a former US ambassador to Ukraine, told Reuters. “The Republican leadership of the House and Senate will also take heart from this.”

The poll also found that 76 per cent of Americans believe that providing aid to Ukraine demonstrates to China and other rivals that the United States has “the will and capability to protect our interests, our allies and ourselves”.

In other findings, the survey said large majorities of Americans – 67 and 73 per cent respectively – are more likely to support a candidate in next year’s US presidential election who will continue military aid to Ukraine and who backs Nato.

Three civilians in Kharkiv village killed by Russian shelling, says governor

Wednesday 28 June 2023 11:27 , Andy Gregory

At least three people have been killed in the Kharkiv region by Russian shelling, the regional governor has alleged.

“Unfortunately, as a result of this shelling, three civilians in the village of Vovchanski Khutory were killed near their homes,” governor Oleh Synehubov wrote Telegram.

He said the victims were men aged 45, 48 and 57.

Germany and France ‘missing in action’ over European defence, report claims

Wednesday 28 June 2023 10:52 , Andy Gregory

A lack of leadership by countries such as Germany and France and narrow industrial interests keep Europe from boosting defence cooperation as warranted by Russia’s war on Ukraine, a report by the Munich Security Conference has claimed.

“The crucial capability gap in European defence is still political leadership,” the Munich Security Report on European Defence said. Acknowledging that European defence has come a long way since Russia’s invasion, the report said Europeans were still far from living up to a “darkening” global security environment.

The report said Germany and France in particular were “missing in action” at a time when European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen and EU top diplomat Josep Borrell are driving EU support for Kyiv and joint procurement initiatives.

“Under the Scholz government, Germany has faced recurrent criticism for its absence in EU defence questions,” it said. “Meanwhile, France is seen as pursuing narrow industrial rather than collective European interests.”

Both countries’ initial dithering on supplying arms to Ukraine, on top of a history of neglecting eastern European fears of Russia, has caused lasting damage to their credibility in eastern Europe and to that of joint defence initiatives, the report said, adding: “The onus is on Germany and France to win back trust.”

Putin holds call with Bahrain’s king, Kremlin says

Wednesday 28 June 2023 10:25 , Andy Gregory

Vladimir Putin has held a phone call with the King of Bahrain, Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa, the Kremlin said in a statement.

The king expressed support for measures taken by the Russian president to end an armed mutiny by mercenary fighters on Saturday, it claimed.

Body of boy pulled from rubble in Kramatorsk, says mayor

Wednesday 28 June 2023 09:59 , Andy Gregory

The body of a boy has been pulled out of the rubble of a building in Kramatorsk on Wednesday, taking the death toll from a Russian missile strike on a restaurant to nine, the city’s mayor said.

“Rescuers pulled a boy’s body from the rubble,” mayor Oleksandr Goncharenko said, as search and rescue operations continued. He did not give the boy’s age.

Three girls aged between 14 and 17 are also among the nine people killed, authorities said.

Lithuanian president to meet with Zelensky to discuss Nato

Wednesday 28 June 2023 09:44 , Andy Gregory

Lithuanian president Gitanas Nauseda is set to meet Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv on Wednesday to discuss Nato, his office has said, as Ukraine seeks to enter the alliance.

Mr Zelensky has stepped up calls for Ukraine to receive a “political invitation” to join Nato at the summit in Vilnius next month, with Nato members reportedly close to agreeing incremental steps to strengthen ties with Kyiv.

Lithuania has been one of the staunchest supporters of Ukraine in Nato and the EU, and is buying Nasams air defence systems for Ukraine from a Norwegian company.

The presidents will discuss “the Nato summit agenda”, Ukraine’s European Union membership negotiations, and European support for Ukraine, Nauseda’s office said in a statement.

Nauseda will then head to a European Union leaders’ summit in Brussels on Thursday and Friday.

Sweden ‘will become a Nato member’, PM insists

Wednesday 28 June 2023 09:21 , Andy Gregory

Sweden still wants to join Nato no later than the alliance’s summit in Vilnius next month, prime minister Ulf Kristersson has said, as he conceded it was not certain this would be possible.

