Russia-Ukraine war – live: Wagner chief slams Putin’s ‘clowns’ as three killed in Kyiv missile attack

Russia’s most powerful mercenary, Yevgeny Prigozhin, said his Wagner group would fight on in Ukraine if his men got a separate section of the front without having to depend on “clowns” who ran swathes of the Russian armed forces.

Celebrating his 62nd birthday on Thursday at a training camp, Prigozhin also confirmed that his men would finally leave the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut on June 5 after handing it to the Russian army. The Wagner mercenaries captured the devastated city in late May after months of grinding warfare.

“If the whole chain (of command) is 100% failed and will only be led by clowns who turn people into meat, then we will not participate in it,” said Prigozhin, known for his blunt, often expletive-laced commentary on the conduct of the war.

“Beautiful isn’t it?” he said to Russian reporters with a smile, gazing at a night sky lit up with blasts and red flares against bursts of automatic gunfire from his mercenaries.

Ukraine‘s security must be guaranteed when the war ends, but NATO allies still have to work out the details of how to arrange this, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on Thursday.

“When the war ends we must ensure we have a framework in place to ensure it is not a pause in Russian actions against Ukraine,” Stoltenberg said following an informal meeting of NATO countries’ foreign ministers in Oslo.

“We need to stop the vicious circle of aggression against Ukraine. Details of how that can be done remain to be decided.”

Russian investigators said on Thursday they were seeking a third suspect over the April 2 killing of popular pro-war blogger Vladlen Tatarsky in an explosion at a cafe in St Petersburg.

In a statement posted on the Telegram messenger app, the Investigative Committee, which probes serious crimes, said that Roman Popkov, a Ukraine-based Russian journalist who was previously a leader of Russia’s banned ultranationalist National Bolshevik Party, was wanted on terrorism and explosives charges.

Tatarsky, a native of eastern Ukraine‘s Donbas whose real name was Maxim Fomin, had been addressing an event in the cafe when the blast occurred. Russian officials later said a bomb had been hidden inside a statuette given to him as a gift during the event.

Russian officials have previously named Russian citizen Darya Trepova and Ukrainian national Yury Denisov as suspects in the killing.

Trepova, an anti-war and feminist activist, was arrested on April 3, while Denisov is believed to be still in Ukraine. Trepova has been charged with terrorist offences.

Trepova’s husband told independent Russian media outlets he believed she had been framed and had not known the statuette she had been told to deliver contained explosives.

In its statement, the Investigative Committee said Popkov had exchanged messages with Trepova over social media and had given her “instructions regarding the preparation of the terrorist act”.

Aryna Sabalenka, a Belarusian tennis player seeded No. 2 at the French Open, declined to answer questions about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine after she won a match on Wednesday.

After her first-round win Sunday, Sabalenka had said no Russian or Belarusian athletes support the war, but she was asked Wednesday to personally condemn Belarus’ role in supporting Russia’s invasion.

Sabalenka’s first-round opponent, Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine, had urged reporters to ask the 25-year-old Sabalenka if she personally supports or opposes the war.

Sabalenka was asked — in the context of potentially becoming the world’s No. 1 player — about whether she supports Belarus’ authoritarian leader Alexander Lukashenko.

Belarusian tennis player Aryna Sabalenka declined to answer questions about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine after she won a match at the French Open

Ukraine‘s ministry of renovation and infrastructure said on Thursday the U.N.-brokered Black Sea grain export deal had been halted again because Russia had blocked registration of ships to all Ukrainian ports.

“The Joint Coordination Centre in Istanbul has announced that it is impossible to draw up an inspection plan for June 1 due to another unjustified refusal of the Russian delegation to register the incoming fleet for participation in the Initiative,” the ministry said on Facebook.

Russia did not immediately comment on the status of the wartime initiative, intended to provide safe Black Sea grain exports.

NATO’s secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, has called for a framework of security guarantees for Kyiv designed to stop Russia from again taking military action against the country.

Other allies such as Germany and Luxembourg stressed the risks should NATO rush to let Kyiv join.

