WAR IN UKRAINE: June 25, 2023
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS: Day 487
Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of the Wagner mercenary group, is to leave Russia for Belarus after calling off his troops' rebellion. The mutiny was a huge challenge to Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose image of authority is now weakened, experts say. Putin had decried Prigozhin's actions as "treason" in a national TV address on Saturday. Prigozhin and his troops will not be prosecuted despite being accused of armed mutiny, the Kremlin says. The situation de-escalated just as Wagner troops were heading towards the capital, Moscow. Wagner fighters were later filmed leaving the southern city of Rostov-on-Don, a major Russian military post that they had taken control of. The deal to end the rebellion came from negotiations between Prigozhin and Belarus leader Alexander Lukashenko - BBC
President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his evening address on June 24 that the Wagner rebellion had demonstrated "complete chaos" in Russia. "Today the world saw that Russian leaders don't control anything," he said. "It's complete chaos. Complete absence of any predictability on Russian territory, which is packed with weapons." He also said that the longer Russian troops stay on Ukrainian land, the more devastation they will bring to Russia. “The longer this person is in the Kremlin, the more disasters there will be,” Zelensky said, referring to Russian dictator Vladimir Putin. Zelensky also called on the West to supply F-16 fighters and long-range missiles to protect Europe’s eastern flank from Russian forces - Kyiv Independent
Ukrainian troops have launched an offensive in several directions around the city of Bakhmut in Donetsk Oblast and made advances, Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar said on June 24. “There is progress in all directions,” she wrote on Telegram. Maliar said that the advances had taken place near the villages of Orikhovo-Vasylivka, Bohdanivka, Yahidne, Klishchiivka, and Kurdyumivka. Meanwhile, Russian troops tried to advance in the Kupyansk, Lyman and Marinka directions, without success, according to Maliar. In the south, heavy fighting continues, she said “The enemy is suffering significant losses in personnel, weapons and equipment,” she wrote - Kyiv Independent