This was CNBC's live blog tracking developments on the war in Ukraine on Aug. 23, 2023. [Follow the latest updates here.]
The chief of Russian mercenary group Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, is believed to have been killed in a plane crash, Russian state media reported Wednesday.
The aircraft, a business jet, crashed in the Tver region northwest of Moscow, with all 10 people onboard killed, according to Russia's state news agency TASS. Prigozhin was on its list of passengers. While Russian officials said that Prigozhin was on the passenger list, it was not immediately clear if he was in the aircraft.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday blamed "the West and its satellites" for unleashing war, repeating to allied nations his ongoing justification for Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Speaking remotely to the BRICS summit currently underway in South Africa, Putin reiterated his claims that its conflict with Kyiv was in response to actions by the West, including the expansion of NATO.
Russia said Wednesday that it had thwarted an overnight Ukrainian drone strikes on Moscow, in the sixth consecutive day of similar reported incidents on the capital.
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Two educators were killed and three more people injured in a Russian attack on a school in the city of Romny in the Sumy region of northeastern Ukraine, the country's interior minister said Wednesday.
Investigation into plane crash is ongoing, Russian transport agency says
"A specially established commission of the Federal Air Transport Agency has begun investigating the circumstances and causes of the accident with the Embraer-135 (EBM-135BJ) aircraft, which occurred on August 23 in the Tver region," Rosaviatsiya, the Russian Federal Agency for Air Transport, said in a post on its official Telegram channel, according to an NBC translation.
"According to preliminary data, there were seven passengers and three crew members on board the aircraft, which was en route from Moscow to St. Petersburg," the agency said.
"The Commission of the Federal Air Transport Agency is launching initial actions at the scene of the accident, and has also begun collecting factual materials on the training of the crew, the technical condition of the aircraft, the meteorological situation on the flight route, the work of dispatch services and ground radio equipment," Rosaviatsiya added.
"At this stage of the investigation, specialists will also have to search for on-board means of objective control for their subsequent decoding and analysis of the black box records. The investigation into the incident continues."
— Natasha Turak
Secretary of State Blinken comments on Prigozhin case
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken commented on the developing situation Wednesday.
"The fact that Prigozhin made a direct challenge to Putin's authority, the fact that he questioned publicly the very premises that Putin has advanced for the aggression against Ukraine – that's playing out and will continue to play out," Blinken told MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell when asked about the incident.
"We've seen the ongoing drama, too, of where is Prigozhin, what is the arrangement with Putin?" he added. "If I were Mr. Prigozhin, I would remain very concerned. NATO has an 'Open Door' policy; Russia has an open windows policy, and he needs to be very focused on that."
The "open windows policy" was a tongue-in-cheek reference to the fact that numerous prominent Russian officials and businessmen who fell out of favor with Putin died by what local authorities described as falling out of windows or off of balconies.
— Natasha Turak
If confirmed, Wagner chief death should be 'no surprise,' White House says
U.S. National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said that, if confirmed, Prigozhin's death should come as no surprise.
"We have seen the reports. If confirmed, no one should be surprised," Watson said. "The disastrous war in Ukraine led to a private army marching on Moscow, and now — it would seem — to this."
The 62-year old paramilitary leader, once a close confidant of Russian President Vladimir Putin's, led a short-lived mutiny against the Russian government in late June after spending months vocally criticizing his country's top brass.
An apparent deal was made between Prigozhin and Putin after the aborted coup, which was meant to see the Wagner Group leader and his forces relocate to Belarus, with Prigozhin himself pledging to leave Russia for good. It is unclear why the aircraft he was listed as being on was near Moscow.
— Natasha Turak
Biden briefed on developing situation, White House says
U.S. President Joe Biden has been briefed on the Russian plane crash that is believed to have been carrying Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin and nine others, a White House spokesperson told NBC.
Biden has not publicly commented on the developing situation. It remains unconfirmed whether Prigozhin himself was on board the aircraft.
