Ukraine war live: Putin orders Wagner mercenaries to sign oath of allegiance after Prigozhin death

Wagner chief Prigozhin killed
Vladimir Putin has ordered Wagner mercenaries to sign an oath of allegiance to the Russian state after a airplane believed to be carrying their chief Yevgeny Prigozhin crashed close to Moscow.
With rapid impact on Friday, Russia’s president signed the decree, printed on the Kremlin web site, which obliges anybody finishing up work on behalf of the navy or Moscow’s war in Ukraine to swear a proper oath of allegiance to Russia.
The oath features a line wherein those that take it promise to strictly observe the orders of commanders and senior leaders.
It comes after the Kremlin insisted that claims Prigozhin had been killed on its orders had been an “absolute lie”, as Mr Putin euologised the mercenary chief as a “talented businessman” who had made some “serious mistakes.”
Meanwhile, Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko claims to have warned Prigozhin to “watch out” for threats to his life throughout his troops mutinous march on Moscow in June, to which he mentioned Prigozhin had answered: “To hell with it – I will die.”
Russian forces struck a restaurant in Ukrainian front-line, killing two
Russian forces struck a restaurant in a key front-line space in north-eastern Ukraine, killing two civilians and wounding a 3rd, regional officers mentioned.
The shelling close to the town of Kupiansk got here as UK officers mentioned that Russia could strive to retake the realm, which was captured by Kyiv in a lightning counteroffensive final September after greater than six months of Russian occupation.
Fierce preventing there earlier this month prompted obligatory evacuations and fears of a second Russian takeover.
Regional governor Oleh Syniehubov mentioned in a Telegram submit that Russian shells on Saturday struck the cafe in Podoly, an jap suburb of Kupiansk.
He added that rescue groups had been working on the web site.
Tatyana Skrypnikova, 60, who sustained mild shrapnel wounds, stands amongst particles of the home of her neighbours destroyed following a shelling within the village ofnZaoskillya, close to Kupiansk, Kharkiv Oblast
(AFP through Getty Images)
In this handout {photograph} taken and launched by the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine on August 26, 2023, war crime prosecutors work on the web site of a shelling within the village of Podoly close to Kupiansk, Kharkiv area.
(Office of the Prosecutor General)
Holly Bancroft26 August 2023 18:48
WSJ reporter appeals resolution to prolong his pretrial detention till December
Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich has appealed a Moscow courtroom’s resolution to prolong his pretrial detention in Russia till the top of November, paperwork on the courtroom’s web site present.
Mr Gershkovich is the primary US journalist held on espionage fees in Russia because the Soviet period, after he was arrested in March throughout a piece journey to the town of Yekaterinburg, almost 1,200 miles east of Moscow. Washington has declared him to be wrongfully detained.
An order that authorised retaining Mr Gershkovich in jail earlier than his trial was set to expire on 30 August. The Moscow City Court prolonged the custody order on Thursday by three months, drawing objections from US authorities officers and the Wall Street Journal.
The courtroom’s web site confirmed on Saturday that Gershkovich’s defence staff had filed an enchantment. The courtroom in June rejected his enchantment of the sooner ruling to maintain him behind bars till the top of August.
Andy Gregory26 August 2023 18:10
‘Gangster’ Putin dedicated ‘most ostentatious’ act of savagery in our lifetimes, says Boris Johnson
Boris Johnson has acknowledged that Vladimir Putin’s “mask is now fully off”, as world leaders and commentators proceed to query his position within the death of Russian mercenary boss Yevgeny Prigozhin.
The former prime minister has described the downing of the Wagner chief’s airplane as “violent liquidation” and claimed that Putin was “being transformed before our eyes into an Asiatic despot”.
“I cannot think of another example of such ostentatious and uninhibited savagery by a world leader – not in our lifetimes,” he mentioned.
Andy Gregory26 August 2023 17:39
Russian journalist ‘poisoned’ in Germany says she had believed she was ‘safe’ in Europe
Exiled Russian journalist Elena Kostyuchenko has mentioned she believed she can be secure in Europe – as Berlin prosecutors examine whether or not she was poisoned final October.
“When you work as an investigative reporter in Russia you are always careful,” she instructed Reuters. “You have lots of protocols you’re following all the time. But when I found myself in Europe I totally forgot all these security measures … Somehow I was thinking that in Europe, I’m safe.”
Having labored as a overseas correspondent who uncovered alleged Russian war crimes in Ukraine with the Novaya Gazeta newspaper earlier than it was compelled to shut underneath menace from Moscow, Ms Kostyuchenko’s signs began with disorientation and abdomen ache on a prepare journey from Munich to Berlin.
“I had to take off my rings because my fingers looked like sausages,” she mentioned, describing the swelling that was amongst her signs. Months later, she remains to be exhausted and solely ready to work three hours a day.
When docs instructed her she had doubtless been poisoned her preliminary response was to snicker.
She was one of three Russian unbiased girl journalists who had been apparently poisoned whereas overseas in an analogous interval. All three suffered comparable signs.
Andy Gregory26 August 2023 17:21
Ship turns into second to go away Odesa since collapse of grain deal
The second ship to go away Odesa since Moscow’s withdrawal from the Black Sea grain deal has set sail for Bulgaria, in accordance to Ukrainian MP Oleksiy Honcharenko, who posted {a photograph} of what he mentioned was the ship leaving the port.
The Liberia-flagged bulk service Primus is shifting from Odesa to the port of Varna in Bulgaria, information company Interfax Ukraine reported citing the MarineTraffic database.
