Abroad plane crash in Russia
White House says Prigozhin’s death is ‘no surprise’
As of: 9:35 p.m. | Reading time: 3 minutes
“A big mistake by Prigozhin – And such mistakes a man like Putin never forgives”
Prof. Shlomo Shpiro, secret service expert at Tel Aviv University, speaks in an interview with WELT about the possible death of Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin in a plane crash in Russia.
US President Joe Biden was briefed on a business jet crash in Russia. If Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin was actually on board and died, it would not be a surprise for the White House. All developments in the live ticker.
The possible death of Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin in a plane crash in Russia on Wednesday would not come as a surprise, according to the US government. “We saw what was reported (about the crash). If confirmed, it would come as no surprise to anyone,” said US National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson.
US President Joe Biden was kept up to date on the situation after the plane crash in Russia, according to the White House.
Prigozhin, head of the Russian mercenary group Wagner, was on the passenger list of a plane that crashed in the Tver region between Moscow and St. Petersburg, the Russian news agency Tass reported, citing the aviation authority. According to the Russian Ministry of Emergencies, according to initial information, all ten people on board the private plane died.
This is where you will find third-party content
In order to display embedded content, your revocable consent to the transmission and processing of personal data is required, since the providers of the embedded content as third-party providers require this consent [In diesem Zusammenhang können auch Nutzungsprofile (u.a. auf Basis von Cookie-IDs) gebildet und angereichert werden, auch außerhalb des EWR]. By setting the switch to “on”, you agree to this (which can be revoked at any time). This also includes your consent to the transfer of certain personal data to third countries, including the USA, in accordance with Art. 49 (1) (a) GDPR. You can find more information about this. You can withdraw your consent at any time via the switch and via privacy at the bottom of the page.
All developments in the live ticker:
8:45 p.m. – Prigozhin channel on Telegram calls the crash a targeted shooting
A channel on Telegram close to Yevgeny Prigozhin is spreading the version of a targeted shooting. The machine was shot down by anti-aircraft defenses over the Tver region, according to the Telegram channel Gray Zone. Priogoshin usually used it to distribute his videos. The claim of a shooting was not verifiable.
Gray Zone wrote that there were two planes from Wagner’s private army in the air. The second turned around on the flight to St. Petersburg and landed at Ostafyevo Airport south of Moscow. Gray Zone questioned the authorities’ version that Prigozhin was on the passenger list of the first plane and was killed. “Where Yevgeny Prigozhin was in the end, there is no precise information at the moment,” it said.
8:20pm – RIA: Eight bodies recovered at crash site
Eight bodies were recovered from the crash site of a private jet carrying Russian mercenary boss Yevgeny Prigozhin as a passenger. This was reported by the Russian news agency RIA, citing rescue services. There was initially no confirmation that Prigozhin was on board the machine. According to the RIA report, the search and rescue work at the crash site continued. According to official information, ten people were on board the flight from Moscow to St. Petersburg.
19:26 – Private jet crashed in Russia – Prigozhin on passenger list
All ten people on board die in a private jet crash in Russia. The head of the Russian Wagner mercenary force, Yevgeny Priogschin, was also on the passenger list, according to the Russian Aviation Authority. Whether he was actually on board the plane from Moscow to St. Petersburg was initially not entirely certain.
The aviation authority said the crash near the village of Kishenkino, around 315 kilometers northeast of Moscow in Tver Oblast, was being investigated. The aircraft is an Embraer Legacy 600.
The route of the Embraer Legacy business jet from Moscow to St. Petersburg
Source: Infographic WORLD
The Wagner mercenaries had fought alongside the Russian military in the war in Ukraine, including in the bloody Battle of Bakhmut. Prigozhin repeatedly criticized the lack of support from Moscow.
At the end of June he called on his fighters to march on Moscow because the Russian military leadership had allegedly ordered an attack on Wagner mercenaries. He quickly broke off the uprising and agreed to go into exile in Belarus with his fighters. The mercenaries were free to join the regular Russian military instead. In return, they should not be prosecuted.
also read