(KUZHENKINO, Russia) — The explosion that downed a plane carrying Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin and nine others in Russia was likely caused by a bomb, two U.S. officials told ABC News on Friday.
A senior U.S. official said the preliminary belief is that the private jet was downed by an explosion on board, potentially caused by a well-placed bomb. Another U.S official said the United States believes that a bomb was very likely the cause of the explosion.
The Kremlin vehemently denied having any involvement in the mysterious plane crash on Wednesday that presumably killed Prigozhin as well as Wagner Group co-founder Dmitry Utkin.
”There has been a lot of speculation around this crash [and] the tragic deaths of the plane’s passengers, among them Yevgeny Prigozhin. Of course, the West presents all this speculation from a particular angle. All of that is sheer lies,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Friday. “One should rely on facts. For now, there are not many facts, they have yet to be established in the ongoing investigative procedures.”
There was no indication a surface-to-air missile was the cause of the crash, according to the U.S. Department of Defense.
“We don’t have any information to indicate right now … there was some type of surface-to-air missile that took down the plane, that we assessed that information to be inaccurate,” Pentagon press secretary Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder told reporters on Thursday. “But beyond that, I’m really just not going to have any further information. What was it, something that came internal from inside the plane? Again, I don’t have any additional insight to provide on that.”
Prigozhin, 62, was a former close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin. His private paramilitary organization played a key role in Putin’s invasion of neighboring Ukraine before briefly launching an insurrection against the Russian military in June. Forces loyal to Prigozhin marched toward Moscow before turning back after several days.
Putin offered his first comments on the plane crash on Thursday hours after ABC News learned that the bodies of the victims were moved to the Tver Regional Bureau of Forensic Medical Examination.
“As for the aviation tragedy, first of all, I want to express my sincerest condolences to the families of all the victims,” the Russian president said in a televised address, noting that Wagner Group made a “significant contribution to our common cause of fighting the neo-Nazi regime in Ukraine.”
“I knew Prigozhin for a very long time, since the early 1990s. He was a man with a complex destiny, and he made serious mistakes in life,” he added. “He achieved the results he needed both for himself and, when I asked him, for the common cause, as in these last months.”
Russia’s Investigative Committee has launched a probe into the incident, which “will be carried out in full,” according to Putin.
“There is no doubt about that here,’ he said. “Let’s see what the investigators say in the near future. Tests — technical and genetic tests — are being carried out now. This takes some time.”
Earlier Thursday, Putin addressed the BRICS summit of leaders meeting in Johannesburg remotely but made no mention of the crash in his remarks.
Meanwhile, in St. Petersburg — Prigozhin’s hometown — dozens of people have been arriving to light candles and drop flowers at a pop-up memorial.
The jet manufacturer that Prigozhin and Utkin were reportedly on has an impeccable record and Wednesday’s crash was the first recorded in the history of the Embraer Legacy 600.
Elsewhere, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy made remarks commemorating marking Ukrainian Independence Day and handed out medals to Ukrainian solders.
Among the 10 people killed in Wednesday’s plane crash were three crew members and seven passengers, according to Russian officials. The seven passengers identified on a flight list were Sergey Propustin, Evgeniy Makaryan, Aleksandr Totmin, Valeriy Chekalov, Dmitriy Utkin, Nikolay Matuseev and Yevgeny Prigozhin. The crew was identified as Cmdr. Aleksei Levshin, co-pilot Rustam Karimov and flight attendant Kristina Raspopova.
Russia’s Federal Air Transport Agency said the plane was en route from Moscow to St. Petersburg on Wednesday when it went down near the village of Kuzhenkino in the Tver region, north of Moscow..
U.S. National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said in a statement on Wednesday that White House officials were watching the reports of the crash.
“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.”
ABC News’ Nadine El-Bawab, Will Gretsky, Mark Osborne, Ivan Pereira, Joe Simonetti and Tanya Stukalova contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — As Russia continues its nearly 16-month-long invasion of neighboring Ukraine, political turmoil has erupted in Moscow while Kyiv tries to take back territory.
