August 23, 2023 Russia-Ukraine, Prigozhin news | CNN (2024)

Our live coverage of the plane crash and Russia’s war in Ukraine has moved here.

Leon Panetta, former US defense secretary and ex-CIA director, told CNN it’s likelythat Russia will try totake over theWagner mercenary group, following the crash of a plane purportedly carrying its founder Yevgeny Prigozhin.

“Ithink they aregoing to be very concerned aboutallowing these guys basically tocontinue to operate on theirown,” Panetta said.
“So I would not be surprised ifthey assert control over theWagner Group in Africa, Asia,and wherever else they may belocated.For that matter, I think thosein the Wagner Group have got toworry about their own lives aswell.”

Some context: The plane crash in Russia comes just two days after a video circulating on pro-Russia military blogs showed Prigozhinclaiming he was in Africa “making Russia even greater on all continents, 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 Islamic insurgency brewing near the country’s borders with Burkina Faso and Niger.

A number of CNN investigations, and others by human rights groups,have established Wagner’s involvement in and complicity with atrocities against civilian populations in Mali and the Central African Republic.

Bill Browder, a critic of Vladimir Putin, told CNN Wednesday he believes there is “no doubt” the Russian President is behind the crash of a plane purportedly carrying Wagner founder Yevgeny Prigozhin.

“Putin is a man who neverforgives and never forgets,” said Browder, CEO of Hermitage Capital Management and formerly the largest foreign investor in Russia before he was expelled from the country.

“Prigozhin basicallybetrayed him.He was disloyal.He organized a rebellion,” he added.

“Putin absolutely can’t allowthat to go on because, if hedoes, then other people will getthe same idea.Putin has ruled for 23 years asa strongman, as a dictator.And Prigozhin made him lookweak.And so this is what happens whenyou make Putin look weak.”

Some context: Prigozhin was on board a plane that crashed with no survivors northwest of Moscow, according to Russian authorities, just months after he launched a mutiny against Russia’s military leadership. The June revolt was called off in a deal that required Prigozhin and his fighters to relocate to Belarus.

Wednesday’s plane crash in Russia will not change the White House’s posture toward the Kremlin or the war in Ukraine, a US official told CNN.

Yevgeny Prigozhin, the chief of the Wagner mercenary group, was on board the plane that crashed with no survivors northwest of Moscow, according to Russian authorities, just months after he launched a mutiny against Russia’s military leadership.

The official noted that the eventual death of Prigozhin was largely expected by the Biden administration after the Wagner chief brokered a deal with the Kremlin in June.

“We’ll continue to support Ukraine in Russia’s war,” the official said, “and push for accountability for the atrocities Russian forces are committing in Ukraine, included those committed by the Wagner forces.”

The National Security Council would not confirm the veracity of reports of Prigozhin’s death, referring to its earlier statement:“We have seen the reports.If confirmed, no one should be surprised.The disastrous war in Ukraine led to a private army marching on Moscow, and now — it would seem — to this.”

Biden’s reaction: Earlier, US President Joe Biden suggested that Russian President Vladimir Putin may have been behind the plane crash.

“You may recall, I was asked about this,” Biden told CNN, alluding to comments he made in July in which he said Prighozin should be worried about his safety following the failed mutiny. “I said I would be careful what I rode in. I don’t know for a fact what happened, but I’m not surprised,” Biden said Wednesday.

People gathered in St. Petersburg Wednesday night to leave tributes for Wagner Group founder Yevgeny Prigozhin 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 the Wagner private military company’s headquarters that read, “Wagner PMC. We are together.”

People also placed flowers, lit candles, and left Wagner PMC chevron patches near to the entrance of the Wagner Center.

Earlier Wednesday, Russia’s aviation agencysaid Prigozhin was on board a private jet that crashed north of Moscow, killing all on board.

As reports of the crash poured in on Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin was in Kursk region leading a ceremony honoring both the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Kursk and Russian forces currently fighting in Ukraine.

The anniversary relates to a clash near Kursk in 1943, during World War II, when the forces of Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union clashed in a major tank battle, resulting in a Soviet victory.

Putin gave a speech at the solemn event at a memorial built in the village of Ponyri, in the Kursk region, and presented state awards to participants in what Russia still describes as its “special military operation” in Ukraine.

“The whole burden of fighting today, as in the years of the Great Patriotic War, lies primarily on our soldiers, on those who are on the front line,” Putin said at the event.

“All our fighters fight bravely and decisively. Devotion to the Motherland, loyalty to the military oath unite all participants in the special military operation,” he said.

Putin’s speech, and the elaborate, highly choreographed ceremony, were broadcast on state television Wednesday evening local time. In the same newscast, on state channel Russia 24, there was a report about a plane crash in Tver region, and that Yevgeny Prigozhin’s name was among the names of the passengers.

Putin’s remarks aired around 9 p.m. local time (2 p.m. ET), while state media reported that the crash had occurred around 6 p.m. local time. Russian Emergency services said at the time that the Embraer aircraft came down near the village of Kuzhenkino, in Tver region, while flying from Moscow to St. Petersburg. There were 10 people on board, including three crew members, and all were killed, said Russian state media.

During the ceremony in Kursk, which Putin described as “grandiose,” the Russian president presented a state award to the crew of the ‘Alyosha’ T-80 tank, which was claimed to have destroyed a Ukrainian armored convoy on the Zaporizhzhia axis, according to state news agency TASS.

