Wagner mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin was formally confirmed dead on Sunday following genetic analysis, investigators said, as anger and questions over what caused his plane to crash earlier in the week continued to mount.
Speculation that the Kremlin may have been involved in the crash has been rife, with the incident coming exactly two months after Wagner staged a mutiny against Moscow’s military leadership.
“Molecular-genetic examinations have been completed as part of the investigation into the plane crash in the Tver region,” Svetlana Petrenko, a spokeswoman from Russia’s Investigative Committee said.
“According to their results, the identities of all 10 victims were established, they correspond to the list stated in the flight list,” she added.
Among the nine other people listed onboard the Embraer private jet that crashed on Wednesday was Dmitry Utkin, a shadowy figure who managed Wagner’s operations and allegedly served in Russian military intelligence.
Makeshift memorials
Russian officials opened an investigation into air traffic violations after the crash but have otherwise not disclosed details about its possible cause.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov described the incident as “tragic” to reporters on Friday, calling rumours of possible foul play an “absolute lie”.
His comments came as the Kremlin appeared to rein in groups like Wagner, with a presidential decree signed Friday stipulating that paramilitary fighters will have to swear an oath to the Russian flag.
In an address Thursday, President Vladimir Putin said he had known Prigozhin — once a loyal ally — since the early 1990s. Both hail from Russia’s former imperial capital Saint Petersburg.
However, his comments did little to stem rising questions and anger over the mercenary’s chief’s death, with makeshift memorials to Prigozhin springing up across Russian cities.
“He was killed,” said one man outside a makeshift memorial in Moscow visited by an AFP reporter.
“He was killed by his enemies. We won’t say who. The investigation will reveal. But we hope that revenge will catch up with those who committed this crime,” he added.
The 40th Tactical Aviation Brigade named the three dead as Major Vyacheslav Minka, Major Sergiy Prokazin and Captain Andrii Pilshchykov — better known by his call-sign “Juice”.
“Each of them was involved in air operations for the defence of Ukraine since the start of Russia’s full-scale aggression, including tactical tasks in the east and in Zaporizhzhia region,” it said.
President Volodymyr Zelensky led tributes to the crash victims in an address Saturday, praising them as defenders of “Ukraine’s free sky” and vowing an investigation into what happened.
Zelensky has been petitioning Western leaders to deliver F-16s, which Ukraine argues are needed to defend its skies and retake ground as it struggles to make headway in its counteroffensive.
AFP
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