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 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’.”

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

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

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

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

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?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

Countdown of end to Putin’s regime has begun, says Zelensky’s adviser

07:55 , Arpan Rai

Officials in Kyiv are speculating an end to Vladimir Putin’s regime in Moscow after the recent tremor served by a brief mutiny led by Wagner’s Yevgeny Prigozhin alongside the continuing war in Ukraine.

“I think the countdown has started,” said Andriy Yermak, adviser to Volodymyr Zelensky said, refering to Mr Putin’s presidentship.

“What Ukraine has seen since 2014 has become evident for the entire world,” Mr Yermak said at a briefing in Kyiv.

He added: “This is a terrorist country whose leader is an inadequate person who has lost connection with reality. The world must conclude that it’s impossible to have any kind of serious relationship with that country.”

The rebellious mercenary soldiers who briefly took over a Russian military headquarters on an ominous march toward Moscow were gone over the weekend, but the short-lived revolt has weakened Mr Putin just as his forces are facing a fierce counteroffensive in Ukraine.

“Putin is much diminished and the Russian military, and this is significant as far as Ukraine is concerned,” said Lord Richard Dannatt, former chief of the general staff of the British armed forces. “... Prigozhin has left the stage to go to Belarus, but is that the end of Yevgeny Prigozhin and the Wagner Group?”

Senior Russian general knew about Wagner’s mutiny plans – report

06:45 , Arpan Rai

General Sergey Surovikin, the deputy commander of Russia’s military operations in Ukraine, had advance knowledge that the mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin was planning a rebellion against Moscow’s defence officials.

The New York Times cited US officials briefed on US intelligence regarding the matter, and reported that the officials were “trying to learn if Gen. Sergey Surovikin, the former top Russian commander in Ukraine, helped plan Mr Prigozhin’s actions last weekend.”

Officials in Washington also said there were signs that other Russian generals also may have supported Mr Prigozhin, the report added.

The Wagner chief flew into exile in Belarus yesterday under a deal that ended a brief mutiny by his Wagner fighters over the weekend, as Vladimir Putin praised his armed forces for averting a civil war.

US sanctions gold companies suspected of supporting Wagner mercenaries in Russia

06:26 , Arpan Rai

The US moved 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.

Read the full story here:

US sanctions gold companies suspected of supporting Wagner mercenaries in Russia

Ukraine’s main troop reserves yet to be used, says defence minister

06:12 , Arpan Rai

The liberation of a group of villages under Russian occupation in recent weeks were “not the main event” in Kyiv’s planned attack, Oleksiy Reznikov, Ukraine defence minister told the Financial Times.

“When it happens, you will all see it... Everyone will see everything,” he told FT in an interview published today, brushing aside media coverage of slow progress against well-fortified Russian positions.

Ukraine‘s main troop reserves, including most brigades recently trained in the West and equipped with modern Nato tanks and armoured vehicles, have yet to be used in the operation, Mr Reznikov said.

Death toll in Kramatorsk attack rises to eight

05:53 , Arpan Rai

The death toll has risen to eight from Russia’s attack on the eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk, Ukraine’s emergency services said today.

Another 56 people were injured, officials said.

“Rescuers are working through the rubble of the destroyed building and searching for people who are probably still under it,” officials of the emergency services said on the Telegram messaging app.

Two Russian missiles struck Kramatorsk yesterday, targeting a crowded restaurant in the city centre. Three people were pulled from the rubble, the emergency services added.

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

05:18 , Arpan Rai

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.Asked about this U-turn by The Associated Press during a conference call with reports on Tuesday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov refused to comment.

Prigozhin’s escape from prosecution – at least for now – was in stark contrast to how the Kremlin has deals with anti-government protests like speaking out against the war in Ukraine or challenging Putin’s rule.

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

05:00 , 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

Zelensky says ‘Russian savages’ shelled Kramatorsk with S-300 missiles

04:41 , Arpan Rai

Volodymyr Zelensky has accused Russia of using S-300 surface-to-air missiles on the shopping mall in Kramatorsk in Donetsk.