While in Kursk, Putin also met with residents, video that aired on Russia 24 showed. Residents shook hands with Putin and some even gave him a hug, in the Russia 24 clip.

Earlier in the day, Putin addressed, via video link, the BRICS summit that is underway in Johannesburg, claiming that Moscow launched its invasion of Ukraine in order to end a war “unleashed by the West.”

The“demonstrative elimination of (Yevgeny) Prigozhin” shows thatRussian President Vladimir Putin “does not forgive anyone for his ownbestialterror,”Mykhailo Podolyak, Ukrainian presidential adviser, claimed on social media.

“About Prigozhin: It is worth waiting for the fog of war to disappear… Meanwhile, it is obvious that Putin does not forgive anyone for his ownbestialterror. Exactly the one that nullified him in June 2023,” Podolyak said.

The crash comes two months after Prigozhin launched amutinyagainst Russia’s military leadership. The attempted rebellion was called off in a deal brokered by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko that required Prigozhin and his fighters to relocate to Belarus.

But Podolyak claimed Putin was “waiting for the moment.”

Following that deal, criminal chargeswere droppedagainst the Wagner boss. But Putin said in a speech at the time that those on the “path of treason” would face punishment.

“The demonstrative elimination of Prigozhin and the Wagner command two months after the coup attempt is a signal from Putin to Russia’s elites ahead of the 2024 elections. ‘Beware! Disloyalty equals death,’” Podolyak claimed Wednesday. “But it is also a signal to the Russian military: There will be no ‘SVO [special military operation] heroes.’ If it isn’t a Ukrainian tribunal, it will be an FSB bullet.”

The Kremlin is yet to comment on the crash.

This post has been updated.

Yevgeny Prigozhin, the chief of the Wagner mercenary group, was on board aplane that crashed northwest of Moscow on Wednesday, the Russian Federal Air Transport Agency said.

The crash comes months after Prigozhin launched a mutiny against Russia’s military leadership. The attempted rebellion was called off in a deal that required Prigozhin and his fighters to relocate to Belarus.

Here’s what you need to know about the crash and other recent developments in the Russia-Ukraine war:

Newly analyzed flight-tracking data show the private jet purportedly carrying Wagner Group boss Yevgeny Prigozhin experienced a “dramatic descent.”

Flight-tracking site FlightRadar24saysthe Embraer Legacy 600 stopped transmitting position data at 6:11 p.m. local time, likely due to “interference/jamming in the area,” but the jet continued to transmit other data for another nine minutes.

FlightRadar24 says its data show the flight leveled off at 28,000 feet and made some slight altitude changes. The last minute of available data shows the plane making erratic climbs and descents, at one point climbing above 30,000 feet.

Then, at 6:19 p.m. local time, the data show the descent rate of the plane neared a blistering 8,000 feet per minute before the transmission of altitude data stopped.

“Even though the aircraft was not transmitting position information, other data like altitude, speed, vertical rate, and autopilot settings were broadcast,” says a FlightRadar24 blog post. “It is this data that provides some insight into the final moments of the flight.”

A CNN analysis of two videos shows where the plane that listed Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin among its passengers, according to the Russian Federal Air Transport Agency, crashed on Wednesday.

The crash site was in an area close to the village of Kuzhenkino in Russia’s western Tver region.

CNN previously reported that the plane was seen falling from the sky near the village.

In new video, shared on social media, a large smoke plume is seen rising from burning wreckage.A small explosion is also heard in the video.

CNN was able to geolocate the footage by comparing it to archival imagery taken by Maxar Technologies.

“Something’s blowing up,” a woman is heard saying in the video.

Bellingcat was first to geolocate the crash site.

The Russian Federal Air Transport Agency has confirmed that Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin was on board a plane that crashed in the Tver region Wednesday.

The aviation agency reported that, according to the carrier that operated the Embraer that crashed, the following people were on board, in addition to Prigozhin:

CNN’s Gianluca Mezzofiore contributed reporting to this post.

A Telegram social media channel linked to the Wagner private military group has issued a statement saying Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin has been killed in a plane crash north of Moscow.

The channel has previously carried Wagner propaganda videos, and Prigozhin’s official press service has linked to it in the past.

CNN is unable to confirm the assertion. Other channels associated with Prigozhin and Wagner, including his official Telegram channel, have remained silent.

A well-known but unofficial Russian Telegram channel that has been close to Wagner operations, Grey Zone, also claimed that Prigozhin had been killed.

Wagner chief YevgenyPrigozhin is listed among passengers on board a plane that crashed north of Moscow, according to Russian state media.

Prigozhin, the founder and bombastic leader of Russia’s private military group Wagner, was once a longtime ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, but that changed after the mercenary incited an armed rebellion against the Kremlin.

Here’s what you need to know:

From humble beginnings to “Putin’s chef”: Prigozhin grew up in the tougher neighborhoods of St. Petersburg, also the president’s hometown. The men have known each other since the 1990s. Prigozhin became a wealthy oligarch by winning lucrative catering contracts with the Kremlin,earning him the moniker “Putin’s chef.”

His role in Ukraine: Prigozhin founded Wagner as shadowy mercenary outfit that fought both in Ukraine and, increasingly, for Russian-backed causes around the world. Typically a figure who has preferred to operate in the shadows, Prigozhin and his fighters were thrust into the spotlight following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year. Wagner forces were heavily involved in taking the Ukrainian towns of Soledar and Bakhmut.

