Day 490 of the Invasion of Ukraine: Wagner will not guard Russian Nuclear Weapons in Belarus

Ukraine | June 28, 2023, Wednesday // 13:14|  views

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Day 490 of the invasion of Ukraine. Summary of key events in the last 24 hours:

  • Wagner will not guard Russian nuclear weapons in Belarus
  • Ukraine appoints new head of state arms company Ukroboronprom
  • Zelensky called the Russian leaders bandits, ruled out a frozen conflict
  • "You will see it!" The main blow of the Armed Forces in Ukraine in the summer counteroffensive is coming
  • The number of victims of the Russian missile strike in Kramatorsk is increasing
  • A new package of US military aid to Ukraine
  • Christo Grozev: In the next 6 months we will see the completion of what was started in Russia
  • China has not ruled out support for the return of Crimea and Donbas to Ukraine
  • Orban: Ukraine is not a sovereign state
  • Lukashenko "saved" Prigozhin
  • Ex-prisoners from "Wagner" return home and kill again


Wagner will not guard Russian nuclear weapons in Belarus

Some of the Russian nuclear weapons are already in Belarus, but "Wagner" will not guard them, the Belarusian president said.

Alexander Lukashenko confirmed that the private Russian army was housed in an abandoned military base and assured that no special base would be built for "Wagner".

Latvia and Lithuania have called on NATO to strengthen its eastern borders in response to the move of the Russian private army into Belarus.

The Lithuanian foreign minister said that the speed with which the group has advanced towards Moscow proves the need to strengthen the borders of the two Baltic states.

Poland is also concerned about the relocation of "Wagner" to Belarus.

Ukraine appoints new head of state arms company Ukroboronprom

The Ukrainian government appointed a new head of state arms maker Ukroboronprom on Wednesday amid Kyiv's attempts to boost domestic arms production and increase transparency, Reuters reported.

The appointment of Herman Smetanin, who worked as the head of the Malyshev plant in Kharkiv in northeastern Ukraine, as Ukroboronprom's new general director is part of a broader transformation of the key industry, officials said.

Reuters notes that Ukraine, which has been fighting Russian forces since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022, is heavily dependent on Western military aid and arms supplies.

"The newly appointed general director faces three main tasks: to increase the production of ammunition and military equipment, to build an effective anti-corruption infrastructure in the company and to transform Ukroboronprom," said Oleksandr Kamyshin, Minister of Strategic Industries of Ukraine.

The government is pushing for reforms to the domestic defense industry to modernize local manufacturers, allowing them to cooperate more closely with their Western partners and increase supplies to the front.

Despite the war, the constant shelling of its military production facilities and the need to move some factories to safer areas, Ukraine managed to start the production of new artillery shells. It also negotiated joint projects with Central European manufacturers to repair Ukrainian tanks and other vehicles and worked to develop the production of drones and missiles.

Kamyshin described the 31-year-old Smetanin as a young and progressive leader who has quickly risen from an engineer to head a huge company producing tanks and other armored vehicles.

Smetanin was born in Kharkiv and worked in several engineering and tank factories.

"Together we will be able to strengthen the defense industry, significantly increase the volume and pace of production and, as a result, turn it into an engine for the recovery of the country's economy," Kamyshin said on Telegram.

Earlier, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky fired the general director of the state arms conglomerate "Ukroboronprom" Yury Gusev. The corresponding decree was published on the website of the head of state, Ukrinform news agency reported, quoted by BTA.

"To release Yury Veniaminovich Gusev from the position of general director of the state concern Ukroboronprom in accordance with the submitted application," the document says.

Gusev held this post since December 2020.

The electronic newspaper "Ukrainska Pravda" states that Zelensky expected Gusev to increase the production of operational-tactical complexes "Sapsan" (Hrim-2), but the efforts were unsuccessful.

