A summary of today’s developments
President Putin last night ordered Wagner fighters to sign an oath of allegiance to the Russian state after a deadly plane crash killed Yevgeny Prigozhin, the volatile chief of the mercenary group.
President Biden said US officials are trying to determine precisely how Prigozhin’s plane was brought down, leaving no survivors. Russia criticised Biden for expressing his lack of surprise that Prigozhin had been killed and cautioned that it was not appropriate for Washington to make such remarks.
Russia reported a new drone attack on Moscow in the early hours today which again forced authorities to temporarily shut down all three major airports serving the capital. Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin said the drone was brought down by air defence systems.
Pope Francis urged young Russians to be “sowers of seeds of reconciliation” in a virtual address to a congregation of 400 in St Petersburg that gathered for the annual Catholic youth day.
Russian forces struck a cafe in a key frontline area in northeastern Ukraine today, killing two civilians and wounding a third, regional officials said. The shelling near the city of Kupiansk took place amid warnings from UK officials that Russia may try to retake the area.
US reporter Evan Gershkovich appealed against a Russian court’s decision to extend his pre-trial detention by three months after his detention under spying charges which he denies, according to documents published by a Moscow court. Unlike many western reporters, he had continued to report from Russia during Moscow’s offensive in Ukraine.
German magazine Der Spiegel published a lengthy and detailed investigation into the attack on the Nord Stream pipeline. It cites German investigators – who are undertaking “the most important investigation of Germany’s postwar history because of its potential political implications” – and reported that “a striking number of clues point to Ukraine”.
Academic Samuel Ramani has tweeted about a new memorial in honour of Wagner Group boss Yevgeny Prigozhin, after it was reported that he had been killed in a plane crash on Wednesday.
A new Wagner memorial in Irkutsk pic.twitter.com/2ja6oV7FkO
— Samuel Ramani (@SamRamani2) August 26, 2023
Ukraine’s ministry of defence has tweeted some more details about the death of the three air force pilots.
A tragic loss. On August 25th, two L-39 military jets collided in the sky over the Zhytomyr region. Three pilots of the Ukrainian Air Force lost their lives. One of them was Captain Andrii Pilshchykov, a recipient of the Order of Courage, 3rd Class, known by the callsign 'JUICE'.… pic.twitter.com/Pg95JcfRBc
— Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) August 26, 2023
Updated
Three Ukraine pilots die after training aircraft collide
Three Ukrainian pilots have died after two training aircraft collided over the Zhytomyr region.
The deaths occurred yesterday during a mission.
“During a combat mission, the crews of two L-39 combat training aircraft collided in the sky,” an air force statement read on Telegram.
“All three pilots, unfortunately, died.”
The air force added a well-known pilot, nicknamed “Juice”, was among the dead.
Updated
Updated
Summary
President Putin last night ordered Wagner fighters to sign an oath of allegiance to the Russian state after a deadly plane crash killed Yevgeny Prigozhin, the volatile chief of the mercenary group.
President Biden said US officials are trying to determine precisely how Prigozhin’s plane was brought down, leaving no survivors. Russia criticised Biden for expressing his lack of surprise that Prigozhin had been killed and cautioned that it was not appropriate for Washington to make such remarks.
Russia reported a new drone attack on Moscow in the early hours today which again forced authorities to temporarily shut down all three major airports serving the capital. Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin said the drone was brought down by air defence systems.
Pope Francis urged young Russians to be “sowers of seeds of reconciliation” in a virtual address to a congregation of 400 in St Petersburg that gathered for the annual Catholic youth day.
Russian forces struck a cafe in a key frontline area in northeastern Ukraine today, killing two civilians and wounding a third, regional officials said. The shelling near the city of Kupiansk took place amid warnings from UK officials that Russia may try to retake the area.
US reporter Evan Gershkovich appealed against a Russian court’s decision to extend his pre-trial detention by three months after his detention under spying charges which he denies, according to documents published by a Moscow court. Unlike many western reporters, he had continued to report from Russia during Moscow’s offensive in Ukraine.
