Day 547 of the Invasion of Ukraine: Prigozhin and Wanger’s Leadership wiped out

Ukraine | August 24, 2023, Thursday // 11:39|  views

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Day 547 of the invasion of Ukraine. Summary of key events in the last 24 hours:

  • Norway will donate F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine
  • Baerbock: We know this pattern - sudden falls from a height
  • Ukraine has carried out a landing in the occupied Crimea
  • Sedoi replaces the Chef. Andrei Troshev can succeed Prigozhin at the head of "Wagner"
  • Prigozhin's body appears to have been identified
  • The bodies of Prigozhin and the other victims were found. Has the plane been shot down?
  • 30 seconds were enough for the end of Prigozhin’s plane
  • ISW: Kremlin destroys "Wagner", Putin ordered the downing of the plane with Prigozhin
  • Christo Grozev: I expect a better coup attempt against Putin
  • Ukraine celebrates Independence Day
  • Russia shelled the Dnipro again, Ukraine sent drones to Bryansk and Kaluga
  • European soldiers do not believe that Ukraine will take back the territories occupied by Russia
  • Budanov’s operation: Kyiv confirmed that the Russian Mi-8 entered service with the Armed Forces of Ukraine


Norway will donate F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine

Norway has a total of 57 F-16s. A part of them will now be donated to Ukraine, sources told TV2.

Norway thus becomes the third NATO country after the Netherlands and Denmark to donate F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine.

Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre is on an official visit to the capital Kyiv for the national holiday of Ukraine.

Denmark and the Netherlands will provide F-16 fighters from their own stocks to the Ukrainian forces. During his meeting with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Ukraine would receive 42 F-16s as part of a "breakthrough agreement".

The Danish prime minister also announced the provision of 19 F-16 fighter jets, with the first batch of six aircraft expected to arrive around New Year.

The transfer of the US-made F-16s would have to receive final approval from Washington. The White House has said it will give the green light to third countries to provide the planes once Ukrainian pilots have finished training.

Separately, Greece offered to train Ukrainian pilots.

Baerbock: We know this pattern - sudden falls from a height

The alleged death of Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin follows a pattern of "unexplained" deaths in Russia, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said, adding that it was no coincidence that the focus was on the Kremlin for answers, AFP reported.

"It's no accident that the world immediately looks to the Kremlin when a disgraced former Putin confidant suddenly, literally falls from the sky two months after his coup attempt," Baerbock said, referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"We know this pattern in Putin's Russia: deaths, suspicious suicides, sudden falls from windows, everything that remains unexplained, which highlights a dictatorial power system built on violence," she said at a news conference with the Kyrgyz foreign minister.

France stated that it has "reasonable doubts" about the cause of the plane crash.

"We still don't know the circumstances of this crash. We can have some reasonable doubts," said government spokesman Olivier Veran.

Ukraine has carried out a landing in the occupied Crimea

Ukraine announced that last night it carried out a landing on the Russian-occupied Crimea peninsula.

In the area of ​​Cape Tarkhankut in the southwestern part of the Crimean peninsula, a battle took place with the participation of vessels and aviation. The Ukrainian military has already returned after the special operation, reported Andriy Yusov from the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine.

A few days ago, the head of intelligence Kyrylo Budanov warned of "surprises" for the occupiers in Crimea.

President Volodymyr Zelensky commented on the landing, saying: "It is still too early to talk about the liberation of Crimea."

Sedoi replaces the Chef. Andrei Troshev can succeed Prigozhin at the head of "Wagner"

The 61-year-old former colonel of the Russian militia Andrei Nikolaevich Troshev with the call sign "Sedoi" (gray-haired) will most likely succeed Yevgeny Prigozhin, who died in a plane crash, in the military wing of his empire - PMC Wagner. Such an assumption is made by France24, and the appearance of the name of the former militiaman should not be a surprise, because Russian President Vladimir Putin personally ordained him in mid-July as the new head of the Wagnerites, and in the presence of Yevgeny Prigozhin.