Prigozhin on passenger list of crashed jet, Russian transport agency confirms
"An investigation of the Embraer plane crash that happened in the Tver Region this evening was initiated. According to the passenger list, first and last name of Yevgeny Prigozhin was included in this list," Russia's Federal Agency for Air Transport said in a statement.
The plane was flying from Sheremetyevo Airport to St. Petersburg, state news agency TASS reported, according to a Google translation.
— Natasha Turak
Russian emergency services are conducting search operations, ministry says
Russia's Ministry of Emergency Services wrote on its Telegram account: "In the Tver region, near the village of Kuzhenkino, a private Embraer Legacy aircraft crashed while flying from Moscow to St. Petersburg. There were 10 people on board, including 3 crew members."
"According to preliminary information, all on board were killed. EMERCOM of Russia is conducting search operations," the post read, according to a Google translation.
— Natasha Turak
Wagner boss Prigozhin killed in plane crash with nine others, Russian authorities say
The chief of Russian mercenary group Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, is feared dead in a plane crash, Russian state media reported Wednesday.
The aircraft, a business jet, crashed in the Tver region northwest of Moscow, with all 10 people on board killed, according to Russia's state news agency Tass. Prigozhin was on its list of passengers.
The 62-year old paramilitary leader, once a close confidant of Putin's, led a short-lived mutiny against the Russian government in late June after spending months vocally criticizing his country's top brass. His forces, known for their particularly violent battlefield tactics, spearheaded a number of battles for Russia on the Ukrainian front.
— Natasha Turak
Zelenskyy vows to end Russian occupation of Crimea, defends strategy
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy vowed on Wednesday to end Russia's occupation of Crimea, and deflected criticism of Kyiv's handling of a grinding counteroffensive.
Russia seized and annexed the Crimea peninsula in 2014 in a move not recognized by most other countries, and has occupied other parts of Ukraine in the south and east since its full-scale invasion in February 2022.
Ukrainian troops began their counteroffensive to regain lost territory in early June, but progress has been slow as they encountered vast Russian minefields and trenches, particularly in the southeast.
"Crimea will be de-occupied like all other parts of Ukraine that are unfortunately still under the occupier," Zelenskyy said in a defiant speech to an international conference on Crimea in Kyiv.
He said Ukrainian troops were advancing in the counteroffensive but set no time frame for retaking Crimea or other occupied territory.
— Reuters
Ukrainians celebrate National Flag Day in ceremony in Lviv and on the battle field
Ukrainians celebrate National Flag Day in muted ceremony. Due to the Russian-Ukrainian war and the possibility of missile fire by the Russians, the celebrations were very short. A minute of silence was observed to commemorate all those who died in the struggle for Ukraine's independence, the flag was raised, and the battle flags of various military brigades participating in the Russian-Ukrainian war were presented.
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China's Xi says BRICS should aid in global de-escalation
Chinese leader Xi Jinping urged BRICS nations to act as mediators over pressing international issues, speaking at a plenary session at the BRICS summit in Johannesburg, South Africa.
"It is necessary to actively act as mediators in solving the key problems, facilitate the political settlement of issues, de-escalation and removal of tensions," Xi said.
The Chinese premier has called for an end to the Russia-Ukraine conflict, but refrained from criticizing Russia and vocally praises his country's friendship with Moscow. China has proposed a peace plan for the warring countries, but it was met by criticism from Ukraine and its Western allies who say it favored Russia.
Beijing has recently become more active in international mediation, overseeing negotiations that achieved rapprochement between longtime adversaries Iran and Saudi Arabia.
— Natasha Turak
Russia prepares decree to unfreeze and swap assets with foreign investors
Russian authorities are working on a draft presidential decree to give the country's retail investors a way to unblock their frozen assets held in overseas accounts and sell them to foreign parties, the central bank said on Wednesday.
International sanctions against Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine have blocked many Russian investors' access to securities held in jurisdictions outside the country, while Russian countermeasures have frozen Western funds within.
