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Less than a month after leaving the Kremlin quaking as his Wagner mercenaries marched on Moscow, leaked photographs of Yevgeny Prigozhin in his underwear in a tent have been leaked online amid an ongoing campaign to discredit the exiled mutineer. As Vladimir Putin – whose grip on power is perceived by many to have been severely weakened by the popular mercenary boss’s armed rebellion – sought to insist that Wagner had never actually existed, images showing a dishevelled-looking Mr Prigozhin in a state of semi-nudity appeared on Telegram. In the latest bizarre twist of the saga, the president insisted to the Kommersant newspaper on Friday that the private military company “simply doesn't exist” as a legal entity under Russian law – while his emboldened ally Alexander Lukashenko claimed that some of the exiled mercenaries were now training Belarus’s military. While the latter’s remarks indicated the enactment of at least part of the deal struck by Mr Lukashenko and Mr Prigozhin for him and his fighters to relocate to Belarus, halting their armed progress less than 125 miles from Moscow last month, efforts to undermine the mercenary leader appeared to continue. Just days after a pro-Kremlin media outlet published photographs supposedly seized in a raid at Mr Prigozhin’s St Petersburg mansion showing him donning various bizarre disguises such as lengthy wigs and stick-on beards, a new image began circulating on Russian social media spaces on Friday. The picture appears to show Mr Prigozhin sitting in a tent wearing Y-fronts and a T-shirt, sparking futher speculation over his whereabouts after weeks of uncertainty. In claims appearing to chime with Minsk’s assertion that Wagner fighters are instructing the Belarusian military at a camp near Osipovichi – some 50 miles from the capital – the pro-Russian Telegram account which first posted the image claimed its metadata showed it was taken on 12 July, according to monitoring group Belarusian Gayun, which noted similarities with other photos from the camp. The floorboards in the tent appear to match those shown in photographs taken last week during an official tour of the formerly disused Osipovichi camp, at which satellite images reported by Radio Free Europe and the BBC appeared to show scores of newly erected tents and other structures. Despite the activity at the camp, and potential presence of Mr Prigozhin, Nato secretary general Jens Stoltenberg had told reporters as recently as Tuesday that the alliance had not witnessed “any deployment or movement of any Wagner forces into Belarus”. Despite it being a long-favoured foreign policy tool of his own creation, Mr Putin appears to have urgently sought to defang the private military company since its fighters seized the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don last month and threatened Moscow. In remarks denouncing the aborted mutiny as “high treason”, the Russian president toed a cautious line in a televised address last month in which he claimed the mercenaries – whose prestige on the battlefield in Ukraine has boosted their domestic popularity – had been “tricked into a criminal adventure”, without specifically referring to those under Mr Prigozhin. Criticising what he called “a stab in the back of the troops and the people of Russia”, Mr Putin insisted however that Wagner troops were free to join the Russian military, return to their families, or leave Russia for Belarus. The extraordinary mutiny came after Wagner withdrew from Bakhmut, which it seized from Ukraine after months of bloody attrition in the frontline Donetsk city, with Mr Prigozhin having frequently voiced his anger at an alleged lack of ammunition and coordination by Russian military leaders. The 62-year-old’s vitriolic criticisms drew surprise from many observers given their apparent disregard for the Kremlin’s typically rigid grip on the narrative of its war in Ukraine, and were widely interpreted as a sign of the former convict’s growing political stature within Russia. A former hot dog vendor, Mr Prigozhin rose to prominence as he garnered the attention and favour of the Russian president while working as a restauranteur, with both men having grown up in St Petersburg. He benefitted from large state loans while expanding his business under Mr Putin’s gaze, winning millions of pounds in contracts to provide meals to public schools, the Kremlin and Russian military – also drawing the attention of jailed opposition figure Alexei Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation. Claiming to have served 10 years in jail during the final throes of the Soviet Union, reportedly after the violent robbery of a woman whom he choked unconscious, Mr Prigozhin was permitted by Mr Putin to create Wagner in 2014, despite Russia’s constitution outlawing such groups. Following exploits in the Donbas and Syria, while also fighting for national leaders and warlords in Africa in return for lucrative sums and assets, Wagner has become a household name during the Ukraine war as a result of its relative prestige in comparison with the faltering Russian military – and its apparent brutality. While Mr Prigozhin’s recruitment drive in prisons fuelling “human wave” attacks deemed largely responsible for Wagner’s gains in Bakhmut, footage has also circulated of its fighters bludgeoning an alleged deserter to death with a sledgehammer, symbolism since adopted by Mr Prigozhin himself. Having long sought plausible deniability on the subject of Wagner, in seeking to discredit Mr Prigozhin following his shortlived mutiny, Mr Putin reversed his position by seeking to claim ultimate responsibility for the group, as he insisted the fighters’ wages had come out of state coffers. Read More Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin ‘dead or in prison’ after Putin meeting, former US commander claims Wagner mercenaries are in Belarus and training the country’s soldiers Putin wants to attend an August summit. Host country South Africa doesn't want to have to arrest him Russian general says he has been fired for telling truth about dire situation on Ukraine frontlines

