A Telegram account associated with the Wagner Group claimed on Wednesday (23) that the plane crash in which the leader of the Wagner mercenary group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, would have died was the result of an attack by Russian armed forces.
The Gray Zone channel, linked to Wagner, stated in a publication that “the plane was shot down in the sky of the region [russa] of Tver by the air defense forces of the Ministry of Defense of Russia”.
A Russian government official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told The Moscow Times that he believed an attack on the aircraft was possible.
“Not far from the President’s residence [Vladimir
Putin] in Valdai, there are four divisions of S-300 PMU1s [sistemas de defesa
antimísseis] guarding the sky,” said the source. “On June 24 — a march on Moscow [a rebelião do Wagner contra o governo russo]. And on August 24 — two missiles. Everything makes sense.”
“Look how he was going down – he just got shot down. The plane just fell out of the sky,” the source said.
However, no official source, from Russia or from another country, has confirmed the information that it would have been an attack.
Russia’s Federal Air Transport Agency (Rosaviatsiya), which launched an investigation into the plane crash, said Prigozhin’s name was on the passenger list of an Embraer business jet that crashed in Russia’s Tver region. The three pilots and seven passengers on board died, according to the agency. Eight bodies would have already been rescued.
Information circulating on social media points out that Prigozhin could have been on another Wagner Group aircraft and would not have died in Tver.
According to the Russian website Fontanka, another Embraer jet believed to belong to the Wagner leader landed safely at Moscow’s Ostafyevo Business Airport on Wednesday.
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