Volodymyr Zelensky brought his battle for more funds and weapons to the White House, hinting to President Joe Biden he wants more missiles as conservative Republicans are refusing to budge on aid to the Ukraine.

The Ukrainian president spent Thursday morning on Capitol Hill, lobbying lawmakers for their support. But far-right GOP lawmakers in the House are stiffling aid even as many GOP senators support sending more funds to Kyiv. 

And it appears Zelensky has been unable to persuade them differently. The right-wing of the party voted down Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s defense bill and conservative Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene said her ‘no’ vote came because the bill included money for Ukraine.

‘Our Defense bill should not fund our DOD for blood money for the Ukraine war, that’s why I’m a NO,’ she wrote on X

Biden, however, indicated he thought Congress would ultimately agree to his $24 billion proposal for Kyiv, saying there was ‘no alternative.’

‘I’m counting on the good judgment of the United States Congress. There is no alternative,’ he said. 

Zelensky said he had frank conversations with lawmakers during his closed-door meetings on Capitol Hill.

But funding for his country is falling victim to a civil war among House Republicans. The conservative wing of the GOP doesn’t support more money for Kyiv and has sank budget bills that contain it. 

Biden, meanwhile, announced a new $325 million military aid package for Ukraine although it didn’t have all the bells and whistles on Zelensky’s wish list. 

The Ukrainian president wants ATACMS, long-range tactical missiles that Kyiv has been asking for to hit Russian targets in the deep rear of the fight.

‘When it comes to weapons we will discuss everything with a special emphasis on air defense,’ Zelensky said.  

National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said ahead of Zelensky’s arrival at the White House that President Biden would announce a tranche ‘of military assistance today including significant air defense capabilities to help Ukraine.’

That will include additional ammunition for U.S. provided HIMAR systems, anti-armor capabilities, artillery, and ammunition. But it will not include the ATACMS. 

Additionally, the first abrams tanks will be delivered to Ukraine next week, Biden announced.

‘We also focused on strengthening Ukraine’s air defense capabilities to protect the critical infrastructure,’ Biden said. 

Zelensky thanked Biden for ‘very productive, strong negotiations. And today we have some important results.’

‘It has what our soldiers need now,’ he said.  

Zelensky and his wife Olena got a warm welcome on the South Lawn from Joe and Jill Biden. Hugs were exchanged and the Bidens rolled out the red carpet for the Ukrainian president and first lady.

President Biden called Ukraine a ‘partner’ and said the US is ‘formalizing our commitment to Ukraine’s long-term security alongside the G7 and with other partners.’

‘We’re supporting a just and lasting peace, one that respects Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,’ he said. 

The pressure is on Zelensky, who packed his visit to Washington DC with stops on Capitol Hill, the Pentagon and the White House, to appeal for aid after Poland yanked its weapons supply during one of Russia’s most brutal missile campaigns. Warsaw said it would now only supply the already-promised weapons.

The Biden administration is pushing for Congress to authorize an additional $24 billion in funding. Zelensky met with lawmakers on Thursday in his battle to persuade skeptical Republicans in Congress to keep sending financial support.

‘If we don’t get the aid, we will lose the war,’ Zelensky said, as recounted by Senator Chuck Schumer.

On Thursday morning, Zelensky met the speaker, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, and other committee chairs and ranking members on the first floor of the Capitol. 

McCarthy, notably, didn’t come out to greet the Ukrainian leader. Jeffries met Zelensky at the Capitol entrance and walked him to the meeting site. 

After the meeting, McCarthy said he remains noncommittal about the $24 billion aid package to Ukraine but said Zelensky answered many of lawmakers’ questions on the status of the war. 

McCarthy and Zelensky met behind closed doors where the Ukrainian president told lawmakers: ‘When this war started, you said to me, Ukraine, stay unified and stay strong. I’m coming back and saying to the United States: stay unified and stay strong.’ 

Before his visit, Zelensky asked to deliver another joint address to Congress, as he did last December, Punchbowl News reported, but Speaker Kevin McCarthy denied the request.

‘Zelensky asked us for a Joint Session and we just didn’t have time,’ McCarthy told reporters on Capitol Hill Thursday morning, pointing out the Ukrainian president had already addressed Congress. Zelensky spoke to a joint session in December when Nancy Pelosi was still speaker.

Congress has already authorized more than $110 billion to Kyiv since Vladimir Putin‘s invasion, and some rightwing members of the GOP have warned the White House they will oppose Biden’s request to send another $24 billion.

Congress has not yet passed any of the 12 spending bills that are needed to keep the government running. It has until September 30th to do or the government shuts down. 

Texas Republican Rep. Michael McCaul said Zelensky – as part of his plea – told lawmakers ‘he’s winning’ the war.

He said Zelensky told them he needs air cover and long-range artillery for his soldiers. 

Hurting Ukraine’s effort is its spat with Poland. 

Zelensky tried to fan down the flames. 

Despite criticizing Poland at the UN on Wednesday, Zelensky sounded a more conciliatory note when he spoke in the Oval Office on Thursday.

‘I want to thank the Polish people, Polish society for their support. That’s it,’ he said. 

His friendly comment comes as Poland announced it will no longer provide weapons to Kyiv. 

‘We are no longer transferring weapons to Ukraine, because we are now arming Poland with more modern weapons,’ Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said.

Tensions between Warsaw and Kyiv, sparked by Poland’s ban on Ukrainian grain imports to protect the interests of its farmers, have intensified in recent days. 

Poland was one Ukraine’s earliest and staunchest allies after Russia invaded. It has taken in over a million refugees and been Kyiv’s biggest supplier of weapons.

Poland has delivered hundreds of Soviet-era tanks and armored personnel carriers for Ukraine’s war effort, as well as 14 MiG-29 fighter jets.

Warsaw’s government spokesman Piotr Mueller said Thursday that Poland ‘only carries out previously agreed supplies of ammunition and weapons, including those resulting from the contracts signed with Ukraine.’ 

Asked whether Warsaw would choose not to sign new contracts for delivering arms to Kyiv, Mueller declined to answer. 

In the US, Zelensky’s focus is on House Republicans, who have made clear they oppose more funding for the Ukraine. 

McCarthy’s stop-gap resolution to keep the government running while lawmakers negotiate a full budget deal lacks any funding for Kyiv. 

And 29 GOP lawmakers wrote to the Biden’s budget chief to express their concerns about how much has already been given to the Ukraine – $100 billion – and to complain the Biden administration  supports an ‘open-ended commitment’ to the country.

They argue Americans need more information on the war effort.

‘How is the counteroffensive going? Are the Ukrainians any closer to victory than they were 6 months ago? What is our strategy, and what is the president’s exit plan?’ they write.  

McCarthy has made similar comments.

‘Was Zelensky elected to Congress? Is he our president? I don’t think so. I have questions for where’s the accountability on the money we’ve already spent? What is this the plan for victory?’ he said to reporters on Capitol Hill earlier this week.

But Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell does support funding Ukraine’s war effort although some conservatives in the upper chamber think the U.S. has done enough to help Kyiv.

McConnell, along with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, escorted Zelensky into his meeting with senators.  

The Biden administration continues to push for more funding. Zelensky will cap off his visit to Washington with a meeting in the Oval Office. 

Zelensky’s visit comes at a ‘critical time, as Russia is reaching out’ to countries like North Korea and Iran, White House spokesman John Kirby said on Wednesday. 

