Live blog: Poland warns of Wagner group's potential threat to region

Wednesday, June 28, 2023

The presence of Wagner troops in Belarus could pose a potential "threat" to the countries of the region, Polish President Andrzej Duda has said during a visit to Ukraine.

"It is difficult for us to exclude today that the presence of the Wagner Group in Belarus could pose a potential threat to Poland, which shares a border with Belarus, a threat to Lithuania... as well as potentially to Latvia," Duda told reporters in Kiev.

Following a rebellion by the mercenary group, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered that Wagner lose its heavy weaponry, and that its fighters either join the regular armed forces or accept exile in Belarus.

"The question arises: what is the purpose of this relocation?" said the Polish president.

NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said Tuesday it was still too early to draw conclusions from the move to Belarus of Prigozhin and, likely, some of his forces.

But he vowed that the alliance was ready to defend its members.

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1533 GMT — Ukrainian defence minister says main counteroffensive ‘yet to come’

Ukrainian Defence Minister Oleksiy Reznikov has said that "the main event of the counteroffensive is yet to come."

He said taking back several villages was not Kiev's main goal.

“When it happens, you will all see it,” he told the US Financial Times newspaper. “Everyone will see everything.”

The minister said troops are currently being trained in the Western countries and will be equipped with modern NATO tanks, armored vehicles and they will later join the battle.

1453 GMT — Over 28,000 Ukrainians arrive in Poland in past 24 hours: Officials

Some 28,400 additional Ukrainians crossed into Poland in the past 24 hours, bringing the number to more than 13 million, Polish authorities have said.

Around 13.05 million people have crossed into Poland from Ukraine since February 24, 2022, when Russia launched its offensive against Ukraine, according to Polish Border Guard figures.

Currently, 4 million Ukrainians stay in the EU, while more than 1.5 million of them remain in Poland, according to recent data. The ongoing war has killed more than 8,900 civilians and wounded over 15,400, according to UN figures.

1423 GMT — Ukraine says situation unchanged in north after Prigozhin withdrawal

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said the security situation in northern Ukraine was unchanged and under control after Russian mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin flew into exile in Belarus.

"Wagnerites are in occupied territory in Ukraine - they were and are in the (eastern) Luhansk region," Zelenskyy told a press conference, confirming that some of the group's fighters remained on Ukrainian soil after fighting in the east.

"Our army believes that the situation in the north of our country is unchanged and is under our control," he said.

1253 GMT — Belarusian leader approved transfers of Ukrainian chilidren: opposition

A Belarusian opposition activist has said that he has provided the International Criminal Court (ICC) with materials allegedly detailing President Alexander Lukashenko's involvement in the forcible transfer of Ukrainian children to Belarus, accusations angrily rejected by Minsk.

Pavel Latushka, a former Belarusian culture minister, said Tuesday that the materials he has handed over to the ICC indicate that more than 2,100 Ukrainian children from at least 15 Russia-occupied Ukrainian cities have been forcibly taken to Belarus with Lukashenko's approval.

Latushka voiced hope that the materials would prompt the ICC to issue a warrant for Lukashenko’s arrest, as it did with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The court’s prosecution office on Wednesday didn’t immediately confirm receipt of the materials described by Latushka.

1159 GMT — Kremlin 'welcomes' Vatican peace efforts over Ukraine

The Kremlin has said Pope Francis's envoy would hold talks with President Vladimir Putin's advisor in Moscow as Russia "welcomed" the Vatican's peace efforts over Ukraine.

Cardinal Matteo Maria Zuppi began a Russia visit on Tuesday in a first such trip since Putin sent troops to Ukraine in February 2022.

High-ranking Catholic clerics are rarely seen in Moscow, which no Pope has ever visited.

Zuppi's trip comes several weeks after he met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kiev.

"We highly value the efforts and initiatives of the Vatican in looking for a peaceful solution to the Ukrainian crisis," Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said. "We welcome them."

1157 GMT — Ukraine won't accept frozen conflict, Zelenskyy says

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he would not accept any peace proposal that turns Russia's offensive on his country into a frozen conflict.

Zelenskyy's remarks, in a speech to parliament on Ukraine's Constitution Day, signalled that he remains opposed to any peace plan that freezes territorial gains made by Russia since it began its full-scale military operation in February 2022.

"Ukraine will not agree to any of the variants for a frozen conflict," he said.

Zelenskyy has drawn up a 10-point peace "formula" that includes restoring Ukraine's territorial integrity, the withdrawal of Russian troops and the restoration of Ukraine's state borders.

Kiev has launched a counteroffensive to try to retake occupied territory, but Russian forces still hold swathes of territory in eastern and southern Ukraine.

1139 GMT — Kremlin rejects UN report on child detentions in Ukraine

The Kremlin has dismissed allegations by the United Nations that Russia had violated children's rights in Ukraine and said that, on the contrary, its armed forces were rescuing children from conflict zones.

One report, released on Tuesday, accused Russia of detaining more than 800 civilians, some of them children, and of executing 77 civilians since the conflict began in February of last year.

In another report, commissioned by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres for the UN Security Council and published last week, Russia stands accused of having killed 136 children in 2022.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told a regular briefing that Moscow "firmly rejects" such accusations.

