Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to deliver a televised address soon.
A common uprising by the leader of the Russian mercenary organization Wagner could cause the biggest serious internal crisis for Vladimir Putin since his full-scale invasion of Ukraine, writes Deborah Haynes, Sky’s security and defense editor.
Yevgeny Prigozhin, who has been the president’s closest best friend, on Friday accused the Russian military of killing his men in Ukraine when they intended to fight on the same side.
He called for a “march for justice” against the more sensible generals, insisting it was not an army coup, their moves prompting security installations to open an investigation for thief.
While the drama was still unfolding on Saturday, it was not without delay possible to assess the effect of the verbal detonation of Wagner’s boss on the regime.
However, security has been tightened in Moscow and Mr. Putin reported on the developments.
For a president who relies on stability and obedience to stay in power, this explosion will actually be at least annoying and may lead to further instability, something that security facilities will try to thwart.
Another that remains murky is the number of mercenaries who will respond to the call to action.
In the past, a senior Russian commander took to social media to call Wagner fighters, many of whom are fake convicts to M. Prigozhin, to forget his words.
One thing is for sure, the escalation of infighting on the Russian side will embolden Ukrainian forces, who will most likely try to exploit the disorder as they advance in a primary counteroffensive.
Wagner’s head is no stranger to controversy.
For the past 16 months, he has denounced the most sensible Russian military leaders, namely Sergei Shoigu, the defense minister, and General Valeriy Gerasimov, the head of the Russian armed forces, accusing them of incompetence in the effort. of war in Ukraine.
It is believed that his close relationship with the president (Mr. Prigozhin was nicknamed “Putin’s leader” because the catering companies he also owned provided food to the Kremlin) allegedly allowed him to make comments that would have noticed others imprisoned.
But this new act of defiance turns out to have crossed a line.
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The leader of the mercenary organization Wagner accused the leaders of the Russian army of their troops.
Yevgeny Prigozhin said the attack came after criticizing the country’s most sensible bosses for an explosive explosion on the Telegram messaging app.
In a video, he said the Kremlin’s justification for invading Ukraine last February was based on lies, and that the “evil” of Russia’s military leadership will have to be stopped.
Prigozhin has since claimed that the country’s Defense Ministry ordered a rocket attack on Wagner’s camps in Ukraine, killing dozens of his fighters.
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Philip Ingram, a former British intelligence officer, makes his assessment of the war and says the operation will be “deliberately slow. “
Watch him tell you on the ground.
Ukraine has signaled that the major effort of its counteroffensive against Russia is yet to come, with some troops still undeployed and the operation so aimed at “establishing the battlefield. “
Kiev claims to have recaptured eight villages at the start of its most ambitious assault since the Russian invasion 16 months ago, but President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said this week that gains had been “slower than desired. “
Referring to the speed of Ukrainian advances, 3 senior officials sent the clearest signal that the main component of the counteroffensive had not yet begun.
“Offensive operations of the Armed Forces of Ukraine continue in several areas. Training operations are underway to establish the battlefield,” presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said on Twitter.
While the advances reported through Ukraine this month are its first truly extensive battlefield gains in seven months, Ukrainian forces have yet to advance toward the defensive lines Russia has had months to prepare.
“I have to say that our main force has still entered combat, and now we are searching, investigating the weak problems of enemy defenses. Everything is still ahead of us,” The Guardian quoted Oleksandr Syrskyi, the commander of Ukraine’s ground forces, as saying. , as if to say, as said in an interview.
Dominic Waghorn of Sky News visited the Kherson region to report on the devastation caused by the destruction of the Kakhovka Dam.
By Dominic Waghorn, Editor-in-Chief of International Affairs, Ukraine
For seven decades, a vast reservoir dominated the landscape here, Europe’s greatest time.
No more.
It was at a disadvantage of its maximum water, tired after the explosion of the Kakhovka dam, according to the Russians.
The view is amazing.
Where there was water, vast sandbanks stretched into the distance. It looks like a desert.
We toured the arid landscape with Andriy Starko, an engineer whose task is to pump water from the reservoir.
We were next to a giant entrance. It deserves to suck water from the tank at the rate of 4 million consistent liters per hour. Instead, it’s a stagnant green pool. The fish collapse languidly in the smelly waters.
How did you do when you found out that they had blown up the prey I asked for?
“I didn’t think something like this could happen. I cannot that a human brain can even contemplate this kind of barbaric act. I just can’t,” he said.
Andriy that thousands of acres of farmland have water that he can no longer pump. He also fears for his own future.
And anything else that worries him and everyone here.
Sparkling in the distance above the sand, the tall chimneys of the Zaporizhzhia NPP.
Andriy expressed fear that they will hear more and more here, and now the Ukrainian government has warned that the Russians have mined a component of the power plant and may exploit it afterwards.
“You can be expecting everything from them. I don’t think they are civilized people. They are simply unpredictable. I’m worried, yes, I’m worried,” he added.
Inside the pumping station where Andriy works, or at least it looks like a scene from Chernobyl before the crisis occurred. The great machines of the Soviet era are inactive. They beat with the sound of water being pumped from the tank into the canals, gallons of water every hour now that the harvest is only a few months away.
Not now. The voltage dials of the machines are at zero. You can hear birds singing.
Water deserves through an extensive network of canals in the months leading up to harvest. More than one million hectares of farmland have canals on both sides of the reservoir for irrigation, land that produces two million tons of cereals a year.
Ukraine would possibly stand out for its black soil, but it is not very useful without water.
These photographs show the Kakhovka reservoir before and after the dam burst.
News of an explosion at the dam, which sent huge amounts of water across swaths of southern Ukraine, sparked a worldwide outcry and accusations of war crimes.
Both sides blamed the other for the breach, but U. S. intelligence says Russia is responsible.
Prior to the incident, the dam had held back the Kakhovka Reservoir, a huge synthetic lake that contained 18. 2 cubic kilometers of water.
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Russia is most likely to cancel this year’s Moscow Air Show, which for decades has been a prime venue for showcasing new fighter jets and negotiating aerospace contracts, a senior official said.
Viktor Kladov, director of foreign cooperation at public defense conglomerate Rostec, quoted via TASS as saying the exhibition “in all likelihood” will not take place this year.
It was scheduled for the end of July.
Kladov did not explain why the event would be postponed, but Russian media earlier said it was because of sanctions that would reduce foreign involvement and the source of manufacturers’ spare parts.
The reports also cite unidentified resources, there are security considerations after drone strikes hit the Kremlin and the outskirts of Moscow in May.