Biden says US not involved in Russia’s Wagner mutiny | First Thing

Ukraine's western allies make pointed effort of being seen to stay out of the short-lived rebellion. Plus, why one country is considering digitally cloning itself

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Good morning.

Joe Biden has described the Wagner mercenary group's brief mutiny against the Russian government as part of an internal power struggle, in which he said the US had played no role.

What's going to happen now? It is still unclear what the larger ramifications of Prigozhin's short-lived rebellion will be, experts say, both on Russia's domestic politics and its military invasion of Ukraine. US officials, policy analysts and researchers are closely watching whether this marks a wider shift in power dynamics and what this means for Putin's control over Russia.

What is happening in Ukraine? The president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has praised Ukrainian troops for advancing in all sectors" in his nightly address, after visiting frontline soldiers in the east and south of the country amid the turmoil in Russia.

What did Trump say? These are the papers," Trump says in the audio recording, while he's discussing the Pentagon attack plans, a quote that was not included in the indictment. This was done by the military and given to me," he continues, before noting that the document remained classified. See, as president I could have declassified it," he says. Now I can't, you know, but this is still a secret."