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Ukraine is mourning the loss of three fighter pilots killed as two training aircraft collided in the skies some 90 miles west of Kyiv. Singled out for particular praise by president Volodymr Zelensky and Ukraine’s airforce is Captain Andriy Pilshchykov, a pilot who went by the military callsign “Juice”. The late pilot, who was 30 years old when the crash occured over the western Zhytomyr region on Friday, had become known not just for his defence of Ukraine, but also for his passionate advocacy for the United States to provide Kyiv with F-16 fighter jets. The Mig-29 pilot first won fame in Ukraine as he took part in “dogfights” with Moscow’s fighter jets in the skies above Kyiv during the initial months of Russia’s invasion, according to Ukrainian news outlets. As Russian air sorties over Kyiv grew fewer, Pilshchykov continued to defend Ukraine’s skies as he sought to intercept Russian cruise missiles and drones before they struck targets on the ground – and by last May had already racked up 500 hours of combat flights. Last summer, he was one of two Ukrainian pilots chosen to travel to Washington to lobby members of the US Congress to provide Kyiv with F-16 fighter jets, which Joe Biden’s administration eventually agreed to do in May. “Juice” also gave multiple interviews with Western media outlets, speaking to Sky News, the BBC, CNN and Washington Post to name a few, as he fought Ukraine’s case to be provided with the jets. In one interview with the BBC, he said of his missions: “Intercepting the cruise missiles, your mission is to save the lives on the ground, to save the city. If you are not able, it's a terrible feeling that somebody will die. Somebody will die in minutes and you didn't prevent that.” In another broadcast with CNN’s Anderson Cooper, he said: “All of us are ready to fight, just with our jets, with our guns, even just in the fields with rifles. “So our people, including me, we are ready to fight Russians, and we are ready to defend our country, to defend our people in absolutely any ways. But we need tools, effective tools, to do this efficiently.” His call sign, “Juice”, was reportedly given to him by US pilots during a joint training exercise because he did not drink alcohol, and air force spokesperson Yuriy Ihnat hailed him as a “main driver of an advocacy group promoting many decisions on the F-16s”, who was “in constant contact with Californian pilots”. Speaking to The Guardian, Mr Ihnat also praised “Juice” as a driver of reforms in the air force was “trying to bring Nato standards into Ukraine … and even western traditions, such as the burning of pianos to honour a fallen pilot”. His death has struck a chord in Ukraine, where official footage on Sunday appeared to show troops lined up on a runway to commemorate Pilshchykov and his two fallen comrades Major Viacheslav Minka and Major Serhii Prokazin, as a piano played a sombre lament and was set alight in tribute. Ukraine’s prosecutor general’s office has opened a criminal investigation into whether flight preparation rules were violated prior to the fatal crash on Friday, which involved two L-39 training aircraft. As he vowed that the investigation would clarify the circumstances of the crash, Mr Zelensky hailed “Juice” in his nightly address on Saturday as “one of those who helped our country a lot”, adding: “Ukraine will never forget anyone who defended Ukraine’s free sky. May they always be remembered.” Mr Ihnat, of Ukraine’s air force, described Pilshchykov as a “mega talent”, adding: “You can't even imagine how much he wanted to fly an F-16. But now that American planes are actually on the horizon, he will not fly them.” Writing on Facebook, Mr Ihnat added: “Andriy Pilshchykov was not just a pilot, he was a young officer with great knowledge and great talent. He was an excellent communicator, the driver of reforms in Air Force aircraft, a participant in many projects. “I often supported his crazy ideas, which gave incredible results.” Nolan Peterson, a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council think-tank was among Western commentators to pay tribute to the pilot, saying: “The stories he told me about flying his MiG-29 in combat against Russia are the stuff of epics. He is a hero and will be rightly remembered as such.” Read More Putin orders Wagner fighters to sign oath of allegiance following Prigozhin plane crash Putin’s hit list: from poisoned tea to mysterious falls, the grisly fate of the Kremlin’s enemies Ukraine investigates incident that killed 3 pilots while Russia attacks with cruise missiles ‘Gangster’ Putin committed ‘most ostentatious’ act of savagery in our lifetimes, says Boris