German magazine Der Spiegel published a lengthy and detailed investigation into the attack on the Nord Stream pipeline. It cites German investigators – who are undertaking “the most important investigation of Germany’s postwar history because of its potential political implications” – and reported that “a striking number of clues point to Ukraine”.
Updated
Russian forces have struck a cafe in a key frontline area in northeastern Ukraine today, killing two civilians and wounding a third, regional officials said.
The shelling near the city of Kupiansk took place as AP reports that UK officials said that Russia may try to retake the area, which was captured by Kyiv in a lightning counteroffensive last September after more than six months of Russian occupation. Fierce fighting there earlier this month prompted mandatory evacuations and fears of a second Russian takeover.
Russian shells this morning struck the cafe in Podoly, an eastern suburb of Kupiansk, regional governor Oleh Syniehubov said in a Telegram post. He added that rescue teams were working at the site.
UK military intelligence today assessed that Russia may “increase the intensity of its offensive efforts” around Kupiansk and nearby Lyman in an attempt to take pressure off its forces near Bakhmut and in the Zaporizhzhia region, where a Ukrainian counteroffensive has reportedly made gradual gains.
Earlier this month, Ukrainian authorities ordered a mandatory evacuation of nearly 12,000 civilians from 37 towns and villages around Kupiansk, citing a concerted effort by Russian troops to punch through the front line.
Updated
Ukraine’s foreign ministry has condemned as “unacceptable” any continuation of EU import restrictions for its grain after a number of member states signalled they supported an extension.
The ministry said in a statement:
We consider it categorically unacceptable to continue trade restrictions on the import of agricultural products of Ukraine after the ban of the European Commission expires on September 15. They cause complete misunderstanding and intentions to add other categories of Ukrainian products to the list of goods prohibited for import.
Such unilateral restrictions do not correspond to the spirit and letter of the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the EU and the principles and norms of the EU single market … Only in the spirit of solidarity can we counter the challenges caused by Russian aggression against Ukraine and strengthen the EU Single Market.
There is particular opposition in Poland, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary towards Ukrainian grain imports due to fears they could undercut local farmers.
Increasing amounts of cheap Ukrainian grain has been entering the EU since Russian invasion, but the aforementioned countries have since the May ban was imposed been closed to such imports.
Updated
Russia’s military cooperation with Iran will not succumb to geopolitical pressure, Russian deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov has said, following a report that Washington has asked Teheran to stop selling drones to Moscow.
“There are no changes, and cooperation with Iran will continue,” Ryabkov said, according to a report from Russian state news agency RIA. “We are independent states and do not succumb to the dictates of the United States and its satellites.”
The US is pressing Iran to stop selling the armed drones, which Russia is using in the war in Ukraine, the Financial Times reported this month, citing an Iranian official and another person familiar with the talks.
Iran has acknowledged sending drones to Russia but said in the past they were sent before Russia‘s February 2022 invasion in Ukraine. Moscow has denied its forces used Iranian drones in Ukraine, reports Reuters.
Meanwhile, Iranian defence ministry spokesperson Reza Talaei-Nik said: “None of the transactions [regarding drones] that we have had ... with other countries, such as Russia, have been cancelled,” Iranian state media reported today.
Russia began using the Iranian-made Shahed drones to attack deep inside Ukraine last year. The so-called kamikaze unmanned drones do not need a runway to launch and explode on impact. A White House official said in June that Iran had transferred several hundred drones to Russia since August 2022.
Updated
Two civilian vessels have now sailed through the temporary Black Sea corridor from Odesa after the Primus, which had been docked since before the Russian invasion, left port left this morning.
The Kyiv Independent cited MarineTraffic data and Andrii Klymenko, a project lead at the Institute of the Black Sea Strategic Studies, a thinktank. The interim corridor was opened up on 10 August primarily to evacuate vessels long docked in Ukrainian ports.
The voyage of the Primus, which has Liberian flags, comes after a Hong Kong-registered container ship Joseph Schulte, left the port last week.
