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Russia Latest: Zelenskiy Adviser Says Wagner Remains in Ukraine
(Bloomberg) -- An adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said there have been no indications the Wagner mercenary group is retreating from conflict areas in the country after its leader Yevgeny Prigozhin agreed to go into exile.
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Russian officials met key partners, including in China, a day after Prigozhin halted his advance toward Moscow. That sudden turnaround defused the biggest threat to President Vladimir Putin’s almost quarter-century grip on power.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the uprising posed a direct challenge to the Russian president, and Australia offered a fresh package of aid to Kyiv that included vehicles and ammunition. In a deal to end the revolt, Putin guaranteed that Prigozhin would be allowed to leave for Belarus and authorities would drop criminal mutiny charges against him and his fighters.
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Putin Faces Historic Threat to Absolute Grip on Power in Russia
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China Backs Russian ‘National Stability’ Move as Diplomats Meet
Silence Cloaks Kremlin After Russian Mutiny Against Putin
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What Is Russia’s Wagner Group and Why Was It Accused of Mutiny?
All times are CET
Oil Fluctuates, Markets Calm (5:26 a.m.)
Oil fluctuated as investors weighed the potential for more civil unrest in Russia after the dramatic but short-lived rebellion in the major OPEC+ producer. Elsewhere in global markets there were few signs of alarm, with stocks posting modest gains and currency trading mixed.
West Texas Intermediate traded near $69 a barrel and Brent was steady after both benchmarks pared earlier gains of more than 1%. Russia is a key producer of the OPEC+ coalition, along with Saudi Arabia, and any prolonged turmoil in the nation could reverberate through global oil markets.
Shares of Russian aluminum producer United Co. Rusal International PJSC fell as much as 2.9% in Hong Kong before paring losses on Monday.
Australia to Provide Aid Package to Kyiv (4:27 a.m.)
Australia said it would provide a package of aid valued at about $74 million to Ukraine in response to its request for vehicles and ammunition. The assistance includes 28 M113 armored vehicles and 14 special operations vehicles, the government said.
Australia Pressured to Use Russia War Windfall to Help Ukraine
China Backs Russian ‘National Stability’ (2:12 a.m.)
China said it supports Russia’s actions to maintain national stability in a brief statement by a Foreign Ministry spokesperson, who described the weekend’s events as “Russia’s internal affair.”
The statement came after Foreign Minister Qin Gang met in Beijing with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko. It expanded on an earlier comment from Beijing that the pair had exchanged views on international and regional issues of common interest.
The latest events in Russia were covered by Chinese state media, with the People’s Daily and CCTV both running stories as the news developed. Global Times published an article by former editor-in-chief Hu Xijin analyzing what scenarios the uprising could lead to, including regime change.
China Backs Russian ‘National Stability’ as Diplomats Meet
Wagner Group Remains in Luhansk, Adviser Says (1:30 a.m.)
Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Ukraine’s president, said he’s not seeing any exodus of Wagner’s group from the Luhansk region, where its main forces are concentrated. “My understanding is that they haven’t completed initial tasks and agreements yet and they don’t have a vision of new logistics,” he said in an interview with Bloomberg.
Podolyak added there’s a need to wait and assess possible changes in Russia’s military, as the Wagner’s group was “really much more aggressive and competent on the battlefields, compared to Russia’s army.”
Give Them a Day Off, Russian Ministry Advises (10:08 p.m.)
Russia’s Ministry of Digital Development recommended that employers of IT, telecom and media workers give them a day off on Monday because Saturday — when mercenary leader Prigozhin marched toward Moscow — “was a very emotional and stressful day.”
Many ministry employees “spent the weekend at their workplace, so we also made this decision for our employees,” the Moscow-based department said on the VKontakte social media forum.
Biden, Zelenskiy Discuss Wagner Mutiny (9:33 p.m.)
Zelenskiy said he discussed a “further expansion of defense cooperation” with Joe Biden in a phone call Sunday, including air defense and long-range weapons.
“The world must put pressure on Russia until international order is restored,” Zelenskiy said on his Twitter account.
A White House readout said the US and Ukrainian presidents discussed support for Ukraine, and the country’s offensive to retake Russian-occupied areas. Biden “reaffirmed unwavering US support” and the leaders “also discussed recent events in Russia.”
