Death toll rise to nine in Kramatorsk missile attack
A wounded civilians shed tears after a Russian missile attack hits Ria restaurant in Kramatorsk, Ukraine on June 27, 2023.
Anadolu Agency | Getty Images
The body of a boy was pulled from the rubble of a constructing within the eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk on Wednesday, taking the death toll from a Tuesday missile strike to nine, town mayor said.
The official didn’t give the boy’s age.
The variety of those wounded within the strike on a busy local restaurant is claimed to have reached at the least 60.
— Karen Gilchrist
Countdown began on Kremlin regime, Ukraine official says
Ukraine sees an end to the leadership of Russian President Vladimir Putin on the horizon, following recent tensions between Russia’s defense officials and frontline-prominent paramilitary troop Wagner.
“I believe the countdown has began,” Andriy Yermak, close adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said in a Kyiv briefing, in response to the BBC.
Former Putin ally Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin briefly turned arms against Moscow over the weekend, dealing an unprecedented blow to the Kremlin regime despite the militia group’s ultimate withdrawal.
Prigozhin has accepted exile into Belarus in exchange for calling off the rebellion, which unveiled the depth of cracks in Russian unity.
— Ruxandra Iordache
Lithuania purchases air defense systems for Ukraine
Lithuania has acquired two NASAMS air defense systems that shall be transferred to Ukraine, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda said on Twitter, within the run-up to a summit of the NATO military alliance over July 11-12.
“Looking forward to more collective decisions on support to Ukraine on the #NATO summit in Vilnius,” the Lithuanian head of state added.
Ukraine has repeatedly entreated donations of air defense units to guard its skies from Russian missiles, with a deal with the costly U.S.-provided Patriot systems.
— Ruxandra Iordache
A minimum of eight dead in missile attack at Kramatorsk restaurant
Rescue teams work to seek out out survivors under the rubbleafter a Russian missile attack hits Ria restaurant in Kramatorsk, Ukraine on June 27, 2023.
Anadolu Agency | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images
A minimum of eight people were killed and 56 were injured in a Russian missile attack that struck a restaurant within the eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk, Ukrainian state emergency services said on Telegram, in response to a Google translation.
The toll includes three children.
Rescue operations to retrieve further potential victims from the rubble are ongoing.
Sergey Kruk, leader of the state emergency service of Ukraine, described the newest offensive as a “cynical missile attack,” in Twitter comments translated via Google.
CNBC couldn’t independently confirm developments on the bottom.
— Ruxandra Iordache
Belarus’ president urges against driving a wedge between him and Putin
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko advised government officials, analysts and bloggers in his country and Russia against attempts to set him “at odds” along with his Moscow counterpart and long-time ally Vladimir Putin, in response to Belarusian state-owned agency Belta.
His comments come after Belarus offered tenuous haven to Yevgeny Prigozhin, leader of Russian paramilitary group Wagner, whose short-lived coup attempt against the Moscow brass fizzled out over the weekend. Prigozhin has struck an amnesty cope with the Kremlin for exile in Belarus.
Recounting the beginning of his weekend negotiations with Prigozhin, Lukashenko said that Wagner forces on the frontline were “extremely dissatisfied,” particularly the commanding officers under whose “pressure and influence” the paramilitary leader acted, Belta reported on Tuesday.
— Ruxandra Iordache
Putin addresses Russians, calls Wagner revolt ‘criminal’
A screen grab captured from a video shows Russian President Vladimir Putin making an announcement amid escalating tensions between the Kremlin and the pinnacle of paramilitary group Wagner in Moscow on June 24, 2023.
Kremlin Press Office| Handout | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images
Russian President Vladimir Putin has delivered his first televised address since Wagner Group mercenaries instigated a failed mutiny against Russian military leaders over the weekend.
Putin called the revolt “criminal activity to separate and weaken the country, which is now confronting a colossal external threat,” meaning the international response to Putin’s illegal invasion of Ukraine.
The Russian president said the organizers of the armed rebellion can be “dropped at justice,” yet he didn’t mention Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin by name.
He also offered apparent clemency to the a whole bunch of Wagner mercenaries who participated within the armed march from the southern city of Rostov to about 200 miles outside Moscow.
The speech did little to make clear what comes next for the Wagner Group or for the Russian military, which was unprepared for the speed and ease with which the rebel convoy traveled through the country on major highways.
In his speech, Putin insisted his troops would have crushed the revolt if it had proceeded any further.
— Christina Wilkie
Plane linked to Wagner boss Prigozhin lands in Belarus
A personal business jet linked to Wagner Group boss Yevgeny Prigozhin landed in Belarus on Tuesday, data from flight-tracking website Flightradar24 showed.
The Embraer Legacy 600 aircraft, registration number RA-02795, matches the identification codes of the jet belonging to Prigozhin, in response to the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). It landed early on Tuesday morning near Minsk, having taken off from St. Petersburg shortly after 1 a.m. local time (5 p.m. ET Monday), though it shouldn’t be yet known who was on board.
Under the deal brokered by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko over the weekend, which brought a halt to Wagner’s revolt against Moscow, Prigozhin has been effectively exiled to Belarus. His exact whereabouts have been unknown for the reason that rebellion.
— Elliot Smith
Putin thanks Russian army for stopping ‘civil war’
Russian President Vladimir Putin speeches during his meeting with officers of Russian army and secret services who prevented invasion of PMC Wagner Group to Russian capital last weekend, on June 27, 2023 in Moscow, Russia.Â
Getty Images
President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday thanked Russia’s army and security services for stopping what he described as a civil war when faced with an armed mutiny over the weekend.
Speaking contained in the Kremlin, Putin told around 2,500 members of the military, security forces, and the National Guard that that they had defended their “motherland” against chaos.
“You may have defended the constitutional order, the lives, security and freedom of our residents. You may have saved our Motherland from upheaval. In truth, you’ve stopped a civil war,” Putin said.
“On this difficult situation, you’ve acted precisely and harmoniously, you’ve proved by your deeds your loyalty to the Russian people and the military oath. You may have shown your responsibility for the fate of our Motherland and its future,” he added.
The Kremlin said earlier Tuesday it didn’t agree with assessments that the weekend’s escalation led by the Wagner mercenary group had shaken Putin’s two-decade hold on power.
Putin also told those assembled on the Kremlin’s Cathedral Square that an unspecified variety of Russian military pilots had been killed when attempting to stop the advance of the mutineers
“Within the confrontation with the insurgents our comrades-in-arms, the aviators died,” said Putin.
“They didn’t falter and carried out their orders and their military duty with honor,” he added, requesting a minute’s silence for the dead pilots.
Russia’s Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, whose removal Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin had demanded, was also present on the square.
— Karen Gilchrist