“Exactly on the anniversary of the Russian terrorists’ attack on Kremenchuk, on the shopping mall, when 22 people were killed, Russian savages again fired missiles at the Kremenchuk district,” the Ukrainian president said in his nightly address yesterday.

He added: “Today, Russian terrorists also brutally shelled Kramatorsk. S-300 missiles. Three people were killed, including a child. My condolences to the families and friends. As of this hour, more than 40 people are wounded. Assistance is being provided to all. The rubble is being cleared.”

“Each such manifestation of terror proves over and over again to us and to the whole world that Russia deserves only one thing as a result of everything it has done – defeat and a tribunal, fair and legal trials against all Russian murderers and terrorists,” Mr Zelensky said.

The S-300 is a family of surface-to-air missiles, originally developed by the Soviet Union. It was first put into operation in the late 1970s after a decade of development. Military analysts say Russia has appeared to use repurposed S-300 missiles to strike ground targets during the war in Ukraine - a sign of potentially dwindling missile supplies.

S-300 missiles are intended to shoot down aircraft, drones and incoming cruise and ballistic missiles.

Photos capture grim attack on civilians in Donetsk’s Kramatorsk

04:18 , Arpan Rai

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

04:00 , 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

Four killed in Russian missile strike on restaurant

03:52 , Arpan Rai

At least four people, including one child, have been killed in eastern Ukraine city Kramatorsk after two Russian missiles struck a restaurant, leaving rescue workers to comb through a shattered building for casualties.

Another 42 people who were present at the restaurant were injured, the city council in Kramatorsk said.

In Kramatorsk, emergency workers scurried in and out of the shattered restaurant as residents stood outside embracing and surveying the damage.

The building was reduced to a twisted web of metal beams. Police and soldiers emerged with a man in military trousers and boots on a stretcher. He was placed in an ambulance, though it was not clear whether he was still alive.

The city in frontline oblast of Donetsk has been a target of Russian attacks frequently.

One of the missiles also hit a village on the fringes of Kramatorsk, leaving five injured.

US to give Ukraine $500m in additional military aid, announces Pentagon

03:43 , Arpan Rai

The United States will provide Ukraine with a new military package worth up to $500m (£392m), the Pentagon has announced.

This is the 41st such security assistance package approved by the US for Ukraine since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February last year, marking a show of support.

Ground vehicles including Bradley fighting vehicles and Stryker armored personnel carriers, and munitions for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems have been included in this tranche, a statement from the Pentagon read.

The package “includes key capabilities to support Ukraine‘s counteroffensive operations, strengthen its air defenses ... and other equipment to help Ukraine push back on Russia’s war of aggression,” the Pentagon said.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said he was “sincerely grateful’ for the defence assistance package.

“Additional Bradley and Stryker armored vehicles, ammunition for HIMARS, Patriots and Stingers will add even more power,” he said.

Analysis: Exiled warlord Yevgeny Prigozhin sends defiant message in Russia’s game of thrones

03:00 , Joe Middleton

His advance on Moscow has been likened by some to Mussolini’s march on Rome – but can the mercenary contninue to escape Putin’s wrath, asks Kim Sengupta

Exiled warlord Yevgeny Prigozhin sends defiant message in Russia’s game of thrones

Comment: Putin will cling on to power until people inside the Kremlin are up for the fight

02:00 , Joe Middleton

Prigozhin’s march on Moscow will have frightened Putin – but the Russian leader survived because no other senior figures joined the call for change, writes historian Peter Frankopan.

What the coup that never was tells us about Putin’s grip on power | Peter Frankopan

Who is Yevgeny Prigozhin? The exiled Wagner Group mercenary chief who rebelled against Putin

01:00 , Joe Middleton

Once a low-profile businessman who benefited from having President Vladimir Putin as a powerful patron, Yevgeny Prigozhin moved into the global spotlight with Russia’s war in Ukraine.

As the leader of a mercenary force who depicts himself as fighting many of the Russian military’s toughest battles in Ukraine, the 62-year-old Prigozhin has now moved into his most dangerous role yet: preaching open rebellion against his country’s military leadership.