The last merchant ship left Odesa last month just before Russia ended the Black Sea Grain Initiative. The Ukrainian navy continues to warn of the threat of Russian forces against merchant ships.
Updated
US reporter Evan Gershkovich has appealed against a Russian court’s decision to extend his pre-trial detention by three months, according to documents published by a Moscow court.
Gershkovich was detained in March during a reporting trip to the Urals and accused of spying – charges that he, the US government and his employer the Wall Street Journal vehemently deny. Gershkovich, unlike many Western reporters, had continued to report from Russia during Moscow’s offensive in Ukraine.
His pre-trial custody was due to expire on 30 August, but a judge ruled on Thursday it would be extended till 30 November, a decision criticised by the WSJ and US State Department.
The Moscow city court website showed this additional three-month extension had been “appealed” by his defence. His case marks the first time a western journalist has been arrested on espionage charges in Russia since the Soviet era.
Since launching full-scale hostilities against Ukraine last year, Russia has made it more difficult for journalists from the west to obtain accreditation and work in the country.
🧵 On March 29, Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich was detained in Russia during a reporting trip.
— The Wall Street Journal (@WSJ) August 23, 2023
He remains in a Moscow prison.
We’re offering resources for those who want to show their support for him. #IStandWithEvan https://t.co/ll83UMXlp5 pic.twitter.com/wYx5Ck23wx
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Young Russians can 'sow seeds of reconciliation', says Pope
Pope Francis has urged young Russians to be “sowers of seeds of reconciliation” in a virtual address to a congregation of 400 in St Petersburg that gathered for the annual Catholic youth day.
He said yesterday in comments reported by Vatican News:
I wish you, young Russians, the vocation to be artisans of peace amid so many conflicts and amid so many polarisations that come from all sides and plague our world. I invite you to be sowers of seeds of reconciliation, small seeds that in this winter of war will not sprout in the frozen ground for the time being, but will blossom in a future spring.
Have the courage to replace fears with dreams … Do not be stewards of fears, but entrepreneurs of dreams! Allow yourselves the luxury of dreaming big!
The pope, who has been criticised previously for not condemning Russia following its invasion of its neighbour, despite expressing solidarity with the Ukraine people, underlined the role of the church as “a mother with an open heart who knows how to welcome and receive, especially those who need more care.” He added: “God’s love is for all and the church belongs to all”.
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Two people were killed and one wounded after Russian forces shelled a village near the town of Kupiansk in Ukraine’s north-eastern Kharkiv region, hitting a cafe, officials said.
AFP reports that officials in Kupiansk, four miles from the frontline, had called on residents to evacuate the town earlier this month as Russia intensified attacks.
“According to the preliminary information of the medical staff, two people died in Podoly village as a result of the shelling, another one was wounded,” Kharkiv governor Oleg Synegubov said on social media.
“The enemy hit a civilian target – a cafe, where local residents were spending the day.
Updated
The number of casualties in Urazovo, Belgorod, about 10 kilometres from the Ukrainian border, has risen to six people, according to the regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov.
He accused Ukraine of firing “cluster munitions” in the attack, and said residential buildings had been damaged.
“As a result of the cluster munition strike, six civilians sustained shrapnel wounds,” he said in a social media update, after initially reporting four had been injured. “One victim is in extremely serious condition,” he wrote on Telegram.
Updated
Boris Johnson has claimed that President Putin is “being transformed before our eyes into an Asiatic despot”.
In a column for the Daily Mail, the former UK prime minister said Putin’s “mask is now fully off” following the death of Russian mercenary boss Yevgeny Prigozhin in an attack he described as “violent liquidation”.
“I cannot think of another example of such ostentatious and uninhibited savagery by a world leader – not in our lifetimes,” he wrote.
The whole world knows full well – and is intended to know – that the man behind the killing of Prigozhin and the Wagner group leadership, not the mention the deaths of the crew, is the very same man who authorised, for instance, the poisonings in the UK of Alexander Litvinenko and Sergei Skripal.
