USA TODAY
Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed condolences Thursday to the family of longtime friend, Russian mercenary group founder and aborted coup leader Yevgeny Prigozhin, who apparently died in the suspicious crash of his private plane northwest of Moscow.
The Russian agency in charge of civil aviation listed Prigozhin, 62, and top lieutenant Dmitry Utkin among 10 crew and passengers on the Embraer business jet that crashed Wednesday night. Federal Air Transport Agency said all aboard had died and that an investigation into the crash was underway.
“He was a man of difficult fate, and he made serious mistakes in life,” Putin said, as reported by state media, adding that “he achieved the results he needed.”
Putin said Prigozhin and his lieutenants aboard the plane provided a “significant contribution” to the war effort. But Prigozhin’s brief June rebellion was the strongest challenge in decades to Putin’s iron-fisted rule. And it raised the question of whether the former restauranteur would be punished despite a deal that appeared to protect him.
Reuters, citing U.S. officials it did not name, said a surface-to-air missile originating from inside Russia likely shot down the plane. The Wall Street Journal, citing “preliminary U.S. government assessments,” suggested that a bomb exploded on the plane or that some other form of sabotage took place.
Ukraine has denied responsibility. Presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said the “demonstrative elimination” of Prigozhin shows the worthlessness of Russian security guarantees.
“A good lesson to all the ‘doves of peace’ who still believe in the possibility of negotiating with Putin under the condition of a cease-fire and arms supply termination,” he said.
