Ukraine war live updates: Putin thanks Russian army for preventing ‘civil war’; Moscow drops criminal case against Wagner, state media reports

Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said Tuesday that the kingdom was satisfied with the success of the de-escalation in Russia.

The comments were made during a phone call Tuesday with President Vladimir Putin, the Saudi state news agency reported.

— Karen Gilchrist

President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday thanked Russia’s army and security services for preventing what he described as a civil war when faced with an armed mutiny over the weekend.

Speaking inside the Kremlin, Putin told around 2,500 members of the military, security forces, and the National Guard that they had defended their “motherland” against chaos.

“You have defended the constitutional order, the lives, security and freedom of our citizens. You have saved our Motherland from upheaval. In fact, you have stopped a civil war,” Putin said.

“In this difficult situation, you have acted precisely and harmoniously, you have proved by your deeds your loyalty to the Russian people and the military oath. You have shown your responsibility for the fate of our Motherland and its future,” he added.

The Kremlin said earlier Tuesday it did not agree with assessments that the weekend’s escalation led by the Wagner mercenary group had shaken Putin’s two-decade hold on power.

Putin also told those assembled on the Kremlin’s Cathedral Square that an unspecified number of Russian military pilots had been killed when trying to stop the advance of the mutineers

“In the confrontation with the insurgents our comrades-in-arms, the aviators died,” said Putin.

“They did not falter and carried out their orders and their military duty with honor,” he added, requesting a minute’s silence for the dead pilots.

Russia’s Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, whose removal Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin had demanded, was also present on the square.

— Karen Gilchrist

A Russian missile strike hit a cluster of buildings in Kremenchuk in central Ukraine, exactly one year on from a deadly attack on a shopping mall in the city, Ukrainian officials said.

Dmytro Lunin, governor of the Poltava region that includes Kremenchuk, said a dacha, or cottage, cooperative had been struck.

No casualties were initially reported and Russia did not immediately comment on the attack.

It comes a year after a Russian missile strike on the Amstor shopping mall in Kremenchuk on June 27, 2022, which killed at least 20.

“The enemy attacked Poltava region. Just like a year ago on this day, with X-22 missiles,” Lunin wrote on the Telegram messaging app.

— Karen Gilchrist

South Africa’s Foreign Minister said Tuesday that African leaders remain committed to their efforts to broker a peace deal between Moscow and Kyiv, despite the attempted mutiny in Russia over the weekend.

Naledi Pandor told reporters that the African peace mission was set to continue with further talks over the coming weeks.

It comes after South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and other African leaders visited Russia and Ukraine as part of a peace mission this month.

— Karen Gilchrist

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Tuesday that Kyiv was seeking a “political invitation” for the country to join NATO, when leaders of the military alliance meet for a summit next month.

“There is every reason for a political invitation for Ukraine to join the Alliance,” Zelenskyy wrote on the Telegram messaging app.

— Karen Gilchrist

Hungary’s foreign minister said Tuesday that key leadership in Moscow have assured him that they are “managing the situation” in Russia following an attempted mutiny by Wagner mercenary forces on Saturday.

Péter Szijjártó said he had spoken over the weekend to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov.

“I’ve been in touch with Foreign Minister Lavrov and Deputy Prime Minister Mantarov, who have assured me at that time that they are managing the situation,” he told CNBC’s Sam Vadas at the World Economic Forum’s annual conference in Tianjin, China.

“Whatever happens in Russia, especially when it comes to the internal security situation, it does definitely have an impact on the security of the region — or can have a serious impact on the security of the region,” he said.

Szijjártó added that he had been in touch with colleagues in Belarus, who had informed him ahead of time of the deal to exile Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin to Minsk.

“Whatever brings closer to peace we support it, whatever brings closer to a threat of escalation we do not support,” he added.

— Karen Gilchrist

A U.N. monitoring mission in Ukraine said Tuesday that Russian forces had detained more than 800 civilians and executed 77 since its full-scale invasion in February 2022.

The report also revealed that Ukraine had arbitrarily detained civilians on a much smaller scale, in violation of international law.

