Speculations about the plane crash: In the USA, it is firmly assumed that Prigozhin was assassinated. A video that has now surfaced supports the thesis of manipulation.
Moscow – New details about the plane crash: After the alleged death of the Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin investigation into the cause continues. The cooling system on the jet is said to have been replaced shortly before departure and secret special flight rights withdrawn from the mercenary boss. This is reported by the Russian investigative platform rucriminal.info, which also published a video of the inner workings of the aircraft. The report also fueled ongoing speculation that the crash might not have happened properly. US secret services are also assuming an assassination.
Prigozhin plane crash: speculation about the death of the Wagner boss continues
The plane crash over Russia has been causing a stir internationally since Wednesday. For reasons that have not yet been clarified, a private Embraer Legacy 600 aircraft crashed on the way from St. Petersburg to Moscow. All ten occupants are believed to have died. According to the passenger list, the owner of the machine, Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin, and his Wagner deputy Dimitri Utkin were also on board. Although the Russian aviation authorities and Russian President Vladimir Putin reported the death of the two, there is no official independent confirmation. All bodies are still being identified at this time.
Death of Prigozhin: Revenge of Putin with a surface-to-air missile?
Since the Prigozhin plane crash, there has been much speculation about the background, in social media as well as from international politicians and scientists. Since the Wagner boss with his uprising against the Kremlin two months earlier, many enemies in the power apparatus of Wladimir Putin many observers believe that a targeted attack out of revenge is possible. One theory is that the machine could have been shot down by a surface-to-air missile.
Bomb on board: US suspects Prigozhin plane crash
Apparently, the United States is also firmly assuming an attack. However, one excludes an attack with a guided missile. This was confirmed by a high-ranking secret service official Wall Street Journal. In this case, American satellites would have recorded the heat signature of a rocket, he told the paper. But this was not the case. Instead, the official raised suspicions that a bomb may have been on board Prigozhin’s private jet.
Was the bomb placed on the cooling system? The clues are still speculation and cannot be independently verified. However, according to the latest reports, the flight attendant Kristina Raspopova wrote to her family shortly before departure that the flight would be delayed due to an unplanned repair. However, she did not say anything about the exact damage. Was it perhaps the replacement of the cooling system?
Video surfaced: repairs to Prigozhin’s plane
In any case, it is surprising that before the departure of the Wagner dual leadership, the jet was given to foreign craftsmen. But apparently the mercenary boss no longer attached great importance to the machine. How rucriminal.info reported, the private plane is said to have been for sale. That’s why a video was shot from the interior shortly before departure. After Prigoschin was apparently allowed to fly around the country with secret special rights for years, the mercenary boss was recently stripped of this privilege, the report says now surfaced videowhich was also published by the German news channel ntv.
In the end, the Kremlin chief somehow had his fingers in the pie. According to US President Joe Biden, the answer is yes. At least after the crash of Prigozchin’s plane, Biden was “not surprised” by the initially possible death of the Wagner boss. “There isn’t much that’s happening in Russia that Putin isn’t behind,” he said on Wednesday. “But I don’t know enough to know the answer,” he added. Meanwhile, Moscow has described speculation that the Kremlin was responsible for Prigozhin’s death as an “absolute lie”. Government spokesman Dmitry Peskov said investigations into the cause of the crash were ongoing.
Wagner Group Uprising: For Putin, that was treason
How big the break between Putin and his chef was in the end will probably never be clarified. They were close confidants until the uprising. But Putin criticized the mutiny as a betrayal. Conversely, however, loyalty was apparently still given. A bizarre scene can be found in the video that has now been released: a picture of Putin apparently hung on one of the walls of the plane until the end. (jkf)