Wagner Group

The military governments of Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger have reached out to the UN Security Council, urging it to condemn Ukraine for allegedly supporting rebel groups in the Sahel region, according to a letter obtained by Reuters.

Niger has announced the immediate severance of diplomatic relations with Ukraine, citing Kyiv's alleged support for "terrorist groups" in Mali. This decision follows Mali's similar move earlier this week, which was also based on accusations of Ukrainian involvement in recent terrorist activities in the West African nation.

Mali has decided to sever diplomatic relations with Ukraine in response to the Ukrainian government's involvement in targeting Wagner mercenaries. According to CNN, this decision follows the role of Ukrainian intelligence in the deaths of Wagner fighters. The severance of ties is effective immediately, as announced by government spokesman Col. Abdoulaye Maiga.

Ukrainian convicts Volodymyr Barandich (C) and Arthur Kachurovsky (L) and a guard (R) wait in a courtyard of the Boryspil penal colony outside the town of Boryspil, Kiev region, on July 4, 2024, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Artur Kachurovsky is one of thousands of Ukrainian prisoners who have taken up the offer to join the army and fight the Russians in return for a pardon.

According to a report from TASS, Russian President Vladimir Putin is making a change in leadership by replacing Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu. The news, shared on the official Telegram channel of the Federation Council, the upper house of parliament in Moscow, indicates that Andrey Belousov, a former deputy prime minister in previous Russian governments, is being proposed for the position.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday moved to replace defense minister Sergei Shoigu in a major shake-up to Russia's military leadership more than two years into its Ukraine offensive.

Putin proposed economist Andrey Belousov as Shoigu's replacement, according to a list of the ministerial nominations published by the Federation Council, Russia's upper house of parliament.

Gerasimov was not seen in public for several weeks, raising suspicions that the general was dead.
Unverified rumors of his death began to circulate in the public after social media users shared a photo purportedly showing a message posted by a Russian Telegram channel.

A Cypriot brokerage firm caught up in an investigation by French prosecutors probing financial transfers possibly tied to Yevgeny Prigozhin on Wednesday denied it had ever had direct relations with the late Wagner mercenary chief.

Day 667 of the invasion of Ukraine. Summary of key events in the last 24 hours:

In a video address at night, Zelensky said that this was stated in the report of the Ukrainian Military Intelligence Service (GUR).
"The plans of the enemy, the work of the Russian military industry - there are indications that there is a slowdown. We will continue to support their slowdown," Zelensky said.