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Ukraine Latest: Prigozhin Says Moscow Could Declare Goals Met

Bloomberg News
·9-min read

(Bloomberg) -- Russia said Saturday that mercenaries in the Wagner group captured two districts of the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, where battles have raged for months. The death toll from Friday’s Russian missile attack on residential buildings in Slovyansk in eastern Ukraine rose to 11, including at least one toddler found under the rubble.

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President Vladimir Putin signed a hastily-passed law that will impose harsh new penalties on Russians evading military call-up, adding to fears that the government plans another mass mobilization as its invasion of Ukraine drags on. Some of Kyiv’s European allies are skeptical its military will be able to make a decisive breakthrough this year.

Yevgeny Prigozhin, founder of Russia’s Wagner Group whose mercenaries are fighting alongside regular Russian troops, said Moscow could declare it has met the goals of what it calls a “special military operation” in Ukraine and focus on holding onto territory already seized.

Key Developments

  • Ukraine Says Polish Ban on Its Grain Violates Recent Agreement

  • Airman Charged Over Leak as Biden Clamps Down on Secrets

  • What We Know About the Leak of US Military Documents: Q&A

  • Putin Paves Way for New Call-Up as Ukraine Invasion Drags On

  • Summers Warns US Getting ‘Lonely’ as Other Powers Band Together

(All times CET)

Prigozhin Says Russia Should Declare It Has Met Its Goals (5:19 p.m.)

Wagner mercenary group founder Yevgeny Prigozhin said Russia could simply declare victory if it ended its more than year-old invasion of Ukraine today, reasoning that its forces have seized a “fat chunk” of territory.

“The ideal scenario is to declare an end to the ‘special military operation’, and tell everyone that Russia has achieved the results it planned to,” he said in an article published by his press service and on Telegram. The thing to do now, he wrote, is to “firmly hold onto the territories that we already gained.”

Prigozhin, an ally of President Vladimir Putin, later clarified his remarks. He said the main point was to underline his support for “an honest fight and no back deals” and alert to the risk of the what he called the “deep state” hindering that fight.

Zelenskiy, France’s Macron Talk by Phone (5 p.m.)

Ukraine’s president said he discussed with France’s Emmanuel Macron preparations for the NATO summit in Vilnius in July, “and its expected results, in particular regarding Ukraine’s obtaining effective security guarantees even before joining the Alliance.”

Yellen Backs Making Russia Pay for Damage (4 p.m.)

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Russia should pay for damage caused by its war in Ukraine, though “there are legal constraints on what we can do” with regards to frozen Russian assets.

“I think Russia should pay for the damage it has done to Ukraine” and the US is discussing the matter with partner nations,” she said on CNN in response to a question by correspondent Fareed Zakaria.

Ukraine will require at least $411 billion for recovery and reconstruction, the World Bank said in an estimate in March.

Ukraine Pushes Back on Polish Plan to Ban its Grain Imports (4:30 p.m.)

Poland has banned imports of grains and some other food products from Ukraine to protect its market, the country’s ruling party leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski said on Saturday.

Earlier this month, the nation’s agriculture minister resigned following a widespread farmers’ protest over grain imports from neighboring Ukraine. Farmers are an important constituency for the ruling Law and Justice party, which faces a tight election in the fall.

Ukraine’s agriculture minister said Warsaw’s move violates and agreement reached earlier this month about the transit of grain through Poland.

Read more: A Grain Glut Is Straining the Goodwill That Ukraine Badly Needs

Blinken Says US Still Has No Consular Access to Gershkovich (1 p.m.)

US consular officials still have no access to Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in Hanoi on Saturday.

“We continue to call for his immediate release, and certainly we need to see consular access now,” Blinken said in a press briefing after meetings with Vietnamese officials.

Gershkovich, 31, was arrested in late March and has been charged in Russia with espionage, which the newspaper and US officials continue to deny.

Russia Says Wagner Captures Two Districts in Bakhmut (12:33 p.m.)

Russia’s defense ministry said Saturday that mercenaries in the Wagner group captured two districts of the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, Interfax reported. The areas seized by the fighters lie in the northern and southern outskirts of Bakhmut, where fierce fighting is taking place, the ministry said.

Russia forces led by Wagner have been waging costly battles for months in a bid to take control of the city, which could open the way for efforts to attack other major population centers in the Ukrainian-held part of the Donetsk region.