Zelensky called the Russian leaders bandits, ruled out a frozen conflict

President Volodymyr Zelensky described Russia's political and military leaders as bandits and ruled out any peace plan that would turn the war against Ukraine into a frozen conflict, Reuters reported.

Zelensky made the comments in a speech to parliament on Ukraine's Constitution Day, a day after Russian President Vladimir Putin praised his troops for dealing with a mercenary rebellion led by Wagner Group chief Yevgeny Prigozhin.

Declaring that Ukraine was "on the road to victory," he said Russian leaders must not be allowed to escape justice.

"The political and military leadership of the Russian Federation should not escape justice due to the fact that they supposedly have immunity as state leaders," Zelensky told the Rada (parliament).

"They are not leaders of the state - they are bandits who seized control of the state institutions of Russia ... and began to terrorize the whole world."

He described the Russian president as suffering from "madness."

Zelensky has signaled that he remains opposed to any peace plan that would freeze Russia's territorial gains after its invasion of Ukraine.

"Ukraine will not agree to any of the options for a frozen conflict," he added.

Zelensky has drawn up a 10-point "formula" for peace that includes restoring Ukraine's territorial integrity, withdrawing Russian troops and restoring Ukraine's state borders.

The plan would include a return to Ukraine's 1991 borders after it gained independence from the Soviet Union. Zelensky has repeatedly said that this should be the basis of any proposal to end the war.

In his speech, he called for a nationwide discussion on a future doctrine for Ukraine "to answer all the fundamental questions about Ukraine and our future" and provide "a common vision of what victory for Ukraine should look like."

"You will see it!" The main blow of the Armed Forces in Ukraine in the summer counteroffensive is coming

The main strike of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the course of the summer counteroffensive is yet to come, said the Minister of Defense of Kyiv Oleksii Reznikov in a comment for the Financial Times. The minister calls the current achievements of Armed Forces of Ukraine (VSU) "introductory".

"When it happens (the offensive), you will see everything. Everyone will see everything," Reznikov said, commenting on Western media reports of what they say is a slow advance by the Ukrainian army against well-fortified Russian positions.

Reznikov stated that the main reserves of Ukrainian troops, including most brigades trained in the West and equipped with modern equipment, have not yet been activated. But at the same time, he urges us not to expect a "miracle."

The Ukrainian military minister considers the situation in the Russian Federation too unpredictable to bet on the fall of Putin's power as a result of internal conflicts.

"We'll see how durable they are once it's done," added Reznikov, referring to future Ukrainian counteroffensives.

Prigozhin's rebellion, Reznikov believes, has shown Western partners "the nearness of Ukraine's victory." So he hopes Saturday's events will lead to an increase in military supplies. The minister admits that the current strategy of the VSU is to exhaust the Russian army through heavy losses.

"We have to trust our security and defense forces, as well as our partners who supply weapons. These factors are much more reliable and predictable than internal strife in Russia," emphasized Reznikov.

The number of victims of the Russian missile strike in Kramatorsk is increasing

The number of dead in the Russian missile attack on a restaurant in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk increased to (at least) 8 people today, AFP reported.

The attack on "Pizza Riya" caused the death of three children, at least 56 were injured in the establishment, popular among soldiers and journalists in the city, which is one of the largest under Ukrainian control in the eastern part of the country.

Affected by the attack were a restaurant and a shopping area in the city, which is under Ukrainian control but close to Russian-occupied parts of Ukraine.

According to preliminary information, there are still people under the ruins of the pizzeria - the rescue operation continues. The rescuers have deployed an operational headquarters at the site, the police are working. The injured are being given the necessary medical care.

The National Police informed that a rocket hit a cafe in the center of Kramatorsk where there were visitors. The second rocket hit the private sector of the Belenki settlement. According to preliminary data, the invaders fired two S-300 missiles.

Footage uploaded to Telegram military channels shows a man with a head injury receiving first aid on the sidewalk.