Biden can get a ‘battlefield perspective,’ when he meets with Zelensky in the Oval Office, Kirby noted. 

While Zelensky was out of the country, Russia upped its aerial campaign, damaging energy facilities and causing power outages in several region.

Moscow targeted Lviv in the west, near the border with Poland, and Kharkiv, close to Ukraine’s eastern front lines, as well as Kyiv, Cherkasy and Rivne. 

Zelensky arrives in Washington after addressing the UN General Assembly as part of the body’s annual meeting.

He also addressed the U.N. Security Council, where he got tough, accusing it of inaction on Russia’s invasion of his country.

‘Most of the world recognizes the truth about this war,’ Zelensky said.

‘We should recognize that the U.N. finds itself in a deadlock on the matters of aggression,’ he noted.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky arrived in Washington D.C. on Thursday facing one of his biggest battles yet to convince skeptical House Republicans to keep approving U.S. aid.

The leader will hold talks on Capitol Hill and with President Joe Biden after Poland’s shock announcement that they would be axing their supply of weapons and as Russia rains down one of its most brutal missile campaigns in weeks.

Congress has already authorized more than $110 billion to Kyiv since Vladimir Putin‘s invasion, and some members of the GOP have warned the White House they will oppose Biden’s request to send another $24 billion.

The pressure is on the Ukrainian president, who will start his day on Capitol Hill where he met with House leaders and then with senators in the Old Senate Chamber, a rare privilege for world leaders. 

The entire Senate was there to greet him. 

He faced a cooler reception across the Capitol on the House side. 

Before his visit, Zelensky asked to deliver another joint address to Congress, as he did last December, Punchbowl News reported, but Speaker Kevin McCarthy denied the request.

‘Zelensky asked us for a Joint Session and we just didn’t have time,’ McCarthy told reporters on Capitol Hill Thursday  morning. 

Zelensky met the speaker, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, and other committee chairs and ranking members on the first floor of the Capitol. 

McCarthy, notably, didn’t come out to greet the Ukrainian leaders. Jeffries met Zelensky at the Capitol entrance and walked him to the meeting site. 

After the meeting, McCarthy said he remains non committal about the $24 billion aid package but said Zelensky answered many of lawmakers’ questions on the status of the war. 

Texas Republican Rep. Michael McCaul said Zelensky told lawmakers ‘he´s winning’ the war.

He said Zelensky told them he needs air cover and long-range artillery for his soldiers.  

Zelensky is making his plea for support as Ukraine’s neighbor, Poland, announced it will no longer provide weapons to Kyiv. 

‘We are no longer transferring weapons to Ukraine, because we are now arming Poland with more modern weapons,’ Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said.

Tensions between Warsaw and Kyiv, sparked by Poland’s ban on Ukrainian grain imports to protect the interests of its farmers, have intensified in recent days. 

Poland was one Ukraine’s earliest and staunchest allies after Russia invaded. It has taken in over a million refugees and been Kyiv’s biggest supplier of weapons.

In the US, Zelensky’s focus is on House Republicans, who have made clear they oppose more funding for the Ukraine. 

McCarthy’s stop-gap resolution to keep the government running while lawmakers negotiate a full budget deal lacks any funding for Kyiv. 

And now 29 GOP lawmakers wrote to the Biden’s budget chief to express their concerns about how much has already been given to the Ukraine – $100 billion – and to complain the Biden administration  supports an ‘open-ended commitment’ to the country.

They argue Americans need more information on the war effort.

‘How is the counteroffensive going? Are the Ukrainians any closer to victory than they were 6 months ago? What is our strategy, and what is the president’s exit plan?’ they write.  

McCarthy has made similar comments.

‘Was Zelensky elected to Congress? Is he our president? I don’t think so. I have questions for where’s the accountability on the money we’ve already spent? What is this the plan for victory?’ he said to reporters on Capitol Hill earlier this week.

But Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell does support funding Ukraine’s war effort although some conservatives in the upper chamber think the U.S. has done enough to help Kyiv.

McConnell, along with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, escorted Zelensky into his meeting with senators.  

The Biden administration continues to push for more funding. Zelensky will cap off his visit to Washington with a meeting in the Oval Office. 

Zelensky’s visit comes at a ‘critical time, as Russia is reaching out’ to countries like North Korea and Iran, White House spokesman John Kirby said on Wednesday. 

Biden can get a ‘battlefield perspective,’ when he meets with Zelensky in the Oval Office, Kirby noted.

While Zelensky was out of the country, Russia upped its aerial campaign, damaging energy facilities and causing power outages in several region.

Moscow targeted Lviv in the west, near the border with Poland, and Kharkiv, close to Ukraine’s eastern front lines, as well as Kyiv, Cherkasy and Rivne. 

Zelensky arrives in Washington after addressing the UN General Assembly as part of the body’s annual meeting.

He also addressed the U.N. Security Council, where he got tough, accusing it of inaction on Russia’s invasion of his country.

‘Most of the world recognizes the truth about this war,’ Zelensky said.

‘We should recognize that the U.N. finds itself in a deadlock on the matters of aggression,’ he noted.

British cruise missiles were used in the devastating bombardment of the headquarters of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet earlier today in occupied Crimea.

The UK-provided Storm Shadow missiles struck Russia’s attack submarine, the Rostov-on-Don, and amphibious landing ship, the Minsk, in Sevastopol, the largest city in Crimea. The loss of the Rostov-on-Don is particularly significant as it has been used to launch Kalibr missiles at Ukrainian cities.

The strike is the first attack on a Russian submarine since the Second World War.

The overnight attack on the Black Sea fleet raises the prospect of Russia being forced to reduce its naval presence on the Crimean peninsula, which would be a huge blow to the Kremlin’s war effort.

The peninsula, seized by Russia in 2014, is becoming increasingly vulnerable as the West provides Ukraine with long-range missiles and its forces push back the Russian frontline.

Dramatic pictures showed huge flames rising from the Sevastopol dry dock where, according to the Kremlin, the vessels were being repaired.

The attack followed a raid on Russian radar systems, disabling part of the air defence systems around Sevastopol.

The attack – Ukraine’s biggest on the region since the start of the war – damaged a Russian submarine and a warship in a pre-dawn raid on the Sevastopol shipyard.

As many as ten missiles were fired at the facility, seven of which Russia claimed to have shot down. The strike set the shipyard ablaze and wounded at least 24.

New information from a Ukrainian and a Western source said that British Storm Shadow missiles, delivered to Ukraine this year, were used in the attack.

Footage appeared to show the large Russian landing ship, the Minsk, was damaged in the attack – previously believed to have been hit by a Storm Shadow.

The 367ft-long vessel was undergoing repairs in a shipyard at the time of the attack. 

A strategically important shipbuilding and repair yard was engulfed in flames and a power plant and other Black Sea naval facilities were also hit, it appeared.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said Ukraine launched ten cruise missiles at the shipyard and three sea drones at Russian ships in the Black Sea. 

Seven missiles were shot down and all the sea drones have been destroyed, the military said, but some missiles damaged two ships being repaired in the shipyard, in addition to some buildings.

‘It was Storm Shadow,’ a source told Sky News. 

Ukraine’s RBC-Ukraine news outlet reported, citing unnamed sources in Ukrainian military intelligence, that an amphibious landing ship and a submarine were damaged in the attack.