In July, it became clear that Putin had met with the leadership and some of the senior staff of the "musicians". "Kommersant" told in detail about the meeting, and then probably that fragment, in which it is said that Vladimir Putin suggested that they continue to fight, as before, under the leadership of their direct commander - Andrei Troshev - Sedoi, seemed insignificant.

The meeting was held in Prigozhin's presence just five days after the abortive riot attempt and was attended by several dozen senior Wagner fighters. Putin told a Kommersant journalist close to the Kremlin, and when asked by the reporter how the militants reacted, Putin replied: "Many nodded their heads when I suggested this." According to other participants in the meeting, Prigozhin, whom the Kremlin master apparently dethroned, told the president that "the boys do not agree with this."

Sedoi, like Putin and Prigozhin, was born in Leningrad, now Saint Petersburg, on April 5, 1962, and served in the police, where he rose to the rank of colonel. He was an active participant in the Afghan and second Chechen wars, in Russia's military operations in Syria and has the distinction of Hero of the Russian Federation.

The photo of the Fatherland Day in the Kremlin in 2016 is known, where the Russian president is in the company of four aliases - Brodyagata, Sedoi, Ratibor and Wagner - PMC commanders Andrey Bogatov, Andrei Troshev, Alexander Kuznetsov and Dmitry Utkin, who died together with Prigozhin in the plane crash.

Troshev, like the deceased Utkin, has the status of a co-founder of "Wagner" and was the unofficial number 2 in it after Prigozhin - he performs the role of chief of staff and executive director. The name of Prigozhin's potential successor appears on the sanctions lists of Great Britain, the EU and Ukraine.

According to publications available on the Internet, he has an unbalanced character and is addicted to alcohol. On June 23, when Yevgeny Prigozhin headed for Moscow, Andrei Troshev refused to support the mutiny and, according to some military observers, left the PMC and ceased to be a member of the Wagner commanders' council.

Prigozhin's body appears to have been identified

The mortal remains of Yevgeny Prigozhin and Dmitri Utkin (his right hand with the call sign "Wagner" after which the private army is named) have been identified. This is claimed by a "Telegram" channel, connected to the power structures of Russia.

According to the channel, one of the commanders of "Wagner" recognized Prigozhin by the fact that he was missing part of a finger on one hand. Human rights activist Vladimir Osechkin described some time ago that this happened while he was in a prison colony in Soviet times, when they cut off the phalanx from his ring finger.

Utkin's remains were identified by his height and tattoos, confirmed Vladimir Rogov, leader of the pro-Russian movement "We are with Russia", composed of Ukrainian citizens who cooperated with the occupation army.

The bodies of Prigozhin and the other victims were found. Has the plane been shot down?

Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of the mercenary company "Wagner", who was at the head of the failed military uprising in Russia on June 24, was on board the private Embraer plane that crashed yesterday in the Tver region of Russia. This was stated in a Telegram message of the Federal Agency "Rosaviatsia", which published a list of passengers.

All 10 people on board the plane, seven passengers and three crew members, died.

The plane was traveling from Moscow to St. Petersburg. Together with Yevgeny Prigozhin, the commander of the "Wagner", Dmitry Utkin and Valery Chekalov, mentioned in the United States sanctions lists as close associates of Prigozhin, were on board.

Russian authorities have launched a criminal investigation into the cause of the crash.

Russian state media reported that the plane caught fire on impact after being in the air for less than 30 minutes.

The Wagner-affiliated Telegram channel “Gray Zone”, however, claimed the plane was shot down by the Russian military. Prigozhin was a key ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, but their relationship soured after Prigozhin led a failed rebellion against Russian military leaders in June.

The President of the United States, Joe Biden, said that he would not be surprised if the news about the death of Yevgeny Prigozhin turned out to be true. "Very few things happen in Russia that Putin is not behind," Biden added.

Ukrainian President Zelensky's adviser Mykhailo Podolyak is sure that Prigozhin was killed. On social networks, Podolyak wrote that the "demonstrational elimination" of Wagner's command is "a signal from Putin to the Russian elite" before next year's presidential elections, and this signal is: "Be careful, treason is tantamount to death!".

30 seconds were enough for the end of Prigozhin’s plane

Yevgeny Prigozhin's plane looked good on the radar until its last 30 seconds. Flight tracking data indicates that Embraer's Legacy 600 jet showed no signs of a problem until its crash.

