Russia Ukraine war latest: Wagner still in war near Bakhmut despite Putin’s ban and mutiny, says Pentagon

Fresh evidence of the indiscriminate use by Ukrainian forces of banned anti-personnel landmines against Russian troops who invaded Ukraine in 2022 has emerged from the war-hit nation, the Human Rights Watch (HRW) said today.

The evidence comes from Ukrainian forces’s use of anti-personnel mines in 2002 came from photographs posted online by an individual working in eastern Ukraine that showed warhead sections of Uragan 220mm rockets.

“The Ukrainian government’s pledge to investigate its military’s apparent use of banned anti-personnel mines is an important recognition of its duty to protect civilians,” Steve Goose, Human Rights Watch’s arms director, said in a statement.

The group called on Ukraine’s government to follow through with a commitment made earlier this month not to employ such weapons, investigate their suspected use and hold accountable those responsible.

HRW said it shared its findings with the Ukrainian government in a May letter to which it received no response.

Ukraine in 2005 ratified a 1997 international treaty banning such mines and mandating the destruction of stocks of the weapons.

Russia did not join the treaty and its use of anti-personnel mines “violates international humanitarian law… because they are inherently indiscriminate,” the report said.

Russia’s most senior generals have dropped out of public view after the failed mutiny by the Wagner mercenaries – with speculation swirling in Moscow that at least one of them has been detained.

That man is General Sergei Surovikin, nicknamed “General Armageddon” by the Russian press for his aggressive tactics in the Syrian conflict, who is deputy commander of Russian forces in Ukraine.

Armed forces chief of staff, General Valery Gerasimov, has also not appeared in public or on state TV since the aborted mutiny on Saturday when mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin demanded Mr Gerasimov be handed over. Nor has he been mentioned in a defence ministry press release since 9 June.

A New York Times report, based on a US intelligence briefing, said on Tuesday that Mr Surovikin had advance knowledge of the mutiny and that Russian authorities were checking whether he was complicit.

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Pentagon has said Russian mercenary Wagner Group is operating in Ukraine despite pulling out of the war-hit nation and claiming to hand over control to Russian defence ministry fighters last month.

“…on Wagner Group and its disposition, what I would tell you is, right now, we continue to see some elements of the Wagner Group in Russian-occupied territory in Ukraine,” Pentagon press secretary Brigadier General Pat Ryder said.

He was answering a question in press briefing on a new home for Wagner Group in southern Belarus as per the satellite image from a former military base.

“As it relates to Belarus, I don’t have any updates to provide on that front. I’ve seen the press reports that you’re talking about. Clearly, that’s something that we’ll continue to keep an eye on,” he said.

The official added that in terms of the future of Wagner Group, it’s a question “best addressed by Russia”.

“That’s really a question best addressed by Russia, which of course, as you know, funds the Wagner Group, and how they will be employed going throughout the rest of this, this conflict and – and elsewhere around the world, since, you know, as your colleague highlighted earlier, they also conduct operations in Africa, as well as Syria. So that’s something that we’ll continue to keep an eye on. It’s just too early to tell right now,” he said.

Former US president Donald Trump said his ally Vladimir Putin was “somewhat weakened” by an aborted mutiny and that now is the time for the United States to try to broker a negotiated peace settlement between Russia and Ukraine.

“You could say that he’s (Putin) still there, he’s still strong, but he certainly has been I would say somewhat weakened at least in the minds of a lot of people,” he said.

“I want people to stop dying over this ridiculous war,” Mr Trump, a long-time admirer of the Russian president, said.

The Republican leader did not rule out conceding of territory to Russia, which it has captured in the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, by Kyiv, adding that the continuing war needs a negotiator.

Mr Trump and Mr Putin were allies during his tenure at the White House.

Everything would be “subject to negotiation”, if he were president, Mr Trump said, but added that Ukrainians who have waged a vigorous fight to defend their land have “earned a lot of credit.”