A feud between Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the Russian paramilitary organization Wagner Group, and Russia’s top military brass escalated as Prigozhin’s forces left the front line in Ukraine and marched across the border to seize a key Russian city. They then marched north toward Russia’s capital, seemingly unopposed, before turning around just hours later. The short-lived rebellion was described by international observers as the most significant challenge to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s authority in his more than 20 years of rule.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian troops are in the early stages of a counteroffensive to reclaim the almost one-fifth of Ukraine’s territory that is under Russian control.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Aug 25, 8:17 AM EDT
Kremlin denies role in plane crash believed to have killed Prigozhin
Russia on Friday vehemently denied having any involvement in the mysterious plane crash that is believed to have killed Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin.
“There has been a lot of speculation around this crash [and] the tragic deaths of the plane’s passengers, among them Yevgeny Prigozhin. Of course, the West presents all this speculation from a particular angle. All of that is sheer lies,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters while answering questions during a press briefing. “One should rely on facts. For now, there are not many facts, they have yet to be established in the ongoing investigative procedures.”
Prigozhin, 62, was a former close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin. His private paramilitary organization played a key role in Putin’s invasion of neighboring Ukraine before briefly launching an insurrection against the Russian military in June. Forces loyal to Prigozhin marched toward Moscow before turning back after several days.
A private jet was en route from Moscow to St. Petersburg on Wednesday when it went down near the village of Kuzhenkino in Russia’s Tver region, north of Moscow. All 10 people on board were killed. Prigozhin and Wagner Group co-founder Dmitry Utkin were among the passengers identified on a flight list, according to Russian officials.
The U.S. Department of Defense said Thursday that Prigozhin was “likely” killed in the plane crash.
Aug 24, 6:41 PM EDT
Biden calls Zelenskyy to wish Independence Day greetings
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a Telegram post that he spoke with President Joe Biden who offered greetings on the Independence Day of Ukraine.
Zelenskyy in return thanked Biden for America’s support during the war.
“The U.S. took the lead in rallying global support for Ukraine. This crucial leadership enabled our struggle and bent the arc of history toward good,” he said.
-ABC News’ Ellie Kaufman
Aug 24, 5:11 PM EDT
Ukraine appeals to Wagner troops
In light of the presumed death of Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin, the Ukrainian Defense Ministry put out a statement appealing to the PMC’s members.
The statement offered them “a difficult but rather logical choice: either become a stall of the [Russian] Ministry of Defense in the service of your killers commanders, or save their honor and take revenge on their executioners, going over to the side of Ukraine.”
“If you have not committed war crimes on the territory of Ukraine, then we invite you to join our ranks,” the statement said.
The defense ministry said it would guarantee any defectors “security and decent conditions.”
-ABC News’ Will Gretsky
Aug 24, 4:21 PM EDT
Several Ukrainian pilots to receive F-16 training in US
Beginning in October, the U.S. will provide F-16 training to a small number of Ukrainian pilots and maintenance teams, Pentagon press secretary Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder said Thursday.
Ryder said “several” pilots and “dozens” of aircraft maintenance personnel will begin training at Morris Air National Guard Base in Tucson, Arizona, after they receive English training in September at Lackland AFB in San Antonio, Texas. The number of pilots and personnel will be determined by Ukraine.
“Although some Ukrainian pilots have English language skills we are anticipating that all the pilots coming to the United States will require some level of additional English language instruction, given the complexities and the specialized English that’s required to fly these aircraft,” said Ryder.
Sabrina Singh, the Pentagon’s deputy press secretary, told reporters earlier this week that the U.S. was open to the idea of training on F-16’s if European countries reached capacity though she couldn’t define what numbers would constitute capacity. Ryder on Thursday also wouldn’t provide a number and said the U.S. wasn’t going to wait for the Netherlands and Denmark to reach capacity.
“We know that as the Danes and the Dutch prepare to train those pilots that at a certain point in time in the future, capacity will be reached. So preemptively acknowledging that and leaning forward in order to to assist with this effort is the impetus for why we’re doing this now,” said Ryder.
Ryder wouldn’t get into when F-16 deliveries to Ukraine might begin. Denmark’s Prime Minister said over the weekend that the first Danish F-16’s could arrive by New Year’s.
-ABC News’ Luis Martinez
Aug 24, 4:52 PM EDT
Prigozhin ‘likely’ killed in Russian plane crash, US says
Wagner Group leader Yevgency Prigozhin was “likely” killed in a plane crash near Kuzhenkino, Russia, on Wednesday, the Pentagon said.