Last night, the Russian aviation agency Rosaviatsia reported that the Wagner Private Military Company plane crashed with 10 people on board near the village of Kuzhenkino in Tver Oblast, that Prigozhin was on board and that he was dead. Footage of the burning plane also appeared on social networks.

The Russian Ministry of Emergencies announced that all seven passengers and three crew members had died. The agency also published a list of their names. On the plane - traveling from Moscow to St. Petersburg - were also the co-founder of "Wagner" Dmitry Utkin - mentioned in American sanctions lists as a close associate of Pritozhin, Sergey Propustin, Yevgeny Makaryan, Alexander Totmin, Nikolai Matuseev, Yevgeny Prigozhin and crew members Alexei Levshin - commander, Rustam Karimov - co-pilot and Kristina Raspopova - stewardess.

The plane crash happened exactly two months after the start of Yevgeny Prigozhin's failed coup attempt against Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Russian state media reported that the plane caught fire on impact after being in the air for less than half an hour.

The Wagner-affiliated Telegram channel Gray Zone, however, claimed the plane was shot down by the Russian military.

Minutes after the news of the plane crash, it became clear that a second "Wagner" Embraer ERJ-135BJ «Legacy 650» aircraft with flight number RA-02748 was also in the air and was flying from St. Petersburg to Moscow. According to the "Flightradar24" portal, it changed its route and after circling a little above Moscow, it landed at Vnukovo airport. Readovka claims that it is not known on which of the planes was the owner of PMC Wagner, who had a habit of using several flights to conceal his real location and route.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has not said a single word about Prigozhin since news of the plane crash broke. The first reactions after it were: "Putin eliminated his opponents".

At 15:19 GMT, the plane made a "sudden vertical drop", Flightradar24's Ian Petchenik told Reuters. Within about 30 seconds, the plane fell more than 2.4 km from its height of 8,534 m.

"Whatever happened, it happened quickly," says Petchenik.

"It's possible they struggled (with the plane) after whatever happened," he added. But before the plane's dramatic crash, there were "no signs that anything was wrong with this plane".

The video shows the plane descending rapidly, its nose pointing almost straight down, with a plume of smoke or steam behind it.

Russian investigators have launched a criminal investigation to determine what happened. Some unnamed sources told Russian media that they believe the plane was shot down by one or more surface-to-air missiles. Reuters could not confirm this.

Brazilian planemaker Embraer SA said that, in recent years, it had not provided any service or maintenance to the plane, which has about 13 seats.

ISW: Kremlin destroys "Wagner", Putin ordered the downing of the plane with Prigozhin

The Russian Ministry of Defense and the Kremlin destroy the PMC Wagner private military company and weaken Yevgeny Prigozhin's authority after the Wagner mutiny and killing of the top mercenary leadership is likely the final step in eliminating Wagner as an independent organization. Such conclusions are drawn by the team of the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) on Thursday. According to the think tank's latest report, "Putin almost certainly ordered the Russian military command to shoot down Prigozhin's plane."

Wagner Group founder and financier Yevgeny Prigozhin, co-founder Dmitry Utkin and company security chief Valery Chekalov were among those killed in Wednesday's Embraer Legacy 600 crash in the Tver region.

On the occasion of the Kremlin's efforts to destroy PMC "Wagner", ISW commented, citing inside sources from Russia, that the Russian Ministry of Defense has recently started forming new private military companies to replace the "musicians" in Africa. Two high-ranking commanders from Prigozhin’s mercenary group have already joined the MoD, and some personnel have begun to leave Belarus after Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko refused to fund the group. After the attempted riot, PMC Wagner was placed in an information blackout, possibly part of a deal between Lukashenko, Putin and Prigozhin himself, and this probably had a negative impact on Wagner's ability to recruit new mercenaries. The Russian Ministry of Defense and the Kremlin have effectively created conditions in which Prigozhin can no longer adequately support the "Wagner" contingent, the Washington-based institute believes. This, in the longer term, could have led to an outflow of fighters from Wagner and a loss of influence for Prigozhin himself.

