This is part of a new reporting partnership between The Virginian-Pilot/Daily Press and WTKR News 3.

Beachgoers who have had to cancel plans over the past couple weeks can look forward to a better chance for sunny skies this weekend.

Over the past several days, Hampton Roads has faced less-than-ideal weather with rain and storms persistent throughout the week.

On Friday, brief downpours brought flash flooding to parts of the region, including Norfolk and Portsmouth. Earlier, residents were encouraged to seek shelter indoors as thunderstorms rolled through Virginia Beach and other areas, with winds as high as 60 mph.

The string of wet weather was likely caused by a front that has stuck around near the coast. Like on an interstate highway, storm systems move along areas of low pressure hit mainly in the afternoon when the hottest part of the day arrives.

This weekend’s weather, though, is likely going to be better. There’s still a chance for fog Saturday and some afternoon storms both days, but there’s a good chance for a lot more sunshine.

Sunday is looking like the hotter day, getting close to the 90-degree mark in some areas. Monday, however, is going to be the hottest day in the near future, with highs around 90 and heat index values near 100. Of course, that depends on the timing of possible storms — some of which could turn severe.

Over the past couple weekends, weather hazards put a damper on plans for travelers heading to the Oceanfront or other beaches in the region. On June 16, storms produced a tornado that touched down in Isle of Wight County, according to the weather service at the time, and winds downed trees around Smithfield and the Hilton area of Newport News. Hail was reported in north Suffolk, Chesapeake, Norfolk, Virginia Beach, Newport News and Hampton. In Hampton’s Willow Oaks neighborhood, more than 2,000 Dominion customers lost power during the storm, and there were 1,395 customers without power in Newport News’ Hilton neighborhood.

The weekend before that, remnants of Canadian wildfire smoke blanketed the majority of the East Coast after a backdoor cold front drew in the hazy air. That has since cleared.

HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS SOCCER

Four Kellam High girls soccer players have made the VHSL Class 6 all-state first team.

Forward Jashyra Johnson, midfielder Dylan McEntarfer, defender Madisen Hood and goalie Kiley Cass represented the Knights.

Kellam posted an undefeated regular season and made the state tournament, falling in the quarterfinals.

Landstown’s Janessa Lowe joined the Kellam quartet on the first team.

Western Branch’s Jayda Sutton was on the second team.

Colgan High swept the top individual honors, with forward Sam DeGuzman the Class 6 Player of the Year and Tom Warzywak the Coach of the Year.

PRO BASKETBALL

State players find NBA teams

Virginia’s Kihei Clark and Armaan Franklin and Virginia Tech’s Justyn Mutts weren’t selected in Thursday night’s NBA draft, but they have embarked on an alternate path to the league.

The Utah Jazz have signed Clark, a 5-10 guard, to their summer league roster, according to The Athletic. He averaged 10.7 points and 5.4 assists a game last season.

Franklin, a 6-4 guard, has agreed to an Exhibit-10 contract with the NBA champion Denver Nuggets, The Athletic reported. He averaged 12.4 points and 4.1 rebounds a game.

Mutts has agreed to join the summer-league team of the Sacramento Kings, according to USA Today. He averaged 13.3 points and 7.4 rebounds a contest.

Meanwhile, Liberty guard Darius McGhee has agreed to join the Indiana Pacers, the university announced. He averaged 22.8 points per game, which ranked third in the country, and was an  AP All-American honorable mention selection.

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

NSU to play in Puerto Rico

The Norfolk State men’s basketball team will play three exhibition games in Puerto Rico from Aug. 10-15.

It will be the Spartans’ first offseason overseas trip since the team went to Costa Rica in 2016.

NSU face competition from Liga de Baloncesto Puertorriquena during the trip.

COLLEGE WOMEN’S GOLF

ODU adds a pair of recruits

The Old Dominion women’s golf team has added Svarin Yuenyong and Carley Rudolf to its 2023 signing class.

Rudolf, a First Colonial High graduate, won a state championship as a freshman in 2015 and was a co-medalist in the 2017 state championship match.

Yuenyong, from Bangkok, Thailand, played the past four years at Elon, where she averaged a 77.14 in 25 tournaments. She tied for sixth at the 2023 CAA Championship.

The two will join earlier signees Faith Garcia and Sarah Mardani and Puneet Bajwa, who signed in December.

Briefly

* William & Mary field hockey players Lauren Curran, Maddie George, Pyper Friedman and Jayden Moon have been selected to compete in the Senior Nexus Championship on July 11-16 at the Virginia Beach Regional Training Center.

* Christopher Newport field hockey star Abby Asuncion has been named a second-team Academic All-American by by the College Sports Communicators.

* Lionsbridge FC will face Patuxent Football Athletics in a USL League Two matchup at 7 p.m. Saturday at TowneBank Stadium in Newport News.

* The University of Virginia’s Connor Shellenberger and Duke’s Brennan O’Neill have been named the ACC Men’s Lacrosse Scholar-Athletes of the Year.

By DÁNICA COTO (Associated Press)

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Tropical Storm Cindy formed behind Tropical Storm Bret, in the first case of two storms in the tropical Atlantic in June since record keeping began in 1851, forecasters said Friday.

The historic event signals an early and aggressive start to the Atlantic hurricane season that began June 1 and usually peaks from mid-August to mid-October. Some forecasters blamed unusually high sea temperatures for the rare development.

“The Atlantic is awfully warm this year,” said Kerry Emanuel, a meteorologist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, adding that it’s partly a result of global warming, natural variability and the ocean’s recovering from sulfate aerosols pollution that cooled it decades ago.

Studies show that a warmer world is producing wetter and more intense hurricanes, with scientists still trying to figure out if climate change alters how many storms brew. Because of more early and pre-season storms, the National Hurricane Center has started issuing advisories earlier in the year, with experts recently discussing the idea of declaring the start of the hurricane season earlier.

Emanuel noted that in the entire Atlantic Ocean, not just the tropical Atlantic, it’s not unusual to have storms in June. It has happened 34 times — including this year — since 1851, he said.

