16:16
Kiev refuses to negotiate with Moscow when its troops are on Ukrainian territory
Ukraine will not negotiate with Russia as long as Moscow’s troops are on Ukrainian territory, the head of Ukraine’s presidential administration, Andriy Yermak, said on Friday. “These negotiations can only be considered after Russian troops leave our territory,” Andriy Iermak told a small media group including AFP. “Everyone understands that we will not talk to the Russians,” he added.
15:59
Wagner fighters began working as “instructors” in Belarus, Minsk says
Fighters from the Wagner paramilitary group have started working as “instructors” for Belarus’ territorial defense forces, Minsk announced on Friday, three weeks after Russia’s failed Wagner uprising. “Near Asipovichi”, in the east of the country, “training sessions with units of the territorial troops” are held, the Belarusian Defense Ministry said. “Wagner fighters play the role of instructors in a number of military disciplines.”
15:44
Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced that Vladimir Putin would agree to a renewal of the grain agreement
Russian President Vladimir Putin “agrees with me” on extending the Black Sea Grains Agreement, which expires Monday night, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday. “We are preparing to welcome Mr. Putin in August and we agree on expanding the Black Sea grain corridor,” Recep Tayyip Erdogan told reporters after Friday prayers.
15:30
The Russian foreign minister is furious with critics of the war in Ukraine
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was annoyed by the criticism of the war in Ukraine in Jakarta on Friday, said the head of diplomacy in the European Union, Josep Borrell. “Lavrov answered me very aggressively and explained his point of view, saying that everything is ‘a Western conspiracy’ and the war will go on,” Josep said. Borrell speaking to the press after an Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) meeting in Jakarta.
14:41
Ukraine claims to have advanced nearly 2km south in a week
The Ukrainian army has made progress in its week-long, 1.7-kilometer counteroffensive against Melitopol in the southern front area, a military spokesman said on Friday.
Ukrainian forces “continue to conduct offensive operations” towards Melitopol, a major Ukrainian city under Russian control, and “tank-backed assault brigades advanced 1.7 km in that area in a week,” according to a briefing said by this spokesman , Colonel Mykola Ourchalovitch.
14:39
Russia closes Polish consulate in Smolensk
Russia on Friday ordered the closure of Poland’s consulate in Smolensk, a Russian city in the west of the country near an important site of Polish memory, according to a decree signed by Prime Minister Mikhail Mikhoutin. “The prevailing atmosphere in Poland of unbridled Russophobia, which is about to assume pathological traits, precludes any ‘gesture of goodwill’ on our part,” the Russian press release reads.
“The proposal of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs to close the Polish consulate in Smolensk (…) is accepted,” reads the document published on the official Russian portal. A statement by Russian diplomacy said Polish Ambassador to Moscow Krzysztof Krajewski was summoned to the Foreign Ministry on Friday and received a note warning him about the closure.
14:37
The Kremlin is considering legalizing private military companies
The Kremlin said Friday it was considering legalizing private military companies, including the Wagner Group, whose existence is still not currently allowed under Russian law, despite its involvement in the conflict in Ukraine. “Legally speaking, the private military company Wagner does not exist and has never existed, this is an issue that needs to be investigated and further investigated,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
Also read: In Russia, the displeasure of the nationalists after the fall of Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigoyine is unbroken
According to Dmitry Peskov, it is “a rather complex issue concerning the legal status of such companies that needs to be studied”. These statements by the spokesman of the Russian Presidency follow a similar statement made by Vladimir Putin in an interview with the newspaper Kommersant the day before.
09:37
Ukraine says it shot down 16 Russian explosive drones last night
The Ukrainian air force says it shot down 16 high-explosive drones, out of the 17 fired by Russia overnight.
From Thursday evening to Friday morning, Russia “attacked Ukraine from the southeast with 17 Iranian-made Shahed 136/131 combat drones,” the Ukrainian military said on Telegram.
09:08
Vladimir Putin says Yevgeny Prigozhin turned down one of his offers
Russian President Vladimir Putin said he offered Wagner’s men to serve under someone else’s official command, but their leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin, turned down the offer after his mutiny was called off. In an interview with Russian newspaper Kommersant published last night, the Russian President revealed details of his June 29 meeting in the Kremlin with Yevgeny Prigoyine and the commanders of the Wagner Group.
