24-8-2023 (MOSCOW) In a shocking and enigmatic development, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Russia’s most formidable mercenary figure, was reportedly aboard a plane that tragically crashed north of Moscow on Wednesday evening (Aug 23), with no survivors, as confirmed by Russian authorities. This incident occurred exactly two months after Prigozhin led a daring but ultimately failed mutiny against the military top brass.
Despite the significant implications of Prigozhin’s apparent demise, there has been no official statement from either the Kremlin or the Defence Ministry regarding his fate. Prigozhin, the head of the notorious Wagner mercenary group, had openly declared himself an adversary of the army’s leadership, citing their alleged incompetence during Russia’s involvement in the conflict in Ukraine.
While official sources have remained silent, a Telegram channel associated with Wagner, known as Grey Zone, pronounced Prigozhin dead and celebrated him as a hero and patriot who, in their account, fell victim to unidentified individuals deemed “traitors to Russia.”
Russian Telegram channel VChK-OGPU says that an eyewitness reported two explosions, resembling missile firing, sounded in the sky before Prigozhin’s plane went down.
“There were two shooting blasts. When I heard the first explosion, I just raised my head and I saw sparks… pic.twitter.com/xBeQZIhktW
— Anton Gerashchenko (@Gerashchenko_en) August 23, 2023
Amidst rampant speculation and an absence of concrete details, some of Prigozhin’s supporters have pointed accusatory fingers both at the Russian state and Ukraine, the latter of which was preparing to celebrate its independence day on the following day.
Prigozhin’s purported death raises questions about the future of the Wagner Group, a formidable private military organization that incurred the wrath of President Vladimir Putin in June with its audacious but ill-fated armed uprising against the military’s high command.
Regardless of the circumstances surrounding the plane crash, Prigozhin’s passing potentially removes a significant challenger to Putin’s authority, marking one of the most substantial threats to the Russian leader’s grip on power since he ascended to the presidency in 1999.
The Embraer Legacy 600 executive jet involved in the crash, according to International Aviation HQ, has a remarkably clean safety record, with only one recorded accident in over two decades of service. This prior incident was attributed to crew errors rather than mechanical failures.
Wameangusha Private jet ya Yevgeny Prigozhin?????
Dude only had one chance to take power but he decided to play nice with Mzee Putin (a man who sends radioactive packages to old friends in London) pic.twitter.com/5VOVPal4IP— khalif kairo (@KhalifKairo) August 23, 2023
Embraer, the aircraft’s manufacturer, indicated that it had adhered to international sanctions against Russia and had not provided maintenance services for the plane since 2019. The aircraft exhibited no signs of trouble until a sudden descent during its final 30 seconds, according to flight-tracking data.
Russian aviation agency Rosaviatsia released the names of all 10 individuals on board the ill-fated plane, confirming the presence of both Prigozhin and Dmitry Utkin, his trusted associate and a co-founder of the Wagner mercenary group who used the call sign “Wagner.”
Russian authorities have initiated a criminal investigation to unravel the circumstances of the crash. Some anonymous sources cited in Russian media have suggested that the plane might have been downed by one or more surface-to-air missiles, but this information remains unverified.
The plane, originally en route from Moscow to St. Petersburg, tragically crashed near the village of Kuzhenkino in the Tver Region, as reported by Russia’s emergency situations ministry.
In response to the incident, US President Joe Biden remarked, “I don’t know for a fact what happened. But I’m not surprised … There is not much that happens in Russia that Putin is not behind, but I don’t know enough to know the answer.”
Prominent Kremlin critic Abbas Gallyamov, previously a speechwriter for Putin, suggested that the Russian leader, expected to run for another presidential term next year, might have played a role in the crash, strengthening his authority in the process. Gallyamov contended that “The establishment is now convinced that it will not be possible to oppose Putin.”
Bill Browder, a seasoned businessman with deep ties to Russia and a vocal critic of the Kremlin, echoed this sentiment, stating, “Putin never forgives and never forgets. He looked like a humiliated weakling with Prigozhin running around without a care in the world (after the mutiny). This will cement his authority.”
Shortly after the initial plane crash, flight tracking data indicated that a second private jet linked to Prigozhin, which appeared to be heading to St. Petersburg, subsequently reversed course and returned to Moscow.
Prigozhin, aged 62, had spearheaded the mutiny against Russia’s top military brass on June 23-24, an event that Putin claimed could have plunged Russia into civil war. During the uprising, Wagner fighters downed Russian attack helicopters, resulting in unconfirmed casualties among the pilots and inciting fury within the military establishment.
Prigozhin had been a vocal critic of Russia’s prosecution of the conflict in Ukraine, which Moscow officially referred to as a “special military operation.” He had also endeavored to unseat Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and Valery Gerasimov, the Chief of the General Staff.
Many Russians had been perplexed by Prigozhin’s ability to openly criticize the government without apparent repercussions. The mutiny concluded with an apparent agreement brokered by the Kremlin, which saw Prigozhin relocating to neighboring Belarus. However, in practice, he appeared to move freely within Russia, supposedly under the protection of this agreement.
On Monday, Prigozhin released a video that suggested he was in Africa and made an appearance at a Russia-Africa summit in St. Petersburg in July. Unconfirmed reports from Russian media suggested that Prigozhin and his associates had met with officials from the Russian Defence Ministry, though this remains unverified.
Flight radar data indicated that the Embraer Legacy 600, bearing the registration number RA-02795 and carrying Prigozhin, vanished from radar at 6:11 pm. Unverified video clips circulated on social media, one showing a plane resembling a private jet plummeting to the ground, and another displaying the still-smoldering wreckage of the plane on the ground, with at least one visible body. TASS reported that rescuers had recovered seven bodies from the crash site.
