The Kremlin on Wednesday said that 'deliberate wrongdoing's is among the possible causes behind the plane crash that killed Wagner mercenary group chief Yevgeny Prigozhin last week. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov noted that "different versions" of what happened are being considered, including "let's put this way, deliberate wrongdoing".
Peskov urged reporters to wait while the Russian Investigative Committee completes its probe in the accident. The committee said last week it has opened a criminal case on charges of flight safety violations, a standard charge when no foul play is immediately suspected.
Prigohzin, who reportedly received the country's highest award for leading forces in Ukraine, was laid to rest on Tuesday, where President Vladimir Putin chose not to attend in order to keep the funeral low-profile and more 'secret'.
According to reports, a private burial was held with a Russian tricolour and a black Wagner flag but the Russian media cited unidentified sources claiming that the event was kept 'secret' or without any publicity because of his family’s wishes. Members of the Russian National Guard were stationed along the fence at the cemetery, steering visitors away after it closed for the day.
Who killed Prigozhin?
Prigozhin was confirmed dead after a genetic analysis of the ten bodies found in plane crash. The victims include several senior figures in Wagner, including Dmitry Utkin, who allegedly co-founded the mercenary group and managed its military operations. The plane was flown by pilot Alexei Levshin and co-pilot Rustam Karimov, and there was one flight attendant, Kristina Raspopova.
Flight data shows the plane reached an altitude of some 28,000 feet before it suddenly stopped transmitting tracking details. As per Flightradar24, there was "no indication that there was anything wrong with the aircraft" before it witnessed a dramatic drop.
The plane crash is largely speculated as Kremlin's revenge, as Prigozhin had previously engineered a short-lived mutiny against Putin in June. Although the Kremlin denied any wrongdoings or "vendetta" in the death of Prigozhin, the West blamed Putin for the plane crash.
Meanwhile, Putin, who addressed the nation a day after the plane crash, broke his silence on the matter and called him a 'talented businessman'. "This was a person with a complicated fate, and he made serious mistakes in life but also sought to achieve the necessary results - both for himself and at times when I asked him to, for the common cause, such as in these recent months," said the Russian President.
According to Putin, a criminal investigation has already begun, but the experts claim it rarely uncovers any breakthrough.
Prigozhin's mutiny
Prigozhin-- a Russian oligarch, mercenary chief, and a close confidant of Putin-- is sometimes called "Putin's chef", as he owned restaurants and catering companies that provide services for the Kremlin. However, ever since Putin escalated the war against his neighbouring nation, Ukraine, he led the group, called Wagner.
In June Russia witnessed a series of dramatic events after Prigozhin called for mutiny-- in the event that demonstrated a feud between the country's official and private armies publically.
Subsequently, multiple videos showed Wagner fighters capturing the city of Rostov before racing north in convoy, transporting tanks and armoured trucks and smashing through barricades set up to stop them. Later, multiple media reports also claimed oil depots and crucial buildings were blown by the private armed group.
However, the mutiny was averted after Belarus President and Putin's top ally, Alexander Lukashenko, stepped in and brokered a deal to stop the mutiny and moved to his country. Later, a month after the deal, he suddenly appeared in a video where he could be seen with his soldiers inside the Belarusian border.
(with AP inputs)