Prigozhin, owner of the Kremlin-allied Wagner Group, has escalated what have been months of scathing criticism of Russia’s conduct of the war by calling on Friday for an armed uprising to oust the defense minister. Russian security services reacted immediately, opening a criminal investigation and demanding Prigozhin’s arrest.

Who is Yevgeny Prigozhin?

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

Tuesday 27 June 2023 23:59 , 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

Mapped: Has Ukraine made advances against Russia?

Tuesday 27 June 2023 23:00 , 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?

Russian missiles hit restaurant in Ukraine’s Kramatorsk, killing four and injuring 42

Tuesday 27 June 2023 22:17 , Joe Middleton

Two Russian missiles struck the eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk on Tuesday and killed at least four people, police and the military said.

Ukraine‘s national police put the death toll from the attack at four dead and 42 injured.

Emergency workers were pictured moving in and out of the restaurant as residents stood outside embracing and surveying the damage from the strike.

Kramatorsk is a major city west of the front lines in Donetsk province and a likely key objective in any Russian advance westward seeking to capture all of the region.

The city has been a frequent target of Russian attacks, including a strike on the town’s railway station in April 2022 that killed 63 people.

Devastation of 'living hell' Bakhmut captured in eerie drone footage

Tuesday 27 June 2023 22:00 , Joe Middleton

US sanctions gold firms connected to Russian Wagner mercenary group

Tuesday 27 June 2023 20:55 , Joe Middleton

The US on Tuesday imposed sanctions on four firms and one individual connected to the Wagner Group, the Russian mercenaries that led a brief revolt against the Kremlin last week.

The sanctions from Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control targeted entities in the Central African Republic, the United Arab Emirates and Russia that were connected to the Wagner Group and its founder Yevgeny Prigozhin.

The sanctions are not directly related to last week’s uprising. The U.S. has previously issued sanctions against Prigozhin and the Wagner Group multiple times, including alleging that he tried to interfere with the 2016 U.S. election.

US sanctions gold firms connected to Russian Wagner mercenary group

The end of the Wagner mutiny has tightened Putin’s grip on Belarus – but Lukashenko won’t care

Tuesday 27 June 2023 19:20 , Eleanor Noyce

The talks between Mr Lukashenko and Mr Prigozhin were very difficult. They immediately blurted out such vulgar things it would make any mother cry. The conversation was hard, it was masculine”.

Vadim Gigin, a Belarusian propagandist, was describing the negotiations between President Alexander Lukashenko and Yevgeny Prigozhin which brought the extraordinary attempted coup in Russia to an end after a tumultuous 24 hours.

The agreement, under which the Kremlin agreed to drop criminal charges against Prigozhin and his Wagner mercenaries who took part in the rebellion, averted a catastrophic civil war and, arguably, may have saved Vladimir Putin from being overthrown.

Having proven his worth as a vassal to the Russian leader, the Belarusian president is in a more secure position than he has been for years, writes Kim Sengupta:

The end of the Wagner mutiny has tightened Putin’s grip on Belarus | Kim Sengupta

Putin will cling on to power until people inside the Kremlin are up for the fight

Tuesday 27 June 2023 18:50 , Eleanor Noyce

It was over almost as soon as it started. The events that unfolded on Saturday looked ominous. As Yevgeny Prigozhin and his Wagner Group took control of Rostov-on-Don and began to move on Moscow, the Russian authorities were certainly rattled.

Orders were given to dig up roads, to slow down the column of military vehicles apparently heading north; lorries were lined up to block motorways; Red Square was closed to visitors as steps were taken to boost security; government planes took off for the apparent safety of St Petersburg – though who was aboard was unclear.

Prigozhin’s march on Moscow will have frightened Putin – but the Russian leader survived because no other senior figures joined the call for change, writes historian Peter Frankopan:

What the coup that never was tells us about Putin’s grip on power | Peter Frankopan

Who is Yevgeny Prigozhin? The exiled Wagner Group mercenary chief who rebelled against Putin

Tuesday 27 June 2023 18:20 , Eleanor Noyce

Once a low-profile businessman who benefited from having President Vladimir Putin as a powerful patron, Yevgeny Prigozhin moved into the global spotlight with Russia’s war in Ukraine.

