Make Wagner News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

on camera. a chinese fighter jet comes within 400 feet of a u.s. air force plane. our richard engel's dangerous assignment inside an african nation pracactically rurun by a russian mercenary group. how it's fueling the war in ukraine mystery solved why the famed venice canal suddenly turned green. and a major comeback for the pitcher diagnosed with cancer just five months ago >> announcer: this is "nbc nightly news" with lester holt and good evening i'm tom llamas in for lester there is fear and outrage in iowa tonight as desperate families cling to hope that their loved ones...

trapped. the city under fire for trying to demolish the building today. we hear from desperate family members. also tonight, the most brazen attack inside russia yet. drones targeting residential areas in moscow. how president putin is responding tonight. the mass shooting on a boardwalk in florida. nine injured, four of them children while in california, a group of teens attacking these marines. the first big test in congress for the debt deal with a deadline to default just days away. news about former first lady rosalynn carter. her new diagnosis just announced. close ca...

Famously, if your house is on fire, you don't care what color the water is. so i understand why you reached out and you accepted russian help. are you happy with it? >> translator: you journalists are here. you should ask this question to the central african people. they will answer you. i am here to make sure that this population is protected. >> reporter: the government depends on wagner for its survival. wagner pays itself in gold. the people are left starving. we reached out to prigozhin. he responded with a voice note calling our questions provocative and saying in part, quote, you've rec...

This woman, who asked us to conceal her identity for her protection, lived in the village of ndassima, where her husband was a gold miner. she told me how russian mercenaries arrived, armed in vehicles and ordered the villagers to leave. >> translator: there were beating people, whipping people and chasing them away. >> reporter: when her husband and seven others refused to go, they were executed. what do you think the russians wanted? gold? you think it's as simple as that? >> translator: yes. they came for our wealth and for our gold. today, my children don't have a father. they don't have a...

Mine and other sites. this was ndassima in 2019, before the russian takeover. an image taken this month shows the mine has expanded dramatically. analyst says it is now generating untraceable profits for wagner. wagner was invited in to the central african republic by the government to help crush a rebellion, and it worked. the capital is now far more secure. wagner made a movie about its military campaign called "the tourist" showing its men defeating the rebels and saving the day. it was a hit and helped make wagner popular. do you think it's true, or do you think it's propaganda? "it's all ...