Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said he stopped Russian President Vladimir Putin from making a “harsh decision” against Yevgeniy Prigozhin, suggesting that Putin planned to kill the Wagner mercenary group chief for leading a rebellion, The Washington Post reported. Lukashenko’s version of events could not be verified.
In Kramatorsk, in eastern Ukraine, the death toll from a Russian missile strike that devastated a popular pizza restaurant has risen to 11, with at least 60 wounded, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said. The dead include three children, he said. The person who coordinated the attack has been detained by Ukraine’s Security Service and police special forces, he said Wednesday on Telegram.
Russian state media outlets on Wednesday evening shared images of crowds greeting Putin in the city of Derbent, in Russia’s southern Dagestan region, where he is visiting to discuss “tourism development” in the North Caucasus region, the Kremlin said. Putin, who has rarely been seen outside of his residences since the coronavirus pandemic, briefly interacted with the crowd in a cordoned-off area on one of the city’s main streets as he wrapped up a sightseeing tour. “Residents of Derbent enthusiastically greeted Putin,” Russian state media outlets reported of the appearance, an apparent effort to demonstrate public support.
Here’s the latest on the war and its ripple effects across the globe.
Wagner rebellion aftermath
Analysis from our correspondents
Analysis: Prigozhin in Belarus is bad news for pretty much everybody: The Kremlin decided to move the Wagner Group chief to Belarus as part of a deal that spared him punishment in Russia. But Prigozhin’s arrival presents challenges for everyone, Emily Rauhala reports. NATO and Ukraine are on higher alert because of his presence. There’s no guarantee that Lukashenko, Belarus’s leader, can control a man who marched a column nearly to Moscow.
“The primary victim of this situation is the Belarusian people,” said Franak Viacorka, chief adviser to exiled Belarusian opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya. Prigozhin “will come in with criminals; he will bring the culture of violence,” he continued. “It will create instability in the country and at its borders, too.”
Robyn Dixon contributed to this report.
Andrew Jeong, Leo Sands, Sammy Westfall, Mary Ilyushina
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