Our live coverage of the plane crash andThe Russian war in Ukraine has moved here.
Russia will now likely try to take over the Wagner Group, says former CIA director
From CNN staff
Leon Panetta, former US defense secretary and ex-CIA director, told CNN it is likely that Russia will try to take over the Wagner mercenary group after the crash of a plane allegedly carrying its founder.Yevgeny Prigozhin.
"I think they're going to be very concerned about the fact that these guys can basically continue to operate on their own," Panetta said.
"So I wouldn't be surprised if they claim control of the Wagner Group in Africa, Asia and wherever they are. In that regard, I think those in the Wagner Group should also be concerned about their own lives. "
Some context:The plane crash in Russia comes just two days after a video that circulated on pro-Russian military blogs was seenPrigozjinclaimed he was in Africa, "making Russia even bigger on every continent, and Africa even freer."
Wagner fighters have been active in several African countries, including Mali, where they were invited by the ruling junta to quell an Islamist insurgency brewing on the country's borders with Burkina Faso and Niger.
A number of CNN investigations and others by human rights groups,have confirmedWagner's involvement in and complicity in atrocities against the civilian population in Mali and the Central African Republic.
“This is what happens when you make Putin look weak,” says a critic of the Russian leader
From CNN staff
Bill Browder, a critic of Vladimir Putin, told CNN on Wednesday that he believes there is "no doubt" that the Russian president was behind the crash of a plane allegedly carrying Wagner's founder.Yevgeny Prigozhin.
“Putin is a man who never forgives and never forgets,” said Browder, CEO of Hermitage Capital Management and formerly the largest foreign investor in Russia before being deported.
"Prigozhin actually betrayed him. He was disloyal. He organized an uprising," he added.
“Putin absolutely cannot allow this to continue because if he does, other people will get the same idea. Putin has ruled for 23 years as a strong man, as a dictator. And Prigozhin made him look weak. And that's what happens when you make Putin look weak."
Some context: Prigozjin was on board a crashed planewith no survivors northwest of Moscow, according to Russian authorities, just months after he launched onemutinyagainst the Russian military leadership. The June uprising was crushed in an agreement that required Prigozhin and his fighters to move to Belarus.
Putin has a very long history of silencing his critics
Kayla Tausche from Fra CNN
Wednesday's plane crash in Russia will not change the White House's position on the Kremlin or the war in Ukraine, a US official told CNN.
Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of the Wagner mercenary group,was aboard the crashed planewith no survivors northwest of Moscow, according to Russian authorities, just months after he launched onemutinyagainst the Russian military leadership.
“Putin has a very long history of silencing his critics,” the US official said Wednesday.
The official noted that Prigozhin's eventual demise was widely anticipated by the Biden administration, after the Wagner chief struck a deal with the Kremlin in June.
"We will continue to support Ukraine in the Russian war," the official said, "and insist on accountability for the atrocities committed by Russian forces in Ukraine, including those committed by the Wagner forces."
The National Security Council would not confirm the veracity of the reports of Prigozhin's death, citing its earlier statement: “We have seen the reports. If they are confirmed, no one should be surprised. The disastrous war in Ukraine led to a private army marching towards Moscow, and now – it seems – towards this.”
Biden's response:Earlier, US President Joe Biden suggested that Russian President Vladimir Putin may have been behind the plane crash.
“You may remember when I was asked about this,” Biden told CNN, referring to comments he made in July in which he said Prighozin had to worry about his safety after the botched mutiny. “I said I would be careful what I drove. I'm not sure what happened, but I'm not surprised," Biden said Wednesday.
Flowers, candles and tributes return to Prigozhin after a plane crash
Fra CNN's Maria Knight
People gathered in St. Petersburg to leave a tribute to Wagner Group founder Yevgeny Prigozhin on Wednesday night after Russian authorities said he was on a plane that crashed with no survivors.
Video showed members of the public unfurling a large banner outside Wagner's private military company headquarters that read, "Wagner PMC. We are together."
People also placed flowers, lit candles, and left Wagner PMC chevron patches at the entrance to the Wagner Center.
Earlier Wednesday, Russia's aviation agency said Prigozhin was aboard a private jet that crashed north of Moscow, killing everyone on board.