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Wagner mercenaries are arriving in Belarus weeks after a failed rebellion against the Kremlin regime, it has been reported. A large convoy of around 60 vehicles, including large trucks and buses, were seen moving northwest to a camp in the village of Tsel, according to military monitoring group ‘Belarusian Gayun’. “A combination of factors indicates that this is a convoy of the Wagner PMCs [private military company], which entered Belarus from the Russian Federation at night in the Krichev area,” it said. Elsewhere, a top Russian commander appears to have been sacked for voicing concerns about the Kremlin’s war strategy in a sign of growing divisions between officers on the front line and the country’s military leadership. The 58th Combined Arms Army’s general-major Ivan Popov was dismissed after a leaked video showed him delivering a blistering attack on the Russian military leadership, whom he accused of “hitting us from the rear, viciously beheading the Army at the most difficult and intense moment”. Britain’s Ministry of Defence said the “comments draw attention to serious disaffection many officers likely harbour towards the senior military leadership.” Read More Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin ‘dead or in prison’ after Putin meeting, former US commander claims Russian general says he has been fired for telling truth about dire situation on Ukraine frontlines What to know about the harrowing Ukraine war doc '20 Days in Mariupol'

Red alerts for extreme heat have been issued in 16 cities across Italy as the Mediterranean country and swathes of Europe are gripped by blistering hot temperatures. Tourist hotspots Rome, Florence and Bologna are among some of the cities affected, with people there told to take extra care as the mercury climbs towards 40C amid the Cerberus heatwave. Temperatures are set to peak at around 36C (96.8F) in most Italian cities, though Puglia, Sicily, and Sardinia may reach up to 41C. Next week temperatures are predicted to climb as high as 48C in Puglia, Sardinia and Sicily as a second heatwave - named Cheron - hits the country. On Friday Greece introduced emergency measures for workers and zoo animals in Madrid were fed fruit ice-lollies in a bid to cool them do. The Cerberus heatwave is set to get worse over the weekend with the mercury expected to reach as high as 45C in parts of Greece and Spain with temperatures forecast to break all-time records. Read More Land temperatures in Spain surpass 60C as deadly heatwave sweeps Europe UK weather: Met Office issues two yellow warnings as Britons brace for ‘unusual’ winds Europe heatwave: Is it safe to travel to Italy, Spain, Greece and Croatia?

