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:
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
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.
US defends NATO decision on Ukraine membership
The United States is standing by the NATO communique released Tuesday and its language around Ukraine joining the alliance, despite criticism from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy over the lack of a timeline to do so.
"The United States clearly joined with NATO allies in agreeing to a strong positive message reaffirming that Ukraine will become a member of the alliance," U.S. National Security Council Senior Director for Europe Amanda Sloat said during a press briefing in Lithuania's capital on Wednesday morning, on the final day of a high-stakes NATO summit. "And as the communique has made clear, as the president has spoken to directly in the past, we recognize that Ukraine has already made significant progress in terms of reforms. That was part of what led to allies making the decision to say that the Membership Action Plan was no longer required for Ukraine."
"But as both the president has said and as the communique made clear, there is still the need for Ukraine to take further democratic and security sector reforms," she added.
Sloat told reporters that the U.S. has been and would continue to work with Ukraine both bilaterally and through the NATO alliance to ensure that the reforms required to join the alliance are met.
When asked to respond to Zelenskyy's criticism that the lack of a timeline was "unprecedented and absurd," Sloat defended the agreement as a significant one.
"I would agree that the communique is unprecedented, but I see that in a positive way. We joined with allies yesterday in agreeing to a very strong, positive message. We reaffirmed that Ukraine will become a member of the NATO alliance," she said, arguing that removing the Membership Action Plan requirement for Ukraine was a "very significant" step on NATO's part.
-ABC News' Molly Nagle