Some Russian messaging app channels made the same claim. There was no immediate comment from Ukrainian officials.

Kyiv almost never acknowledges responsibility for attacks on Crimea or Russian regions that have become regular in recent months.

Mikhail Razvozhayev, Moscow-appointed governor of Sevastopol on the Crimean peninsula, said on Telegram that 24 people were injured in the fire. He posted a photo of the blaze.

‘The Ukrainian armed forces launched a strike with ten cruise missiles at the S. Ordzhonikidze ship repair plant,’ Russia’s defence ministry said on Telegram.

Ukraine also ‘attempted an attack with three unmanned boats at a detachment of ships of the Black Sea fleet’ during a sea crossing, it added.

‘Air defence systems shot down seven cruise missiles, and the patrol ship Vasily Bykov destroyed all unmanned boats. As a result of being hit by enemy cruise missiles, two ships undergoing repairs were damaged.’ 

The Crimean peninsula, illegally annexed from Ukraine by Russia in 2014, has been a frequent target in the 18-month-old war.

The Sevastopol shipyard is of strategic importance to Russia as vessels in its Black Sea fleet – some already damaged in strikes – are being repaired there.

Russia’s vulnerability in the Black Sea was demonstrated early on in the war when Ukraine struck the fleet’s flagship vessel – the Moskva – with two missiles, ultimately causing it to sink. The true loss of life has never been revealed by Russia.

Kyiv has repeatedly said it plans to take back the Crimean peninsula.

The attack is the latest military embarrassment for the Russian President who today is meeting with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un in the Far East. 

The highly-anticipated meeting could see the two allies agree on a sanctions-busting arms deal to support Moscow‘s on-going invasion in Ukraine.

Its supply of munitions dwindling as it fights to fend off Kyiv’s counteroffensive.

Earlier today, the Russian warmonger shook hands enthusiastically with Kim as soon as he stepped out of his black limousine and said he was ‘very glad to see him’.

Kim, one of the few leaders who has stuck by the despot since his full-scale invasion of Ukraine began 19 months ago, told the Russian despot he was fighting a ‘sacred war’ with the West and their two countries would together battle with ‘imperialism’. 

The attack against Russia’s Black Sea Fleet headquarters came as Moscow launched drones against Ukraine’s Odesa region in the pre-dawn hours. 

Like Sevastopol, Odesa also sits on the Black Sea.

The attacks damaged port and civilian infrastructure in Odesa’s Izmail district and wounded six people, three seriously, Regional Governor Oleh Kiper said.

Ukraine’s air force said it intercepted 32 of 44 Shahed-type drones overnight, with most of them launched toward the southern parts of the Odesa district.

Vladimir Putin has been left ‘humiliated’ after he had to travel ‘to the far end of Russia‘ to meet North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un and ‘plead for ammunition’, a retired US General has said.

Ben Hodges, former commander of US forces in Europe, said the fact that Putin is having to plead with Kim for ageing ammunition and rockets to help with his grinding war in Ukraine is a ‘clear sign of his isolation and desperation’. 

General Hodges added that while the Russian warmonger would hope that the supply of such ammunition would help with his assault, it will only ‘extend his war efforts for a few more months’ in a move that will see ‘thousands more Russian soldiers die for no reason other than Putin’s personal ambitions’.

A ‘desperate’ Putin greeted Kim at Russia’s modern space rocket launch site today with an enthusiastic handshake that lasted 40 seconds in a rare summit that the US warns could see North Korea supply Moscow with much needed artillery shells and antitank missiles to use in Ukraine.

‘This is a humiliation for Putin and his regime. The Russian defence industry is in tatters thanks to sanctions and years of corruption,’ General Hodges told MailOnline.

‘Going to the far end of Russia to meet with Kim Jong Un and plead for ammunition is a clear statement of Russia’s isolation and desperation.’ 

North Korea is believed to have tens of millions of aging artillery shells and rockets that would have compatibility with Russia’s Soviet-era designs, as well as a history of producing such ammunition. 

General Hodges said even if North Korea does supply Russia with its stockpiles  of ageing ammunition and rockets for Soviet-era weapons, it wouldn’t lead to a Russian victory. 

‘Depending on what North Korea actually agrees to provide, this might provide Russia the means to extend its efforts for a few more months,’ General Hodges said.

‘This means that thousands more Russian soldiers will die for no reason other than Putin’s personal ambitions.

‘For Ukrainian soldiers, this will bring into sharp relief the dire situation of their Russian enemy and the significant amount of ever-increasing support they are getting from 50 other nations.’ 

He said today’s meeting between Putin and Kim was ‘significant only in what it says about the state of Russia’s defence industry and desperation’. ‘It also illustrates how isolated Russia is in the world,’ General Hodges added. 

Both Ukraine and Russia have expended massive numbers of shells, and have looked to allies and partners to refill their ammunition stockpiles.

Russia fired 10-11million rounds last year in Ukraine, a Western official estimated on Friday. 

Among the ammunition that the U.S. has provided Ukraine are shells with advanced capabilities, such as the Excalibur, which uses GPS guidance and steering fins to hit targets as small as 3 metres (10 feet) from up to 40km (25 miles) away.

North Korea’s offering is likely to be less high-tech but accessing those stocks could help Russia in the short-term. 

‘Almost none of the ammunition is in any way ‘advanced’ – it would feed the traditional Russian barrage type use of artillery but not provide Russia with any precision ammunition,’ said Siemon Wezeman, of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.

To have minimal stocks for all their artillery in 100mm-152mm calibre would mean North Korea would have at least millions of shells stockpiled, Wezeman said, and just to replenish any ammunition fired in exercises or demonstrations will need some serious production capacities. 

General Hodges added that Putin’s request for ammunition from impoverished North Korea marks a new low. 

Indeed, such a request marks a reversal of roles from the 1950-53 Korean War, when Moscow gave weapons to support Pyongyang’s invasion of South Korea, and in the decades of Soviet sponsorship of the North that followed.

And while artillery can help ‘shatter the will and cohesion of the enemy’, it’s more complicated than simply shells at the enemy, Patrick Hinton, a British Army fellow at the Royal United Services Institute, said in a recent report. 

Hinton said the question of quality in North Korean artillery shells could have an impact if flaws fall outside accepted tolerances.

‘Poorly made ammunition will have inconsistent performance – behaviours in flight may be affected which will reduce accuracy; poor quality fuses may lead to premature function; shelf life may be reduced if the content is poorly made,’ he said.

‘These all need to be made to a high specification otherwise they may not land where they are expected to which can have catastrophic consequences.’

The performance of North Korea’s artillery and crews has been suspect since the North Korean army fired around 170 shells at the South Korean island of Yeonpyeong in 2010, killing four people.

According to a report by the Washington-based 38 North project, more than half those rounds fell in the waters around the island, while about 20% of those that impacted the island failed to explode.

Such a high failure rate suggested some North Korea-manufactured artillery munitions suffered from either poor quality control during manufacture or poor storage conditions and standards, the report said.

With very large numbers of ammunition, the lack of precision and the occasional dud shells or rockets wouldn’t matter much to the Russians, Wezeman said.

‘However, it would matter if Korean ammunition is of such poor quality that it is just unsafe to use for Russian soldiers – there have been indications that such quality issues play with Korean ammunition,’ he added.

