Here's a chance to watch the Russian leader's comments on last night's plane crash, which reportedly killed Yevgeny Prigozhin and other members of the Wagner Group.

Alex Binley
Live reporter

Image source, Sputnik/Reuters

So - Vladimir Putin has finally broken his silence over the plane crash which is presumed to have killed Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin and nine others. (The news broke around 24 hours ago.)

Although Putin paid tribute to the warlord in a televised address, you'll notice in the transcript that we provided below that the Russian president was very precise with his choice of words. He stopped short of directly confirming Prigozhin's death.

Putin stated there had been fatalities, saying he "would like to above all express words of the most sincere condolences to the families of all those who have died". But he seemed to suggest it was not totally clear whether Wagner members were amongst the dead, saying only that “initial information suggests” they were on the plane.

And although he saluted to Prigozhin as a "talented businessman" with a "complicated fate", at no point did Putin state in black and white that the Wagner founder was amongst the dead. However, he did use the past tense when speaking about the 62-year-old.

While the plane that crashed was linked to Prigozhin - and information released by Russian authorities states that he and his right-hand man Dmitry Utkin were amongst seven Wagner associates killed - the BBC has been unable to verify these claims.

Here's the full transcript, provided by the Reuters news agency, of Putin's televised remarks about the plane crash which is reported to have left Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin and nine others dead.

"As for the aviation tragedy, first of all I want to express my most sincere condolences to the families of all the victims.

"It is always a tragedy.

"Indeed, if employees of the Wagner company were there, and the preliminary data indicate they were, I would like to note that these people made a significant contribution to our common cause of combating the neo-Nazi regime in Ukraine, we remember this, we know it and we shall not forget.

"I had known Prigozhin for a very long time, since the start of the '90s.

"He was a man with a difficult fate, and he made serious mistakes in life. And he strove for the results he needed for himself, and when I asked him about it, for the common cause, as in these last months.

"He was a talented person, a talented businessman, he worked not only in our country, and worked with results, but also abroad, in Africa in particular.

"He was involved there with oil, gas, precious metals and stones.

"As far as I know, he just returned yesterday from Africa. He met some officials here.

"But what is quite definite - the head of the Investigative Committee reported to me this morning - is they have already begun a preliminary investigation into this event. And it will be carried out in full, and taken right to the end. There are no doubts about this.

"Let's see what the investigators say in the near future. And now, expert examinations, technical examinations and genetic ones are being carried out. This takes some time."

Image source, Sputnik/Reuters

Here's the latest on Wednesday's plane crash in Russia, and the presumed death of Yevgeny Prigozhin, the founder of the Wagner mercenary group.

• Russian President Vladimir Putin has spoken for the first time about the incident
• In a televised address, he sent his condolences to the families of the dead, and also described Prigozhin as a talented businessman
• He said Prigozhin was a person "with a complicated fate, and he made serious mistakes in life"
• Putin warned that an investigation into the crash would take time
• Earlier, UK defence sources have said the Russian intelligence service is most likely to have targeted the plane
• For his part, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Kyiv had nothing to do with the crash, but "everyone is aware who is involved"

Reported to be alongside Prigozhin on the plane was his right-hand man Dmitry Utkin, as well as five other Wagner members and three crew.

"Initial data suggests employees of the Wagner company were on board," Putin acknowledges.

"I would like to note that these are people who have made a significant contribution to our common cause of fighting the neo-Nazi regime in Ukraine," he continues.

"We remember and know it, and we will not forget it."

Putin has frequently claimed the presence of neo-Nazis in Ukraine as a justification for his invasion of the neighbouring country - claims which have been debunked. It's also worth noting that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenksy is Jewish.

Putin pays tribute to the man who was once known as his "chef" due to lucrative contracts he had to supply food to the Kremlin.

"I have known Prigozhin for a long time, since the beginning of the 1990s," Putin says in his televised address.

In an apparent reference to Wagner's aborted mutiny in June, Putin continues: "This was a person with a complicated fate, and he made serious mistakes in life, but also sought to achieve the necessary results - both for himself and at time when I asked him to, for the common cause, such as in these recent months."

Putin also says that "as far as I'm aware", Prigozhin "only yesterday [Wednesday] returned from Africa. He met certain official persons there".

