By Tara Subramaniam, Jack Guy, Laura Smith-Spark, Aditi Sangal, Mike Hayes, Maureen Chowdhury and Elise Hammond, CNN
From CNN's Svitlana Vlasova
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has acknowledged the fierce battles being fought by his armed forces against Russia, but also had some encouraging words on Monday.
"Last week was difficult on the front line. But we are making progress," he said in a statement.
"We are moving forward, step by step! I thank everyone who is defending Ukraine, everyone who is leading this war to Ukraine's victory!"
From CNN’s Anna Chernova
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu has commended the "loyalty" of the Russian Armed Forces for helping to stop an attempted rebellion by private mercenary group Wagner, as the Kremlin praised the security services for their role.
Speaking to the military on Monday, Shoigu said the rebellion was an "attempt to destabilize the situation in Russia," but that it had failed "primarily because the personnel of the Armed Forces showed loyalty to their oath and military duty.”
Russia glimpsed the threat of armed insurrection in late June, with Wagner Group mercenaries marching toward Moscow as President Vladimir Putin vowed retribution – all before a sudden deal seemed to defuse the crisis as rapidly as it had emerged.
In his first comments since the 24-hour mutiny, Shoigu added that “the provocation” had no impact on the actions of Russian troops in Ukraine, where the servicemen “courageously and selflessly continued to fulfil the tasks assigned to them.”
"I thank the (military) personnel for their dedicated service," the minister added.
The Kremlin also praised Russia's security agency for its role in putting down the attempted rebellion.
Speaking to journalists during a conference call Monday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov commended the "effective functioning of the special services and government agencies, including the Federal Security Service (FSB)."
Peskov did not comment on the questions surrounding how and why such a mutiny could take place, but emphasized the effective fulfilment of duties by all services.
“All services, ministries, departments, special services are effectively carrying out their duties,” he said.
He added that Putin had expressed gratitude for the high level of unity and consolidation among the armed forces and special services during these “challenging days.”
The immediate risk of bloodshed appears to have dissipated, but much remains uncertain; experts warn that the rare uprising is still likely to have consequences down the line.
Putin must now navigate the aftermath of the most serious challenge to his authority since he came to power over 20 years ago, which appeared to have him on the back foot for a day and half.
From CNN’s Niamh Kennedy
A pioneering investigative center launched on Monday will ensure Russia is held accountable for crimes of aggression in Ukraine, according to the European Commissioner for Justice Didier Reynders.
The International Centre for the Prosecution of the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine (ICPA) in the Hague will comprise a joint investigation team of prosecutors from Ukraine, Lithuania, Poland, Estonia, Latvia, Slovakia, and Romania that will probe Russia’s crime of aggression in Ukraine with support from EU criminal justice agency Eurojust, according to a press release.
The United States and the International Criminal Court (ICC) will also support the center, which Eurojust President Ladislav Hamran described as “a unique international cooperation platform without any precedent in legal history.”
The United Nations has defined aggression as "the use of armed force by a state against the sovereignty, territorial integrity or political independence of another state, or in any other manner inconsistent with the Charter of the United Nations.”
The center is set to “coordinate closely” with separate investigations being led by the ICC into Russian war crimes in Ukraine.
Under the Rome Statute, the treaty which established the ICC, the court is unable to investigate the crime of aggression if the act of aggression is committed by a state that is not party to the Rome Statute unless the UN Security Council refers the matter to it.
EU parliamentarians have previously warned that Russia, which has not ratified the Rome Statute, would likely exercise its veto in the Security Council if a referral was made in relation to crimes of aggression in Ukraine.
At a press conference Monday, Reynders said he hoped that in the future “it will be possible to amend the Rome Statute to give such a competence to the International Criminal Court.”
Discussions continue regarding the prospect of creating a dedicated tribunal for the crime of aggression, he added.
At the same press conference, Hamran said that “we don't want to wait until the end of the conflict."
"We decided that we will support our partners which started their own national investigations,” he added.
Ukraine’s Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin was present at the launch, and hailed it as a “truly historic moment” when the “civilized world not only voices, but also shows by concrete actions, that accountability is what matters the most.”
From CNN's Lindsay Isaac
The strategic Chonhar bridge linking Crimea to Kherson has been repaired following a Ukrainian missile strike last month, according to a Russian-backed official.
"Transport connections" have been "fully restored," said Andrey Alekseenko in a post on Telegram.
"The shortest and most convenient transport corridor, where the recently repaired section of the federal highway runs, is operating as usual," he said.
The two Chonhar bridges, which are key Russian supply routes as well as rail and road crossings, were hit by missiles on June 22.
Exclusive from CNN's Erin Burnett, Yon Pomrenze, Mick Krever and Victoria Butenko in Odesa, Ukraine
Vladimir Putin's response to the armed Wagner rebellion was "weak" and the Russian president is losing control of his own people, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told CNN in an exclusive interview Sunday.
Putin faced the greatest threat to his authority in two decades last month when the head of the Wagner paramilitary group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, launched a short-lived uprising, claiming control of military facilities in two Russian cities and marching toward Moscow before he agreed to stand down.
"We see Putin's reaction. It's weak," Zelensky told CNN's Erin Burnett in Odesa.
"Firstly, we see he doesn't control everything. Wagner's moving deep into Russia and taking certain regions shows how easy it is to do. Putin doesn't control the situation in the regions.
"All that vertical of power he used to have is just crumbling down."
