A strike at a restaurant in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk killed several people. In Russia, Vladimir thanked his soldiers for preventing a “civil war” during the failed Wagner group uprising.
After the episode of the failed uprising of the Wagner group, the war in Ukraine resumes. Kiev claims its “soldiers have made progress in all areas.” Meanwhile, at least three people died in a strike at a restaurant in central Kramatorsk, in eastern Ukraine. Here’s what to remember today.
Three people are killed in a strike at a Ukrainian restaurant
At least three people were killed and 42 injured in a Russian missile attack that hit a popular restaurant in central Kramatorsk in eastern Ukraine, according to authorities. “The bodies of three people who died, including a minor born in 2008, were cleared from the rubble. Among the injured is a child born in 2022,” the Interior Ministry assured on Telegram.
According to Ukrainian police, before the war Russia fired two S-300 surface-to-air missiles at the city of 150,000, the only major agglomeration in the east still under Ukrainian control. An AFP reporter at the scene of the strike saw ambulances, police, soldiers and the city’s mayor near this restaurant, Ria Pizza, with a crowd gathering outside.
Prigozhin arrives in Belarus
Belarus has announced the arrival of the head of the Wagner paramilitary group, Yevgeny Prigoyine, as part of a deal that ended its insurgency in Russia. According to the Belarusian head of state Alexander Lukashenko, Wagner’s boss has arrived or is about to arrive. “Prigozhin is already traveling by plane. Yes, in fact he is in Belarus today,” he said in an ambiguous statement to the official Belta news agency.
US announces $500 million in additional military aid to Ukraine
The US Department of Defense announced an additional US$500 million in military aid to Ukraine. In particular, the new delivery will include around fifty Bradley and Stryker armored vehicles, ammunition for Patriot air defense systems and Himars artillery systems, and mine clearance equipment, the Pentagon says.
According to the State Department spokesman, the US also wants to take new “measures” against the activities of the Wagner mercenary group in Africa this week. “You will see the United States take additional action” against the Wagner Group to hold them accountable for their “destructive” activities in Africa, he told the press.
Putin thanks soldiers who prevented “civil war”.
The Russian president has thanked the military for preventing a “civil war” during the paramilitary group’s uprising last weekend. “You and your brothers in arms opposed this riot, the result of which would inevitably have been chaos,” the head of state told soldiers in Moscow. A minute’s silence was then observed for pilots who died “discharging their duty with honor”.
More than 70 detained civilians were executed
According to a report by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the United Nations has registered 77 summary executions of civilians arbitrarily detained by Russia in Russian-occupied territories since the beginning of the Russian invasion. According to this document, the Russian armed forces “were involved in widespread acts of torture and ill-treatment.”
“It is a war crime and a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law,” said the head of the UN High Commissioner’s Ukraine office. The latter also recorded 864 cases of arbitrary detention by the Russian armed forces, law enforcement and prison authorities.