RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE
Russian military repels more than 20 Ukrainian attacks in single day – MoD
Foreign powers involved in coup attempt in Russia – Serbian president
Foreign intelligence services likely played a role in the failed Wagner PMC coup attempt on Saturday, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has claimed. In his address to the nation, Russian President Vladimir Putin described the mutineers as traitors whose actions could play into the hands of Moscow’s adversaries.
In an interview with Serbia’s Pink TV channel on Sunday, Vucic stressed that Belgrade does not support coups in other countries as a matter of principle.
“We didn’t support it in Turkey or Russia, we wouldn’t support it in America, either,” the official explained, adding that governments should only be “changed in elections by the will of the citizens.”
The Serbian head of state went on to say: “I don't want to say who was involved from the outside, but have no doubts.”
Vucic cited “foreign services,” without, however, going into further detail or providing any proof.
He said the masterminds behind the failed coup attempt had devised a sly tactic which included attacking the Russian president without saying directly that the effort was actually directed at him.
The official also claimed that some of the grievances voiced by the mutineers, especially those involving allegations of corruption, were legitimate. However, whatever these may be, they are still not a “reason to stab your country in the back,” he emphasized.
The Serbian president added that some forces, which he stopped short of specifying, had “had high expectations” of the Wagner PMC insurrection.
Vucic praised Putin’s handling of the crisis, saying that it was ended thanks to his “sharp and strong reaction.”
Addressing the nation on Saturday, Putin characterized the armed mutiny as a “betrayal” and a “knife in the back” of Russia and its people. At a time when the country is “waging a tough struggle for its future,” he said, “any strife” might be used by enemies “to subvert us from within.”
Meanwhile, Politico reported on Saturday that American officials viewed the events in Russia as opening a window of opportunity for the Ukrainian counteroffensive.
The New York Times reported that same day, citing anonymous sources, that US intelligence agencies strongly suspected that Evgeny Prigozhin was planning a major move against the Russian government.
US President Joe Biden and his administration were allegedly briefed on this as early as Wednesday.
** Russian Defense Ministry may ink contracts with some Wagner PMC fighters — Kremlin
A part of the Wagner private military company’s troops, who decided against participating in an armed mutiny, will be able to sign contracts with the Russian Defense Ministry, Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists.
"An agreement was reached that PMC Wagner troops would return to their camps and places of deployment. Some of them, if they wish to do so, can later ink contracts with the Defense Ministry," Peskov said. "It also applies to fighters, who decided against taking part in this ‘armed mutiny.’"
The spokesman also said "there were some fighters in the military formations [of Wagner PMC], who changed their minds at the very beginning [of the armed mutiny] and returned immediately."
"They have even requested the assistance of the traffic police as well as other help to return to their permanent places of deployment," Peskov added.
On the evening of June 23, the Telegram channel of Wagner private military company founder Yevgeny Prigozhin posted several audio records with his statements, in which he claimed that strikes had allegedly been delivered against his formations and accused the country’s military leadership of that. In the wake of this, the Federal Security Service (FSB) of Russia opened a criminal case into a call for an armed mutiny. The FSB urged Wagner fighters not to obey Prigozhin’s orders and take measures for his detention.
Russia’s Defense Ministry dismissed as untrue the reports that Russian forces had allegedly delivered a strike against "the rear camps of the Wagner private military company."
In his televised address to citizens on Saturday, Russian President Vladimir Putin called the actions by the Wagner private military company an armed mutiny and betrayal and assured that harsh measures would be taken against the insurgents.
**Kiev’s forces have repeatedly attacked Russian positions across the frontline in the past 24 hours, sustaining heavy casualties in the process, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Sunday. The Ukrainian forces lost more than 800 soldiers during that period, as well as multiple pieces of military hardware, it added.
The Donbass city of Artyomovsk (known in Ukraine as Bakhmut) and its immediate vicinity have seen the most intense fighting, with ten attacks repelled in the area. The Ukrainian forces lost up to 430 troops there, as well as 11 infantry fighting vehicles, multiple cars, and an artillery piece, the Defense Ministry said in its daily briefing.
The Russian military also said it had destroyed a major ammunition stockpile near the contested town of Avdeyevka in the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), which saw a further four attacks repelled.
Another four major attacks were repelled in the north of Donbass, with intense fighting observed around multiple settlements in the Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR). On that axis, the Ukrainian military lost up to 130 fighters, three armored vehicles, a self-propelled and two towed howitzers, as well as other hardware.
In the south, the main theater of the long-heralded Ukrainian counteroffensive effort since it began in early June, medium-intensity fighting continued along the frontline, with another three attacks fought off. The Russian military said it hit multiple targets near the city of Orekhov, the primary logistics hub of the Ukrainian military in Zaporozhye Region. The Ukrainian troops lost more than 170 soldiers in the area, with at least five howitzers, a tank and several armored cars destroyed.
The Russian military also continued to conduct long-range strikes against Ukraine’s military installations. Near the Ukrainian-controlled city of Kherson, for instance, the attacks resulted in elimination of more than 50 Ukrainian servicemen, as well as in the destruction of a US-supplied M777 howitzer and other equipment, the Defense Ministry stated.
The apparent uptick in fighting on the frontlines and ramped up attacks by the Ukrainian military came amid domestic turmoil in Russia, caused by the short-lived insurrection by the Wagner Group PMC on Friday. The group seized control of a military HQ in the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don and even advanced towards Moscow, but ultimately backed down following talks facilitated by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.