Cindy was forecast to remain a tropical storm while heading to the northeast of the Caribbean into the open waters of the Atlantic, before dissipating early in the coming week.

Bret brought winds, heavy rain and swells of up to 15 feet (4.5 meters) to islands in the eastern Caribbean that had shut down to prepare for potential landslides and flooding with its arrival late Thursday. Officials in the French Caribbean island of Martinique said that they found four people who were aboard a lifeboat after their catamaran sank during the storm and that they were hospitalized.

Power outages were reported in St. Lucia and St. Vincent and the Grenadines, with at least 130 people seeking protection in government shelters as the storm washed away one home and caused severe damage to several others, according to officials.

Ralph Gonsalves, prime minister for St. Vincent and the Grenadines, told NBC Radio, a local station, on Friday that officials were still assessing the damage and helping those in need.

“We will respond, as always, with speed,” he said.

Authorities in Barbados said they received more than a dozen reports of damage across the island, according to the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency.

Bret was moving through the central Caribbean on Friday night, passing to the north of Aruba, Bonaire and Curaco. Forecasters said it was expected to dissipate Saturday night.

Late Friday, Bret’s center was about 75 miles (120 kilometers) northeast of Curacao and moving west into open waters at 18 mph (30 kph). Its maximum sustained winds were 50 mph (85 kph).

Cindy’s maximum sustained winds were also around 50 mph (85 kph) late Friday. The storm was centered about 735 miles (1,185 kilometers) east of the Lesser Antilles.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has forecast 12 to 17 named storms for this year’s hurricane season. It said between five and nine of those storms could become hurricanes, including up to four major hurricanes of Category 3 or higher.

Associated Press

The owner of the Wagner private military contractor made his most direct challenge to the Kremlin yet, calling for an armed rebellion aimed at ousting Russia’s defense minister. The security services reacted immediately by calling for the arrest of Yevgeny Prigozhin.

In a sign of how seriously the Kremlin was taking the threat, security was heightened in Moscow and in Rostov-on-Don, which is home to the Russian military headquarters for the southern region and also oversees the fighting in Ukraine.

While the outcome of the confrontation was still unclear, it appeared likely to further hinder Moscow’s war effort as Kyiv’s forces were probing Russian defenses in the initial stages of a counteroffensive. The dispute, especially if Prigozhin were to succeed, also could have repercussions for President Vladimir Putin and his ability to maintain a united front.

Prigozhin claimed early Saturday that his forces had crossed into Russia from Ukraine and had reached Rostov, saying they faced no resistance from young conscripts at checkpoints and that his forces “aren’t fighting against children.”

“But we will destroy anyone who stands in our way,” he said in one of a series of angry video and audio recordings posted on social media beginning late Friday. “We are moving forward and will go until the end.”

He claimed that the chief of the General Staff, Gen. Valery Gerasimov, scrambled warplanes to strike Wagner’s convoys, which were driving alongside ordinary vehicles. Prigozhin also said his forces shot down a Russian military helicopter that fired on a civilian convoy, but there was no independent confirmation.

And despite Prigozhin’s statements that Wagner convoys had entered Rostov-on-Don, there was no confirmation of that yet on Russian social networks. Video posted online showed armored vehicles, including tanks, stationed on the streets and troops moving into position, but it was unclear whether they were under Wagner or military command. Earlier, heavy trucks were seen blocking highways leading into the city and long convoys of National Guard trucks were seen on a road.

The governor of the Voronezh region, just to the north, told residents that a column of military vehicles was moving along the main highway and advised them to stay off the road.

Prigozhin said Wagner field camps in Ukraine were struck by rockets, helicopter gunships and artillery fire on orders from Gerasimov following a meeting with Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, at which they decided to destroy Wagner.

The Wagner forces have played a crucial role in Russia’s war in Ukraine, succeeding in taking the city where the bloodiest and longest battles have taken place, Bakhmut. But Prigozhin has increasingly criticized Russia’s military brass, accusing it of incompetence and of starving his troops of weapons and ammunition.

Prigozhin, who said he had 25,000 troops under his command, said his troops would punish Shoigu in an armed rebellion and urged the army not to offer resistance: “This is not a military coup, but a march of justice.”

The National Anti-Terrorism Committee, which is part of the Federal Security Services, or FSB, charged him with calling for an armed rebellion, punishable by up to 20 years in prison.

The FSB urged Wagner’s contract soldiers to arrest Prigozhin and refuse to follow his “criminal and treacherous orders.” It called his statements a “stab in the back to Russian troops” and said they amounted to fomenting armed conflict.

Putin was informed about the situation and “all the necessary measures were being taken,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

Heavy military trucks and armored vehicles were seen in several parts of central Moscow early Saturday, and soldiers toting assault rifles were deployed outside the main building of the Defense Ministry. The area around the presidential administration near Red Square was blocked, snarling traffic.

But even with the heightened military presence, downtown bars and restaurants were filled with customers. At one club near the headquarters of the FSB, people were dancing in the street near the entrance.

Moscow’s mayor announced Saturday morning that counterterrorism measures were underway, including increased control of roads and possible restrictions on mass gatherings.

Prigozhin, whose feud with the Defense Ministry dates back years, had refused to comply with a requirement that military contractors sign contracts with the ministry before July 1. In a statement late Friday, he said he was ready to find a compromise but “they have treacherously cheated us.”

“Today they carried out a rocket strike on our rear camps, and a huge number of our comrades got killed,” he said. The Defense Ministry denied attacking the Wagner camps.

Prigozhin claimed that Shoigu went to the Russian military headquarters in Rostov-on-Don personally to direct the strike and then “cowardly” fled.

“The evil embodied by the country’s military leadership must be stopped,” he shouted.

Col. Gen. Sergei Surovikin, the deputy commander of the Russian group of forces fighting in Ukraine, urged the Wagner forces to stop any move against the army, saying it would play into the hands of Russia’s enemies, who are “waiting to see the exacerbation of our domestic political situation.”

Tatiana Stanovaya, a political analyst, predicted this would be the end of Prigozhin.

