All the latest developments on the war in Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has continued to mobilize support for his hopes for an official invitation to join NATO.
A few days before the Vilnius summit, the Ukrainian leader delivered his message to Bulgaria, where he thanked for the support he had received in the face of Russian aggression.
Although the Bulgarian parliament approved a declaration in support of Ukraine’s NATO membership, President Rumen Radev spoke of peace.
“We want the main effort to be for peace,” he said. “We have not used all the means of diplomacy at the moment.”
Zelenskyi was scheduled for another meeting in Prague on Thursday and will meet with Turkish officials in Istanbul on Friday.
Prigozhin on the way
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin was no longer in Belarus and had returned to Russia, contrary to reports.
The Wagner boss came to Belarus a little over a week ago at Lukashenko’s invitation and brokered a deal to end the Wagner group mutiny.
“He’s in St. Petersburg. He is not on the territory of Belarus,” Lukashenko told reporters on Thursday.
The deal also dropped criminal charges against Prigozhin, allowing him to move to Belarus.
Lukashenko added that to the best of his knowledge, Wagner fighters are still in their respective bases, adding that the resettlement issue has not been resolved.
The offer to take on some of Wagner’s mercenaries stands as they pose no risk to Belarus, Lukashenko said.
None of Mr Lukashenko’s claims have been verified and Mr Prigozhin has not been seen in public since the uprising almost two weeks ago.
Five civilians are killed in a Russian missile attack on Lviv
Several people were killed and injured on Thursday in the largest attack on Lviv’s civilian infrastructure since Russia invaded Ukraine last year.
At least five were killed and 36 others injured, Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said, while rescue workers searched for other people trapped under the rubble.
“Unfortunately, there are wounded and dead. My condolences to the relatives. There will definitely be a reaction to the enemy. A tangible thing,” said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a reaction video posted to Telegram.
Zelenskyy also published drone footage showing destroyed buildings from above.
The rocket destroyed entire floors of an apartment building that was hit, leaving the streets below in rubble.
Ukraine’s air force said it had intercepted seven of the 10 Kalibr cruise missiles fired by Russia from the Black Sea early Thursday at western Ukraine’s Lviv region and wider region.
Mayor Andriy Sadovyi said around 60 homes and 50 cars in the strike area were damaged.
Addressing residents in a video message, Sadovyi said the attack was the largest on Lviv’s civilian infrastructure since the full-scale invasion began last year.
Hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian war refugees have sought refuge in Lviv from other areas in the east.
Russia intensifies the campaign against Wagner
In a program broadcast on Wednesday, Russian state television described Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin, who is living in exile, as a “traitor”.
TV channel Russia-1 announced that an investigation into the failed mutiny of the mercenary group was still ongoing and could lead to a criminal case against Prigozhin.
Wagner launched a “March of Justice” on June 23, taking the southern Russian cities of Rostov-on-Don and Voronezh before stopping en route to Moscow after Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko negotiated a deal.
The 60-minute program consisted of footage intended to show the luxury of Progozhin’s office and residence in Saint Petersburg.
The US-based Institute for the Study of War recently said Moscow is trying to discredit the mercenary leader in the eyes of the Russian people.
Footage of police raids on Prigozhin’s office and home showed crates full of Russian rubles and US dollars, his private helicopter and the Wagner Group’s infamous collection of sledgehammers.
The show also accused the Wagner boss of having multiple passports, all under different names.
“A normal person can’t have that many passports,” said journalist Eduard Petrov, the show’s guest of honor.
Petrov blamed Prigozhin for engaging in pro-Wagner propaganda to portray himself as a folk hero.
“We have to find out who was on whose side [in the mutiny]. We must punish and prosecute them,” he said, adding that media outlets influenced by Prigozhin were shut down after his exile.
The director general of the Russian news agency TASS has been replaced, the US-based think tank Institute for the Study of War said on Wednesday.
Ukrainian officials said the move may have stemmed from the Kremlin’s disapproval of coverage of the Wagner mutiny.
Russia replaces Wagner troops with convicts and Chechen fighters
Russia plans to send Chechen fighters and other prisoners to Ukraine to fill the void left by the Wagner Group withdrawal.
Ukraine’s counter-offensive against Bakhmut could overwhelm Russian units, US-based Bloomberg said, citing European intelligence officials.
“Russia sent large numbers of troops to Bakhmut after Wagner announced his withdrawal from the city in late May, causing bottlenecks in the occupied territories of southern Ukraine,” the officials said.
It is estimated that around 15,000 convicts are already fighting the war in Ukraine, and the Russian Defense Ministry plans to increase this number.
Chechen Republic chief Ramzan Kadyrov said in May that 7,000 Chechen soldiers were stationed in war zones and 2,400 soldiers were undergoing war training.
The Wagner paramilitary group withdrew from the front after refusing to sign a contract with the Defense Ministry.
But his withdrawal from the battle will not change the course of the war, according to intelligence officials, who spoke anonymously.
Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law facilitating the early release of convicts who agreed to fight in Ukraine on the same day that Wagner boss Prigozhin went into exile in Belarus.