through all the events in russia this weekend, the war in ukraine is still ablaze. bloody fighting underway in the east and the south, as ukrainian forces continue to press their counteroffensive. could the turmoil and division inside russia present an opportunity for ukraine? cnn s ben wedeman reports now from zaporizhzhia. reporter: jim, after the brief but intense drama in russia, it s back to the war in ukraine. while wagner chief yevgeny prigozhin was on the rampage in moscow, officials in kyiv were largely silent following napoleon s advice never to interrupt your enemy while he s making a mistake. briefly, many ukrainians entertained the prospect that chaos in russia would lead to an early end to the war. but prigozhin s sudden about-face dashed those hopes. said in an interview, he was
we do have some sad news from inside cnn tonight. we say goodbye to a television legend and cnn pioneer, david boreman. he died early this morning following complications after hip surgery. he was 69 years old. boreman had a long and storied career in television, starting in local news in los angeles before moving up to the networks. later he became a top executive at cnn and served as our washington bureau chief for many years. david was known for his innovative approach to tv producing, which garnered him so many industry awards. in 2004, it was his idea to anchor cnn s election coverage straight from the floor of party conventions, giving viewers a more realistic sense of exactly what was going on as it happened. and in 2008, he implemented what is commonly known today as the
leadership going forward and whether his iron grip on russia is weakening. the crash site of a russian military plane reportedly brought down by the wagner group yesterday. the cause of the crash not clear. but footage indicates the aircraft had been struck by a missile or rocket. there s still no sign of vladimir s leader, yevgeny prigozhin, who led this march on russia, af he cut a deal to go into belarus. also not seen, putin. we re going to have the latest on the white house reaction and president biden s conversation today with ukraine s leader. first, though, an update from cnn s matthew chance, who is in moscow. reporter: jim, on the face of it tonight, it seems like a russian crisis has been averted. rebel wagner fighters have been dispersed, and the kremlin is backing control of areas that was simply taken over by the mercenary group. amid the relief that more
apparently belarus brokered, that he s supposed to be heading to belarus. cnn did reach out to he does have a press service. they say that they will get back in touch when he has communication. we simply do not know where he is right now. very silent since that message saying that he was turning his troops around. should note, we also haven t heard from vladimir putin. the key players in all of this are completely silent. well, it s amazing. he s got his own army. he s got his own messaging service. he s got his own political operation it seems. alex marquardt, thanks so much. the united states top diplomat says that the brief and chaotic insurrection in russia shows, quote, cracks emerging in vladimir putin s control of the country. those cracks, if they do exist, would be the informal power structure putin has built in his more than two decades of power. the west is now trying to figure out just how deep those cracks go and possibly, could they be exploited? joined now by senio
collins, i don t think anderson cooper is the conversation either, i think it is platforming, and today it is cnn and by monday it could be about twitter and by tuesday it could be someone else entirely. and again, i m not accusing them of a cynical ratings grab. i think it was not well thought out. if i was at cnn, or if it was here, i would say we must time it where we re going to give every candidate you give the candidate who has already said i m not going to the debates, so i mean he is not going to the debates, so i mean, so amazing. a free hour? the guy who made it in politics because he knows how to brand himself, and put his name everywhere, i respect the reporter, kaitlan did a good job, but you re talking about a guy who marketed and branded his way to the white house. i mean come on. you don t think he knew what to do in an hour with an audience? and he says and by the way, i m