“Now that the state has actively engaged, there’s no turning back,” she tweeted. “The termination of Prigozhin and Wagner is imminent. The only possibility now is absolute obliteration, with the degree of resistance from the Wagner group being the only variable. Surovikin was dispatched to convince them to surrender. Confrontation seems totally futile.”

Lt. Gen. Vladimir Alexeyev, a top military officer, denounced Prigozhin’s move as “madness” that threatens civil war.

“It’s a stab in the back to the country and the president. … Such a provocation could only be staged by enemies of Russia,” he said.

The Defense Ministry said in a statement that Ukraine was concentrating troops for an attack around Bakhmut to take advantage of “Prigozhin’s provocation.” It said Russian artillery and warplanes were firing on Ukrainian forces as they prepared an offensive.

In Washington, the Institute for the Study of War, said it appeared that “Prigozhin fully intends for Wagner to move against MoD leadership and forcibly remove them from power, more likely against the Southern Military District command in Rostov-on-Don but possibly also against Moscow.”

It added that despite Putin’s support for Prigozhin, he would be highly unlikely to accept any armed rebellion: “The violent overthrow of Putin loyalists like Shoigu and Gerasimov would cause irreparable damage to the stability of Putin’s perceived hold on power.”

At the White House, National Security Council Adam Hodge said: “We are monitoring the situation and will be consulting with allies and partners on these developments.”

Michael Kofman, director of Russia Studies at the CAN research group in Arlington, Virginia, tweeted that Prigozhin’s actions struck him as “a desperate act, though much depends on whether Prigozhin is alone, or if others that matter join him. I’m skeptical this ends well for him or Wagner.”

In Kyiv a Russian missile attack killed at least two people and injured eight Saturday when falling debris caused a fire on several floors of a 24-story apartment building in a central district, Serhii Popko, the head of the city’s military administration, posted on Telegram.

He said more than 20 missiles were detected and destroyed. Video from the scene showed a blaze in the upper floors of the building and the parking lot strewn with ash and debris.

In other developments in the war, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called on other countries to heed warnings that Russia may be planning to attack an occupied nuclear power plant to cause a radiation disaster.

Members of his government briefed international representatives on the possible threat to the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, whose six reactors have been shut down for months. Zelenskyy said he expected other nations to “give appropriate signals and exert pressure” on Moscow.

The Kremlin’s spokesman has denied the threat to the plant is coming from Russian forces.

The potential for a life-threatening release of radiation has been a concern since Russian troops invaded Ukraine last year and seized the plant, Europe’s largest nuclear power station. The head of the U.N.’s atomic energy agency spent months trying to negotiate the establishment of a safety perimeter to protect the facility as nearby areas came under repeated shelling, but he has been unsuccessful.

The International Atomic Energy Agency noted Thursday that “the military situation has become increasingly tense” amid a Ukrainian counteroffensive that began this month in Zaporizhzhia province, where the namesake plant is located, and in an adjacent part of Donetsk province.

Josh VanMeter hit two of Nashville’s four home runs, and the Sounds scored eight runs in a three-inning span in a 10-3 victory over the Norfolk Tides on Friday night at First Horizon Park.

VanMeter had two solo homers, Tyler Naquin blasted a three-run shot and Alex Jackson added a solo homer as Nashville (39-33) handed the suddenly struggling Tides their eighth loss in the past 12 games.

Norfolk starter Chris Vallimont was tagged with five runs — four earned — over 3.2 innings, allowing three hits and walking two.

Norfolk (47-25) scored single runs in the fourth, seventh and ninth innings. Heston Kjerstad doubled and scored on an error, Jordan Westburg hit a solo home run and Connor Norby had an RBI single.

Westburg’s home run was his 18th of the season — tied for second in the Interational League.

The teams play at 7:35 p.m. Saturday. Norfolk LHP Bruce Zimmerman (3-3, 3.50) and Nashville LHP Robert Gasser (5-1, 4.24) are the scheduled starters.

By DAVID SHARP (Associated Press)

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — The cost of the unprecedented search for the missing Titan submersible will easily stretch into the millions of dollars, experts said Friday.

The massive international effort by aircraft, surface ships and deep-sea robots began Sunday when the Titan was reported missing. Searchers raced against a 96-hour clock in the desperate hope to find and rescue the vessel’s occupants before their oxygen supply ran out.

But all hope was extinguished Thursday when officials announced the submersible had suffered a catastrophic implosion, killing all five aboard.

A scaled-back search remained in place Friday as the robots — remotely operated vehicles, known as ROVs — continued to scan the sea floor for evidence that might shed light on what occurred in the deep waters of the North Atlantic.

The search area spanned thousands of miles — twice the size of Connecticut and in waters 2 1/2 miles (4 kilometers) deep — with agencies such as the U.S. Coast Guard, the Canadian Coast Guard, U.S. Navy and other agencies and private entities.

There’s no other comparable ocean search, especially with so many countries and even commercial enterprises being involved in recent times, said Norman Polmar, a naval historian, analyst and author based in Virginia.

The aircraft, alone, are expensive to operate, and the Government Accountability Office has put the hourly cost at tens of thousands of dollars. Turboprop P-3 Orion and jet-powered P-8 Poseidon sub hunters, along with C-130 Hercules, were all utilized in the search.

Some agencies can seek reimbursements. But the U.S. Coast Guard — whose bill alone will hit the millions of dollars — is generally prohibited by federal law from collecting reimbursement pertaining to any search or rescue service, said Stephen Koerting, an attorney in Maine who specializes in maritime law.

“The Coast Guard, as a matter of both law and policy, does not seek to recover the costs associated with search and rescue from the recipients of those services,” the Coast Guard said Friday in a statement.

The first priority in search and rescue is always saving a life, and search and rescue agencies budget for such expenses, said Mikki Hastings, president and CEO of the National Association for Search and Rescue.

“In the end, these people were in distress. We know what the ultimate result was. But during the search operation, there are people who are in distress,” she said of the Titan submersible.

