Evgeny Prigozhin killed in plane crash north of Moscow
There is a lot written and said but very little information.
As Wagner Fighters Threaten New ‘March On Moscow’, Putin Says Prigozhin Was “Talented” Man Who Made “Mistakes”
Wagner supporters inside Russia have set up makeshift memorials as they mourn the loss of their leader Yevegny Prigozhin, even as speculation continues that he could still be alive.
More importantly, some are threatening a new ‘march of Moscow’ to express rage at ruling powers in Moscow and commanders in the defense ministry. August 24, it should be noted, is precisely two months since the Wagner uprising of June 23, which resulted in several deaths of regular Russian troops.
Wagner Telegram channels have reported Prigozhin’s death, and that of his right-hand man Dmitry Utkin in the same crash outside of Moscow Wednesday.
UK media has meanwhile referenced Wagner social media statements to suggest some among the mercenary outfit may be attempting to organize a new march or large-scale protest aimed at Moscow, or at least they’ve issued a new threat of a “march”:
A Wagner address last night, reported by the Sun, stated: ‘We directly say that we suspect the Kremlin officials led by Putin of an attempt to kill him!’.
‘If the information about Prigozhin’s death is confirmed, we will organize a second March of Justice on Moscow!‘
Meanwhile armed men claiming to be from the unit warned Putin in a video shared online: ‘There’s a lot of talk right now about what the Wagner Group will do. We can tell you one thing.
‘We are getting started, get ready for us.’
In St. Petersburg, flowers were laid out in front of Wagner headquarters, with one mourner quoted as saying, “It’s like losing a father. He was everything to us.”
According to more from the scene:
Makeshift memorials appeared outside the private military group’s former headquarters around midnight Thursday, with footage showing mourners bringing flowers, candles and patches featuring Wagner’s skull logo.
Similar memorials were spotted in the Siberian city of Novosibirsk, according to the news website Sota. At least one supporter staged a one-man picket in the city of Yaroslavl, the news website 7×7 reported.
“Guys, we just have no words right now,” said one masked man, who claimed to be a member of Wagner, according to AFP journalists. “Let’s support Yevgeny Viktorovich [Prigozhin] and all our commanders. We need your support now.”
On Thursday President Putin belatedly addressed the reported death of Prigozhin for the first time, vowing to see a criminal investigation through to completion, and hailing him as a “talented businessman” who made “mistakes”.
According to a state media translation of the fresh Putin remarks:
Yevgeny Prigozhin was a man of many talents who made a “significant contribution” to the struggle against neo-Nazis in Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday, commenting on the plane crash that reportedly killed the Wagner Group head.
Speaking with journalists at the Kremlin, Putin said that he had known Prigozhin since the early 1990s, and described him as “a man of complicated destiny.”
“He’d made serious mistakes in his life, but also got results. For himself as well as our common cause, when I asked it of him in these last months,” Putin added. He described Prigozhin as “a talented businessman” who worked in Russia as well as in Africa dealing with oil, gas, precious metals and gems.
Meanwhile the US has said it believes the Wagner private jet was shot down with a surface-to-air missile that originated from within Russia. If true, this would point to Putin or the military chain of command having made the decision to take the plane out.
The US does not see confirmation of reports that Yevgeny Prigozhin's plane was shot down by a rocket from the ground
This was announced by Pentagon spokesman Patrick Ryder at a briefing.
“According to our preliminary estimates, Prigozhin is probably dead. There is nothing to… pic.twitter.com/OX1mn7Gmzk— Sprinter (@Sprinter99800) August 24, 2023
Update – Wagner Chief among Passengers on Crashed Plane in Russia. Putin’s Condolences
While the world waits for the official news of Prigozhin’s death, the lights are turned on in the Wagner Group offices in St. Petersburg to form a cross
UPDATE ON AUGUST 24 – 6 PM CET
The Russian president described Wagner chief as “a talented man”
Yevgeny Prigozhin was a man of many talents who made a “significant contribution” to the struggle against neo-Nazis in Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday, commenting on the plane crash that reportedly killed the Wagner Group head.
Speaking with journalists at the Kremlin, Putin said that he had known Prigozhin since the early 1990s, and described him as “a man of complicated destiny.”
“He’d made serious mistakes in his life, but also got results. For himself as well as our common cause, when I asked it of him in these last months,” Putin added. He described Prigozhin as “a talented businessman” who worked in Russia as well as in Africa dealing with oil, gas, precious metals and gems.The Russian president described Prigozhin as “a talented businessman” who worked in Russia as well as in Africa, dealing with oil, gas, precious metals and gems. Putin said Prigozhin had apparently just returned from Africa on Wednesday, and had met with some Russian officials.
Prigozhin was on the passenger manifest of the Embraer private jet that crashed on Wednesday in the Tver Region, en route from Moscow to St. Petersburg. All seven passengers and three crew members perished. Authorities are still working to identify the bodies, but Prigozhin is presumed to be among them, along with six other Wagner officials.
Putin expressed his sincere condolences to their families and vowed that the investigation into the crash will be thorough.
UPDATE ON AUGUST 24 – 9 AM CET
The Comments of Wagner’s Telegram Group
Also on the GrEy Zone channel of Telegram, close to the Wagner group, confirmation of the death of their leader Yevgeny Prigozhin seems to arrive. In fact, a photo of him in an elegant suit is posted under which we read:
“The head of the ‘Wagner Group “, the Hero of Russia, a true patriot of the country of him-Yevgeny Viktorovich Prigozhin died as a result of the actions of Russian traitors. But even in Hell he will be the best! Glory to Russia!”.