The central bank said the volume of assets "unblocked" would initially be limited and primarily aimed at retail investors, the bulk of whose investments in securities are held with Russian brokers at foreign accounting institutions.
It was not yet clear whether European clearing houses Euroclear and Clearstream, or financial regulators in Europe, would reciprocate. Euroclear and Clearstream did not respond to requests for comment.
— Reuters
Kyiv displays destroyed Russian military equipment for Independence Day in Ukraine
Dedicated to the Independence Day of Ukraine on August 24, Kyiv organizes an exhibition of destroyed Russian military equipment on the central street of Kyiv.
Russia's Danube attack destroys 13,000 tons of grain
Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov said Wednesday that an overnight Russian drone attack on the Danube River port of Izmail in southern Ukraine destroyed 13,000 tons of grain, according to a Google-translated Telegram post on the account of the Ukraine ministry of reconstruction.
The agricultural goods were destined for Egypt and Romania, Kubrakov said, adding that the port's export capacity was reduced by 15% by the overnight strike.
"Russia is systematically attacking grain containers and warehouses to stop agricultural exports," he said.
Russia did not immediately comment on the attacks.
— Karen Gilchrist
Putin tells BRICS war was 'unleashed by the West'
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday blamed "the West and its satellites" for unleashing war, repeating to allied nations his ongoing justification for Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Speaking remotely to the BRICS summit currently underway in South Africa, Putin reiterated his claims that its conflict with Kyiv was in response to actions by the West, including the expansion of NATO.
"Our actions in Ukraine are dictated by only one thing — to end the war that was unleashed by the West and its satellites against the people who live in the Donbas," Putin said, referring to the eastern part of Ukraine where Russian proxies have been fighting Ukrainian forces since 2014.
"I want to note that it was the desire to maintain their hegemony in the world, the desire of some countries to maintain this hegemony that led to the severe crisis in Ukraine," he added.
Many of the BRICS member nations have resisted condemning Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
The BRICS grouping, which includes Brazil, India, China and South Africa, has taken on increasing importance for Russia in the wake of Western sanctions imposed following Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Putin, who was unable to attend the summit in person because of an international arrest warrant over alleged war crimes, said Russia would host a BRICS summit next year.
— Karen Gilchrist
Two killed in Russian attack on Ukrainian school, interior minister says
At least two people were killed and three more injured in a Russian attack on a school in the city of Romny in the Sumy region of northeastern Ukraine, the country's interior minister said Wednesday.
"Russians destroyed a school and killed at least 2 educators. Rescuers of the State Emergency Service unblocked their bodies. 3 more people were injured," Ihor Klymenko wrote on the Telegram messaging app.
"There is information that 2 more employees of the institution are under the rubble," he said, adding that the search and rescue operation is ongoing.
CNBC could not independently verify the reports.
— Karen Gilchrist
UK reportedly set to proscribe Wagner a terrorist group
The U.K. is set to proscribe Russia's Wagner mercenary group as a terrorist organization "within weeks," the FT reported British government officials as saying.
British Home Secretary Suella Braverman is expected to announce the designation imminently following months spent by officials building up a detailed legal case. The U.K. has already imposed sanctions on the Wagner group, its founder Yevgeny Prigozhin and range of its senior commanders.
The U.K. imposed sanctions on the head of the group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, in 2020, and on the group in March 2022, following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
The Wagner group led a mutiny against Russia's military leaders in June, which was ended shortly after in a deal brokered by Belarus.
The home office did not immediately respond to CNBC's request for comment.
— Karen Gilchrist
Russia facing friction at Crimea border after bridge attacks, UK ministry of defense says
Britain's Ministry of Defense said Wednesday that, as of mid-August, Russian forces were continuing to employ pontoon bridges at Chonhar and Henichesk crossing points, on the border between southern Ukraine and occupied Crimea.
Sharing its latest intelligence report on X, the platform formally known as Twitter, the ministry said that both bridges had sustained damage from Ukrainian precision strikes earlier this month and are "unlikely to be able to fully sustain the flow of heavy vehicles carrying ammunition and weaponry to the front."
