Ukraine war residents: Russia detains woman for killing pro-war blogger; Ukraine denies Bakhmut met with mercenaries – CNBC

Ukrainian officials rejected a request by Wagner Group mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin that the town of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine was technically captured.

Prigozhin appeared in a video broadcast on the Telegraph channel on Sunday, in which he said that mercenaries would raise the Russian flag in the Prytaneum hall and that the town was “rightly” his now. The flag, he said, was a tribute to pro-war Vladlen Tatarsky, who carried out the explosion in St. Petersburg was killed on Sunday.

Prigozhin admitted that Ukrainian units were still gathering in the western parts of the town.

Ukrainian government officials denied the capture of Bakhmut, with the head of the President Andriy Yermak tweeting the office “Bakhmut is Ukrainian. Don’t pay attention to the fake “victory” inventors. It’s not even close to reality.”

Serhiy Cherevatiy, a spokesman for the eastern military government, told Reuters that “Bakhmut is Ukraine and has not taken anything and is not far from what it is.”

CNBC requested further detail on the situation of the defense ministry from Bakhmut Ukraine.

-Holly Elliott

Russia’s Investigative Committee said Monday morning He is suspected of having detained him in the killing of pro-war blogger Vladlen Tatarsky.

The council said in its Telegram channel that Daria Trepova was “detained on suspicion of involvement in the explosion in the accident at St. Petersburg.”

Pro-Kremlin blogger Tatarsky was killed in an explosion on Sunday, with reports suggesting the woman had given the figurine in a gift box before the explosion that killed the blogger and injured 30 others.

Earlier on Monday, Interfax news reported that Trepova’s list was placed in the interior ministry, although no link with Tatarsky’s death was declared.

On Sunday night, law enforcement officers sought Trepova’s place of residence in St. Petersburg and interviewed the mother and sister, the news agency of the Russian state Tass reported on Monday, adding that “according to the preliminary information, it was Trepova who handed over the figure of Tatarsky, which contained explosives.

-Holly Elliott

The visit will take place on Wednesday, when Zelenskyy went to hold talks with Polish President Andrzej Duda on security issues and economic cooperation, as well as on agriculture and the transport of Ukrainian grain through Poland.

Zelenskyy will also meet with Ukrainian refugees living in Poland, where it is estimated that more than a million Ukrainian refugees live as the war drags on. Thousands of others are traveling to other European countries.

Poland has been one of Ukraine’s staunchest allies since the Russian invasion began a year ago, donating much of its military equipment to Kyiv and other European nations to fight Ukraine and break the war.

Zelenskyy has made few trips since the war began, with security concerns high on the list of challenges presented by foreign visitors. He last met Poland last December when he returned from a high-profile trip to the US

-Holly Elliott

Alcohol continues to be a scourge in the Russian armed forces, with the British Ministry of Defense suggesting that a significant minority of combat deaths were drink-related.

“While Russia has suffered up to 200,000 casualties since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, a significant minority of these have been for non-combatant reasons,” UK said Sunday, noting that a Russian Telegram news channel had recently reported. “‘Extremely high’ number of incidents, crimes and deaths linked to alcohol consumption among Russian troops,” he said.

“Other causes leading to non-combat accidents include poor weapon delivery drills, road traffic accidents and climatic injuries such as hypothermia,” the ministry said.

While it is likely that Russian commanders recognize the widespread abuse of alcohol as “primarily detrimental to combat effectiveness,” the ministry noted that it is difficult for Russian military commanders to control drinking among their troops.

“Since heavy drinking is pervasive throughout much of Russian society, it has long been seen as a tacitly accepted part of military life, even during combat operations.”

-Holly Elliott

The Interior Ministry of Russia imposed on Monday, the woman the Russian media described as a suspect in the killing of the war blogger Vladlen Tatarsky involved in its list, reports the Interfax agency.

Vladlen Tatarsky, whose real name was Maxim Fomin, was killed in a bomb blast accident in St Petersburg on Sunday.

The woman Darya Trepova has been identified as a suspect by some Russian media, although the interior ministry made no reference to Tatarsky’s killing on its website, which showed that she was on its list.

Fomin, who had 560,000 followers on the messaging app Telegram, was one of Russia’s most famous war bloggers – a mixed group of war veterans and correspondents who championed Russia’s campaign in Ukraine, while also offering pointed criticism of Russia’s military leaders.

– Reuters

The death of pro-war Russian military blogger Vladlen Tatarsky in an explosion in St. Petersburg on Sunday evening is being investigated as a “high-profile murder”, the Russian investigation said on Sunday.

Russia’s Health Ministry said 30 people were injured as a result of the blast, with 24 people sent to hospital, prompting news reports. It is reported by RIA Novosti.

Tatarsky was a prominent pro-war blogger and, like most others, also fought in Ukraine and commented extensively on the war and Russia’s military strategy. In the case of St. Petersburg had been hosting a speaker when the explosion occurred. Confirmed reports suggest that Tatarsky, whose real name was Maxim Fomin, placed the statue in a box that was later blown up.

It is unclear who was responsible for the attack on Sunday.

Speaking at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Maria Zakharova urged Russia not to condemn the attack; status on Telegram that when in some case it was related to “the violent death of Russian journalists… not only did they not conduct investigations, but they did not even show human compassion.”

-Holly Elliott

The head of the Wagner Group of mercenaries fighting in Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine said Monday that his team had technically taken over the town, which has been the epicenter of fighting in Donetsk for months.

Yevgeny Prigozhin, the founder of Wagner’s private military company, posted his film on the Telegraph channel, saying that the flag was a tribute to Russian military blogger Vladlen Tatarsky, who was killed in an explosion at St. Petersburg died on Sunday evening.

“We raised the Russian flag with the inscription “Good memory of Vladlen Tatarsky” and the flag of the PMC “Wagner” in the administration of the city of Bakhmut. Bakhmut was legally captured.” Prigozhin said in a comment posted on Telegram on Sunday evening. However, I noticed that the Ukrainian units remained in the western regions of the town.

CNBC could not confirm the claims, but the Ukrainian military has not conceded defeat in Bakhmut, a town that has already been fought for seven months.

On Monday, the General Staff of the armed forces of Ukraine said the Russian units the implacable attack of Bakhmut “to criticize the efforts of the whole government,” but that the soldiers “repelled the enemy’s attack 20.”

Ukrainian Deputy Minister of Defense Hanna Maliar posted on Facebook on Sunday evening that “the situation in Bakhmut will remain very temporary”, adding that “our defenders are in difficult conditions to stop the advance of the enemy”.

Maliar said the “overwhelming casualties” did not deter the Russian forces. Both Ukraine and Russia claim to have inflicted significant losses on each other in months of fighting around Bakhmut, leaving many towns in ruins.

-Holly Elliott