WESTERN PERSPECTIVE
Zelenskiy discusses Russian turmoil with Biden, Trudeau, Duda
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and his defence minister said they held a series of calls with Kyiv's allies on Sunday to discuss the "weakness" of Russia's President Vladimir Putin and Ukraine's next counteroffensive steps.
The phone calls took place after an extraordinary failed mutiny by the head of Russia's Wagner mercenary group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, that raised questions about Putin's grip on power as Ukraine presses a counteroffensive in its south and east.
"We discussed the course of hostilities and the processes taking place in Russia. The world must put pressure on Russia until international order is restored," Zelenskiy said after a phone call with U.S. President Joe Biden.
According to the White House readout, the two leaders "discussed Ukraine's ongoing counteroffensive, and President Biden reaffirmed unwavering U.S. support."
Oleksii Reznikov, Ukraine's defence minister, said he and U.S. Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin discussed Ukraine's counteroffensive and next steps to strengthen the forces.
"Things are moving in the right direction," Reznikov wrote on Twitter.
While Ukraine's officials said the Russia chaos works to Kyiv's advantage, it yet remains to be seen whether Zelenskiy and his army can capitalise on the Moscow disorder to reclaim territories now occupied by Russia.
Serhiy Cherevatyi, spokesperson for Ukraine's eastern military command, said on Sunday Kyiv's army advanced 600 metres (2,000 ft) to 1,000 metres over the previous day near Bakhmut, a city taken by Wagner forces in May after months of fighting.
But the gains have been incremental so far, with Zelenskiy saying recently the counteroffensive has been "slower than desired."
On Sunday, Zelenskiy said he and Biden had discussed expanding defence cooperation with an emphasis on long-range weapons, coordination ahead of the NATO summit in Vilnius next month and preparations for a "Global Peace Summit" he has promoted.
"Yesterday's events exposed the weakness of Putin's regime," Zelenskiy was quoted in the statement.
Separately, Zelenskiy said he had told Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in a call about the "threatening situation" at Ukraine's vast, Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.
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Zelenskiy warned earlier this week that Russia was considering carrying out an act of "terrorism" involving the release of radiation at the plant, an allegation denied by Russia.
"Ukraine's partners must demonstrate a principled response, in particular at the NATO Summit in Vilnius," he said.
The Ukrainian leader made similar comments in a statement announcing a phone call with Polish President Andrzej Duda.
** Mercenaries return to bases after challenge to Putin's authority
Heavily armed Russian mercenaries withdrew from the southern Russian city of Rostov under a deal that halted their rapid advance on Moscow but raised questions on Sunday about President Vladimir Putin's grip on power.
Ending their short-lived mutiny, fighters of the Wagner group began heading back to their bases late on Saturday in return for guarantees for their safety. Their commander, Yevgeny Prigozhin, will move to Belarus under the deal mediated by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken suggested the turmoil in Russia could take months to play out, while Italy's foreign minister said it had shattered the "myth" of Russian unity.
Putin has not commented publicly since the deal was struck to de-escalate one of the biggest challenges since he rose to power more than two decades ago.
He said he was giving top priority to the conflict in Ukraine in excerpts from an interview aired by state television on Sunday, but it appeared to have been recorded before the mutiny and he made no reference to Saturday's events.
State television said Putin would attend a meeting of Russia's Security Council this coming week, without elaborating, and Belarus' Belta news agency said Putin and Lukashenko spoke again on Sunday, after at least two calls on Saturday.
Prigozhin, 62, was seen leaving the district military headquarters in Rostov, hundreds of miles south of Moscow, late on Saturday in a sport utility vehicle. His whereabouts on Sunday were not known.
A former Putin ally and ex-convict whose forces have fought the bloodiest battles of the 16-month war in Ukraine, Prigozhin said his decision to advance on Moscow was intended to remove corrupt and incompetent Russian commanders he blames for botching the war.
'CRACKS' IN THE FACADE
Western leaders expressed concern over the events in Russia, which has the world's largest nuclear arsenal.
"We've seen more cracks emerge in the Russian facade," U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken told NBC's "Meet the Press" program on Sunday.
China, a key ally of Putin, made no initial public reference to the turmoil, eventually saying after talks with a visiting senior Russian diplomat on Sunday that it supported Russia in maintaining national stability.
After capturing Rostov, the main rear logistical hub for Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the mercenaries began what Prigozhin called a "march for justice" on Saturday, transporting tanks and armoured trucks hundreds of miles north and smashing barricades set up to stop them before the deal to stand down.
Videos shared on social media from Rostov that night purportedly showed the mercenaries withdrawing in a convoy of armoured vehicles, tanks and coaches to the sound of cheers, chants of "Wagner" and celebratory gunfire from residents.
Reuters was able to verify the location of the video but not the date that it was filmed.
"Take care of yourselves," shouted one woman.
The show of support for Wagner's short-lived insurrection was striking in a country that is increasingly intolerant of public criticism of Putin and his rule.
The mood on the streets of Rostov on Sunday was mainly one of relief.
"It was scary... Everyone is glad that nothing bad happened... It did not come to an armed clash," said resident Dmitry, who declined to give his surname. "There are very serious problems in the country, and they need to be solved."
In Moscow, where there was little evidence on Sunday of increased security, some expressed a measure of understanding for Prigozhin's position.
"The opinions of a person who has a certain weight in society should probably be heard by the authorities," said Oleg, a Moscow resident who also did not provide a last name.
Monday has been declared a non-working day in the Russian capital to allow time for things to settle.
RT/Tass/Reuters