Doomed to fail mercenary boss Wagner Yevgeny Prigozhin’s private plane showed no signs of distress until a sudden crash 30 seconds before the deadly crash in Russia, amid speculation the rebel warlord’s plane may have been shot down for a bomb hidden in a wine crate.
The Embraer Legacy 600 business jet, with Prigozhin and other senior members of the Wagner Group included among the 10 passengers, showed “no indication that there was anything wrong” earlier in the flight on Wednesday, according to Ian Petchenik of the flight tracking site. Flightradar24.
It then made a “sudden vertical drop” at 5:19 p.m. local time, and in about 30 seconds, plummeted more than 8,000 feet from its cruising altitude of 28,000 feet.
“Whatever happens, it happened quickly,” Petchenik said. “They may have been fighting [with the aircraft] after what happened.
Video showed the plane plummeting with its nose pointing almost downward and a plume of smoke or steam trailing behind it.
Flightradar24 received its final data on the plane at 5:20 p.m., moments before it fell from the sky near the village of Kuzhenkino in the Tver region while en route from Moscow to Saint Petersburg.
Embraer’s aircraft model has a stellar safety record, with only one recorded accident in more than 20 years of service.
There is speculation that Yevgeny Prigozhin’s plane may have been brought down by a bomb hidden in a wine crate. TELEGRAM/ @grey_zone/AFP via Getty Images
Prigozhin’s Wagner Group rebelled against Russia in the June 23 revolt.Razgruzka_Vagnera/UPI/Shutterstock
Flight tracking data showed Yevgeny Prigozhin’s plane made a sudden drop of 8,000 feet just 30 seconds before crashing out of the sky over Russia’s Tver region. REUTERS
The Brazilian planemaker said it had not provided support services to Prigozhin’s plane since 2019 in compliance with US sanctions on the mercenary chief.
Since news of the plane crash broke on Wednesday, there has been raging speculation about its cause and who might have targeted Prigozhin, less than two months after Russian President Vladimir Putin branded him a “traitor” for leading a brief mutiny. against their high military commanders.
One of the theories spreading on Russian social media is that a bomb had been planted aboard Prigozhin’s plane, possibly hidden inside a crate of wine, the Telegram channel VChK-OGPU, linked to security services, reported. russians.
Who was the leader of the Wagner Group, Yevgeny Prigozhin?
Russian President Vladimir Putin hailed mercenary boss Yevgeny Prigozhin as a talented businessman after the plane crash that apparently killed him.
Prigozhin was the owner of the private military contractor Wagner Group.
Prigozhin planned to capture the top officials of the Russian army during his attempted coup.
Prigozhin and his mercenary fighting force did not face charges and were instead exiled despite leading an armed insurrection against the Kremlin.
Fire engulfs the plane after the crash. TELEGRAM/ @grey_zone/AFP via Getty Images
Prigozhin began his career as a petty criminal: he was convicted of robbery and assault in 1981 and served 12 years in prison.
He criticized the Russian Defense Ministry as incompetent and accused it of withholding arms and ammunition from his troops, who were fighting on Russia’s behalf in Ukraine.
Prigozhin was accused in the United States of interfering in the 2016 presidential election through his infamous Internet “troll factory.”
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“Someone allegedly testified that at the last moment a certain gift, consisting of a box of expensive wine, was loaded onto the plane,” wrote VChK-OGPU. “And now they are looking into claims that the box might have contained a bomb.”
The plane was thoroughly searched with sniffer dogs before loading the box of wine, the Telegram channel added.
The same outlet also reported, citing another anonymous source, that the plane’s stewardess, identified as Kristina Raspopova, told her brother in a phone conversation before Wednesday’s ill-fated trip that she and the rest of the crew were waiting for a “call.” important phone call” pending his imminent departure from Moscow.
Wagner’s private army fighter Yevgeny Makaryan was killed in the crash.Social media/east2west
Valery Chekalov died in the accident.Social media/east2west
Wagner’s private army fighter, Sergey Propustin, was killed in the crash. Social media/east2west
The accident killed the co-founder of the Wagner group, Dmitry Utkin.social media/east2west
Wagner’s wrestler Alexander Totmin was killed in the crash. Social media/east2west
Raspopova also allegedly said that the plane was under repair.
Investigators are said to be looking into the possibility that an explosive may have been planted in the plane’s landing gear, Russian outlet SHOT reported.
British defense sources speaking anonymously to BBC News pointed the finger at the Russian internal intelligence agency FSB, which is loyal to Putin. They did not provide any evidence to support this claim.
The Gray Zone Telegram channel, closely linked to the Wagner Group, reported, citing “various sources, that Russian air defense systems fired at Prigozhin’s plane from the sky.
Abbas Gallyamov, a former Putin speechwriter turned critic, suggested that the Russian strongman was behind the collapse and had bolstered his authority, which was challenged by Prigozhin’s rebellion in June.
“The establishment is now convinced that it will not be possible to oppose Putin,” Gallyamov wrote on Telegram. “Putin is strong enough and capable of revenge.”
Bill Browder, a prominent businessman and outspoken enemy of the Kremlin, went even further in blaming Putin.
“Putin never forgives and never forgets. He looked like a humiliated wimp with Prigozhin running around without a care in the world (after the riot). This will cement his authority,” Browder wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Captain Aleksei Levshin died in the accident.Social media/east2west
Flight attendant Kristina Raspopova died in the crash. Social media/east2west
The second pilot, Rustam Karimov, died in the crash. Social media/east2west
Some of Prigozhin’s supporters have accused Ukraine of orchestrating the crash on the eve of the country’s Independence Day.
“We had nothing to do with it,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told reporters on Thursday.
“Everyone knows who has something to do with this.”
The Prigozhin revolt on June 23 aimed at ousting Russia’s top military leaders over their handling of the Ukraine war posed the most serious challenge to Putin’s 23-year hold on power.
The brief uprising ended in two days when Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko brokered a deal allowing the Wagner Group to relocate to Belarus.
The Russian aviation agency published the names of the 10 people on board the downed plane, including Prigozhin and Dmitry Utkin, his right-hand man and alleged co-founder of the Wagner Group.
Others said to be on the plane and presumed dead included flight attendant Raspopova, Prigozhin’s security chief Valery Chekalov, officers Sergei Propustin and Nikolai Matyuseev, bodyguards Yevgeny Makaryan and Alexander Totmin, pilot Aleksei Levshin and co-pilot Rustam Karimov.
The country’s main investigative body launched a criminal investigation, but there was no official confirmation of Prigozhin’s death beyond a statement by the Federal Air Transport Agency acknowledging his presence on board.
Neither the Kremlin nor the Russian Defense Ministry would comment on Prigozhin, and neither Putin nor Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov mentioned Wagner’s boss during a BRICS summit in South Africa.
with postal wires
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Source: vtt.edu.vn