"Putin's chef", no matter how sarcastic the dead leader's nickname may sound, was probably trying to counteract the destruction of "Wagner" by the Russian Ministry of Defense and the Kremlin. Prigozhin’s "hasty" departure to and from Africa was a reaction to the GRU's plans to undermine "Wagner's" presence in Africa. The deputy head of the GRU and head of the Special Operations Department, Colonel-General Andrey Averyanov, led the effort to completely block Wagner's operations in Africa, and there were plans to create and train an army corps of more than 20,000 men, which to replace "Wagner" on the continent. Prigozhin fiercely resisted this and made every effort to prevent Averyanov's plans. Averyanov, ISW recalls, was involved in other assassination attempts such as the poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal or Emilian Gebrev in Bulgaria, and it is possible that Russian officials took advantage of Prigozhin's panic and impulsiveness to liquidate Wagner's senior leadership.

The future of PMC "Wagner" without a leader remains uncertain, but according to ISW, the company has long developed a mechanism to mitigate the consequences of the possible deaths of Prigozhin and Utkin. “Almost certainly“, ISW analysts say, “Putin ordered Russian military command to shoot down Prigozhin's plane. It is extremely unlikely that parts of the Russian army, especially the Russian Minister of Defense Sergei Shoigu or the head of the General Staff Gen. Valery Gerasimov to execute Prigozhin without Putin's sanction”.

Putin may have felt that he had sufficiently separated Prigozhin from "Wagner" and could kill him without turning him into a martyr in the eyes of Wagner's remaining mercenaries. Alternatively, too, Putin may have decided that Prigozhin had crossed a pre-established red line in his efforts to retain Wagner's access to operations in Africa. Putin, Prigozhin and Lukashenko may have included an agreement in the deal that ended the Wagner rebellion and required Prigozhin to limit his and Wagner's media presence and/or curtail mercenary operations in Africa.

Prigozhin’s August 21 video claiming Wagner was expanding its presence in Africa and the subsequent increase in Wagner recruitment ads may have crossed a pre-established red line.

It is possible that Putin had intended to execute Prigozhin for some time and that the shooting down of Prigozhin’s plane on August 23 was a coincidence, although this is unlikely. Kremlin news channel RIA Novosti reported on August 23 that Putin had officially relieved Wagner-linked army general Sergei Surovikin as commander of the Russian Aerospace Forces and replaced him with Colonel General Viktor Afzalov. The official confirmation of Surovikin's dismissal in the Russian state media on the day of Prigozhin's assassination is probably no coincidence. The Kremlin likely intended both publicized punishments to send a clear message that the crackdown on those involved in the June 24 uprising was over and that Wagner's challenge to the Russian leadership was a settled matter.

Christo Grozev: I expect a better coup attempt against Putin

“It is not a psychic ability. This is simply following Russian history and what sources from Prigozhin's organization tell me,” commented the investigative journalist on the air of "Nova TV".

He made a prediction from the end of July that either the leader of "Wagner" will be killed or another coup attempt in Russia is coming before the end of the year.

He expects a better attempt at a coup by Prigozhin's supporters and suggested that a similar initiative could be taken by General Surovikin, the commander of the Air Force who was fired yesterday, and was ousted because of his sympathies with Prigozhin.

Ukraine celebrates Independence Day

Ukraine celebrates its Independence Day. On this day in 1991, the Verkhovna Rada of the then Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic adopted the Declaration of Independence, thus marking the beginning of the modern Ukrainian state.

President Volodymyr Zelensky met with US senators - Democrats Elizabeth Warren and Richard Blumenthal, as well as Republican Lindsey Graham. He briefed them on the situation at the front and Kyiv's strategic goals.

Meanwhile, Russian air defense systems have neutralized three drones overnight, the Defense Ministry said in a statement. One was shot down over Kaluga, and two over Bryansk region.

Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport has stopped operating for a short time. This is the seventh night in a row of drone attacks on Russian territory. Ukraine has not commented on the attacks.

