Wednesday brought a string of good news for Ukraine amid the 3-month-long counteroffensive. That same day, a Russian helicopter pilot defected to Ukraine, landing a Mi-8 AMTSH helicopter at the Ukrainian Poltava military air base. An official for HUR, the military intelligence agency, told local media that this was the result of a planned six-month operation. But the most significant turn of events that came Wednesday was the possible death of the Wagner Group leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin. Social media channels associated with Wagner claimed that the plane was shot down by an air-defense system.

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Persons: HUR, Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Prigozhin, Angela Stenet, Vladimir Putin's, Stenet, Mykhailo Podolyak, Putin Organizations: Service, Ukrainian, Directorate of Intelligence, Wagner Group, National Intelligence, PBS, New York Times, Washington Post, Institute for Locations: Ukraine, Wall, Silicon, Russia, Russian, Crimean, Ukrainian Poltava, Moscow, Tver, Eurasia, The U.S, Melitopol, Washington, DC