"Each such terrorist act proves again and again to us and the whole world that Russia deserves only one consequence of everything it has done - defeat and a tribunal, fair and legal trials against all Russian murderers and terrorists," said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Days after the mutiny by the head of the private military company Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, seen as the biggest threat to Kremlin power in decades, Kyiv said the rebellion’s impact on the fighting had been minimal.

"Unfortunately, Prigozhin surrendered too quickly. There was no time for this demoralizing effect to be implemented in the Russian ranks," Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba told CNN.

And as Belarus welcomed Prigozhin into exile on Tuesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin sought to shore up his power by thanking regular troops for thwarting a civil war.

But as Moscow announced preparations to disarm Wagner fighters, jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny attacked the president in his first comments since the attempted paramilitary rebellion:

"There is no greater threat to Russia than Putin's regime. He is so dangerous to the country that even his imminent demise will create a threat of civil war," he declared.

In The Hague, NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said it was still too early to draw conclusions about Prigozhin and possibly some of his forces’ move to Belarus, but promised the alliance was ready to protect its members.

"What is absolutely clear is that we have sent a clear message to Moscow and Minsk that NATO is here to protect every ally and every inch of its territory," Stoltenberg said.

A new package of US military aid to Ukraine

Strengthening Ukraine's air defenses is one of the goals of the latest, 41st in a row, package of military aid from the United States, reports Reuters.

Included in the shipment are ammunition for the Patriot anti-aircraft missile complexes, which were provided to the country in April.

Another 30 Bradley infantry fighting vehicles and 25 Stryker armored personnel carriers will be delivered, as well as missiles for the HIMARS precision fire systems, as well as more than 22 million rounds of ammunition and grenades.

They should help to continue the counteroffensive against the Russian army, which has captured parts of Donbas and Zaporizhzhia.

Christo Grozev: In the next 6 months we will see the completion of what was started in Russia

"What happened in Russia will be repeated. In the next 6 months we will see the end of what was started in Russia", commented the Bulgarian investigative journalist Christo Grozev after the attempted rebellion of Yevgeny Prigozhin. In his words, the damage is to the image of Vladimir Putin, who until now has been presented as "a person who cannot be attacked, who so well balances all the different towers in the Kremlin." "What happened showed how he accidentally saved his post," Grozev said. He also commented on the possible reasons why Prigozhin stopped his "peace march" towards Moscow.

"On the one hand, Prigozhin did not receive the expected support from some of his supporters, perhaps people in special services who had promised him or hinted that he would receive support," commented Grozev. And he emphasized that a very important element was the support he expected from General Surovikin, who is currently practically leading the military operation in Ukraine. "The American intelligence knew, as far as we understand from today's article in the New York Times, that Surovikin was initiated into Prigozhin's plans," Grozev pointed out.

According to him, another possible reason for stopping the rebellion is possible pressure from the special services of the FSB.

China has not ruled out support for the return of Crimea and Donbas to Ukraine

China's ambassador to the European Union, Fu Cong, explained that he did not see why China could not support Ukraine's goals of regaining its territorial integrity since 1991, in other words before Russia's annexation of the Crimean peninsula.

This comment is from Fu's interview with Al Jazeera and several other media outlets. Asked if he would support such a request, he recalled China's support for the territorial integrity of all countries and explained: "I don't see why not." At the same time, he insists there are "historical issues" that need to be resolved by both sides.

Fu's comments, differentiating China from Russia or hinting at reaching out to Europe, have become more frequent in the past few months after China attempted diplomacy to end the war in Ukraine. In April, he even explained to the New York Times that "boundless friendship with Russia" was just a phrase.

For Russia, the return of territories is a red line, and the Kremlin insists that the four eastern and southern Ukrainian regions, (in the Donbas and southern Ukraine) announced as annexed in whole or in part, are a red line and they will forever remain part of the country.

