Vladimir Putin met on June 29 in the Kremlin with the leader of the paramilitary group Wagner, Yevgeny Prigojine, a few days after his aborted rebellion, the Russian presidency announced on Monday. The meeting lasted “almost three hours”, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, adding that it involved 35 people, including “all the commanders and leaders” of the Wagner group.
Information to remember:
- A Russian bombardment on a humanitarian aid center killed four people.
- The question of Ukraine’s integration into NATO will be discussed from Tuesday, when an Allies summit opens in Vilnius.
- Ukraine’s membership of NATO would be “very negative” for European security, the Kremlin argues.
- Ukraine says it liberated 14 square kilometers last week in the east and south of the country.
“The (Russian) president gave his assessment of the activities” of Wagner on the Ukrainian front, indicated Dmitri Peskov, as well as “his assessment of the events of June 24”, the date of the rebellion of the group. Vladimir Putin “listened to the explanations of the commanders (of Wagner) and offered them alternatives for their future work and their use for military purposes”, further affirmed the spokesman for the Russian president.
“The commanders (of Wagner) gave their version of the facts. They stressed that they were convinced supporters and soldiers of the head of state and commander-in-chief (Vladimir Putin) and affirmed that they were ready to continue to fight for the homeland,” he continued.
The Kremlin reacted to an article in the French daily Releasepublished on Friday, which, relying on Western intelligence sources, claimed that Yevgeny Prigojine was being held in the Kremlin where he was summoned with his main commanders.
Wagner’s rebellion, led on June 24, shook Russian power, in the midst of the conflict in Ukraine. For several hours, Wagner’s fighters occupied a Russian army headquarters in Rostov-on-Don (southwest) and traveled several hundred kilometers towards Moscow. The mutiny ended on the evening of June 24 with an agreement providing for the departure to Belarus of Yevgeny Prigojine, but the latter’s exact location has since been unknown. He has not spoken publicly since June 26.
For his part, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said last Thursday that Yevgeny Prigojine was still “free” in Russia, despite the agreement providing for his departure to Belarus. Yevgeny Prigojine assured that his uprising was not intended to overthrow power, but to save Wagner from a dismantling by the Russian general staff, which he violently accused for months of incompetence in the conflict in Ukraine.
Ukraine’s NATO membership would be ‘very negative’ for European security, Kremlin says
Ukraine’s membership of NATO would have “very negative” consequences for European security, the Kremlin said on Monday on the eve of an Alliance summit where Kiev’s candidacy will be debated. “Ukraine’s NATO membership will have very, very negative consequences for the entire European security architecture,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. “She will also pose an absolute threat to our country, which will require a clear and firm response from us,” he continued.
NATO leaders meet Tuesday and Wednesday in Lithuania for a summit that is expected to be dominated by the Alliance’s response to Russia’s military intervention in Ukraine and Kiev’s application for membership.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who will attend, said he does not expect Ukraine to join NATO before the end of the conflict, but he hopes the summit will give a “clear signal” to his country.
Vladimir Putin has repeatedly railed against NATO’s eastward expansion and accuses members of the Alliance of participating in the conflict by delivering arms to kyiv.
Russian bombardment of humanitarian aid center kills four
Four people were killed in Ukraine in a Russian bombardment on a humanitarian aid distribution center in central Orikhiv, the regional governor announced on Monday, calling the strike a “war crime”. “They hit a humanitarian aid distribution center in a residential area… Four people died on the spot: women aged 43, 45 and 47, and a 47-year-old man,” the official said. Governor Yuri Malachko on social networks.
The Ukrainian prosecutor general said in a statement that the strike took place around 1:20 p.m. (10:20 GMT) on Sunday and that it also injured 13 people. According to the Ukrainian Interior Ministry, she targeted a college “at a time when civilians were receiving humanitarian aid”. “An aerial bomb totally destroyed the building,” the ministry said on Telegram, adding that nearby residential buildings and civilian infrastructure were also damaged.
Footage of the damage has been released showing a totally destroyed two-story brick building surrounded by a host of broken beams and debris.
Orikhiv, a city of around 14,000 before the war, is located in the Zaporizhia region, one of four Ukrainian territories that Russia has claimed to be annexed in 2022 even though its army does not fully control them. The city is close to the front line, where Ukrainian forces have been trying since early June to retake heavily fortified positions from Russian forces.
Ukraine says it liberated 14 square kilometers last week
The Ukrainian army recaptured 14 square kilometers in the east and south of the country from Russian forces last week as part of its counter-offensive, spokesman Andrii Kovaliov said on Monday. “More than 10 km2 of Ukrainian land was liberated in southern Ukraine last week,” he told Ukrainian television, adding that 4 km2 were also liberated “in the Bakhmout sector”, in the East.
These figures bring to 193 km2 the total area taken over by Ukraine since the launch of its counter-offensive in early June. According to Andriï Kovaliov, the Ukrainian army has in fact taken over “169 km2 in the sectors of Melitopol and Berdyansk”, the two main towns in southern Ukraine currently under Russian control, and 24 km2 in the sector of Bakhmout, a city recently captured by Moscow after a long and extremely deadly siege.
“Ukrainian soldiers entrench themselves on the lines reached, inflict artillery damage on identified enemy targets. The enemy resists, transfers units, actively uses its reserves. Intense fighting is taking place here,” Andriy Kovalyov said. about the situation in Bakhmout. According to President Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian counter-offensive is progressing slowly against the Russian forces, entrenched behind strong defensive lines.
On Friday, kyiv obtained from the United States the delivery of the controversial cluster bombs, banned in many countries. Ukraine is also calling for more artillery and the delivery of F-16 fighter jets.