Kremlin silent on reported death of Wagner boss Prigozhin in plane crash

As the world reacts to the reported death of Wagner mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin in a plane crash late Wednesday, the Kremlin has remained tight-lipped. Prigozhin led a failed mutiny against Russian President Vladimir Putin in June.

People carry a body bag away from the wreckage of a crashed private jet, near the village of Kuzhenkino, Tver region, Russia, on 24 Aug. 2023. AP

Aviation authorities said Prigozhin was listed as a passenger on a private jet that crashed on Wednesday evening north of Moscow with no survivors. There were 10 people on board. 

Prigozhin's presumed death was given a small mention on Russian news while Putin – speaking at the Brics summit in South Africa via video-link – did not mention Prigozhin or the plane crash during a speech on Thursday.

He instead hailed “all our soldiers who are fighting bravely and resolutely” in Ukraine.

However Kyiv, Washington and Paris have been quick to react to reports of the crash.

"I don't know for a fact what happened, but I'm not surprised," United States President Joe Biden said.

"There's not much that happens in Russia that (President) Putin's not behind. But I don't know enough to know the answer."

France said there were "reasonable doubts" about the cause of the crash.

"We don't yet know the circumstances of this crash. We can have some reasonable doubts," government spokesman Olivier Veran told France 2 television.

Ukraine leader Vladimir Zelensky said Kyiv had nothing to do with the plane crash, telling journalists "everyone is aware who is involved".

Earlier Ukrainian officials interpreted the incident as a warning to Russian “elites” and flowers were laid for the late Wagner chief outside the organisation’s St Petersburg headquarters.

Private jet

Russia's ministry for emergency situations late Wednesday announced the crash of a private plane  travelling between Moscow and Saint Petersburg.

Russia's aviation agency later said the Wagner chief was on board.

"According to the airline, the following passengers were on board the Embraer-135 (EBM-135BJ) aircraft: Prigozhin, Yevgeny," said Rosaviatsia, the Russian Federal Agency for Air Transport.

• Wagner chief Prigozhin listed as passenger on plane that crashed in Russia

According to preliminary information, among the 10 people on board, three were crew members, the ministry said.

Authorities listed Dmitry Utkin, a shadowy figure who managed Wagner's operations and allegedly served in Russian military intelligence.

Telegram channels linked to Wagner posted footage showing the wreckage of the plane burning in a field.

Wagner's supporters were also seen in mourning.

But the Wagner group has yet to confirm officially the death of its head.

People pay tribute to Yevgeny Prigozhin at the makeshift memorial in front of the "PMC Wagner Centre" in Saint Petersburg, early on 24 August 2023. AFP - STRINGER

Who was Prigozhin?

The 62-year-old Prigozhin led a mutiny against Russia's top army brass on 23-24 June, which Putin said could have tipped Russia into civil war.

His short-lived rebellion was seen as the biggest challenge to Putin's authority since he came to power.

Prigozhin's mutiny was ended by negotiations and an apparent Kremlin deal that saw him agree to relocate to neighbouring Belarus.

But he appeared to move freely inside Russia after the deal nonetheless.

Uncertainty has however surrounded the fate of Wagner and its controversial chief since July.

Biden described Prigozhin as "the man who did Putin's dirty work", adding; "What he has done is inseparable from the policies of Putin, who gave him responsibility to carry out abuses as the head of Wagner

"Prigozhin leaves behind him mass graves. He leaves behind him messes across a large part of the globe, I'm thinking of Africa, Ukraine, and Russia itself."

FILE - In this image from video provided by Prigozhin Press Service on 3 March 2023, Yevgeny Prigozhin, the owner of the Wagner Group military company, addresses Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy asking him to withdraw the remaining Ukrainian forces from Bakhmut to save their lives, at an unspecified location in Ukraine. AP

Speculation

Analysts say the incident could serve as a warning from Putin to others who might seek to betray him.

Daniel Hoffman, a former senior CIA operations officer who served as the agency’s Moscow station chief, told Reuters he was sure Wednesday's incident occurred on Putin's orders.

Meanwhile Pavel Luzin, an expert with the Center for European Policy Analysis, a US thinktank, said the treatment of Prigozhin showed cracks in Russia's upper echelon.

"This event demonstrates that the Russian elite is not united, that the contradictions within the Kremlin are growing, that the coordination between different branches within the Russian leadership is really bad."

"If Vladimir Putin is so powerful, why didn’t he arrest Prigozhin?”

 (with newswires)