Live blog: All bodies recovered from Wagner head plane crash site – Russia

Friday, August 25, 2023

2010 GMT – The bodies of all 10 people have been recovered from the site of Wednesday’s plane crash in Russia’s northwestern Tver region, the country’s Investigative Committee said.

In a statement, the committee said that it has also recovered the flight recorders from the site.

"A detailed examination of the scene continues. At present, items and documents that are important for establishing all the circumstances of the crash were also seized, and the necessary forensic examinations will be ordered," the statement said.

The committee said all possible scenarios related to the crash will be thoroughly examined, and to establish the identities of the victims, molecular-genetic tests are being carried out.

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Russia hits Biden for remarks on Prigozhin's plane crash

Russia has criticised US President Joe Biden for expressing his lack of surprise that Wagner mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin had been killed in a plane crash and cautioned that it was not appropriate for Washington to make such remarks.

Biden had said that he was not surprised by reports about Prigozhin's death, adding that not much happens in the country that President Vladimir Putin is not behind.

"I’m not surprised," Biden said.

"There is not much that happens in Russia that Putin is not behind, but I don’t know enough to know the answer."

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said such remarks illustrated Washington's disregard for diplomacy.

"Still, it is not for the U.S. president, in my opinion, to talk about such tragic events of this kind," Ryabkov was quoted by the state TASS news agency as saying.

1055 GMT – Russia's censorship bodies' spending up over 60 percent since Ukraine offensive -monitoring firm

Russia's online censorship agencies have increased spending by more than 60 percent since Russia's February 2022 offensive against Ukraine, data from a monitoring firm showed, with regions bordering Ukraine accounting for the largest jumps in spending.

The research, published by monitoring firm Top10VPN, analysed almost 4,000 documents, including those found on state procurement website zakupki.gov.ru, and details the more than $57 million in spending by state communications regulator Roskomnadzor and its subsidiaries since the war began.

Roskomnadzor did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Top10VPN research last year showed how demand in Russia for virtual private networks (VPNs) had skyrocketed after Moscow restricted access to Meta Platforms' Facebook and Instagram platforms.

Roskomnadzor has blocked access to thousands of online resources since then, particularly Russian-language independent news, depriving Russians of information in their native language about the war in Ukraine, which Russia calls a "special military operation".

0948 GMT – Russia warns of 'severe' sentences for arson of state buildings

Moscow's FSB security services accused Kiev on Friday of manipulating Russians to set fire to government buildings, warning that such "terrorist" acts had seen jail terms of up to 19 years being handed out.

Since Russia sent troops to Ukraine last year, there have been frequent reports of attacks on army enlistment offices and railway sabotage.

The FSB warned Kiev was trying to "recruit" Russians online, offering "quick money" and "persuading (them) to commit arson of administrative buildings."

The powerful structure said sentences of "up to 19 years" had been handed out across Russia – from the Moscow region to the Russian Far East – and courts are examining 22 more cases.

0922 GMT – Ukraine's emergency service chief dismissed: interior minister

Serhiy Kruk, the head of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine, has been dismissed, Ukraine's Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said on Friday.

Ihor Klymenko gave no reasons for Kruk's dismissal, but said it followed an internal check of the service and that Kruk's deputy would serve as its acting head.

0233 GMT – Biden congratulates Zelenskyy on Ukraine's Independence Day

US President Joe Biden has spoken by phone with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy, during which he reiterated his country’s commitment to supporting Ukraine's defence against Russian aggression.

During the phone call, Biden congratulated Zelenskyy on Ukraine's Independence Day and commemorated the 18 months since the start of Russia’s offensive in Ukraine, according to a White House statement.

"President Biden reiterated the US commitment to support Ukraine's defence against Russian aggression for as long as it takes and to hold Russia accountable for its actions," it said.

"President Biden and President Zelenskyy discussed the commencement of training of Ukrainian fighter pilots and assurance of expedited approval for other nations to transfer their F-16s to Ukraine upon completion of training to increase Ukraine’s defensive capabilities," it added.

0151 GMT – Russia says it thwarted missile strike in Kaluga, destroyed drones off Crimea

Air defences have thwarted a Ukrainian missile attack in the Kaluga region southwest of Moscow, and several drones were destroyed off Crimea, Russian authorities said, with no reports of damage or casualties.

A missile sent by Kiev "was detected and destroyed by air defence systems over the territory of Kaluga region," Moscow's Defence Ministry said in a statement.

The airspace above Moscow's Vnukovo and Domodedovo airports was closed, the TASS news agency reported on Friday, citing aviation services and without specifying why.

"Several UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) were destroyed over the sea in the area of Cape Khersones" in Crimea, Mikhail Razvozhayev, the Moscow-backed governor of Sevastopol, wrote on Telegram.

The ministry said there were 42 drones in total; nine of them were destroyed by air defence forces, while 33 were suppressed by electronic warfare and crashed without reaching their targets.

0034 GMT – A group of Russian militants who fight on the Ukrainian side called on the Wagner Group of mercenaries to switch sides and join their ranks to avenge the deaths of Wagner founder Yevgeny Prigozhin and their commander Dmitry Utkin.

"You are facing a serious choice now — you can stand in a stall of Russia's Defence Ministry and serve as watchdogs for executors of your commanders or take revenge," commander of the Russian Volunteer Corps (RVC) Denis Kapustin said in a video address.

"To take revenge, you need to switch to Ukraine's side," the commander said.

RVC commander Kapustin, a far-right Russian national, founded the armed group a year ago.

For our live updates from Thursday (August 24), click here.