Russia woke up yesterday with a news hangover after the death of Yevgeny Prigozhin. In offices, canteens and WhatsApp groups The main topic until Wednesday was, of course, the death of the head of the Wagner group, while the Russians found it difficult to shake off their astonishment at what had happened. No one doubted the news, as it was believed that official confirmation, which the Kremlin released earlier this afternoon, would not be necessary.
This was announced by the Ministry for Emergency Situations and the Federal Office for Air Transport the death of the 10 passengers of the Embraer Legacy 600, Prigozhin’s private plane, which flew a route between Moscow and Saint Petersburg. This all happened around 18:40 Russian capital time as they flew over the Tver region.
With the explosion of the plane, the hypotheses exploded. The officer did not provide further details based on an investigation ordered immediately after the incident became known. This is known in another way During the flight, an explosion occurred under the landing gear possibly resulting in one of the wings breaking. The collision between him and the flight stabilizer caused the device to free fall from a height of almost 8,000 meters.
The condition of the charred bodies made it impossible to identify them immediately, which is why different ones biological tests in Moscow laboratories which clarify the identity of the ship’s occupants.
The truth is that some residents of the areas near the accident what happened You speak of multiple explosionsnamely by two, which were felt in a large radius and several witnesses saw Prigozhin’s private jet crash in the middle of the field.
It could have been more serious as there are populated areas not too far from the scene of events. Unofficial information channels go even further and ensure that the plane It may have been shot down by surface-to-air missiles. However, according to preliminary assessments by US intelligence agencies, the Embraer plane crash was deliberately caused by an explosion.
“Currently, we have no information to suggest that a surface-to-air missile was fired against the private plane in which Yevgeny Prigozhin allegedly traveled,” a Biden administration official said in statements collected by the Biden administration Financial Times. The main theory Washington uses is that it did a bomb on board.
The Ministry of Emergencies has not released any further details at this time, although not many people trust this official version to match what happened. In his first hypotheses, the terrorist attack is not foundalthough they will not rule out any option as they believe that the cause of the accident could be due to technical or human error.
The person responsible for the investigation has been appointed Ivan Sibula renowned investigator specializing in aviation accidents who has worked in recent years on cases such as the case in which Christophe de Margerie, President and CEO of French oil company Total SA, died at Moscow’s Vnukovo Airport in October 2014 after his plane collided with a snow plow.
As soon as the news broke, reactions to Prigozhin’s death began to fill Telegram channels and comments on Twitter. Members and supporters of the Wagner group spoke of it “Reconciliation” of Russian President Vladimir Putin, whom they accused of avenging the uprising of Prigozhin and his men in June. All who wanted to pay him special honors came to the oligarch’s headquarters in St. Petersburg with flowers and handwritten notes. Flags of the Wagner Group hung at the entrance gate and a cross was painted on the building with the lights on in the offices.
Amid the ebb and flow of rumors and comments, President Putin himself appeared late in the afternoon and used a working meeting in the Kremlin to confirm that who had been his friend had died in this fatal “accident”.and promised to clarify the reasons why.
“It’s always a tragedy. If indeed the members of the Wagner group were on that plane, and preliminary data suggests that this was the case, I would like to note that these individuals made a significant contribution to our common cause, the fight against the neo-Nazi regime in Ukraine. We remember it, we know it and we won’t forget it,” declared the Russian President, who did not hesitate to call Prigozhin the ” “a talented man” who also made “mistakes”. and expressed condolences to the families of those who died in the accident.
Putin’s words contrast with those of the leader of the ruling Fair Russia party Sergei Mironovwhat he assured hours before the boss of the Wagner group was a nuisance. “Prigozhin stood in the way of many in Russia, Ukraine and the West”published the politician, a friend of Putin.