Extract from ABC News
Russian mercenary boss Yevgeny Prigozhin, who has been arguing with top military brass for months, has escalated the feud by accusing pro-Moscow forces of trying to blow up his men.
Key points:
- Russian authorities say four homes have been damaged by shelling in Bryansk
- Long-range drones also hit two towns in the Smolensk region
- Air raid alerts were lifted across Ukraine on Friday
Mr Prigozhin's Wagner Group troops have largely pulled back from the eastern Ukrainian town of Bakhmut — most of which they captured last month after taking heavy casualties — and handed over their positions to regular Russian forces.
Mr Prigozhin, writing on Telegram, said his men had discovered a dozen locations in rear areas where defence ministry officials had planted various explosive devices, including hundreds of anti-tank mines.
When asked why the charges had been set, the officials indicated it was an order from their superiors.
"It was not necessary to plant these charges in order to deter the enemy, as it [the area in question] is in the rear area. Therefore, we can assume that these charges were intended to meet the advancing units of Wagner," he said.
None of the charges went off and no-one was hurt, he said, adding: "We assume this was an attempt at a public flogging."
Russia's defence ministry was not immediately available for comment.
Mr Prigozhin, who regularly complained his men were not given enough ammunition for the assault on Bakhmut, said on Wednesday he had asked prosecutors to investigate whether senior Russian defence officials had committed any "crime" before or during the war in Ukraine.
Russia says two killed by Ukrainian shelling
The governor of Russia's Belgorod region says two people were killed and two others injured during Ukrainian shelling of a town near the border, while officials in nearby regions have reported overnight drone attacks.
Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said shelling had struck a section of road in the town of Maslova Pristan, some 15 kilometres from Ukraine's northern Kharkiv region, and that shell fragments had struck passing cars.
"Two women were travelling in one of them. They died from their injuries on the spot," he said.
The governor of the Bryansk region, north of Belgorod, said four homes had been damaged by shelling, while the head of the neighbouring Kursk region said some buildings had been damaged in an overnight drone attack.
Long-range drones also hit two towns in the Smolensk region overnight, the local governor there said, while the head of Russia's Kaluga region said a blast had been reported in a forest.
Reuters could not immediately verify the reported attacks.
Russian officials have in recent days reported intensified attacks from northern Ukraine.
The Defence Ministry said its forces had repelled on Thursday three cross-border attacks by what it said were Ukrainian "terrorist formations" in the Belgorod region.
Ukraine has denied its military was involved in the attacks and instead said they were conducted by Russian volunteer fighters.
Mr Gladkov said on Friday at least one incident of shelling had been reported overnight in the Shebekino district, and more than 2,500 people were being evacuated from the area.
Shelling continues in Ukraine
Ukrainian authorities on Friday lifted air raid alerts across most of the nation, and officials in the capital Kyiv said its defences appear to have shot down more than 30 missiles and drones fired by Russia.
The Ukrainian capital was simultaneously attacked from different directions by Iranian-made Shahed drones and cruise missiles from the Caspian region, senior Kyiv official Serhii Popko wrote on Telegram.
A 68-year-old man and an 11-year-old child were wounded in the attack, with private houses, outbuildings and cars sustaining damage from falling debris, according to Ukraine’s Prosecutor-General’s Office.
Moscow has launched about 20 separate missile and drone strikes against Ukrainian cities since the start of May.
Two people were killed and four wounded in Russian shelling of the village of Komyshevaha in the southern Zaporizhzhia region, the regional governor said.
A Russian-installed official in the same region said a number of people had been injured in Ukrainian shelling.
Earlier he said Ukrainian forces had hit a "hospital camp".
Russia denies targeting civilians or committing war crimes but its forces have devastated Ukrainian cities and repeatedly hit residential areas.
Blinken says US supports all peace efforts
The United States has been working with Ukraine and other allies to build consensus around the core elements of a "just and lasting peace" to end the war with Russia, according to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
He said in a speech Washington would also encourage initiatives by other countries to end the conflict, as long as they upheld the United Nations Charter and Ukraine's sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence.
"We will support efforts – whether by Brazil, China, or any other nation – if they help find a way to a just and lasting peace," Mr Blinken added.
Still, Washington would continue to support Ukraine militarily as the prerequisite for meaningful diplomacy was that Kyiv was capable of deterring and defending against any future aggression, he said.
"Putin's war of aggression against Ukraine has been a strategic failure," Mr Blinken said.
Speaking in Finland, the newest member of the NATO alliance, Mr Blinken said the United States would help build a "Ukrainian military of the future".
That meant "a modern air force, integrated air and missile defence, advanced tanks and armoured vehicles, the national capacity to produce ammunition, and the training and support to keep forces and equipment combat ready".
The top US diplomat has been visiting Finland, Norway and Sweden this week.
The Nordic region has become strategically more important, with previously non-aligned Finland joining the Western military alliance and Sweden seeking to join it too.
China weighs up another peace mission
The Chinese envoy who toured European capitals last month seeking to promote Ukraine peace talks said on Friday that Beijing was considering another mission, after acknowledging that his trip might not produce immediate results.
At a news conference, Li Hui rejected a media report saying he promoted a ceasefire that would leave its ally Russia occupying parts of Ukraine, and he said Beijing would "do anything" to ease tensions.
However, there were high hurdles to finding common ground between the warring sides, he added.
"We felt that there is a big gap between both sides' positions … Getting all sides to negotiate now would still face a lot of difficulties," said Mr Li, China's special envoy for Eurasian affairs and a former long-serving ambassador to Moscow.
"China is willing to actively consider sending another delegation to relevant countries to engage in dialogue on resolving the Ukraine crisis."
In May, Mr Li completed a 12-day tour of Kyiv, Warsaw, Paris, Berlin, Brussels and Moscow in what China said was a bid to find common ground for an eventual political settlement.
"The risk of escalation of the Russia-Ukraine war is still high," Mr Li said, adding that all sides must take concrete measures to "cool down the situation" and ensure the safety of nuclear facilities.
"As long as it's conducive to easing the situation, China is willing to do anything," he said.
Japan says sanctions against Russia must stay
Japan and like-minded countries must be united and maintain sanctions on Russia until it ends its aggression in Ukraine, Japan's Foreign Minister, Yoshimasa Hayashi, said on Friday.
"Judging from the situation and especially what Russia is saying and doing, I think it's important that the G7 and like-minded countries still remain united and continue severe sanctions against Russia," Mr Hayashi told a press conference.
He said he hoped sanctions would encourage Russia to "end its aggression as soon as possible so that we can reach the phase that we can use the dialogue and peace talks".
Leaders of the Group of Seven (G7) countries met in Hiroshima last month and renewed their commitment to imposing sanctions against Russia, while vowing to work to prevent them being circumvented.
The G7 countries said they would restrict exports of industrial machinery, tools, and technology useful to Russia's war effort, and would limit its revenue from trade in metals and diamonds.
Reuters/ABC
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