A preliminary investigation into the death of Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin appears to have indeed been a targeted assassination plot. Prigozhin was head of the Russian mercenary group, who only two months ago attempted a coup against Russia’s military leadership.
Originally sources thought the plane was downed by a surface-to-air missile, but the investigation indicates either a bomb detonated on the plane during the flight or another reason is to blame. Prigozhin and his forces used brutal battlefield tactics in the War against Ukraine.
All ten passengers on the business jet headed to Moscow were killed and the Russian government alleged it immediately began an investigation for violation of air safety rules. However, many online predict that the crash was simply Putin getting his revenge against Prigozhin for the “mutiny” he led.
Fox News reports the deadly plane crash occurred two months after Prigozhin “led a brief mutiny that shocked observers and posed the most severe challenge to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s authority.” Putin had labeled the behavior a “stab in the back” and “treason.”
On Thursday, Putin spoke for the first time regarding Prigozhin’s death. “As for the aviation tragedy, first of all, I want to express my sincerest condolences to the families of all the victims. It is always a tragedy,” Putin said while meeting with Denis Pushilin, the leader of the Donetsk People’s Republic, a Russian-aligned Ukrainian separatist state. “Indeed, if there were — and the primary data indicate that there were employees of the Wagner PMC — I would want to note that these people made a significant contribution to our common cause of fighting the neo-Nazi regime in Ukraine. We remember this, we know it, and we will not forget it.”