Russian mercenary chief and some of his top lieutenants were presumed dead that was widely seen Thursday as an assassination to avenge a mutiny that challenged President Vladimir Putin.
The and were on a private jet that crashed Wednesday soon after taking off from Moscow with a crew of three, according to Russia91裸聊视频檚 civil aviation authority. Rescuers found 10 bodies, and Russian media cited anonymous sources in Wagner who said Prigozhin was dead. But there has been no official confirmation.
If the deaths are confirmed, the crash would be the most serious blow the group has ever suffered to its leadership. The passenger manifest included Prigozhin and his second-in-command who baptized the group with his nom de guerre, as well as Wagner91裸聊视频檚 logistics chief, a fighter wounded by U.S. airstrikes in Syria and at least one possible bodyguard.
It was not clear why several high-ranking members of Wagner, including top leaders who are normally exceedingly careful about their security, were on the same flight. The purpose of their joint trip to St. Petersburg was unknown.
In all, the other passengers included six of Prigozhin91裸聊视频檚 lieutenants, along with the three-member flight crew.
At Wagner91裸聊视频檚 headquarters in St. Petersburg, lights were turned on in the shape of a large cross, and Prigozhin supporters built a makeshift memorial, piling red and white flowers outside the building Thursday, along with company flags and candles.
Putin broke his silence on the crash, expressing condolences to the families of those who were aboard the jet, including .
He said the passengers had 91裸聊视频渕ade a significant contribution91裸聊视频� to the fighting in Ukraine.
91裸聊视频淲e remember this, we know, and we will not forget,91裸聊视频� the president said in a televised interview with the Russian-installed leader of Ukraine91裸聊视频檚 partially occupied Donetsk region, Denis Pushilin.
Putin recalled that he had known Prigozhin since the early 1990s and described him as 91裸聊视频渁 man of difficult fate91裸聊视频� who had 91裸聊视频渕ade serious mistakes in life, and he achieved the results he needed 91裸聊视频� both for himself and, when I asked him about it, for the common cause, as in these last months. He was a talented man, a talented businessman.91裸聊视频�
Russian state media have not covered the crash extensively, instead focusing on Putin91裸聊视频檚 remarks to the in Johannesburg via video link and Russia91裸聊视频檚 invasion of Ukraine.
Police, meanwhile, cordoned off the field where the plane went down in Kuzhenkino, about 300 kilometers (185 miles) northwest of Moscow, as investigators studied its wreckage. Vehicles took away the bodies.
Several Russian social media channels reported that the bodies were burned or disfigured beyond recognition and would need to be identified by DNA. The reports were picked up by independent Russian media, but The Associated Press was not able to independently confirm them.
Prigozhin supporters claimed on pro-Wagner messaging app channels that the plane was deliberately downed, including suggesting it could have been hit by a missile or targeted by a bomb on board. Those claims could not be independently verified.
Sergei Mironov, the leader of the pro-Kremlin Fair Russia party and former chairman of the upper house of the Russian parliament suggested on his Telegram channel that Prigozhin had been deliberately killed.
91裸聊视频淧rigozhin messed with too many people in Russia, Ukraine and the West,91裸聊视频� Mironov wrote. It now seems that at some point his number of enemies reached a critical point.91裸聊视频�
Russian authorities have said the cause of the crash is under investigation.
Kuzhenkino resident Anastasia Bukharova, 27, said she was walking with her children Wednesday when she saw the jet, 91裸聊视频渁nd then 91裸聊视频� boom! 91裸聊视频� it exploded in the sky and began to fall down.91裸聊视频� She said she was scared it would hit houses in the village and ran with the children, but it ended up crashing into a field.
91裸聊视频淪omething sort of was torn from it in the air, and it began to go down and down,91裸聊视频� she added.
Numerous opponents and critics of Putin have been killed or gravely sickened in apparent assassination attempts, and U.S. and other Western officials long expected the Russian leader to go after Prigozhin, despite promising to drop charges in a deal that ended the June 23-24 mutiny.
91裸聊视频淚t is no coincidence that the whole world immediately looks at the Kremlin when a disgraced ex-confidant of Putin suddenly falls from the sky, two months after he attempted an uprising,91裸聊视频� said German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, while acknowledging that the facts were still unclear.