Dilemma for Putin: In recent months, Prigozhin becamean outspoken critic of Russia’s military leaders. After complaining for more than a month of receiving insufficient support from the Kremlin in the grueling fight for the eastern city of Bakhmut, he announced in May that his troops would withdraw.

The rebellion: Prigozhinlaunched an all-out rebellionagainst the Kremlin in June. The Wagner mutiny began when Prigozhin unleashed a new tirade against the Russian military and then marched his troops into the Russian city of Rostov-on-Don. Putin called Wagner’s actions “treason.”

“It is a stab in the back of our country and our people,” the president said in an address to the nation shortly after the rebellion.

Prigozhin responded on Telegram saying that Putin was “deeply mistaken.”

“We are patriots of our Motherland, we fought and are fighting,” the Wagner chief said in audio messages.

CNN’s Jerome Taylor and Josh Pennington contributed to this report.

Read more about Prigozhin’s career and the rebellion.

US President Joe Biden suggested that Russian President Vladimir Putin may have been behind the crash of a plane near Moscow.

Wagner chief YevgenyPrigozhin islisted among passengers of the plane, and Biden said he wasn’t surprised that the Russian mercenary may have been targeted.

“You may recall, I was asked about this,” Biden told CNN’s Kevin Liptak, alluding to comments he made in July in which he said Prighozin should be worried about his safety following the failed mutiny.

“I said I would be careful what I rode in. I don’t know for a fact what happened, but I’m not surprised,” Biden said today.

At a press conference in Helsinki, Finland, in July,Biden joked that if he were Prighozin, “I’d be careful what I eat, keep my eye on my menu.”

Biden added that there is “not much that happens in Russia that Putin is not behind but I don’t know enough to know the answer.”

The president had just walked out of a fitness studio in Lake Tahoe, Nevada, where the White House says he attended a Pilates class followed by a spin class.

State media outlet Russia-24 has reported that eight bodies have been found at the plane crash site in Tver, which is north of Moscow.

Russian state media has reported that 10 people were on board the aircraft.

Russian officials have not identified any of the victims, although Russian state news agency TASS reported that Wagner chief YevgenyPrigozhin was listed on the passenger manifest.

A plane which matches the profile of an Embraer Legacy 600, is seen falling out of the sky with one wing missing, according to video published by Russian state media outlet RIA Novosti.

CNN is unable to confirm the authenticity of the video, but RIA Novosti claimed it was the moment that an Embraer jet fell from the sky in the Tver region of Russia.

The plane seen in the video appears similar to Embraer Legacy 600, a match to an aircraft registered to Wagner founder YevgenyPrigozhin. Its paint is dark and the engines — two almost boxy ovals — are set far back near the tail.

It’s seen falling in the video in one piece; there’s no indication of a catastrophic explosion in the body of the plane.However, as the plane twists, there appears to be only one wing still attached.

It is evident that the plane is out of control as it spirals downward.

Top Biden administration officials have repeatedly and publicly warned that Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin could be killed by the Kremlin after he led an armed rebellion against Russia earlier this year.

“If I were he, I’d be careful what I ate. I’d keep my eye on my menu,” US President Joe Biden said in July.

CIA Director Bill Burns and Secretary of State Antony Blinken had echoed Biden’s sentiments, with Burns noting Putin has a long history of payback.

“In my experience, Putin is the ultimate apostle of payback.So I would be surprised if Prigozhin escapes further retribution for this. So in that sense, the president’s right. If I were Prigozhin, I wouldn’t fire my food taster,” Burns said later in July.

“If I were Mr. Prigozhin, I would remain very concerned. NATO has an open-door policy; Russia has an open-windows policy,”Blinken also said in July.

The State Department and the National Security Council have not responded to requests for comment on Russian state media’s reports about the plane crash.

US President Joe Biden has been briefed on the reported plane crash in Russia, the White House said.

A spokesperson for the White House National Security Council said “no one should be surprised” if the reports that Wagner founder Yevgeny Prigozhin was aboard the crashed plane are confirmed.

“We have seen the reports.If confirmed, no one should be surprised.The disastrous war in Ukraine led to a private army marching on Moscow, and now – it would seem — to this,” council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said in a statement.

The Russian Investigative Committee said it has initiated “a criminal case” following the crash of the Embraer Legacy aircraft.

Wagner chief YevgenyPrigozhin was listedamong passengers on board.

The committee said the case was based on Article 263 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, which involves the violation of the rules of traffic safety and operation of air transport.

An investigation team is on the way to the scene, it added. “All the necessary forensic examinations will be appointed, a set of investigative actions will be carried out to establish the causes of the crash.”

The Russian state aviation authority Rosaviation says that a specially created commission “has begun investigating the circ*mstances and causes of the accident with the Embraer-135 aircraft, which occurred on August 23 in the Tver region.”

The authority’s statement said the plane belonged toMNT-Aero LLC, which specializes in business transportation.

“According to preliminary data, there were seven passengers and three crew members on board the aircraft, which flew on the Moscow-St. Petersburg route,” the authority said.

“The Commission of the Federal Air Transport Agency is starting initial actions at the scene of the accident, and has also begun collecting factual materials on the training of the crew, the technical condition of the aircraft, the meteorological situation on the flight route, the work of dispatch services and ground radio equipment,” the statement added.

