Ukraine Russia war – live: Putin sacks top commander for criticising strategy as army divisions grow

A top Russian commander appears to have been sacked for voicing concerns about the Kremlin’s war strategy in a sign of growing divisions between officers on the front line and the country’s military leadership.

The 58th Combined Arms Army’s general-major Ivan Popov was dismissed after a leaked video showed him delivering a blistering attack on the Russian military leadership, whom he accused of “hitting us from the rear, viciously beheading the Army at the most difficult and intense moment”.

Britain’s Ministry of Defence said the “comments draw attention to serious disaffection many officers likely harbour towards the senior military leadership.”

A large convoy of Wagner Group vehicles has arrived in Belarus, according to military monitoring group ‘Belarusian Gayun’.

Some 60 vehicles, including large trucks and buses, were seen moving northwest to a camp in the village of Tsel.

“A combination of factors indicates that this is a convoy of the Wagner PMCs [private military company], which entered Belarus from the Russian Federation at night in the Krichev area,” it said.

It comes following the Wagner Group’s failed rebellion last month. Warlord Yevgeny Prigozhin, the Wagner boss, ordered his troops to march on Moscow but later rowed back on the move, saying he wanted to avoid “blood shed”.

Russian president Vladimir Putin reported said Prigozhin and his troops could move to Belarus after dropping criminal charges against them.

Agreements that the United Nations and Turkey brokered with Ukraine and Russia to allow food and fertilizer to get from the warring nations to parts of the world where millions are going hungry have eased concerns over global food security. But they face increasing risks.

Moscow has ramped up its rhetoric, saying it may not extend the deal that expires Monday unless its demands are met, including ensuring its own agricultural shipments don’t face hurdles.

The Black Sea Grain Initiative has allowed 32.8 million metric tons (36.2 million tons) of food to be exported from Ukraine since last August, more than half to developing countries, including those getting relief from the World Food Program.

South Korean president Yoon Suk Yeol was visiting Ukraine on Saturday for talks with president Volodymyr Zelensky, the South Korean presidential office said.

The surprise trip came after Yoon attended a NATO summit in Lithuania and visited Poland this week, where he expressed solidarity with Ukraine and explored ways to support its fight against Russia’s invasion.

Yoon visited the site of mass killings in Bucha near the capital Kyiv, before visiting Irpin, a residential area that received large-scale missile attacks.

He was expected to hold a summit with Zelenskiy afterward, his office said.

A top Russian official has addressed the whereabouts of a senior general who has not been seen in public since the Wagner mutiny.

Andrei Kartapolov, head of the state Duma defence committee, said that general Sergei Surovikin is “resting” and “not available right now”.

The UK has accused Russia of “cynical brinkmanship” over threats to collapse a deal that allows Ukraine grain to be exported to countries at risk of famine.

The Black Sea Grain Initiative is a deal negotiated with Kyiv and Moscow by Turkey and the UN in July 2022 to ease a global food crisis, allowing agricultural produce from the wartorn nation’s southern ports to be shipped out without fear of attack.

It came with a separate agreement with Russia to facilitate shipments of its food and fertiliser, which have been exempted from Western sanctions regimes applied since the invasion started more than 500 days ago.

“There is no law on private military organizations. It simply doesn’t exist,” Mr Putin told a Russian newspaper late Thursday, referring to the Wagner group.

Russian and Belarusian players will return to Wimbledon as neutrals this year after the All England Club lifted its ban on players from both countries competing in the Championships.

Wimbledon was the only one of the four grand slam tournaments to ban players from Russia and Belarus following the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, but was criticised by the men’s and women’s professional tours for doing so.

In response, Wimbledon was stripped of its ranking points and the Lawn Tennis Association was hit by a fine after the ban on Russian and Belarusian players was extended to the summer’s other grass-court events in Britain.

But in March this year, the All England Club announced it had reversed its decision ahead of this year’s Wimbledon to allow Russian and Belarusian players to compete, as long as they agreed to several strict conditions.

Jamie Braidwood has more.

India is close to buying new French warplanes and submarines and played a starring role in France’s Bastille Day celebrations Friday.

But for all the camaraderie on display this week between Indian prime minister Narendra Modi and French president Emmanuel Macron, their two countries remain sometimes-awkward allies.

Macron skirted around concerns about threats to rights and freedoms under Modi’s Hindu nationalist government.

Modi called for peace efforts in Ukraine to end Russia’s war and resulting grain shortages, and India has increased imports of sanctioned Russian oil; Macron’s France is boosting weapons supplies to Ukraine for its counteroffensive.

Russian forces shelled Sumy Oblast in northeast Ukraine over 110 times on 14 July, the military administration said.

The Russian military fired on the communities of Bilopillia, Esman, Khotin, Krasnopillia, Hlukhiv, Druzhbiv, Seredyna-Buda, and Novoslobidske.No casualties were reported from the shelling.

The Russian mortar attacks damaged three residential buildings in Seredyna-Buda, while two private houses were damaged in Novoslobidske.