Yevgeny Prigozhin, the most powerful mercenary in Russia, was on board a jet that crashed on Wednesday night north of Moscow, according to Russian police. This occurred two months to the day after Prigozhin staged an unsuccessful uprising against the army’s top brass. The Kremlin and the Defence Ministry made no public statements regarding Prigozhin’s fate. He was the leader of the Wagner mercenary group and a self-proclaimed enemy of the army’s leadership due to what he believed to be its ineffective conduct of Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Speculation and Reactions Surrounding Prigozhin’s Reported Death
However, Wagner’s Telegram channel, Grey Zone, which is linked to him, declared him dead and praised him as a hero and a patriot who had perished at the hands of unknown people it referred to as “traitors to Russia.” Some of his followers blamed the Russian government, while others laid the accusation at Ukraine, which was set to celebrate its independence day on Thursday, amid hysterical conjecture and a lack of verified data. In St. Petersburg, a structure containing Wagner’s offices lit up its windows after sundown in a way that revealed a massive cross as a sign of respect and sadness. With Prigozhin gone, the Wagner Group’s future operations in Africa and abroad would be in doubt. The Wagner Group provoked President Vladimir Putin‘s wrath in June by launching an unsuccessful violent coup against the army’s senior command. Regardless of who or what caused the accident, Putin would be relieved of having to deal with the person who had launched the most significant challenge to the Russian leader’s authority since he took office in 1999 with his passing.
Rosaviatsia Releases Passenger Names, Probe Initiated in Prigozhin Plane Crash
Russian aviation regulator Rosaviatsia released the names of all ten passengers, including Prigozhin and Dmitry Utkin, his right-hand man who assisted in the founding of the mercenary squad and went by the call sign “Wagner.” According to Russian investigators, a criminal inquiry has been started to ascertain what took place. Unnamed sources told Russian media that they thought one or more surface-to-air missiles had brought the plane down. Reuters was unable to verify that. According to Russia’s emergency situations ministry, the plane, which was flying from Moscow to St. Petersburg, crashed close to the village of Kuzhenkino in the Tver Region.
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