“At this stage of the investigation, specialists will also have to search for on-board means of objective control for their subsequent decoding and analysis of the records of the “black box,” the authority said.

Video of plane engine debris taken at the purported crash site in the Tver region northwest of Moscow matches a plane registered to Wagner founder YevgenyPrigozhin.

In the video, the last four digits of a registration number on the still-burning engine debris are seen — 2795.

Prigozhin’s plane is registered as RA-02795.

An additional analysis of the debris, compared with past photos of the plane, also shows that distinct features of the engine, including its color, match the plane.

Video released by official Russian news agency RIA Novosti shows a plane matching the size and shape of the Embraer falling from the sky almost vertically.

The plane had reached an altitude of some 26,000 feet, according to flight data, before ceasing to transmit information.

The transponders of a plane that crashed north of Moscow stopped transmitting data around 6:11 p.m. local time, according to flight tracking data from FlightRadar24.

Flight data showed an Embraer Legacy registered to Wagner chief YevgenyPrigozhin at a cruising altitude over the Tver region after departing a Moscow airport, before data transmission of speed and altitude stopped.

Prigozhin is listed among passengers on board the crashed plane, according to Russian state media.

The plane is believed in the past to have ferried Prigozhin from Rostov-on-Don — which became the headquarters for his short-lived mutiny in June — to Moscow, St. Petersburg and Belarus.

It’s unclear what caused the crash, and flight transponder data tracked by FlightRadar24 doesn’t offer many clues.

That data does not show a steep descent before the plane stopped transmitting data, over the Russian region of Tver.

The plane’s destination is also unclear from the tracking data, but Russian authorities have said the aircraft was bound for St. Petersburg.

The bodies of four people have been found at the crash site in Tver, according to the Russian Emergency services, per Russian state media TASS.

The plane “burned up” on impact after being in the air for about half an hour, TASS reported.

An Embraer aircraft crashed near the village ofKuzhenkino in the Tver region, Russian Emergency services said.

The private Embraer Legacy aircraft crashed while flying from Moscow to St. Petersburg, the agency added.

There were 10 people on board, including three crew members. According to preliminary information, all on board were killed.

“We areconducting search operations,” the agency said.

Wagner chief YevgenyPrigozhin is listed among passengers on board a plane that crashed north of Moscow, according to Russian state media.

The official Russian news agency TASS reported the Federal Air Transport Agency has launched an investigation into the crash of an Embraer aircraft, which occurred in the Tver region north-east of Moscow on Wednesday.

“An investigation has been launched into the crash of the Embraer aircraft, which occurred tonight in the Tver region. According to the list of passengers, among them is the name and surname of Yevgeny Prigozhin,” the department noted.

Flight data showed an Embraer Legacy registered to Prigozhin at a cruising altitude over the Tver region after departing a Moscow airport, before data transmission of speed and altitude stopped.

Some 541 children have been killed in Ukraine since the war began in February 2022, British charity Save the Children said in a report on Wednesday, with this June being the deadliest month recorded.

As air and drone attacks tripled this summer, the international charity recorded a 16% increase in child casualties between May and August, compared to the previous four months. The agency said 95% of those attacks took place in populated areas, prompting an increase in overall civilian fatalities, citing UN verified data.

Since May 2023, the charity said 148 children have been killed or injured. June was the deadliest month for children so far when 11 children were killed and 43 more were injured.

“Since last February, more than 1,680 children have been killed or injured due to unrelenting hostilities. The vast majority of those casualties are attributed to missiles and drones being fired at residential areas,” Amjad Yamin, Save the Children’s Advocacy Director in Ukraine, said in a statement.

“This serves as a grim reminder that explosive weapons should not be used anywhere near populated areas, such as towns and villages,” he added.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is hosting leaders from Portugal, Lithuania and Finland in Kyiv this week after returning from his own tour of European nations.

This is the first time Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo has visited the Ukrainian capital as he was only sworn in two months ago. During the trip, Orpo said that Finland’s “strong and unwavering support to Ukraine” is set to continue, according to a government press release.

Finland has supplied Kyiv with 1.7 billion euros ($1.8 billion) worth of aid, 1.2 billion of which were in defense packages, the Finnish statement added.

During a joint news conference, Orpo told journalists that Finland is making the final preparations for its 18th defense aid package for Ukraine, adding that further details will be announced later this week.

Zelensky publicly thanked Finland for the “17 defense assistance packages already provided,” adding that the two leaders discussed Ukraine’s “priorities” for the next package.

Orpo also sent a strong message of support for Ukraine’s bids to join both the NATO military alliance and the European Union stressing that “Ukraine belongs in the West – in the European Union and NATO.”

One engagement included a meeting on Wednesday with Lithuania’s president, Gitanas Nausėda, a long-time supporter of Ukraine to discuss the Ukrainian counter offensive.

In a post on his official Telegram channel, Zelensky said the pair discussed the “current situation on the battlefield and the urgent needs of Ukrainian defenders” alongside ways to shore up food security for Ukraine.

Nausėda said in a post on “X,” formerly known as Twitter,that he used the trip as an opportunity to reiterate Lithuania’s commitment to “supporting Ukraine until victory.” To show this sustained support, the Baltic state will deliver NASAMS air defense systems to Ukraine next month, according to Nausėda.