Rescue agencies don’t want people in distress to be thinking about the cost of a helicopter or other resources when a life is in danger.

“Every person who is missing – they deserve to be found. That’s the mission regardless of who they are,” she said.

Associated Press

The owner of the Wagner private military contractor made his most direct challenge to the Kremlin yet on Friday, calling for an armed rebellion aimed at ousting Russia’s defense minister. The security services reacted immediately by calling for the arrest of Yevgeny Prigozhin.

In a sign of how seriously the Kremlin was taking the threat, security was heightened in Moscow and in Rostov-on-Don, which is home to the Russian military headquarters for the southern region and also oversees the fighting in Ukraine.

While the outcome of the confrontation was still unclear, it appeared likely to further hinder Moscow’s war effort as Kyiv’s forces were probing Russian defenses in the initial stages of a counteroffensive.

Prigozhin claimed early Saturday that his forces had crossed into Russia from Ukraine and had reached Rostov, saying they faced no resistance from young conscripts at checkpoints and that his forces “aren’t fighting against children.”

“But we will destroy anyone who stands in our way,” he said in one of a series of angry video and audio recordings posted on social media beginning late Friday. “We are moving forward and will go until the end.”

He claimed that the chief of the General Staff, Gen. Valery Gerasimov, scrambled warplanes to strike Wagner’s convoys, which were driving alongside ordinary vehicles. Prigozhin also said his forces shot down a Russian military helicopter that fired on a civilian convoy, but there was no independent confirmation.

And despite Prigozhin’s statements that Wagner convoys had entered Rostov-on-Don, there was no confirmation of that yet on Russian social networks. Videos showed heavy trucks blocking highways leading to the city, long convoys of National Guard trucks were seen on a road outside Rostov-on-Don and armored vehicles were roaming the streets.

Prigozhin said Wagner field camps in Ukraine were struck by rockets, helicopter gunships and artillery fire on orders from Gerasimov following a meeting with Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, at which they decided to destroy Wagner.

The Wagner forces have played a crucial role in Russia’s war in Ukraine, succeeding in taking the city where the bloodiest and longest battles have taken place, Bakhmut. But Prigozhin has increasingly criticized Russia’s military brass, accusing it of incompetence and of starving his troops of weapons and ammunition.

Prigozhin, who said he had 25,000 troops under his command, said late Friday his troops would punish Shoigu in an armed rebellion and urged the army not to offer resistance. “This is not a military coup, but a march of justice,” Prigozhin declared.

The National Anti-Terrorism Committee, which is part of the Federal Security Services, or FSB, has charged him with calling for an armed rebellion, which carries a penalty of up to 20 years in prison.

The FSB urged Wagner’s contract soldiers to arrest Prigozhin and refuse to follow his “criminal and treacherous orders.” It called his statements a “stab in the back to Russian troops” and said they amounted to fomenting an armed conflict in Russia.

President Vladimir Putin has been informed about the situation and “all the necessary measures were being taken,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

Heavy military trucks and armored vehicles were seen in several parts of central Moscow early Saturday, and soldiers toting assault rifles were deployed outside the main building of the Defense Ministry. The area around the presidential administration near Red Square was blocked, snarling traffic.

But even amid the heightened military presence, downtown bars and restaurants were filled with customers. At one club near the headquarters of the FSB, people were dancing in the street near the entrance.

Prigozhin, whose feud with the Defense Ministry dates back years, had refused to comply with a requirement that military contractors sign contracts with the ministry before July 1. In a statement late Friday, he said he was ready to find a compromise but “they have treacherously cheated us.”

“Today they carried out a rocket strike on our rear camps, and a huge number of our comrades got killed,” he said. The Defense Ministry denied attacking the Wagner camps.

Prigozhin claimed that Shoigu went to the Russian military headquarters in Rostov-on-Don personally to direct the strike and then “cowardly” fled.

“This scum will be stopped,” he said of Shoigu.

“The evil embodied by the country’s military leadership must be stopped,” he shouted, urging the army not to offer any resistance to Wagner as it moves to “restore justice.”

Col. Gen. Sergei Surovikin, the deputy commander of the Russian group of forces fighting in Ukraine, urged the Wagner forces to stop any move against the army, saying it would play into the hands of Russia’s enemies, who are “waiting to see the exacerbation of our domestic political situation.”

Tatiana Stanovaya, a political analyst, predicted this would be the end of Prigozhin.

“Now that the state has actively engaged, there’s no turning back,” she tweeted. “The termination of Prigozhin and Wagner is imminent. The only possibility now is absolute obliteration, with the degree of resistance from the Wagner group being the only variable. Surovikin was dispatched to convince them to surrender. Confrontation seems totally futile.”

Lt. Gen. Vladimir Alexeyev, a top military officer, denounced Prigozhin’s move as “madness” that threatened to unleash a civil war.

“It’s a stab in the back to the country and the president,” he said. “It’s impossible to imagine a stronger blow to the image of Russia and its armed forces. Such a provocation could only be staged by enemies of Russia.”

The Defense Ministry said in a statement that Ukraine’s military was concentrating troops to launch an attack around Bakhmut to take advantage of “Prigozhin’s provocation.” It said Russian artillery and warplanes were firing on Ukrainian forces as they prepared to start an offensive in the area.

In Washington, a spokesman for the National Security Council, Adam Hodge, said: “We are monitoring the situation and will be consulting with allies and partners on these developments.”

In other developments in the Ukraine war, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called on other countries to heed warnings that Russia may be planning to attack an occupied nuclear power plant to cause a radiation disaster.

Members of his government briefed international representatives on the possible threat to the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, whose six reactors have been shut down for months. Zelenskyy said he expected other nations to “give appropriate signals and exert pressure” on Moscow.

The Kremlin’s spokesman has denied the threat to the plant is coming from Russian forces.

The potential for a life-threatening release of radiation has been a concern since Russian troops invaded Ukraine last year and seized the plant, Europe’s largest nuclear power station. The head of the U.N.’s atomic energy agency spent months trying to negotiate the establishment of a safety perimeter to protect the facility as nearby areas came under repeated shelling, but he has been unsuccessful.

