2023-08-25 05:00:01
Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed his “condolences” on Thursday for the accident without survivors of a plane in which, according to his government, the head of the Wagner paramilitary group was traveling, of whom he spoke in the past to praise his “contribution” in Ukraine.
“He was a man with a complicated destiny, who made serious mistakes in his life, but who got the results he wanted,” Putin said in a televised speech, in which he also offered his “sincere condolences” to the relatives of the victims. of the accident
The Russian air transport authority said Prigozhin and nine other people were on the shipping list for the plane, which crashed near Moscow on Wednesday. No passengers survived, but authorities have yet to identify the bodies.
Putin’s statement, speaking in the past tense of the controversial businessman, was the Kremlin’s first reaction to the apparent death of Wagner’s boss.
One of Putin’s main allies, Chechen leader Ramzan Kadirov, was more explicit about Prigozhin’s outcome.
“His death is a great loss for the entire State,” although lately “he did not have or did not want to have an overview of what was happening in the country,” he said.
The incident occurred exactly two months after Prigozhin’s failed uprising against the Russian General Staff, fueling speculation of a possible Kremlin-orchestrated assassination.
Putin promised to “thoroughly” investigate the accident, the circumstances of which are still unclear. The Russian authorities alluded to a “violation of air transport safety rules”, without elaborating.
– “Alternative” Court –
Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelenski assured this Thursday that his country has “nothing to do” with the event.
“There is a court in The Hague, there is a court before God. But Russia has an alternative (court) – President Putin,” he said when asked again about the plane crash later.
Among the presumed deceased would also be Dmitri Utkin, Prigozhin’s right-hand man and Wagner’s operational commander, and Valeri Chekalov, the group’s logistics manager, according to Russian media.
In the town of Kujenkino, near which the plane crashed, a resident, Vitali, said he “heard a ‘boom’.” “I looked up and saw a plane, with white smoke overhead,” he said in a video released by Fontanka.
On social networks, accounts close to Wagner – who does not have an official online presence – mentioned on Wednesday the hypothesis of a ground-to-air missile shot to explain what happened.
But the Pentagon considers that it does not have “any information that suggests that it was a surface-to-air missile” that caused the plane to crash, US Defense Department spokesman Pat Ryder told reporters on Thursday.
On Wednesday night, several people gathered in front of Wagner’s headquarters in St. Petersburg and set up red carnations, candles and emblems of the group, with a skull.
In the Ukraine, where Wagner fought for a long time, there were those who rejoiced at the supposed death.
“Perhaps this will give impetus to destabilizing events” in Russia, said Iryna Kushina, a public official interviewed by AFP in kyiv.
Abroad, several senior officials hinted that Prigozhin’s apparent death might have been engineered by the Kremlin.
The president of the United States, Joe Biden, considered on Wednesday that “little things happen in Russia without Putin having something to do with it.”
French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna ironized the causes of the accident, noting that “the death rate among people close to Putin is particularly high.”
“It is no coincidence that all eyes turn to the Kremlin when a disgraced ex-Putin associate literally suddenly falls out of the sky two months after going into rebellion,” said German diplomat Annalena Baerbock.
On June 24, Prigozhin revolted against the General Staff and Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, seizing barracks in southern Russia and marching his troops towards Moscow.
During the uprising, Putin did not hide his anger and accused his former ally of “treason”.
But the rebellion was interrupted that same day, after an agreement that provided for Prigozhin to leave for Belarus and for Wagner’s militiamen to join the regular Russian Army.
Even so, Wagner’s boss continued to visit Russia, including the Kremlin.
On Monday night, Prigozhin, 62, had appeared in a video released by groups close to Wagner in which he claimed to be in Africa to make “an even greater Russia” with a presence in other domains.
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