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Kremlin: Putin Won’t Attend Prigozhin’s Funeral 

Russian President Vladimir Putin listens to Omsk Region Acting Governor Vitaly Khotsenko during a meeting at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, Monday, Aug. 28, 2023. (Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
Russian President Vladimir Putin listens to Omsk Region Acting Governor Vitaly Khotsenko during a meeting at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, Monday, Aug. 28, 2023. (Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
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Kremlin: Putin Won’t Attend Prigozhin’s Funeral 

Russian President Vladimir Putin listens to Omsk Region Acting Governor Vitaly Khotsenko during a meeting at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, Monday, Aug. 28, 2023. (Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
Russian President Vladimir Putin listens to Omsk Region Acting Governor Vitaly Khotsenko during a meeting at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, Monday, Aug. 28, 2023. (Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

Russian President Vladimir Putin has no plans to attend the funeral of Wagner mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin, who was killed when his plane crashed last week, the Kremlin said on Tuesday.

The crash came two months to the day after Prigozhin and his mercenaries staged a mutiny against Putin's top military commanders in which they took control of the southern city of Rostov and advanced towards Moscow before turning back 200 km (125 miles) from the capital.

"The presence of the president is not envisaged," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters when asked if Putin would attend.

Peskov said the Kremlin did not have any specific information about the funeral, and the arrangements were up to the family.

Investigators said on Sunday that genetic tests had confirmed that Prigozhin was among the 10 people killed in the crash.

The Kremlin has rejected as an "absolute lie" the suggestion by some Western politicians and commentators that Putin ordered Prigozhin to be killed in revenge.

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Russia Seizes Almost 200 km2 of Ukraine in July

In this handout photo taken from video and released by Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Friday, Feb. 17, 2023, the Russian army's 120 mm mortars fire at Ukrainian troops at an undisclosed location. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)
In this handout photo taken from video and released by Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Friday, Feb. 17, 2023, the Russian army's 120 mm mortars fire at Ukrainian troops at an undisclosed location. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)
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Russia Seizes Almost 200 km2 of Ukraine in July

In this handout photo taken from video and released by Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Friday, Feb. 17, 2023, the Russian army's 120 mm mortars fire at Ukrainian troops at an undisclosed location. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)
In this handout photo taken from video and released by Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Friday, Feb. 17, 2023, the Russian army's 120 mm mortars fire at Ukrainian troops at an undisclosed location. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)

Russia consolidated its territory gains in eastern Ukraine in July, taking control of almost 200 square kilometers (77 square miles), according to an AFP analysis on Wednesday.

The analysis, based on data from the US-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW), shows an increase over the previous month but a big slowdown compared to May, when Russian forces launched a ground offensive in the border region of Kharkiv, which has since been stopped.

In that month, Russian forces seized 449 square kilometers, an average of 14.5 square kilometers per day, their biggest monthly gains since March 2022, just after President Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine.

Since the beginning of 2024, Russia has conquered 1,246 square kilometers of Ukrainian territory, well above the 584 square kilometers seized over the whole of 2023.

But that represents just 0.2 percent of Ukraine’s territory in 2014, when Ukraine descended into war as pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine began to fight for independence. And it has not resulted in a decisive breakthrough for Moscow’s forces.

From July 1 to July 30, Russian forces conquered 198 square kilometers or an average of 6.6 square kilometers per day.

More than three-quarters, or 155 square kilometers, are in the eastern region of Donetsk, parts of which have been controlled by Kremlin-backed separatists since 2014.

The region is a springboard for Russia as it seeks to seize Pokrovsk, Toretsk and Chasiv Yar, as they prepare attacks on Kramatorsk and Sloviansk.

In June, Russia had seized 129 square kilometers or 4.3 square kilometers per day.

Since the Russian invasion on Feb. 24, 2022, Russia has taken 65,776 square kilometers of Ukrainian territory.

If territory already annexed by Russia such as the Crimean peninsula and eastern zones already under Russian control before the invasion are included, Russian now occupies 107,956 square kilometers or 18 percent of Ukraine according to its internationally recognized borders.