Some Russians cheered on Wagner fighters as Prigozhin led the unprecedented challenge to Putin's authority. Video geolocated and verified by CNN showed crowds cheering as the Wagner boss' vehicle departed the southern city of Rostov-on-Don on June 24.
Zelensky said Ukrainian intelligence reports showed the Kremlin was measuring support for Prigozhin, and he claimed that half of Russia supported the Wagner boss and the paramilitary group's mutiny.
Exclusive from CNN's Erin Burnett, Yon Pomrenze, Mick Krever and Victoria Butenko in Odesa, Ukraine
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told CNN in an exclusive interview Sunday that his conversations with the head of the CIA should remain hidden from public view.
"My communication with the CIA chief should always be behind the scenes," he said. "We discuss important things — what Ukraine needs and how Ukraine is prepared to act."
On Saturday a US official told CNN that CIA chief Bill Burns had visited Kyiv recently and met with Zelensky and Ukrainian intelligence officials.
Zelensky said he was "surprised" to see his meeting with Burns reported in the media.
Burns, a veteran diplomat, has become a trusted interlocutor in Kyiv, and has made several trips to Ukraine during the war.
"We don't have any secrets from CIA, because we have good relations, and our intelligence services talk with each other," Zelensky said.
"The situation is pretty straightforward. We have good relations with the CIA chief and we are talking. I told him about all the important things related to the battlefield which we need."
Exclusive from CNN's Erin Burnett, Yon Pomrenze, Mick Krever and Victoria Butenko in Odesa, Ukraine
TAKE A FIRST LOOK HERE:
The war in Ukraine will not be over so long as Crimea is occupied by Russia, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Sunday.
While the thrust of Kyiv's efforts have focused on recapturing territory in the south and east of Ukraine, Zelensky told CNN's Erin Burnett that his ultimate goal was to liberate the peninsula annexed by Russia in 2014 in violation of international law.
“We cannot imagine Ukraine without Crimea. And while Crimea is under the Russian occupation, it means only one thing: the war is not over yet,” he said.
Burnett asked Zelensky whether there was any scenario under which there could be peace without Crimea.
“It will not be victory then,” he said.
From CNN's Svitlana Vlasova, Claudia Rebaza, Sahar Akbarzai and Florencia Trucco
Celebrated Ukrainian writer Victoria Amelina has died after being injured in a Russian missile strike on a restaurant in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk last Tuesday.
Amelina, 37, was known for her research into war crimes. She died Friday after succumbing to her injuries in a hospital in Dnipro, according to a statement from the worldwide writer's association PEN International.
Amelina had been dining at the restaurant with a Colombian delegation at the time of the strike. She is the 13th person to have died following that attack.
Colombian legislator Sergio Jaramillo, writer Hector Abad and journalist Catalina Gomez were injured, according to a statement by Colombia’s High Commissioner for Peace.
The three Colombians suffered minor injuries, according to a statement released by the “Aguanta Ucrania” campaign, which was founded by Jaramillo.
"We spent two magical and sad days in the Donbas, with Victoria as our guide," the group tweeted after learning of Amelina's death.
"She was only 37 years old and she was a writer with a bright future, who gave everything for her country. Rest in peace. Honor to a Ukrainian patriot."
Ukrainian film director Iryna Tsilyk also published a tribute to Amelina on Facebook.
"A good wife and mother of a wonderful boy, she always wrote about her son with such tenderness that we all came to know and love him too," she wrote.
Olesya Ostrovska, director general of the Ukrainian National Art and Museum Complex Mystetskyi Arsenal, said that Amelina's death was "an indescribable loss" in a Facebook post.
A day after the missile strike, Colombian President Gustavo Petro condemned Russia's actions.
“Russia has attacked three defenseless Colombian civilians. It has violated the protocols of war," he tweeted.
Later, Colombia’s ambassador in Russia, Héctor Arenas Neira, was invited to a meeting at the Russian Foreign Ministry to discuss the circumstances of the attack, according to a statement released by the Russian ministry.
“The legitimate target of the strike of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation was the point of temporary deployment of the commanders of the 56th motorized infantry brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. At the moment of hitting the target, Colombian civilians were in a restaurant located in the same building," said the statement, which went on to wish the Colombians "a speedy recovery."
From CNN's Clare Sebastian, Anna Chernova and Svitlana Vlasova
Russia said it has intercepted an assassination attempt by Ukraine on the Russian-backed leader of Crimea, state media outlets TASS and RIA reported, citing the FSB.
The Russian security agency said they arrested a suspect who was hired by the Ukrainian security services to kill Sergey Aksyonov, who was appointed governor of Crimea after Russia illegally annexed it from Ukraine in 2014.
In a statement, the FSB said a Russian recruited by Ukraine's security services arrived in Crimea last month to begin preparing for the attack, and was apprehended before he could plant the bomb.
Some more detail: The alleged operative was born in 1988 and underwent "training in reconnaissance and subversive activities, including mine-explosive training," according to the FSB.
The suspect has been charged with "attempted terrorism and illegal acquisition, possession, and transportation of explosives or explosive devices," and remanded in custody, the security agency said.
Aksyonov thanked the FSB for foiling the alleged attempt on his life, and said that it "is possible to completely eliminate the terrorist threat from Kyiv only by fulfilling the goals of the 'special operation,'" TASS reported. Russia continues to refer to its war in Ukraine as a "special military operation."
Ukrainian officials, including President Volodymyr Zelensky, have long stated their goal of recapturing Crimea but rarely comment directly on actions in the peninsula.
