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The deputy commander of Russian troops in Ukraine reportedly was arrested as President Vladimir Putin and the Kremlin attempt to regain control of the military after the global embarrassment wrought by last week’s failed coup.
The Moscow Times, citing two sources close to the Russian Defense Ministry, said Gen. Sergei Surovikin is suspected of knowing the insurrection was coming and possibly aiding it. Pro-war Russian military blogger Vladimir Romanov wrote that Surovikin was detained Sunday, the day after Wagner mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin abandoned his high-stakes mutiny.
Romanov claimed that Surovikin, also known as “General Armageddon,” was being held in Moscow’s infamous 140-year-old Lefortovo Prison. The Russian media outlet Baza, however, said Surovikin was released, and Bloomberg reported that Surovikin was interrogated about his links to Prigozhin but not imprisoned.
Surovikin and Prigozhin collaborated in Russia’s military intervention in Syria, and Thursday afternoon CNN said it obtained documents indicating the general was a secret VIP member of Wagner.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, who earlier this week dismissed reports of Surovikin’s possible involvement as speculation and gossip, on Thursday declined to comment on Surovikin’s whereabouts. He directed questions to the Defense Ministry, which has yet to release a statement on the general’s fate.
Alexei Venediktov, editor-in-chief of the Ekho Moskvy radio station, wrote on Telegram that Surovikin has not been in contact with his family for three days and that his guards are not responsive. Another senior general, Valery Gerasimov, the Russian armed forces’ chief of staff, has not been seen in public since the rebellion was quelled Saturday, Reuters reported.
A prominent pro-Kremlin military blogger says that the insurgency has prompted “large-scale purges” within the military leadership and that the Defense Ministry was conducting a loyalty “crash test.” Mikhail Zvinchuk said on his popular Telegram channelRybar that one litmus test that can now spell doom for officers is support for private military companies such as the Wagner Group.
‘Final act of Putin’s reign’:‘Final act of Putin’s reign’: Details of chaotic Russian coup emerging
Developing:
∎ In light of Russia’s insistence that it doesn’t target civilians, the British Defense Ministry tweeted that more than 700 Ukrainian medical facilities and health workers have been attacked since the war started, resulting in 8,766 casualties − more than 400 of them children − as of May 2023.
∎ Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas said Ukraine will not receive “any shortcuts” to join the European Union and must fulfil all the criteria for starting accession negotiations. Zelenskyy has said he expects to meet the standards by year’s end.
∎ Large-scale special exercises have begun to prepare for a potential Russian attack on the occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, the state nuclear energy agency Energoatom said. Authorities fear Russian troops could cause severe damage before retreating.
∎ Russian attacks in Ukraine’s east and south killed five civilians and wounded nine in the past day, according to the regional authorities.
Civilian death toll rises after missile strike; Russia denies responsibility
The death toll from Tuesday’s missile attack on the Ria Lounge pizza parlor in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk rose to 12 on Thursday when another body was extricated from the wreckage − and Russia again denied targeting civilians. Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Lt. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said Thursday that two Ukrainian generals, up to 50 officers and about 20 foreign mercenaries and military advisers were “eliminated” in Russia’s “precision strike” on what he described as a deployment site for the Ukraine military.
“They hit an ordinary cafe in Kramatorsk, a popular pizzeria,” Zelenskyy countered. “Neighboring houses, shops and a gas station were damaged. An ordinary city, an ordinary life. … These (Russians) are people without humanity.”
Pence says visit to Kyiv ‘steels my resolve’ to support Ukraine
Former vice president and current Republican presidential hopeful Mike Pence, an outspoken supporter of Ukraine, met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv.
Pence’s surprise visit comes at an eventful time in the war, right in between last weekend’s coup attempt in Russia and a Tuesday evening attack on a pizza parlor in eastern Ukraine that killed 12 and injured more than 60.
He told NBC News that witnessing the Ukrainians’ bravery “just steels my resolve to do my part, to continue to call for strong American support for our Ukrainian friends and allies.”