“NATO’s open door policy remains in place, but at the same time it is clear that we cannot talk about accepting new members (who are) in the midst of a war,” German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said.

Luxembourg’s Jean Asselborn warned NATO’s mutual assistance clause meant the alliance would enter the war with Russia if it accepted Ukraine as a member while the fighting goes on.

Ukraine‘s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, speaking at a meeting of more than 40 European leaders in Moldova, reiterated Kyiv’s readiness to join NATO.

Moscow cannot stop Ukraine from becoming a NATO member, the alliance’s chief Jens Stoltenberg said on Thursday, as divisions among allies about the speed of Kyiv’s accession became apparent only weeks before a decisive mid-July summit in Vilnius.

“All allies agree that Moscow does not have a veto against NATO enlargement,” Stoltenberg told reporters as NATO foreign ministers gathered in Oslo, seeking to dispel any signs of discord ahead of the summit.

“We are moving, allies agree that Ukraine will become a member.”

NATO agreed in 2008 that Ukraine would eventually join the alliance but leaders have so far stopped short of taking steps, such as giving Kyiv a membership action plan, that would lay out a timetable for bringing Ukraine closer to the military pact.

At the Vilnius summit, NATO leaders aim to send a strong message of support to Kyiv. But with only six weeks to go, pressure is building for allies to find common ground on what exactly to offer Ukraine.

While Kyiv and its closest allies in eastern Europe call for concrete steps to bring Ukraine closer to membership, Western governments such as the United States and Germany are wary of any move that might take the alliance closer to war with Russia.

Lithuania’s Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis said Kyiv had suffered two invasions while waiting for an answer from NATO for 14 years.

“It is high time that we actually sit down and find a very concrete answer as to how Ukraine is going to move closer to NATO and when they become a member of the alliance,” he said.

His call was echoed by his Estonian counterpart who urged allies to offer Kyiv a clear path into NATO and provide it with strong security guarantees after the war, in order not to leave any “grey zones” for Russia to exploit.

“Ukraine needs to get a clear path, and the next steps, on how to enter NATO,” Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna said.

President Joe Biden has approved a new package of military aid for Ukraine that totals up to $300 million and includes additional munitions for drones and an array of other weapons. It comes as Russia has continued to pummel Ukraine’s capital and unmanned aircraft have targeted Moscow.

U.S. officials have said there is no suggestion that U.S.-made drones or munitions were used in the Moscow strikes, which the Kremlin blamed on Ukraine but Kyiv has not acknowledged. The Biden administration has said it has made clear to Ukraine that U.S.-made weapons should not be used for attacks inside Russian territory.

Aamer Madhani and Lolita C. Baldor report:

President Joe Biden has approved a new package of military aid for Ukraine that totals up to $300 million and includes additional munitions for drones and an array of other weapons

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said during a trip to Moldova on Thursday that Ukraine was ready to be in the NATO military alliance, and that Kyiv was waiting for the bloc to be ready to admit his country.

He also reiterated Ukraine’s desire to join the European Union after arriving in Moldova, which borders Ukraine, for a summit bringing together more than 40 European leaders.

The summit is intended to show support for both countries as Kyiv prepares to launch a counteroffensive against Russia’s invasion.

“We support Moldova and its people who are integrating into the EU. You supported our people, our refugees who fled in the first days of the war, and we will never forget it,” Zelenskiy said, standing beside Moldovan President Maia Sandu.

“Our future is in the EU. Ukraine is ready to join NATO,” he said.

The European Political Community summit is being hosted by Moldova at a castle about 20 km (12 miles) from Ukrainian territory.

The governor of Russia’s Belgorod region said on Thursday that Ukrainian forces had shelled the border town of Shebekino using Soviet-era Grad rocket systems, setting one residential building in the town ablaze.

Vyacheslav Gladkov said the attacks had also damaged the local administration building and injured a resident.

Earlier Gladkov had reported heavy shelling overnight by Ukrainian forces, saying this had resulted in eight people being wounded and led to the evacuation of local residents.