The severely devastated town in Ukraine’s Donetsk region faced 158 missile and artillery strikes from Russian side in the past day, Serhiy Cherevatyi, spokesman for the eastern grouping of the armed forces, said on TV. There were 17 skirmishes that led to 80 Russia’s soldiers killed and 100 injured, he claimed. The figures couldn’t be verified. Intense fighting continues in the Lyman-Kupyansk axes as well, he said.

Russia Prioritizing Recruitment Efforts, UK Says (9 a.m.)

The measure signed by Vladimir Putin late Friday will allow Russian authorities “to serve call-up papers electronically, rather than by letter, removing one obstacle which has previously allowed some to dodge the draft,” the UK defense ministry said.

“With individuals’ call-up data now digitally linked to other state-provided online services, it is likely that the authorities will punish draft-dodgers by automatically limiting employment rights and restricting foreign travel,” the UK said in a Twitter thread.

For now, until those measures are in place later this year, Russia is “prioritizing a drive to recruit extra volunteer troops,” the UK said.

Brazil’s Lulu Says US Needs to Stop ‘Encouraging War’ (8 a.m.)

Russia and Ukraine are having problems making decisions to end the war, and countries that maintain good relations with the two should help them reach a solution, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva told journalists in Beijing, where he met with Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping.

“It is important that the US stops encouraging war and starts talking about peace,” Lula told reporters.

Death Toll in Slovyansk Missile Strike Continues to Rise (8 a.m.)

The updated death toll from a Russian missile strike on Slovyansk in the Donetsk region rose to 11, including a two-year-old who died on the way to hospital, with rescue efforts continuing.

Three five-storey buildings were hit in the S-300 missile attack, with one partly destroyed. Surrounding houses were also damaged. At least seven explosions were heard around the city, according to Andriy Yermak, chief of staff to Ukraine’s president.

Kramatorsk was also targeted by missiles, and Kremlin troops also launched multiple airstrikes and MLRS attacks on military and civilian positions.

Russian Continues to Press Bakhmut Offensive (7 a.m.)

Moscow’s forces continue their efforts around Bakhmut, Lyman, Avdiivka and Marinka in the Donestsk region, with Ukrainian troops repelling more than 50 attacks in those areas on Friday, Ukraine’s armed forces said in a morning update.

Putin Paves Way for New Call-Up as Invasion Drags On (10 p.m.)

The Kremlin introduced harsh new penalties for people who evade military call-up, adding to fears that the government is planning another mass mobilization.

President Vladimir Putin Friday signed the law, which was rushed through parliament earlier this week, according to the Tass state news service.

Former Kremlin adviser Sergei Markov described the changes as a “big shock for Russia,” with even those who have left the country not spared as they’ll also receive the summons electronically and will face the same restrictions as people living inside Russia. “This is a new world,” he said on Telegram.

Finnish Embassy in Moscow Gets Envelopes With Powder (8:41 p.m.)

The Russian foreign ministry said Finland’s embassy in Moscow received an envelope containing white powder and two other identical envelopes that it left sealed.

The envelopes, addressed to the embassy’s military attache and aides of the diplomat, were handed over to Russian law enforcement authorities, it said.

The incident took place about 10 days after the Nordic state bordering Russia joined NATO, abandoning its traditional neutrality because of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Finland Starts Building Fence on Parts of NATO’s Eastern Flank (4:32 p.m.)

NATO’s newest member has kicked off a project to build a barrier to better protect its border with Russia. An initial 3-kilometer (1.9-mile) stretch of fence went up near a border crossing in the southeast, Finland’s Border Guard said on Friday.

Finland joined the military alliance this month after putting in an application triggered by Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. In addition to gaining NATO’s Article 5 collective security guarantees, it has also increased defense spending and procurement of weapons and ammunition.

The Finnish fence won’t span the entire 1,343-kilometer length of its frontier with Russia. Instead, the plan is to cover the riskiest spots, especially around crossing points, against targeted mass entry.

Read more: Finland Starts Building Fence on Parts of NATO’s Eastern Flank

US Charges 21-Year-Old for Taking, Leaking Classified Documents (5 p.m.)

The US charged an Air National Guardsman with unauthorized transmission and retention of classified material in connection with a massive leak that exposed a variety of intelligence secrets, including maps, intelligence updates and an assessment of Russia’s war in Ukraine.

Jack Teixeira, 21, made his initial court appearance Friday in Boston federal court after being arrested for allegedly accessing and disseminating classified national defense information. He faces at least 15 years in prison if convicted of the charges. Teixeira, who was refused bail, didn’t enter a plea and was given a public defender. He’s scheduled for another hearing in Boston on Wednesday.

Read more: Airman Charged Over Leak as Biden Clamps Down on Secrets

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