In a fateful aerial incident, Yevgeny Prigozhin, a prominent mercenary leader of the Wagner Group and a former ally of Vladimir Putin, lost his life. According to information from international agencies, on Wednesday, the private plane in which this mercenary leader and former associate of Putin was traveling crashed in the Tver region, near Moscow. Russian emergency authorities confirmed that all ten people on board the plane lost their lives in the tragic crash. The first reports on this event were provided by the BBC and AFP, followed by the Russian media.
An Unfortunate Air Incident on the Moscow to St. Petersburg Route
The private plane, an Embraer Legacy, flying between Moscow and St. Petersburg, crashed near the village of Kuzhenkino in the Tver region. Among the passengers were 3 crew members, and according to preliminary information issued by the Ministry of Emergency Situation through its Telegram channel, all the people on board the plane lost their lives in the accident.
A controversial legacy
Yevgeny Prigozhin had recently reappeared in a video from Africa, where he sought to recruit mercenaries to undertake various missions on the continent. As leader of the Wagner Group, a private military corporation that had ties to the Kremlin, Prigozhin had had notable disagreements with Putin and Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, particularly related to the direction of the intervention in Ukraine, in which Prigozhin had participated.
The Tragic Epilogue
According to Reuters, Yevgeny Prigozhin was listed as a passenger on the private plane that crashed north of Moscow on Wednesday. The news was confirmed by Rosaviatsia, Russia’s aviation authority, which announced the start of an investigation into the Embraer plane crash. Various reports agree that Prigozhin was on board the aircraft.
Rumors of Possible Demolition
It is speculated that the plane carrying the mercenary leader may have been shot down by Russian air defenses. A Wagner-linked Telegram channel, “Gray Zone,” suggested the plane might have been hit by air defenses in the Tver region.
The Prophesied Destiny
A few days ago, Christo Grozev, an expert on the internal affairs of the Kremlin, shared his observations on Prigozhin’s possible fate. Grozev, renowned for his work in Russian investigative journalism, anticipated that the leader of the Wagner Group could find himself at a crossroads between being assassinated or leading a new revolt against Moscow. His insightful analyses of Russian politics and the complexities of power have been highlighted in an interview with the Financial Times, where he discussed the rise of mercenary actors and their relationship to Russian political dynamics.
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