Ukraine war dwell updates: Kremlin tranquil on presumed death of Wagner boss Prigozhin in a plane crash Putin hails expanded BRICS impact

Norway is set to donate F-16 overcome aircraft to Ukraine, Norwegian broadcaster Tv set2 noted on Thursday, citing unnamed sources.

It did not say how lots of jets Norway would present and Norway’s Foreign Ministry did not straight away react to CNBC’s request for remark.

If confirmed, Norway would turn out to be the third country to announce donations of F-16 jets to Ukraine, after the Netherlands and Denmark.

Earlier on Thursday, Norwegian Primary Minister Jonas Gahr Støre met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv and pledged to provide Ukraine with anti-aircraft missiles and mine-clearing machines but manufactured no announcements with regards to F-16s.

The donation contains IRIS-T missiles, transportable kits for generating corridors by way of minefields and equipment made use of to fix crucial energy infrastructure, in accordance to Reuters experiences.

— Karen Gilchrist

Russia’s Protection Ministry said on Thursday that it experienced scrambled an MiG-31 jet to intercept a Norwegian armed forces plane in excess of the Barents Sea in close proximity to the countries’ Arctic border.

“To detect an air target and prevent violation of the state border of the Russian Federation, a MiG-31 fighter from the air protection forces of the Northern Fleet was taken into the air,” the ministry wrote in a submit on Telegram after indicating it experienced identified an air focus on.

“Violation of the Point out Border of the Russian Federation is not allowed,” it additional.

It marks the 2nd these types of incident in two times, in accordance to the RIA Novosti point out news company.

— Karen Gilchrist

Belarus is established to host military drills for member states of the Collective Safety Treaty Organization (CSTO), a Moscow-led safety bloc, in September, Russian media reported the Belarusian Defense Ministry’s push service as indicating Thursday.

“Joint and distinctive drills are planned in the general notion of the Combat Brotherhood-2023 workout, bringing collectively the schooling of numerous combat parts of the CSTO (Collective Forces),” reported the ministry statement cited by the Tass news company.

The CSTO is an intergovernmental military alliance in Eurasia consisting of Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan.

— Karen Gilchrist

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday praised his South African counterpart Cyril Ramaphosa for internet hosting the 15th BRICS summit in Johannesburg and for his do the job to “increase the influence” of the grouping.

Putin tackled the conference via video clip url shortly immediately after Ramaphosa announced that the bloc of emerging markets had determined to increase membership invites to 6 nations such as Saudi Arabia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates.

“I would like to thank our South African good friends for what they did in the study course of joint get the job done, I indicate the perform on agreeing on declarations. I have to observe that, as it turned out, this function was not quick,” Putin stated in accordance to Russian state media RIA Novosti.

“I want to guarantee all colleagues that we will keep on the operate that we started currently to develop the influence of BRICS in the planet. 

— Karen Gilchrist

At the very least seven men and women have been hurt in an overnight Russian missile strike on Ukraine’s Dnipro city that destroyed household buildings and h2o and fuel pipes, the community governor mentioned Thursday.

Amongst the wounded were three guys and 4 women, 6 of whom had been hospitalized, Serhiy Lysak wrote on the Telegram messaging app, in accordance to a Google translation.

“In the middle of the night — highly effective explosions in the Dnipro. The enemy hit the metropolis with rockets. One of them was shot down by defenders from the Eastern Air Command,” Lysak stated.

A transport facility was ruined in the attack, although a lender, a fuel station, a lodge, and an agricultural organization had been amongst the other amenities damaged, according to Lysak, who claimed even more specifics of the destruction have been continue to staying confirmed.

Russia did not promptly react to the promises.

— Karen Gilchrist

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy hailed Ukrainians as “no cost people” on Thursday as his place marks its independence day.

“Happy Ukraine’s Independence Working day!” Zelenskyy wrote in a post on X, the system previously recognised as Twitter.

“The day of the no cost, the solid, and the dignified. The day of equals. Ukrainian men and women. In our complete region,” he reported.

“In this battle, anyone counts. Due to the fact the battle is for a little something that is important to everybody. An unbiased Ukraine.”

— Karen Gilchrist

The Embraer Legacy 600 jet that crashed in excess of Russia’s Tver Area Wednesday, which led to the presumed dying of Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin and all nine other passengers on board, showed no signs of challenges until eventually its closing 30 seconds, in accordance to flight-monitoring knowledge.

The plane, which was traveling from Moscow to St. Petersburg, created a “unexpected downward vertical” at 6:19 p.m. regional time, all-around 30 minutes into its journey, Flightradar24’s director of communications, Ian Petchenik, informed Reuters.

“What ever happened, happened quickly,” Petchenik claimed.

In all-around 30 seconds, the aircraft plummeted more than 8,000 feet from its cruising altitude of 28,000 feet.

“They may perhaps have been wrestling (with the aircraft) following whatsoever took place,” Petchenik stated. Even so, he included that prior to its precipitous drop, there was “no indicator that there was anything at all mistaken with this aircraft.”

Brazilian planemaker Embraer SA said it had not been offering any service or help in current a long time to the airplane.

— Karen Gilchrist

U.S. President Joe Biden said Wednesday that he was not amazed by the presumed loss of life in a airplane crash of Kremlin dissident Yevgeny Prigozhin, incorporating that he considered Russian President Vladimir Putin was guiding the incident.

“I don’t know for a fact what transpired, but I am not shocked,” the president stated all through a briefing just after the crash of Prigozhin’s private jet, which was touring concerning Moscow and St. Petersburg.

“There is not significantly that happens in Russia that Putin’s not behind. But I do not know sufficient to know the remedy,” he extra.

Russia’s aviation authority, Rosaviatsiya, reported Prigozhin and senior Wagner commander Dmitry Utkin were being amid 10 people travelling on an Embraer organization jet that crashed on Wednesday evening.

The lead to of the crash was not instantly crystal clear, and the Kremlin has however to remark on the incident.

It comes two months to the working day because Prigozhin and his Wagner paramilitary forces staged a mutiny from Moscow’s major armed service brass in June in excess of what he argued was its incompetent prosecution of Russia’s war in Ukraine.

— Karen Gilchrist

The main of Russian mercenary team Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, is feared lifeless in a aircraft crash, Russian point out media documented Wednesday.

The aircraft, a business jet, crashed in the Tver location northwest of Moscow, with all 10 men and women on board killed, according to Russia’s point out information agency Tass. Prigozhin was on its checklist of travellers.

The 62-calendar year outdated paramilitary leader, after a shut confidant of Putin’s, led a quick-lived mutiny from the Russian federal government in late June right after spending months vocally criticizing his country’s leading brass. His forces, recognised for their especially violent battlefield methods, spearheaded a range of battles for Russia on the Ukrainian entrance.

— Natasha Turak