And while the world waits for the official news of Prigozhin’s death, the lights are turned on in the Wagner Group offices in St. Petersburg to form a particular composition, as a cross, that seems to be a confirmation.
Yesterday, Russian President Vladimir Putin made no mention of the affair on the sidelines of the celebration of the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Kursk in World War II, on which occasion he thanked “all our soldiers who fight with courage and determination ” in the special military operation in Ukraine.
The president of the United States, Joe Biden, said he was “not surprised” after news of the death of Yevgeny Prigozhin, leader of the Russian paramilitary Wagner company, following the crash of the plane he was traveling on in the Tver region. Speaking to reporters in tow, Biden said he “didn’t know for sure what happened, but I’m not surprised.”
When asked about the possible involvement of the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, in the incident, Biden said that “not much happens in Russia without Putin being aware of it, but at the moment we cannot give a definite answer to this question”.
Doubts about Prigozhin’s Death
Meanwhile, doubts about the accident and its causes abound.
The first question that can be asked is very disturbing: was the leader of the Russian mercenaries really on that flight or was he recorded only to make him disappear from the world scene and save his life without dishonor after his mutiny against Russian President Vladimir Putin, of Who was the ‘cook’ as the Kremlin’s head of special events catering before taking command of Wagner?
Elena Kostioukovich, author of the book ‘In the mind of Vladimir Putin’, recalls on Italian Newspaper the mystery of the second plane owned by the mercenary and landed unharmed in Moscow. “We must not forget – she explains – that Prigozhin used to always travel with some of his doubles, also equipped with suitably falsified documents”.
The leader of Wagner could be “in Africa, where he was until a few days ago” so as to lead “a ghost life in a continent where he is the absolute master and where he can continue to manage his trades and his business, even on behalf of Putin”.
However, Kostioukovich herself claims that “there are now several pieces of evidence that tell us that Prigozhin was on that plane and would also have been recognized by his family”.
The hypothesis is bold but if founded it could never be denied because even the official reports will confirm his death.
Without considering the fact that already in 2019 the leader of the Wagner mercenaries was given up for dead in another plane crash in Africa but then it turned out that he had not actually boarded the aircraft.
The Alleged Missile Attack
The second question concerns the responsibilities of a possible attack against the aircraft since the nature of any technical failures has not yet been understood.
It is based on information released by the GrEy Zone site close to the Wagner Group which, however, had shown evidence of extreme anti-Putin factionalism even after Prigozhin’s surrender following the march on Moscow by his paramilitaries.
A Russian government source at the Moscow Times instead points the finger at the Kremlin. “The fact that the plane crashed exactly two months after the beginning of the revolt and that it crashed “not far from Putin’s residence in Valdai” is “no coincidence”.
There, the source explains, “there are four divisions of S-300 PMU1s guarding the sky.” Even Gray Zone already yesterday evening reported news, not yet verified, according to which residents of the area where the jet crashed heard the sounds of bullets fired from the ground at the aircraft. Ria Novosti today reports that some wreckage of the aircraft was found two kilometers away from the site of the impact.
According to the Fiorussi Telegram channels, the culprits, needless to say, would be the Ukrainians. “We still need more information,” blogger Sergei Markov told the Washington Post, sure it was an attack from Kiev.
“The Russians may have killed him. But if the order was given to liquidate Prigozhin, then they would have killed him alone, without killing innocent people. If Putin wanted, he would have had him arrested and that’s it ”.
ARTICLE PUBLISHED ON AUGUST, 23 – 7 PM CET
The Mysterious Plane Crash
A private jet traveling from Moscow to St. Petersburg crashed on Wednesday in Russia’s Tver Region. The Russian Emergencies Ministry said all 10 people on board had died. Rosaviation has since said that Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of the Wagner Private Military Company, was listed among the passengers.
“The Embraer plane was flying out of Sheremetyevo to St. Petersburg. There were three crew and seven passengers on board. They all died,” an Emergencies Ministry official told TASS.
The crash happened near the village of Kuzhenkino in the northwestern Tver Region. Some Russian outlets have identified the plane as an Embraer Legacy 600, with the tail number RA-02795, which is believed to belong to Prigozhin. However, this was not confirmed by officials.
The Russian federal air transport agency said that Prighozhin’s name was on the passenger manifest.
The Bodies Recovered are Charred
Eight bodies have been recovered so far, officials told RIA Novosti. An investigation into the incident is underway.
Rosaviation said that it has established a special commission to investigate the cause and circumstances of the incident. It identified the airplane as the Embraer-135BJ private jet, owned by the company MNT-Aero.
The bodies of the victims that have been recovered would all be charred due to the fire that developed immediately after the impact of the plane on the ground.
Therefore their identification can only take place in the next few hours thanks to the DNA test.
Wagner boss announced major move ‘to make Russia greater’
Just a fews days ago te Wagner’s boss realized a short video apparently filmed in Africa
The Wagner private military company is continuing to recruit and is working hard “to make Russia even greater,” the head of the group, Evgeny Prigozhin, has said in a new video address. He added that Wagner is also seeking to help Africa become “even more free.”
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