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Russia’s Investigative Committee has confirmed Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin was killed in a plane crash. The committee said in a statement Sunday that after forensic testing, all 10 bodies recovered at the site of the crash were identified, and their identities “conform to the manifest.” Russia’s civil aviation authority earlier this week said Prigozhin, along with some of his top lieutenants, were on the list of those on board the plane that crashed Wednesday. “As part of the investigation of the plane crash in the Tver region, molecular-genetic examinations have been completed,” Russia’s Investigative Committee said in a statement on its site on the Telegram messaging app. “According to their results, the identities of all 10 dead were established. They correspond to the list stated in the flight sheet,” it said. Prigozhin’s private jet came down north-west of Moscow, killing all those on board. His right-hand man Dmitry Utkin was also on board the Embraer Legacy 600 jet, as well as five other passengers and three crew members, according to the passenger list. The Kremlin has denied speculation it was to blame for the crash. During a conference call with journalists on Friday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the BBC there was “lots of speculation” around the “tragic” deaths. “In the West, of course, this speculation comes from a certain angle. It’s all a complete lie,” Mr Peskov went on. Prigozhin’s plane crash comes just two months after his abortive mutiny on Russia’s top military chiefs, which culminated in a march on Moscow. President Vladimir Putin described that mutiny as a treacherous “stab in the back”, but later met with Prigozhin in the Kremlin and offered his condolences to the families of those that died in the crash. Once a businessman with a catering empire and an ally of Putin since the 1990s, Prigozhin went on to establish the Wagner Group in 2014, the mercenary force that has fought many of the hardest battles in Ukraine. More follows on this breaking news story.... Read More Who is Yevgeny Prigozhin? Wagner Group chief killed in plane crash Prigozhin's final months were overshadowed by questions about what the Kremlin had in store for him Wagner boss talks about ‘plane falling apart in the air’ in resurfaced clip fuelling conspiracy theories The Body in the Woods | An Independent TV Original Documentary The harrowing discovery at centre of The Independent’s new documentary

A resurfaced clip of the Wagner leader feared dead in a plane crash has resurfaced on social media, stoking conspiracy theories about his presumed demise. In the 40-second clip, the Russian mercenary boss Yevgeny Prigozhin compared Russia’s trajectory in the war to a plane that will “fall apart in the air”. The ominous comparison has now added fuel to fire in the theory the Wagner chief was killed the order of Russian president Vladimir Putin, after Prigozhin is said to be one of the passengers on a private jet that crashed northwest of Moscow with no survivors on Wednesday. The incident occurred just two months after he shocked the global stage by leading a mutiny against Putin, before abruptly calling off the half-baked uprising at the eleventh hour. In the video taken from an interview originally published on April 29 with Russian military blogger Semyon Pegov, Prigozhin said he would rather be killed than lie to his country, and talked about a plane disintegrating in the sky. “Today we have reached the boiling point,” he said in the clip published on Grey Zone, Wagner’s Telegram channel. “Why am I speaking so honestly? Because I don’t have the right, before those people who will live on in this country. They are now being lied to. Better kill me.” He added: “But I will not lie, I must say honestly that Russia is on the brink of disaster. And if these cogs are not adjusted today, then the plane will fall apart in the air.” Hundreds of responses had been posted on Grey Zone within a few hours. “But he knew,” a Telegram user whose name translates to “outpost” wrote in the first response. Some posts speculated Prigozhin was still alive, with one claiming he would “soon jump out of a snuffbox and make the devils c*** themselves.” The Kremlin has said Western suggestions he had been killed on its orders were an “absolute lie.” Read More Prigozhin's final months were overshadowed by questions about what the Kremlin had in store for him Putin orders Wagner fighters to sign oath of allegiance following Prigozhin plane crash If the Wagner mercenary chief is dead, he got the death he deserved Ukraine-Russia war live: Putin’s strongest line of defence ‘broken by Kyiv forces’ Prigozhin's final months were overshadowed by questions about what the Kremlin had in store for him Putin orders Wagner fighters to sign oath of allegiance after Prigozhin death

The UK’s main opposition party ruled out imposing a wealth tax in an apparent policy shift heading toward

Ukraine’s forces believe they have broken through the most difficult line of Russian defences in the south and will now be able to advance “faster”, a commander has said. Ukrainian forces said on Wednesday they had raised the national flag in the settlement of Robotyne in the southern Zaporizhzhia region, about 10 km (six miles) south of the frontline town of Orikhiv. “We don’t stop here,” said a commander, Skala, who led some of the troops into Robotyne. “Next we have (the town of) Berdiansk, and then more. I made it clear to my fighters at once: our goal is not Robotyne, our goal is (the Sea of) Azov.” Robotyne is about 100 km from Berdiansk, a port on the shores of the Sea of Azov, and 85 km from the strategic city of Melitopol. Both are occupied by Russian forces following Moscow’s full-scale invasion in February last year. “We have passed the main roads that were mined. We are coming to those lines where we can go (forward). I’m sure we’ll go faster from here,” Skala said. Read More What we know — and don't know — about the crash of a Russian mercenary's plane Putin says Wagner chief had ‘complicated fate’ – as officials suggest explosion on plane caused fatal crash While world media speculates on Wagner chief's presumed death, Russian state media shies away Wagner has been decapitated – the mercenaries should fear the future

A vigil will be held later in memory of four young people who died in a County Tipperary car crash.

Saudi Arabia is interested in discussions about joining Europe’s top football club tournament, the Champions League, as the