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Zelenskyy praises Ukrainian advances after trip to frontline
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
Putin honors Russian pilots killed in Wagner Group mutiny
Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with the country’s top security officials in Moscow on June 26, 2023.
Valery Sharifulin | Afp | Getty Images
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
Putin addresses Russians, calls Wagner rebellion ‘criminal’
A screen grab captured from a video shows Russian President Vladimir Putin making a statement amid escalating tensions between the Kremlin and the head of paramilitary group Wagner in Moscow on June 24, 2023.
Kremlin Press Office| Handout | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images
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
Read CNBC’s previous live coverage here:
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