In exchange, Kim could seek badly needed energy and food aid and advanced weapons technologies, including those related to intercontinental ballistic missiles, nuclear-capable ballistic missile submarines and military reconnaissance satellites. 

Indeed, the decision to meet at Vostochny Cosmodrome, Russia’s most important domestic satellite launch facility, suggests that Kim is seeking Russian technical assistance for his efforts to develop military reconnaissance satellites, which he has described as crucial in enhancing the threat of his nuclear-capable missiles. 

In recent months, North Korea has repeatedly failed to put its first military spy satellite into orbit. 

Spy satellites are among an array of major weapons systems Kim publicly vowed to develop during a major political conference in 2021 – and Russia holds the technology needed to develop such spy satellites. 

But an arms deal would violate international sanctions that Russia supported in the past. 

Meanwhile, a fawning Kim today praised the ‘heroic’ Russian army’s ‘virtue and honour’ on the front lines of Vladimir Putin‘s ‘sacred struggle’ in Ukraine. 

In gushing praise for Putin’s war, which has seen thousands of Ukrainians killed and entire neighbourhoods destroyed, Kim said he was ‘certain’ Moscow will win a ‘great victory’ against Ukraine.

‘I am deeply convinced that the heroic Russian army and people will certainly win a great victory in the sacred struggle to punish the gathering of evil,’ Kim said as he raised a glass to toast the victory of ‘great Russia’ during a dinner hosted by Putin.

Before tucking into a feast featuring crab dumplings, sturgeon and beef, a fawning Kim added that Russia would triumph against ‘evil’, in what he cast as the West’s imperialism in the war in Ukraine.

In response, Putin stood up and raised his glass whilst saying: ‘A toast to the future strengthening of cooperation and friendship between our countries. 

‘For the wellbeing and prosperity of our nations, for the health of the chairman and all of those present.’

Putin and Kim were offered a menu including duck and fig salad, crab dumplings, sturgeon and beef with a choice of Russian wines, according to Kremlin reporters.

Earlier today, Putin shook hands enthusiastically with Kim as soon as the North Korean leader stepped out of his black limousine and said he was ‘very glad to see him’.

Putin showed off rockets to Kim at the Vostochny Cosmodrome, Russian’s modern space rocket launch site nestled among the forests of eastern Russia.

Kim, one of the few leaders who has stuck by the despot since his full-scale invasion of Ukraine began 19 months ago, told Putin he was fighting a ‘sacred war’ with the West and their two countries would together battle with ‘imperialism’.

The two dictators put on an animated display today – one that will only heighten fears that Kim will supply Putin with his much needed artillery shells and antitank missiles for his war in Ukraine.  

The leaders, both of whom are known to be paranoid about assassination attempts, were flanked by a number of bodyguards during the visit to the Vostochny Cosmodrome.

The two men began their meeting with a tour of a Soyuz-2 space rocket launch facility, at which the North Korean leader peppered a Russian space official with questions about the rockets. 

They then met together with their delegations and later one-on-one before dining together on crab dumplings, sturgeon and beef. 

Putin had congratulated Kim on a series of North Korean anniversaries, including 75 years since the establishment of North Korea in 1948. 

The meeting underscores how the two leaders’ interests are aligning in the face of their separate, intensifying confrontations with the US and the West. 

Vladimir Putin‘s invasion of Ukraine ‘is just the beginning’ and ‘the war will not stop there’, a Russian general recently promoted by the Kremlin has warned.

Colonel General Andrey Mordviche also said he expects future conflicts with European countries during an appearance on the state-run TV channel Russia-1.

The Russian president’s invasion in February 2022 raised fears of a wider global conflict, with some warning it was a precursor to a third world war, pitting Russia and its allies against NATO and the West.

While Ukraine has managed to pin Moscow‘s armies back in the east, Russian commentators have intensified their anti-NATO rhetoric, regularly calling for Putin and his generals to launch strikes on other European nations while spreading pro-Kremlin propaganda to the Russian people, as well as neighbouring countries.

Mordvichev’s comments provide some insight into what plans are being shared with Moscow’s high-ranking military officials, hinting that Putin intends on continuing his war for years to come, and possibly even push further West.

When asked on Russia-1 if Ukraine was just a ‘stepping stone,’ Mordvichev – who is the commander of the Russian Central Military District – said last year’s invasion was just the beginning of Russia’s military ambitions.

‘I think there’s still plenty of time to spend,’ he said. 

‘It is pointless to talk about a specified period. If we are talking about Eastern Europe, which we will have to, of course then it will be longer. 

‘It is only the beginning. The war will not stop here,’ he added.

‘I think that all kinds of ideologists and instigators of this war will not stop here.’

Mordvichev, whose comments came in a video of him speaking to a Russian reporter while walking through forests and riding in a tank – seemingly in Ukraine, was promoted last week to the rank of colonel general. 

The top commander is well-placed, in charge of the Central Military District, and a close ally of Vladimir Putin crony Ramzan Kadyrov, the warlord leader of Chechnya.

Kadyrov has labelled the general Russia’s ‘best commander’.

As such, Mordvichev is in a position to know Kremlin thinking on the war.

Some pro-democracy advocates fear Putin is working to widen his political sphere of influence to eventually make a move against the West beyond Ukraine’s borders.

The Russian despot has outlined his vision to reunify territories that once fell under the now-defunct Russian empire and the Soviet Union, while claiming – in his attempts to justify his brutal invasion – that Ukraine should not have independence.

He also claims Russia is working to ‘denazify’ Ukraine and to protect Russian-speakers in the country from ‘genocide’. There is no evidence to support Moscow’s claims that Ukraine is a Nazi state, or committing any form of genocide.

Some of Putin’s most outspoken supporters, particularly on his propaganda-spreading TV channels, have even called for the Russian president to also launch assaults on NATO countries, including Poland and others in Eastern Europe.

They have done so while Russia’s official line claims the invasion of Ukraine was done for defensive reasons, citing the expansion of NATO.

NATO and its members say Putin’s invasion is nothing but an imperialistic land grab and an attempt to overthrow a pro-Western, democratically elected government.

Were Russia to attack any NATO member, the alliance’s Article 5 would be triggered.

The article states that if any NATO ally ‘is the victim of an armed attack, each and every other member of the Alliance will consider this act of violence as an armed attack against all members.’

In such an event, NATO would ‘take the actions it deems necessary to assist the Ally attacked,’ the article states.

This would mean 31 armies – including those belonging to Britain, the United States, France and Germany – would be brought against Putin’s forces.

While Russia’s army was once considered among the world’s most advanced, Putin’s faltering invasion of Ukraine has highlighted its many weaknesses.

Ukraine’s smaller military, albeit heavily backed by modern Western weaponry and equipment, is currently carrying out a counteroffensive in the east of the country, working to push Russia’s armies back.

While progress in this year’s counteroffensive is proving slow, last year Kyiv’s forces were able to push Putin’s armies back from the capital before liberating vast swathes of land in both the north and south.

If Putin does want to launch an invasion beyond Ukraine’s borders, he’ll first have to find a way of defeating Kyiv’s armies that are inching closer to his own land.

The war has sown devastation across swathes of eastern and southern Ukraine, killed or injured hundreds of thousands and triggered the biggest rupture in Russia’s ties with the West since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis. 

Russia controls about 18% of Ukrainian territory, including Crimea which it annexed in 2014 and a swathe of eastern and southern Ukraine which it took control of in 2022 when it first invaded.