The International Atomic Energy Agency noted Thursday that “the military situation has become increasingly tense” while a Ukrainian counteroffensive that got underway this month unfolds in Zaporizhzhia province, where the namesake plant is located, and in an adjacent part of Donetsk province.

Although the last of the plant’s six reactors was shut down last fall to reduce the risk of a meltdown, experts have warned that a radiation release could still happen if the system that keeps the reactors’ cores and spent nuclear fuel cool loses power or water.

During months of fighting, Russia and Ukraine have traded blame over which side was increasing the threat to the plant.

Ukrainian officials have accused Russia of mining the plant’s cooling system, already under threat from a dam collapse that drew down water in a reservoir used by the power station.

By The Associated Press

For months, the outspoken millionaire head of the Wagner private mercenary force bombarded Russia’s military leaders with expletive-ridden insults in a rift that has weakened the country’s forces amid the war in Ukraine.

Yevgeny Prigozhin accused them of not providing him with munitions in the key battle for the eastern city of Bakhmut.

A video in May showed him standing in front of the bloodied bodies of his slain troops yelling obscenities at Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and the chief of the General Staff Gen. Valery Gerasimov, calling them weak and incompetent, blaming them for the carnage.

“They came here as volunteers and they died to let you lounge in your mahogany offices,” Prigozhin declared. “You are sitting in your expensive clubs, your children are enjoying good living and filming videos on YouTube. Those who don’t give us ammunition will be eaten alive in hell!”

He even made what some considered a thinly veiled jab at President Vladimir Putin as an oblivious “granddad” thinking the invasion was going well.

On Friday, however, Prigozhin appeared to take a step too far.

He accused Shoigu of ordering a rocket strike on the field camps for his mercenary troops, with a huge number of casualties, and said he would move to punish him.

That’s when Russian authorities struck back, with the country’s top counterterrorism organization launching a criminal inquiry against Prigozhin and calling for his arrest on charges of fomenting an “armed rebellion” over threats to oust Shoigu.

It was a startling turn of events in Moscow: After more than two decades of rigidly controlled rule by Putin, the worst infighting spilled out in the open among his top lieutenants.

And it came as the war in Ukraine reached the 16-month mark and Kyiv’s forces were probing Russian defenses in the initial stages of a counteroffensive.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin has been informed about the situation, adding: “All the necessary measures were being taken.”

Prigozhin, 62, insisted his actions were not “a military coup, but a march of justice.”

Prigozhin said his men would punish the military leaders who ordered the strike and said his troops would fire at any troops trying to stop them.

“The evil embodied by the country’s military leadership must be stopped,” he shouted in a recorded statement, adding that his forces weren’t seeking to challenge Putin and other government structures. “Justice in the armed forces will be restored, and then justice will be restored in all of Russia.”

The Defense Ministry denied it had attacked Prigozhin’s troops. Then the National Anti-Terrorism Committee, an arm of Federal Security Service, or FSB, announced the investigation against the outspoken millionaire and urged Wagner’s own forces to arrest their boss.

Prigozhin’s statement was a “stab in the back of the Russian troops,” the FSB said, and amounted to fomenting armed conflict in Russia.

Until now, Prigozhin’s rants against the military have been met with silence from Putin and the brass. Some saw that failure to squelch the infighting as a sign of potential shifts in Russia’s political scene that sets the stage for more internal battles.

The conflict has been ignored by state-controlled TV, where most Russians get their news. But in a shift, Channel 1 showed an unscheduled news broadcast Friday that cited the Defense Ministry’s rejection of Prigozhin’s claim and describing as fake a video he posted that allegedly showed the aftermath of a rocket strike on a Wagner camp.

The dispute has been followed closely, however, by politically active, ultrapatriotic Russians on social media networks who share his contempt for military leaders.

Prigozhin’s blistering criticism went on even though the Kremlin vigorously cracks down on other critics through fines and imprisonment.

While there are no indications Putin is losing influence, “there are growing signs of deep dysfunction, anxiety, worry about the war and real problems in marshaling the resources necessary to fight it effectively,” said Nigel Gould-Davies, a senior fellow for Russia and Eurasia at the International Institute for Strategic Studies.

Prigozhin’s feud with military leaders goes back years and spilled into the open amid the battle for Bakhmut that was spearheaded by his mercenaries. It has pushed the man dubbed “Putin’s chef” for his lucrative Kremlin catering contracts to the forefront of Russian politics and signaled his growing ambitions.

With his crude remarks, Prigozhin ventured into areas where only Putin had gone before: Over the years, the Russian leader occasionally broke decorum with an earthy remark or off-color joke, while top officials used carefully worded language.

In another recent video, Prigozhin made a statement that some have interpreted as a thinly veiled attack on Putin himself. He declared that while his men were dying due to the Defense Ministry’s failure to supply ammunition, a “happy granddad is thinking he’s doing well,” and then referred to that “granddad” with an obscenity.

The blunt comment caused a social media uproar, where it was seen as a reference to Putin. Prigozhin later said he was talking about Gerasimov.

“Prigozhin is now sailing much closer to the wind than he ever has,” Gould-Davies told The Associated Press.

Sergei Markov, a pro-Kremlin political commentator, described Prigozhin as “the second-most popular man after Putin” and a “symbol of Russia’s military victory for millions of people.”

Putin has needed Prigozhin’s mercenaries at a time when the regular military is still recovering from setbacks earlier in the war. The Wagner chief’s position was bolstered after his private army captured Bakhmut last month in the war’s longest and bloodiest battle, relying on tens of thousands of convicts who were promised pardons if they survived six months of fighting.

“Putin dominates the system, but he still sort of depends upon a small number of big people to implement his will, to provide him with resources to carry out his orders, including fighting the war,” Gould-Davies told AP.

While Putin may keep various factions divided and then “decide who wins and who loses, and who’s up and who’s down,” the process erodes the government’s authority in wartime, Gould-Davies said.

