Several people were killed and scores injured in a Russian rocket strike that hit a restaurant in Kramatorsk, eastern Ukraine, authorities said Tuesday. Ukrainian police said Russia fired two S-300 surface-to-air missiles at the city. Read our liveblog to see how the day's events unfolded. All times are Paris time (GMT+2).
This live blog is no longer being updated. For more of our coverage on the war in Ukraine, please click here.
5:30am: Kremlin critic Navalny says 'no bigger threat' to Russia than Putin
As the fallout unfolded from Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin's brief rebellion – widely seen as the biggest threat to Kremlin authority in decades – Russian President Vladimir Putin sought to shore up his authority by thanking regular troops for averting a civil war.
But as Moscow announced preparations to disarm Wagner fighters, jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny launched a stinging attack on the president in his first comments since the aborted rebellion by the paramilitaries.
"There is no bigger threat to Russia than Putin's regime," Navalny said on social media.
"Putin's regime is so dangerous to the country that even its inevitable demise will create the threat of civil war," he wrote.
4:50am: South Korea unveils sanctions on Russian national over North Korea's weapons programmes
South Korea on Wednesday announced new sanctions on two individuals and two entities over their alleged involvement in North Korea's weapons programmes, Seoul's foreign ministry said.
The sanctions target Choi Chon Gon, a former South Korean national who acquired Russian citizenship, two companies Choi owns and a North Korean who supported Choi, the ministry said.
Choi is accused of helping North Korea's illegal financial activities in violation of United Nations Security Council sanctions after acquiring Russian citizenship.
"It marks the first time our government has imposed unilateral sanctions on an individual of Korean descent," the ministry said in a statement.
3:00am: Taiwan detects two Russian warships off its coast
Taiwan detected two Russian frigates sailing off its eastern coast on Tuesday and deployed surveillance ships and aircraft to monitor their movements, the island's ministry of national defence said.
The Russian warships were "detected sailing from south to north in the waters off our eastern coast" as of 11pm local time (1500 GMT), it said in a statement on Tuesday.
Taiwan's military monitored their movements and "dispatched aircraft, ships and (activated) shore-based missile systems to keep watch", it added.
The ministry did not say how far the warships were from Taiwan's coast.
9:48pm: NATO ready to defend against any threat, says Stoltenberg
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Tuesday it's too early to speculate on the effects of the move of Wagner troops to Belarus, but stressed the alliance is ready to defend itself against any threat.
"It's too early to make any final judgment about the consequences of the fact that Prigozhin has moved to Belarus, and that most likely some of his forces will also be located in Belarus," Stoltenberg told reporters after a meeting with government leaders of seven NATO countries in The Hague.
"But we have sent a clear message to Moscow and Minsk that NATO is there to protect every ally, every inch of NATO territory."
Yevgeny Prigozhin, leader of the Russian mercenary group Wagner, flew into exile in Belarus on Tuesday.
9:24pm: US condemns Russian attacks, vows to 'continue to stand with Ukraine'
The White House on Tuesday condemned Russia for its "brutal strikes" against the people of Ukraine, following Russian missile strikes in the centre of the eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk, and vowed to continue to stand with Ukraine.
Asked about the attack in Kramatorsk, a spokesperson for the White House National Security Council said: “We condemn Russia’s brutal strikes against the people of Ukraine, which have caused widespread death and destruction and taken the lives of so many Ukrainian civilians."
President Joe Biden on Sunday told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky the United States "will continue to stand with Ukraine and provide Ukraine with weapons and equipment to defend itself against Russian aggression," the spokesperson said.
9:21pm: Wagner troops in Belarus will increase danger for neighbours, says Lithuania's president
The deployment of Wagner's Russian mercenary troops in Belarus will increase insecurity in all neighbouring countries, Lithuania's President Gitanas Nauseda said on Tuesday.
"If Wagner deploys its serial killers in Belarus, all neighbouring countries face even bigger danger of instability," Nauseda said after a meeting in The Hague with government leaders from several NATO allies.
9:20pm: Putin's war in Ukraine has deepened divisions in Russia, says NATO chief
The events in Russia over the weekend have shown that the war in Ukraine has deepened divisions in Russia, but Ukraine's allies still cannot underestimate Russia and must keep supporting Ukraine, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Tuesday.