“Sweden will become a Nato member,” Mr Kristersson told public service broadcaster SVT. “Nobody can promise it will happen specifically in Vilnius or right ahead of Vilnius, even if that has been our ambition all along. And that is an ambition we share with every other Nato country as well.”

Turkey has blocked Sweden’s accession, accusing Stockholm of harbouring members of what it considers terrorist groups and expressing outrage over anti-Turkish demonstrations in the Nordic country. Sweden has said freedom of speech is firmly enshrined in its constitution and that it has lived up to all the requirements set out in an agreement struck in Madrid last year with Turkey and Finland.

Swedish and Turkish officials met on 14 June for what Sweden’s chief negotiator characterised as good talks, and are due to hold another high level meeting in Brussels organised by Nato chief Jens Stoltenberg before the Vilnius summit.

“We’ve also said that we respect that it is Turkey that makes Turkish decisions and it is good we now have another meeting ... and maybe we can address the odd question mark ahead of the Vilnius summit in that kind of conversation,” Mr Kristersson said.

Lukashenko claims he persuaded Putin not to ‘wipe out’ Prigozhin

Wednesday 28 June 2023 09:13 , Andy Gregory

Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko has claimed he persuaded Vladimir Putin not to “wipe out” mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin during the shortlived mutiny last weekend.

Mr Putin initially vowed to crush the mutiny, but hours later a deal was clinched to allow the Wagner boss and some of his fighters to go to Belarus, where he arrived by plane on Tuesday.

Describing his conversation with Mr Putin, Mr Lukashenko used the criminal slang phrase for killing someone, equivalent to the English phrase to “wipe out”, echoing Mr Putin’s vow in 1999 to “wipe out [Chechen militants] in the “s***house”, which became widely quoted and emblematic for some of his severe tendencies.

“I also understood: a brutal decision had been made (and it was the undertone of Putin’s address) to wipe out” the mutineers, Mr Lukashenko told a meeting of his army officials and journalists, according to Belarusian state media.

“I suggested to Putin not to rush. ‘Come on,’ I said, ‘Let’s talk with Prigozhin, with his commanders.’ To which he told me: ‘Listen, Sasha, it’s useless. He doesn’t even pick up the phone, he doesn’t want to talk to anyone’.”

Mr Lukashenko, both an old acquaintance of Mr Prigozhin and close ally of Mr Putin, claimed he had advised the Russian president to think “beyond our own noses” and warned that Mr Prigozhin’s elimination could lead to a widespread revolt by his fighters, adding that his own army could benefit from the experience of Wagner troops.

“This is the most trained unit in the army,” BelTA state agency quoted Lukashenko as saying. “Who will argue with this? My military also understand this, and we don’t have such people in Belarus.”

Later, Mr Lukashenko told his military that “people fail to understand that we are approaching this in a pragmatic way”, adding: “They’ve been through it, they’ll tell us about the weaponry – what worked well, which worked badly.”

Three teenagers among eight dead in Kramatorsk restaurant bombing, say officials

Wednesday 28 June 2023 08:41 , Andy Gregory

Three children are among eight people killed in a Russian missile attack on a restaurant and several houses in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk, authorities have said, as they continue to clear rubble and search for survivors.

At least 56 people were also wounded in the attack at a restaurant frequented by journalists, aid workers and soldiers who use Kramatorsk as a base of operations, with the city lying only a few miles from the front line.

The shelling occurred when people had returned from work, said prosecutor general Andrii Kostin, adding that the three dead children were aged between 14 and 17.

Ukraine’s State Emergency Service said that rescuers continued to clear rubble from the site and search for more survivors.

Russia still likely to withdraw from Black Sea grain deal, state media reports

Wednesday 28 June 2023 08:35 , Andy Gregory

The probability of Russia withdrawing from the Black Sea grain deal in July remains high, although talks continue, according to the state-backed RIA news agency, which cited an anonymous source.

Moscow has repeatedly complained it is not getting what it wanted from the deal brokered by the UN in a bid to ease global hunger, which has allowed grain to be shipped out of Ukrainian ports and expires on 18 July.

Ukrainian officials have cited Russia’s repeated threats to withdraw from the deal as among reasons why they feel they would be unable to trust Vladimir Putin in negotiations.