The day was marked by very strong tensions between the Russian group Wagner and Moscow, leading to a call from the security services to arrest the boss of the paramilitaries.
The rag burns between Wagner and Moscow. The leader of the Russian paramilitary group Wagner accused, on Friday June 23, the Russian army of having carried out deadly strikes on its fighters behind the Ukrainian front, calling for an uprising against the military command, earning him immediate under investigation for appeal “to armed mutiny”. Franceinfo takes stock of what to remember from the day on the war front.
Wagner boss accuses Russia of ordering deadly strikes on his military camps
First striking element of this sequence: Friday, at the start of the evening, the chef of the paramilitary group Wagner accused the Russian regular army to have carried out strikes on camps of its fighters behind the Ukrainian front, making a “very large number of victims”.
“They carried out strikes, missile strikes, on our rear camps. A very large number of our fighters were killed”said Yevgeny Prigojine in an audio message broadcast by his press service, promising to “respond” to these attacks ordered according to him by the Russian Minister of Defence. The leader of the paramilitary group also called for “stop” the Russian military command, calling not to oppose “resistance” to his troops and affirming that Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu would be “stopped”.
Russia denies these accusations.
Next, the Russian military denied bombing positions of the Russian paramilitary group Wagner, as its boss Yevgeny Prigozhin asserted in dramatic accusations that expose the deep tensions within Moscow’s forces in Ukraine.
Russian security services open investigation into ‘call for mutiny’
The Russian security services (FSB) have opened an investigation for “call for armed mutiny” after the call of the leader of the Wagner group to rise up against the military command. The announcement is made by the National Anti-Terrorism Committee of Russia, in a statement quoted by Russian news agencies. Following, the security services called for the arrest of Wagner’s boss.
Security is tightened in Moscow
Security measures have been tightened in Moscow, the Russian capital, reports the state agency TASS. “Strategic, state facilities and transport infrastructure have been placed under enhanced protection”said the police, according to this source.
Ukrainian troops preparing to attack, Moscow says
Russia said Ukrainian forces were preparing to attack near the eastern Ukrainian town of Bakhmut in “taking advantage” of the chaos caused by the call of the leader of the Wagner group for an uprising against the Russian general staff. The Russian Ministry of Defense also claims to strike Ukrainian forces with aviation and artillery.
kyiv accuses Moscow of preparing a “terrorist attack” in Zaporizhia
Earlier today, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russia of preparing a “terrorist attack” involving a leak “radiation” to the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant occupied by Russian troops in southern Ukraine.
“They have prepared everything for this”said on Telegram Volodymyr Zelensky whose country had been the scene of the worst nuclear accident in history after the explosion of a reactor at the Chernobyl power plant. “We pass this information on to all our partners worldwide, all evidence”he continued. “The world is warned, the world can and must act”he urged.
“I have no reason to call Vladimir Putin”, says Emmanuel Macron
Emmanuel Macron judged on franceinfo, RFI and France 24 that the Paris Summit, which brings together some fifty heads of state and government with the aim of reviving North-South cooperation to fight against poverty and global warming, underlines “the ‘isolation of Russia’ on the international scene.
Emmanuel Macron does not plan any particular initiative to renew the dialogue with Vladimir Putin: “I have no reason to call him today. There is a Ukrainian counter-offensive. The time will come, I hope, for negotiations on Ukrainian terms. On the other hand, if he m call to propose something, I will take it because France has always been a facilitating and mediating power”, he declares.
Russia expands list of EU officials banned from entering
Russia has announced that it has “significantly widened” the list of European officials banned from entering its territory, in response to new sanctions from Brussels against it in connection with the conflict in Ukraine.
Without specifying the number of people concerned, the Russian ministry indicated that the officials targeted were in particular members of the security services or European political or commercial institutions, as well as European parliamentarians. “promoting a (hostile) agenda towards Russia”.