Prigozhin thought he had guarantees … Prigozhin thought he had sorted it out. Look at that deal now. Look what happened to him. There is only one way forward – defeat for Putin, and victory for Ukraine, as fast as possible.
Updated
German magazine Der Spiegel has published a lengthy and detailed investigation into the attack on the Nord Stream pipeline.
It cites German investigators – who are undertaking what one senior security official described as “the most important investigation of Germany’s postwar history because of its potential political implications” – and reported that “a striking number of clues point to Ukraine”.
The pipelines were built to carry Russian natural gas to Germany and Der Spiegel reported that the operation intended to inflict “lasting damage to the functionality of the state and its facilities. In this sense, this is an attack on the internal security of the state.”
A member of parliament from a party that is a member of the German government coalition told the magazine: “Everyone is shying away from the question of consequences.”
Nancy Faeser, Germany’s interior minister, said: “I hope that the [German] federal prosecutor will find enough clues to indict the perpetrators.”
Der Spiegel said that while Germany “couldn’t simply brush off such a serious crime … suspending support for Ukraine in its war against Russia also wouldn’t be an option.” If the US provided assistance to the attack, that would add further complexity to the issue facing German policymakers, it added.
According to Der Spiegel’s sources, investigators are certain that the saboteurs were in Ukraine before and after the attack. Indeed, the overall picture formed by the puzzles pieces of technical information has grown quite clear.
And the possible motives also seem clear to international security circles: The aim, they says, was to deprive Moscow of an important source of revenue for financing the war against Ukraine. And at the same time to deprive Putin once and for all of his most important instrument of blackmail against the German government.
Updated
Alexei Ratmansky, the most significant classical choreographer of the current era, has told of finding himself at the centre of this moment in history – his identity closely entwined between Ukraine and Russia.
He was born in St Petersburg, grew up in Kyiv, trained in Moscow, started his professional career in Ukraine, and later became the artistic director of Russia’s Bolshoi ballet. He now lives in New York.
The choreographer is spending a lot of time researching Ukrainian ballet, often little known or hard to find, sharing clips of archive performances to celebrate Ukraine’s own cultural identity and style, as distinct from Russia’s.
There are still professional ballet companies working in Kyiv and Odesa, Lviv and Dnipro. “They’re still performing, and they stop when there is an air-raid siren, they go to the shelter, and then they continue when it ends,” says Ratmansky. “I think it’s important for them to continue – for the dancers, for the audience, for the whole world. It says something about the spirit of the Ukrainians: it’s unbreakable.”
His parents and in-laws are still in Ukraine. “The horror continues,” he says. “We stay up half the night checking the news, and in the morning we start with the news. And the news is bad,” he says. “It’s not safe, but they can’t leave. They won’t leave.”
Amid waves of support, a few angry voices have criticised Ratmansky for not speaking out against Putin’s regime earlier, when Russia annexed Crimea in 2014, and for continuing to work at the Bolshoi and Mariinsky in that period. Does he regret not speaking publicly sooner?
“Yes, I do, I do,” he says firmly. “I also regret – and it’s something I’m going to have to live with – that I went back and worked there. I was thinking art is outside of politics, or could be. But the invasion opened my eyes. And I have to admit that this guilt of not speaking out is very strong.
Ratmansky’s embrace of his own Ukrainian identity is echoed across his country. “The whole nation is so united now,” he says. “The more Putin wants to destroy it, the more it comes together.”
The governor of Russia‘s Belgorod region said Kyiv has shelled the town of Urazovo, about 10 kilometres from the Ukrainian border, injuring four people.
Russian regions bordering Ukraine have regularly reported indiscriminate shelling by Kyiv’s armed forces and occasional cross-border incursions.
“The Ukrainian armed forces shelled the town of Urazovo in Valuysky municipal district with Grad shells,” governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said on social media. He said Ukraine used “cluster munitions” in the attack, and that residential homes and an agricultural shop were hit, AFP reports.
“According to preliminary data, there are four victims - three men and one woman. All of them have shrapnel wounds,” he added.