For several months, Ukraine has been battling to try to regain some of that territory and has retaken some villages but not yet made significant territorial breakthroughs against heavily fortified Russian lines which are strewn with thousands of landmines.

Ukraine says it will not rest until every last Russian soldier is ejected from its land. The West says it wants to help Ukraine defeat Russia – an aim Kremlin officials say is an unrealistic pipedream.

Speaking on Tuesday, Putin said that Ukraine was only likely to start peace talks when it ran out of resources and would use any potential cessation of hostilities to rearm again with Western help.

During an appearance at an economic forum in Russia’s Pacific port city of Vladivostok, he said Ukraine’s counteroffensive against Russian forces had so far failed and that the Ukrainian army had sustained heavy losses.

‘I have the impression that they want to bite off as much as they can and then, when their resources are close to zero, to achieve a cessation of hostilities and start negotiations in order to replenish their resources and restore combat capability.’

Putin said many potential mediators had asked him if Russia was ready to stop fighting, but he said that Russia could hardly stop fighting when it was facing a Ukrainian counteroffensive.

For there to be any chance of talks, said Putin, Ukraine would first have to cancel its self-imposed legal ban on peace talks and explain what it wanted.

‘Then we shall see,’ Putin said.

He also said that the West’s decision to supply Ukraine with cluster bombs and depleted uranium munitions was a crime, but that while such supplies might prolong the war they would not change its ultimate outcome.

He also criticised the West’s decision to supply Ukraine with F-16 jets.

Asked if Russia needed to introduce a new compulsory mobilisation, Putin said that 1,000 – 1,500 Russians were signing voluntary contracts to join the military daily.

Over the past six or seven months, 270,000 people had signed voluntary contracts, Putin said – a figure slightly lower than the 280,000 that former president Dmitry Medvedev stated earlier this month. 

Kim Jong Un is believed to be en route to Russia ahead of a summit with Vladimir Putin that has sparked western concern about a potential arms deal that could bolster Moscow‘s on-going war in Ukraine.

A brief statement on the Kremlin’s website said the visit is at Putin’s invitation and would take place ‘in the coming days’.

It also was reported by North Korea‘s official Korean Central News Agency, which said the leaders would meet – without specifying when and where.

Reports in South Korean – citing intelligence sources – said the North Korean dictator is currently in transit, travelling from North Korea’s capital of Pyongyang to Russia, likely the eastern city of Vladivostok where Putin arrived today.

However, unlike most modern-day diplomatic meetings, it is understood that Kim is not travelling by private jet, but rather on his very own heavily armoured train.

Kim has rarely left his isolated country since he assumed power in 2011 following the death of his father Kim Jong Il, and has not done so at all since before the pandemic.

When he has, he tends to use the luxuriously decorated racing-green locomotive to make state visits to neighbouring China and Russia as an alternative to air travel.

As is the case with many aspects of North Korea, little is known about Kim’s train itself, and few outside the country have ever stepped on board.

But thanks to photographs from state media, accounts from the select few who have travelled on it and intelligence reports, we do at least have some idea.

Firstly, we know that it’s slow.

According to reports, Kim’s train has a top speed of 37 miles per hour. (By comparison, across most of the UK trains have a maximum speed of 125mph).

The distance from Pyongyang to Vladivostok is – as the crow flies – slightly less than 430 miles, meaning even if the train could travel in a perfectly straight line at its top speed, the journey between the two would still take around 11 hours and 40 minutes.

Naturally, that is not the case.

Instead, the lumbering train must wind its way through the North Korean hills before crossing the narrow border with Russia and finally navigate around Amur Bay.

A lack of information about North Korea’s rail routes means it’s hard to gauge exactly how long the journey takes, but his last journey to Vladivostok took 20 hours.

The vagaries around Kim’s arrival, as well as the time and date of his meeting with Putin, suggests this has been accounted for.

From what we know of the train, it is easy to understand why it’s so sluggish.

According to a 2009 article from South Korean newspaper Chosun Ilbo, which cited intelligence reports, the train has up to 90 rail cars in total.

What’s more, each of these cars is understood to be heavily armoured.

Georgy Toloraya – a Russian diplomat who travelled with Kim in 2001, wrote at the time Russian technicians had found armoured sheets beneath the two main rail cars used by the North Korean dictator for accommodation and official purposes.

The technicians, who carried out an inspection of the train, also found the cars originated from the Soviet era, but had been heavily modified at some point since.

Some cars are also believed to have been designed to carry vehicles. Toloraya later wrote that two armoured Mercedes were carried on the train when he travelled on it. 

This suggests a host of other weighty cargo could be carried in the 90 carriages.

On board, Kim also enjoys impressive luxury.

Pictures released by state media show it is complete with pink leather sofas, dark wood panelling and – it is understood – plentiful supplies of alcohol. 

There are also long tables for meetings and flat screen monitors.

One of the most detailed accounts of the train comes from Konstantin Pulikovsky, another Russian official who told the tale of his trip across Russia’s Far East with Kim Jong Il in a book called ‘Orient Express.’

In the book, Pulikovsky describes a gourmet menu with a vast variety of food.

‘It was possible to order any dish of Russian, Chinese, Korean, Japanese and French cuisine,’ Pulikovsky wrote, adding the train was stacked with cases of Bordeaux and Beaujolais, which had been flown in from Paris especially, and live lobsters.

He also recalled that travellers on the train were kept entertained by young female singers, who were introduced as ‘lady conductors’.

In addition to its massive weight, the fortress-like train brings with it a vast security operation that makes most presidential motorcades seem understated.

The Chosun Ilbo article says that around 100 security agents are sent ahead of the train to sweep stations for potential threats.

Meanwhile, the power is turned off at all stations it passes through to prevent other trains from moving, bringing other rail routes to a temporary halt.

Kim’s train also receives support from a logistical support group that includes Soviet-made Mi-17 helicopters and Il-76 transport planes.

What’s more, another decoy train is sent ahead of Kim’s to make sure the tracks are safe, while a third train brings up the rear, bringing support personnel and bodyguards, while also keeping a look out for any possible attacks. 

It is also understood that Kim had 20 stations built across the country that only his train can use.

Travelling by rail does bring its benefits for someone like Kim Jong Un, however.

His father was reportedly afraid of flying, and his grandfather – North Korean founder Kim Il Sung – also used a train to conduct international travel.

Unlike planes, trains can’t be spotted with flight-tracking data or radar, and most of Kim’s rail journeys have been announced after he arrived at his destination.

That being said, for some high-profile summits – such as the 2018 meeting with former US President Donald Trump – Kim used a Air China-operated Boeing 747.

That same year, he also used a North Korean aircraft to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping in the city of Dalian.

Meanwhile, in stark contrast to Kim’s travel arrangements, Putin was pictured riding in a helicopter during his working trip to Russia’s far eastern Primorsky region.

The pair last met in April 2019, in Vladivostok, where Kim arrived after a 20 hour journey. The train also took him to Beijing, and to Vietnam in 2019.

