Russia-Ukraine updates: Russian missile strikes hit multiple Ukrainian cities
Dozens of injuries were reported in Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities.
Russia has continued a nearly 19-month-long invasion of neighboring Ukraine. Recently, though, the Ukrainians have gone on a counteroffensive, fighting to reclaim occupied territory.
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US ambassador to Moscow meets with detained WSJ journalist
Lynne Tracy, the U.S. ambassador to Moscow, met with detained American journalist Evan Gershkovich on Monday, the ambassador's press secretary told ABC News.
Tracy met with Wall Street Journal reporter at Moscow's Lefortovo prison where he's being held, according to the press secretary.
This is the second visit between Tracy and Gershkovich since his initial detention in March.
-ABC News' Tanya Stukalova and Ellie Kaufman
Prigozhin releases new message
Yevgeny Prigozhin, the Wagner Group leader who led the rebellion in Russia, reportedly released a new message Monday, his first in a week, to a social media account with ties to the PMC.
In a short audio message posted by Grey Zone telegram account, which believed to be run by a Wagner member that frequently posts about events on the frontline in Ukraine, Prigozhin claimed the June 24 rebellion against Moscow was aimed at "fighting traitors and mobilizing our society."
"I think we have achieved a lot of it. In the near future, I am sure that you will see our next victories at the front. Thanks guys," he allegedly said.
The Wagner Group leader said "today, more an ever, we need your support."
-ABC News' Patrick Reevell
Ukraine holds disaster drills amid fears Russia could sabotage Zaporizhzhia plant
Amid fears Russia might blow up the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, Ukraine is holding drills to prepare emergency services with how to deal with a potential radioactive disaster.
ABC News was invited to the drills in the city of Zaporizhzhia this week, about 30 miles from the plant, where firefighters in hazmat gear simulated decontaminating people from radiation during an evacuation.
Emergency workers demonstrated scanning civilians with Geiger counters as they disembarked buses, stripping some civilians and hosing them with water as they lay on stretchers. Firefighters in yellow suits sprayed down vehicles and moved them through a large washer system rigged up between fire trucks.
This week, Ukraine's chief of military intelligence, Kyrylo Budanov, claimed Russia had now completed preparation to potentially sabotage the plant if it chooses.
Read more about the drills here.
-ABC News' Patrick Reevell
CIA director says mutiny shows 'corrosive effect' of Putin's war
CIA Director Bill Burns said Yevgeny Prigozhin's mutiny showed the "corrosive effect" of President Vladimir Putin's war in Ukraine during remarks in England on Saturday.
"It is striking that Prigozhin preceded his actions with a scathing indictment of the Kremlin’s mendacious rationale for its invasion of Ukraine, and of the Russian military leadership’s conduct of the war," Burns said during a lecture to Britain's Ditchley Foundation. "The impact of those words and those actions will play out for some time, a vivid reminder of the corrosive effect of Putin’s war on his own society and his own regime."
Burns, who served as U.S. ambassador to Russia from 2005 to 2008, also noted how Russian disaffection will gnaw away at the Kremlin and that the CIA is taking this opportunity to step up its recruitment efforts in Russia.
"Disaffection with the war will continue to gnaw away at the Russian leadership, beneath the steady diet of state propaganda and practiced repression," Burns said. "That disaffection creates a once-in-a generation opportunity for us at CIA, at our core a human intelligence service. We're not letting it go to waste."
-ABC News' Cindy Smith
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.