Pentagon press secretary Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder said there is no information to suggest a surface-to-air missile brought down the plane. Nine others, including Wagner’s co-founder, Dmitry Utkin, are also presumed dead.
“We don’t have any information to indicate right now … there was some type of surface to air missile that took down the plane … we assessed that information to be inaccurate,” Ryder said.
He added, “But beyond that, I’m really just not going to have any further information. What was it, something that came … from inside the plane? Again, I don’t have any additional insight to provide on that.”
-ABC News’ Luis Martinez
Aug 24, 2:27 PM EDT
Putin addresses Yevgeny Prigozhin’s presumed death in plane crash
Russian President Vladimir Putin offered his first comments Thursday on the plane crash that presumably killed Wagner Group head Yevgeny Prigozhin and the private military company’s co-founder Dmitry Utkin along with eight others near Kuzhenkino, Russia, on Wednesday.
“As for the aviation tragedy, first of all, I want to express my sincerest condolences to the families of all the victims,” Putin said in an on-camera address, adding that Wagner Group made a “significant contribution to our common cause of fighting the neo-Nazi regime in Ukraine.”
“I knew (Yevgeny) Prigozhin for a very long time, since the early 1990s. He was a man with a complex destiny, and he made serious mistakes in life,” Putin said. “He achieved the results he needed both for himself and, when I asked him, for the common cause, as in these last months.”
Putin said of the investigation, “But what is absolutely clear — the head of the Investigative Committee reported to me this morning, they have already launched a preliminary investigation into this incident. And it will be carried out in full and to the end. There is no doubt about that here. Let’s see what the investigators say in the near future. Tests — technical and genetic tests — are being carried out now. This takes some time.”
-ABC News’ Will Gretsky
Aug 24, 1:10 PM EDT
Putin addresses Yevgeny Prigozhin’s presumed death in plane crash
Russian President Vladimir Putin offered his first comments Thursday on the plane crash that presumably killed Wagner Group head Yevgeny Prigozhin and the private military company’s co-founder Dmitry Utkin along with eight others near Kuzhenkino, Russia, on Wednesday.
“As for the aviation tragedy, first of all, I want to express my sincerest condolences to the families of all the victims,” Putin said in an on-camera address, adding that Wagner Group made a “significant contribution to our common cause of fighting the neo-Nazi regime in Ukraine.”
“I knew (Yevgeny) Prigozhin for a very long time, since the early 1990s. He was a man with a complex destiny, and he made serious mistakes in life,” Putin said. “He achieved the results he needed both for himself and, when I asked him, for the common cause, as in these last months.”
Putin said of the investigation, “But what is absolutely clear — the head of the Investigative Committee reported to me this morning, they have already launched a preliminary investigation into this incident. And it will be carried out in full and to the end. There is no doubt about that here. Let’s see what the investigators say in the near future. Tests — technical and genetic tests — are being carried out now. This takes some time.”
-ABC News’ Will Gretsky
Aug 24, 11:44 AM EDT
Wagner mercenaries observed exiting Belarus
Mercenaries with the Russian private military company Wagner Group were observed leaving Belarus where the group’s forces had set up camp since a failed rebellion against Russian military leaders in June, according to Andrii Demchenko, a spokesman for Ukraine’s State Border Guard Service.
The group’s movements were observed by Ukrainian border guards and intelligence officials, Demchenko said Thursday.
The reported exit comes a day after Wagner leader Yvegeny Prigozhin and the group’s co-founder and operations manager Dmitry Utkin were presumed to have died in a plane crash near Moscow.
-ABC News’ Will Gretsky
Aug 24, 11:44 AM EDT
Wagner mercenaries observed exiting Belarus
Mercenaries with the Russian private military company Wagner Group were observed leaving Belarus where the group’s forces had set up camp since a failed rebellion against Russian military leaders in June, according to Andrii Demchenko, a spokesman for Ukraine’s State Border Guard Service.
The group’s movements were observed by Ukrainian border guards and intelligence officials, Demchenko said Thursday.