Huge drone explosion erupts near Russian regional war command HQ that has been visited by Putin

• Shocking footage shows a giant fireball rising up over the city of Rostov 

By Will Stewart

Updated: 03:28 EDT, 7 September 2023

Russia in flight chaos as Ukrainian drone attack forces ALL Moscow airports to close – with Putin’s top propagandist’s home close to one strike

• The suspected Ukrainian attack forces Moscow’s airports to temporarily close
• Kyiv does not typically comment on attacks that have occurred inside Russia

By Will Stewart and Christian Oliver

Published: 04:39 EDT, 21 August 2023 | Updated: 13:09 EDT, 21 August 2023

Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin has broken his silence after abandoning his armed uprising on Saturday evening, insisting that he marched on Moscow to stop the Kremlin taking control of his mercenary army and denying a plot to overthrow Vladimir Putin.

Speaking in an 11-minute audio clip posted on Wagner-affiliated Telegram channels, Prigozhin claimed the armed uprising was a ‘master class’ on how Russia’s assault on Kyiv should have looked.

He said he only called off his group’s surge for the Russian capital to avoid spilling Russian blood, adding that the uprising was intended to register a protest at the ineffectual conduct of the war in Ukraine.

Prigozhin described his Wagner mercenary fighters as ‘perhaps the most experienced and combat effective unit in Russia, possibly in the world’, and said his private military company had done ‘an enormous amount of work in the interests of Russia’. 

He also claimed he launched the uprising to ‘prevent the destruction of the Wagner group’, noting that they had been ordered to hand over their weapons to the Russian military and had suffered casualties in air strikes at the hands of Russia’s air force.  

‘The purpose of the campaign was to prevent the destruction of the Wagner PMC and to bring to justice those who, through their unprofessional actions, made a huge number of mistakes during the special military operation,’ Prigozhin said.

‘We went to demonstrate our protest, and not to overthrow the government in the country.’ 

Prigozhin, who did not reveal from where he was speaking, bragged that the ease with which it had advanced on Moscow exposes ‘serious security problems’. 

It comes despite reports from news website Meduza that claimed the mercenary leader frantically called Putin en route to Moscow having realised he’d made a mistake, only for the Russian leader to ignore his call and serve a chilling reminder of who remains in charge.

Prigozhin also claimed that despite not showing any aggression towards Russian forces, the Russian air force launched an aerial bombardments on his troops, killing 30 people.

This, he said, ‘was the trigger’ that motivated him to order Wagner mercenaries to seize Russian soil.

He said: ‘We covered 780 kilometres in a day. Not a single soldier on the ground was killed. We regret that we were forced to strike at [Russian] air assets, but they dropped bombs and launched missile strikes.’

Up to 15 Russian air force pilots are believed to have been killed by Wagner forces amid the attacks. 

Prigozhin added: ‘When we walked past Russian cities on June 23-24, civilians greeted us with Russian flags and with the emblems and flags of the Wagner PMC. They were all happy when we passed by. Many of them are still writing words of support, and some are disappointed that we stopped, because in the “march of justice”, in addition to our struggle for existence, they saw support for the fight against bureaucracy and other ills that exist in our country today.

‘We started our march because of injustice. On the way, we didn’t kill a single soldier on the ground. In one day they reached a point just 200 kilometres from Moscow, (and) they took complete control of the city of Rostov.

‘We gave a master class in how it should have been done on February 24, 2022 (when Russia sent troops into Ukraine). We did not have the goal of overthrowing the existing regime and the legally elected government.’

Prigozhin concluded his statement by saying that he ordered troops to stop their surge some 200km outside Moscow in the recognition that any further progress would’ve resulted in armed conflict and many deaths. 

‘We stopped at the moment when the first assault detachment, which approached 200 kilometres to Moscow, reconnoitered the area and it was obvious that at that moment a lot of blood would be shed. 

‘Therefore, we felt that the demonstration of what we were going to do, it is sufficient.’

The Wagner leader also confirmed that Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko was instrumental in helping carve out a deal between the Kremlin and Prigozhin that would see the latter escape punishment for organising the uprising.

Lukashenko is said to have offered Prigozhin refuge in Minsk in turn for his safety and amnesty for any Wagner troops that participated in seizing the southern city of Rosotv-on-Don and marching for Moscow.

However, several Russian media outlets reported that a criminal investigation against Prigozhin remained open, with some legislators calling for serious punishment after Putin on Saturday declared he would ‘punish the traitors who betray Russia’. 

Though Wagner’s armed uprising on Russian soil came as a surprise to most, Prigozhin’s hatred for Russia’s military command has long been established. 

Before the uprising, he had condemned Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu and Russian army chief General Valery Gerasimov with expletive-ridden insults for months, attacking them for failing to provide his troops with enough ammunition during the fight for the Ukrainian town of Bakhmut, the war’s longest and bloodiest battle.

Putin praised the nation on Monday for unity after the armed rebellion and thanked Wagner mercenary fighters and commanders who had stood down to avoid bloodshed.

He said he would honour his promise to allow Wagner fighters to relocate to Belarus if they wanted, or to sign a contract with the Defence Ministry or simply return to their families. He made no mention of Prigozhin.

Earlier in the day he held calls with the leaders of Iran and Qatar, the Kremlin said, and addressed a forum of youth engineers in a recorded video message that contained no mention of the uprising.

It is not yet clear what the fissures opened by the 24-hour rebellion will mean for the war in Ukraine, where western officials say Russia’s troops suffer low morale. Wagner’s forces were key to Russia’s only land victory in months, in Bakhmut.

Fighting continued in Ukraine, where Kyiv’s forces claimed new victories in their battle to evict Russian troops from the east and south of the country, but in the Russian capital authorities stood down their enhanced security regime.

The Kremlin, meanwhile, was at pains to stress that there had been a return to normal, having announced at the weekend that Prigozhin would be permitted to seek exile in Belarus and that there would be a general amnesty for his troops.

Putin himself did not directly address the dramatic events, but made a video speech to a youth forum dubbed the ‘Engineers of the future’ and praised companies for overcoming ‘severe external challenges’.

Wagner headquarters in Saint Petersburg said it remained open for business, and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the firm would continue to operate in Mali and the Central African Republic.

Putin, his office said, had spoken to Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi by phone and had received Tehran’s ‘full support’.

He also received a call from Qatar’s Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, who also expressed his backing.

Defence minister Shoigu appeared in more pre-recorded footage on state television, apparently visiting troops in Ukraine, but it was not clear when the piece was filmed.

Officials in Moscow and in the Voronezh region south of the capital lifted ‘anti-terrorist’ emergency security measures imposed to protect the capital from rebel assault.

Ukrainian military leaders, meanwhile, insisted they were making progress in the south and east of the country, and President Volodymyr Zelensky made a morale-boosting trip to troops fighting Russian forces near the city of Bakhmut.

‘We are knocking the enemy out of its positions on the flanks of the city of Bakhmut,’ eastern ground force commander Oleksandr Syrskyi said. ‘Ukraine is regaining its territory. We are moving forward.’

Deputy defence minister Ganna Malyar said Ukraine had recaptured the rural settlement of Rivnopil, on the southern front in the Donetsk region.

Ukrainian residents in the frontline town of Druzhkivka, near Bakhmut, also in Donetsk, told AFP that four explosions rocked a residential district overnight.

The blasts severed water and sewage pipes, shattered windows and threw up stones that hit yards and roofs, but municipal authorities said no one was hurt.

‘It was a ‘fun’ night, we haven’t had this for a long time, it’s been quiet for a month or so,’ said 66-year-old Lyubov, showing off the new hole in her cement-shingled roof.

