Russia Ukraine war latest: ‘Extremely dangerous’ Wagner fighters seeking to destabilise Nato, says Poland

Wagner Group fighters are said to be closing in on Nato’s eastern flank

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Russian missiles hit apartment block and Ukrainian security service building in Dnipro

Fighters from Russia's private Wagner mercenary force are being moved close to Nato's eastern flank to destabilise the military alliance, Poland's prime minister said on Thursday.

Wagner Group soldiers have begun training with the Belarus national army, prompting Poland to start moving more than 1,000 troops closer to the border. On Tuesday it accused Belarus of violating its airspace with military helicopters.

"We need to be aware that the number of provocations will rise," Mateusz Morawiecki said after meeting Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda in eastern Poland.

"The Wagner group is extremely dangerous and they are being moved to the eastern flank to destabilise it."

Also on Thursday, Ukraine’s first lady Olena Zelenska has spelled out the “worst-case scenario” for the world as Vladimir Putin’s invasion enters its 18th month.

“If the aggressor wins now, it will be the worst-case scenario for all of humanity,” Ms Zelenska said in an exclusive interview with Independent TV from the heavily guarded presidential palace in Kyiv.

Poland’s prime minister has raised fears that the Wagner mercenary force is moving to destabilise Nato’s eastern flank.

The Russian-aligned soldiers have been training with the Belarus national army, which has prompted Poland to locate 1,000 troops close to its own border. It follows Poland, on Tuesday, accusing Belarus of violating its airspace with military helicopters.

Prime minister Mateusz Morawiecki said: “We need to be aware that the number of provocations will rise.”

He spoke after meeting Lithuanian president Gitanas Nauseda in eastern Poland.

“The Wagner group is extremely dangerous and they are being moved to the eastern flank to destabilise it.”

The politicians met in the Suwalki Gap, a sparsely populated but strategically important area of Polish territory between Belarus and the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad that joins the Baltic states to other NATO members.

Polish prime minister Mateusz Morawiecki

A politician who was, until recently, something of an outsider is set to run to be president of Finland after gaining a public profile through his TV commentary on the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

Finnish foreign and security policy think-tank chief Mika Aaltola announced his candidacy on Thursday and is set to be on the ballot when Finns go to the polls on January 28.

The leader of Finland is the prime minister and, although the president is head of state, he or she only has residual powers. But the president is still commander in chief of defence forces and represents the country at Nato meetings.

Current president Sauli Niinisto, 74, is required to retire after being at the helm for two consecutive six-year terms since 2012.

Mr Aaltola has said he wants Finland to remain a strong supporter of Ukraine, to bring its defence spending close to, “if not above”, 3 per cent of its gross domestic product.

Mika Aaltola has his sights set on a top job

Ukraine is investigating Russian attacks on its agriculture infrastructure as war crimes, it has been reported.

Kyiv’s presecutor general is wanting the shelling on agriculture installations to be looked at, Reuters has reported, after the attacks intensified since Russia withdrew from the Black Sea Grain Initiative export deal with Ukraine on July 17.

A statement from the prosecutor’s office said: “Overall, since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, Russian forces have conducted more than 100 attacks on Ukraine‘s grain and port infrastructure,” the prosecutor general’s office said in a statement.

“Ukraine is investigating these acts as potential war crimes.”

This will add to the backlog of the reported 97,000 potential war crimes which have been flagged with the International Criminal Court in The Hague

International Criminal Court

The Ukrainian president tweeted that he had met with battalion.

“The warriors of the 45th separate rifle battalion are absolutely heroic. It was an honor for me to visit the defenders in Ivano-Frankivsk who are undergoing treatment there and talk to them. It was an honor to receive a chevron and add it to the chevron board in my office.

“The battalion took part in battles in the north and east of Ukraine. The repulsed enemy attacks and retained positions are a feat, lives saved, Ukraine saved. I am proud of you, warriors! And thank you!”

Polish and Lithuanian leaders held an urgent meeting Thursday in a strategically sensitive area where their NATO nations border Belarus and the Russian territory of Kaliningrad, warning that they are bracing for provocations from Moscow and Minsk in the area.

The meeting came two days after two Belarusian helicopters flew briefly at low altitude into Polish air space, in what was viewed as a provocative move. Both nations on NATO’s eastern flank have increased their border security following the arrival of thousands of Russia-linked Wagner group mercenaries just across their borders in Belarus after an aborted mutiny in Russia in June.

“Russia and Belarus are increasing the pressure on the borders, increasing the number of their provocations, and we must be aware that the number of these provocations will grow,” Polish prime minister Mateusz Morawiecki said at a news conference with Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda.