The reported exit comes a day after Wagner leader Yvegeny Prigozhin and the group’s co-founder and operations manager Dmitry Utkin were presumed to have died in a plane crash near Moscow.
-ABC News’ Will Gretsky
Aug 24, 10:04 AM EDT
Ukrainian forces move into occupied Crimea, official says
Ukrainian troops have landed in occupied Crimea, a state defense official said on Thursday.
The landing in territory long held by Russian forces was accomplished without Ukrainian casualties, Andriy Yusov, spokesperson for the Defense Ministry, said on Telegram. Russian forces suffered personnel losses, he said.
Russia illegally annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014.
-ABC News’ Joe Simonetti
Aug 23, 1:16 PM EDT
Zelenskyy warns of ‘dangerous voices’ in Congress, impact of US election year
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke out against American critics who are pushing for cuts to military support to his country stating there are “dangerous voices” in Congress and in the U.S.
Zelenskyy told reporters Wednesday that his team was in constant contact with National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and other U.S. national security officials, stating he was “glad” Ukraine had the backing of the White House, enjoyed bipartisan support in Congress and received “a lot” of support from the American public.
However, Zelenskyy said the coming year will be “very difficult,” referring to the U.S. presidential election, which “will definitely have an impact on support for Ukraine.”
“I think we’re going to have a hard time,” Zelenskyy said.
He said the election results could be positive or negative for Ukraine.
“For our part, we will do everything to ensure that the support of the United States does not decrease…we will give all our time, our energy to constantly work with the USA,” Zelenskyy said. “I expect that our partners in the United States will continue to be our partners and friends.”
Zelenskyy said Ukraine was working on lobbying Biden for longer range missiles.
(ATHENS, Greece) — As firefighters battle wildfires raging across swathes of Greece that have killed at least 20 people, authorities warned that “arsonist scum” are trying to ignite new blazes.
There were nine arson attempts within a period of four hours on Thursday morning in the Avlona area in the northern foothills of Mount Parnitha, some 30 miles north of Athens, according to Greek Minister of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection Vassilis Kikilias.
“Arsonist scum are setting fires that threaten forests, property and, most of all, human lives,” Kikilias said in a televised statement on Thursday. “You are committing a crime against the country. You will not get away with it. We will find you and you will be held accountable.”
Authorities have made 140 wildfire-related arrests so far, including 117 for negligence and 23 for deliberate arson. Almost all were for heat-inducing or agricultural outdoor work, according to the Hellenic Fire Service, the national agency for fire and rescue service.
On Tuesday, firefighters discovered the bodies of 18 people believed to be migrants in a recently burned area of a forest near the northeastern port city of Alexandroupolis, which is close to Greece’s border with Turkey, according to the Hellenic Fire Service.
While working to contain hundreds of wildfires nationwide over the past week, at least 60 firefighters have been injured or have developed serious breathing problems, according to the Hellenic Fire Service.
The blaze in the Alexandroupolis region has burned more than 730 square kilometers (282 square miles) in six days, making it the largest on record in the European Union, according to European Commissioner for Crisis Management Janez Lenarcic. Eight countries within the European Union have deployed a total of 246 firefighters, 40 vehicles and eight aircraft to assist Greece, according to the European Commission. The Hellenic Fire Service said Bulgarian, Albanian, Romanian and Czech firefighters with vehicles were helping in the Alexandroupolis fire.
Greece suffers destructive wildfires every summer. The deadliest killed 104 people in 2018 in a seaside resort near Athens that residents had not been warned to evacuate. Authorities have since erred on the side of caution, ordering evacuations whenever inhabited areas are under threat.
Greece’s climate crisis and civil protection minister described the situation as unprecedented. Many areas of Greece have been placed at Level 5, the highest for fire risk, seven times so far this year, which Kikilias said was twice as many in 2021, four times more than in 2019 and seven times that of 2012.
“This summer is the worst since meteorological data began to be collected and and the fire risk map was first issued in the country,” he told reporters at a press conference on Wednesday.
(KUZHENKINO, Russia) — Wagner Group leader Yevgency Prigozhin was “likely” killed in a plane crash along with 9 others near Kuzhenkino, Russia, on Wednesday, the Pentagon said, but there is no indication a surface-to-air missile was the cause of the crash.