As the leader of a mercenary force who depicts himself as fighting many of the Russian military’s toughest battles in Ukraine, the 62-year-old Prigozhin has now moved into his most dangerous role yet: preaching open rebellion against his country’s military leadership.

Prigozhin, owner of the Kremlin-allied Wagner Group, has escalated what have been months of scathing criticism of Russia’s conduct of the war by calling on Friday for an armed uprising to oust the defense minister. Russian security services reacted immediately, opening a criminal investigation and demanding Prigozhin’s arrest.

Ellen Knickmeyer reports:

Who is Yevgeny Prigozhin?

Mapped: Has Ukraine made advances against Russia?

Tuesday 27 June 2023 17:50 , Eleanor Noyce

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.

Here, we take a look at the advances Ukraine has made against Russia and the current state of play:

Mapped: Has Ukraine made advances against Russia?

Baltic states call for NATO to increase security with Wagner in Belarus

Tuesday 27 June 2023 17:20 , Eleanor Noyce

Latvia and Lithuania called on Tuesday for NATO to strengthen its eastern borders in response to expectations that Russia’s Wagner private will set up a new base in Belarus after its abortive mutiny at home.

Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin arrived in Belarus on Tuesday under a deal negotiated by President Alexander Lukashenko that ended the mercenaries’ mutiny in Russia on Saturday. Russian President Vladimir Putin said Wagner’s fighters would be offered the choice of relocating there.

“This move needs to be assessed from a different security point of view. We have seen the capabilities of those mercenaries,” Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics told reporters during a visit to Paris with Baltic counterparts.

Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis said the speed with which Wagner had advanced on Moscow - driving hundreds of kilometres in a one-day race towards the capital - showed that the defence of Baltic states should be firmed up.

“Our countries’ borders are just hundreds of kilometres from that activity so it could take them 8-10 hours to suddenly appear somewhere in Belarus close to Lithuania,” Landsbergis said. “It is creating a more volatile, unpredictable environment for our region.”

“We need to take the defence of the Baltic region very seriously,” he said.

The Baltic envoys’ visit to France comes as Western powers gear up for a NATO summit next month in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius.

Wagner’s arrival in Belarus should be viewed “in light of the NATO summit and all discussions that we are having about defence, deterrence and the necessary decisions to strengthen the security of the eastern flank,” said Latvia’s Rinkevics.

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

Tuesday 27 June 2023 17:00 , Eleanor Noyce

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.

Frank Jordans has the full story:

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

Belarus leader says he talked Prigozhin back from brink

Tuesday 27 June 2023 16:52 , Eleanor Noyce

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said on Tuesday that he had convinced Yevgeny Prigozhin in an emotional, expletive-laden phone call to end a mutiny by his Wagner militia that has jolted Russia.

Under a deal brokered by Lukashenko, an old friend, Prigozhin abandoned what a “march for justice” by thousands of his men on Moscow in exchange for safe passage to exile in Belarus.

His men - who have spearheaded much of Russia’s military campaign in Ukraine - were also pardoned and have been given the choice of joining Prigozhin in Belarus, being integrated into Russia’s security forces, or simply going home.

Lukashenko, recounting his role in Saturday’s drama to Belarusian officers and officials, hailed Prigozhin as a “heroic guy” who had been shaken by the deaths of many of his men in Ukraine.

“He was pressured and influenced by those who led the assault squads (in Ukraine) and saw these deaths,” Lukashenko said, adding that Prigozhin had arrived in the southern Russian city of Rostov from Ukraine in a “semi-mad state”.

With Prigozhin’s men having seized Rostov and others heading for Moscow, Lukashenko said he tried for hours by phone to reason with the Wagner chief, who has said he was furious at corruption and incompetence in the military leadership and wanted to avenge an alleged army attack on his men.

Lukashenko said their calls contained “10 times” as many obscenities as normal language.

