Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of the Wagner mercenary military company that led the failed June 24 riot attempt in Russia, was on board the private Embraer jet that crashed in Russia’s Tver region on Wednesday night. This was announced by the federal agency “Rosaviatsia” on the “Telegram” channel, publishing a list of passengers.
All 10 people on board the plane – seven passengers and three crew members – died.
The plane was traveling from Moscow to St. Petersburg.
Together with Yevgeny Prigozhin, the founder and commander of “Wagner” Dmitry Utkin, as well as Valery Chekalov, mentioned in the US sanctions lists as a close associate of Prigozhin, were on board.
The other passengers on board are Sergey Propustin, Yevgeny Makaryan, Alexander Totmin and Nikolai Matyuseev, TASS reported.
The dead crew members were flight commander Alexei Levshin, co-pilot Rustam Karimov and flight attendant Kristina Raspopova.
“The flight of an Embraer-135 (EBM-135BJ) aircraft was carried out on the basis of an airspace use permit issued in accordance with the established procedure,” Rosaviatsia said.
The plane was owned by the company “MNT-Aero”, specialized in business transport. Rosaviatsia is investigating the crash. In this case, a criminal case has been opened for violation of traffic safety rules and the operation of air transport, according to TASS.
Russian state media reported that the plane caught fire on impact after being in the air for less than half an hour.
The Wagner-affiliated Telegram channel Gray Zone, however, claimed the plane was shot down by the Russian military.
“The leader of the group “Wagner”, the Hero of Russia, the true patriot of his Motherland – Yevgeny Viktorovich Prigozhin – died as a result of the actions of Russia’s traitors. Even in hell, however, he will be the best! Glory to Russia!” says in a channel post.
Prigogine was a key ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, but their relationship soured after Prigogine led a failed rebellion against Russian military leaders in June.
The Russian authorities cordoned off the area around the downed plane carrying Prigozhin Sn. EPA/BGNES
Biden: Few things happen in Russia that Putin is not behind
The American president Joe Biden stated that he would not be surprised if the news of Yevgeny Prigozhin’s death turned out to be true. “There’s very little that happens in Russia that Putin isn’t behind,” Biden said.
The adviser to Ukrainian President Zelensky Mykhailo Podolyak is certain that Prigozhin was murdered. On social networks, Podolyak wrote that the “demonstrational elimination” of Wagner’s command is “a signal from Putin to the Russian elite” before next year’s presidential elections, and this signal is “Be careful, treason is tantamount to death!”.
Tagarev: There was probably a bomb in the plane
There was probably an explosion on board the crashed plane in which Yevgeny Prigozhin was, Defense Minister Todor Tagarev commented to bTV. According to him, it is highly unlikely that in this case it is a matter of rocket fire, because the effect is completely different.
We don’t have more specific information in this short period, but what we know, and what I know, following events in Russia for the last 20 years, is the way the KGB operates, Tagarev said.
“There are many opponents of the Kremlin who fall from high floors, drink inappropriate tea, are killed by bandits. The case of an airplane crash is not unique,” he commented.
According to Tagarev, it is unlikely that the case of Yevgeny Prigozhin will affect the military conflict in Ukraine. Some of the people employed in this so-called “company” are already in the ranks of the Russian army. Part of them are in Africa and have again taken up the task with which they were created by the Russian services. There they regulate political, economic processes and what not. One part is in Belarus, explained the Bulgarian Minister of Defense.
According to him, it is unlikely that the fighters from “Wagner” will organize and do something similar to what happened on June 24 again.
“We will see what the reaction will be. In general, the group is quite weakened, compared to the situation about half a year ago”thinks Tagarev.
2023-08-24 06:01:13
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