Updated 08:59 | Published at 08:20
The Pentagon dismisses the theory that Prigozhin’s plane was shot down by Russian anti-aircraft robots.
Instead, it is suspected that a bomb was placed on the plane or that it was subjected to some other form of sabotage.
On Thursday evening, the Pentagon made a statement about Wednesday’s plane crash northwest of Moscow, where Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin is reported to have died.
“Our initial assessment is that it is likely that Progozhin has died,” a Pentagon spokesman said during a press briefing on Thursday.
What caused the spectacular crash is still unclear. Russian authorities are investigating the incident as a suspected violation of the rules on aviation safety and the operation of air transport.
In social media channels that are close to the Wagner group, information is circulating that the plane was shot down, but the US does not have any such information at the moment.
He did not go into exactly what you base your theory on. But according to the Pentagon, US satellites can detect the heat from anti-aircraft robots through infrared sensors, and no such activity had been recorded at the time of the plane crash.
“We have no information to suggest that anti-aircraft missiles were fired at the aircraft where Prigozhin was reported to have been,” a White House spokesman said.
The theory is instead that a bomb was placed on the plane or that it was subjected to some other form of sabotage.
Ten people were on board the downed plane and the bodies have been taken to a morgue for identification. Russian authorities have not confirmed that Prigozhin’s body is one of them, but during the evening President Putin spoke about the crash and lamented the death of the Wagner boss.
– He made some big mistakes in life, but he also achieved the necessary results, he said in a televised meeting.
He said he had sent his condolences to the families of the dead and promised that a “full investigation” into the plane crash had already begun.