9:03pm: Russian mercenary group Wagner has an 'incredible global footprint'
On the surface, it would seem like the United States would have every reason to celebrate the recent turmoil caused by the Wagner group's short-lived armed mutiny in Russia. However, Washington's public response has been decidedly cautious.
Officials say the US played no role in the conflict, insist that this was an internal Russian matter and decline to comment on whether it could affect the war in Ukraine. They have done so to avoid creating an opening for Russian President Vladimir Putin to seize on the rhetoric of US officials and rally Russians by blaming his Western adversaries. Even President Joe Biden, who is known for straying from talking points, has stayed on script. Biden told reporters on Monday that he had held a video call with allies over the weekend and that they have all agreed to working towards ensuring that they give Putin "no excuse to blame this on the West" or NATO.
For in-depth analysis and a deeper perspective on Wagner's future at home and abroad, FRANCE 24 is joined by Kristine Berzina, managing director at the German Marshall Fund.
8:41pm: Three dead, 42 injured in strikes on east Ukraine restaurant
At least three people were killed and more than 40 wounded in a Russian rocket strike that hit a restaurant in Kramatorsk, eastern Ukraine, authorities said Tuesday.
Ukrainian police said Russia fired two S-300 surface-to-air missiles at the city.
"The bodies of three people, including a minor born in 2008, have been recovered from the rubble. Among the injured was a child born in 2022," the interior ministry said on Telegram.
The Ukrainian emergency service said on Telegram that 42 people were injured in the strike, which destroyed the popular Ria Pizza restaurant.
8:04pm: US says it will announce actions to hold Wagner accountable over activities in Africa
The United States will "very soon" announce actions to hold the Wagner Group accountable, the US State Department spokesperson said on Tuesday, although the move will be over the mercenary group's prior activities in Africa and won't be linked to the aborted mutiny in Russia over the weekend.
Speaking at a daily press briefing, Department spokesperson Matt Miller did not detail what the planned US action will be, but, when pressed, said it would be announced this week.
8:01pm: Russian missiles hit crowded centre of Kramatorsk, says regional governor
Two Russian missiles struck a crowded area of restaurants on Tuesday in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk, the governor of the Donetsk region said, and emergency services were at the scene helping the injured.
"Just half an hour ago, two missiles struck the city of Kramatorsk," Pavlo Kyrylenko told Ukrainian television.
"We are now working in the city to establish the number of wounded and possibly dead. This is the city centre. These were public eating places crowded with civilians."
Pictures posted on social media showed rubble scattered around groups of buildings.
7:17pm: US to give Ukraine $500 million in additional military aid
The United States will provide Kyiv with a new military package worth up to $500 million, the Pentagon said on Tuesday, in a show of support for Ukraine's fight against Russia as Moscow deals with the aftermath of a mutiny by mercenary fighters.
The package will include ground vehicles comprising Bradley fighting vehicles and Stryker armored personnel carriers, and munitions for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, the Pentagon said in a statement.
7:09pm: Putin is a danger to Russia, says jailed opposition leader Navalny
The biggest threat to Russia is the regime of President Vladimir Putin, jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny said on Tuesday, in his first comments since an aborted Wagner mutiny.
"There is no bigger threat to Russia that Putin's regime," Navalny wrote on social media. "Putin's regime is so dangerous to the country that even its inevitable demise will create the threat of civil war," he wrote.
6:28pm: Wagner chief Prigozhin begins exile in Belarus after failed mutiny
Russian mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin arrived in Belarus on Tuesday under a deal that ended a brief mutiny against the Russian military by his fighters, state news agency BELTA said, quoting Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko. A plane linked to Prigozhin and believed to be carrying him into exile landed in Belarus from the southern Russian city of Rostov on Tuesday, a flight tracking service said.
FRANCE 24's International Affairs Editor Philip Turle tells us more.
5:56pm: Lukashenko says he told Putin not to kill Wagner chief
Belarus strongman Alexander Lukashenko said Tuesday he had urged his ally President Vladimir Putin not to kill the head of the mercenary Wagner group, which last week attempted to topple Russia's top brass.
Lukashenko, a long-time ally of Putin, claimed to have negotiated an end to the armed insurrection and has said he will take in exiled rebels and Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin.
"I said to Putin: we could waste (Prigozhin), no problem. If not on the first try, then on the second. I told him: don't do this," Lukashenko said during a meeting with security officials, according to state media.
Lukashenko earlier confirmed Prigozhin, who led the deadly march on Moscow last week, will be in Belarus on Tuesday, under a deal that ended his revolt.