Russia shelled the Dnipro again, Ukraine sent drones to Bryansk and Kaluga

Russia carried out another night strike against Dnipro, seven people were injured, an object of the transport infrastructure was hit. Missiles also flew against Lviv and five other regions in Ukraine. At the same time, Ukraine continues with drone attacks inside the Russian Federation - this time in the direction of Kaluga and Bryansk regions. This was summarized on Thursday morning by the news agencies in Moscow and Kyiv.

On Ukraine's Independence Day, the Russian army fired several rockets at Dnipro, one of the rockets was shot down, reported the head of the Dnipropetrovsk regional administration, Sergey Lisak. "But there are also damages. A transport facility was affected. Seven people were injured: three men and four women aged 32 to 55. They mainly suffered from lacerations and shrapnel injuries. Six were hospitalized with a moderate condition," Lisak explained. Several buildings, water supply, gas pipeline, several buses and cars were also damaged. Lisak did not specify which transport facility was hit.

The Russian army has shelled Lviv, Dnipro and five regions of Ukraine, with authorities in Kyiv reporting five deaths.

For the past 24 hours, according to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the Russians have carried out 10 missile and 57 air attacks against Ukraine, as well as 70 attacks from rocket systems for volley fire on positions of the Ukrainian army and populated areas.

At the same time, the Ministry of Defense of Russia announced that three Ukrainian drones were shot down on the territory of the country during the night. Two aircraft-type drones were shot down over Bryansk Oblast, and another over Kaluga. The ministry did not specify details, nor whether there were any casualties or damage as a result of the Ukrainian attack. Bryansk Oblast borders Ukraine, Kaluga is located between it and Moscow Oblast.

European soldiers do not believe that Ukraine will take back the territories occupied by Russia

The military leadership of the European Union expressed doubts that Ukraine will regain the territories lost during the war with Russia, reported the German newspaper "Welt", quoted by BTA.

"It remains questionable whether Ukraine's full sovereignty can be restored with the available resources," said Robert Briger, chairman of the EU's Military Committee, the union's highest military body.

Regarding the Ukrainian counteroffensive that began in June, Briger said he was "cautious in his expectations of a breakthrough by Ukrainian forces through Russian defense lines," Reuters noted.

Kyiv attempted to attack Russian targets with three more drones that night, two of which were destroyed by Russian air defense systems over the Bryansk region and one over the Kaluga region, the Russian Ministry of Defense told journalists, quoted by BTA.

"Tonight, an attempt by the Kyiv regime to carry out terrorist attacks with aviation-type drones was foiled. Two drones were destroyed by anti-aircraft defenses over the territory of the Bryansk Region, and another over the territory of the Kaluga Region," said the ministry.

Budanov’s operation: Kyiv confirmed that the Russian Mi-8 entered service with the Armed Forces of Ukraine

Details are coming out about the Russian Mi-8 military helicopter that landed at one of the military bases of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Kyiv confirmed that it was an operation prepared for nearly half a year by the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense.

The structure headed by the legendary Major General Kyrylo Budanov organized the transfer of the Russian combat helicopter to the ranks of the Ukrainian Air Force.

Earlier today, the editor-in-chief of the portal "Censor.net" Yury Butusov through his Telegram channel, told how the Russian helicopter with its entire crew flew to Poltava airport quite deliberately.

After the story became available to the media, GUR submitted clarifications. It turns out that the Russian helicopter did not fly to the city of Poltava, but landed near the border in the Kharkiv region. Ukrainian intelligence had infiltrated the pilot of the machine while the other two on board were unaware of what was happening. According to some reports, they were killed. The conspirator's family was taken out of Russia in advance.

It is noted that the helicopter is completely intact and will be able to be used for the needs of the Armed Forces after a detailed inspection and study of the equipment.

Andriy Yusov, the representative of the Main Directorate of Intelligence of Ukraine, confirmed that such an event did take place, but avoided details.

Novinite is still the only Bulgarian media that publishes a summary of events and highlights related to the conflict, every single day. Our coverage began on day one - 24.02.2022 and will not stop until the war has concluded. Despite the pressure, our independent media will continue to provide its readers with accurate and up-to-date information. Thank you for your support! #stayinformed

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Tags: Ukraine, Russia, Prigozhin, Putin

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