“We don’t have any information to indicate right now … there was some type of surface to air missile that took down the plane, that we assessed that information to be inaccurate,” Pentagon press secretary Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder said.
He added, “But beyond that, I’m really just not going to have any further information. What was it, something that came internal from inside the plane? Again, I don’t have any additional insight to provide on that.”
Earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin offered his first comments on the mysterious plane crash that presumably killed Prigozhin and the private military company’s co-founder Dmitry Utkin.
His comments were made hours after the bodies of the crash victims were moved to the Tver Regional Bureau of Forensic Medical Examination, ABC News learned.
“As for the aviation tragedy, first of all, I want to express my sincerest condolences to the families of all the victims,” Putin said in an on-camera address, adding that Wagner Group made a “significant contribution to our common cause of fighting the neo-Nazi regime in Ukraine.”
“I knew (Yevgeny) Prigozhin for a very long time, since the early 1990s. He was a man with a complex destiny, and he made serious mistakes in life,” Putin said. “He achieved the results he needed both for himself and, when I asked him, for the common cause, as in these last months.”
He added on the investigation, “But what is absolutely clear – the head of the Investigative Committee reported to me this morning, they have already launched a preliminary investigation into this incident. And it will be carried out in full and to the end. There is no doubt about that here. Let’s see what the investigators say in the near future. Tests — technical and genetic tests — are being carried out now. This takes some time.”
Earlier Thursday, Putin addressed the BRICS summit of leaders meeting in Johannesburg remotely, but made no mention of the crash in his remarks.
Meanwhile, in St. Petersburg — Prigozhin’s home town — dozens of people have been arriving to light candles and drop flowers at a pop-up memorial.
The jet manufacturer that Prigozhin and Utkin were reportedly on has an impeccable record and it was the first recorded crash in the history of the Embraer Legacy 600.
Elsewhere, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy made remarks commemorating marking Ukrainian Independence Day and handed out medals to Ukrainian solders.
Among the 10 dead were three crew members and seven passengers, Russian officials said. The seven passengers identified on a flight list were Sergey Propustin, Evgeniy Makaryan, Aleksandr Totmin, Valeriy Chekalov, Dmitriy Utkin, Nikolay Matuseev and Prigozhin. The crew was identified as Cmdr. Aleksei Levshin, co-pilot Rustam Karimov and flight attendant Kristina Raspopova.
The Federal Air Transport Agency said the plane was en route from Moscow to St. Petersburg when it went down near Kuzhenkino.
White House National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said in a statement on Wednesday that officials were watching the reports of the plane crash.
“If confirmed, no one should be surprised. The disastrous war in Ukraine led to a private army marching on Moscow, and now — it would seem — to this,” she said.
Prigozhin was the head of the private paramilitary organization Wagner Group, which played a key role in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine before briefly launching an insurrection against the Russian military in June. Forces loyal to Prigozhin marched toward Moscow, before turning back after several days.
ABC News’ Joe Simonetti, Will Gretsky, Mark Osborne, Ivan Pereira and Tanya Stukalova contributed to this report.
(LONDON) — The five-nation BRICS group announced expansion of members on Thursday, having invited six countries to join the bloc.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, who is hosting the group’s summit in Johannesburg, said that Argentina, Egypt, Iran, Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates would begin their membership in January.
“This membership expansion is historic,” Chinese leader Xi Jinping said. “It shows the determination of BRICS countries for unity and development.”
This expansion was a central topic of discussion during the three-day summit, although Ramaphosa said the idea had been worked on for over a year.
Mohammad Jamshidi, Deputy Chief of Staff for Political Affairs to Iran, commented on social media. “In a historic move, Islamic Republic of Iran becomes a permanent member of BRICS, a strategic victory for Iran’s foreign policy.”
United Arab Emirates leader Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan welcomed the announcement to include his nation in “this important group.”
“We look forward to a continued commitment of cooperation for the prosperity, dignity and benefit of all nations and people around the world,” Mohammed said in a post.
“We look forward to cooperating and coordinating with the member states and with other countries invited to join the bloc, to achieve its goals of strengthening economic cooperation among us, and raise the voice of the Global South regarding the issues and development challenges we encounter,” Egyptian President El-Sisi said, according to Egypt Today.
Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed hailed what he called “a great moment” for his country.
Alberto Fernández, President of Argentina, called this “a new step in the consolidation of brotherhood and openness to the world that we always dreamed of.”
While Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa all publicly expressed support for expansion, there was division among the leaders over how many countries could join and how quickly it would happen.
The last time the BRICS expanded was in 2010, when South Africa joined, adding an “S” to the acronym, one year after the creation of the block. Currently, it represents around 40% of the world’s population and more than a quarter of global GDP.
The expansion signifies an important move in the attempt to reshape the global order into a multipolar world, with voices from the Global South at the center of the international agenda.
(NEW YORK) — As Russia continues its nearly 16-month-long invasion of neighboring Ukraine, political turmoil has erupted in Moscow while Kyiv tries to take back territory.
A feud between Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the Russian paramilitary organization Wagner Group, and Russia’s top military brass escalated as Prigozhin’s forces left the front line in Ukraine and marched across the border to seize a key Russian city. They then marched north toward Russia’s capital, seemingly unopposed, before turning around just hours later. The short-lived rebellion was described by international observers as the most significant challenge to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s authority in his more than 20 years of rule.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian troops are in the early stages of a counteroffensive to reclaim the almost one-fifth of Ukraine’s territory that is under Russian control.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Aug 24, 10:04 AM EDT
Ukrainian forces move into occupied Crimea, official says
Ukrainian troops have landed in occupied Crimea, a state defense official said on Thursday.
The landing in territory long held by Russian forces was accomplished without Ukrainian casualties, Andriy Yusov, spokesperson for the Defense Ministry, said on Telegram. Russian forces suffered personnel losses, he said.
Russia illegally annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014.
-ABC News’ Joe Simonetti
Aug 23, 1:16 PM EDT
Zelenskyy warns of ‘dangerous voices’ in Congress, impact of US election year
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke out against American critics who are pushing for cuts to military support to his country stating there are “dangerous voices” in Congress and in the U.S.
Zelenskyy told reporters Wednesday that his team was in constant contact with National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and other U.S. national security officials, stating he was “glad” Ukraine had the backing of the White House, enjoyed bipartisan support in Congress and received “a lot” of support from the American public.
However, Zelenskyy said the coming year will be “very difficult,” referring to the U.S. presidential election, which “will definitely have an impact on support for Ukraine.”
“I think we’re going to have a hard time,” Zelenskyy said.
He said the election results could be positive or negative for Ukraine.
“For our part, we will do everything to ensure that the support of the United States does not decrease…we will give all our time, our energy to constantly work with the USA,” Zelenskyy said. “I expect that our partners in the United States will continue to be our partners and friends.”
Zelenskyy said Ukraine was working on lobbying Biden for longer range missiles.
(NEW YORK) — Japan’s Tokyo Electric Power Company began releasing treated radioactive water from the wrecked Fukushima nuclear power plant into the Pacific Ocean on Thursday afternoon.
Executives of the company, known as TEPCO, told reporters they would immediately halt the release of the treated water into the Pacific if any issues were detected. The water began flowing at about 1 p.m. local time with an initial plan to release water “continuously” over a period of 17 days, according to the company.
The controversial decision, which had drawn protests in Japan, South Korea and elsewhere, prompted Chinese officials to issue a searing statement on Thursday, saying Beijing “opposes and strongly condemns it.” Japan’s actions were “selfish and irresponsible” as the ocean “belongs to all humanity,” China said.
“There could be a man-made secondary disaster to the local people and the whole world if Japan chooses to dump the water into the ocean just to serve Japan’s selfish interests,” Wang Wenbin, spokesperson for China’s Foreign Ministry, said in the statement.
In the bustling business district of downtown Tokyo, activity swirled near TEPCO’s headquarters on Thursday. Although demonstrators weren’t permitted to approach the TEPCO building itself, hundreds assembled across the street, their determined presence contrasting sharply with the serenity of the nearby Imperial Palace, just a kilometer away.
Despite the blue skies, the mood was one of desperation. The crowd chanted various demands, among them a call to “protect our rights.”
The gathering was organized and peaceful. Demonstrators thoughtfully positioned themselves along the sidewalks, ensuring pedestrians could pass. Journalists, stationed at their designated spots, captured the event, while a sparse police force looked on.