The wine-growing and salt-mining city of Bakhmut, in Ukraine’s eastern region of Donbas, was captured in May by Russian forces led by Prighozin’s private army.

The victory was short-lived, however.

With the Wagner chief feuding with Shoigu and Gerasimov, Ukraine launched a counteroffensive.

The Western allies backing Ukraine with weaponry and cash see Putin’s grip on power weakened by both Wagner’s revolt and the operation in Ukraine.

NATO secretary general Jens Stoltenberg, visiting Lithuania ahead of the alliance’s Vilnius summit next month, said Putin’s Ukraine campaign had weakened his own position at home.

Germany, meanwhile, boosted Europe’s defences on its eastern flank facing Russia, announcing it would station a powerful 4,000-strong army brigade in Lithuania.

Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin has given a sensational order to his mercenary army this evening to halt their march on Moscow and retreat to their field camps in Ukraine.

‘We are turning our columns around and going back to field camps,’ an audio message on his Telegram feed said after a meeting between Prigozhin and Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko.

Prigozhin announced that while his men were just 200 kilometers (120 miles) from Moscow, he decided to turn them back to avoid ‘shedding Russian blood.’ 

In the shock announcement Prigozhin did not say whether the Kremlin has responded to his demand to oust Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and there was no immediate comment from the Kremlin.

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said that he had negotiated a deal to ‘de-escalate tensions’ with Prigozhin, but it is still not clear what the Wagner boss has been offered.

Prigozhin accepted Lukashenko’s offer to halt the Wagner group’s advance and further steps to de-escalate the tensions, Lukashenko’s office said, adding that the proposed settlement contains security guarantees for Wagner troops. It did not elaborate.

Wagner forces – many of whom are still said to be disgruntled about Prigozhin’s retreat – were this evening seen pulling out of the Rostov-on-don and the captured military headquarters in the city.

‘We left on June 23 for the march of justice,’ Prigozhin added in his audio messaged.

‘In a day we travelled, not reaching 200 km, to Moscow.

‘During this time, we have not shed a single drop of the blood of our fighters.

‘Now the moment has come when blood could be shed, therefore, realising all the responsibility for the fact that Russian blood will be shed on one of the sides, we turn our columns around and return in the opposite direction to the field camps, according to the plan.’

Residents Several authorities across Russia said they were lifting restrictions on residents following the now disbanded threat.

An uneasy calm has now prevailed on the streets of Moscow in a city that had been preparing for war. The capital had braced for the arrival of forces from the Wagner Group, a private army led by Prigozhin that has been fighting alongside regular Russian troops in Ukraine, by erecting checkpoints with armored vehicles and troops on the city’s southern edge. Red Square was shut down, and the mayor urged motorists to stay off some roads. 

Putin had earlier vowed harsh consequences for organizers of the armed uprising led by his onetime protege, who brought his forces out of Ukraine, seized a key military facility in southern Russia and advanced toward Moscow.

In a televised speech to the nation earlier, Putin called the rebellion a ‘betrayal’ and ‘treason.’

‘All those who prepared the rebellion will suffer inevitable punishment,’ Putin said. ‘The armed forces and other government agencies have received the necessary orders.’

It wasn’t immediately clear what concessions, if any, Putin may have made to persuade Prigozhin to halt his march.

If he accedes to Prigozhin’s demand to oust Shoigu, Prigozhin would emerge from the crisis as a clear winner in a major blow to Putin’s authority.

If Prigozhin agrees not to press the demand, Putin could award him with more lucrative government contracts like those on which he has built his fortune in the past.

However, it would be awkward and politically damaging for Putin to backtrack after branding Prigozhin a backstabbing traitor.

Some observers speculated that Prigozhin could make concessions such as putting the Wagner Group under federal authority, or he could shift the force’s activities back to Africa, where his mercenaries have been active in recent years.

Early Saturday, Prigozhin’s private army appeared to control the military headquarters in Rostov-on-Don, a city 660 miles (over 1,000 kilometers) south of Moscow that runs Russian operations in Ukraine, Britain’s Ministry of Defense said.

Wagner troops and equipment also were in Lipetsk province, about 360 kilometers (225 miles) south of Moscow, where authorities were ‘taking all necessary measures to ensure the safety of the population,’ said regional Gov. Igor Artamonov, via Telegram.

Authorities declared a ‘counterterrorist regime’ in Moscow and its surrounding region, enhancing security and restricting some movement. On the southern outskirts, troops erected checkpoints, arranged sandbags and set up machine guns. Crews dug up sections of highways to slow the march.

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin, an ally of President Vladimir Putin, had earlier declared that a ‘counter-terrorism regime’ was in force, before the leader of the Wagner private militia announced that his fighters would turn back to avoid bloodshed.

Yevgeny Prigozhin had said he wanted to oust the army’s top brass and ‘restore justice’, while Putin had promised to crush the mutiny.

One Moscow resident who gave his name as Nikolai – declining like others to give his surname – watched the military take up positions to protect the city.

‘It’s frightening of course – you sit at home thinking about what might happen,’ he told Reuters. ‘It’s disturbing, both for you and your loved ones.’

Some residents were finding it hard to grasp the scale of events.

‘… It’s really tough news, really unexpected. I’ve just come back from university. I’ve just done my last exam – and the news was really unexpected as I was prepping (for the exam) last night,’ said Vladimir, a student. ‘I don’t really know how to react. I haven’t really got my head around it yet.’

A woman called Galina said she thought what was happening was some kind of ‘provocation’.

‘It doesn’t frighten me at all,’ she said. ‘I have confidence in our president and our people.’

One man who declined to be named at all said he thought it was just politics playing out.

‘They might cancel a few events, and I make my living from events. I have an event going on now, so I could lose out because of this,’ he said.

‘But otherwise, it’s their business, it’s politics – let them get on with it.’

 

The United States said this evening that it intends to postpone the imposition of new sanctions against Wagner against the backdrop of the situation in Russia.

The US administration fears that by imposing new sanctions against Wagner, it may ‘take the side’ of the Russian leadership, the Wall Street Journal reported. ‘Washington doesn’t want to look like it’s on one side or the other in this [situation],’ the source quoted the WSJ as saying.

According to the newspaper, the US State Department planned on June 27 to impose new sanctions against PMC Wagner because of its activities in Africa.

The surprise reported development comes after a day of complete chaos in Moscow as the city was preparing for war by battening down the hatches as soldiers built outposts and military vehicles flooded the streets.

A total of 5,000 Wagner forces were reportedly advancing toward the capital before the U-turn, and were set to reach as far as Lipetsk this evening.

Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin is said to have a total of 25,000 men at his disposal and a further 5,000 of them were in Rostov-on-Don, the southern city key to Russia’s war in Ukraine that Prigozhin said he had taken control of.

As the convoy earlier inched towards Moscow it was said to be led by senior Wagner commander and neo-Nazi Dmitry Utkin. A source said Wagner’s plan for Moscow was to take up positions in a densely built-up area prior to its retreat.

A number of restrictions were introduced around the Russian capital following a decree from the governor amid the threat as people were told to refrain from travelling round Moscow.

It comes after Prigozhin initiated a military coup against the Kremlin leaders overnight, which saw the group take key cities and threaten the President, who called them ‘traitors’.

Putin earlier addressed the Russian people amid the Wagner group’s threat, warning that Prigozhin had ‘stabbed him in the back’. Moscow subsequently entered into a lockdown, with troops digging in in preparation to defend the city.

