August 24, 2023 Russia-Ukraine, Prigozhin news

Vans said to be carrying the bodies of those who were on board the plane that crashed Wednesday were seen on Russian media arriving at the Tver Regional Bureau of Forensic Medical Examination.

The same black vans had been seen at the crash site earlier on Thursday.

Eight bodies were found at the crash site, Russian media reported on Wednesday. Wagner chief Yevegeny Prigozhin was listed as one of the passengers on board the downed plane.

Russian authorities have said efforts will be made to confirm the identity of the victims at the Tver morgue. 

A prominent figure among Russia's ultra-nationalist community, Alexander Dugin, spoke of Yevgeny Prigozhin as a "hero" following reports of the Wagner chief's presumed death.

Dugin shared an anecdote in which his daughter Darya -- who was killed in a bomb explosion in Moscow last summer -- described Prigozhin in glowing terms at the outset of the war.

Dugin added on his Telegram channel: "If the diabolical enemy kills our heroes with precision, it means that we have heroes."

The Russian security services said that Dugina's assassination was the work of Ukrainian intelligence. A Ukrainian defense intelligence official told CNN shortly after her death that Kyiv had nothing to do with it, though the US intelligence community believes that the bombing was authorized by elements within the Ukrainian government, sources briefed on the information told CNN in October.

A French government spokesman said many details about the plane crash that is presumed to have killed Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin "remain unknown."

When asked by French television station France 2 if he was surprised by the news of the crash, Olivier Veran said:

Veran added that Prigozhin was the man behind “Putin’s dirty work” and, if he is indeed dead, he would leave behind “a terrible mess” in large parts of the world. Veran said that Prigozhin's actions are “inseparable” from President Vladimir Putin’s politics. 

Veran also agreed with US President Joe Biden’s statement that “little happens in Russia that Putin is not behind,” saying that “on principle that is a truth we can establish.”

The Ukrainian military said its units have extended gains on the southern front in the Zaporizhzhia region and remain on the offensive around the eastern city of Bakhmut.

Novoprokopivka is south of the village of Robotyne, which the Ukrainians said Wednesday they fully controlled. 

Meanwhile, the General Staff said "in the Bakhmut sector, the Defense Forces continue to conduct offensive actions south of the city of Bakhmut, consolidating their positions."

Oleksandr Syrskyi, commander of Ukrainian Land Forces, said he had been working with commanders north and northeast of Bakhmut.

The General Staff also claimed the Russians had continued to conduct "unsuccessful offensives" in the areas of Avdiivka, Mariinka and Novomykhailivka in the Donetsk region. 

In the northeast: Ukrainian forces were also holding back Russian attempts to advance further north around Kupiansk in the Kharkiv region, as well as efforts to break through west of Svatove in neighboring Luhansk. In this area, the Ukrainians say the Russians have poured more forces into the battlefield. 

Altogether, the Russians launched 10 missile strikes and 57 airstrikes Wednesday, the General Staff said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky congratulated Ukrainians on Thursday as the war-torn country marks its 32nd Independence Day.

Calling “an independent Ukraine” what “we are fighting for,” Zelensky lauded the contributions from every citizen saying, “in a big war, there are no small deeds.”

He thanked all Ukrainians on the front lines along with the volunteers and families behind them. He also mourned the fallen soldiers, calling them “heroes who prevented us from losing Ukraine.”

The president also assured Ukrainians “under occupation” who have “waited and will witness the return of Ukraine.”

August 24 marks the anniversary of Ukraine's 1991 declaration that it would break with the Soviet Union.

A Moscow court has extended the pre-trial detention of Wall Street Journal journalist Evan Gershkovich by three months, the press service of the Lefortovo Court said Thursday.

Gershkovich's pretrial detention was due to end on August 30 but was extended until November 30.

Gershkovich faces up to 20 years in jail on espionage charges, which he and his employer vehemently contest

The US citizen was arrested in Russia in March in a sign of the Kremlin’s crackdown on foreign media news outlets since it invaded Ukraine last year.

Read more about Gershkovich's case here:

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Wreckage of the plane crash northwest of Moscow is scattered across a 2-kilometer debris field, Russian state media reported Thursday.

State-run news agency RIA Novosti also reported that one of the fragments of the plane is lying on the entry road into the village of Kuzhenkino, which is approximately 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) from the crash site. 

According to RIA, police officers cordoned off the fragment and several special services cars are parked nearby. 

Fatal journey: Wagner Group founder Yevgeny Prigozhin was on board the plane that crashed with no survivors, according to Russian authorities, just months after he launched a mutiny against Russia’s military leadership.

The Kremlin is yet to comment on the crash. The Russian Investigative Committee said earlier it had initiated "a criminal case" following the crash, while state aviation authority Rosaviation said a specially created commission "has begun investigating the circumstances and causes of the accident."

At least seven people have been injured following Russian missile strikes on Ukraine's Dnipropetrovsk region, a Ukrainian military official said Thursday.

A transport facility was destroyed in the airstrikes, and about a dozen buildings were damaged including a bank, a gas station, a hotel, and an agricultural company. Two residential buildings and water and gas pipelines were also damaged, Lysak added.

Among those injured by shrapnel are three men and four women, ages 32 to 55. Six of them were hospitalized and are in a "moderate condition," Lysak said.

The attacks also caused a fire that was later contained by the authorities, according to Mykola Lukashuk, head of the Dnipropetrovsk region council.

The plane that crashed reportedly carrying Wagner founder Yevgeny Prigozhin, was a private Embraer jet carrying seven passengers and three crew members, according to Russia’s emergency services ministry. 

It’s not yet clear what caused the plane to crash. Russian authorities said they are investigating and conducting search operations.

Here's what we know:

Expert points to possible explosion: “It’s coming down quickly in a spin, and it’s trailing a lot of smoke. So, this is an aircraft that was on fire. And it looks like some structural pieces, aerodynamic surfaces, were missing,” veteran science and aerospace reporter Miles O’Brien told CNN after reviewing footage of the plane’s fall.

It could be caused by an explosion either inside or outside the aircraft, O’Brien added — like an explosive going off on board, or the aircraft being hit by a missile. 

Read the full analysis here.