Wagner Chief Yevgeny Prigozhin dies in fatal plane crash

Europe, News August 24, 2023 , by IRIA No Comments

The leader of Wagner Group, Russia’s largest mercenary force, Yevgeny Prigozhin died in a fatal plane crash. He was traveling in an Embraer Legacy 600 aircraft when the plane crashed in Russia’s Tver region near Moscow, on August 24, 2023.

According to Russia’s civil aviation authority, all the passengers and crew members aboard the plane have been killed as a result of the fatal crash.

At about 20:00 local time (13:00 EDT), the Russian Ministry for Emergency Situations said in a statement that a private aircraft crashed near the village of Kuzhenkino in the Tver Region. “There were 10 people on board, including three crew members… all those on board died,” Russia’s ministry said.

The plane was flying from St. Petersburg to Moscow, carrying seven passengers and three crew members. Wagner Chief Yevgeny Prigozhin was listed among the passengers, however, his death was not immediately confirmed by Russian authorities.

Russia’s state-owned media outlets reported that the crashed Embraer Legacy 600 jet belonged to Prigozhin. The jet was in the air for no more than half an hour after flying from St. Petersburg.

Russia's Wagner mercenary force chief Yevgeny Prigozhin — ^{Russia’s Wagner mercenary force chief Yevgeny Prigozhin speaks in Paraskoviivka, Ukraine in this still image from an undated video released on March 3, 2023. (Image Credit Concord Press Service/via Reuters)}

So far the cause of the fatal crash has not been determined, however, it was reported that the jet caught fire after crashing into a field. Bodies have been recovered from the wreck, while the identification process is underway.

Russia’s Federal Agency for Air Transport said that “an investigation into the Embraer plane crash that occurred in the Tver Region this evening has been launched. According to the passenger list, the first and last name of Yevgeny Prigozhin was included in this list.”

Wagner’s mutiny

The 62-year-old mercenary boss founded Wagner Group in 2014, and it now has about 25,000 fighters. The group has been active in Ukraine, Syria, and West Africa, and has gained a reputation for brutality. He was the mastermind behind the failed mutiny attempt against the Russian armed forces in June this year.

Prigozhin headed the mutiny on June 23-24 as he led his troops from Ukraine, where they were stationed alongside Russian forces, towards the Russian city of Rostov on Don, threatening to march on Moscow and throwing off Putin’s government. The move came after months of tension between the Russian military chief and the leaders of the Wagner Group as they complained about the lack of weapons supply to the mercenary forces over the Ukraine conflict.

^{In this grab taken from a video released by Prigozhin Press Service on May 20, 2023, Wagner Group chief Yevgeny Prigozhin speaks holding a Russian national flag in front of his soldiers in Bakhmut, Ukraine. (Prigozhin Press Service/via AP)}

Following his failed mutiny attempt and intervention from Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, Prigozhin relocated himself to Belarus but was able to move freely despite being charged with mutiny by Moscow’s Federal Security Services (FSB). A day before the plane crash, he was seen in a Wagner Group recruitment video shot in Africa, where his mercenary force is actively involved.

Act of revenge

Analysts and experts are certain that Prigozhin’s death is not an accident instead it is a result of a deliberate attack orchestrated by the Kremlin to punish him for his attempt to throw off Putin’s government.

The U.S. officials reacted to Prigozhin’s death by calling it revenge by the Russian President. The White House spokeswoman Adrienne Watson said “no-one should be surprised” if the reports of Prigozhin’s death were confirmed. CIA director William Burns commented that “Revenge, is a dish Putin prefers served cold”.