WAR IN UKRAINE: June 29, 2023
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS: Day 491
Switzerland - which has spent most of the war in the sidelines waving the flag of neutrality- has expanded financial and travel sanctions against Russian entities and persons in step with the most recent sanctions imposed by the European Union on Moscow after the invasion of Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says an alleged Russian agent involved in the attack on the city of Kramatorsk will be charged with treason. Eleven people, including three teenagers, were killed in Tuesday's missile strike on a popular restaurant. Ukrainian security services said the man sent video footage of the restaurant to the Russian military hours before it was destroyed. On Wednesday, Ukrainian security services released a photo of a local man that they arrested, describing him as a Russian agent - BBC
American officials reportedly said there were signs that other Russian generals may also have supported Wagner Group chief Yevgeni Prigozhin’s attempt to change the leadership of the Defense Ministry by force. Current and former U.S. officials said he would not have launched his uprising unless he believed that others in positions of power would come to his aid - NYT
More horrific images have emerged from the carnage in Kramatorsk caused by a deadly Russian missile strike. Death toll up to 9. Among the dead were a 17-year-old girl and 14-year-old twin sisters. According to the emergency services, there are still victims under the rubble. The prosecutor general says the strikes were carried out with Iskander ballistic missiles, fast & hard to intercept
U.S. President Joe Biden said Wednesday that he believed Russian President Vladimir Putin had “absolutely” been weakened inside his country by last weekend’s short-lived mutiny led by mercenary Wagner Group chief Yevgeny Prigozhin. But Biden, speaking to reporters at the White House, said it was “hard to tell” the extent to which Putin had been diminished. “He’s clearly losing the war in Iraq,” Biden said, meaning to refer to Putin’s 16-month war against Ukraine. “He’s losing the war at home. And he has become a bit of a pariah around the world. And it’s not just NATO. It’s not just the European Union. It’s Japan. It’s ... 40 nations.” Prigozhin arrived in Belarus on Tuesday at the invitation of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, a Putin ally who claimed that he had to talk the Russian leader out of killing Prigozhin in retribution for the Wagner Group’s advance on Moscow last Saturday - VOA
Russian General Sergei Surovikin has been arrested, The Moscow Times' Russian service reported Wednesday, citing two sources close to the Defense Ministry who spoke on the condition of anonymity. The Defense Ministry has yet to comment on the alleged arrest of Surovikin, who has not been seen in public since Saturday, when Wagner Group chief Yevgeny Prigozhin launched an armed rebellion against Russia's military leadership. "The situation with him was not 'OK.' For the authorities. I can't say anything more," one of the sources said. According to the second source, the arrest was carried out "in the context of Prigozhin….Apparently, he [Surovikin] chose Prigozhin's side during the uprising, and they've gotten him by the balls," the source said.