Portugal’s head of state, PresidentMarcelo Rebelo de Sousa, also arrived in Kyiv for a two-day visit on Wednesday, timed around celebrations marking Ukrainian Independence Day on Thursday.

De Sousa traveled alongside the Portuguese foreign minister,João Gomes Cravinho,to Kyiv and is set to meet Zelensky on Thursday, according to CNN affiliate, CNN Portugal.

The Portuguese leader visited the Kyiv suburb of Bucha on Wednesday, spending time at the Church of St. Andrew, where a mass grave was discovered in April 2022 after Russian forces withdrew from the area.

“What happened [here] was very intense, very shocking, very inhumane and inhuman, and that’s precisely why we are searching for the appropriate means for the trial and punishment,” the Portuguese president said.

The elite Alpha sniper unit of the Ukrainian security services, the SBU, granted CNN rare access to their team and details of their operations. The rough equivalent of the US Delta Force, the Alpha unit is used to strike high-value Russian targets, using often thermal scopes to hit Russian trench systems in the black of night.

One sniper called the tactic “sniper terror,” explaining: “That’s when we hit every target we spot. It demoralizes them and kills their will to do anything against us.”

The snipers met CNN at a locationthey requested not be disclosed, and asked not to be named. During their sight adjustment on a practice range, the suppressor flew clean off a Western-donated Barrett M82 sniper rifle mid-shot. The snipers said it had been used so muchthatit* fastenings had come loose.

The unit’s commander described a mission five weeks ago where they mistakenly ran into their rough Russian equivalent – a recon assault group. The unit had entered into a treeline and stumbled into the Russian group. “We opened fire, our guide was wounded,” he said. “We suppressed them, pulled him out, called in artillery and then watched them fall back with their wounded.”

They released to CNN a series of videos from their thermal scopes, showing multiple kills in the Robotine and Bakhmut areas.

Athirdsniper is a living symbol of how close it can get. His upper lip folds slightly inward –the work of anartillery shell explosion that hit his leg, chest and head. “It was unpleasant,” he said. “But I had 16 operations to rebuild my bones and teeth, and I got back to the fight.”

Not everyone he knows has been so lucky. “I have lost many friends – the best ones leave us first,” he said.

Among these hardened fighters,there is an acceptancethat this might be a multi-year war, impacting generations.

The third sniper said: “My son is growing up, he is little but he already trains, knows who is the enemy and that is Russia.”

Watch the team’s report below:

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02:23 - Source: cnn

Two teachers were killed and four people were injured when a Shahed drone hit a school in Romny, in the Sumy region in northeastern Ukraine, local authorities said Wednesday.

The attack - which destroyed the building - took place around 10 a.m. (3 a.m. ET), the Sumy region military administration said in a statement.

The bodies of at least two more of the school employees are believed to be under the rubble, Ukrainian police said.

“Rescuers and medics continue to work at the scene, and an emergency response headquarters has been deployed. A search and rescue operation is underway,” police added.

A Russian attack on the port of Izmail on the Danube River overnight destroyed 13,000 tons of grain meant for export, according to the Ukrainian Minister for Communities, Territories and Infrastructure Development.

The grain was destined to go to Egypt and Romania, Oleksandr Kubrakov said.

Private grain terminals, warehouses and cargo infrastructure were also damaged as a result of the attack by Shahed drones, Kubrakov added.

The export capacity of the port was reduced by 15%, he said, accusing Russia of systematically working to stop Ukrainian agricultural exports.

“In total, 270,000 tons of grain have been destroyed in a month of attacks on ports,” said Kubrakov.

Last month, Russia withdrew from a deal that allowed Ukrainian grain to be exported through the Black Sea.

On Tuesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Russia was “hypocritically blamed” for the current crisis in world markets, adding that his country “remains and will be a reliable food supplier to Africa.”

A top Russian general, Sergey Surovikin, has been relieved of his duties as head of the country’s aerospace amid mounting speculation as to his whereabouts.

Meanwhile, a Ukrainian drone attack has left three dead in Russia’s Belgorod region, and Kyiv’s forces say they destroyed a Russian air defense missile system in occupied Crimea.

Here are the latest headlines:

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that Moscow launched its invasion of Ukraine in order to end a war “unleashed by the West.”

“Our actions in Ukraine are solely aimed at ending the war unleashed by the Western nations and their allies in Ukraine against people living in Donbas,” Putin said in a video address at a summit of the BRICS nations – Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa – on Wednesday.

“We are thankful to our BRICS colleagues who are actively engaged in seeking a peaceful resolution to this situation,” he added.

In his speech, Putin also called upon BRICS member states, an economic group of major emerging economies, to increase their use of local currencies for international transactions.

Putin, who could not join the Johannesburg summit in person due to an international arrest warrant for his brutal invasion of Ukraine, added that the next BRICS summit may be held in the Russian city of Kazan in October 2024, but specific dates have yet to be determined through diplomatic channels.

The Ukrainian military said that it had destroyed a Russian S-400 missile system in Russian-occupied Crimea on Wednesday.

Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence, an arm of theMinistryofDefense,said the attack took place at 10 a.m. (3 a.m. ET) near the village of Olenivka on Cape Tarkhankut.

CNN geolocated a video of the explosion released by Defense Intelligence to the same area in Crimea.

The explosion “completely destroyed” the long- and medium-range S-400 Triumph missile system, as well as its missiles and personnel, Defense Intelligence said.

