Russia-Ukraine updates: Russian missile strikes hit multiple Ukrainian cities

Dozens of injuries were reported in Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities.

ByKevin Shalvey, Nadine El-Bawab, Ivan Pereira, Morgan Winsor, and Meredith Deliso
Last Updated: September 6, 2023, 11:47 AM EDT

Russia has continued a nearly 19-month-long invasion of neighboring Ukraine. Recently, though, the Ukrainians have gone on a counteroffensive, fighting to reclaim occupied territory.

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Latest headlines:

Here's how the news is developing. All times Eastern.
Jun 24, 2023, 3:12 AM EDT

Kremlin briefs Putin on 'attempted armed rebellion'

Russian President Vladimir Putin has been briefed by the country's security agencies about what was referred to as an "attempted armed rebellion," according to Russia's state-run media.

Russian President Vladimir Putin delivers a video address on the occasion of Youth Day in Moscow, Russia, in this picture released June 24, 2023.
Sputnik/via Reuters

The late-night statement from Putin's spokesman suggested that the Kremlin considered Wagner Group's move into Rostov-on-Don, a key Russian city close to the border with Ukraine, to be a "rebellion."

Wagner's founder Yevgeny Prigozhin in an audio message on Friday claimed his forces would now punish Russia's defense minister and chief of general staff, telling other units to stand down and not offer resistance.

"Special services, law enforcement agencies, namely the Ministry of Defense, the FSB, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Rosgvardiya, in round-the-clock mode, constantly report to the president on the measures taken in the context of the implementation of the instructions previously given to him," Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Saturday.

-ABC News' Tanya Stukalova and Patrick Reevell

Jun 24, 2023, 2:54 AM EDT

What is the Wagner Group?

The Wagner Group is a private military organization run by Yevgeny Prigozhin, a longtime ally of Russian leader Vladimir Putin, with tens of thousands of fighters, according to U.S. officials.

Fighters of Wagner private mercenary group are deployed in a street near the headquarters of the Southern Military District in the city of Rostov-on-Don, Russia, June 24, 2023.
Stringer/Reuters

Earlier this year, the U.S. labeled the group a "significant transnational criminal organization" and levied new sanctions, while human rights observers this week said they suspected Wagner fighters were linked to the mass killing of people in Mali last year.

Government reports, statements from U.S. officials and insights from experts, as well as other sources, shed light on the Wagner group's history and goals, its alleged wrongdoings and its importance to Russia -- in Ukraine and elsewhere in the world.

-ABC News’ Nathan Luna, Leah Vredenbregt and Ivan Pereira

Jun 24, 2023, 2:42 AM EDT

Wagner Group claims control over Rostov military facilities, airport

Yevgeny Prigozhin, leader of the Wagner Group, said on Saturday that the headquarters of the Southern Military District and all military facilities in Rostov-on-Don were under his control.

In this handout photo taken from video released by Prigozhin Press Service, Yevgeny Prigozhin, the owner of the Wagner Group military company, records his video addresses in Rostov-on-Don, Russia, Saturday, June 24, 2023.
AP

Prigozhin in a video demanded that Kremlin bring him Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov and Sergei Shoigu.

He also threatened in the video that he would go to Moscow.

"We will destroy anyone who stands in our way," he said in one of a series of video and audio recordings posted on social media.

He added, "We are moving forward and will go until the end."

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