Among the concerned faces, Terumi Kataoka stood out. A woman in her 60s from Fukushima, she held a blue banner decorated with fish, sending a clear message: “No Dumping Radioactive Water into The Ocean.”
She voiced her concern with conviction, saying, “Who says tritium is not so bad, government scientists? Can you believe that? Well, it is not safe at all. That is why we are protesting and trying to stop the dumping of radioactive water into the ocean.”
Beside her, Sachiko Ogawa’s impassioned voice rang out, amplified by a bullhorn, “The law says TEPCO must deal with the waste they create! They’re really messing up the sea. We can’t let this happen. We can’t let up!”
Officials from the International Atomic Energy Agency were at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station as the water began flowing into the ocean, the agency said. Agency officials had signaled their approval for Japan’s plan.
“IAEA experts are there on the ground to serve as the eyes of the international community and ensure that the discharge is being carried out as planned consistent with IAEA safety standards,” Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said in a statement on Thursday.
Agency staffers had earlier in week taken samples from the first batch of water to be released. The agency’s “independent on-site analysis” of that water confirmed that levels of tritium in the water were “far below the operational limit.”
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and international experts have asserted the treated water meets safety standards.
TEPCO will “under the continued guidance of the Japanese Government, handle this matter with the firm awareness that we are responsible for ‘preventing reputational damage’ and ‘not betraying the trust of the people of Fukushima and the Japanese people’ throughout the course of the discharge period,” the company said in a statement on Wednesday.
A solitary man took a spot right in front of the TEPCO building across the street away from the demonstration o Thursday. For some reason, police didn’t remove him. He stood there silently throughout the hourlong protest.
Another protester in the crowd, a young Tokyoite named Taishi, held up a simple sign that read, “Stop It.”
He told ABC News in straightforward English, “They can stop this.”
The protest ended promptly and peacefully at about 11 a.m. The crowd went their different ways.
Shortly afterward and 250 kilometers away, TEPCO began releasing the treated water from the crippled nuclear plant into the Pacific Ocean, marking the start of a divisive process expected to go on for decades.
(LONDON) — North Korea said a second attempt to put a spy satellite into orbit failed early Thursday, but the reclusive country vowed to launch another in the coming months.
The Malligyeong-1 reconnaissance satellite was mounted on a new type of carrier rocket called the Chollima-1 and launched from a station in North Pyongan province in the early morning hours, according to the state-run Korea Central News Agency (KCNA). The first and second stages “all flew normally, but failed due to an error in the emergency explosion system during the flight of the third stage,” KCNA said in a statement.
North Korea’s National Aerospace Development Administration is investigating the cause of the accident and plans to attempt a third launch in October, according to KCNA.
North Korea attempted to launch its first spy satellite on May 31, but it crashed into the West Sea after an “abnormal starting” of the second-stage engine, KCNA said at the time.
In 2018, North Korea claimed to have put a satellite into space but international analysts later said that wasn’t true.
Thursday’s second attempt coincided with joint military drills between South Korea and the United States, which North Korea has long denounced.
The U.S., South Korea and Japan all issued statements “strongly” condemning North Korea’s use of ballistic missile technology for its launch, which despite its failure they said is in violation of United Nations Security Council resolutions. The three allies also reaffirmed their commitment to work closely together to achieve “complete denuclearization” of North Korea in line with the U.N. Security Council resolutions.
“This space launch involved technologies that are directly related to the DPRK intercontinental ballistic missile program,” Adrienne Watson, spokesperson for the U.S. National Security Council, said in a statement, using the acronym for North Korea’s official name. “The President’s national security team is assessing the situation in close coordination with our allies and partners.”
“The door has not closed on diplomacy but Pyongyang must immediately cease its provocative actions and instead choose engagement,” Watson added. “The United States will take all necessary measures to ensure the security of the American homeland and the defense of our Republic of Korea and Japanese allies.”
The incident was assessed as not posting “an immediate threat to U.S. personnel, territory, or that of our allies,” according to a statement from the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, which noted that it would “continue to monitor the situation.”
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement the military “was prepared in advance through identifying signs of an imminent launch.”
