Russia-Ukraine live updates: Ukrainian forces land in Russia-occupied Crimea, official says

(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, 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.

-ABC News’ Tom Buridge and Natalya Kushnir

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