Odesa’s three seaports shipped tens of tens of millions of tons of grain throughout Russia’s invasion underneath a UN-brokered deal which collapsed in July after Moscow withdrew.
Russian forces have since focused Ukrainian ports with volleys of missiles and kamikaze drones.
Andy Gregory26 August 2023 17:05
Bizarre second Vladimir Putin addresses convention in ‘altered’ voice
This is the weird second Vladimir Putin’s voice appeared to be ‘altered’ as he addressed a summit this week.
The pre-recorded video of his opening speech raised eyebrows when it was proven to delegates on the BRICS Business Forum in South Africa.
Putin seems to converse with weird altered voice in video handle throughout Brics summit
Russian journalists posted a 30-second clip of the video on Telegram, with the caption: “Putin addressed the BRICS Business Council via video link, but not with his own voice.”
The authentic clip, which options his common talking voice, was posted on the Russian authorities’s web site. It is unclear whether or not the altered video was a technical fault or had been modified on goal.
Rachel Flynn26 August 2023 16:40
Berlin probing ‘attempted murder’ of exiled Russian journalist who fell unwell on prepare in Germany
Germany has launched an investigation into the suspected tried homicide of a Berlin-based Russian journalist after she suffered signs according to poisoning.
Elena Kostyuchenko uncovered allegations of Russian war crimes in Ukraine whereas working for the Nobel Prize-winning Novaya Gazeta newspaper, till it was compelled to shut as half of Moscow’s harsh info crackdown.
The 35-year-old – who left Ukraine final March after being instructed Chechen items at Russian checkpoints had been ordered to kill her – lately revealed that she had skilled excessive disorientation, stomach ache and swollen extremities whereas on a prepare journey from Munich to Berlin final October.
Riga-based investigative web site The Insider, which helped link the alleged Salisbury Novichok attackers with Russia’s FSB safety service, reported that Ms Kostyuchenko was one of three exiled Russian journalists to have fallen unwell with poisoning signs in European capitals over the identical interval.
Andy Gregory26 August 2023 16:20
Ukrainian commander claims troops have damaged by hardest defence line in Zaporizhzia
Ukrainian forces imagine they’ve damaged by probably the most troublesome line of Russian defences within the southern Zaporizhzhia area and can now find a way to advance extra shortly, a commander instructed Reuters.
Well-prepared Russian defence strains bolstered by minefields have slowed Ukraine’s counteroffensive, together with their southward advance in the direction of the Sea of Azov geared toward breaking Russia’s land bridge with annexed Crimea.
A commander who led troops into Robotyne, whose callsign “Skala” is eponymous with the battalion he leads, mentioned simply two homes within the village remained underneath Russian management, including: “We don’t stop here. Next we have Berdiansk, and then more. I made it clear to my fighters at once: our goal is not Robotyne, our goal is [the Sea of] Azov.”
Berdiansk is a port of the Sea of Azov, located roughly 100km from Robotyne, and 85 km from the strategic metropolis of Melitopol. Both are occupied by Russia.
“We have passed the main roads that were mined. We are coming to those lines where we can go [forward]. I’m sure we’ll go faster from here,” Skala mentioned.
Skala mentioned Ukrainian troops had now entered territories the place there have been solely “Russian logistics” teams, and the place he made clear he didn’t anticipate Russian defences to be as troublesome to break by, including: “We are moving on to liberate all our territories.”
Andy Gregory26 August 2023 15:58
Three Ukrainian pilots useless after two coaching plane collide in skies west of Kyiv
Three Ukrainian pilots have died after two L-39 coach plane collided in mid-air in central Ukraine, Kyiv’s air drive has mentioned.
The loss of three pilots will probably be a blow to Ukraine, which is about to undertake an enormous effort to shortly prepare up its air crews on Western-donated F-16 fighter jets, up to 61 of which have been pledged to Kyiv.
The crash occurred on Friday over the Zhytomyr area, which lies west of Kyiv. The air drive mentioned one of the pilots killed, utilizing the callsign “Juice”, had grow to be well-known after giving quite a few interviews to worldwide media.
“We express our condolences to the families of the victims. This is a painful and irreparable loss for all of us,” the air drive wrote on Telegram, including that an investigation into the circumstances of the crash was going down.
The pilots had been flying L-39 jets (pictured right here in Germany in 2015)
(CHRISTOF STACHE/AFP through Getty Images)
Andy Gregory26 August 2023 15:41
Putin orders Wagner mercenaries to sign oath of allegiance
Vladimir Putin has ordered Wagner mercenaries to sign an oath of allegiance to the Russian state after a airplane believed to be carrying their chief Yevgeny Prigozhin crashed close to Moscow.
With rapid impact on Friday, Russia’s president signed the decree, printed on the Kremlin web site, which obliges anybody finishing up work on behalf of the navy or Moscow’s war in Ukraine to swear a proper oath of allegiance to Russia.
Described within the decree as a step to forge the religious and ethical foundations of the defence of Russia, the wording of the oath features a line wherein those that take it promise to strictly observe the orders of commanders and senior leaders.
Mr Putin’s introduction of a compulsory oath for workers of Wagner and different personal navy contractors seems to be clearly supposed to carry such teams underneath tighter state management.
Vladimir Putin ordered Wagner fighers to sign an oath of allegiance, the Kremlin says
(POOL/AFP through Getty Images)
Andy Gregory26 August 2023 15:17