Ukraine updates: World questions news of Prigozhin's death

White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan and his counterparts from France, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom reaffirmed their support for Ukraine at a meeting in Washington on Friday.

The officials also said they remain committed to Ukraine's reconstruction after the war.

The meeting coincided with the BRICS summit in South Africa, where the bloc announced its expansion.

Sullivan and the other national security advisors discussed the upcoming G20 summit in New Delhi which they hope will demonstrate "the G20's role as the premier forum for economic cooperation, driving an affirmative and ambitious agenda for developing and emerging countries."

The United States announced fresh sanctions against Russian individuals over what rights groups call the forced transfer of thousands of Ukrainian children since Moscow's invasion.

"Russia's campaign of cruelty continues to this day," said Linda Thomas-Greenfield, US ambassador to the United Nations.

"The United States will not stand by as Russia carries out these war crimes and crimes against humanity."

The sanctions will hit 11 individuals, including a number of regional officials responsible for "children's rights."

The sanctions also include the Artek "summer camp" in Crimea and an alleged re-education camp for children in Chechnya.

"You will hear Russian officials say that their transfers of children are part of 'humanitarian evacuations.' But this is a gross perversion of reality, and a futile attempt to justify the unjustifiable," Thomas-Greenfield added.

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier marked Ukraine's Independence Day by welcoming the Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra to Berlin.

"We all know that this is not a normal orchestra and not a normal concert," Steinmeier said.

"The Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra is made up of refugee musicians and Ukrainian members of European orchestras who have come together as part of this special initiative."

"They are fighting a musical battle for peace and freedom in Ukraine, sending a message of courage, hope and confidence with their music."

Steinmeier also said it was fitting for the orchestra to include Berlin in its tour of eight European cities.

"A great many refugees have come to this city and have been taken in here from the very first days of the war," he said.

Steinmeier closed by saying Germany remains "firmly" by Ukraine's side in its fight against Russian aggression and on its path to European Union membership.

DW's chief political correspondent Nina Haase said Steinmeier's comments were a major show of support for Ukraine and its EU membership prospects.

"That is something. The German president is not normally somebody who gives political speeches, he is more the father figure of a nation," she said.

"But Frank-Walter Steinmeier very clearly expressed his own wish that Ukraine is seen as a country that has now chosen to be a democratic state under the rule of law, and as such it needs to be integrated into European structures that will last for the next decades."

Russia will return to the Black Sea grain deal only if the West fulfills its obligations to Moscow, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

"In response to a question from the UN secretary-general about the prospects for resuming the Black Sea initiative, Sergey Lavrov reiterated Moscow's position … about its readiness to return to participation in it only if all obligations to the Russian side are actually fulfilled," the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

Russia withdrew from a UN-sponsored agreement to allow for the export of foodstuffs from Ukrainian ports in June. Kyiv has opened what it calls a humanitarian corridor , but Moscow countered it would consider vessels in the region enemy ships. 

Russia's presence in Africa has depended heavily on the Wagner Group, headed by Yevgeny Prighozin. But now there is uncertainty about the private military's role after his apparent death in a plane crash in Russia.

Fidele Gouandjika, an advisor to Central African Republic (CAR) President Faustin-Archange Touadera, said that bilateral relations between his country and Russia would remain the same.

"We have a defense agreement with Russia, and the paramilitarias who are with us will continue their work as before. They will find another chief," he told DW.

"As for trade relations, we have a mining license, a brewery and a forestry license with the Russians. That will not change, even if Yevgeny Prigozhin is no longer there."

Read all about Wagner Group activities in Africa here. 

 

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday called Wagner Group founder Yevgeny Prigozhin a talented man who made mistakes and said an investigation would look into the circumstances of the plane crash.

In televised comments, the Russian president also went on to offer his condolences to Prigozhin's family.

"First of all I want to express words of sincere condolences to the families of all the victims," Putin said, describing Prigozhin as a man who made serious mistakes but "achieved results."

Russian investigators opened a criminal probe into the crash, but there has been no official word from Moscow on what may have caused it.

Before Putin's comments, there had been no official confirmation of Prigozhin's death beyond a statement from the aviation authority saying he was on board.

German lawmaker Marcus Faber of the business-focused Free Democratic Party (FDP) said Prigozhin's presumed death is a "strength in the short run for Putin, and a weakness in the long run" in the interview with DW.

Faber said: "Putin has proven he can kill everybody within Russia. In the long run, I think it makes him weaker because now everybody knows there can be no compromise with him."

He said the signal Putin is sending, loud and clear and added "his regime will still continue to use this infrastructure and just install a kind of new leadership within the Wagner Group, which will then run the operations, as we have seen in the last years."

Norway will donate F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store said during a surprise trip to Kyiv on Thursday.

Store said the exact number of jets would be determined after discussions with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. He said the figure would likely be less than 10.

"But Ukraine can count on Norway to make a contribution," Store told Norwegian media.

The prime minister's office did not immediately confirm the announcement.

