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The statement was the Kremlin’s first explicit acknowledgement that he may have been assassinated.
- Prigozhin’s plane may have been downed
- Investigation has different versions
- Prigozhin was killed on Aug. 23
- Russia not to probe crash under international rules
- At Prigozhin’s grave, followers hail a warrior
MOSCOW, Aug 30 (Reuters) - The Kremlin said on Wednesday that investigators were considering the possibility that the plane carrying mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin was downed on purpose, the first explicit acknowledgement that he may have been assassinated.
“It is obvious that different versions are being considered, including the version - you know what we are talking about – let’s say, a deliberate atrocity,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters when asked about the investigation.
Asked if the International Civil Aviation Organization would investigate the crash, Peskov said that the circumstances made it different, though he cautioned that investigators had made no formal conclusions yet about what exactly took place.
“Let’s wait for the results of our Russian investigation,” Peskov said.
The private Embraer jet on which Prigozhin was travelling to St Petersburg from Moscow crashed north of Moscow killing all 10 people on board on Aug. 23, including two other top Wagner figures, Prigozhin’s four bodyguards and a crew of three.
The cause is still unclear, but villagers near the scene told Reuters they heard a bang and then saw the jet plummet to the ground.
The plane crashed exactly two months since Prigozhin took control of the southern city of Rostov in late June, the opening salvo of a mutiny which shook the foundations of President Vladimir Putin’s Russia.
Russia has informed Brazil’s aircraft investigation authority that it will not probe the crash of the Brazilian-made Embraer (EMBR3.SA) jet under international rules “at the moment”, the Brazilian agency told Reuters.
Asked about that report, Peskov said: “First of all, the investigation is under way, the Investigative Committee is engaged in this.”
“In this case there can be no talk of any international aspect,” Peskov said.
The day after the crash, Putin sent his condolences to the families of those killed and said he had known Prigozhin for a very long time, since the chaotic years of the early 1990s.
“He was a man with a difficult fate, and he made serious mistakes in life,” Putin said, while describing him as a talented businessman.
The Kremlin has rejected as an “absolute lie” the suggestion by some Western politicians and commentators - for which they have not provided evidence - that Putin ordered Prigozhin to be killed in revenge.
U.S. President Joe Biden has said he was not surprised by the death and that not much happened in Russia that Putin was not behind.
After Prigozhin’s death, Putin ordered Wagner fighters to sign an oath of allegiance to the Russian state - a step that Prigozhin had opposed due to his anger at the defence ministry that he said risked losing the Ukraine war.
Followers of Prigozhin laid flowers, messages and poetry at his grave on Wednesday, hailing him as a fearless warrior.
In life, Prigozhin liked to brag that he was one of the world’s most feared mercenaries with the best fighting force.
Opponents such as the United State cast Prigozhin as a brutal commander who plundered African states and meted out sledehammer deaths to those who crossed him.
Though he won the bloodiest battle yet of the Ukraine war for Putin by capturing Bakhmut, Prigozhin became enraged with what he said were the treacherous failings of Putin’s military - and warned that Russia could lose the entire Ukraine war.
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Russia in hotdog suit: “We’re all trying to find the guy who did this!”
The next step will be to blame Ukraine.
They’ll blame the same guy that downed the Malaysian Airlines plane.
Honestly it’d be kinda smart for Ukraine to do, if you could polarize the two forces against each other further. With almost no downsides because everyone else will definitely blame Russia.
But it’d be so hard to pull off, especially vs just waiting to see if Russia does what Russia always seems to do and accomplishing the same thing.
Yeah if Ukraine could do this, why not just take out Putin?
I never considered it may have been a genuine accident until this quote.
We investigated ourselves and found we did nothing wrong.
“Well of course we were trying to shoot it down, and there’s a chance we actually succeeded—but factoring in the accuracy of our missiles and the state of our aircraft maintenance, a tragic but coincidental malfunction is still the more likely explanation.”
You know you might have a trust issue, when the Kremlin has to come out and be like, “No, Putin is really telling the truth this time. Phygozhin is super dead.”
And people still have an ounce of doubt.
Lol I believed them the first time but their continued insistence is starting to feel suspicious.
Official Kremlin sources have also announced that water, for many feels wet.
that’s on the aviation authority. they always need to check the missile forecast for the flight plan. shocking stuff
Next up: Conspiracy theory that Prigozhin is still alive and faked his death.
They started that one on Monday.
“May have” is carrying a lot of weight there.
“he was a man with a difficult fate”
typical Russian attempt to shrug the shoulders
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