“Given the limited number of such systems in the enemy’s arsenal, this is a painful blow to the occupiers’ air defense system, which will have a serious impact on further events in the occupied Crimea,” it added.

Gen. Sergey Surovikin has just been relieved of his duties as the head of Russia’s aerospace forces, but mystery shrouds his continued role in the armed forces.

So, who is Surovikin? He has spent four decades in the Russian military, earning a reputation for brutality over the course of a career which began with him first seeing service in Afghanistan in the 1980s.

In August 1991, during theunsuccessful coup attempt against former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev, soldiers under Surovikin’s command killed three protesters. This led to him spending at least six months in prison, according to a book by the Washington DC-based thinktank the Jamestown Foundation.

By 2004, Surovikin was commanding a unit in the Second Chechen War, and he berated a subordinate so severely that the subordinate took his own life, according to Russian media accounts and at least two think tanks.

Notably, Surovikin also played an instrumental role in Russia’s operations in Syria in the 2010s – during which Russian combat aircraft caused widespread devastation in rebel-held areas - in the very role he was just relieved of: Commander-in-Chief of Russia’s aerospace forces.

In a 2020 report, Human Rights Watchnamed himas “someone who may bear ​command responsibility” for the dozens of air and ground attacks on civilian objects and infrastructure in violation of the laws of war​” during the 2019-2020 Idlib offensive in Syria. ​

The attacks killed at least 1,600 ​civilians and forced the displacement of an estimated 1.4 million people, according to HRW​​, which cited UN figures.

During his time in Syria, Surovikin was awarded the title of Hero of the Russian Federation.

In February 2022, Surovikin was sanctioned by the European Union in his capacity as head of the aerospace forces “for actively supporting and implementing actions and policies that undermine and threaten the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine as well as the stability or security in Ukraine.”

He was put in charge of Russia’s operations in Ukraine in October 2022, shortly after a major explosion severely damaged the Kerch bridge connecting the annexed Crimean peninsula to mainland Russia.

However, in January, the role was reassigned to Gen. Valery Gerasimov, chief of the Russian General Staff, and Surovikin was made one of his three deputies.

He has not been seen in public since the short-lived mutiny led by Wagner mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin in June, fueling unconfirmed rumors of his detention.

A new air force chief was named Wednesday in Moscow’s latest military establishment shake-up after Gen. Sergey Surovikin, who was also previously overall commander for operations in Ukraine, was reported by Russian state media to have been fired.

Speculation over Surovikin’s whereabouts has mounted in recent weeks after he vanished from sight following the Wagner mercenary group’s mutiny in June. Russian business outlet RBC reported citing sources that he is currently on holiday in between jobs.

Surovikin has been replaced by Gen. Viktor Afzalov, Chief of the General Staff of the Aerospace Forces, RIA Novosti reported.

This is not the first time Moscow’s defense ministry has reshuffled its military leadership. In June, Maj. Gen. Ivan Popov - a senior Russian general in command of forces in occupied southern Ukraine - said he was dismissed from his post after criticizing top brass for failing to provide sufficient support. His present location is also unknown.

Other blows to Russia’s faltering military have come with the deaths of Army Gen. Gennady Zhidko, who died last Wednesday at the age of 58 “after a long illness.” Zhidko had reportedly been Surovikin’s predecessor as theater commander in Ukraine last summer and had also served as Russia’s Eastern Military District Commander between May and October last year.

Meanwhile, Lt. Gen. Oleg Tsokov – deputy commander of the Southern Military District and a key figure in Russia’s defense of occupied areas in southern Ukraine – was reportedly killed in a Ukrainian missile strike in Berdyansk in early July.

The disappearances of multiple Russian generals have sparked questions over deficiencies and dissent among the upper echelons of Russia’s military leadership. Read more here.

CNN’s Tim Lister, Anna Chernova and Ivana Kottasova contributed to this post.

Three people were killed in a Ukrainian drone attack in Russia’s Belgorod region on Wednesday, the governor said on his Telegram channel.

Two people died when a Ukrainian drone dropped four shrapnel grenades near a sanatorium in the village of Lava, while another man died later from injuries, Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said.

The governor listed over 10 districts and villages in the border region that have come under Ukrainian artillery fire and drone attacks over the past 24 hours.

Separately, the Russian Ministry of Defense said it had intercepted and destroyed a drone over the region on Wednesday morning.

“Today, at about 11:30 Moscow time, an attempt by the Kyiv regime to carry out a terrorist attack with an aircraft-type unmanned aerial vehicle was thwarted,” the ministry said.

No casualties were reported in this attack, the ministry added.

Some context: Drone attacks have become an almost daily occurrence in the border province, which is located inside Russia and just 80 kilometers from Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv region.

Russian towns bordering Ukraine have also recently seen an uptick in cross-border attacks, with two people injured by shelling in Belgorod last week.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky previously said in July “the war is gradually returning to Russia’s territory.”

“Ukraine is getting stronger, and the war is gradually returning to Russia’s territory, to its symbolic centers and military bases,” Zelensky said in his daily address last month. “This is an inevitable, natural, and absolutely fair.”

Just below the surface of life’s deceptively normal rhythms in countries bordering Russia, the reality of what their giant neighbor is doing to Ukraine is never far away.

