Wagner Group chairman Yevgeny Prigozhin was on board a jet that crashed in Russia last week, and President Biden indicated that Russian President Vladimir Putin was responsible.
Putin is behind almost everything that occurs in Russia, President Biden told reporters. He then said he didn’t have enough information to determine the correct answer.
After Russian media sources established that Prigozhin and nine other persons were on board, they informed the president of the incident.
The state-run news agency TASS said the jet went down in the Tver area, which is located 75 miles from Moscow. According to sources, the aircraft was a commercial jet flying between Moscow and St. Petersburg.
Biden, who had been on vacation in Lake Tahoe, Nevada, recalled to reporters his comments about Prigozhin made during the so-called “March of Justice” earlier this summer, which sought to overthrow Moscow’s military government.
Reports show Prigozhin led his Wagner Group out of Ukraine toward Moscow two months ago in a daylong mutiny against Russia’s military. Putin condemned the incident as “treason” and threatened those responsible with severe consequences.
Instead, the Kremlin swiftly struck a deal with Prigozhin to stop the armed uprising, promising he would be free to move to Belarus and start a new life there without facing any charges. It was unclear whether the erstwhile ally of Russia’s Putin would be punished for the short insurrection.
This week, the Russian Investigative Committee said that DNA testing had confirmed the death of Yevgeny Prigozhin, the commander of the Wagner paramilitary group.
Among the nine occupants of the Embraer private jet was Dmitry Utkin, the enigmatic individual who oversaw Wagner’s operations and might have served in Russian military intelligence.
Reports indicate that Yevgeny Prigozhin took extreme precautions to ensure his safety in travel. As part of this plan, Wagner Group members have assumed the identity of “Yevgeny Prigozhin” to confuse where he truly is at any given moment. Therefore, DNA testing is required to confirm that the human remains are indeed his.