“I think they would be entitled to keep much of what they’ve earned and I think that Russia likewise would agree to that. You need the right mediator, or negotiator, and we don’t have that right now,” he said.

Dressed in white and yellow protective suits and armed with devices to detect radiation levels, Ukrainian emergency workers took part in a drill Thursday to prepare for a potential risk of radiation leakage from the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.

Dozens of civilians joined the drill on the outskirts of the city of Zaporizhzhia, located around 100 kilometers (62 miles) from the nuclear power plant, Europe’s largest.

In a tent set up to provide first aid, emergency workers practiced hosing people down with soap and going through the motions of administering treatment to individuals who play-acted victims from possible radiation-affected areas.

Askold Krushelnycky reports from Kharkiv, where he speaks to members of Ukraine’s army about Kyiv’s counteroffensive to reclaim its land from Moscow. Facing mines and constant shelling, gains are slow – and hard-earned

After a dramatic weekend, Putin is back in the Kremlin, doing staged walkabouts and wants the world to know that he is in charge, writes Mary Dejevsky. Whilst it’s tempting to conclude his days are numbered, it’s important to resist the spin

Russia‘s most senior generals have dropped out of public view after the failed mutiny by the Wagner mercenaries – with speculation swirling in Moscow that at least one of them has been detained.

That man is General Sergei Surovikin, nicknamed “General Armageddon” by the Russian press for his aggressive tactics in the Syrian conflict, who is deputy commander of Russian forces in Ukraine.

Armed forces chief of staff, General Valery Gerasimov, has also not appeared in public or on state TV since the aborted mutiny on Saturday when mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin demanded Mr Gerasimov be handed over. Nor has he been mentioned in a defence ministry press release since 9 June.

The Wagner fighters – who have spearheaded some of Russia’s military actions in Ukraine – were cheered enthusiastically by residents in Rostov-on-Don on Saturday when they briefly took control of the southern Russian city. President Vladimir Putin described their actions as “treason” and “a stab in the back”.

People have also been purchasing other regalia, such as keyrings, on Wildberries’ rival Ozon.

“Very beautiful and original keyring,” wrote one five-star reviewer. “In memory of all those in Wagner’s ranks who died.”

Large numbers of Wagner fighters – including many former convicts granted their freedom in exchange for serving in Ukraine – have been killed on the battlefield in Ukraine.

Wildberries and Ozon declined to comment on Thursday on the surge in merchandise prices.

Elsewhere, Prigozhin face masks were on sale in St Petersburg, alongside those of Putin, Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov and jailed opposition politician Alexey Navalny.

Under Saturday’s deal that ended the mutiny, fighters of the Wagner group were allowed to join their leader Prigozhin in exile in Belarus, to be integrated into Russia’s regular armed forces or to return to their families.

Online prices for merchandise bearing the insignia of Russia’s Wagner group – a human skull against a black and red backdrop – have shot up since its abortive armed mutiny, with buyers posting five-star reviews and support for the mercenaries.

Mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin sent an armed convoy on a 1,200-km (750-mile) charge towards Moscow in protest over what he said was the incompetence and corruption of Russia’s military leadership. A deal brokered by the leader of Belarus abruptly halted the mutiny late on Saturday.

E-commerce leader Wildberries’ weekly price breakdowns showed how costs have risen. A patch depicting the skull that can be sewn onto clothes fetched 525 roubles ($6) in the period June 25-29, up sharply from 294 roubles during June 18-25.

“Due to the situation in the country, the purchase was spontaneous,” wrote one buyer, Tatiana.

Prices for a black T-shirt emblazoned with a picture of a Wagner fighter holding a violin jumped this week to 1,650 roubles from 1,236 roubles.

On a review of a Wagner flag on Wildberries, one buyer, Vladimir, said: “The Wagner Private Military Company is the best. Good luck to you guys. The flag is excellent.”