“‘But we want justice! They want to strangle us! We’re going to Moscow!’” he quoted Prigozhin as saying.

“I say: ‘Halfway you’ll just be crushed like a bug’,” Lukashenko replied.

Lukashenko also said that, earlier on Saturday, Russian President Vladimir Putin had sought his help, complaining that Prigozhin was not taking any calls. Lukashenko said he had advised Putin against “rushing” to crush the mutineers.

Prigozhin said on Monday he had never planned to topple Putin’s government but wanted Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and the chief of the General Staff, Valery Gerasimov, sacked.

“Nobody will give you either Shoigu or Gerasimov,” Lukashenko said he told Prigozhin, finally convincing him that Moscow would be defended and to continue the mutiny would engulf Russia in turmoil and grief.

Belarusian president makes first speech since Wagner jet lands near Minsk after Russian mutiny

Tuesday 27 June 2023 16:45 , Eleanor Noyce

Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko made his first public statement on Tuesday (27 June) after mediating a deal to halt a mutiny against Russia by the Wagner forces.

Under the deal, the mercenary group’s leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin, is meant to move to Belarus.

Data from a flight tracking website shows a Russian-registered Embraer Legacy 600 jet, which is linked to Prigozhin, flew to Belarus from Russia on Tuesday.

“We are clearly seeing a new wave of Nato expansion, and an unprecedented build-up of the potential of the alliance’s members in the region, including in close vicinity to our borders,” Lukashenko said, failing to mention Prigozhin.

Belarus president makes first speech since Wagner jet lands near Minsk after mutiny

Russia summons Israel's charge d'affaires over Ukraine ambassador's comments

Tuesday 27 June 2023 16:43 , Eleanor Noyce

Russia’s foreign ministry on Tuesday said it had summoned the charge d’affaires of Israel over comments made by Israel’s ambassador to Kyiv.

Wagner moving to Belarus is bad for Poland, says Polish president

Tuesday 27 June 2023 16:30 , Eleanor Noyce

The movement of Wagner Group troops to Belarus is a negative signal for Poland, president Andrzej Duda said on Tuesday, as he headed for talks with other NATO leaders in the Netherlands.

“We see what is happening, the relocation of Russian forces in the form of the Wagner Group to Belarus, and the head of the Wagner Group going there, those are all very negative signals for us which we want to raise strongly with our allies,” he told reporters.

Lukashenko says Belarus ready to accommodate Wagner mercenaries on abandoned base - BELTA

Tuesday 27 June 2023 16:15 , Eleanor Noyce

Belarus is not building any camps for Russia’s mercenary Wagner group, but will accommodate them if they want, the Belarusian state news agency BELTA quoted President Alexander Lukashenko as saying on Tuesday.

“We offered them one of the abandoned military bases. Please - we have a fence, we have everything - put up your tents,” Lukashenko said.

Under a deal brokered by Lukashenko late on Saturday that ended a mutiny by the Wagner fighters, they were allowed either to join Russia’s regular armed forces, move with their leader Yevgeny Prigozhin into exile in Belarus, or simply return to their families.

Lukashenko was also quoted as saying there were no plans to open any Wagner recruitment centres in Belarus.

Ukraine reprimands Kyiv mayor Klitschko after bomb shelter audit

Tuesday 27 June 2023 16:00 , Eleanor Noyce

Ukraine‘s government reprimanded Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko on Tuesday after criticism of city officials over the state of bomb shelters following the deaths of three people locked out on the street during a Russian air raid.

The government said it had dismissed the heads of two districts under the Kyiv military administration, and two acting heads of districts.

It was not immediately clear whether Klitschko, a former boxer, would face any further action.

Uncertainty about his political future grew after President Volodymyr Zelensky criticised city officials over the 1 June incident, in which two women and a girl were killed by falling debris after rushing to a Kyiv shelter and finding it shut.

Zelensky ordered an audit of all bomb shelters after the three deaths and said personnel changes would be made. The audit found only 15% of Kyiv’s 4,655 bomb shelters were suitable and only 44% were freely accessible.