Updated
The crash that killed militia leader Yevgeny Prigozhin has raised serious questions about the future of the mercenary Wagner Group of which he was the leader, especially following Putin’s demand for fighters to sign an oath of allegiance.
In African countries where Wagner provided security against groups like al-Qaida and the Islamic State, officials and commentators predict Russia will likely maintain its presence, placing the forces under new leadership. Others, however, say Prigozhin built deep, personal connections that Moscow could find challenging to replace quickly.
This summer, Wagner helped secure a national referendum in Central African Republic that cemented presidential power, it is a key partner for Mali’s army in battling armed rebels and it contacted the military junta in Niger that wants its services following a coup.
But some in Central African Republic denounce the mercenaries, and the UN peacekeeping mission there criticised them in 2021 for human rights abuses.
Yesterday, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov refused to comment on Wagner’s future. However, according to the Moscow Times, he said that “legally the Wagner private military group does not exist”.
Updated
Putin orders Wagner fighters to sign oath of allegiance to Russian state
President Putin last night ordered Wagner fighters to sign an oath of allegiance to the Russian state after a deadly plane crash killed Yevgeny Prigozhin, the volatile chief of the mercenary group.
Putin signed the decree bringing in the change with immediate effect yesterday after the Kremlin said that western suggestions that Prigozhin had been killed on its orders were an “absolute lie”. The Kremlin declined to definitively confirm his death, citing the need to wait for test results.
Putin’s introduction of a mandatory oath for employees of Wagner and other private military contractors was a clear move to bring such groups under tighter state control, reports Reuters.
The decree, published on the Kremlin website, obliges anyone carrying out work on behalf of the military or supporting what Moscow calls its “special military operation” in Ukraine to swear a formal oath of allegiance to Russia.
Fighters must pledge “their loyalty to the Russian Federation... strictly follow their commanders and superiors’ orders, and conscientiously fulfill their obligations,” it reads, according to the Moscow Times.
Described in the decree as a step to forge the spiritual and moral foundations of the defence of Russia, the wording of the oath includes a line in which those who take it promise to strictly follow the orders of commanders and senior leaders.
Updated
Russian authorities have said that air defences had destroyed one drone as it approached Moscow and another close to the border with Ukraine.
“Tonight, air defence forces destroyed a drone on approach to Moscow in the Istrinskii district,” the capital’s mayor Sergei Sobyanin wrote on Telegram. “Preliminarily, there were no casualties or damage. Emergency services are working on the site.”
Moscow was rarely attacked during the early stages of the conflict but the city and other Russian regions have been targeted by a barrage of Ukrainian drone attacks in recent days, with Kyiv vowing to “return” the conflict to Russia, AFP reports.
The defence ministry said a second Ukrainian drone had been destroyed early Saturday in the Shebekino district, part of the Belgorod region close to the border. “An attempt by the Kyiv regime to carry out a terrorist attack with a drone against sites on Russian territory has been prevented,” the ministry posted on Telegram.
The New York Times reports that Ukraine has increased the frequency of its drone attacks “to demonstrate to the Ukrainian public that Kyiv can still strike back, especially as the counteroffensive against entrenched Russian troops moves slowly.”
Ukrainian forces believe they have broken through a difficult line of Russian defences in the south and will now be able to advance more quickly, a commander fighting in the south has told Reuters.
On Wednesday, Ukrainian troops raised the national flag in the wartorn settlement of Robotyne in the southern Zaporizhzhia region, about 10 km south of the frontline town of Orikhiv, despite at least two houses remaining under Russian control.
A commander who led some of the troops into Robotyne said:
We don’t stop here … Next we have [the town of] Berdiansk, and then more. I made it clear to my fighters at once: our goal is not Robotyne, our goal is (the Sea of) Azov. We have passed the main roads that were mined. We are coming to those lines where we can go (forward). I’m sure we’ll go faster from here.
He added of the houses still under Russian control in Robotyne: “We’re fighting for them, and then we’ll have full control”.
