Russian President Vladimir Putin broke his silence Thursday on the presumed death of Yevgeny Prigozhin, the leader of the Wagner Group militia.
Putin expressed condolences for those aboard the private jet that crashed Wednesday, praising Prigozhin as a talented businessman. He made the remarks in a televised interview while speaking with Denis Pushilin, the Russian-installed leader of Ukraine’s partially occupied Donetsk region.
The plane crash came exactly two months after Prigozhin led a mutiny against Putin, marching a band of his mercenaries toward Moscow with the demand that Russia’s defence minister resign.
Putin promised retribution toward Prigozhin, who had once been a close ally.
Ten people were aboard the downed aircraft, which was on its way from Moscow to St. Petersburg when it crashed in the small town of Kuzhenkino, about 300 kilometres northwest of Moscow.
Among the passengers were six of Prigozhin’s Wagner lieutenants, according to the Associated Press. They included Dmitry Utkin, the right-hand man of Prigozhin, who was said to be the brains of the Wagner Group.
Three flight crew were also on board, including a pilot, co-pilot and flight attendant.
So far, anonymous sources in Wagner say that Prigozhin is dead, according to the Associated Press, but there has been no official confirmation.
A Russian investigation has opened into how the plane crashed, with investigators combing through the wreckage on Thursday.
The remains of those on board are said to be burned or disfigured beyond recognition, according to several Russian social media channels, and may need to be identified by DNA. The reports were picked up by independent Russian media, but the Associated Press noted it was not able to independently confirm them, nor has Global News.
Video of the crash shows the plane swirling toward the earth, with smoke trailing from its fuselage.
Kuzhenkino resident Anastasia Bukharova, 27, told the Associated Press she was walking with her children Wednesday when she saw the jet, “and then — boom! — it exploded in the sky and began to fall down.”
Bukharova said she feared the plane would hit houses in the village and ran with her children, but it crashed in a field.
“Something sort of was torn from it in the air, and it began to go down and down,” she said.
Two U.S. officials speaking on condition of anonymity told Reuters that they believe a surface-to-air missile within Russia likely shot down the plane.
Flight-tracking data reviewed by the Associated Press shows a private jet previously used by Prigozhin took off from Moscow Wednesday evening and that its transponder signal disappeared minutes later.
Putin said Thursday that it is necessary to await the outcomes of the investigation, which he said would take some time.
Prigozhin was listed as a passenger on the jet, according to Russia’s aviation agency.
He shares a long history with Putin going back to the early 1990s.
The two share a similar rough background and both come from St. Petersburg. Prigozhin grew to be an oligarch in Russia, making a fortune fulfilling catering contracts with the Russian government.
He became known as “Putin’s chef.”
However, he also built a shadowy reputation, University of Toronto history professor Aurel Braun previously told Global News.
“He became an oligarch thanks to his close relationship with Putin,” Braun said. “You are looking at a very sordid, unscrupulous, extremely nasty, corrupt, vicious individual.”
Prigozhin had become an increasingly vocal critic of Putin in recent months, chastising the Russian army and its generals for the strategy taken in the Ukraine war. Putin appeared to tolerate the criticism, which Braun said was in line with his leadership style of pitting one group against another.
The Wagner lieutenants on board the plane reportedly also include Valery Chekalov, described by Wagner Group expert Lou Osborn to The Associated Press as Wagner’s logistics mastermind.
According to the Dossier Center, an investigative group in London funded by Russian opposition figure Mikhail Khodorkovsky, other Wagner leaders on the flight included Yevgeny Makaryan, linked to activities in Syria, and three others about whom little is known: Alexander Totmin, Sergei Propustin and Nikolai Matuseiev.
At least one of the men fought in a unit that became Prigozhin’s source for securing bodyguards, according to the Dossier Center.
— with files from the Associated Press, Reuters and Stewart Bell.
© 2023 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
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