Prigozhin to be investigated after being paid $2 billion in a year - Putin

Tuesday 27 June 2023 15:44 , Eleanor Noyce

President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday that the finances of Wagner mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin’s catering firm would be investigated after his mutiny, saying Wagner and its founder had received almost $2 billion from Russia in the past year.

Putin initially vowed to crush the mutiny, comparing it to the wartime turmoil that ushered in the revolutions 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.

Speaking to soldiers from the Russian army at a meeting in the Kremlin, Putin said he had always respected Wagner’s fighters, but that the fact was the group had been “fully financed” from the state budget.

He said it had received 86 billion roubles ($1 billion) from the defence ministry between May 2022 and May 2023.

In addition, Prigozhin’s Concord catering company made 80 billion roubles from state contracts to supply food to the Russian army, Putin said.

“I do hope that, as part of this work, no one stole anything, or, let’s say, stole less, but we will, of course, investigate all of this.”

Prigozhin, whom Putin did not mention by name, could not be reached for immediate comment on Putin‘s remarks.

He said earlier this year that he had always financed Wagner but had looked for additional financing after the war began in Ukraine.

He said on Monday that he had not been trying to overthrow the Russian state and that he remained a patriot who was trying to settle scores with the defence ministry.

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

Tuesday 27 June 2023 15:05 , Matt Mathers

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.

Read Mary’s full comment piece here:

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

Exiled warlord Yevgeny Prigozhin sends defiant message in Russia’s game of thrones

Tuesday 27 June 2023 13:40 , Matt Mathers

His advance on Moscow has been likened by some to Mussolini’s march on Rome – but can the mercenary contninue to escape Putin’s wrath, asks Kim Sengupta.

Read Kim’s full analysis here:

Exiled warlord Yevgeny Prigozhin sends defiant message in Russia’s game of thrones

Putin will cling on to power until people inside the Kremlin are up for the fight

Tuesday 27 June 2023 13:20 , Matt Mathers

Prigozhin’s march on Moscow will have frightened Putin – but the Russian leader survived because no other senior figures joined the call for change, writes historian Peter Frankopan.

Read Peter’s full piece here:

What the coup that never was tells us about Putin’s grip on power | Peter Frankopan

Pope Francis’ peace envoy to visit Moscow this week

Tuesday 27 June 2023 12:57 , Matt Mathers

An Italian cardinal tasked by Pope Francis with trying to help end the war in Ukraine will visit Moscow this week as a follow up to his trip to Kyiv, the Vatican said on Tuesday.

Cardinal Matteo Zuppi Cardinal will be in the Russian capital on Wednesday and Thursday, a statement said.

“The main purpose of the initiative is to encourage humanitarian gestures, which can contribute to facilitating a solution to the current tragic situation and find ways to achieve a just peace,” the statement said.

It was not clear who Zuppi would meet in Moscow. He met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and religious leaders in Kyiv on June 6.

If Zuppi, 67, meets Russian President Vladimir Putin, he would be one of the first foreigners to do so since an aborted mutiny against the Russian military over the weekend.

A Vatican source said Zuppi’s trip had been at risk of being called off because of the attempted mutiny and the confusion surrounding it.

Zuppi told reporters last week that he would consult with the pope before leaving for Moscow. Speaking of his dual visits to the two capitals, he said it was “a pattern that needs to be woven for the resolution of the conflict”.

Russia strikes Ukrainian city on anniversary of deadly attack

Tuesday 27 June 2023 12:29 , Matt Mathers

Russia hit a cluster of buildings in a missile strike on Kremenchuk in central Ukraine on Tuesday, the first anniversary of a deadly attack on a shopping mall in the city, Ukrainian officials said.

Dmytro Lunin, governor of the Poltava region that includes Kremenchuk, said what he described as a dacha - or cottage - cooperative had been struck, but reported no casualties.

Ukrainian officials said at the time that at least 18 people were killed at the Amstor shopping mall during a Russian missile strike on Kremenchuk on June 27, 2022. Later reports put the toll at least 20.

"The enemy attacked Poltava region. Just like a year ago on this day, with X-22 missiles," Lunin wrote on the Telegram messaging app.

