Russia-Ukraine war live updates for Thursday, June 29, 2023

Russia’s Investigative Committee on Thursday said it has opened criminal cases against 160 “foreign mercenaries” charged with participating in hostilities in support of Ukraine, according to a Google translation of a report from Russian state news agency Tass.

Cases have been launched for the prosecution of foreigners from 33 countries, the committee said.

Russia has repeatedly accused Western powers, chiefly the United States, of fighting a proxy war against Moscow in Ukraine. The federation began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February last year, citing concerns that Kyiv’s potential accession to the NATO military alliance posed security risks to Moscow.

— Ruxandra Iordache

Parties in the Belarus-brokered amnesty deal between the Kremlin and paramilitary Wagner Group leader and failed insurrectionist Yevgeny Prigozhin “may still be negotiating the specifics of the agreement,” the Institute for the Study of War said in its Wednesday report.

Prigozhin’s attempted coup over the weekend culminated in his exile to Belarus, following negotiations overseen by Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko.

The ISW said that Russian bloggers are speculating that the Wagner rebellion is “already having widespread impacts on the Russian command structure,” while the alleged arrest of Col. Gen. Sergei Surovikin on Wednesday possibly indicates “that the Kremlin intends to purge” the Ministry of Defense of figures viewed as disloyal.

— Ruxandra Iordache

The EU risks instability if it relaxes its accession standards regarding democracy and corruption to fast track the membership bids of Ukraine and other candidate countries in light of their geopolitical circumstances, Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen told the Financial Times.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy requested the country’s expedited accession to the European bloc after Russia’s invasion in February last year. The EU granted Ukraine candidate status in June 2022, but faces challenges to strengthen its judiciary system and combat local anti-corruption.

Zelenskyy has continued to demand Ukraine’s entry into both the EU and the NATO military alliance.

The Denmark foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a CNBC request to confirm the comments to the Financial Times.

— Ruxandra Iordache

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed concerns that Israeli-manufactured defense systems, including the U.S. funded Iron Dome, could reach Iran, if they were transferred to Ukraine.

The repossession would be possible because of the close partnership between fellow U.S. sanctioned Russia and Iran, Netanyahu said. Moscow has used Iranian drones in the war in Ukraine, although Tehran has in the past said it did not supply Russia such weapons to use against Kyiv.

“We’re concerned also with the possibility that systems that we would give to Ukraine would fall into Iranian hands and could be reverse engineered, and we would find ourselves facing Israeli systems used against Israel,” Netanyahu told the Wall Street Journal in a televised interview.

U.S. senators Chris Van Hollen and Lindsey Graham have in recent days urged Israel to lift its veto on the transfer of the Iron Dome system to Ukraine, a joint statement said on June 23.

— Ruxandra Iordache

At least 12 people were killed and 60 were injured in a Russian missile attack that hit a restaurant in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk, the Ukrainian state emergency services said on Twitter, according to a Google translation.

The toll of the dead included three children.

Emergency rescue operations have now completed, the services said.

The U.S. State Department on Wednesday “unequivocally” condemned Russia’s targeting of civilians in its latest alleged attacks against populated Ukrainian sites.

A Kremlin spokesperson reiterated Russia’s position that Moscow does not target civilian infrastructure in response to Kyiv’s accusations regarding the strike at Kramatorsk.

CNBC could not independently verify the military progress on the ground.

— Ruxandra Iordache

The U.S. State Department condemned the latest Russian attacks on populated areas in a daily briefing, calling it another example of the country’s “continuing escalation and the sheer brutality of its war of aggression.”

At least 13 people died in multiple missile attacks in Ukraine. In the city of Kramatorsk, at least 10 were killed after a missile struck a local restaurant.

“The U.S. unequivocally condemns the targeting of civilians and offers our sincere condolences to those lost in this most recent strike in the city center,” said Vedant Patel, principal deputy spokesperson at the State Department. “We are appalled by this, but unfortunately not surprised by Russia’s conduct.”

—Chris Eudaily

Ukraine sees an end to the leadership of Russian President Vladimir Putin on the horizon, following recent tensions between Russia’s defense officials and frontline-prominent paramilitary troop Wagner.

“I think the countdown has started,” Andriy Yermak, close adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said in a Kyiv briefing, according to the BBC.

Former Putin ally Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin briefly turned arms against Moscow over the weekend, dealing an unprecedented blow to the Kremlin regime despite the militia group’s ultimate withdrawal.

Prigozhin has accepted exile into Belarus in exchange for calling off the insurrection, which unveiled the depth of cracks in Russian unity.

— Ruxandra Iordache

Switzerland on Wednesday extended its financial and travel sanctions on Russian entities and persons, following similar measures announced by the European Union on Friday.

Members of Russia’s armed forces, including recruits of the Wagner mercenary group that staged last weekend’s aborted mutiny, were among those targeted, a statement said.

The sanctions also include asset freezes and a ban on travel to and transit through Switzerland. The measures also target people and organizations that support the illegal deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia.

The EU last week announced an 11th package of sanctions, which also took aim at sanctions circumvention, including through intermediary countries.

— Karen Gilchrist