In recent days the Wagner boss is believed to have been present in West Africa - where Western analysts fear the group was seeking to widen its reach into other countries, including Niger, where a coup has just taken place.

Wagner is a key pillar of Russian foreign policy, with its forces helping to prop up governments in Syria, Mali, the Central African Republic and Libya in exchange for lucrative mining rights.

In a televised speech Putin, says investigators will look into what happened - but that this will take time.

He says he was told about Wednesday's plane crash on Thursday morning.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has spoken for the first time about yesterday's plane crash.

He sends his condolences to the families of the dead, and describes Wagner Group founder Yevgeny Prigozhin as a talented businessman.

We'll bring you more on this as we get it.

Image source, EPA

Let's leave the plane crash for a minute, to look at the news that Moscow has extended the pre-trial detention of the American journalist, Evan Gershkovich, by three months.

The Wall Street Journal reporter faces espionage charges - which both he and the newspaper deny.

Gershkovich has failed in two attempts to overturn his pre-trial detention, which has now been extended until the end of November - though no trial date has been set.

He was arrested in Yekaterinburg in March, on allegations he was gathering defence secrets.

The White House has rubbished the charges, and has accused Russia of conducting "hostage diplomacy".

As we've been reporting, Russian mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin is presumed dead.

He was on the passenger list of a jet which crashed in Russia, killing all 10 people on board, according to Russia's civil aviation authority.

Watch notable moments from the Wagner group leader's role in the Ukraine war.

Image source, Reuters

If you’re just joining us, here’s what you need to know:

• Wagner mercenary group chief Yevgeny Prigozhin is presumed to have been killed in a plane crash north of Moscow, alongside his right-hand-man Dmitry Utkin and eight others
• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Kyiv had nothing to do with the crash, but "everyone is aware who is involved"
• UK defence sources say the Russian intelligence service is most likely to have targeted the plane. But the Kremlin has remained silent on Prigozhin's death. Russian President Vladimir Putin, who earlier spoke at a trade summit in South Africa, stuck to the script and said nothing about the crash
• Wagner members and supporters across Russia are paying tributes to Prigozhin, laying flowers at temporary shrines to the Wagner chief
• Meanwhile, Ukraine has marked its Independence Day today, with sombre celebrations reported under the shadow of Russia’s war
• And Ukrainian forces conducted a successful operation in Crimea today, according to officials

What is known about the plane?published at 16:08 British Summer Time 24 August 2023

16:08 BST 24 August 2023

The BBC has not independently confirmed whether Yevgeny Prigozhin was onboard the crashed plane.

According to Russian channels on Telegram (a popular social messaging platform), the plane was an Embraer Legacy jet, with the serial number RA-02795, which is linked to the Wagner boss.

BBC Verify has examined the plane’s flight tracking data via the FlightRadar24 website. While the data does not show where the flight departed from, the plane did appear to travel close to Moscow. After it climbed to nearly 29,000ft, no further data was recorded.

Flight records show the same plane made several journeys to and from Moscow and St Petersburg in recent months. It has also been pictured by local media in Belarus, where Wagner is now thought to be based.

However, there has also been speculation on Telegram that Prigozhin may have been on a different flight altogether.

This other jet has a registration number RA-02748.

While the plane’s flight records are partially inaccessible, it appears this plane departed from St Petersburg earlier on Wednesday and flew towards Moscow. The trail disappears near Ostafyevo airport in the Russian capital.

Sarah Rainsford
BBC Eastern Europe Correspondent

Image source, EPA

Both Yevgeny Prigozhin and the commander of his Wagner forces are listed among the passengers on the private jet that came down in a burst of flames in central Russia.

Telegram groups linked to the mercenaries have confirmed and are mourning the men’s deaths – which they blame on what they call "traitors of Russia".

We still don’t know what caused the crash - but we do know the Embraer jet has an excellent safety record and in Russia, few will think it simply fell out of the sky.

Because ever since Prigozhin led an armed mutiny in June - sending Wagner forces marching on Moscow - the assumption has been that he would pay for humiliating Vladimir Putin, making him seem weak.

Whatever the facts of the crash, and we may never know them, in Russia many will interpret what’s happened as a brutal and dramatic reassertion of control

BBC Monitoring

The team at BBC Monitoring offer more insight into the goings-on among Wagner fighters - and which sources you can trust to report accurately on them.