The 68-year-old authoritarian leader has been hit with Western sanctions for cracking down on opposition figures and allowing Russia to attack Ukraine last year from Belarusian territory.
Kremlin critics have accused Putin of orchestrating the killings of several prominent government opposition figures and the near-fatal poisoning of politician Alexei Navalny.
5:55pm: UK will continue to push for speedy Swedish accession to NATO, says UK foreign minister
Britain will continue to push for the speedy conclusion of Sweden's accession to NATO, UK foreign minister James Cleverly said on Tuesday, speaking at a press conference alongside his Swedish counterpart Tobias Billström.
4:22pm: Lukashenko says Belarus ready to accommodate Wagner mercenaries on abandoned base
Belarus is not building any camps for Russia's mercenary Wagner group, but will accommodate them if they want, the Belarusian state news agency BELTA quoted President Alexander Lukashenko as saying on Tuesday.
"We offered them one of the abandoned military bases. Please - we have a fence, we have everything - put up your tents," Lukashenko said.
Under a deal brokered by Lukashenko late on Saturday that ended a mutiny by the Wagner fighters, they were allowed either to join Russia's regular armed forces, move with their leader Yevgeny Prigozhin into exile in Belarus, or simply return to their families.
Lukashenko was also quoted as saying there were no plans to open any Wagner recruitment centres in Belarus.
4:02pm: Wagner moving to Belarus is bad for Poland, says Polish president
The movement of Wagner Group troops to Belarus is a negative signal for Poland, president Andrzej Duda said on Tuesday, as he headed for talks with other NATO leaders in the Netherlands.
"We see what is happening, the relocation of Russian forces in the form of the Wagner Group to Belarus, and the head of the Wagner Group going there, those are all very negative signals for us which we want to raise strongly with our allies," he told reporters.
3:50pm: Lukashenko confirms Wagner founder is in Belarus
The founder of Russia's mercenary Wagner group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, is now in Belarus, Belarusian state news agency BELTA quoted President Alexander Lukashenko as saying on Tuesday.
Under a deal mediated by Lukashenko on Saturday that ended a mutiny in Russia by the Wagner fighters, Prigozhin was meant to move to Belarus, while his men were given the choice of joining him or being integrated into Russia's regular armed forces.
Lukashenko also said his defence minister, Viktor Khrennikov, had told him he would not mind having a unit like Wagner in the Belarusian army. The Belarusian leader instructed Khrennikov to negotiate with Prigozhin on the matter.
2:46pm: Lukashenko says Belarus will benefit from Wagner fighters' combat experience
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko on Tuesday said his authoritarian country would benefit from combat experience of Wagner fighters exiled to the ex-Soviet state after a failed uprising in Russia.
"If their commanders come to us and help us ... (this is) experience. They've been through it. They'll tell you about weapons: which ones worked well, which ones didn't. And tactics, and weapons, and how to attack, how to defend. This is priceless," Lukashenko, who offered to take in Wagner fighters, said during a meeting with his defence minister, according to state media.
2:19pm: Putin says Wagner militia was entirely financed by Russian state
The Wagner mercenary group was entirely financed by the Russian state, which spent 86 billion roubles ($1 billion) on it between May 2022 and May 2023, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday.
In addition, Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin, who led the group's brief mutiny last Saturday, made almost as much during the same period from his food and catering business, Putin said during a meeting with security forces.
2:18pm: Saudi crown prince says kingdom is satisfied with success of de-escalation in Russia
Saudi Arabia is satisfied with the success of the de-escalation in Russia, Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said on Tuesday during a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Saudi state news agency reported.
2:15pm: Lukashenko wants Wagner to share their war experience with Belarus
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said that his country wanted to learn from the war experience of Russia's Wagner mercenary group, the state-run Belta news agency reported on Tuesday.
Under a deal brokered by Lukashenko late on Saturday that ended a mutiny by the Wagner fighters, they were allowed to either join Russia's regular armed forces or move with their leader Yevgeny Prigozhin into exile in Belarus.
"If their commanders come to us and help us ... tell us what's important right now ... That's priceless. That's what we need to take from Wagner," Lukashenko said, adding there was no need for Belarus to fear the presence of the mercenaries.
"We will keep a close eye on them," he said.
1:04pm: Pope's peace envoy is heading to Moscow after the short-lived Wagner rebellion
Pope Francis' peace envoy to Ukraine will visit Moscow on Wednesday and Thursday, just weeks after visiting Kyiv, the Vatican said.
