Russian officials have officially acknowledged the passing of Yevgeny Prigozhin, the infamous Russian mercenary leader who was believed to have been on board the ill-fated plane that crashed last Wednesday.
Despite being listed as one of the ten individuals on the flight manifest of the plane, Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of the Wagner private military company, had his demise withheld from confirmation until genetic testing could be conducted, as revealed by Russian sources.
The Russian investigative committee, on Sunday, verified the discovery of the remains of all ten passengers mentioned on the plane’s roster amidst the wreckage.
Providing context to this development: The crash occurred exactly two months after Yevgeny Prigozhin’s brief but impactful uprising against the Russian military establishment. This rebellion stood out as one of the most significant challenges to the authority of Vladimir Putin, the Russian leader, during his more than two decades in power.
The uprising led by Prigozhin ultimately lasted a mere few hours, primarily due to an arrangement brokered by Alexander Lukashenko, the President of Belarus and a close ally of Putin. Lukashenko recounted his successful intervention, wherein he persuaded Putin to prevent the dismantling of the Wagner group. This diplomatic maneuver led to the departure of Prigozhin from Russia to Belarus, effectively ending the standoff.
The uprising prompted speculation in the West, including from US President Joe Biden, about possible Kremlin involvement in the plane crash. Dmitry Peskov, the spokesperson for Putin, vehemently dismissed these claims as an “utter falsehood.”
As of now, concrete evidence linking the Kremlin or Russian security services to the plane crash has not been presented. The root cause of the incident remains a mystery, prompting Russian authorities to initiate a criminal investigation.
Source: CNN