Eleven days ago, some of the most senior soldiers in the Nato alliance travelled to a secret location on the Polish-Ukrainian border to meet Ukraine’s chief military commander, Gen Valerii Zaluzhnyi, for what was privately billed as “a council of war”.
It was no ordinary discussion: Zaluzhnyi brought his entire command team with him on the roughly 300-mile journey from Kyiv. The aim of the five-hour meeting was to help reset Ukraine’s military strategy – top of the agenda was what to do about the halting progress of Ukraine’s counteroffensive, along with battle plans for the gruelling winter ahead plus longer-term strategy as the war inevitably grinds into 2024.
Particularly notable was the presence not just of Nato’s military chief, the American Gen Christopher Cavoli, but also Adm Sir Tony Radakin, Britain’s most senior military officer, who is now acknowledged in Washington and Kyiv as an increasingly important actor in helping Ukraine overcome the Russian invaders.
2/2. Russia underestimates Ukraine’s resilience and resolve, continued military strength and expertise, and the solidarity of its allies. pic.twitter.com/ddHIyaLxOw
— Chief of the Defence Staff 🇬🇧 (@AdmTonyRadakin_) August 18, 2023
Ukraine’s GUR military intelligence agency has said a Ukrainian drone attack hit a Russian military base deep inside annexed Crimea, while residents reported casualties, explosions and a road closure.
Early on Friday, Russia reported one of the biggest coordinated Ukrainian air raids yet over Russian-controlled territory but said air defence systems had downed all 42 drones attacking Crimea before they could hit their targets.
However, Ukrainian intelligence officials said the attack struck a Russian brigade based in Perevalnoye, a town more than 200km (120 miles) from Ukraine-controlled territory, Reuters reports.
“We confirm that there was a hit,” said GUR spokesman Andriy Yusov, according to Ukrainian media outlet Liga.Net.
Perevalnoye residents posting on Telegram reported hearing blasts from the military base and cited casualties.
Reuters could not independently verify the reports.
“Two people died on a firing range, one was taken to a hospital in a severe condition. This is information from above, from the firing range,” said a user nicknamed Abdul Has, whose profile picture shows a man in camouflaged uniform.
Another user, Vlad the Local, said roughly one person was dead.
Ukraine’s counteroffensive has put Russian forces under pressure in Bakhmut and southern Ukraine but Russia has made limited advances in the country’s north-east and is likely to intensify its attacks there in the next two months, according to the UK Ministry of Defence.
It said in its latest intelligence update that Russia’s western group of forces had made their advances around the towns of Kupiansk and Lyman through “continued small-scale attacks”.
As Ukraine continued to gradually gain ground in the south, “Russia’s doctrine suggests that it will attempt to regain the initiative by pivoting back to an operational level offensive”. That might include in the Kupiansk-Lyman sector, the ministry said in its update, posted on former Twitter platform X.
The ministry said:
There is a realistic possibility Russia will increase the intensity of its offensive efforts on the Kupiansk-Lyman axis in the next two months, probably with the objective of advancing west to the Oskil River and creating a buffer zone around Luhansk oblast.
Latest Defence Intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine – 26 August 2023
— Ministry of Defence 🇬🇧 (@DefenceHQ) August 26, 2023
Find out more about Defence Intelligence's use of language: https://t.co/S2gIiCffTK
🇺🇦 #StandWithUkraine 🇺🇦 pic.twitter.com/Z3JuKMXE3U
Updated
Russia blocks fresh drone attack on Moscow, says mayor
Russia reported a new drone attack on Moscow in the early hours of Saturday which again forced authorities to temporarily shut down all three major airports serving the capital.
Reuters reports that Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin said the drone was brought down by air defence systems over the Moscow region’s Istra district, about 50km (31 miles) west of the Kremlin.
Three major Moscow airports – Sheremetyevo, Domodedovo and Vnukovo – suspended flights for a couple of hours on Friday, the state news agency Tass reported.
Aerial attacks on Moscow and other Russian-held territory have intensified in recent weeks, including 42 drones intercepted over the Russia-held Crimean Peninsula on Friday – one of the biggest reported air assaults since the war began.
