A Ukrainian army chief has mentioned Russia has "given up hope" on its allies in Belarus.The head of the Main Directorate of Intelligence (GUR) of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine, Kirill Budanov, mentioned Russia had exhausted its offensive potential and by now had constructed a layered defence.

In a video interview, he admitted that the Wagner PMC is far more efficient than the items of the Russian Defence Ministry, including that about 80 p.c of what the top of the mercenaries Yevgeny Prigozhin says concerning the state of affairs on the entrance and within the Russian military is “pure truth".

He also claimed that Vladimir Putin has already "given up hope" of dragging Belarus into a war against Ukraine.

It comes as the wellbeing - or otherwise - of close Vladimir Putin ally and Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko has been the subject of intense speculation in recent days, and was on Monday trundled out for an uncomfortable photocall, after which Belerusian authorities posted pictures and video footage on the Telegram messaging app.

The claims also come as Wagner Group chief Yevgeny Prigozhin publicly criticised Vladimir Putin's military over the past few months.

On Sunday, he said that four Russian military aircraft that reportedly crashed in a region that borders Ukraine may have been shot down by Russia's own forces.

Russian officials have not commented on reports in Russian conventional and social media that two fighter planes — an Su-34 and an Su-35 — and two military Mi-8 helicopters crashed in the Bryansk region on Saturday.

State news agency Tass cited unspecified emergency services sources as saying the Su-34 and one helicopter crashed. Other sources, including Vladimir Rogov, the head of a Russian collaborationist organisation in Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia province, claimed four aircraft went down.

All of them reportedly belonged to the same military air group.

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On Tuesday, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said he spoke with Putin and Zelensky by phone over the weekend and they each agreed to host "an African leaders peace mission" in Moscow and Kyiv, respectively.

Ramaphosa said: “Principal to our discussions are efforts to find a peaceful resolution to the devastating conflict in the Ukraine."

The leaders of Zambia, Senegal, Republic of Congo, Uganda and Egypt would make up the delegation along with Ramaphosa, he said in a statement. Putin and Zelenskyy gave him the go-ahead to “commence the preparations,” the South African chief mentioned.

Four of these six African nations — South Africa, Republic of Congo, Senegal and Uganda — abstained from a UN vote final yr on condemning Russia’s invasion.

Zambia and Egypt voted in favour of the movement.

Ramaphosa didn't give a timeframe or define any parameters for the attainable peace talks. Zelenskyy has mentioned he wouldn't contemplate a peace deal to finish the 15-month struggle till Russian forces withdraw fully from Ukrainian territory.