“If your military forces are divided and if they’re not fighting together effectively, then your military operations will suffer accordingly and that’s exactly what’s happening here,” he said.

Mark Galeotti, a London-based expert on Russian politics and security, speculated in a recent podcast that Putin’s failure to resolve political disputes could be rooted in a lack of interest, a focus on other issues or, more likely, a reluctance to take sides.

“It also raises questions about his overall capacity to do his job,” Galeotti said. “This is the one thing, the one job he can’t really outsource, and he’s not even trying.”

Prigozhin has allied with other hawkish officials, reportedly including Tula Gov. Alexei Dyumin, a former Putin bodyguard seen by many as a potential successor. The Wagner head also has gravitated toward Ramzan Kadyrov, the Moscow-backed regional leader of Chechnya.

Some of those alliances have been shaky.

While Kadyrov initially praised Prigozhin and backed some of his criticisms, he later shifted course and criticized him for sounding defeatist. Kadyrov’s lieutenants blasted Wagner’s efforts in Bakhmut after Prigozhin made dismissive comments about Chechen fighters in Ukraine. Kadyrov’s top aide, Magomed Daudov, said Prigozhin would have been executed for such remarks during World War II.

Prigozhin quickly backed off, saying he was only expressing concern about Russian operations.

He has dodged questions about his political ambitions, but recently toured Russia, continuing his blustery comments.

“There are signs that he seeks some sort of political future,” Gould-Davies observed.

Even though Prigozhin owes his position and wealth to Putin, he’s playing the role of outsider with his criticism of some leaders and by trying to appeal to the masses amid setbacks in Ukraine, said Andrei Kolesnikov of the Carnegie Endowment.

“Prigozhin is playing an independent politician, raising the stakes and testing the system’s limits. But it’s only technically and physically possible for as long as Putin finds him useful and is amused by his escapades,” Kolesnikov said.

In a show of support for the military, Putin backed the Defense Ministry’s demand for all private companies to sign contracts with it — something Prigozhin has refused to do.

Prigozhin has urged all-out war with Ukraine, including a total nationwide mobilization and the introduction of martial law in Russia — calls welcomed by some hawks.

But Kolesnikov notes the vast majority of Russians who are mostly apathetic or unwilling to make larger sacrifices could be frightened and appalled by that message.

He cautions against overestimating Prigozhin’s clout and political prospects, and underestimating Putin’s authority.

“It’s enough for the commander-in-chief to move his finger to make the Wagner chief disappear,” Kolesnikov said.

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Associated Press writer Danica Kirka in London contributed.

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Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine-war

Associated Press

The around-the-clock search for the missing Titan submersible engrossed the world for days, but after news of the catastrophic implosion that killed the pilot and his four passengers near the Titanic shipwreck, investigators are focusing on how it happened — and if it could have been prevented.

Deep-sea robots will continue searching the North Atlantic sea floor for clues. Investigators in Canada are looking at the Titan’s Canadian-flagged support ship. U.S. authorities are looking into other aspects of the tragedy.

The Titan, owned by undersea exploration company OceanGate Expeditions, had been chronicling the Titanic’s decay and the underwater ecosystem around the sunken ocean liner in yearly voyages since 2021.

Authorities and experts are seeking answers: Exactly when and why did the implosion occur? Will the victims’ bodies ever be found? What lessons are there for the future of undersea exploration?

Here’s what we know so far:

WHEN AND WHERE DID THE TITAN GO MISSING?

The craft submerged Sunday morning, and its support vessel lost contact with it about an hour and 45 minutes later, according to the Coast Guard.

The vessel was reported overdue about 435 miles (700 kilometers) south of St. John’s, Newfoundland, according to Canada’s Joint Rescue Coordination Centre in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

The Titan was launched from an icebreaker that was hired by OceanGate and formerly operated by the Canadian Coast Guard. The ship has ferried dozens of people and the submersible craft to the North Atlantic wreck site, where the Titan has made multiple dives.

WHAT HAPPENED ABOARD THE TITAN?

The vessel suffered a catastrophic implosion, killing all five aboard, sometime after it submerged Sunday morning. It’s not clear exactly when or where the implosion occurred, but a U.S. Navy acoustics system detected an “anomaly” Sunday that was likely the Titan’s fatal implosion.

The Coast Guard announced that debris from the submersible had been found and the end of rescue efforts Thursday, bringing a tragic close to a saga that included an urgent around-the-clock search and a worldwide vigil for the missing vessel.

A deep-sea robot discovered the debris, near the Titanic shipwreck, that authorities say came from the submersible.

WHAT HAPPENED TO THE OCCUPANTS WHEN THE TITAN IMPLODED?

Experts say the catastrophic implosion likely killed its pilot and four passengers instantly amid the intense water pressure in the deep North Atlantic.

Maritime researchers called an implosion the worst possible outcome of all the scenarios envisioned during the desperate round-the-clock search to find the missing vessel.

Experts had cautioned that under intense pressure at extreme depths the Titan’s hull could implode, which would result in instant death for anyone aboard.

While OceanGate Expeditions, which owned and operated the craft, touted the Titan’s roomier cylinder-shaped cabin made of a carbon-fiber, industry experts say it was a departure from the sphere-shaped cabins — considered ideal because water pressure is exerted equally on all areas — made of titanium used by most submersibles.

The 22-foot long (6.7-meter long), 23,000-pound (10,432-kilogram) Titan’s larger internal volume — while still cramped with a maximum of five seated people — meant it was subjected to more external pressure.

The water pressure at 12,500 feet (3,800 meters) below the surface at the site of the Titanic wreck is roughly 400 atmospheres or 6,000 pounds per square inch.

WHO WAS KILLED?

The Titan victims are: Oceangate chief executive and Titan pilot Stockton Rush; two members of a prominent Pakistani family, Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman Dawood; British adventurer Hamish Harding; and Titanic expert Paul-Henri Nargeolet.

Worldwide condolences have poured in, offering tributes to the men and support for their families.

“These men were true explorers who shared a distinct spirit of adventure, and a deep passion for exploring and protecting the world’s oceans,” OceanGate said in a statement. “We grieve the loss of life and joy they brought to everyone they knew.”

