Ukraine-Russia war: Russian general pictured for first time since Wagner coup

A Russian general has been pictured for the first time after he disappeared following the Wagner Group’s aborted mutiny in June.

A new photo was posted to Russian social media claiming to show a photo of Sergei Surovikin, who dissapeared following the aborted coup.

Mr Surovikin was reportedly close to Wagner leader Yevgeny Prighozin, who was killed in a plane crash near Moscow last month.

The image, posted to Telegram, shows a man in sunglasses and a cap walking alongside a woman resembling Surovikin’s wife, Anna.

“General Sergei Surovikin is out. Alive, healthy, at home, with his family, in Moscow. Photo taken today,” the caption read.

Ukraine’s counter-offensive breakthrough will come as a “shock” to Russian President Vladimir Putin, an expert has said.

Mark Galeotti, professor of Slavonic studies at UCL, said Russians had become “complacent” and believed their defence to be more effective than Kyiv’s progress would suggest.

It comes after Ukrainian generals claimed troops had breached Russia’s first line near Zaporizhzhia and were gathering momentum in an offensive many observers claimed had failed.

Russian air defences destroyed a Ukrainian aeroplane-style drone over Crimea on Tuesday morning, the Russian defence ministry said.

Yesterday, Ukraine reported up to 30 Russian Iranian-made Shahed drones were used in an attack on the port city of Odesa.

Russian authorities will hold elections with “Kremlin-endorsed” parties in occupied areas of Ukraine next week, according to the Ministry of Defence.

The MoD’s intelligence report said authorities would hold elections between 8 and 10 September, in parallel with those going ahead in the Russian federation.

But the report said: “While over 1,000 candidates have been identified, there is a lack of qualified, experienced and willing candidates.

“There is also an abscence of independent candidates that are not members of the Kremlin-endorsed parties, indicating that these will not be free or fair elections.”

The election is being held in Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson, four Ukrainian regions claimed by Russia since its full-scale invasion in February 2022.

The Russian military has lost 265,680 troops in Ukraine, according to The General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces.

It claimed Russia had lost the troops since it invaded Ukraine in February 2022. Russia has also lost 4,489 tanks, 8,670 armored fighting vehicles, 8,175 vehicles and fuel tanks, 5,649 artillery systems, 747 multiple launch rocket systems, 504 air defense systems, 315 airplanes, 316 helicopters, 4,512 drones, and 19 boats, according to its report.

Moscow’s two major airports Vnukovo and Sheremetevo, as well as the Zhukovksy airport resumed normal operations from 7.30am after a temporary traffic suspension in the early hours today, Russia’s Federal Air Transport Agency said.

Earlier, Russia’s defence ministry said its forces shot down at least three Ukraine-launched drones that were targeting the country’s capital.

Olena Zelenska, the first lady of Ukraine, divulged the personal side of her life and the emotional toll Russia’s full-scale invasion on the country took on the leader and his family.

She said she was aware it could be a “bit selfish” but she needed her husband, not the political figure, by her side.

As soon as Russia entered Ukraine’s territory, the first lady and her kids went underground in secret locations and the days were filled with a “constant feeling of adrenaline”, she told the BBC.

“We don’t live together with my husband, the family is separated. We have the opportunity to see each other but not as often as we would like. My son misses his father. But we stay strong, we have strength both emotionally and physically. And I am sure we will handle it together,” Ms Zelenska said.

The Russian war, which Vladimir Putin calls a “special military operation” and has claimed thousands of lives and left millions displaced, has served an emotional blow to the family’s children.

Ms Zelenska said she is pained to watch her kids not being able to plan their lives. Her 19-year-old daughter does not have the opportunity to leave the country. Ms Zelenska said her children “dream of travelling, of new sensations and emotions”.

“There are limitations in time in what you can allow yourself, they exist, and we somehow try to live within them,” she told the BBC.

Last month, speaking to The Independent, she had opened up about the concerns she has for Ukraine and her family, with her and her husband being forced to live separately for security reasons – so the president rarely gets the chance to see their children.

“I want to be together again. We really hope that somehow all this will change and we will be able to live a more or less normal family life,” she said.

Kim Jong-un plans to travel to Russia and meet Vladimir Putin and discuss the possibility of supplying Moscow with weapons for the war in Ukraine, amid Moscow’s push to seek closer military ties with North Korea.

In a rare trip abroad, Kim would travel from Pyongyang, probably by armoured train, to Vladivostok, on the Pacific Coast of Russia, where he would meet Putin, the New York Times reported on Monday, citing US and allied sources.

While in Vladivostok, a port city not far from North Korea, the two leaders would discuss Kim’s sending Russia artillery shells and antitank missiles in exchange for Moscow’s advanced technology for satellites and nuclear-powered submarines, the newspaper reported.

At a time when the United States has expressed concern about growing military ties between the two countries, the news of Kim’s planned visit came after Russia said it was discussing holding joint military exercises with North Korea.

Cuban citizens are being trafficked to fight for Russia in its war in Ukraine, the country’s foreign ministry said.

A human trafficking operation was being run by criminals working in both the Caribbean island nation and thousands of miles away in Russia, the Cuban government said.

Authorities are now working to “neutralise and dismantle” the network.

A Cuban government statement read: “The Ministry of the Interior is working on the neutralisation and dismantling of a human trafficking network that operates from Russia to incorporate Cuban citizens living there, and even some from Cuba, into the military forces participating in war operations in Ukraine.”

Russia has yet to comment on these allegations.

Russia claims to have shot down Ukraine-launched drones in Moscow’s Istra district and another in Kaluga region in the early hours today.

“Tonight, air defence forces destroyed drones in the Kaluga region and in the Istra region that were trying to carry out an attack on Moscow. Emergency services are on the scene,” Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin said.

He later added that a household object was damaged as a result of fallen debris in Moscow and emergency services are “working to eliminate the consequences”.

Another drone was destroyed in the Tver region in the Zavidovo area, which the mayor claimed was flying in the direction of Moscow.

The Russian defence ministry said the three drones were either destroyed or intercepted before they could hit their targets.