The Russian Aviation Agency on Wednesday evening assured that the leader of the Wagner Group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, died in a plane crash that occurred late in the evening on the outskirts of the Russian capital Moscow.
The Russian aviation authorities also report that traveling aboard the Embraer was Dmitry Utkin, a veteran of Russian special forces and “secret” forces who also founded a mercenary group led by Prigozhin.
The presence of the name of the leader of the Wagner mercenary group in the list of passengers of a private plane that crashed in the Tver region near Moscow was revealed in advance, but this circumstance has not yet deserved official confirmation of the death.
information Agency TASS According to Reuters, Yevgeny Prigozhin will be one of the passengers on the flight between the Russian capital and St. Petersburg. Recall that Yevgeny Prigozhin was the man who in June attempted an uprising against the power of Vladimir Putin.
Rescue operations, however, have already managed to find burnt bodies at the crash site, but failed to identify the victims.
“There were three pilots and seven passengers on board. All died,” a source in the Russian Emergencies Ministry said. According to Russian media, the second plane, also owned by Yevgeny Prigozhin, changed course on its way to Moscow.
According to the website Flight Radar, the plane made several circles in the skies of Moscow before returning to St. Petersburg. There is speculation in Russia as to whether Yevgeny Prigozhin will travel on the plane that crashed or on this second plane.
“Rosaviatsia launched an investigation into the crash of an Embraer aircraft that occurred in the Tver region on Wednesday,” the Russian agency said in a statement, citing TASS.
Prior to this, the man who was once Putin’s chef was one of the great allies of the Russian army, and the Wagner group was responsible for Russia’s great achievements in Ukraine.
The uprising ended in negotiations and an apparent compromise by the Kremlin, which resulted in Prigozhin agreeing to move to Belarus. However, even after the deal, Prigozhin will move freely around Russia.
The leader of the Wagner group, which tried to overthrow Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, and the head of the General Staff, Vlaery Gerasimov, this Monday released a video message suggesting it was filmed in Africa.
Prudent Wagner Group
Prudence was also visible on the Wagner group’s Telegram page, one of the military organization’s main communication channels. “The news is bad,” says the group, calling for calm and confirmed news. “Let’s wait for official confirmation and hope for the best,” the publication said earlier Wednesday evening.
The network of the mercenary organization also claims that “some of the news is true, while others are not,” which may be confirmation of the information put forward by Russian journalist Andrei Zakharov, according to which Prigozhin was supposed to fly from Africa to Russia this Wednesday and what will happen to the head of the Wagner group the entire command staff of the mercenary organization.
However, Telegram groups close to the Wagner group took Prigozhin’s death for granted.
Zelensky: “Ukraine has nothing to do with what happened”
The President of Ukraine considered the alleged death of the leader of the Wagner group a “good” for Ukraine and even joked about it.
“When Ukraine turned to partners for help with aviation, it was not that kind of help,” the Ukrainian president joked.
“Ukraine has nothing to do with what happened. We know very well who is involved in this,” he added.
Biden: ‘I’m not surprised’
US President Joe Biden said this Wednesday that he was not surprised by the possible death of the leader of the Wagner mercenary group in a plane crash in Russia.
“I still don’t know exactly what happened, but I’m not surprised. Little happens in Russia without Putin’s participation,” the head of the American state said in statements during his vacation on Lake Tahoe, located between Nevada and California.
US believes Russian missile shot down Prigozhin’s plane
In the United States of America, it is believed that the plane carrying Yevgeny Prigozhin was allegedly shot down by a Russian surface-to-air missile.
U.S. officials who spoke to the agency on condition of anonymity ReutersHe stressed that the information is still preliminary and is under analysis.
European countries believe that the Kremlin is to blame
The head of German diplomacy, Annalena Burbock, joined European countries’ suspicions of the Kremlin’s responsibility in the alleged death of Wagner Group head Yevgeny Prigozhin in a plane crash in Russia.
“It’s no coincidence that the whole world is now looking at the Kremlin when a former Putin aide literally fell out of favor, suddenly disappearing from the sky, two months after the attempted mutiny,” Burbock said.
French government spokesman Olivier Veran acknowledged that there are “reasonable doubts” about what happened, given the longstanding relationship between Prigozhin and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
In the United Kingdom, Ministry of Defense sources consulted by BBC Public Radio list the Russian FSB security service as the prime suspect in the death of Prigozhin, who traveled with nine other people, including the “headquarters” of the mercenary group, in the crash was that there are no survivors, according to the Russian authorities.
Morawiecki: Wagner Group will become more dangerous “under the leadership of Putin”
The Prime Minister of Poland believes that the Wagner group will become more dangerous “under the leadership of Putin.”
“The Wagner Group is under the leadership of Putin. Let everyone answer for themselves the question: will the threat be greater or less? For me, this is a rhetorical question,” Mateusz Morawiecki said at a press conference, whose words are quoted by the publication. Reutersthis Thursday.
Who is Prigogine?
Yevgeny Prigozhin, leader of the Wagner Group, filmed critical moments in the Russian offensive into Ukraine. He recently put Russia on high alert by declaring an uprising against the country and, more specifically, the Ministry of Defense. But who is the rebel who, in the words of President Vladimir Putin, stabbed his homeland in the back, but ended up unexpectedly retreating?
The founder of the paramilitary group has been described as ruthless, shameless and lawless. New York Times. He is 62 years old and was born in St. Petersburg (formerly Leningrad), the hometown of the Russian president. Considered controversial and not very unanimous, Prigozhin is one of the brightest faces in the conflict in Ukraine, and it is an inescapable fact that thanks to his leadership, Russia has made great strides on Ukrainian soil.
The leader of the mercenaries began to gain even more fame in the media after harsh criticism from the Ministry of Defense, when he announced significant losses of his army in the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut.
The issue will be the fact that not enough weapons and ammunition were sent for the fighting in the area. Remember that Bahmut is one of the bloodiest cities since the beginning of the invasion.
According to British newspaper The keeperPrigozhin has been known as “Putin’s chef” for decades. The nickname comes from the catering company he owns and the contract it has with the Kremlin.
In the 1980s, a paramilitary leader was sentenced to nine years in prison for robbery and theft. When he was released, he started selling hot dogs in his hometown. Over the years, he began to gain popularity and develop in the food industry. Today he is a tycoon and one of the most powerful names in Russia. It should be noted that the relationship with Vladimir Putin played a central role in the rise of Yevgeny Prigozhin.
Author: morning Post
Source: CM Jornal
I am Michael Melvin, an experienced news writer with a passion for uncovering stories and bringing them to the public. I have been working in the news industry for over five years now, and my work has been published on multiple websites. As an author at 24 News Reporters, I cover world section of current events stories that are both informative and captivating to read.