WHO REGULATES DEEP-SEA EXPEDITIONS?

The Titan’s voyage down into the North Atlantic highlights the murkily regulated waters of deep-sea exploration. It’s a space on the high seas where laws and conventions can be sidestepped by risk-taking entrepreneurs and the wealthy tourists who help fund their dreams. At least for now.

The Titan operated in international waters, far from the reach of many laws of the United States or other nations. It wasn’t registered as a U.S. vessel or with international agencies that regulate safety, nor was it classified by a maritime industry group that sets standards on matters such as hull construction.

Stockton Rush, the OceanGate Expeditions CEO and Titan pilot who was among the dead, had said he didn’t want to be bogged down by such standards.

WHAT’S NEXT?

The Coast Guard will continue searching near the Titanic for more clues about what happened to the Titan.

Officials say there is not a timeframe for when they will call off the effort, and the prospect of finding or recovering remains is unknown.

The Transportation Safety Board of Canada said Friday it’s launching an investigation involving the loss of the Titan that will focus on the cargo vessel Polar Prince.

Polar Prince is a Canadian-flagged ship that served as mothership to the Titan submersible. The Transportation Safety Board will investigate the Polar Prince in its role as a support vessel and will conduct a safety investigation into the circumstances of the operation, the agency said.

Experts say wrongful death and negligence lawsuits are also likely next in the Titan case — and they could be successful. But legal actions will face various challenges, including waivers likely signed by the Titan passengers that warned of the myriad ways they could die.

HOW MUCH DID THE SEARCH COST?

The cost of the search will easily stretch into the millions of dollars for the U.S. Coast Guard alone. The Canadian Coast Guard, U.S. Navy and other agencies and private entities also rushed to provide resources and expertise.

There’s no other comparable ocean search, especially with so many countries and even commercial enterprises being involved, said Norman Polmar, a naval historian, analyst and author based in Virginia.

The aircraft, alone, are expensive to operate.

The Pentagon has put the hourly cost at tens of thousands of dollars for turboprop P-3 Orion and jet-powered P-8 Poseidon sub hunters, along with C-130 Hercules, all utilized in the search.

Some agencies can seek reimbursements. But the U.S. Coast Guard is generally prohibited by federal law from collecting reimbursement pertaining to any search or rescue service, said Stephen Koerting, a U.S. attorney in Maine who specializes in maritime law.

By The Associated Press

Follow along for live updates on the submersible that imploded deep in the Atlantic Ocean, killing all five people aboard during a voyage down to the Titanic shipwreck.

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TITAN’S CATASTROPIC IMPLOSION LIKELY KILLED 5 OCCUPANTS INSTANTLY

Experts say the Titan submersible suffered a catastrophic implosion that likely killed its pilot and four passengers instantly amid the intense water pressure in the deep North Atlantic.

Maritime researchers called an implosion the worst possible outcome of all the scenarios envisioned during the desperate round-the-clock search to find the missing vessel.

Experts had cautioned that under intense pressure at extreme depths the Titan’s hull could implode, which would result in instant death for anyone aboard the vessel.

The 22-foot long (6.7-meter long), 23,000-pound (10,432-kilogram) Titan’s larger internal volume — while still cramped with a maximum of five seated people — meant it was subjected to more external pressure.

The water pressure at 12,500 feet (3,800 meters) below the surface at the site of the Titanic wreck is roughly 400 atmospheres or 6,000 pounds per square inch.

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What to know:

— What caused the Titan to implode? Right now, it’s not even clear who will lead the investigation

— How the unconventional design of the Titan sub may have destined it for disaster

— A Titanic expert, an adventurer, a CEO, and a father and son were killed in Titan’s implosion

— Tourist sub’s implosion draws attention to murky regulations of deep-sea expeditions

— ‘Titanic’ director James Cameron says the search for the missing sub became a ‘nightmarish charade’

— How much did Titan submersible search cost? US Coast Guard’s bill alone will be in the millions

— The latest on the Titan submersible tragedy and what’s next in the recovery efforts

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TITAN PASSENGERS LIKELY SIGNED WAIVERS TO ACKNOWLEDGE RISK

The four passengers who died this week when the Titan imploded were most likely asked to sign liability waivers.

One of the waivers, signed by a person who planned to go on an OceanGate expedition, required passengers to acknowledge risks involved with the trip on the Titan vessel and any support vessels.

The waiver, which was reviewed by The Associated Press, said that passengers could experience physical injury, disability, emotional trauma and death while on board the Titan.

Passengers also waive the right to take action for “personal injury, property damage or any other loss” that they experience on the trip, the document states.

The form also makes it clear that the vessel is experimental and “constructed of materials that have not been widely used for manned submersibles.”

The waiver could play an outsized role as families of those who died consider their legal options. Legal experts said that what the investigation into the disaster uncovers will determine much about the case, including what caused the vessel to implode.

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CANADA’S TRANSPORTATION BOARD LAUNCHES INVESTIGATION

The Transportation Safety Board of Canada said Friday it’s launching an investigation involving the loss of the Titan that will focus on the cargo vessel Polar Prince.

Polar Prince is a Canadian-flagged ship that served as mothership to the Titan submersible. The Transportation Safety Board will investigate the Polar Prince in its role as a support vessel and will conduct a safety investigation into the circumstances of the operation, the agency said.

The agency said a team of investigators is traveling to St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador to gather information and conduct interviews. It said it will coordinate with other agencies in the days ahead.

There were 17 crew members and 24 people on board the Polar Prince, the agency said.

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TITAN’S UNCONVENTIONAL DESIGN SUBJECTED CRAFT TO MORE WATER PRESSURE

The deadly implosion of the Titan submersible raises questions about whether the vessel exploring the Titanic wreckage was destined for disaster because of its unconventional design and its creator’s refusal to submit to safety checks that are standard in the industry.