What was Putin doing when the crash happened?
Fra CNN's Radina Gigova en Londen
As reports of the crash poured in on Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin presided over a ceremony in the Kursk region celebrating both the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Kursk and the Russian forces currently fighting in Ukraine.
The commemoration relates to a clash near Kursk in 1943, during World War II, in which the forces of Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union clashed in a major tank battle, resulting in a victory for the Soviet Union.
At his solemn event at a memorial built in the village of Ponyri in the Kursk region, Putin presented state awards to participants in what Russia still describes as its "special military operation" in Ukraine.
“The whole burden of the struggle today, as in the years of the Great Patriotic War, lies primarily on our soldiers, on those who are on the front lines,” Putin said at the rally.
“All our warriors fight bravely and with determination. Devotion to the motherland and loyalty to the military oath unites all participants in the special military operation,” he said.
Putin's speech and the elaborate, well-choreographed ceremony were broadcast local time on state television on Wednesday evening. The same news broadcast, on the state channel Russia 24, reported a plane crash in the Tver region and that Yevgeny Prigozhin's name was among the names of the passengers.
Putin's remarks were broadcast around 9 p.m. local time (2 p.m. ET), while state media reported that the crash occurred around 2 p.m. local time. Russian emergency services said at the time that the Embraer plane crashed near the village of Kuzhenkino in the Tver region during a flight from Moscow to Saint Petersburg. Petersburg. Ten people were on board, including three crew members, and all were killed, Russian state media said.
At the ceremony in Kursk, which Putin described as "magnificent", the Russian president presented a state award to the crew of the "Alyosha" T-80 tank, which allegedly destroyed a Ukrainian armored convoy on the Zaporizhia axis. to the state news agency TASS.
While in Kursk, Putin also met with residents, according to a video broadcast on Russia 24. Residents shook hands with Putin and some even gave him a hug, in the Russia 24 video.
During a video link at the ongoing BRICS summit in Johannesburg earlier in the day, Putin claimed that Moscow had launched its invasion of Ukraine to end a war "provoked by the West".
Prigozhin "signed a special death warrant against himself," says the Ukrainian presidential adviser
Fra CNN's Radina Gigova en Londen
The “demonstrative elimination of (Evgeny) Prigozhin” shows that Russian President Vladimir Putin “does not forgive anyone his best terror,” Mychailo Podolyak, the Ukrainian presidential adviser, claimed on social media.
“About Prigozhin: it is worth waiting for the fog of war to lift… In the meantime, it is clear that Putin will not forgive anyone for his own best-in-class terror. The one who canceled it in June 2023. ’ said Podoljak.
The crash comes two months after Prigozhin launched onemutinyagainst the Russian military leadership. The attempted uprising was crushed in a deal brokered by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko that required Prigozhin and his fighters to move to Belarus.
But Podolyak claimed that Putin was "waiting for the moment".
"It is also clear that Prigozhin signed a special death warrant against himself the moment he believed in Lukashenko's bizarre 'guarantees' and Putin's equally absurd 'words of honor'," he said, referring to the deal that ended the short-lived rebellion of the Wagner group. ...
After the agreement, criminal prosecutionwas droppedagainst the Wagner boss. But Putin said in a speech at the time that those who embark on the "path of betrayal" would be punished.
“The demonstrative elimination of Prigozhin and the Wagner command two months after the coup attempt is a signal from Putin to the Russian elites ahead of the 2024 elections. Infidelity equals death,” Podolyak claimed on Wednesday. “But it is also a signal to the Russian military: there will be no 'SVO heroes [special military operation]. If it is not a Ukrainian court, it will be an FSB bullet.”
The Kremlin has not yet commented on the crash.
This message has been updated.
The Russian aviation agency says Prigozhin was in a crashed plane. Here's what we know — and more headlines
From CNN staff
Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of the Wagner mercenary group,was on board a crashed planenorthwest of Moscow Wednesday, Russia's Federal Air Transport Agency said.
The crash comes months after Prigozhin launched onemutinyagainst the Russian military leadership. The attempted uprising was crushed in an agreement that required Prigozhin and his fighters to move to Belarus.
