CIA Director William Burns called his Russian counterpart to say the US had no involvement in the failed mutiny by Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing officials familiar with the matter. The call with Sergei Naryshkin, head of Russia’s foreign-intelligence service, is believed to be the highest-level contact between the governments since the attempted uprising a week ago. Burns also made a previously unreported trip to Kyiv in June for meetings with top officials, CNN reported.
The US hasn’t made a decision on whether to send ATACMS long-range missiles or cluster munitions to Ukraine, said Mark Milley, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff. Senior administration and defense officials are in touch with lawmakers to assess their comfort with sending the controversial cluster bombs, the Washington Post reported.
Ukraine’s president on Friday instructed his top brass to shore up the nation’s northern military command, on a day when the Belarusian defense ministry said additional Russian anti-aircraft systems had been moved there for “combat duty.” Wagner troops who’ve left Ukraine will reportedly operate out of three large field camps in Belarus, according to the Institute for the Study of War. Satellite imagery shows hundreds of large tents set up at a previously abandoned military base in Asipovichy, southeast of Minsk, ISW said.
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Coming Up
- Deadline for Wagner fighters to sign contracts with Russian defense ministry
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