A spokesperson for the Russian president said Putin was still at work in the Kremlin and had not fled Moscow amid the earlier threat. However, two presidential jets were seen flying from Moscow in the direction of St Petersburg this afternoon. They were reported to have switched off its transponder to prevent tracking the route.

The shock announcement from Prigozhin comes after his feared 25,000-strong Wagner militia took control of the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don Saturday, saying they are ‘ready to die’ for their ‘march of justice’, and have been heading north in a hundreds-strong convoy of armoured vehicles.

The unit earlier passed through the halfway city of Voronezh and are soon approaching Lipetsk on their way to Moscow, seeing negligible resistance on their way. 

Before Prigozhin’s announcement, a message posted on the Wagner Telegram channel on Saturday said: ‘Putin made the wrong choice. All the worse for him. Soon we will have a new president.’

Footage on social media earlier showed large convoys of troops heading north from Voronezh, thought to be Wagner mercenaries. They were also said to be on their way to other key cities including Krasnodar and Volgograd.

Russia responded by increasing security in Moscow, mobilising troops who are set to defend against the incursion, and calling for the military to rally around President Putin. 

All public events had been cancelled and Monday had already been declared a non-working day, as Putin called close ally Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko to brief him on the situation. 

Moscow’s mayor had earlier urged people not to take trips across the city, saying the situation is ‘difficult’ and ‘city services are on high alert’. 

Sergey Sobyanin also told residents not to go to work on Monday in order to ‘minimise risks’. It came as part of the announcement of a ‘counter-terrorist operation’ in the city. 

Pro-Putin forces on the outskirts of the city were meanwhile seen digging in against the now disbanded Wagner coup heading towards the capital.

Russian troops were pictured establishing positions at a bridge across the Oka River. They deployed barrage equipment, machine guns and grenade launchers, as military helicopters flew across the city.

Other photos showed soldiers setting up barricades and machine gun nests a little way out of the city, as Putin signed into law a measure which allows people to be detained for up to 30 days in areas where marshal is imposed – not that this has yet happened. 

Russian officials had earlier ordered roads to be blocked by large, heavy trucks in the path of the convoy in an effort to slow it down.

Travel had also been restricted in regions closest to Moscow, most recently in the Kalugia area. Movement on the region’s roads will be restricted near bordering regions Tula, Bryansk, Oryol and Smolensk

Eyewitnesses also reported air strikes on the Wagner convoy heading north. 

Shortly after this emerged, Prigozhin claimed it was hit by Russian strikes and fire from helicopters. 

‘We were fired upon: first artillery strikes, and then from helicopters,’ Prigozhin said in a Telegram post. Video footage online purports to show an artillery strike on an armoured vehicle in the Wagner procession.

Pictures also showed the Wagner forces in the Lipetsk region – less than four hours to the outskirts of Moscow – before the surprise retreat.

The column of Yevgeny Prigozhin’s coup armed force is heading north for a showdown with troops still-loyal to dictator Vladimir Putin amid rumours he has absconded from the capital.

The Wagner forces were some 200 miles from Moscow – facing an evening or nighttime showdown with Russian regular forces.

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak confirmed he had spoken to western allies about the armed rebellion led by the Wagner mercenary group in Russia, which UK defence officials have described as ‘the most significant challenge’ to the Kremlin in recent times.

Mr Sunak spoke to US president Joe Biden, French president Emmanuel Macron and German chancellor Olaf Scholz on Saturday afternoon ‘to discuss the situation in Russia and reiterate their continuing support for Ukrainian sovereignty’, Downing Street said. 

A senior Kremlin official had warned that a successful rebellion by the Wagner group would mean the mercenaries getting hold of Russia’s vast nuclear arsenal and raise an existential threat to the entire world.

‘The history of mankind hasn’t yet seen the largest arsenal of nuclear weapons under control by bandits,’ Dmitry Medvedev, the deputy head of Russia’s Security Council chaired by President Vladimir Putin, said in remarks carried by Russian news agencies. ‘Such a crisis will not be limited by just one country’s borders, the world will be put on the brink of destruction.’

He added that ‘we won’t allow such a turn of events.’

Medvedev has frequently used hardline rhetoric since Russia sent troops into Ukraine, regularly reminding the West about Russia’s nuclear arsenal in a bid to discourage the U.S. and its allies from ramping up weapons supplies to Kyiv.

Medvedev described the rebellion as a ‘well-planned operation aimed at seizing power in the country.’ He claimed that some veterans of elite Russian military units and foreign actors could have been involved in it

Away from Russia, U.S. President Joe Biden spoke with the leaders of France, Germany and the United Kingdom on Saturday as the mutinous mercenaries barrelled towards Moscow

‘The leaders discussed the situation in Russia. They also affirmed their unwavering support for Ukraine,’ a readout said.

The leaders ‘affirmed their unwavering support for Ukraine,’ the White House statement added.

A White House spokesman also said Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris were briefed by their national security team Saturday morning on the Russian crisis and will continue to be briefed throughout the day.

It comes after pro-Putin forces earlier today raided the Wagner unit’s HQ in St Petersburg, after Prigozhin captured the Southern Defense Command in Rostov-on-Don, which plays a major role in the invasion of Ukraine.

The Russian Security Service said it had found $47 million in cash on the premises, which Prigozhin claimed is for salaries and other expenses for his men.

Putin described the group’s actions as ‘equivalent to armed mutiny’, and urged those involved to cease any armed resistance.

Multiple reports claimed Putin had left Moscow on Saturday afternoon, despite officials denying it and saying he was working in the Kremlin.

A presidential plane linked to Vladimir Putin flew north from Moscow towards Tver before switching off its transponder, live flight data showed.

Other business jets were seen making an exodus from the capital towards St Petersburg, with senior backers of Putin allegedly fleeing to Turkey.

Prigozhin, who was once a confidant of Vladimir Putin before declaring war on Moscow’s military leadership last night, said in a video that the highest ranking officer at the command post had fled as soon as he learned that Wagner forces were approaching.

A Russian security source said Wagner fighters had also taken control of military facilities in the city of Voronezh, about 500 km (310 miles) south of Moscow. 

A huge oil depot was seen bursting into flames in the city, thought to be an attack on Wagner forces by the Russian military. 

This is significant as it marks the halfway point between Rostov and Moscow.

The governor of Russia’s Voronezh region said on Saturday that the army was taking ‘necessary military measures’ in the region as part of a counter-terrorist operation declared after an armed mutiny by the Wagner mercenary group. 

It is also being claimed that Wagner troops are on the outskirts of two other southern cities, Krasnodar and Volgograd – but this has not been verified. 

The Lipetsk region is so far the closest location to Moscow where Wagner columns have been spotted. 

‘Hardware of the Wagner mercenary group is moving across the territory of the Lipetsk region,’ Governor Igor Artamonov said on Telegram.

‘I remind you that residents are strongly recommended not to leave their houses or to make trips on any mode of transport.’

He did not say exactly where in the region the Wagner fighters were seen.

Prigozhin said he had 25,000 troops under his command and would punish Russian military boss Shoigu in an armed rebellion, urging the army not to offer resistance: ‘This is not a military coup, but a march of justice.’

Residents have been told to stay in their homes by government officials, but some were seen out observing what was happening, even live-streaming the action on their cell phones.