It’s not only because Russia’s border stands nearby, or becauseRussian President Vladimir Putin has suggested that, just as Moscow had a right to take over Ukraine, it could be justified inreclaiming the Baltic states—Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania—which spent decades under Soviet rule.

More than anything, the anxiety flows from the knowledge, from the memory, that Moscow hassent its tanksinto its neighbors’ territoriesso manytimesover the years.

Now, chapters that they thought had been safely relegated to the pages of history have taken on the menacing tint of reality.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky put it bluntly on Monday, when he thanked Denmark for pledging to provide Ukraine with F-16 fighter jets, which the Netherlands also agreed to give Ukraine.“All of Russia’sneighbors are under threat,”he said,“if Ukraine does not prevail.”He will find few who disagree among those neighbors.

“If [Russian President Vladimir] Putin wins in Ukraine, they will come here,”I was told in Latvia by Raivis, who works as a driver in Riga, the capital, but asked me not to use his full name. He remembers standing in the barricades as a teenager, joining the struggle for independence three decades ago.“Now Putin wants to make the Soviet Union again,”he said.

It’s a widely held belief. It’s why Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas, one of the most eloquent proponents of the need to support Ukraine, says Ukraine is Estonia’s own front line.“Ukraine,”she argues,“isfighting for all of us.”

Read the full opinion piece here.

Gen. Sergey Surovikin, the former leader of Moscow’s military campaign in Ukraine, has been dismissed from his position as the head of Russia’s aerospace forces, state media reported on Wednesday, citing unnamed sources.

Surovikin - known in Russia as “General Armageddon” due to allegations of his brutality - has not been seen in public since the short-lived mutiny led by Wagner mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin in June, fueling unconfirmed rumors of his detention.

Documents shared exclusively with CNN in June suggest that Surovikin was among at least 30 other senior Russian military and intelligence officials who were secret VIP members of Wagner.

As reported by RIA Novosti, Surovikin has been replaced by Gen. Viktor Afzalov, Chief of the General Staff of the Aerospace Forces.

“The ex-Commander-in-Chief of the Aerospace Forces of Russia, Sergey Surovikin, has now been relieved of his post. Colonel-General Viktor Afzalov, Chief of the General Staff of the Aerospace Forces, is temporarily acting as Commander-in-Chief of the Aerospace Forces,” an unnamed source told RIA.

The news of Surovikin’s removal was initially reported by prominent Russian journalist and former head of the now-closed Echo of Moscow radio station, Alexey Venediktov.

The journalist posted on his Telegram channel on Tuesday that Surovikin had been relieved of his post but would continue serving the Ministry of Defense in another capacity.

According to sources cited by Russia’s business news outlet RBC, Surovikin’s removal is due to a transfer to a different role, and states that he is currently on a short vacation.

Surovikin’s official bio on the Russian defense ministry’s website still lists him as the head of the aerospace forces.

CNN has reached out to the Russian defense ministry for comment.

Surovikin was made overall commander for Russian military operations in Ukraine last October. In January, the role was reassigned to Gen. Valery Gerasimov, chief of the Russian General Staff, and Surovikin was made one of his three deputies.

Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda is visiting Ukraine ahead of the country’s Independence Day celebrations on Thursday.

Lithuania has been a strong supporter of Ukraine since the start of the war and has pushed for a robust response to counter Russia.

In a post Wednesday on X, formerly known as Twitter, Nausėda shared a photo of himself arriving in Kyiv via train.

Ukrainians will commemorate the country’s 1991 declaration of independence Thursday, a year after Kyiv banned celebrations over fears of potential Russian attacks.

Russia launched a drone attack on a grain storage and cargo vessel shipping facility near the Danube River in Ukraine’s southern Odesa region, Ukrainian officials said Wednesday.

In a Telegram post, Odesa City Council said firefighters contained the resulting blaze but the attack damaged a production and transshipment complex.

No casualties were reported, regional military chief Oleh Kiper said.

Some context:Small ports on the Danube have become vital for Ukrainian grain exports following the collapse of theBlack Sea grain deallast month. Ukrainian officials say Russian forces are deliberately targeting port infrastructure on the river, as part of efforts to block the exports — posing a threat to food security in developing nations that rely on Ukrainian grain.

Airports in the Moscow region are operating normally after flights were temporarily restricted Wednesday “to ensure the safety of civil aircraft,” the Russian Federal Agency for Air Transport said.

“Due to the restriction of airspace use, two airplanes left for alternate airports. Passengers of these flights were delivered to the airports of destination,” the agency said.

Earlier, Russia’s defense ministry said it had thwarted a Ukrainian drone attack, the latest in a string of aerial assaults targeting the Russian capital that have disrupted flights and brought the war home to Russians.

Six people were injured after Russian forces dropped guided bombs on a kindergarten and residential buildings in Ukraine’s southern Kherson city, Ukrainian officials said Wednesday.

“The attack caused a fire, which was quickly extinguished by firefighters,” said Oleksandr Prokudin, head of the Kherson region military administration.

Kherson, a city of some 300,000 people before Russia’s invasion, was captured by Russian forces in March last year. The frontline city was liberated by Ukrainian forces about eight months later and since come under repeated Russian attacks.

International support for Ukraine is pouring in on the heels of a Ukraine-Balkans summit held in Athens, Greece.

TenBalkanandEuropeancountriessigned ajointdeclarationto express their support for Ukraine on Tuesday.

