Wagner mercenary boss suggests Russia may have downed its own military aircraft

The Associated Press

The head of Russia’s feared Wagner private army has suggested that four Russian military aircraft that reportedly crashed in a region that borders Ukraine may have been shot down by Russia’s own forces. Russian officials have not commented on reports in Russian conventional and social media that two fighter planes and two military helicopters crashed in the Bryansk region on Saturday. State news agency Tass cited unspecified emergency services sources as saying one plane and one helicopter crashed. Prigozhin’s forces are in the thick of a grinding monthslong battle for the city of Bakhmut. He has repeatedly criticized the Russian military for its strategy in Ukraine.