Today, Friday, the Russian presidency denied any involvement in the plane crash that killed the leader of the Wagner Group, Yevgeny Prigozhin.
The plane crashed near the Russian capital, Moscow, on Wednesday, and the authorities confirmed the deaths of 10 people on board, including Prigozhin.
“There is a lot of speculation about the plane crash and the tragic death of passengers, including Yevgeny Prigozhin … All this is a pure lie,” Dmitry Peskov, a spokesman for the Russian presidential residence, said during a press conference on Friday.
“We know very well in which direction the speculation is taking place in the West,” he said, stressing that the investigation into the incident continues.
Peskov’s remarks come after Russian President Vladimir Putin confirmed that Prigozhin was among the “victims”, and his condolences to the families of those who perished in the “tragedy”.
“I have known Prigozhin for a very long time, since the early 1990s. He was a man with a busy and complex destiny, and he made grave mistakes in his life, but he achieved the desired results,” he said.
– Achieve “to the end”
Today, Peskov denied any new meeting between Putin and Prigozhin.
The Russian Aerospace Authority (Rosaviatsia) confirmed that Prigozhin was on board the private plane that crashed north of the capital.
The authorities announced that the 10 passengers on board, including three crew members, died. Forensic experts are working to identify the bodies.
Among those named was Dmitry Utkin, commander of Wagner operations, Prigozhin’s aide.
The investigators did not reveal the hypotheses they are working on or the possible causes of the accident.
Putin said, yesterday, Thursday, “We will see what the investigators will say in the near future. Examinations are ongoing, technical and genetic examinations,” noting that the investigation “will take some time.”
And he added, “It will be carried through to the end and a conclusion will be reached. There is no doubt about that.”
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