Ukraine’s defence ministry says the Wagner fighters now based in Belarus have started to form convoys and may be preparing to leave the country. However, it is citing an unnamed Belarusian guerrilla force - and Ukraine’s government often circulates stories focussing on purported infighting within Russian forces.

Belarus state outlets have reported on Wagner - but only anodyne information of fighters training Belarusian forces. They firmly toe the government line and are unlikely to publish anything illuminating.

The most reliable eyes on the ground are likely to be from the open-source intelligence project, Belaruski Hayun, external, which often backs its claims with multimedia evidence. It says it has not observed anything to confirm the claim of Wagner fighters mobilising to leave.

It has pointed out, however, that a Russian Aerospace Forces transport aircraft landed in Belarus' Machulishchy military airfield near the Tsel camp last night – shortly after reports of the plane crash. And that people reported a lack of internet availability in the camp vicinity.

All this only adds another layer of likely spin or filter to watch for on any information that emerges.

BBC Monitoring

Image source, Getty Images

Many people are closely watching the several thousand Wagner fighters based in pro-Kremlin Belarus, to see how they react. But it is not easy finding reliable information on them.

On Telegram, Wagner-linked channels have mourned their commanders’ deaths but put out no other information about what happens next.

This is expected, given they usually publish propaganda burnishing the group’s intimidating reputation and exaggerating its reach.

There are other Russian Telegram channels that publish information about the group, but which have no observable link to it.

So some claims circulating - for example, that Wagner has initiated a backup plan for its leaders' deaths – cannot be trusted.

Prigozhin “had many enemies,” and “many people in various parts of the world might have had a sigh of relief” over his reported death, former Kremlin policy adviser Andrey Kortunov told BBC Radio 4's World at One programme a bit earlier.

He added that many people considered Prigozhin a factor of instability.

When asked whether he believed the Kremlin ordered Prigozhin's assassination, he said: "Putin made a very clear promise not to go after Prigozhin and definitely defenders of Mr Putin would say he usually stands by the personal promises that he makes."

Asked whether Prigozhin could still be alive, Kortunov said we “cannot rule out any version of what’s happened”. But he added that he was “sceptical of conspiracy theories” and “we don’t have enough information to make any conclusions”.

Asked about the stability of Putin’s regime, Kortunov said “it’s hard to tell, but I assume the system still has a margin of safety", adding that the economy was not as desperate as experts predicted, and “the opposition is not that powerful”.

James Waterhouse
Ukraine correspondent in Kyiv

Image source, Getty Images

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and the first lady Olena Zelenska spent this morning paying their respects to the Ukrainians who have lost their lives in the nine years of Russian aggression to date.

It has been a low-key Independence Day - overshadowed by the dramatic events across the border.

Ukraine's leader nevertheless saw the apparent death of Yevgeny Prigozhin as a chance to make a joke, saying: "When Ukraine appealed to the countries of the world regarding planes, we did not mean this."

It is safe to say there won't be many tears shed here over the reported death of a man behind some of this war's most brutal fighting.

There is also a realism, that the recent turbulence in Russia will do little to influence Moscow's sustained invasion and occupation of Ukrainian territories.

Image source, Reuters

Prigozhgin's death - if confirmed - means Wagner will become an even bigger threat as control of it will likely fall to Vladimir Putin, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki says.

"The Wagner group comes under Putin's leadership. Let everyone answer the question for themselves - will the threat be bigger or smaller?

"For me, that's a rhetorical question," Morawiecki tells a news conference.

In July, Poland strengthened its border with Belarus following the prospect of mercenaries from the Wagner group moving to Belarus.

The move was part of the deal struck to end the group's mutiny at the end of June.

Image source, Getty Images

The Reuters news agency has been speaking to members of the Wagner military group outside the group’s offices in the Russian city of St Petersburg, where tributes to Prigozhin have been laid.

"I don't know how to find the words,” said one man.

“We have lost our commander, we have lost two commanders,” he said, in reference to Prigozhin and his right-hand man, Dimitry Utkin.

“We have other commanders who we will obey. And we will operate further according to Wagner regulations.

“What has happened, has happened. We have to stay together."