Wagner will no longer fight in Ukraine, Ukraine’s defense intelligence chief says. EU’s future security commitments to Ukraine could include military missions. Russian forces shell Kherson, killing two.
Wagner will no longer fight in Ukraine, Ukraine’s intelligence chief says
Putin’s leadership has been compromised, and Wagner will no longer fight in Ukraine. These are some of the consequences of Prigozhin’s mutiny, according to the head of the Main Intelligence Department of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry, Major General Kyrylo Budanov.
In a comment to Ukrainska Pravda, Budanov said: “Russia’s leaders have been compromised. The myth that the regime in Russia is stable and strong has been shattered once again. Russian military space forces took losses. And what’s more, the Wagner private military contractor will no longer participate in fighting on the territory of Ukraine. This is the most effective Russian unit, which was able to achieve success at any cost.”
EU’s future security commitments to Ukraine could include military missions, Financial Times says
The EU is preparing to offer “future security commitments” to Ukraine as the bloc’s leaders seek to agree long-term pledges for Kyiv against the backdrop of rising instability in Russia and entrenched battle lines in the war, the Financial Times said, citing a person familiar with the matter.
EU leaders pledged to expand the EU’s initiative to train Ukrainian troops, and to explore the possibility of EU military missions to Ukraine if the conditions for it were deemed suitable and such a step was agreed by all members, the person added.
The agreement commits the EU to continue financing weapons supplies to Kyiv through the European Peace Facility, a fund paid for by capitals.
The initiative is led by France and Germany, and supported by the UK and the U.S.
Russian forces shell Kherson, killing two
On the afternoon on June 29, a Russian artillery strike hit residential neighborhoods in Kherson, killing two people and injuring two others.
Head of the Kherson regional military administration Oleksandr Prokudin said on Telegram: “The Russian army has once again fired at the city’s residential neighborhoods. Apartment buildings, a medical facility, a municipal vehicle and a school that serves as an ‘invincibility center’ were targeted.”
According to preliminary reports, two people, ages 34 and 51, were taken to hospital with limb and facial burns.
In the past day, Russian forces launched 64 attacks, firing 342 artillery shells on Kherson region, of which three attacks and 12 shells targeted the city of Kherson. Twenty-three towns and villages came under fire. Three people were injured in the region over the past day.
Prigozhin’s Mutiny: Unraveling the Power Play and its Consequences. Ukraine in Flames #474
Prigozhin’s mutiny and its motivation remain unclear but one thing is certain: it has long-term implications for Russia, regardless of how the propaganda experts spin it. Our experts on this episode of UIF explain how it was not a ‘show’ orchestrated solely by Prigozhin, but rather a deep, long-term project involving the Russian Armed Forces’ Main Directorate and the phenomenon of PMC Wagner. The mutiny demonstrated this group’s power and exposed a flaw in Putin’s system. Our experts explain how this marks the start of Russia’s transformation, with two possible outcomes: the collapse or the establishment of an authoritarian regime, but the mutiny must be viewed as a potential political weakness rather than a military one. Watch Ukraine in Flames episode #474 for a more in-depth examination of Prigozhin’s coup and the cracks that have appeared in Putin’s Russia.
Guests:
- Mykhailo Samus, Director of the New Geopolitics Research Network, expert at the Center for Army, Conversion and Disarmament Studies
- Ilya Kusa, International Policy Expert at the Ukrainian Institute for the Future.
- Ivan Kyrychevskyi, expert of Defence Express