Wagner chief Prigozhin killed
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Wagner mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin is reported to be among 10 people killed in a plane crash in Russia. Footage shows the flaming wreckage after a private jet came down near Moscow on Wednesday evening.
The plane carrying three pilots and seven passengers was on route from Moscow to St Petersburg, according to officials cited by Russia's state news agency Tass. Prigozhin was on the passenger list for the plane, the civil aviation authority said.
As the news about the crash was breaking, Russian president Vladimir Putin spoke at an event commemorating the Battle of Kursk, hailing the heroes of Russia’s “the special military operation” in Ukraine.
The Wagner chief’s fate has been the subject of intense speculation ever since he mounted a short-lived mutiny against Russia's military leadership in late June.
The Kremlin said the founder of the Wagner private military company, which fought alongside Russia's regular army in Ukraine, would be exiled to Belarus. But the mercenary chief has since reportedly popped up in Russia, leading to further questions about his future.
Where did plane crash?
The plane Prigozhin is reported to have been flying on was a private business jet - an Embraer Legacy 600, registration number 02795.
The aircraft is 26.3m long, has a wingspan of 21.1m and a top speed of 528mph. It has a range of nearly 4,000 miles can carry 13-14 passengers and usually has two crew members on board.
It crashed near the village of Kuzhenkino, northwest of Moscow, during a flight from Moscow to St Petersburg.
Russian security forces on alert as Wagner mercenaries vow to avenge Prigozhin death
Wagner mercenaries have vowed to “avenge” the death of their leader Yevgeny Prigozhin, prompting officials to put security forces in two Russian regions on alert.
“We will avenge this,” a former Wagner mercenary told a Russian Telegram channel, The Times reported. “March on the Kremlin! Kill all traitors from the Ministry of Defence!” one comment read.
Readovka, a Russian media outlet with links to Wagner, also reported that the group had planned for “full mobilisation” in the event of Prigozhin’s untimely death.
Moscow appears to be taking the threats seriously and security forces in Rostov-on-Don, the city that was briefly seized by Wagner in June, as well as the Belgorod region near Ukraine have been put on alert, reports said.
Men hang a flag of ‘PMC Wagner’ at an informal memorial next to the former ‘PMC Wagner Centre’ in St Petersburg, Russia
Norway donates missiles to Ukraine
Norway will send anti-aircraft missiles and mine clearing equipment to Ukraine and help the war-torn country secure its gas and power supply, Norwegian prime minister Jonas Gahr Stoere said on Thursday while on a visit to Kyiv.
The donation includes IRIS-T missiles, portable kits for creating corridors through minefields and equipment used to repair critical electricity infrastructure, the Norwegian government said in a statement.
"Support with air defence has been decisive in preventing Russia from taking control of the airspace, and has thus averted great civilian suffering and military losses," the statement said.
The missiles can be launched from Sweden-donated units, it added.
Jonas Gahr Stoere
Flight tracking data shows plane’s route before crashing
Flight data shows the path taken by the plane reported to have been carrying Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin before it crashed, killing all those on board.
Russia’s civil aviation authority said that Prigozhin, who led a failed coup against the Kremlin two months ago, was one of 10 people on board when the aircraft came down near the village of Kuzhenkino, northwest of the capital, Moscow on Wednesday.
Flight data shows the plane was first tracked northwest of Moscow at an altitude of 12,275ft. It continued travelling northwest and was last tracked northwest of the Tver region at 28,000.
The plane, an Embraer Legacy 600, registration number 02795, then crashed some time later near the village of Kuzhenkino, northwest of Moscow, during a flight from Moscow to St Petersburg.
Full report:
Prigozhin has made plenty of enemies – including Putin. This is the result
Reports of the Wagner founder being in a deadly jet crash should suprise nobody in the wake of his failed mutiny against the Russian president. Kim Sengupta speaks to Ukranian troops fighting against Moscow’s forces in eastern Donbas – who believe it would mark a fitting end.
Read Kim’s full piece below:
Prigozhin’s death good news for Ukraine - adviser to defence minister
Prigozhin’s reported death is a positive for Ukraine, an adviser to the country’s defence minister has said.
"One less terrorist means more instability in Russia,” Yuri Sak told Radio 4’s Today programme earlier.
“It’s again another sign of Russia becoming a failed state which is run by a terrorist who is afraid of his own people."
He added: “And from where we see it, whatever makes Russia weak makes us stronger.”
Prigozhin reported to have been on board plane when it crashed
Prigozhin likely ‘taken out’ by Putin - former MI6 chief
“All indications” suggest Wagner mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin was “taken out” by Vladimir Putin, the former MI6 Chief said, Zander Butler reports.
Sir John Sawers, 68, who served as Chief of the MI6 between 2009 and 2014, said Putin had “reasserted his control” and was making it clear to Russians he wasn’t going to “brook any challenge”.
It comes as Prigozhin, who launched a coup against Putin in June, was presumed dead after he was named as a passenger on a private jet that crashed north of Moscow, Russia, on Wednesday.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4, Sir John said: “All the indications point to the fact Putin has taken him out. He has reasserted his control.
“He’s making clear to everyone inside and outside of Russia that he’s not going to brook any challenge. If there’s a slim chance that he’s not dead and he wasn’t on that plane, he will be soon.”
Sir John Sawers, former head of MI6
Who is Yevgeny Prigozhin?
Once a businessman with a catering empire, Yevgeny Prigozhin manoeuvred himself into a position so powerful that as Russia’s war in Ukraine progressed, he could openly question his ally’s strategy.
The owner of the Kremlin-allied Wagner Group, the mercenary force that has fought some of the Russian military’s toughest battles in Ukraine – most notably the drawn-out pursuit of Bakhmut – this summer the 62-year-old stepped into his most dangerous role yet: preaching open rebellion against his country’s military leadership.
Ellen Knickmeyer, Joe Sommerlad and Jane Dalton take a closer look at the man dominating the headlines:
Putin speaks at BRICS summit
Russian president Vladimir Putin on Thursday thanked South African president Cyril Ramaphosa for handling the summit of the BRICS group of nations and for his efforts to expand the bloc.
BRICS has decided to invite six countries - Argentina, Egypt, Iran, Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates - to become new members of the group, which currently comprises Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.
Putin was speaking via video link at the closing news conference of the three-day summit held in Johannesburg. It was the first time he spoke publicly after a plane reported to be carrying Wagner chief Prigozhin crashed northwest of Moscow.
Putin speaks to BRICs summit
Biden suggests Putin may have been behind plane crash
US president Joe Biden has suggested the Kremlin may be responsible for bringing down the plane, saying not much happens in Russia “that Putin’s not behind”.
Prigozhin supporters claimed on pro-Wagner messaging app channels that the plane was deliberately downed, although such claims could not be independently verified.
Numerous opponents and critics of Putin have been killed or gravely sickened in apparent assassination attempts.
President Joe Biden speaks to reporters after taking a pilates class followed by a spin class with First Lady Jill Biden and members of their family in South Lake Tahoe, California on 23 August 2023
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2023-08-24 09:28:25Z
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