It will be the first visit to Moscow by a senior Vatican official since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.
"On June 28 and 29, 2023, Cardinal Matteo Maria Zuppi ... accompanied by an official of the (Vatican) Secretary of State, will pay a visit to Moscow as envoy of Pope Francis," a Vatican statement said.
"The main purpose of the initiative is to encourage gestures of humanity, which can help promote a solution to the current tragic situation and find ways to achieve a just peace."
12:53pm: Putin tells troops in Kremlin that they 'de facto stopped civil war'
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday told troops gathered at the Kremlin that they had prevented a civil war after a revolt by Wagner mercenaries, and held a minute of silence for pilots killed in clashes during the insurrection.
"You de facto stopped civil war," Putin told troops from the defence ministry, National Guard, FSB security service and interior ministry.
"In the confrontation with rebels, our comrades-in-arms, pilots, were killed. They did not flinch and honourably fulfilled their orders and their military duty," Putin said before holding a minute of silence in their memory, without saying how many died.
12:51pm: Putin says Wagner rebels never had support of army or Russian people
President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday that a group of Wagner mercenaries, who last week attempted an armed insurrection to oust Russia's military leadership, failed to win the support of the Russian people or its army.
"People who were drawn into the rebellion saw that the army and the people were not with them," the Russian leader said in a televised address to law enforcement agencies outside the Kremlin.
The President also said that Moscow had not redeployed any soldiers from Ukraine to counter rebelling Wagner forces inside Russia. "We did not have to take combat units from the special military operation zone," Putin told said, adding that "all military formations continued to wage a heroic fight at the front".
12:40pm: Russia's National Guard to get tanks, heavy weaponry, state media says
Russia's National Guard will be equipped with heavy weaponry and tanks, the RIA news agency quoted its head Viktor Zolotov as saying on Tuesday, after units of the Guard came close to having to defend Moscow against heavily armed mutineers.
Zolotov also said the Wagner mercenaries who carried out the short-lived weekend mutiny would not have been able to take Moscow if they had reached the Russian capital, the TASS news agency reported.
12:31pm: Lukashenko says tensions with Wagner were mismanaged
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said Tuesday that long-standing tensions between Moscow's army and the Wagner mercenary group, which staged a mutiny in Russia, had been mismanaged.
Lukashenko was speaking three days after he had brokered a deal to end the rebellion that rattled his Russian ally Vladimir Putin.
The feud between Wagner and the Russian army had escalated for months, with mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin making increasingly scathing statements against generals.
"We missed the situation, and then we thought that it would resolve itself, but it did not resolve," Lukashenko said. "Two people who fought at the front clashed, there are no heroes in this case," he added, in an apparent reference to the Wagner chief who rebelled, Yevgeny Prigozhin, and his rival Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu.
12:08pm: Kremlin rejects claims Putin has been weakened by Wagner mutiny
The Kremlin on Tuesday said Russian President Vladimir Putin's authority had not been weakened by an armed mutiny launched last week by the Wagner merceny group aimed at Russia's military leadership.
"We don't agree. Now there are a lot of ultra-emotional tantrums among political scientists and pseudo-political scientists," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov answered journalists who pointed to the claims during a briefing.
11:58am: Ukraine must be ready to export mostly via Danube ports, says sea ports authority
Ukraine must be ready to export grain almost exclusively via its Danube River ports because Russia is effectively blocking Black Sea shipments, the Ukrainian Sea Ports Authority said on Tuesday.
The United Nations and Turkey brokered a deal between Moscow and Kyiv last July on the safe passage of Black Sea grain to help tackle a global food crisis worsened by Russia's invasion of its neighbour and a blockade of Ukrainian Black Sea ports.
Moscow has threatened not to extend the deal beyond July 18 unless a series of demands are met, including the removal of obstacles to Russian grain and fertiliser exports. It says that promises of help with those exports have not materialised.
"With the Russia effectively blocking the operation of the grain corridor, we need to be ready to receive almost the entire export volume of the new harvest through the Danube ports," Dmytro Barinov, the sea ports authority's deputy head, said on Facebook.
11:50: Kremlin says it does not know Prigozhin's whereabouts
The Kremlin said on Tuesday it had no information on the whereabouts of Yevgeny Prigozhin, leader of the mercenary Wagner Group, who led a brief mutiny on Saturday in protest at what he saw as the poor handling of military operations in Ukraine.