At the same time, Chinese envoys do not speak with one voice in Europe: the ambassador to France gave a scandalous interview in April in which he rejected the sovereignty of the former Soviet republics.

In addition, beyond Fu's words, China rarely comments on the annexation of Ukrainian territories by Russia, Al Jazeera notes. The ambassador defended his country's position on television (which is "for" the territorial integrity of Ukraine, but demonstrates closeness with Russia) and called it "very clear" - calls for peace and sitting at the negotiating table.

He also discusses relations with the European Union, which have cooled after the war. Last week, Chinese Premier Li Qiang visited Europe for the first time since taking office and received calls for Beijing to toughen its approach to Moscow. Meanwhile, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen softened the tone and called for "de-risking", not disengagement, in economic relations with China.

Fu explained to Qatari television that he understood the EU's ambitions for a shock-resistant supply chain, but the bloc should not "confuse economic security with national security, thereby hurting free trade".

He expressed alarm at commission proposals to exclude Huawei and ZTE from 5G networks made this month. "There is no evidence that they are harming cybersecurity, and in our view, these baseless allegations are against the spirit of fair play and fair competition that Europe claims to champion."

Orban: Ukraine is not a sovereign state

Ukraine is not a sovereign state.

This was announced by Hungarian President Viktor Orban in an interview with "Bild". Immediately before that, the head of state underestimated the importance of Volodymyr Zelensky's stated intentions for Ukraine to take back all the occupied territories from Russia.

"What really matters is what the Americans want. Ukraine is no longer a sovereign state. You have no money. You have no weapons. They are only fighting because the West supports them. So if the Americans ask for peace, there will be peace."

In another part of the interview, Orban pointed out that negotiations between Washington and Moscow are the only way to "save Ukraine". In his words, "the Ukrainians will lose their soldiers much faster than the Russians", that's why he always supported the idea of peace.

Orban rejected the suggestion that Prigozhin’s rebellion exposed the weakness of Putin's regime. He said the fact that the rebellion was over in 24 hours was a "sign of strength".

"This is Russia. Russia works and functions differently from other European countries".

According to Orban, the Russian president cannot be described as a "war criminal".

"We can talk about war crimes after the war. If you want a ceasefire and to negotiate, then we have to convince those who are part of the conflict to come to the negotiating table. If we invite them to the table, but we also tell them ‘come to the table and we will arrest you’ - this is not a good idea. It is completely inappropriate to talk about this now".

Lukashenko "saved" Prigozhin

Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko said that during the Wagner rebellion last Saturday, he had to persuade Russian President Vladimir Putin not to kill riot leader Yevgeny Prigozhin.

State media in Belarus broadcast Lukashenko's words to heads of Belarusian services:

"I told Putin: we can kill Prigozhin without a problem. If not from the first attempt, then from the next attempt. But I told him: don't do it!".

"I suggested to Putin to take his time. I told him: let's talk to Prigozhin, to his commanders. And Putin answered me: It's useless, Sasha. He doesn't even pick up the phone, he doesn't want to talk to anyone. Then I asked where Prigozhin was. He replied me: in Rostov. Well, I say, a bad peace is better than any war. Take your time, I'll try to get in touch with him."

Lukashenko was publicly thanked by Putin yesterday for his role in quelling the unrest after he persuaded Prigozhin and his men to abandon the march on Moscow and offered them new bases in his country.

Earlier today it was reported that Prigozhin had arrived in Belarus. Lithuania, Latvia and Poland responded by asking NATO allies to further strengthen the military presence on the alliance's eastern flank.

In Paris, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis requested help directly from the French government:

"France can be an invaluable partner in strengthening the air defense of the Baltic countries. French technology is well known to us as exemplary and, in my opinion, can serve as a convincing element of our deterrence strategy, so that no Wagner, no Russian military they don't even think of crossing the borders in the Baltics".

