Ukraine war live updates: Wagner leader Prigozhin in St. Petersburg, Belarus leader says; Russian missile kills four in Lviv

The Russian foreign ministry announced Thursday that it will expel nine Finnish diplomats and close the Finnish Consulate General in St. Petersburg from Oct. 1.

In a statement on its website, the ministry said its actions were a “response to the confrontational actions of the Finnish authorities,” namely the expulsion of nine Russian diplomats from Finland last month.

— Elliot Smith

A group of former U.S. national security officials has held secret talks with prominent Russians in the hope of laying the foundations for potential negotiations to end the war in Ukraine, NBC News reported Wednesday, citing half a dozen people briefed on the discussion.

Four former and two current officials told NBC News that members of the group, including outgoing president of the Council on Foreign Relations Richard Haass, met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in New York in April.

The former U.S. officials involved either did not respond to requests for comment from NBC News or declined to comment on the record.

Read the full story here.

Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Thursday that Moscow will respond in the harshest terms to any Ukrainian attack on the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant.

Both Russia and Ukraine have in recent days accused one another of plotting attacks on Europe’s largest nuclear facility, with fighting intensifying in the surrounding area.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Kyiv’s intelligence services had information indicating that Russian forces had “placed objects resembling explosives on the roof of several power units” at the plant.

There is no hard evidence to suggest that attacks are being planned by either side, however.

— Elliot Smith

Russia’s ruble continued to slide on Thursday, dropping below 93 to the dollar and furthering losses since Wagner Group mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin’s aborted mutiny late last month.

By around mid-morning in Europe, the ruble was trading at just under 93.35 versus the U.S. dollar.

The Russian government implemented capital controls in the aftermath of the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 that helped to insulate the currency against geopolitical blowback and international sanctions. However, the currency has been in consistent decline since the failed insurrection.

Central Bank of Russia Governor Elvira Nabiullina reportedly told a financial forum on Thursday that any exchange rate is acceptable to policymakers, and the bank is only prepared to intervene if financial stability risks arise.

— Elliot Smith

Exiled Wagner Group mercenary boss Yevgeny Prigozhin is in the Russian city of St. Petersburg, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko told reporters on Thursday.

On June 27, Lukashenko confirmed that Prigozhin had arrived in Belarus per the terms of the deal that saw him evade prosecution for an aborted mutiny, in which Wagner forces seized the southern city of Rostov-on-Don and began marching toward Moscow.

According to Reuters, Lukashenko told reporters on Thursday: “As for Prigozhin, he’s in St Petersburg. He is not on the territory of Belarus.”

He also reiterated an offer for Wagner to station some of its mercenary fighters in Belarus, a suggestion that has troubled neighboring NATO countries.

— Elliot Smith

Human Rights Watch on Wednesday accused both Russian and Ukrainian forces of causing civilian casualties through the use of cluster munitions.

The organization found that Ukrainian cluster bomb attacks on Russian-controlled areas in and around the eastern Ukrainian city of Izium in 2022 caused multiple casualties among Ukrainian civilians, while Russian forces have “extensively” used cluster munitions in Ukraine, killing and injuring many civilians.

“Cluster munitions used by Russia and Ukraine are killing civilians now and will continue to do so for many years,” said Mary Wareham, acting arms director at Human Rights Watch.

“Both sides should immediately stop using them and not try to get more of these indiscriminate weapons.”

The U.S. government is considering a request from Ukraine for the transfer of stockpiled cluster munitions. Should President Joe Biden sign off on the transfer, HRW said it would “inevitably cause long-term suffering for civilians and undermine the international opprobrium of their use.”

— Elliot Smith

A Russian missile attack struck a four-story apartment block overnight in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv, killing at least four people and injuring at least 32, according to the Ukrainian interior ministry.

In a tweet early Thursday morning, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy posted a video of the destruction, showing the top two floors of the long, curved building either missing or reduced to rubble, and promised a “strong” response.

Lviv is the westernmost major city in Ukraine, just over 40 miles from the Polish border and more than 600 miles from the frontline of the conflict. Many Ukrainians have relocated there in search of safety since Russia’s invasion began in the east.

Around 60 apartments and 50 cars were damaged, Lviv Mayor Andriy Sadovyi said in a post on his Telegram channel. Rescuers are still searching among the debris for survivors and casualties.

“This is the biggest attack on Lviv’s civilian infrastructure since the beginning of the full-scale invasion,” Sadovyi said, according to a translation.

— Elliot Smith

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said that the Biden administration did not have news to share regarding the release of detained Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich in Russia.

“I wish I can stand in front of you and say that we have news to share on Evan. Sadly, we do not have any news to share,” Jean-Pierre told reporters during a White House briefing.

“What I can say is Evan, along with Paul Whelan, who are both wrongfully detained, as you know, should be home. They should be home with their families. I just don’t have anything to share at this time,” she added.

Gershkovich was arrested by Russian authorities on March 29 on allegations of espionage. The Biden administration has denied that Gershkovich worked on behalf of the U.S. government as a spy.

— Amanda Macias

The Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency Rafael Grossi warned about rising tensions at the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.

“Nuclear power plants should never under any circumstances be attacked, nuclear power plants should not be used as a military base,” Grossi told reporters during a press conference in Japan.

“The IAEA is there to observe, to monitor this, and to inform the world community if this happens. In our latest inspections, we haven’t seen any activity, but, we remain extremely alert. As you know there is a counter-offensive ongoing, there is a lot of combat,” he said, according to an NBC News report.

“I have been there a few weeks ago and there is combat there, very close to the plant, so we cannot relax and we will be informing and updating constantly,” the head of the nuclear watchdog agency added.

— Amanda Macias