Zelenskyy tweeted a video of his meeting with Pence’s group and said they talked about “our defense, interaction between our nations, security cooperation, and importance of partners’ determination and certainty regarding Ukraine’s future membership in NATO.”
Greta Thunberg, European figures to address war’s ecological impact
Zelenskyy also got a visit from another internationally known figure Thursday in Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg, who was joined by prominent European politicians seeking to address the war’s ecological damage.
Among the most impactful incidents was the June 6 collapse of the Kakhovka Dam, which Zelenskyy called an act of “mass environmental destruction” by the Russians. The breach flooded dozens of towns and villages, killing around 60 people, tens of thousands of fish and numerous other animals and drowning farmland. Both sides have blamed each other for the disaster, but evidence points to the Russians blowing up the dam, which they controlled.
Zelenskyy welcomed input from the group, which also includes European Parliament Vice President Heidi Hautala, former Swedish Deputy Prime Minister Margot Wallström and former Irish President Mary Robinson.
Thunberg said Russian forces “are deliberately targeting the environment and people’s livelihoods and homes, and therefore also destroying lives.”
Wagner fighters may be setting up camp in Belarus, riling neighbors
Wagner mercenaries appear to be settling into an abandoned military base in central Belarus, the BBC reported.
Citing satellite imagery from this week compared to the same area June 19, the British media outlet said tents or some other living quarters seemed to have materialized at the base outside the town of Asipovichy, close to 65 miles south of the Belarusian capital of Minsk.
The fighters’ presence has raised concerns among opposition leaders and neighboring countries that consider Wagner a terrorist organization. A statement issued Wednesday by parliament speakers in Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia said having the soldiers-for-hire so close “could make the security situation on the eastern borders of NATO and the EU even more precarious.”
Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko brokered a deal to end the Wagner insurrection last weekend and in exchange provide refuge to Prigozhin and his fighters, saying of an unused base where they could set up camp: “There is a fence, everything is available, erect your tents.”
Lukashenko said Tuesday that Prigozhin has arrived in his country, but the Wagner leader has yet to be seen in public.
Prigozhin, military leaders reportedly clashed over money days before coup
Yevgeny Prigozhin, days before his coup attempt, had refused to sign a contract the Defense Ministry was requiring of all private military companies, a Russian lawmaker said Thursday. Andrei Kartapolov, chairman of the State Duma’s Defense Committee, said failure to sign by July 1 would have meant an end to ministry funding for Prigozhin’s Wagner Group, which had been paid more than $1 billion in the past 12 months. Kartapolov told Interfax Russia he believed money was the reason for the coup.
“The following happened: The first is money, the second is stupid and exorbitant ambitions, and the third is an excited state,” Kartapolov said.
Israel won’t give Ukraine its Iron Dome air defense system
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he has rejected calls to join the West’s effort to arm Ukraine because he needs to ensure Israel has “freedom of action” in Syria, where Israeli pilots often bomb Iranian targets near Russian forces. Netanyahu told The Wall Street Journal he is also concerned that Israeli weapons could be seized and turned over to Iran, which has been providing Russia with armed drones used in Ukraine. Netanyahu said Israel can’t risk allowing the U.S. to give Ukraine the Iron Dome air-defense system developed jointly with the U.S.
“If that system were to fall into the hands of Iran, then millions of Israelis would be left defenseless and imperiled,” Netanyahu said. He added that Israel had joined United Nations resolutions condemning Russia’s invasion and had delivered an early-warning system for detecting missile attacks on Ukraine.
Most Ukrainians have loved ones who were killed or wounded in war
Almost 80% of Ukrainians have close relatives or friends who have been wounded or killed since Russia’s invasion 16 months ago, according to a poll by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology. On average, the survey respondents have seven family members or friends who fell victim to Russia’s war since Feb. 24, 2022. Russia’s war against Ukraine formed a “tragic collective experience for the absolute majority” of Ukrainians,” the polls says.
“This experience adds stability and uncompromisingness regarding possible concessions of Russia,” said Anton Hrushetskyi, the institute’s executive director. “If you have so many relatives and friends injured or killed, then how can you talk about concessions?”
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