UK to blacklist Russia’s Wagner Group as terrorists, says The Times

Issued on: 10/05/2023 – 11:23

11:15am: Russia to evacuate more Zaporizhzhia nuclear workers

Russian forces are planning to evacuate more than 3,000 workers from the town that serves the occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, resulting in a “catastrophic lack” of personnel, Ukraine’s state-owned Energoatom company said on Wednesday.

Last week, the head of the U.N.’s nuclear power watchdog, Rafael Grossi, said the situation around the Russian-held nuclear station had become “potentially dangerous” after Moscow-installed officials began evacuating people from nearby areas.

Russia’s TASS state news agency said on Monday the Moscow-installed governor of the Russia-controlled part of the surrounding region had suspended operations at the plant.

11:15am: Russia offers roadmap to mend Syria-Turkey ties

Russia on Wednesday proposed a roadmap to normalise ties between Syria and Turkey at the first meeting of their foreign ministers since the start of the Syrian civil war over a decade ago.

“Our task is to determine the general guidelines for further progress,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said at the meeting that also included Iran’s top diplomat.

“The best result of our discussion today would be an agreement to instruct experts to prepare a draft roadmap for Syrian-Turkish normalisation for the next ministerial meeting,” he said.

Lavrov said this proposal could then be put to the leaders of Russia, Iran, Syria and Turkey.

11:05am: Russian governor says drones tried to attack military facility

The governor of Russia’s Voronezh region said on Wednesday that two drones attempted to attack a military facility in his region, but failed.

“As a result of intervention measures, one of them veered off course and went down, while the second was destroyed by gunfire,” governor Alexander Gusev said on Telegram.

11:03am: AFP journalist Arman Soldin killed in eastern Ukraine

AFP’s Ukraine video coordinator Arman Soldin was killed on Tuesday by rocket fire near Chasiv Yar in eastern Ukraine, AFP journalists who witnessed the incident said.

The attack happened at around 4:30pm (13:30 GMT) on the outskirts of the town close to Bakhmut, the epicentre of the fighting in eastern Ukraine for several months.

The AFP team came under fire by Grad rockets while they were with a group of Ukrainian soldiers.

12:00am: Britain set to blacklist Russia’s Wagner group

Britain is set to formally proscribe Russia’s mercenary force Wagner group as a terrorist organisation to increase pressure on Russia, the Times newspaper reported on Tuesday.

Wagner mercenaries have spearheaded Russia’s months-long assault on Bakhmut in the industrial Donbas region.

After two months of building a legal case, proscription or a formal blacklisting of the group was “imminent” and likely to be enacted within weeks, the newspaper reported citing a government source.

This would make it a criminal offence to belong to Wagner, attend its meetings, encourage support for it or carry its logo in public, The Times said.

It would also impose financial sanctions on the group and there would be implications for Wagner’s ability to raise money if any funds went through British financial institutions, the newspaper added.

• Key developments from Tuesday, May 9:

A French journalist based in Ukraine for AFP was killed on Tuesday near the embattled city of Bakhmut, the news agency reported.

Earlier in the day, Russian President Vladimir Putin gave a speech at the annual May 9 Victory Day parade accusing the West of unleashing a “real war” on Russia.

Officials in Kyiv said Russian forces fired a dozen cruise missiles at the Ukrainian capital overnight

Read yesterday’s live blog to see how the day’s events unfolded

(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP and Reuters)