Ex-prisoners from "Wagner" return home and kill again

When Ivan Rosomakhin returned home three months ago after serving in the war in Ukraine, his neighbors in his village east of Moscow were horrified.

Three years earlier, he was convicted of murder and served many years in prison, but was pardoned simply because he volunteered to fight for the private military company Wagner. After his return to Novy Burets, 800 km east of Moscow (formerly Kirov Oblast), locals began to talk about how he regularly roamed the streets of his neighborhood drunk, brandishing an army knife and threatening to kill everyone.

Although police promised to keep an eye on the 28-year-old former mercenary, he was eventually arrested in a nearby town on charges of stabbing to death an elderly woman who had once been his landlady. According to the information released, he pleaded guilty to the crime committed less than 10 days after his return from the front.

Rosomakhin's case is far from isolated. The Associated Press has found at least seven other cases in recent months in which prisoners mobilized at Wagner have been identified as participants in brutal crimes, both according to Russian media reports and testimony from relatives of the victims. in places from Kaliningrad in the west to Siberia in the east.

Russia's drive to strengthen its military forces in Ukraine has reached unsuspected dimensions, including the launch of Wagner mercenaries into the war. The implications are far-reaching, as became apparent this past weekend when the Wagner’s leader (Yevgeny Prigozhin) tasked his private army to advance on Moscow in what turned out to be an attempted rebellion. Another consequence came from the use of prisoners in battle.

Britain's Defense Secretary (Ben Wallace) warned in late March that "a sudden influx of systemically aggressive subjects with recent or frequent traumatic military experience may seriously test Russian wartime society" when their service ends.

The leader of "Wagner" Yevgeny Prigozhin said that he recruited 50 thousand prisoners for the war with Ukraine - such a number was also named by Olga Romanova, the chairman of the non-governmental charitable organization for the rights of prisoners "Russia behind bars" ("Русь сидящая"). Senior military officials from Western countries said prisoners made up the majority of Wagner's fighters on the battlefield. About 32,000 of them have already returned from Ukraine, Prigozhin announced last week. According to Romanova, the number was around 15 thousand by the beginning of June.

Convicted criminals who agreed to join "Wagner" were promised freedom after serving. President Vladimir Putin recently confirmed that he had "signed pardon decrees" for prisoners fighting in Ukraine. However, these decrees were not made public.

Putin also said that the recidivism rate among those granted freedom against military service in Ukraine was no higher than the average for Russia in general. Rights advocates say, however, that fears of an increase in recidivism are not necessarily unfounded.

"These people develop a complete lack of connection between crime and punishment, between the act and its consequences," says Romanova. "It's not just prisoners who see it. Free people see it - you can do something terrible, then you volunteer to go to war and come home a hero," she added.

Far from looking valiant on his return from Ukraine, Rosomakhin was described as an "extremely restless, troubled person", according to police in a meeting with frightened residents of Novy Burets, which was recorded on video by a local TV channel, before 85-year-old Yulia Buyskikh was slaughtered. Moreover, he was arrested for smashing a car and detained for 5 days, but subsequently released on March 27. Two days later, Buyskikh was killed.

"She knew him, that's why she opened the door for him when he came to kill her," the deceased's granddaughter, Anna Pekareva, wrote on Facebook. "Every family in Russia should be afraid of such visitors."

Here are other cases: a shop robbery in which a man pointed a knife at the saleswoman's face; a car theft in which three inmates beat the owner and force him to hand it over to them; sexual abuse of two schoolgirls; two more murders in other Russian settlements, man arrested for sexually assaulting 8-year-old girl after forcibly separating her from her mother.

Wagner's mercenary recruitment typically offered prisoners six-month contracts, media and human rights groups said. Then (the expiration of the contracts) they can return home, unlike the overtime workers. Regular members of the army cannot terminate their contracts and leave the service while Putin's mobilization order lasts. However, it was not clear whether the mercenaries' contracts would be honored after Yevgeny Prigozhin's failed rebellion.