Under the terms of a deal that ended the mutiny, Prigozhin was to be allowed to move to Belarus, and his fighters were given the chance to join Russia's regular armed forces or to move to Belarus with him.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told a regular news briefing that the deal ending the mutiny was being implemented, and he did not know how many Wagner fighters would sign contracts with the Defence Ministry following the deal.
11:45am: Still no grounds for peace talks with Ukraine, Kremlin says
The Kremlin said on Tuesday it still saw no grounds for peace talks with Ukraine.
Asked about a German media report that talks could begin in July, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that at the moment there was no sign of any of the prerequisites for such talks being in place.
Moscow had said in the past that any peace talks must take account of the "new realities" – a reference to four Ukrainian regions which Moscow says are now part of Russia – something Ukraine and the West reject.
Kyiv has said it will not negotiate with Moscow until the last Russian soldier has left Ukraine.
11:42am: Putin to address soldiers, others who helped tackle mutiny, Kremlin says
President Vladimir Putin will on Tuesday address members of Russian military units, the National Guard, security forces and others who helped to uphold order during Saturday's mutiny by mercenary fighters, the Kremlin said.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov also told a regular news briefing that Putin would hold individual meetings with some military officers and would speak with the heads of Russian media on Tuesday evening.
11:31am: Plan to train Ukrainian F-16 pilots still in the works, Denmark says
An international programme to train Ukrainian pilots to fly F-16 fighter jets is still being drawn up by Western countries and the length of such a course could vary depending on the pilots' prior training and language skills, Denmark said on Tuesday.
NATO members Denmark and the Netherlands are leading efforts by an international coalition to train pilots and support staff, maintain aircraft and ultimately supply F-16s to Ukraine.
"The dialogue and planning of this is still ongoing, which is why there is no final plan yet," Denmark's defence ministry said in a statement to Reuters.
Kyiv has repeatedly called for Western countries to supply aircraft and train its pilots to fly them, to successfully counter Moscow's aerial dominance. So far, no countries have committed to sending F-16s to Ukraine, though Poland and Slovakia have supplied 27 MiG-29s to supplement Ukraine's fleet
10:43am: Russia executed 77 civilian detainees in Ukraine, UN says
Russia has executed 77 civilians being held in arbitrary detention in Ukraine, according to a United Nations report released Tuesday.
"We documented the summary execution of 77 civilians while they were arbitrarily detained by the Russian Federation," Matilda Bogner, head of the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine, told a press briefing in Geneva.
10:23am: Russia drops criminal case against Wagner Group over armed mutiny
Russia's FSB security service dropped its criminal case against the Wagner mercenary group over its short-lived armed uprising at the weekend, Russian news agencies reported on Tuesday.
According to the RIA news agency, the case was dropped because "the participants had ceased actions directly aimed at committing the crime".
Under a deal agreed late on Saturday that defused the crisis, the Kremlin said fighters who took part in the mutiny would not be prosecuted and would be allowed to return to base.
10:13am: Wagner Group preparing to hand over equipment to Russia's defence ministry
Russia's mercenary Wagner Group is preparing to hand over heavy military equipment to the defence ministry, which will transfer the equipment to the Russian army, RIA news agency cited the ministry as saying on Tuesday, following the end of a brief rebellion at the weekend by the mercenary fighters.
"Preparations are underway for the transfer of heavy military equipment from the private military company Wagner to units of the Russian armed forces," the defence ministry said in a statement online.
10:09am: Belarus strongman says put army at ready during Russia's Wagner mutiny
Belarusian strongman leader Alexander Lukashenko announced Tuesday that he had ordered his army to be "combat ready" during an uprising in neighbouring Russia led by Wagner mercenary head Yevgeny Prigozhin.
"I gave all the orders to bring the army to full combat readiness," Lukashenko said in comments distributed by state media, after the long-serving authoritarian was credited with negotiating an end to Wagner's short-lived uprising.
9:24am: Jet linked to Wagner head Prigozhin flies to Belarus from Russia
A Russian-registered Embraer Legacy 600 jet, which has been linked to Russian mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin in US sanctions documents, flew to Belarus from Russia on Tuesday.
Flightradar24 showed the business jet flew to Belarus early on Tuesday.
The idenfication codes of the aircraft match those of a jet linked by the United States to Autolex Transport which is linked to Prigozhin by the US Office of Foreign Assets Control.