Wagner’s soldiers “could have been united in one place and continued to serve. Nothing would have changed for them, they would have been led by the person who was their actual commander all that time,” he says. Kommersant states that the person mentioned by the Russian president is a Wagner commander with the pseudonym “Sedoï” – gray hair – who, according to the president, has actually led the paramilitaries on the Ukrainian front for the past 16 months.
Also read: Yevgeny Prigoyine is in Moscow, two weeks after his failed Blitz uprising
“A lot [de commandants de Wagner] nodded when I said that. But [Evgueni] Prigozhin, who was sitting in front, did not see him and, having listened, said: “No, the guys do not agree with this solution,” Vladimir assures. cheese fries. In his interview, he also addresses the Wagner Group’s lack of official legal status in Russia, where private military companies are not legally permitted.
07:15
The Pentagon says Wagner is no longer “substantially” involved in the fighting in Ukraine
Mercenaries from the Russian paramilitary group Wagner are no longer “substantially” involved in combat operations in Ukraine, the Pentagon says. The US believes “the majority” of Wagner’s fighters are still in Russian-held Ukrainian territory, Pentagon spokesman General Pat Ryder said at a news conference.
In late June, the paramilitary group, which played a key role in Moscow’s offensive in Ukraine, attempted a lightning riot to overthrow Russia’s military leadership. Evgueni Prigojine, head of the group, had assured that his uprising was not intended to overthrow power, but to save Wagner from being dismantled by the Russian general staff – whom he accuses of incompetence in the conflict in Ukraine.
The mutiny ended on the evening of June 24 with an agreement that provided for Yevgueni Prigojine to leave for Belarus. Its fighters were offered by Russian President Vladimir Putin to join regular troops, emigrate to Belarus or return to civilian life.
06:50
Ukrainian grain at the heart of UN-EU talks
The deal on Ukrainian grain exports, which expires on July 17, is the focus of a meeting between the United Nations and the EU in La Hulpe, Belgium. This meeting comes as Russian President Vladimir Putin said yesterday that “not a single” Russian demand had been taken into account in the negotiations to extend the agreement on exports of Ukrainian grain. “The ball is in President Putin’s hands,” said EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. “Russia has a responsibility to extend the agreement, otherwise there will be global food insecurity,” she said.
“Multilateralism is more important than ever: to bring peace, protect the planet, end hunger,” added Antonio Guterres. Russia said last week it saw “no reason” to extend the deal and lamented obstacles to its own supply of agricultural products. The Black Sea Grains Initiative, signed in Istanbul in July 2022 with Russia and Ukraine under the auspices of Turkey and the United Nations, has enabled almost 33 million tons of grain to be exported from Ukraine despite the war.
05:23
3,000 additional American reservists in Europe
According to a Pentagon statement, US President Joe Biden has authorized the Pentagon to send up to 3,000 reservists from Europe. This new privilege allows the reservists to be integrated into Operation Atlantic Resolve, ongoing operations in support of NATO and its eastern flank. The United States has more than 100,000 military personnel in Europe
04:50
AFP journalist Arman Soldin, who was killed in Ukraine, has been made a Knight of the Legion of Honour
A portrait of Arman Soldin on a wall in a village in Chernihiv region. — © GENYA SAVILOV / AFP
According to the Official Journal, AFP video journalist Arman Soldin, who was killed on duty in Ukraine on May 9, was posthumously awarded the Legion of Honour. Arman Soldin was awarded “the rank of knight” and “with effect from June 28, 2023” by “Decree of the President of the Republic of July 13, 2023”, according to the official gazette published overnight.
02:26
Cluster bombs have already been delivered to the Ukrainian army
According to military officials from both countries, Ukraine’s armed forces have already received the cluster munitions promised by Washington. This controversial armament was intended to help Kiev in its slow counter-offensive against the Russian army. “We just got them. “We haven’t used them yet, but they can radically change the situation on the battlefield,” said Oleksandre Tarnavsky, commander of the counteroffensive in the south of the country, in an interview with American television CNN.
“The enemy also understands that by receiving these ammunition, we have an advantage,” Oleksandre Tarnavsky said, assuring that the Ukrainian armed forces would not use these weapons in densely populated areas. “The Russians believe that we will use it in all areas of the front […] That’s completely wrong,” he argued. In Washington, a senior American official, Lt. Gen. Douglas Sims, confirmed to the press that these weapons are now “in Ukraine.”