91裸聊视频淲e know this pattern 91裸聊视频� in Putin91裸聊视频檚 Russia 91裸聊视频� deaths and dubious suicides, falls from windows that all ultimately remain unexplained,91裸聊视频� she added.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also pointed the finger. 91裸聊视频淲e have nothing to do with this. Everyone understands who does,91裸聊视频� he said.
According to the civil aviation authority, the flight manifest included Dmitry Utkin, who was long believed to be the founder of Wagner. Utkin91裸聊视频檚 call sign was Wagner, which became the company91裸聊视频檚 name. He was a retired special forces officer and a member of Russia91裸聊视频檚 GRU military intelligence service and was responsible for Wagner command and combat training, according to investigations by the Dossier Center and .
Other top associates listed on the manifest included Valery Chekalov, who was Wagner91裸聊视频檚 logistics mastermind, in charge of managing mercenaries and securing weapons, and Yevgeny Makaryan, who was wounded while fighting with Wagner in Syria.
The crash also came the same week that Russian media reported that Gen. Sergei Surovikin, a former top commander in Ukraine who was reportedly linked to Prigozhin, was as commander of Russia91裸聊视频檚 air force.
Prigozhin was long outspoken and critical of how Russian generals were waging the war in Ukraine, where his mercenaries were some of the fiercest fighters for the Kremlin. For a long time, Putin appeared content to allow such infighting 91裸聊视频� and Prigozhin seemed to have unusual latitude to speak his mind.
But Prigozhin91裸聊视频檚 brief revolt raised the ante. swept through the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don and captured the military headquarters there without firing a shot. They then drove to within about 200 kilometers (125 miles) of Moscow and downed several military aircraft, killing more than a dozen Russian pilots.
Putin first denounced the rebellion 91裸聊视频� the most serious challenge to his 23-year rule 91裸聊视频� as 91裸聊视频渢reason91裸聊视频� and a 91裸聊视频渟tab in the back.91裸聊视频� He vowed to punish its perpetrators, and the world waited for his next move, particularly since Prigozhin had publicly questioned the Russian leader91裸聊视频檚 justifications for the war in Ukraine, seen as a red line.
But instead Putin made a deal that saw an end to the mutiny in exchange for an amnesty for Prigozhin and his mercenaries and permission for them to move to Belarus.
Now many are suggesting the punishment has finally come.
91裸聊视频淭he downing of the plane was certainly no mere coincidence,91裸聊视频� Janis Sarts, director of NATO91裸聊视频檚 Strategic Communications Centre of Excellence, told Latvian television.
Even if confirmed, Prigozhin91裸聊视频檚 death is unlikely to have an effect on Russia91裸聊视频檚 war in Ukraine. His forces fought some of the bloodiest battles over the last 18 months, but pulled back from the front line after capturing the eastern city of Bakhmut in late May. After the rebellion, Russian officials said his fighters would only be able to return to Ukraine as part of the regular army.
The Institute for the Study of War argued that Russian authorities likely moved against Prigozhin and his top associates as 91裸聊视频渢he final step to eliminate Wagner as an independent organization.91裸聊视频�
Abbas Gallyamov, a former speechwriter for President Putin turned political consultant, said Putin had to step in because, by carrying out the mutiny and remaining free, Prigozhin 91裸聊视频渟hoved Putin91裸聊视频檚 face into the dirt front of the whole world.91裸聊视频�
Failing to punish Prigozhin would have offered an 91裸聊视频渙pen invitation for all potential rebels and troublemakers,91裸聊视频� so Putin had to act, Gallyamov said.
Flight-tracking data reviewed by The Associated Press showed that a private jet previously used by Prigozhin took off from Moscow on Wednesday evening, and its transponder signal disappeared minutes later.
Videos shared by the pro-Wagner Telegram channel Grey Zone showed a plane dropping like a stone from a large cloud of smoke, twisting wildly as it fell, one of its wings apparently missing. A free fall like that typically occurs when an aircraft sustains severe damage, and a frame-by-frame AP analysis of two videos was consistent with some sort of explosion mid-flight.
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