Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed his condolences to the families of those killed in the plane crash in the Tver region, stressing that the founder of Wagner PMC Yevgeny Prigozhin was a talented man of difficult fate
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Russian President Vladimir Putin for the first time commented on the crash of a business jet in the Tver region, on board of which, according to the airline, was the founder of Wagner PMC Evgeny Prigozhin.
The head of state expressed condolences to the families of the victims. “Indeed, if there were — and it seems that the primary data show that there were employees of the Wagner company — I would like to note that these are people who have made a significant contribution to our common cause of combating the neo-Nazi regime in Ukraine. We remember this, we know it and we will not forget it,” the president said.
He called Prigozhin a talented person and a businessman, noting that he had a difficult fate, and there were serious mistakes in life.
A business jet crashed on the evening of August 23 near the village of Kuzhenkino in the north-west of the Tver region. According to the Russian Emergencies Ministry, there were ten people on board the plane, which flew from Moscow to St. Petersburg (including three crew members). All on board were killed, the ministry said in a statement.
The Federal Air Transport Agency specified that Evgeny Prigozhin and Dmitry Utkin (call sign Wagner) were among the passengers of the plane. Officially, the authorities did not confirm the death of the founder of the PMC.
Upon the crash of a business jet, the UK opened a criminal case under Art. 263 of the Criminal Code (violation of the rules of traffic safety and operation of air transport). RBC’s source in law enforcement said that the investigation is considering various versions of the crash of the business jet, including pilot error, technical problems and external influence.
After the start of the Russian special operation in Ukraine, Wagner PMC took an active part in the hostilities. In particular, Prigozhin reported on the capture by PMC fighters of such settlements as Bakhmut (Artemovsk) and Soledar. On June 23, the businessman accused the Russian military leadership of hitting PMC positions and killing several fighters. On the morning of the next day, he announced that the fighters controlled Rostov-on-Don, and some went to Moscow with a “march of justice.”
The Defense Ministry called Prigozhin’s statement a provocation, while Putin compared the businessman’s actions to a stab in the back. A criminal case was opened against the founder of the Wagner PMC under the article on organizing a rebellion (Article 279 of the Criminal Code). Nevertheless, already on the evening of June 24, PMC fighters turned around and went to the rear camps – this happened after Prigozhin’s negotiations with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko. The FSB dropped the case against Prigozhin, and he himself was allowed to leave for Belarus. Part of the PMC fighters moved to a neighboring state, their camp is located in the village of Tsel, 20 km from the town of Osipovichi.
On August 21, the telegram channel “Unloading Wagner” published the first video after the rebellion with Prigozhin, who, according to the channel, was in Africa. The founder of the PMC then noted that the Wagner fighters continue to fulfill the tasks assigned to them, which they promised to cope with, and are ready to make Africa even freer. PMC “Wagner”, according to various sources, worked in Libya, Burkina Faso, Mauritania, Mali, Niger, Chad, the Central African Republic (CAR), Sudan, etc.
