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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Latest headlines:
Prigozhin plane may have been downed on purpose: Kremlin
The Kremlin on Wednesday acknowledged for the first time that a plane carrying Yevgeny Prigozhin, mercenary chief of the paramilitary Wagner Group, was possibly downed on purpose.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that investigators are looking into the possibility that the 62-year-old Prigozhin was assassinated.
"It is obvious that different versions are being considered, including the version -- you know what we are talking about -- let's say, a deliberate atrocity," Peskov said when asked about the investigation.
The plane carrying Prigozhin and nine others crashed in Russia's Tver region on Aug. 23, killing everyone aboard, according to the press service of Russia's Federal Air Transport Agency.
The crash came about a month after Prigozhin led a chaotic armed rebellion that threatened the longstanding leadership of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
On Friday, Peskov denied speculation that the Kremlin was involved in the plane crash, calling the allegation an "absolute lie."
The crash investigation is being conducted by the Russian Investigative Committee as a domestic incident and Peskov said that allowing in international investigators "is out of the question."
-ABC News' Will Gretsky
Ukraine carries out drone attack in Crimea
Ukraine conducted a massive drone attack in Crimea Thursday night into Friday morning, Ukraine Defense Intelligence spokesman Andrii Yusov told ABC News.
An attack was made on the Russian 126th Separate Guards Coastal Defense Brigade of the Black Sea Fleet in the village of Perevalne, Yusov said.
"We are still calculating enemy losses at the moment," Yusov said
-ABC News' Ellie Kaufman
Bomb likely cause of explosion that downed Prigozhin's plane, US officials say
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 Wednesday 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.
-ABC News' Josh Margolin and Luis Martinez
Putin had no recent meetings with Prigozhin, Kremlin says
Russian President Vladimir Putin had no recent meetings with Yevgeny Prigozhin, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Friday.
We don't know yet how long the investigation procedures will be," Peskov said when asked if Putin will attend Prigozhin's funeral.
"The president has a busy schedule in general," he added.
Peskov would not comment on the cause of the plane crash.
-ABC News' Anastasia Bagaeva and Ellie Kaufman
Ukrainian forces appear to cross river into occupied Kherson
The Ukrainian military has landed troops on the Russian-held eastern bank of the Dnipro River across from the city of Kherson, according to Russian reports.
Media posted online by pro-Russian accounts suggested small boatloads of Ukrainian soldiers have managed to establish a small beachhead at the foot of the destroyed Antonivskiy Road Bridge that spanned the river before Ukraine brought it down last year.
The size of the Ukrainian force on the bank is unclear, but Russian accounts suggested it was relatively small.
Some Russian accounts posted dramatic video showing fighting on the eastern bank, including what appears to be a Russian armored vehicle firing intensively at Ukrainian soldiers as it recovers Russian wounded.
The video was undated but Russian reports suggested around several dozen Ukrainian troops landed on June 24 and Russian airborne units have been trying to dislodge them since.
Another video shows a small boat carrying perhaps a dozen Ukrainian soldiers landing by the ruined bridge, coming under shell fire.
The Russian military blogger account, Two Majors, reported a small group of Ukrainian soldiers had succeeded in digging in around the bridge. It noted Russian forces had been forced to pull back to a distance from the bank because their positions had been flooded after the Kakhovka dam was blown up earlier this month.
Russian military bloggers said Russian aircraft and artillery were firing on the Ukrainians Monday.
If Ukraine is able to keep hold of its foothold, it will put further pressure on Russia’s forces in the south, already battling to hold back Ukraine’s counteroffensive on the Zaporizhzhia front.
-ABC News' Patrick Reevell