— Elliot Smith

A private business jet linked to Wagner Group boss Yevgeny Prigozhin landed in Belarus on Tuesday, data from flight-tracking website Flightradar24 showed.

The Embraer Legacy 600 aircraft, registration number RA-02795, matches the identification codes of the jet belonging to Prigozhin, according to the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). It landed early on Tuesday morning near Minsk, having taken off from St. Petersburg shortly after 1 a.m. local time (5 p.m. ET Monday), though it is not yet known who was on board.

Under the deal brokered by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko over the weekend, which brought a halt to Wagner’s rebellion against Moscow, Prigozhin has been effectively exiled to Belarus. His exact whereabouts have been unknown since the uprising.

— Elliot Smith

Russia’s FSB (Federal Security Service) has closed its criminal case against armed rebels involved in the failed Wagner Group mutiny over the weekend, state-owned news agencies reported Tuesday citing the FSB’s Center of Special Operations.

“In the course of the investigation of a criminal case initiated by the investigative department of the FSB of the Russian Federation on June 23 under Article 279 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation on the fact of an armed rebellion, it was established that on June 24 its participants stopped actions directly aimed at committing a crime,” the security service said, according to Russian news agency RIA Novosti.

“Taking into account this and other circumstances relevant to the investigation, on June 27, the investigating authority issued a decision to close the criminal case.”

Wagner Group fighters on Saturday captured a military headquarters in the southern city of Rostov-on-Don before advancing toward Moscow.

However, the private mercenary group’s march was halted when Prigozhin reportedly cut a deal with the Kremlin, brokered by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.

RIA also reported on Tuesday that Wagner is preparing to hand over its heavy artillery to the Russian defense ministry.

— Elliot Smith

Ukrainian air forces have made small advances east from the village of Krasnohorivka, near Donetsk city, according to the British Ministry of Defence.

“This is one of the first instances since Russia’s February 2022 invasion that Ukrainian forces have highly likely recaptured an area of territory occupied by Russia since 2014,” the MoD said in an update Tuesday.

“Recent multiple concurrent Ukrainian assaults throughout the Donbas have likely overstretched Donetsk People’s Republic and Chechen forces operating in this area.”

U.K. Defence Secretary Ben Wallace told Parliament on Monday that as part of its summer counteroffensive, Ukraine had already recaptured approximately 300 square kilometers, which he said was “more than Russia seized in its whole winter offensive.”

— Elliot Smith

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Monday praised Ukrainian forces for advancing “in all directions,” after he spent the day visiting and distributing awards to troops on the frontline in parts of eastern and southern Ukraine.

“Today, our warriors have advanced in all directions, and it is a happy day,” the president said in a nightly video address, according to a translation.

— Elliot Smith

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday paid tribute to fighter pilots killed during the Wagner Group’s aborted mutiny over the weekend.

In a televised address, Putin’s first public remarks since Saturday’s armed rebellion, he thanked Russian citizens, law enforcement and security services for their unity and praised the fallen pilots for their “courage and self-sacrifice.”

This was Putin’s first acknowledgment of the pilots’ deaths after Wagner forces downed Russian aircraft during the 24-hour revolt, but there is no official information as yet on how many aircraft were shot down and how many Russian pilots died.

— Elliot Smith

Russian President Vladimir Putin has delivered his first televised address since Wagner Group mercenaries instigated a failed mutiny against Russian military leaders over the weekend.

Putin called the rebellion “criminal activity to split and weaken the country, which is now confronting a colossal external threat,” meaning the international response to Putin’s illegal invasion of Ukraine.

The Russian president said the organizers of the armed insurrection would be “brought to justice,” yet he did not mention Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin by name.

He also offered apparent clemency to the hundreds of Wagner mercenaries who participated in the armed march from the southern city of Rostov to about 200 miles outside Moscow.

The speech did little to clarify what comes next for the Wagner Group or for the Russian military, which was unprepared for the speed and ease with which the rebel convoy traveled through the country on major highways.

In his speech, Putin insisted his troops would have crushed the rebellion if it had proceeded any further.

— Christina Wilkie