Wagner Group financier challenges Putin's authority while Ukrainian soldiers find Russian troops inexperienced.

Yevgeny Prigozhin, the founder of the Wagner group, has indirectly undermined Russian President Vladimir Putin's authority by announcing that Russian state-owned media outlets have banned any discussion of the Wagner force. Experts suggest that Prigozhin may be attacking Putin for failing to give him a promised reward for seizing Bakhmut. Russian forces conducted the largest Shahed drone strike against Ukraine since the start of the full-scale war overnight on 27-28 May. The tempo of Russian operations around Bakhmut remains notably low, and the slowdown in Russian offensive operations in the Bakhmut area likely gives Ukrainian forces in the area the initiative to launch a new round of operations around the city if they choose to do so.