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Russian president Vladimir Putin said that the Wagner private military company “simply doesn't exist” as a legal entity, in comments adding to the series of often bizarre twists that have followed the group’s abortive revolt last month – the most serious threat to Putin’s 23-year rule amid the war in Ukraine. “There is no law on private military organizations. It simply doesn’t exist,” Mr Putin told a Russian newspaper late Thursday, referring to the Wagner group. Mr Putin recounted to Kommersant his own version of a Kremlin event attended by 35 Wagner commanders, including the group's chief, Yevgeny Prigozhin, on June 29. That meeting came just five days after Prigozhin and his troops staged a stunning but short-lived rebellion against Moscow authorities. The meeting was revealed earlier this week by a Kremlin official. Mr Putin said that at the talks, Wagner rejected an offer to keep its troops in Ukraine, where they have played key battlefield roles, under the leadership of their direct commander. “All of them could have gathered in one place and continued to serve,” Mr Putin told the newspaper, “And nothing would have changed for them. They would have been led by the same person who had been their real commander all along.” Mr Putin has previously said that Wagner troops had to choose whether to sign contracts with the Russian Defense Ministry, move to neighboring Belarus or retire from service. According to him, although “many nodded” when he made his proposal, Mr Prigozhin rejected the idea, responding that “the boys won’t agree with such a decision”. This, Mr Putin said, was one of “several employment options” put forward at the meeting. During the revolt that lasted less than 24 hours, Mr Prigozhin’s mercenaries quickly swept through the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don and captured the military headquarters there without firing a shot, before driving to within about 200km (125 miles) of Moscow. Mr Prigozhin described the move as a “march of justice” to oust the military leaders, who demanded that Wagner sign contracts with the Defense Ministry by July 1. The fate of Mr Prigozhin and the terms of a deal that ended the armed rebellion by offering amnesty for him and his mercenaries, along with permission, to move to Belarus remain cloudy. Wagner mercenaries are completing the handover of their weapons to the Russian military, the Defense Ministry said Wednesday. Their disarming of Wagner reflects efforts by Russian authorities to defuse the threat they posed and also appears to herald an end to the mercenary group’s operations on the battlefield in Ukraine, where Kyiv’s forces are engaged in a counteroffensive. Read More Russia-Ukraine war – live: Wagner forces training soldiers in Belarus after Prigozhin exile Tucker Carlson and Mike Pence clash in heated exchange over Ukraine at GOP 2024 forum Putin wants to attend an August summit. Host country South Africa doesn't want to have to arrest him Russian antiwar activist allowed into Serbia after spending more than a day at the Belgrade airport Why are Russian and Belarusian players allowed back at Wimbledon? Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide

A top Russian official has addressed the whereabouts of a senior general who has not been seen in public since the Wagner mutiny. Andrei Kartapolov, head of the state Duma defence committee, said that general Sergei Surovikin is “resting” and “not available right now”. It follows reports that Wagner boss Yevgeny Priogozhin has likely been murdered or incarcerated after leading a failed rebellion against the Kremlin regime. General Surovikin is known to have a close relationship with Mr Priogozhin who last month ordered his soldiers to march on Moscow in what the Kremlin referred to as an aborted mutiny. The incident formed part of an ongoing feud with Russia’s top military brass about its strategy in the Ukraine war. Media reports claim Mr Surovikin was being interrogated by security forces at an unknown location over his connection to warlord Mr Priogozhin. However, the British Ministry of Defence suggested Mr Surovikin had been “sidelined following the mutiny”, the Guardian reported. The ministry cited the “increased public profile” of his deputy Viktor Afzalov as evidence of why he has disappeared from public view. In a televised appearance, Afzalov was shown briefing chief of general staff Valery Gerasimov on July 10, according to the ministry. “Afzalov’s increased public profile, while Surovikin’s whereabouts remains unclear, adds further weight to the hypothesis that Surovikin has been sidelined following the mutiny,” it said. Meanwhile, Russian major general Ivan Popov, who was the commander of Russia’s 58th Combined Arms Army fighting near Zaporizhzhia, has said that he was fired as a commander after telling his superiors “the truth” about the dire situation on the frontlines in Ukraine. Maj Gen Popov told his troops in an audio statement that he was dismissed after a meeting with the top military brass in what he described as a “treacherous” stab in the back to the Russian forces fighting in Ukraine. He added that the military leadership was angered by his frank talk about the challenges faced by his forces. “The top officers apparently saw me as a source of threat and rapidly issued an order to get rid of me, which was signed by the defence minister in just one day,” he said. Read More Russia-Ukraine war – live: Wagner forces training soldiers in Belarus after Prigozhin exile Wagner mercenaries are in Belarus and training the country’s soldiers Putin wants to attend an August summit. Host country South Africa doesn't want to have to arrest him The Body in the Woods | An Independent TV Original Documentary The harrowing discovery at centre of The Independent’s new documentary

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