The attacks have not caused extensive damage but their intensity has forced Russian authorities to temporarily shut down airports serving the capital several times this week.
Russia blamed Ukraine for Friday’s attack and all the previous assaults, which intensified after two drones were destroyed over the Kremlin in early May.
Ukraine did not immediately comment and almost never publicly claims responsibility for attacks inside Russia or on Russian-controlled territory in Ukraine. The Ukrainian military has said previously, however, that destroying Russia’s military infrastructure helps a counteroffensive that Ukraine began in June.
Updated
US trying to determine what downed Prigozhin plane, says Biden
President Biden has said US officials are trying to determine precisely how Wagner mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin’s plane was brought down, leaving no survivors.
Russia earlier on Friday criticised Biden for expressing his lack of surprise that Prigozhin had been killed in a plane crash and cautioned that it was not appropriate for Washington to make such remarks, Reuters reports.
Asked by reporters what brought down the Wagner leader’s jet in Russia, Biden said on Friday:
I’m not at liberty to speak to that precisely ... We’re trying to nail down precisely, but I don’t have anything to say.
President Putin sent his condolences to Prigozhin’s family on Thursday, breaking his silence after the mercenary leader’s plane crashed two months after he led a mutiny against Russia’s military chiefs.
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Opening summary
Welcome back to our live coverage of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. I’m Adam Fulton and here’s a look at the latest key developments.
President Biden has said US officials are still trying to determine how Wagner mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin’s plane was brought down in Russia, killing all 10 people aboard.
Biden said on Friday the US was “trying to nail down precisely” the cause of Wednesday’s jet crash in the Tver region north-west of Moscow.
Western intelligence officials have said Prigozhin was most likely to have been killed by an onboard explosion on the orders of President Putin. The Kremlin said on Friday that claims of Putin’s involvement were “an absolute lie”.
Meanwhile, Russian air defences destroyed a drone as it approached Moscow, the city’s mayor said early on Saturday.
Sergei Sobyanin said there were no casualties or damage on initial information.
The launch is the latest in a string of drone attacks on the capital region.
More on both those stories shortly. In other news:
A second plane linked to Prigozhin by some Russian media has no connection to Wagner group and never did, the CEO of the aircraft operator company said. Russian media, mainly associated with a Wagner Telegram channel, had linked a second business jet with the mercenary group and reported it was also in the air at the time of the crash.
Russian investigators said they had recovered flight recorders and 10 bodies from the crash scene. “Molecular genetic analyses are being carried out to establish their identities,” Russia’s Investigative Committee said on social media on Friday.
Russia’s paramilitary group Wagner is a spent force, Ukraine’s defence minister has said after Prigozhin’s presumed death. “There is actually no longer a Wagner group left as they were a year ago, as a serious fighting force,” Oleksii Reznikov told German newspaper Welt am Sonntag on Friday. “They are broken.”
The US will begin flight training for Ukrainian pilots on F-16 fighter jets in October, the Pentagon has announced. The training would begin after the pilots received English-language training next month, a spokesperson said on Thursday. Several pilots and dozens of aircraft maintenance crew would take the training at an airbase in Arizona, he added.
Turkey sees “no alternative” to the original grain export agreement Ukraine struck with Russia, Ankara has said, dismissing an alternate route reportedly being considered by the US. Russia last month pulled out of the deal that enabled Ukraine to export grain from three Black Sea ports but Ukraine this month sent a cargo vessel to Istanbul to test the alternate route. However, Turkey’s foreign minister, Hakan Fidan, who met Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Kyiv on Friday, said Ankara was focused on reviving the original deal.
Heineken has completed its lengthy exit from Russia with the sale of its operations there for a symbolic €1, after Moscow clamped down on asset sales in retaliation for western sanctions.
German prosecutors say they are investigating the attempted murder of Berlin-based Russian journalist Elena Kostyuchenko after she was one of three Russian-exile journalists who experienced symptoms consistent with poisoning last October.
Updated