The surprise announcement makes Norway the third European country and the third NATO member to donate F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine, after Denmark and the Netherlands.

Store announced earlier that Norway would also supply Ukraine with Iris-T anti-air missiles, demining equipment, and a 1.5 billion kroner ($141 million; €130 million) in energy aid.

European Union foreign affairs spokesman Peter Stano said reports of Prigozhin's death were difficult to verify.

"Hardly anything that comes out of Russia these days is credible," he said.

He said that commenting on the possible political consequences of Prigozhin's death "would be pure speculation."

Stano said he did not expect the Wagner group's activities in Ukraine, Syria and Libya to cease due to the private paramilitary's links to the Kremlin.

Marina Miron, a defense analyst from King's College in London, told DW that it's hard to ascertain whether Prigozhin is dead.

"It's very difficult because we don't really have any sort of verification," she said.

A second plane belonging to Prigozhin's was apparently safe, she said.

"What we know is that his name was on the passenger list, but we don't know if he was on the plane," she said, adding that "traveling together with another high profile person on the same plane would seem very unlikely."

Wagner founder Dmitry Utkin is also presumed to have died in the plane crash that allegedly killed Prigozhin.

Miron said Prigozhin's death, if it was a targeted killing by the Kremlin, "would be a hallmark of Putin's revenge."

"His death, if he's dead, had to be equally spectacular as to show who is still in power and that Putin will not tolerate any treason or disloyalty," she said.

Asked about the possible fate of the Wagner mercenaries without Prigozhin, she said: "I don't think they have the power to stand up or to organize any sort of their own rebellion (…) This alleged assassination is another display of what will happen if you actually do go against the regime."

"Nothing has really changed. And even during his mutiny, it didn't really have any effect on what was happening on the battlefield," she said, referring to the Wagner uprising in late June.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has said the plane crash that reportedly killed Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin was the latest in a "pattern" of "unclarified" deaths in Russia.

"We know this pattern in Putin's Russia: deaths, dubious suicides, falls from windows, all which remain unclarified — that underlines a dictatorial power system that is built on violence," she said during a press conference with Kyrgyzstan's foreign minister.

"It is no accident that the world immediately looks at the Kremlin when a disgraced former confidant of Putin suddenly, literally falls from the sky two months after he attempted a mutiny."

A Russian court has fined the streaming service Twitch due to content related to the war in Ukraine.

The fine of three million rubles ($31,785, €29,325) was handed to the service for failing to delete content that the court said provided inaccurate information on the conflict.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy commemorated Ukraine's Independence Day in a video message.

Zelenskyy called for unity and thanked citizens for their efforts and sacrifices.

"Everyone who works and gives work to others is important," he said.

He said that all Ukrainian taxpayers had helped support the armed forces and ensure Kyiv's victory.

Ukraine declared its independence from the Soviet Union on August 24, 1991.

Ukraine's military intelligence has said special units carried out an overnight operation in Russian-occupied Crimea, among other things raising the Ukrainian flag there.

 "Special forces landed on the shore near the area of Olenivka and Mayak settlements ... the enemy suffered losses among personnel, enemy equipment was destroyed. Also, the Ukrainian flag flew again in the Ukrainian Crimea," Ukraine's GUR military intelligence said on Telegram.

It added that "all goals" had been achieved but declined to say what they were.

The report has not been independently verified.

Russia annexed the Crimean Peninsula in 2014, a move regarded as illegitimate by the vast majority of countries. 

The Kerch Bridge linking the Russian mainland with the peninsula, which was completed in 2018, has been the target of several Ukrainian attacks since Moscow began its invasion of its neighbor in February 2022.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy vowed on Wednesday to end Russia's occupation of Crimea although there are no signs that Russia is preparing to give it up as yet.

Norway has said it will supply IRIS-T anti-aircraft missiles and mine clearing equipment to Ukraine as Kyiv tries to repel invading Russian forces.

The announcement came as Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere paid a visit to Kyiv on Thursday.

"Support with air defense has been decisive in preventing Russia from taking control of the airspace, and has thus averted great civilian suffering and military losses," a statement said.

The missiles can be launched from units donated by Sweden, it added.

The demining equipment is also likely to be very welcome to Ukrainian troops, with the huge number of mines laid by Russian troops posing one of the main challenges for Ukraine's army as it seeks to recapture occupied territory.

Stoere also said Norway would help Ukraine secure its gas and power supply and would send equipment for repairing critical electricity infrastructure. 

In addition, Norwegian broadcaster TV2 reported on Thursday that Oslo had decided to donate F-16 combat aircraft to Ukraine, citing unnamed sources.

If the report is confirmed, Norway would become the third nation after the Netherlands and Denmark to announce donations of F-16 jets. Stoere did not mention the aircraft during his visit.

Russia's Defense Ministry meanwhile said on Thursday that it had scrambled an MIG-31 jet to intercept a Norwegian military plane over the Barents Sea near the two countries' Arctic border.

According to Russian news agencies, it was the second such incident in two days.