On June 23, Yevgueni Prigozhin, head of the Russian Wagner paramilitary group, lashed out at the Kremlin, assuring that its lack of planning is allowing the successful advance of the Ukrainian counteroffensive and having “killed” thousands of its men. For its part, the Kremlin opened a criminal case against the head of the mercenary group for having called a mutiny. Prigozhin’s version aligns with that of Ukraine, which reported gaining ground.
The Russian Ministry of Defense “misleads” President Vladimir Putin, while his army retreats in the Ukrainian regions of Kherson and Zaporhizhia, denounced Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the Wagner mercenary group, which supports the invading troops on the ground.
Prigozhin’s affirmation would confirm the pronouncements of the authorities of the invaded country, who assure that his forces have made important advances in the course of their counteroffensive, which began about three weeks ago.
“The Ukrainian Armed Forces are crushing the Russian Army, while we are bathed in blood, no one is sending reserves, there is no command,” Prigozhin said in a video posted on Telegram.
Prigozhin says that by the time Wagner arrived in Ukraine in March of 2022, it was already impossible to be talking about any victory as the forces were simply not enough, but the military leadership was demanding advances, even of 50-100 meters per day, and the dead were not… pic.twitter.com/1lS0amgMfD
— Dmitry (@wartranslated) June 23, 2023
Prigozhin He claimed, without providing evidence, that Russia’s military leadership had killed 2,000 of its fighters and vowed to stop what he called their “evil.”
The Kremlin’s response was forceful. ANDhe Defense Ministry, which has confronted the mercenary group on several occasions, issued a statement saying Prigozhin’s accusations “were not true and are an informational provocation.”
In addition, the security service Russian The FSB opened a criminal case against him for calling an armed riot, the TASS news agency said, citing the National Anti-Terrorism Committee.
The Kremlin noted that Putin had been informed and that “necessary steps are being taken.” Many point to the cross accusations as one of the biggest internal crises the president has faced since he invaded Ukraine last year.
As if that were not enough in the new clashes between Wagner and the Kremlin, Prigozhin described Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu as a “dark grandfather”, after attributing to him the death of “tens of thousands of young” Russians.
The leader of the paramilitary group also accused Russia of making “very serious errors” in planning and of sending “naked and barefoot” soldiers to the battlefront.
Prigozhin was referring to the lack of supplies from Moscow, which he himself had complained about on different occasions.
kyiv reports progress in its strategy to recover its territories
Ukraine, for its part, announced positive results in its counteroffensive. The Armed Forces of the invaded nation claimed to have stopped a Russian attack that was aimed at the eastern cities of Kupiansk and Lyman, in Kharkiv and Donetsk respectively, located in eastern Ukrainian territory.
“We had very fierce battles, but our soldiers stopped the enemy there,” said Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar, who also assured that her country’s military has not allowed “not a single meter” of Russian advances.
Ukraine launched a counteroffensive in early June, considered the most ambitious counterattack since the start of the war, on February 24, 2022. Actions with which Kiev aims to retake control of towns and cities that have been occupied by soldiers Russians, including the province of Crimea, annexed by the Kremlin in 2014.
Ukrainian troops say they have recaptured eight villages, but Russia still exercises control over large swaths of eastern and southern Ukraine, where the Ukrainians would soon direct their operations.
The deputy defense minister added that the “main blow is yet to come” as the Ukrainian military operation is going according to plan. Maliar stressed that despite the minefields, his forces advance.
New deadly attack on civilians
At least three residents were killed this Friday in the Kherson region, in southern Ukraine, by a Russian attack on a municipal transport company, local authorities denounced.
⚡️Update: 3 killed in Russian attack on transport company in Kherson.
The death toll of Russia’s June 23 attack on Kherson has risen to three after another victim died in the hospital, according to the regional governor.
— The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) June 23, 2023
Among the victims is a 55-year-old worker who died instantly, while five of his colleagues were injured and hospitalized, according to the governor of the region’s military administration, who called the assault a “Russian terrorist attack.”
According to the Ukrainian media ‘Ukrinform’, the other two men who lost their lives in that attack were 53 and 43 years old.
Russia refuses to be investigated
On the other side of the Atlantic, in New York, some countries of the UN Security Council: the United States, the United Kingdom and France asked the secretary general of the organization, António Guterres, to order an investigation of Russia for the use of Iranian drones. in the war.
Present at the meeting, the Russian ambassador to the UN, Vasil Nebenzia, denied the accusation, stating that it lacks arguments and that it is a strategy to “confuse the international community.”
In addition, the Moscow diplomat referred to the photos that Western countries use as evidence, noting that the images cannot prove that Russia used drones from Iran to attack Ukraine.
“They are just narrative,” Nebenzia said, adding that the West is “trying to instruct” the secretary general to order the investigation, but he was emphatic in maintaining that, if approved by the body, his country will refuse to allow it. proceed.
Previously, the United States ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, denounced that Russia has violated Security Council resolution 2231, which establishes the limits of Iranian nuclear activity and prohibits the transfer of weapons from Iran to any country without prior authorization of the UN Security Council.
The ambassador denounced that the Kremlin has received hundreds of Iranian-made Mohajer and Shahed-type drones in recent months, and that these weapons are also being built with Iranian advice in Russia.
Moscow, represented by Nebenzia, insisted that the investigation is not the responsibility of the UN, claiming that it does not have sufficient personnel with technical expertise or equipment.
“We hope that the secretary general will strictly abide by his mandate and not give in to the pressures exerted by some states,” Nebenzia challenged.
With EFE and local media