The Titan, owned and operated by OceanGate Expeditions, first began taking people to the Titanic in 2021. It was touted for a design that included a carbon fiber composite hull and an elongated chamber for crew and passengers — a departure from more traditional spherical cabin areas and all-titanium construction.

Experts say the cabin where people sit in most submersibles is spherical because water pressure is exerted equally on all areas. By comparison, the Titan’s chamber was a larger, more elongated tube shape.

The 22-foot long (6.7-meter long), 23,000-pound (10,400-kilogram) Titan’s larger internal volume — while still cramped with a maximum of five seated people — meant it was subjected to more external pressure.

While OceanGate promoted the Titan’s carbon fiber and titanium construction as “lighter in weight and more efficient to mobilize than other deep diving submersible,” experts say carbon composites have limited life when subject to excessive loads or poor design which leads to stress concentrations.

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ADVENTURERS DROP OCEANGATE FRAUD LAWSUIT AFTER TITAN TRAGEDY

A pair of adventurers who sued OceanGate for fraud said they have dropped their lawsuit against the company that owned the Titan submersible.

Sharon and Marc Hagle sued OceanGate after they put money down for a trip to the Titanic wreckage site and the voyage never happened. The couple said the trip was both rescheduled and canceled, and they were told they would not receive a refund.

The Hagles are adventurers who became the first married couple on a commercial space flight last year, according to Purdue University, Marc’s alma mater.

The couple said in a statement to The Associated Press on Friday that they have decided to drop their legal action in the wake of CEO Stockton Rush’s death, along with four passengers, and the loss of the Titan at sea.

“Money is a driving force in our economy, but honor, respect and dignity are more important to the human soul,” the statement read. “We wish the entire OceanGate family and the families of those aboard the Titan the very best as they grieve the loss of their loved ones.”

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COST OF SEARCH FOR TITAN WILL EASILY STRETCH INTO MILLIONS OF DOLLARS

The cost of the search for the missing Titan submersible will easily stretch into the millions of dollars for the U.S. Coast Guard alone. The Canadian Coast Guard, U.S. Navy and other agencies and private entities also rushed to provide resources and expertise.

There’s no other comparable ocean search, especially with so many countries and even commercial enterprises being involved, said Norman Polmar, a naval historian, analyst and author based in Virginia.

The aircraft, alone, are expensive to operate.

The Pentagon has put the hourly cost at tens of thousands of dollars for turboprop P-3 Orion and jet-powered P-8 Poseidon sub hunters, along with C-130 Hercules, all utilized in the search.

Some agencies can seek reimbursements. But the U.S. Coast Guard is generally prohibited by federal law from collecting reimbursement pertaining to any search or rescue service, said Stephen Koerting, a U.S. attorney in Maine who specializes in maritime law.

The first priority in search and rescue is always saving a life, and search and rescue agencies budget for such expenses, said Mikki Hastings, president and CEO of the National Association for Search and Rescue.

Rescue agencies don’t want people in distress to be thinking about the cost of a helicopter or other resources when a life is in danger.

“Every person who is missing – they deserve to be found. That’s the mission regardless of who they are,” Hastings said.

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TITAN’S IMPLOSION HIGHLIGHTS MURKY REGULATIONS FOR DEEP-SEA VOYAGES

The Titan’s voyage down into the North Atlantic highlights the murkily regulated waters of deep-sea exploration.

It’s a space on the high seas where laws and conventions can be sidestepped by risk-taking entrepreneurs and the wealthy tourists who help fund their dreams. At least for now.

Thursday’s announcement by the U.S. Coast Guard that the Titan had imploded near the Titanic shipwreck, killing all five people on board, has drawn attention to how these expeditions are regulated.

The Titan operated in international waters, far from the reach of many laws of the United States or other nations. It wasn’t registered as a U.S. vessel or with international agencies that regulate safety, nor was it classified by a maritime industry group that sets standards on matters such as hull construction.

Stockton Rush, the OceanGate Expeditions CEO and Titan pilot who was among the dead, had said he didn’t want to be bogged down by such standards.

Experts say wrongful death and negligence lawsuits are likely in the Titan case — and they could be successful. But legal actions will face various challenges, including waivers signed by the Titan passengers that warned of the myriad ways they could die.

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CRITICS POINT TO LACK OF CERTIFICATION FOR TITAN SUBMERSIBLE

Bob Ballard, a member of the research team that found the Titanic wreck in 1985, called the lack of certification by outside experts “the smoking gun” in the case of the Titan submersible.

The U.S. Coast Guard announced Thursday that the Titan, a small craft headed to the wreck of the Titanic, suffered a catastrophic implosion, killing all five aboard.

“We’ve made thousands and thousands and thousands of dives with other countries as well to these depths and have never had an incident,” Ballard said Friday on ABC’s “Good Morning America.” “So this is the first time, and the smoking gun is that this is the first time by a submarine that wasn’t classed.”

Appearing on the same show, “ Titanic” director James Cameron called the lack of certification by an engineering entity or “classing bureau” “a critical failure.”

He described several potential problems with the Titan’s design, but said the weakest link was the carbon fiber composite hull.

“You don’t use composites for vessels that are seeing external pressure. They’re great for internal pressure vessels, like scuba tanks, for example, but they’re terrible for external pressure,” he said. “So this was trying to apply aviation thinking to a deep submergence engineering problem. And we all said this was a flawed idea.”

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COAST GUARD SAYS FOCUS REMAINS ON SEARCH, OFFICIAL INVESTIGATION YET TO BE LAUNCHED

Still focused on the search, the U.S. Coast Guard said Friday that an official investigation has yet to be launched into the disappearance and implosion of the Titan submersible.

Coast Guard officials announced Thursday that the craft that was headed to the wreck of the Titanic suffered a catastrophic implosion, killing all five aboard.

On Friday morning, the Coast Guard said an official investigation had not yet been launched because the agencies involved were focused on the search and still determining who has the appropriate jurisdiction and authority to lead it. Possibilities include the U.S. Coast Guard, Canadian Coast Guard, other federal or international agencies, or a joint effort.

The Coast Guard also said it was too soon to say whether any policy changes would be made.