Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
The Independent UK
The Independent UK
National
Athena Stavrou and Matt Mathers

Ukraine-Russia war – live: Putin orders former Wagner boss to control ‘volunteer units’ and rejoin frontline

REUTERS

Zelensky says ‘Russian society has raised a second Hitler’ in attack on Putin

Nato member Romania said on Saturday morning Russia may have breached its airspace during attacks on southern Ukraine.

The Kremlin has stepped up its attacks in Ukraine’s southern Odsea and Mykolaiv regions - near the border with Romanian - in recent days after exiting a deal allowing the safe passage of grain shipments via the Black Sea.

“Following the detection of groups of drones heading towards Ukrainian territory near the Romanian border, residents in the Tulcea and Galati municipalities were alerted,” Romania’s defence ministry said in a statement.

“The radar surveillance system ... indicated possible unauthorised entry into national airspace, with a signal detected on a route towards the municipality of Galati.”

Earlier, Russian president Vladimir Putin ordered a former Wagner boss to take control of “volunteer units” and rejoin the frontline in Ukraine.

Signalling the Kremlin’s intention to continue using the mercenaries following the death of Yevgeny Prigozhin, Putin told Andrei Troshev in a meeting late on Thursday that his task is to “deal with forming volunteer units that could perform various combat tasks, primarily in the zone of the special military operation.”

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.