On the sidelines of the summit in Athens, Serbian PresidentAleksandar Vucic said his country — which has long tried to tread the line between its historical ties to Russia and a potential future of closer European integration — respects Ukraine’s territorial integrity.

Meanwhile back in Kyiv, Dutch Defense Minister Kajsa Ollongren assured in a meeting with her Ukrainian counterpart that the Netherlandswill remain a loyal partnerof Ukraine and will continue providing support.

Ukrainian President VolodymyrZelensky said he isreturning home“with new political support and new agreements,” after concluding his trip through Europe.

Here are other headlines you should know:

Russian air defenses thwarted a Ukrainian drone attack on Moscow early Wednesday, Russia’s defense ministry said, the latest in a string of aerial assaults targeting the Russian capital.

“Two of the UAVs […] were shot down over the territory of the Mozhaisky and Khimki districts of the Moscow region. A third was jammed before crashing into a building under construction in the Moscow City complex,” the ministry said in a Telegram post.

There were no casualties, it said.

CNN is unable to independently verify the ministry’s claims.

The alleged attack marks the fourth time in recent weeks that Moscow’s financial district has been targeted by suspected Ukrainian drones, according to a CNN tally.

At least five people were killed and three others injured as a result of Russian shelling on Ukraine’s Donetsk region, according to the region’s military administration on Tuesday.

The shelling happened in the Lyman district, said Pavlo Kyrylenko, head of the Donetsk region military administration.

Three residents were killed while sitting on a bench near a home in the village of Torske, while another villager “suffered multiple chest, shoulder and hip injuries,” according to the Donetsk regional prosecutor’s office.

In the village of Zakitne, “a 26-year-old man suffered a skull fracture and a brain contusion,” the office said.

The Russian shelling also killed two civilians and wounded another in Donetsk’s Yampil settlement on Tuesday, Kyrylenko said in an interview with Ukrainian media.

A total of 492,000 people remain in the Donetsk region as Ukraine continues evacuation efforts, according to Kyrylenko.

Two Ukrainian drones conducting reconnaissance near Crimea changed course after Russia activated fighter jets to prevent a possible violation of the state border, Russia’s defense ministry said Tuesday.

In a statement, the ministry said the MQ-9 Reaper and TB2 Bayraktar drones “changed their flight direction and left the areas of aerial reconnaissance,” after Russian jets were scrambled.

Earlier Tuesday, the defense ministry said Ukraine attempted a drone attack on facilities in Russia late Monday, but the drones were jammed by electronic warfare and crashed into the Black Sea northwest of Crimea.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he is returning home “with new political support and new agreements,” after concluding a trip through Europe Tuesday.

“We are returning home with new political support and new agreements. Everyone clearly reaffirms the territorial integrity of Ukraine,” Zelensky said in his evening address.

Zelensky said that at “almost all the meetings,” protecting export routes “through the Black Sea and through ‘solidarity corridors’ on land” was discussed.

Some more context:Over the past few days, Zelensky traveled to Sweden, the Netherlands, Denmark and Greece, where he attended a Ukraine-Balkans summit. He said he held talks on the sidelines of the summitwith Bulgaria, Serbia, Croatia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Moldova and President of the European CommissionUrsula von der Leyen.

“A very important agreement with Greece, for which I am particularly grateful to the Prime Minister, is Greece’s willingness to take patronage of the restoration of our Odesa. The decision is not only substantive but also very symbolic. It is filled with many historical and cultural meanings,” Zelensky said.

“The overall result of these days is that Ukraine has become stronger,” Zelensky said, adding he is grateful to Luxembourgfor joining the Group of Seven declaration on security guarantees for Ukraine.

Ukrainian forcesappear to have stepped up their efforts to weakenRussian air superiorityin the war by attacking bases that house supersonic warplanes deep inside Russian territory.

Kyiv said it had carried out a drone strike on the Shaykovka Russian military air facility some 200 kilometers (130 miles) northeast of the Ukrainian border on Monday. Over the weekend, Russia’s defense ministry said another Ukrainian drone hit the Soltsy military airfield in the Novgorod region, also hundreds of kilometers north of Ukraine.

Moscow’s dominance in the skies has been a majorobstacle for Ukraine’s counteroffensive. Ukrainian forces have been working their way through dense minefields and multiple layers of defenses along the frontlines in recent weeks, while regularly coming under attack from above.

That’s why Kyiv has made it a priority to get F-16 fighter jets from its allies. But while theNetherlands and Denmarkboth agreed this week to provide the aircraft, it will take many months before Ukrainianpilots are trainedup to use them. In the meantime, Ukraine seems to be trying to make a dent in Russia’s air power by targeting its air bases.

The Shaykovka military air base operates Tupolev Tu-22M3 supersonic long-range bombers that have been used by Russia to strike targets in Ukraine since the start of its full-scale invasion last year. Just last week, the Ukrainian air force reported that aircraft flying from Shaykovka had launched four Kh-22 cruise missiles towards Ukraine.

Andriy Yusov, a spokesperson for Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence, said a drone attack on the Shaykovka base in Russia’s Kaluga region on Monday left “at least one aircraft damaged.”

Speaking to Ukrainian media Liga.net, Yusov said the strike was carried out “in clear coordination with the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ukraine’s Defense Ministry,” adding that this specific task was carried out from within Russian territory.

Ukraine performs various tasks from inside Russia “in many other cases,” he added.

Read the full story here.