Putin orders oath of allegiance by Wagnerites – as it happened

Putin orders Wagner fighters to sign oath of allegiance to Russian state

President Putin last night ordered Wagner fighters to sign an oath of allegiance to the Russian state after a deadly plane crash killed Yevgeny Prigozhin, the volatile chief of the mercenary group.

Putin signed the decree bringing in the change with immediate effect yesterday after the Kremlin said that western suggestions that Prigozhin had been killed on its orders were an “absolute lie”. The Kremlin declined to definitively confirm his death, citing the need to wait for test results.

Putin’s introduction of a mandatory oath for employees of Wagner and other private military contractors was a clear move to bring such groups under tighter state control, reports Reuters.

The decree, published on the Kremlin website, obliges anyone carrying out work on behalf of the military or supporting what Moscow calls its “special military operation” in Ukraine to swear a formal oath of allegiance to Russia.

Fighters must pledge “their loyalty to the Russian Federation… strictly follow their commanders and superiors’ orders, and conscientiously fulfill their obligations,” it reads, according to the Moscow Times.

Described in the decree as a step to forge the spiritual and moral foundations of the defence of Russia, the wording of the oath includes a line in which those who take it promise to strictly follow the orders of commanders and senior leaders.

Russian investigators inspect a part of the crashed private jet near the village of Kuzhenkino, Tver region, Russia, 23 August. — Russian investigators inspect the crashed private jet near the village of Kuzhenkino in Russia’s Tver region. Photograph: Alexander Zemlianichenko/AP

President Putin last night ordered Wagner fighters to sign an oath of allegiance to the Russian state after a deadly plane crash killed Yevgeny Prigozhin, the volatile chief of the mercenary group.

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President Biden said US officials are trying to determine precisely how Prigozhin’s plane was brought down, leaving no survivors. Russia criticised Biden for expressing his lack of surprise that Prigozhin had been killed and cautioned that it was not appropriate for Washington to make such remarks.

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Russia reported a new drone attack on Moscow in the early hours today which again forced authorities to temporarily shut down all three major airports serving the capital. Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin said the drone was brought down by air defence systems.

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Pope Francis urged young Russians to be “sowers of seeds of reconciliation” in a virtual address to a congregation of 400 in St Petersburg that gathered for the annual Catholic youth day.

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Russian forces struck a cafe in a key frontline area in northeastern Ukraine today, killing two civilians and wounding a third, regional officials said. The shelling near the city of Kupiansk took place amid warnings from UK officials that Russia may try to retake the area.

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US reporter Evan Gershkovich appealed against a Russian court’s decision to extend his pre-trial detention by three months after his detention under spying charges which he denies, according to documents published by a Moscow court. Unlike many western reporters, he had continued to report from Russia during Moscow’s offensive in Ukraine.

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German magazine Der Spiegel published a lengthy and detailed investigation into the attack on the Nord Stream pipeline. It cites German investigators – who are undertaking “the most important investigation of Germany’s postwar history because of its potential political implications” – and reported that “a striking number of clues point to Ukraine”.

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Three Ukrainian pilots have died after two training aircraft collided over the Zhytomyr region.

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The deaths occurred yesterday during a mission.

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“During a combat mission, the crews of two L-39 combat training aircraft collided in the sky,” an air force statement read on Telegram.

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“All three pilots, unfortunately, died.”

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The air force added a well-known pilot, nicknamed “Juice”, was among the dead.

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President Putin last night ordered Wagner fighters to sign an oath of allegiance to the Russian state after a deadly plane crash killed Yevgeny Prigozhin, the volatile chief of the mercenary group.

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President Biden said US officials are trying to determine precisely how Prigozhin’s plane was brought down, leaving no survivors. Russia criticised Biden for expressing his lack of surprise that Prigozhin had been killed and cautioned that it was not appropriate for Washington to make such remarks.

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Russia reported a new drone attack on Moscow in the early hours today which again forced authorities to temporarily shut down all three major airports serving the capital. Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin said the drone was brought down by air defence systems.

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Pope Francis urged young Russians to be “sowers of seeds of reconciliation” in a virtual address to a congregation of 400 in St Petersburg that gathered for the annual Catholic youth day.

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Russian forces struck a cafe in a key frontline area in northeastern Ukraine today, killing two civilians and wounding a third, regional officials said. The shelling near the city of Kupiansk took place amid warnings from UK officials that Russia may try to retake the area.

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US reporter Evan Gershkovich appealed against a Russian court’s decision to extend his pre-trial detention by three months after his detention under spying charges which he denies, according to documents published by a Moscow court. Unlike many western reporters, he had continued to report from Russia during Moscow’s offensive in Ukraine.

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German magazine Der Spiegel published a lengthy and detailed investigation into the attack on the Nord Stream pipeline. It cites German investigators – who are undertaking “the most important investigation of Germany’s postwar history because of its potential political implications” – and reported that “a striking number of clues point to Ukraine”.

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Pope Francis has urged young Russians to be “sowers of seeds of reconciliation” in a virtual address to a congregation of 400 in St Petersburg that gathered for the annual Catholic youth day.

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He said yesterday in comments reported by Vatican News:

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I wish you, young Russians, the vocation to be artisans of peace amid so many conflicts and amid so many polarisations that come from all sides and plague our world. I invite you to be sowers of seeds of reconciliation, small seeds that in this winter of war will not sprout in the frozen ground for the time being, but will blossom in a future spring.

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Have the courage to replace fears with dreams … Do not be stewards of fears, but entrepreneurs of dreams! Allow yourselves the luxury of dreaming big!

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The pope, who has been criticised previously for not condemning Russia following its invasion of its neighbour, despite expressing solidarity with the Ukraine people, underlined the role of the church as “a mother with an open heart who knows how to welcome and receive, especially those who need more care.” He added: “God’s love is for all and the church belongs to all”.

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Putin’s introduction of a mandatory oath for employees of Wagner and other private military contractors was a clear move to bring such groups under tighter state control, reports Reuters.

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