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Criminal investigation launched into the crash
A criminal investigation has been launched into the crash, Russia’s Investigative Committee said in a statement late Wednesday.
The committee said it launched a criminal probe looking into possible violation of the rules of traffic safety and operation of air transport.
Investigators have been dispatched to the scene of the crash to establish possible causes, it added.
Plane fragment found miles from crash site
A fragment of the plane that crashed with mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin listed as a passenger has been found more than two miles away from the site of the crash, Russian state news agency RIA reported.
A chunk of the plane’s tail was found near the entrance of a nearby village in the Tver region, the agency said, sitting just a few yards from a summer cottage of a local resident.
Another piece of debris was earlier found just over a mile from the crash site, according to RIA.
Putin addresses BRICS summit, does not mention Prigozhin or crash
Russian President Vladimir Putin addressed the BRICS summit in Johannesburg by video link Thursday, welcoming six new members who will join the bloc next year.
Putin did not mention Wednesday’s plane crash, and the Kremlin has yet to issue any official comment on the incident or Prigozhin’s fate.
Ukraine celebrates second wartime independence day
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy celebrated Ukraine’s second wartime Independence Day on Thursday, hailing Ukrainians as “free people.”
“The day of the free, the strong, and the dignified. The day of equals,” Zelenskyy posted on X, formerly known as Twitter.
In a video along with the post, he sent congratulations and expressed gratitude to every Ukrainian.
This year marks Ukraine’s 32nd Independence Day and the second since Russia invaded its neighbor. There were no major events planned due to fears of possible Russian attacks.
Ukraine has so far been almost entirely silent on the plane crash in Russia.
Bodies removed from crash site, sent to morgue for forensic analysis
The bodies of the 10 people who authorities say died in a plane crash in Russia’s Tver region were removed from the site of the crash and sent to a nearby morgue Thursday morning, Russian media reported.
Photos and video shared by news agencies, and also by Russian media, showed bodies being taken from the site and then delivered in black vans to a morgue in the city of Tver for forensic medical examination.
There has so far been no official confirmation about exactly whose bodies have been found or identified.
Russia extends detention of WSJ reporter Evan Gershkovich
Hours after the crash that allegedly killed Yevgeny Prigozhin, American journalist Evan Gershkovich had his detention extended by a Moscow court for another three months.
Gershkovich is accused of espionage and has been in jail since he was arrested in March awaiting a trial. His detention was expiring on Aug. 30, but he will now remain in jail until at least Nov. 30, according to the press service of the Lefortovo Court.
The United States and the Wall Street Journal, where he works, maintain he is innocent.
Gershkovich’s arrest came amid a harsh crackdown on any dissent in the country amid the war in Ukraine, including severe restrictions on freedom of speech for domestic and foreign media.
Top Russian general ‘fired’ after vanishing in wake of Wagner mutiny
Hours before the plane crash, news about the fate of another senior Russian figure emerged from Russian state media.
Gen. Sergei Surovikin, a top general who has been missing from public view since the mercenary rebellion, was dismissed as head of the country’s aerospace forces, Russian state media reported Wednesday.
The news followed months of speculation about Surovikin, who was known to have been close to Prigozhin.
Read the full story here.
Prigozhin was among passengers on jet that crashed, Russia says
Kremlin silent on fate of mercenary chief who challenged Putin
Yevgeny Prigozhin was listed as one of 10 people aboard the plane involved in Wednesday’s deadly crash north of Moscow, according to Russia’s aviation authorities.
But the Kremlin itself, and most notably Russian president Vladimir Putin, has so far been silent on the dramatic incident.
The fate of the mercenary chief — once a close ally of Putin before he clashed with Moscow’s military leadership then launched his aborted mutiny — will now hang over Russia’s elite.