Here's what you need to know about the crash and other recent developments in the Russia-Ukraine war:
- Prigozhin on the list of passengers on board the plane, the Russian aviation agency says:The Russian Federal Air Transport Agency said Prigozhin wasamong the people on boardthe plane that crashed in the western region of Tver. A Telegram channel connected to Wagner's private military group also issued a statement that read Prigozhinis killedThe channel has previously aired propaganda videos of Wagner, and Prigozhin's official press service has previously linked to them. CNN cannot confirm the claim. Other channels related to Prigozhin and Wagner, including his official Telegram channel, remained silent.
- Aircraft engine remains figures seen at the apparent crash site are consistent with aircraft registered with Prigozhin:Video of aircraft engine debris taken at the alleged crash site in the Tver region northwest of Moscowcorresponds to a registered aircraftto Prigozhin. The video shows the last four digits of a registration number on the still-burning engine debris: 2795. Prigozhin's plane is registered as RA-02795.
- At least 8 bodies found at the plane crash site:This is reported by the Russian state media Russia-24eight corpseswas found at the crash site. Russian state media also reported that ten people were on board the plane.
- Biden suggests Putin may be behind the plane crash:US President Joe Biden suggested that Russian President Vladimir Putinmay have been involvedat the crash. “You may remember when I was asked this,” Biden told CNN’s Kevin Liptak on Wednesday, referring to comments he made in July that Prigozhin had to worry about his safety after the botched mutiny. “I said I would be careful what I drove. I'm not sure what happened, but I'm not surprised," Biden said today.
- Russia opens criminal case after plane crashThe Russian Commission of Inquiry said it has begun"a criminal case"alreadycrash of the Embraer Legacyaeroplane. The commission said the case was based on Article 263 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, which entails violation of the rules of road safety and air transport operation.
- Russian aviation authority will investigate crash:The Russian state aviation authority Rosaviation says that aspecially established committee"have begun to investigate the circumstances and causes of the accident involving the Embraer-135 aircraft, which occurred on August 23 in the Tver region." According to the authority, the aircraft belonged to MNT-Aero LLC, which specializes in commercial transport.
- More than 500 children have been killed in Ukraine since the start of the war:Some541 children have been killedin Ukraine since the start of the war in February 2022, the British charity Save the Children said in a report on Wednesday. June was the deadliest month for children on record, with 11 deaths and 43 injuries.
- Two teachers killed in Russian drone attack on Sumy regionTwo teachers were killed and four people injured when a Shahed drone hithit a schoolin Romny in northeastern Ukraine's Sumy region, local authorities said on Wednesday. The attack — which destroyed the building — occurred around 10 a.m. local time (03:00 ET), the military government of the Sumy region said in a statement. The bodies of at least two more school employees are believed to be buried under the rubble, Ukrainian police said.
- Russia destroyed 13,000 tons of grain in port attack:A Russian attack onthe port of Izmail on the river Danube at nightAccording to Ukraine's Minister of Society, Territories and Infrastructure Development Oleksandr Kubrakov, 13,000 tons of grain destined for export were destroyed. The grain was destined for Egypt and Romania, he said.
New flight data shows a "dramatic descent" of a plane that Prigozhin is believed to have on board
Pete Muntean van broeder CNN
Recently analyzed flight data shows that the private jet reportedly carrying Wagner Group boss Yevgeny Prigozhin has experienced a "dramatic descent".
Flysporingsside FlightRadar24participationThe Embraer Legacy 600 no longer sends position data 18.11. local time, probably due to "area interference", but the aircraft continued to transmit other data for another nine minutes.
FlightRadar24 says their data shows the flight leveled off at 28,000 feet and made some minor elevation changes. The last minute of available data shows that the plane is making erratic ascents and descents, climbing above 30,000 feet at one point.
Then at 6:19 pm. Local time, the data shows the aircraft's rate of descent approached a blistering 8,000 feet per minute before altitude data transmission ceased.
"While the aircraft did not transmit position information, other data such as altitude, speed, vertical speed and autopilot settings were broadcast," says a FlightRadar24 blog post. "It is this data that provides insight into the final moments of the flight."