"The resulting bottlenecks mean Russian forces are partially reliant on a long diversion via Armiansk, northern Crimea. This is adding further friction to Russia's logistics network in the south," it added.
— Karen Gilchrist
Russia reportedly names new acting air force chief after munity-linked disappearance
Russia has named a new acting head for its aerospace forces after the surprise disappearance of Sergei Surovikin following the failed Wagner mercenary mutiny in June, the RIA state news agency said Wednesday.
Chief of the general staff of the Aerospace Forces, General Viktor Afzalov, will replace Surovikin as interim commander-in-chief, RIA cited a source as saying.
"The ex-Commander-in-Chief of the Aerospace Forces of Russia Sergey Surovikin has now been relieved of his post, Colonel-General Viktor Afzalov, Chief of the General Staff of the Aerospace Forces, is temporarily acting as Commander-in-Chief of the Aerospace Forces," the source told RIA.
Surovikin, who once led Russia's war effort in Ukraine, was removed from his post Tuesday, according to a Telegram post from Russian news outlet Rybar.
Nicknamed "General Armageddon," Surovikin was often publicly praised by Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin and was reportedly being investigated for possible complicity in the mutiny.
— Karen Gilchrist
Russia says it thwarted another Ukrainian drone attack
Russia's Defense Ministry on Wednesday thwarted an overnight Ukrainian drone attack on Moscow, downing three drones, the city's mayor Sergei Sobyanin said.
No casualties and only minor damage were reported in the sixth consecutive day of similar reported incidents on the capital.
"This night, air defense shot down a drone in the Mozhaisk district of the Moscow region. The second UAV hit a building under construction in the City. Emergency services were dispatched to the scene of the incident. According to preliminary information, there were no casualties," Sobyanin wrote on the Telegram messaging app.
The Defense Ministry said air defense forces had shot down two of the three drones over the wider Moscow region's Mozhaisky and Khimki districts.
A third drone, which was brought down using electronic warfare equipment, lost control and crashed into a high-rise building under construction in the Moscow City business district, the ministry said.
Ukraine did not immediately claim responsibility for the attacks.
— Karen Gilchrist
Russian drone strike hits Danube region, Ukraine's military says
An overnight Russian drone attack on Ukraine's southern Odesa and Danube regions caused fires in a number of grain facilities, Ukraine's military and local authorities said Wednesday.
"The enemy hit grain storage facilities and a production and transshipment complex in Danube region. A fire broke out in the warehouses and was quickly contained. Firefighters continue to work," the military said on the Telegram messaging app, according to a Reuters translation.
The strikes were the latest in a recent string of attacks targeting port infrastructure on the Danube following the decision by Moscow last month to quit a U.N.-brokered deal to ensure the safe passage of grain from the Black Sea.
Odesa's governor said the attack on the region lasted for three hours and the Ukrainian air force had destroyed nine Russian drones.
"Unfortunately, there were hits to the production and transhipment complexes where a fire broke out. The damage includes grain storage facilities," Oleh Kiper said on Telegram.
— Karen Gilchrist
Putin tells BRICS summit that Russia will be a 'responsible supplier' of food to Africa
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday that his country would remain a "responsible supplier" of food and grain to African countries in a recorded address to a summit of the BRICS countries in South Africa.
He said that Moscow, which last month withdrew from a U.N.-brokered deal to ensure the safe passage of Black Sea grain exports, could take Ukraine's place as an international supplier of grain.
Putin added that Moscow was being "hypocritically blamed" for global food shortages and said that Russia would be willing to rejoin the deal if its obligations were met. Those include the transfer of mineral fertilizers via European ports.
"Russia is being deliberately obstructed in the supply of grain and fertilizers abroad and at the same time we are hypocritically blamed for the current crisis situation on the world market," he said.
Separately, Putin also said that the U.S. dollars in trade between Brics nations was decreasing, as the countries moved towards national currencies and away from dollars in what he called an "irreversible process of de-dollarisation".