A former prisoner himself, Prigozhin recently admitted that some of the repeat abusers were Wagner fighters - including Rosomakhin in Novy Burets and the man in Novosibirsk arrested for sexually abusing two girls.

According to a recent statement by Putin, the recidivism rate is "10 times lower" among prisoners who went to fight in Ukraine than among convicts in general. "The negative consequences have been minimized," he said.

Not enough data is yet available to assess the consequences, said a Russian criminology expert, who also spoke on condition of anonymity for security reasons. He noted that the incidents "fit the pattern of repeat offender behavior" and there is a possibility that these inmates will commit a crime once they are free, even if they were not recruited by Wagner. However, there is no reason to expect an explosive boom in crime, because a significant number of ex-prisoners will probably refrain from breaking the law for a while, mainly because they were well paid by "Wagner", the criminologist points out.

He expects overall crime rates to rise after the war ends, but not necessarily because of convicted criminals used in combat. This is something that usually happens after armed conflicts, the criminologist added.

The Soviet Union sent 1.2 million prisoners to fight in World War II, according to a study by Russia's Federal Penitentiary Service. It did not say how many returned from the front, but the criminologist expert told the AP that "many of them" were still behind bars after committing crimes four years later.

Romanova of "Russia Behind Bars" states that there are quite disturbing episodes involving ex-prisoners who have returned to civilization after being in Ukraine. The law enforcement agencies that have spent time and money investigating and convicting these criminals at the time, they may feel humiliated now as they watch many of them walk around at large without having served their sentences, she states. "They see that their work was pointless," adds Romanova. Some ex-prisoners who are caught in a crime after returning home sometimes try to wash their hands of the police, accusing them of discrediting those who fought in Ukraine — now a serious crime in Russia, she added.

Asked if that's what deters law enforcement, Romanova says, "You bet. A prosecutor doesn't want to go to jail for 15 years."

Yana Gelmel, a lawyer and rights defender who also works with prisoners, said in an interview that those who returned from the front in Ukraine often act boldly and confidently, claiming special treatment because "they defended the motherland." She describes the harsh life in Russian prisons, where rampant and incessant violence reigns, extreme isolation, constant obedience to the guards and an strong hierarchy among the convicts. "What's their mental state supposed to be?" Gelmel asks, referring to the prisoners living in the said conditions.

Add the trauma of throwing them into battle - especially in places like Bakhmut and eastern Ukraine, where the longest and bloodiest conflicts flared up and where thousands of Wagner's mercenaries died, she also notes. "Imagine - he goes to war. Even if he survives, he's been through so much there. How does he come home?" adds Gelmel.

Meanwhile, it appears that the recruitment of prisoners for military service in Ukraine continues, apparently not by "Wagner", human rights defenders note. Now the Ministry of Defense of Russia is looking for volunteers and offers them contracts. Romanova claimed the ministry had armed nearly 15,000 prisoners as of June, although officials were not immediately available for comment.

Unlike Wagner, Russia's defense ministry will soon have the legal basis to do so - laws allowing the conscription of prisoners for military service passed smoothly through the Duma and were signed by Putin last week.

Again, unlike Wagner, the ministry offers 18-month contracts, but many of those hired do not sign anywhere and thus fall into a situation of uncertainty, claims Romanova. But, according to her, the enthusiasm among ex-prisoners has not faded, even after thousands of others have already met their deaths on the battlefield.

"Our favorite game is Russian roulette," Romanova says sadly. "It's a national pastime."

Novinite is still the only Bulgarian media that publishes a summary of events and highlights related to the conflict, every single day. Our coverage began on day one - 24.02.2022 and will not stop until the war has concluded. Despite the pressure, our independent media will continue to provide its readers with accurate and up-to-date information. Thank you for your support! #stayinformed

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Tags: Prigozhin, Russia, Ukraine, Putin

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