1125 GMT — Lithuanian and Polish presidents visit Kiev

The Lithuanian and Polish presidents have visited Kiev, to meet President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and show support for Ukraine's bids to join NATO and the EU, ahead of summits of both bodies.

EU leaders hold their regular summit in Brussels on Thursday and Friday this week, and NATO is holding its annual summit in Vilnius in two weeks. Zelenskyy has been pressing in particular for the NATO summit to include a "political invitation" for Ukraine to join the Western military alliance.

The presidents will discuss "the NATO summit agenda", Ukraine's EU membership negotiations and European support for Ukraine, the office of Lithuania's Gitanas Nauseda said in a statement.

NATO members are close to agreeing incremental steps to strengthen ties with Ukraine by the Vilnius summit but have yet to resolve differences over how to address Ukraine's desire for membership.

1103 GMT — Switzerland rejects request for trade in Leopard 1 tanks for Ukraine

The Swiss Federal Council has said that it had rejected a request by Swiss defence firm Ruag for the trade of 96 Leopard 1 A5 main battle tanks for use in Ukraine.

Such a sale would be contrary to the war material act and would entail an adjustment of Switzerland's neutrality policy, the cabinet said.

1058 GMT — Ukraine accuses local man of directing missile strike that killed 10 at popular pizza restaurant

Ukrainian authorities arrested a man they accused of helping Russia direct a missile strike that killed at least 10 people, including three children, at a popular pizza restaurant in a city in eastern Ukraine.

The Tuesday evening attack on Kramatorsk wounded another 61 people, Ukraine's National Police said, in the latest bombardment of a Ukrainian city — a tactic Russia has used heavily in the 16-month-old conflict.

Two sisters, both age 14, died as a result of the attack, the educational department of the Kramatorsk city council said. “Russian missiles stopped the beating of the hearts of two angels,” it said in a Telegram post.

The other dead child was 17, according to Prosecutor General Andrii Kostin.

1057 GMT — Kremlin says only hits 'military' targets after Ukraine restaurant strike

The Kremlin said that Russian forces only hit military-linked targets in Ukraine after a strike on a restaurant in the eastern city of Kramatorsk killed at least 10 people.

The comments come a day after the Ria Pizza restaurant -- popular with soldiers, journalists and aid workers -- was destroyed in the city, one of the largest still under Ukrainian control in the east.

"Strikes are only carried out on objects that are in one way or another linked to military infrastructure," said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.

"The Russian Federation does not carry out strikes on civilian infrastructure," he added.

0900 GMT — Lithuania buys air defence launchers for Ukraine

Lithuania has bought two Norwegian-made NASAMS air defence launchers for Ukraine and will deliver them within three months, the government said Wednesday.

The announcement came as President Gitanas Nauseda arrived in Kiev for talks with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

"The NASAMS launchers will reach Ukraine in the near future," Nauseda said on Facebook.

"Even in such circumstances, when the stockpiles are empty, we find opportunities to help our friends," he added, in a separate video.

0430 GMT — Death toll rises to 8 in Ukraine restaurant strike: officials

The death toll from a Russian missile strike that hit a restaurant in Ukraine's eastern city of Kramatorsk has risen to eight, with three children among the dead, authorities said.

"As of 07:00 (0400 GMT) on June 28, the bodies of eight dead people (including three children, two of them born in 2008 and 2011) were unblocked from under the rubble of the destroyed cafe building," the State Emergency Service of Ukraine said on Telegram.

0405 GMT — Senior Russian general knew about Prigozhin's plans

General Sergey Surovikin, the deputy commander of Russia's military operations in Ukraine, had advance knowledge that the mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin was planning a rebellion against Moscow's defence officials, the New York Times reported.

The newspaper cited US officials briefed on US intelligence regarding the matter, and reported that the officials were "trying to learn if Gen. Sergey Surovikin, the former top Russian commander in Ukraine, helped plan Mr. Prigozhin's actions last weekend."

Prigozhin flew into exile in Belarus under a deal that ended a brief mutiny by his Wagner fighters over the weekend, as President Vladimir Putin praised his armed forces for averting a civil war.

The New York Times reported that American officials also said there were signs that other Russian generals also may have supported Prigozhin.

2300 GMT — Stoltenberg vows NATO ready to defend against 'Moscow or Minsk'

NATO is ready to defend itself against any threat from "Moscow or Minsk", alliance chief Jens Stoltenberg said, after Belarus welcomed Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin into exile.

Stoltenberg said NATO would agree to strengthen its defences at a key summit in Lithuania next week in order to protect all members, especially those which border Russia's ally Belarus.

"What is absolutely clear is that we have sent a clear message to Moscow and to Minsk that NATO is there to protect every ally and every inch of NATO territory," he said after dinner with seven national leaders in The Hague.

"So no room for misunderstanding in Moscow or Minsk about our ability to defend allies against any potential threat, and that is regardless of what you think about the movement of the Wagner forces."

Stoltenberg added that the West "must not underestimate Russia" despite the chaos at the weekend.

For our live updates from Tuesday (June 27), click here.