The latest on the aftermath of Russian mercenary boss Yevgeny Prigozhin’s declared armed rebellion:
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A former CIA director on Sunday warned the leader of a failed Russian uprising to “be very careful with the windows open.”
Agreements that the United Nations and Turkey brokered with Ukraine and Russia to allow food and fertilizer to flow from warring nations to parts of the world where millions are going hungry have eased concerns about global food security.
Serbian authorities have allowed into the country a Russian anti-war activist who was previously denied entry and spent more than a day at Belgrade airport.
President Joe Biden says he is serious about seeking a prisoner exchange for a Wall Street Journal reporter who has been held in Russia for more than 100 days.
Thousands of Ukrainian civilians are held in a network of formal and informal prisons across Russia and its occupied territories, where they suffer routine torture, psychological abuse and even slave labor.
Speaking on CNN’s “State of the Union,” retired Gen. David Petraeus appeared to be referring to the number of prominent Russians who have died in unclear circumstances, including falling from windows, since Russia invaded Ukraine in February of 2022.
As part of the deal for Yevgeny Prigozhin to stop the march on Moscow by his Wagner mercenaries, he agreed to go into exile in neighboring Belarus, whose leader is a staunch ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“Prigozhin kept his life, but he lost his Wagner group,” Petraeus said. “And he should be very careful with the windows open in his new environment in Belarus, where he is going.”
Among those killed in unclear circumstances was the chairman of the board of Russia’s largest private oil company, who criticized Russia’s military operation in Ukraine. He fell out of a hospital window in September of last year.
The Kremlin has methodically cracked down on critics of the war, so the quick pardon for Prigozhin appeared to show Putin’s weakness. But many who have opposed or betrayed Putin have died months or years later, some even after leaving Russia.
Prigozhin has been harshly critical of how the Russian military has conducted the war and on Friday went further by calling Putin’s justification for the invasion a lie. Prigozhin accused the military of misleading Putin and Russian society by falsely claiming that Ukraine and NATO were planning to attack Russia.
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President Joe Biden and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke by phone on Sunday, a day after a failed rebellion by a mercenary group in Russia weakened President Vladimir Putin.
Zelenskyy, writing on his website and Telegram, said they discussed “the course of hostilities and processes taking place in Russia” and urged more pressure on Russia to restore Ukraine’s borders.
“Yesterday’s events exposed the weakness of the Putin regime,” Zelenskyy said he told Biden.
The White House said the two leaders discussed Ukraine’s counteroffensive, with Biden reaffirming the United States’ unwavering support, including through continued security, economic and humanitarian aid.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said earlier on Sunday that the attempted coup and criticism by now-exiled Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine “create further cracks in the Russian facade”.
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KEY DEVELOPMENTS:
The exile of the Russian mercenary leader ends the revolt, however leave questions on Putin’s power
Belarus’ deal to take the leader of the Russian rebellion puts him on equal footing more repressive nation
The mercenary chief who urged an uprising against Russia’s generals has long ties to Putin
Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine:
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US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Sunday that the attempted coup and criticism by now-exiled Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine “create more cracks in the facade Russian”.
Speaking on CBS’ “Face the Nation,” the top U.S. diplomat stressed that this was a developing story and that the long-term impacts of the now-abandoned march of Wagner’s forces into Moscow would take time to be assessed, but said it posed more problems for Russia’s leader.
“We know that Putin has a lot more to answer for in the coming weeks and months,” he said.
Asked whether the United States was prepared for Putin’s possible fall from power and whether there were concerns about the security of nuclear weapons in his strategic rival, Blinken said: “We always prepare for every contingency.” .
“We have not seen any change in Russia’s nuclear posture,” he added. “There has been no change in ours. But it’s something we’re going to observe very, very carefully.”
Blinken declined to address U.S. intelligence on whether Putin is in Moscow and declined to detail diplomatic engagements between Washington and Russia in recent days.
“We had some engagement with the Russians over the weekend to make sure they understood their responsibilities when it comes to ensuring the safety of our personnel in Russia,” he said.
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Russian troops deployed to protect the capital withdrew on Sunday after mercenary forces heading towards Moscow retreated.
After calling for an armed rebellion aimed at ousting Russia’s defense minister, mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin and his fighters appeared to have seized control of the Russian military headquarters in Rostov-on-Don that oversees fighting in Ukraine
They then advanced toward Moscow largely unhindered. Russian media reported that they shot down several helicopters and a military communications plane. The Ministry of Defense has not commented.
They stopped short of an agreement to send Prigozhin to neighboring Belarus, which has supported Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Charges against him of mounting an armed rebellion will be dropped, according to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, and Prigozhin ordered his troops back to their field camps.
Moscow had prepared for the arrival of Wagner’s forces by setting up checkpoints with armored vehicles and troops at the southern end of the city.
There were few signs in Moscow on Sunday of the anti-terror alert that was brought in after Prigozhin launched his short-lived revolt and nominally remained in place.
Crowds filled the center of the Russian capital on a sunny day and street cafes were packed with customers. Traffic has returned to normal and the blackouts and controls have been removed.
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A senior Russian diplomat flew to Beijing on Sunday for talks with the Chinese government, a day after a rebellion by a Russian mercenary commander petered out.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Rudenko met with Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang to discuss “international and regional issues of common interest,” the Chinese Foreign Ministry said in a one-line statement on your website.
Rudenko’s visit comes after Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of the Wagner mercenary group, ordered his troops to march to Moscow before reaching a deal with the Kremlin on Saturday to go into exile and signal a withdrawal.
China has not officially commented on the crisis in Russia.
Russia and China have maintained close ties during Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, which China has refused to condemn.
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There were few signs in Moscow on Sunday of the anti-terror alert that was brought in after Yevgeny Prigozhin launched his revolt and nominally stayed in place.
Crowds filled the center of the Russian capital on a sunny day and street cafes were packed with customers. Traffic has returned to normal and the blackouts and controls have been removed.
The “anti-terrorist regime” that the authorities declared in and around Moscow allowed restrictions on freedoms and increased security.
Anchors on state-controlled television broadcast the deal ending the crisis as a sign of President Vladimir Putin’s wisdom and broadcast images of Wagner Group troops withdrawing from Rostov-on-Don , in southern Russia. People in Rostov-on-Don who were interviewed by Channel 1 television praised Putin for defusing the crisis.
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There are still no reports of mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin’s arrival in Belarus after he struck a deal with the Kremlin to go into exile and end his rebellion.
Many other questions remained unanswered Sunday morning, including whether Prigozhin would be joined in exile by any of his Wagner Group troops and what role, if any, he might play there.
Prigozhin, who sent a series of audio and video updates during his revolt, has remained silent since the Kremlin announced a deal had been negotiated for him to end his march to Moscow and leave Russia
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The US-based Institute for the Study of War says the Kremlin “faces a profoundly unstable balance” after the deal to end the rebellion by Yevgeny’s Wagner group Prigozhin.
The institute said the optics of Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko, who had played a role in halting a military advance on Moscow, was “humiliating” to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
He said that “the deal brokered by Lukashenko is a short-term solution, not a long-term solution, and Prigozhin’s rebellion exposed serious weaknesses” in the Kremlin and the Russian Defense Ministry. The Kremlin’s apparent surprise at Prigozhin’s rebellion also does not reflect well on the FSB, Russia’s national intelligence service, he added.
The ISW noted that Prigozhin “steadily escalated” his rhetoric against the Russian defense ministry before launching his revolt “and Putin failed to mitigate this risk.”