The office for Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi confirmed that he held a telephone call with his South Korean and U.S. counterparts on Thursday morning to discuss North Korea’s latest ballistic missile launch. The three officials agreed that the launches are happening “in an unprecedented frequency and in new manners” and that they “constitute a grave and imminent threat to the regional security and pose a clear and serious challenge to the international community,” according to a statement from the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The Group of Seven, an intergovernmental political forum consisting of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the U.S., also released a statement condemning “in the strongest terms” North Korea’s launch.
ABC News’ Joohee Cho, Ellie Kaufman, Hakyung Kate Lee, Matt Seyler and Anthony Trotter contributed to this report.
(LONDON) — The bodies of those killed in the plane crash near Kuzhenkino, Russia, including Yevgeny Prigozhin and the commander of the Wagner PMC Dmitry Utkin, have been moved to the Tver Regional Bureau of Forensic Medical Examination, ABC News has learned.
There has still been no comment from the Kremlin or the Russian Ministry of Defense on Wednesday’s crash.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, however, spoke on Thursday morning as he addressed the BRICS summit of leaders meeting in Johannesburg remotely, but made no mention of the crash in his remarks.
Meanwhile, in St Petersburg — Prigozhin’s home town — dozens of people have been arriving to light candles and drop flowers at a pop-up memorial.
The jet manufacturer that Prigozhun and Utkin were reportedly on has an impeccable record and it was the first recorded crash in the history of the Embraer Legacy 600.
Elsewhere, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy made remarks commemorating Ukrainian Independence Day and handed out medals to Ukrainian solders.
Among the 10 dead were three crew members and seven passengers. The seven passengers were identified as Sergey Propustin, Evgeniy Makaryan, Aleksandr Totmin, Valeriy Chekalov, Dmitriy Utkin, Nikolay Matuseev and Prigozhin. The crew was identified as Cmdr. Aleksei Levshin, co-pilot Rustam Karimov and flight attendant Kristina Raspopova.
The Federal Air Transport Agency said the plane was en route from Moscow to St. Petersburg when it went down near Kuzhenkino.
White House National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said in a statement on Wednesday that officials were watching the reports of the plane crash.
“If confirmed, no one should be surprised. The disastrous war in Ukraine led to a private army marching on Moscow, and now — it would seem — to this,” she said.
Prigozhin was the head of the private paramilitary organization Wagner Group, which played a key role in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine before briefly launching an insurrection against the Russian military in June. Forces loyal to Prigozhin marched toward Moscow, before turning back after several days.
(NEW YORK) — Japan’s Tokyo Electric Power Company began releasing treated radioactive water from the wrecked Fukushima nuclear power plant into the Pacific Ocean on Thursday afternoon.
Executives of the company, known as TEPCO, told reporters they would immediately halt the release of the treated water into the Pacific if any issues were detected. The water began flowing at about 1 p.m. local time with an initial plan to release water “continuously” over a period of 17 days, according to the company.
The controversial decision, which had drawn protests in Japan, South Korea and elsewhere, prompted Chinese officials to issue a searing statement on Thursday, saying Beijing “opposes and strongly condemns it.” Japan’s actions were “selfish and irresponsible” as the ocean “belongs to all humanity,” China said.
“There could be a man-made secondary disaster to the local people and the whole world if Japan chooses to dump the water into the ocean just to serve Japan’s selfish interests,” Wang Wenbin, spokesperson for China’s Foreign Ministry, said in the statement.
Officials from the International Atomic Energy Agency were at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station as the water began flowing into the ocean, the agency said. Agency officials had signaled their approval for Japan’s plan.
“IAEA experts are there on the ground to serve as the eyes of the international community and ensure that the discharge is being carried out as planned consistent with IAEA safety standards,” Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said in a statement on Thursday.
Agency staffers had earlier in the week taken samples from the first batch of water to be released. The agency’s “independent on-site analysis” of that water confirmed that levels of tritium in the water were “far below the operational limit.”
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and international experts have asserted the treated water meets safety standards.
TEPCO will “under the continued guidance of the Japanese Government, handle this matter with the firm awareness that we are responsible for ‘preventing reputational damage’ and ‘not betraying the trust of the people of Fukushima and the Japanese people’ throughout the course of the discharge period,” the company said in a statement on Wednesday.
