5:44 PM
The relocation of the paramilitary Wagner Group to Belarus is bad news for Poland, says Polish President Andrzej Duda. He hopes that NATO will strengthen its presence on the eastern flank in response to the arrival of the Russian mercenaries. Latvia and LithuaniaBelarus’ other NATO neighbours, join them.
After Saturday’s failed uprising, the Wagner fighters were given the opportunity to go to Belarus to go. Boss Yevgeny Prigozhin has now arrived there, according to Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko. Wagner may too set up military bases in Belarus.
The foreign ministers of Latvia and Lithuania see in the rapid advance of Saturday proof of what the Wagner Group is capable of. Because the border with the NATO countries is now even closer for the Russian mercenaries, the defense strengthened must become. Germany said on Monday that it is ready to send thousands of additional troops to Lithuania. France would also like to provide more antiaircraft, according to Lithuania.
Duda will be in the Netherlands on Tuesday for a meeting with Prime Minister Mark Rutte, NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg and a number of other leaders in preparation for the NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, in two weeks. The President of Lithuania is also present in The Hague.
5:37 pm
The Ukrainian government has Tuesday the mayor of Kyiv, Vitali Klitschko, reprimanded after criticism of city officials about the state of the bomb shelters in the city. The reason is the death of three civilians who tried unsuccessfully to enter an air raid shelter prior to a Russian air raid.
The government said it heads of two districts under the military administration of Kyiv and had fired two acting district chiefs.
It was not immediately clear whether Klitsjko, a former boxer, would be prosecuted. The uncertainty about his political future grew after President Volodymyr Zelensky criticized city officials over the June 1 incident, in which two women and a 9-year-old girl were killed by falling debris after they rushed to a shelter in Kiev and found it closed.
Zelensky then ordered one audit of all bomb shelters and already announced that personnel changes would take place. The audit showed that only 15 percent of the 4,655 bomb shelters in Kiev are suitable was and that only 44 percent freely accessible used to be.
17:12
Yevgeny Prigozhinthe leader of mercenary group Wagner, has arrived in Belarus. This has been confirmed by President Aleksandr Lukashenko, according to the state news agency Belta.
There have been reports of this before Prigozhin’s private jet which had landed in Belarus, but it was unclear whether the Wagner leader himself was also on board that aircraft. The Kremlin recently stated that it did not yet know where Prigozhin was.
Prigozhin’s troops went to Moscow on Saturday after disagreement over supplies and resourcesbut suddenly stopped their advance mediation by the Belarusian president. Prigozhin would then have received permission to leave for that Eastern European country with his men and the criminal case against the Wagner group for armed mutiny was surprisingly stopped.
The mercenary army fighters are given the choice: They can join the regular Russian army, leave Russia for Belarus or return to their families, Moscow assured Tuesday. Lukashenko, in turn, stated that the mercenaries could be an asset to his own armed forces.
The Russian President Vladimir Putin meanwhile has recognized for the first time that the Wagner group was fully financed by the Russian state. He said this during a meeting with Russian troops, according to the Interfax news agency. The mercenary army, which describes itself as a private military company, received in the twelve months leading up to the month of May a total of more than 86 billion rubles (converted about 922 million euros) from the state budgetsaid Putin. Before the conflict with Ukraine erupted, the Kremlin denied any connection to Wagner for years.
5:02 PM
The relocation of the paramilitary Wagner Group to Belarus is bad news for Poland, according to Polish President Andrzej Duda. He hopes that NATO will strengthen its presence on the eastern flank in response to the arrival of the Russian mercenaries.
After Saturday’s failed uprising, the Wagner fighters have been given the opportunity to go to Belarus. Boss Yevgeny Prigozhin has now arrived there, according to Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko. Wagner is also allowed to set up military bases in Poland’s neighboring country.
Duda will be in the Netherlands on Tuesday for a meeting with Prime Minister Mark Rutte, NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg and a number of other leaders in preparation for the NATO summit in Vilnius in two weeks.