Confessions of Wagner PMC mercenaries to murders and transit for agricultural products from Ukraine: today's highlights

Confessions of Wagner Group mercenaries

Two former prisoners and mercenaries of the Wagner PMC confessed to killing Ukrainian children, teenagers, and adult civilians in Soledar and Bakhmut, Donetsk Oblast.

The Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine registered the information in the Unified Register of Pre-trial Investigations under Article 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine – a violation of the laws and customs of war. The circumstances mentioned in the interview will be checked and given an appropriate legal assessment.

The Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights, Dmytro Lubinets, emphasized that those responsible for war crimes on the territory of Ukraine must be fairly punished.

Investigation of the execution video

The head of the Defense Ministry's Main Intelligence Directorate, Kyrylo Budanov, said that intelligence officers already know the name of the Russian soldier who beheaded the Ukrainian prisoner. However, he did not disclose the location of this soldier.

“Somehow it happened that almost all of those who did such things (where it was clearly known to us) no longer exist. So I don't think this person will be an exception,” Budanov said.

Ombudsman Lubinets said that over the past 9 months, his office has received several dozen videos of public executions of Ukrainian prisoners of war by Russian soldiers.

“These are beheadings, cutting off genitals, cutting off ears, noses, limbs, phalanges on hands. Some [of the Russian soldiers] have been verified. And I know that one person was punished. I know that he was killed during a military clash with Ukrainian troops,” he said.

Export of products from Ukraine

The Russian side has again blocked inspections of ships under the “grain initiative” that exports grain from Ukraine. According to the EU's chief diplomat, Josep Borrell, as many as 50 vessels have been blocked in the Black Sea.

Ukraine's Infrastructure Ministry explained that the Russians unilaterally stopped registering vessels submitted by Ukrainian ports to form an inspection plan. Instead, they form their own inspection plan, selecting vessels from the queue at their discretion. This completely contradicts the terms of the grain initiative.

Meanwhile, Ukraine continues negotiations on the transit of agricultural products through other countries. Polish Agriculture Minister Robert Telus said that the country is not against transit, but that it needs “a 100% guarantee that products that destabilize the market do not remain in Poland”.

The European Commission is waiting for detailed information from Poland and Hungary on the reasons for the ban on Ukrainian agricultural products. They also propose compensation for EU member states that may have suffered from increased imports from Ukraine.

Other news:

• For the first time in Ukraine, doctors implanted a prosthesis directly into the bone. The patient was a veteran of the Russian-Ukrainian war.
• Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov apologized for saying that the losses of the Ukrainian military in the war do not exceed the number of victims of the earthquake in Turkey.
• Slovakia has already handed over all the promised MiG-29 fighters to Ukraine.
• One of the organizers of parties where girls were abused was taken into custody in a courtroom.
• A Ukrainian who set himself on fire near the consulate died in a Krakow hospital.
• Ukraine's Foreign Minister visits Iraq for the first time in 11 years.
• The UK launches an investigation into the current British Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, over a possible conflict of interest.
• Five Ukrainian artists will perform in the Eurovision Song Contest final.
• A Ukrainian illustrator refuses to receive the prize together with a Russian representative.