The Russian front line is a “disgrace” and the Wagner soldiers who once fought there will remain in Belarus for some time, Russian mercenary boss Yevgeny Prigozhin said Wednesday.
Prigozhin’s mercenaries were considered among Russia’s best fighters, but his frustrations with Defense Ministry leaders led to last month’s quickly abandoned rebellion and what appeared to be his banishment to Belarus. Prigozhin, welcoming his troops Wednesday in Belarus, said that for now his group will concentrate on training Belarusian troops.
“We fought with dignity. We did a lot for Russia,” Prigozhin said to cheers. “What is happening now on the front is a disgrace.”
He pledged to improve the Belarusian army and said his group would prepare to continue fighting in Africa, where his troops have been tapped by governments to combat rebel forces.
“Maybe we will return to (fight in Ukraine) when we will be certain that we won’t be made to disgrace ourselves,” he said.
Putin highlights unityPutin highlights unity against rebellion, blames Wagner leader Prigozhin: Updates
Developments:
∎ Croatia offered its rail network and ports on the Adriatic Sea as an export route for Ukrainian grain.
∎ Russia’s withdrawal from the Black Sea grain deal and subsequent bombing of Ukrainian port facilities in Odesa has stirred wheat prices, which rose more than 2.5% on Tuesday and nearly 8% on Wednesday, though the $7.23 cost per bushel is still almost 80% below last year’s peak.
∎ More than 2,200 people were evacuated from four villages in Crimea because of a fire at a military facility, which also forced the closure of an important highway, according to officials in the Russian-occupied peninsula. The fire’s cause has not been revealed.
∎ Samantha Power, head of the United States Agency for International Development, said it will seek another $230 million to help Ukraine’s economy and reconstruction, on top of the $250 million announced Tuesday for the country’s agricultural sector.
∎ The Russian Foreign Ministry denied Western reports that Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov held back-channel talks in April with U.S. officials to lay the groundwork for when Ukraine is ready to negotiate.
Russian calls for ‘quite inhumane’Russian calls for ‘quite inhumane’ retaliation after Crimean bridge blast: Live updates
Putin ‘cut a deal to save his skin,’ British spy chief says
The failed Wagner insurrection has put Russian President Vladimir Putin “under pressure” and exposed the “inexorable decay” of his power, the head of British intelligence said Wednesday.
At a rare public address in Prague hosted by Politico, MI6 chief Richard Moore said Putin’s support among the Russian elite is crumbling and pointed out the usually ruthless autocrat did not confront Prigozhin − a former ally who had betrayed him − and instead “cut a deal to save his skin.”
“Prigozhin started off that day as a traitor at breakfast, he had been pardoned by supper and then a few days later he was invited for tea,” Moore said. “So there are some things that even the chief of MI6 finds a little bit difficult to try and interpret, in terms of who’s in and who’s out.”
Moore also made a call for Russians dissatisfied with the country’s leadership to share their secrets with Britain, and he defended the slow-starting Ukrainian counteroffensive, saying Kyiv’s forces are facing entrenched Russian defenses and proceeding cautiously to preserve their troops’ lives.
“They have still recovered more territory in a month than the Russians managed to achieve in a year,” Moore said.
Putin won’t go to summit in South Africa ‘by mutual agreement’
Russian President Vladimir Putin will not attend next month’s BRICS summit in Johannesburg in person, instead relying on a video link, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Wednesday. Peskov said Lavrov would go to the summit, which brings together the leaders of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.
South Africa recognizes the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court, which issued an arrest warrant for Putin in March. He and Russian official Maria Lvova-Belova are accused of illegal deportation of children from Ukraine. The charges could have compelled South African officials to arrest Putin had he entered the country.
“Russia has made clear that arresting its incumbent would be a declaration of war,” South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said. “Taking risks and going to war with Russia is against our constitution.”
He said Putin would stay home “by mutual agreement.”
‘Everyone is affected by this Russian terror,’ Zelenskyy says of port attack
A second round of Russian “retribution strikes” on the Ukrainian southern city of Odesa and its surroundings early Wednesday damaged critical port infrastructure, including grain and oil terminals, and wounded at least 12 people, officials said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the ports Russia attacked held about a million tons of food, including 60,000 tons of grain meant for shipment to China that were destroyed. The Agriculture Ministry said it would take a year to restore the damaged facilities. On Monday, the Kremlin pulled out of an agreement that had allowed Ukrainian grain shipments, many of them intended for impoverished Asian and African nations.
“Everyone is affected by this Russian terror,” Zelenskyy said on Twitter. “Everyone in the world should be interested in bringing (Russia) to justice for its terror.”
Russia’s Defense Ministry said the overnight Tuesday and Wednesday assaults were “retribution” after Monday’s explosions that damaged part of the roadway on the Kerch Bridge, a key span from Russia to occupied Crimea used for military and civilian supplies. Moscow blamed that attack on Kyiv, which has hinted but not acknowledged involvement.
New $1.3 billion in Ukraine aid focuses on air defense
The Pentagon announced $1.3 billion in contracting orders for military aid to Ukraine on Wednesday, including anti-aircraft systems designed to counter the barrages of Russian missiles and drones.
The aid package comes from the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, which the Pentagon uses to order weapons and ammunition from contractors, a process that can take months. A different pot, the Presidential Drawdown Authority, taps the Pentagon’s existing stocks to supply Ukrainian forces more quickly.
Wednesday’s aid includes four National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems and munitions to destroy attacking aircraft and missiles. It also has orders for artillery shells that have been in short supply because of heavy fighting in eastern Ukraine.
There are also new orders for armed drones that the Ukrainians have used to attack Russian forces.
Since the war began, in February 2022, the Pentagon has provided Ukraine more than $40 billion in aid.
− Tom Vanden Brook
Russia threatens ships in Ukraine humanitarian corridor
The Russian Ministry of Defense said that because of the termination of the grain agreement with Ukraine, the humanitarian corridor in the Black Sea is being closed and all ships bound for Ukrainian ports will be considered potential carriers of military cargo.
“Accordingly, the flag countries of such vessels will be considered involved” in the war on the side of Ukraine, the ministry said. It added that it has declared some areas of the Black Sea’s international waters “temporarily dangerous for navigation.”
