The invasion of Ukraine has had a “corrosive” effect on President Vladimir Putin’s regime and Russian society, William Burns, director of the US Central Intelligence Agency, said on Saturday. “Disaffection with the war will continue to gnaw away at the Russian leadership,” the top US spy said in a lecture at Britain’s Ditchley Foundation, adding that it creates “a once-in-a-generation opportunity” for US intelligence. The Wall Street Journal reported Saturday that Burns called his Russian counterpart after the failed Wagner mutiny. Burns also made an unannounced visit to Kyiv in June.
All eyes are on Belarus, where fighters from the Wagner mercenary group may be regrouping en masse. Ukrainian commanders met to hear a report on the operational situation on the Belarusian border, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Saturday. Satellite images show hundreds of large tents set up over the past week at a previously abandoned base in Asipovichy, about 150 miles north of the Ukrainian border. Zelenskiy on Saturday also repeated a warning that Russia plans what he called a “terrorist act” at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant.
Ukrainian air defense said it downed eight Shahed drones and three Kalibr missiles launched by Russia overnight. Vasyl Myroshnychenko, Ukraine’s ambassador to Canberra, chided Australia for indirectly benefiting from the war through high commodity prices while offering little help as Kyiv looks to build up weaponry for its counteroffensive.
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