Macron Says Russian ‘Fragility’ on Display (7:25 p.m.)
French President Emmanuel Macron said the turmoil in Russia “should make us very vigilant,” according to an interview with La Provence. He also said it “fully justifies the support we are giving the Ukrainians in their resistance.”
Prigozhin’s now-halted march on Moscow highlights divisions in Russia as well as “the fragility” of its armed forces and of auxiliary forces such as Wagner Group, Macron was quoted as saying.
Lukashenko Had Another Call With Putin, Belta Says (5:20 p.m.)
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko talked with Putin on Sunday morning, the Belarusian state news agency Belta reported without providing details about the call, the pair’s second in as many days.
There was no confirmation from Russian official sources about the call.
Lukashenko also had a phone call with former Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev to discuss the situation in the region, Belta said in the same statement.
Blinken Says Uprising Poses ‘Direct Challenge’ to Putin (3:18 p.m.)
Blinken said the Wagner group’s revolt was a “direct challenge” to Putin’s authority, and the US is focused on supporting Ukraine in its war to drive out Russian forces.
“This raises profound questions. It shows real cracks,” Blinken said Sunday on CBS’s Face the Nation. “We can’t speculate or know exactly where that’s going to go. We do know that Putin has a lot more to answer for in the weeks and months ahead.”
“This is an unfolding story. We haven’t seen the last act,” Blinken said, adding that US intelligence hasn’t seen any change in Russia’s nuclear posture amid the crisis.
Moscow Exchange to Work as Usual on Monday (1:40 p.m.)
Russia’s central bank said trading will take place as normal Monday on the Moscow Exchange, even after authorities in the capital declared Monday a non-working day. Financial organizations will continue to provide key functions, the Bank of Russia said in a website statement.
North Korea Backs Putin’s Move on Mutiny (1:30 p.m.)
Im Chon Il, North Korea’s vice foreign minister, told Russian Ambassador Alexandr Matsegora he hopes the rebellion in Russia would be successfully put down. The DPRK supports any decision taken by the Russian leadership, the official Korean Central News Agency reported.
Wagner Forces Leave Lipetsk, Voronezh Regions (12:49 p.m.)
Members of the Wagner group left the two regions, local authorities said, according to RIA Novosti news agency. They were said to be headed back to their camps at unspecified locations.
Road Blocks Dismantled on Highways Leading to Moscow (10:20 a.m.)
All blockages on the roads leading to Moscow are being removed, the Moscow administration reported, citing the Federal Road Agency. Monday still remains a non-working day for most Muscovites.
Russian, Ukrainian Troops Vie for Upper Hand, UK Says (8:40 a.m.)
Russian troops are attempting to advance in Ukraine’s east, including around Bakhmut, while also looking to quash Kyiv’s counteroffensive in the southern Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said in an update.
Ukrainian forces have reset in recent days and “are using the experiences from the first two weeks of the counteroffensive to refine tactics for assaulting the deep, well prepared Russian defenses,” the UK defense ministry said.
In Luhansk, Kremlin forces have made their own significant effort to launch an attack in the Serebryanka Forest near Kremina. “This probably reflects continued Russian senior leadership orders to go on the offensive whenever possible,” the ministry said on Twitter, adding that Ukrainian forces have prevented a breakthrough so far.
Italy Says Peace in Ukraine Now More Likely (8:03 a.m.)
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said events in Russia showed that its front in Ukraine is weaker, telling Messaggero in an interview that he hopes a peace deal in Ukraine is now closer.
“Putin is not a myth anymore,” he said.
US Suspected Prigozhin Was Ready to Act, NYT Reports (8 a.m.)
US intelligence agencies briefed senior military and administration officials on Wednesday that Prigozhin was preparing to take action against senior Russian defense officials, the New York Times reported, citing officials it didn’t identify.
The agencies kept silent about Prigozhin’s plans, the information about which was considered “both solid and alarming,” because they felt that if they said anything, Putin could accuse them of orchestrating a coup, the NYT said.
A narrow group of Congressional leaders was briefed on Thursday as additional confirmation of the plot became known, the newspaper reported.
Kazakh Leader Welcomes Resolution of Events (8 a.m.)
Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev welcomed the measures taken by the Russian authorities to restore constitutional order and ensure the safety of their citizens.
(An earlier version corrected Blinken’s first name.)
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