Russia did not immediately comment on the attack. It has regularly carried out air strikes since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

File photo of Kremenchuk:

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

Tuesday 27 June 2023 12:10 , Matt Mathers

Vladimir Putin has finally admitted how close Russia came to civil war during last weekend’s mutiny.

He told some 2,500 members of Russia’s security forces, National Guard and military units on Tuesday that the people and the armed forces had stood together in opposition to rebel mercenaries in Saturday’s aborted mutiny.

In an appearance on a square inside the Kremlin that looked designed to send a message that he remained firmly in control, Putin said: “You have defended the constitutional order, the lives, security and freedom of our citizens.

“You have saved our Motherland from upheaval. In fact, you have stopped a civil war,” Putin said.

Watch: Plane 'carrying Wagner boss Prigozhin' lands in Belarus

Tuesday 27 June 2023 11:56 , Matt Mathers

Data from a flight tracking website shows a Russian-registered Embraer Legacy 600 jet, which is linked to Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin , flew to Belarus from Russia on Tuesday (June 27), Holly Patrick reports:

Watch: Plane ‘carrying Wagner boss’ lands in Belarus after group’s armed rebellion

Charges against Prigozhin and others dropped

Tuesday 27 June 2023 10:50 , Matt Mathers

Russia’s chief mercenary Yevgeny Prigozhin and others involved in the weekend mutiny will not face charges, officials have said.

The Federal Security Service, or FSB, said its investigation had concluded that those involved in the mutiny “ceased activities directed at committing the crime.”

The charge of mounting an armed mutiny carries a punishment of up to 20 years in prison.

Prigozhin escaping prosecution poses a stark contrast to how the Kremlin has been treating those staging anti-government protests.

‘Living hell'

Tuesday 27 June 2023 10:35 , Matt Mathers

Eerie drone footage reveals the scale of destruction in Bakhmut - the scene of some of the most intense battles since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February.

“Even the fiercest battles of WWII pale in comparison with the living hell that is today’s #Bakhmut,” Ukraine’s defence ministry said in a caption accompanying the clip.

“This is Ukraine in the 21st century. This is our daily reality.”

Lukashenko claims he played role in ending Russian mutiny

Tuesday 27 June 2023 10:25 , Matt Mathers

Belarus president Alexander Lukashenko has claimed he played a role in ending the mutiny in Russia over the weekend.

It comes following reports that Yevgeny Prigozhin, the Wagner chief mercenary who led the revolt, landed in Belarus earlier this morning on a private jet.

“Given the role of Belarus in resolving this situation, I must say a few words here about what happened and explain our position and the decisions taken,” Mr Lukashenko said, referring to the deal.

He did not give many details of what role he played.

Russia has detained hundreds of civilians since Ukraine war began: UN

Tuesday 27 June 2023 10:08 , Matt Mathers

A UN monitoring mission in Ukraine said on Tuesday that Russia has detained more than 800 civilians since the conflict began last February, of whom 77 were executed.

The report showed that Ukraine had also violated international law by arbitrarily detaining civilians but on a considerably smaller scale.

"(The UN rights office) identified patterns of conduct which have resulted in arbitrary detention, as well as further human rights violations including torture, ill treatment and enforced disappearances," the report said, adding that the detentions by Russia had taken place in both Ukraine and Russia.

"While such conduct was found in relation to both parties to the conflict, there was greater prevalence of conduct attributed to forces of the Russian Federation."

UK should begin compiling lists of Britons in Russia, says senior Tory

Tuesday 27 June 2023 09:41 , Matt Mathers

Alicia Kearns, chair of the foreign affairs select committee, called on the Foreign Office to start compiling lists of British citizens in Russia in case they need to be evacuated, Adam Forrest reports.

Official travel advice to UK citizens continues to be to leave Russia.

Asked about British citizens inside the country on Monday, foreign secretary James Cleverly said: “We of course look at scenario planning to make sure we are able to respond to whatever happens.”

He added: “But we don’t force British nationals to register with the embassy so therefore it is not possible for us to give accurate figures.”