Reporting by Phil Stewart and Idrees Ali
Editing by Alistair Bell
World
US officials see missile strike, other theories, behind crash of Prigozhin plane
WASHINGTON, Aug 24 (Reuters) – The United States is looking at a number of theories over what brought down the plane presumed to be carrying mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin, including a surface-to-air missile hitting it, U.S. officials told Reuters on Thursday.
Russian air authorities have said Prigozhin, his right-hand man Dmitry Utkin and eight other people were on the private plane that crashed with no survivors north of Moscow on Wednesday.
Two U.S. officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said that it was likely a surface-to-air missile originating from inside Russia likely shot down the plane
The officials stressed that the information was still preliminary and under review, and did not rule out a change to the assessment.
The Wall Street Journal on Thursday reported a different theory: that a bomb aboard the aircraft or some other sabotage caused the crash.
It is not uncommon for there to be competing, even contradictory, intelligence views in the U.S. government in the hours and days after major international events.
A third U.S. official told Reuters that there were a number of theories and no definitive conclusion had been reached.
The crash came two months to the day after Prigozhin and his Wagner mercenaries staged a mutiny in which they took control of a southern city and advanced towards Moscow, shooting down a number of Russian air force planes and killing their pilots.
U.S. President Joe Biden on Wednesday said he was not surprised by reports that Prigozhin had died in a plane crash, adding that not much happens in Russia that President Vladimir Putin was not behind.
Putin on Thursday said he wished to express sincere condolences to the families of those who died in the crash, and said it was necessary to await the outcome of the official investigation. Prigozhin, 62, head of the Wagner mercenary group, frequently criticized the Russian army top brass over what he said was its incompetent prosecution of the war in Ukraine.
The Embraer executive jet model that crashed in Russia had only recorded one accident in more than 20 years of service, and that was not related to mechanical failure.
While portraying it as a purely private commercial operation, the Kremlin has used Wagner to expand Russian influence on the continent in competition with Western powers such as France and the United States.
Prigozhin and a Russian company he controlled were indicted in 2018 and accused of funding a propaganda operation to meddle in the 2016 U.S. presidential election to sway it in favor of Republican candidate Donald Trump and to disparage rival Hillary Clinton.
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Protesters demand Armenian prime minister's resignation after border villages ceded to Azerbaijan
Thousands of protesters gathered Thursday in the Armenian capital, Yerevan, to demand the resignation of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan over his government’s decision to hand over control of border villages to Armenia’s long-time rival Azerbaijan.
Armenia and Azerbaijan have fought two wars since the Soviet Union collapsed and Armenia said in April that it would return the villages to Azerbaijan. That decision came after Azerbaijan in September waged a lightning military campaign in Nagorno-Karabakh, a majority ethnic Armenian region inside Azerbaijan. That caused tens of thousands of people to stream into Armenia, sparking demonstrations as protesters called for the prime minister to be ousted.
Protesters led by a senior cleric in Armenia’s church walked a distance of around 100 miles from villages near the border with Azerbaijan to Yerevan where they gathered Thursday in Republic Square.
ARMENIA’S PRIME MINISTER IN RUSSIA FOR TALKS AMID STRAIN IN TIES
Videos shared on social media showed thousands of people waving Armenian flags. A senior Armenian cleric said a prayer and told the protesters he gave Pashinyan one hour to resign, blaming him for the loss of Armenian territory.
Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan told protesters they should “engage in peaceful acts of disobedience,” if Pashinyan did not listen to their demands.
Pashinyan visited Moscow Wednesday and held talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin amid spiraling tensions between the estranged allies. The meeting took place a day after Putin began his fifth term at a glittering Kremlin inauguration which the Armenian leader did not attend.
Putin’s spokesperson Dmitry Peskov was quoted Thursday by Russian state news agency Tass as saying the two leaders had agreed to the removal of Russian forces from some Armenian regions.
In brief remarks at the start of the talks, Putin said that bilateral trade was growing, but acknowledged “some issues concerning security in the region.”
Pashinyan, who last visited Moscow in December, said that “certain issues have piled up since then.”
Armenia’s ties with Russia, a longtime sponsor and ally, have grown increasingly strained after Azerbaijan waged its military campaign in September to reclaim the Karabakh region, ending three decades of ethnic Armenian separatists’ rule there.
Armenian authorities accused Russian peacekeepers who were deployed to Nagorno-Karabakh after the previous round of hostilities in 2020 of failing to stop Azerbaijan’s onslaught. Moscow, which has a military base in Armenia, has rejected the accusations, arguing that its troops didn’t have a mandate to intervene.
The Kremlin, in turn, has been angered by Pashinyan’s efforts to deepen ties with the West and distance his country from Moscow-dominated security and economic alliances.
While Pashinyan was visiting Moscow, Armenia’s foreign ministry announced that the country will stop paying fees to the Collective Security Treaty Organization, a Russia-dominated security pact. Armenia has previously suspended its participation in the grouping as Pashinyan has sought to bolster ties with the European Union and NATO.
Russia was also vexed by Armenia’s decision to join the International Criminal Court, which last year indicted Putin for alleged war crimes connected to Russia’s actions in Ukraine.
Moscow, busy with the Ukrainian conflict that has dragged into a third year, has publicly voiced concern about Yerevan’s westward shift but sought to downplay the differences.
Kremlin spokesman Peskov conceded Tuesday that “there are certain problems in our bilateral relations,” but added that “there is a political will to continue the dialogue.”
World
Ukraine’s Zelenskyy fires head of state guard over assassination plot
Ukrainian state security said earlier this week that they unearthed an assassination plot including two state guards.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has fired the head of the state guards following allegations that two members were involved in a plot to assassinate the embattled Ukrainian head of state.
Zelenskyy dismissed former leader of the state guards Serhiy Rud on Thursday, after the state security service (SBU) said earlier this week that it had unearthed an assassination plot against Zelenskyy and other important officials. A successor for Rud has yet to be named.
The SBU said that the assassinations were meant to be a “gift” for Russian President Vladimir Putin as he was sworn in for a new term in office on Tuesday.
The SBU said that the two men, both colonels in the state guard, had planned to take Zelenskyy hostage and later kill him.
Other key officials, including SBU head Vasyl Maliuk and Kyrylo Budanov, the military intelligence agency’s head, were also said to be targets of the failed effort.
Moscow has not commented on the allegations by the SBU, which alleged that the two bodyguards had passed on sensitive information to the FSB, Russia’s security service.
It is not the first assassination effort that the Ukrainian leader has faced down, stating last year that at least five Russian plots have been foiled since the war began.
Zelenskyy’s administration has faced growing difficulties in recent months, and has shaken up some key staffing positions as progress in the country’s war against Russia stalls out and officials face accusations of corruption.
In February, Zelenskyy named Oleksandr Syrskyii as the new army chief after dismissing General Valerii Zaluzhny from the position.
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