The death of Wagner boss Prigozhin in a plane crash has not yet been officially confirmed, but Russian President Putin has already sent his condolences to the relatives. Prigozhin was a “capable” man who made “serious mistakes”.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has indirectly confirmed the alleged death of the head of the Wagner mercenary force, Yevgeny Prigozhin, in a plane crash. In a televised session, he offered condolences to Prigozhin’s family, speaking in the past tense: “He was a person with a complicated fate and he made serious mistakes.” At the same time, the businessman and mercenary boss has achieved results – for himself and for the common cause, Putin said, according to Russian news agencies.
The day after the private jet crash, there were many expressions of grief in Russia. At the same time, speculation as to the cause increased. Among other things, the Russian Telegram news channel “Shot” reported, citing investigators, that the crash may have been triggered by a bomb in the area of the chassis. The Gray Zone channel, which is close to Prigozhin, had previously spread the version that the plane had been shot down by Russian air defenses. The authors wrote of murder in this regard.
Prigozhin was a “talented person”
An official identification of the total of ten crash victims by Russian authorities is still pending. Putin carefully formulated that, according to initial findings, a plane carrying members of Wagner’s private army had crashed the previous evening. Wagner made an important contribution to the fighting in Ukraine that will not be forgotten.
Putin expressed his condolences to the relatives. He announced a comprehensive investigation into the crash. This has already begun, but will take a while, he said at a meeting with Donetsk’s Russian head of administration, Denis Puschilin. He himself had known Prigozhin, a “talented person”, since the 1990s.
Sadness and anger among Prigozhin’s supporters
Prigozhin’s followers reacted with sadness and anger to the news of the alleged death of the 62-year-old. At the “Patriot” café in St. Petersburg, which many residents of the city associate with Prigozhin and his Wagner troupe, masses of flowers were laid, the daily newspaper “Kommersant” reported. Mourning and commemoration campaigns were also reported from other Russian cities such as Novosibirsk.
US circles suspect missile launch
According to insiders, the United States is assuming a rocket as the probable reason for the plane crash in which the Russian mercenary boss is believed to have died. The anti-aircraft missile was apparently fired from within Russia, reports the Reuters news agency, citing two people who did not want to be named. However, they emphasized that these are early and preliminary findings. There is no Russian statement on this yet.