Under a deal mediated by Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko on Saturday to halt a mutiny by Prigozhin's mercenary fighters, Prigozhin is meant to move to Belarus.
9:00am: 'History in the making' as Wagner’s Prigozhin confronts the Kremlin
Wagner boss Yevgeni Prigozhin was declared a “traitor” by Russian President Vladimir Putin for marching his troops towards Moscow over the weekend.
He was then ostensibly granted an amnesty and allowed to go into exile in Belarus. But Prigozhin is still under investigation, say Russian news agencies.
FRANCE 24's Leela Jacinto explains the chaos and stakes in Russia today.
5:20am: Russia conducts tactical fighter jet drills over Baltic Sea
Russia's defence ministry said early on Tuesday that it was conducting tactical fighter jet exercises over the Baltic Sea with the main goal of testing readiness to perform combat and special tasks operations.
"The crews of the Su-27 (fighter jets) of the Baltic Fleet fired from airborne weapons at cruise missiles and mock enemy aircraft," the ministry said on the Telegram messaging app.
"The main goal of the exercise is to test the readiness of the flight crew to perform combat and special tasks as intended."
The ministry said that in addition to improving skills, the fighter jets crews are on "round-the-clock combat duty" guarding the air space of Russia's Kaliningrad exclave.
5:00am: Senior Russian lawmaker calls for professional army of seven million
A senior Russian lawmaker who has been involved in a number of negotiations related to Moscow's campaign in Ukraine called late on Monday for a professional army seven-million strong to ensure that no mercenary groups are needed for the country's security.
Russia has been shaken by the weekend's failed mutiny by Yevgeny Prigozhin and his Wagner mercenary troops who briefly took control of a military command steering Moscow's campaign in Ukraine, then started a march on Moscow before aborting it.
Lawmaker Leonid Slutsky, who early in the 16-month war took part in peace negotiations with Ukraine, said that Russia needs a contract army of at least seven million military and civilian personnel, on top of the current conscript army.
"The country does not need any PMCs (private military companies) and their likes," Slutsky, the head of the Liberal Democratic Party, said on the Telegram messaging app. "There are problems in the regular army, but PMCs cannot solve them."
3:42am: Zelensky visits troops, says Ukraine counteroffensive 'made progress'
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday made a trip to troops fighting Russian forces near the city of Bakhmut, the site of some of the most intense battles in the conflict, and touted his force's military progress.
"Today, our soldiers made progress in all areas, and this is a happy day," Zelensky said Monday in his regular evening address.
Military leaders said their forces were making progress in the south and east of the country.
"We are knocking the enemy out of its positions on the flanks of the city of Bakhmut," eastern ground force commander Oleksandr Syrskyi said. "Ukraine is regaining its territory. We are moving forward."
12:30am: Putin confirms Russian pilots killed during aborted mutiny
President Vladimir Putin on Monday paid tribute to pilots who were killed during the failed weekend mutiny, confirming earlier reports by military bloggers that several planes were shot down by Yevgeny Prigozhin's Wagner militia.
Wagner fighters on Saturday took control of the southern city of Rostov-on-Don and its military command centre steering the Ukraine campaign, then driving an armed convoy within 200 km (125 miles) of Moscow before aborting their insurrection.
"The courage and self-sacrifice of the fallen heroes-pilots saved Russia from tragic devastating consequences," Putin said in his first public address about the mutiny since the weekend events.
There has been no official information about how many pilots died or how many aircraft were shot down.
Key developments from Monday, June 26:
Russian President Vladimir Putin addressed the nation about Wagner's aborted rebellion on Monday, thanking soldiers and mercenaries for avoiding bloodshed and stating that Wagner mutineers could either join the army or "go to Belarus".
Earlier, the mercenary group's chief Yevgeny Prigozhin defended his actions in an audio statement, claiming he did not aim to overthrow the leadership of Russia but to “avoid the destruction of Wagner”.
Putin also accused Ukraine and its Western allies of wanting Russians to "kill each other" during a revolt by mercenaries of the Wagner Group, which stunned the country with an aborted march on Moscow over the weekend.
President Joe Biden declared Monday that the United States and NATO had played no part in the Wagner mercenary group's short-lived insurrection in Russia, calling the uprising and the longer-term challenges it poses for President Vladimir Putin's power “a struggle within the Russian system.”
Read yesterday's liveblog to see how all the day's events unfolded.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP and Reuters)