The Belarusian foreign ministry denied that its country’s helicopters entered Poland. Local Polish residents posted photos on social media of helicopters with Belarusian insignia flying above.

They met in Suwalki, a town in the Suwalki Gap, a sparsely populated stretch of land running 96 kilometers (60 miles) along the Polish-Lithuanian border. Also known as the Suwalki Corridor, the stretch of territory links the three Baltic states of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia with the rest of the NATO alliance. It separates Belarus, an ally of Russia, from Kaliningrad, a heavily militarized exclave of Russia located on the Baltic Sea which is separated from the Russian mainland.

India will participate in Ukraine peace talks to be hosted by Saudi Arabia on August 5 and 6, a foreign ministry spokesperson said during a news briefing on Thursday.

Indian prime minister Narendra Modi

The European Union executive said on Thursday Poland’s new law on Russian influence “continues to raise serious concerns.”

Despite criticism that it could serve as a tool to persecute political rivals ahead of a national election due this autumn, Poland’s President Andrzej Duda - an ally of the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party - signed the law into force on Wednesday.

The law would, among other things, create a special committee to investigate any undue Russian influence in Poland.

A spokeswoman of the European Commission also said that risked putting Poland at odds with EU laws when the panel starts operating.

Yulia Seheda, a lawyer for domestic violence victims, appears in front of a local police office in Dnipro

Sappers of 128th separate territorial defence brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine take part in a training, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Donetsk region

Svitlana Sushko, 62, sobs while visiting the grave of her youngest son, a Ukrainian soldier who was killed last year in the war against Russia, in Kyiv

A child points a water pistol at a life-size statue of Russian President Vladimir Putin riding a tiny tank created by French artist James Colomina in Villa Borghese in Rome

Ukrainian grain traders union UGA has increased its 2023 combined grain and oilseed crop forecast for Ukraine by almost eight million metric tons to 76.8 million tons, the union said on Thursday.

The harvest is likely to include 26.9 million tons of corn, 20.2 million tons of wheat, 5.2 million tons of barley, 13.9 million tons of sunflower seeds, 3.9 million tons of rapeseed and 4.8 million tons of soybeans, UGA said in a statement.

“The increase in this year’s harvest forecast is due to favourable weather conditions and better-than-expected crop yields, although the area planted is 2.2 million hectares less than last year,” UGA said.

UGA said it saw exports of Ukrainian grain and oilseeds at 48 million tons in the 2023/24 July-June season compared to 58 million tons in 2022/23.

The export of wheat could total 15 million tons in 2023/24 compared with 16.8 million in 2022/23, and Ukrainian corn shipments could fall to 22 million tons from 29.5 million, it said.

“UGA emphasises that in general, exports of grains and oilseeds in the new 2023/2024 season can be expected to remain at the specified level if Ukraine is able to export through its Black Sea ports, as well as if the logistics of alternative routes, including the Danube route, are improved and cheaper,” it said.

Russia left a Black Sea exports deal on July 17 after saying its demands that sanctions be eased on its own grain and fertilizer exports had not been met. Moscow also complained that not enough grain had reached poor countries.

A worker pass by a grain silo at "COMVEX" grain terminal in Constanta harbor, Romania

Advertisements offering an immediate payment of over $5,000 for joining the Russian army have began popping up on the screens of Kazakh internet users amid the escalating Ukrainian conflict.

Kazakhstan, a former Soviet republic bordering Russia, is home to over 3 million ethnic Russians and has traditionally been one of Russia’s closest allies. The Astana government, however, has not supported what Moscow calls its “special military operation” in Ukraine, and has called for peace.

Clearly targeting Kazakhs, ads seen by Reuters feature Russian and Kazakh flags and the slogan “Shoulder to shoulder”. They promise a one-off payment of 495,000 Russian roubles ($5,300) to those who sign a contract with the Russian military, along with a monthly salary of at least 190,000 roubles ($2,000) and undisclosed extra benefits.

The ads lead to a website that offers potential recruits a chance to join the Russian army in the Sakhalin region in Russia’s Far East. The website lists its owner as the Human Capital Development Agency of the Sakhalin region, an organisation set up by the local government.

Its call centre operators said they could not comment on the ad placement, and the organisation did not reply to emailed questions. Joining military conflicts abroad for pay is illegal under Kazakh law.

Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Information and Social Development did not immediately reply to a request for comment on the ads.

Russian veterans paratroopers, one of them wearing a t-shirt with the image of Soviet leader Josef Stalin, talk to each other during celebrations on Paratroopers Day and Saint Prophet Iliya's Day on Red Square in Moscow

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