Many questions still remain about the identity of the victims and the causes of this fatal accident. On the evening of Wednesday August 23, the Russian air transport agency Rossaviatsia announced the crash of a Russian private jet in the countryside northeast of the capital Moscow with, on board, the boss of the private militia Wagner, Evgueni Prigozhin, his deputy, and eight other passengers who are presumed dead at this time. L’Express takes stock of the latest information.
What happened ?
THE Flightradar24 online tracker retraces the route of the aircraft up to its accident, tells the Reuters news agency. On Wednesday August 23 at 5:59 p.m. local time (4:59 p.m. French time), a Russian private jet registered RA-02795 took off from an airport in the Moscow region in the direction of Saint Petersburg. The aircraft belonged to the MNT-Aero company, which specializes in business aviation, says the Russian air transport agency Rossaviatsia.
A few minutes later, at 6:11 p.m. local time (5:11 p.m. French time), he finally disappeared from radar in the Russian region of Tver, in the northeast of the country. According to Rossaviatsia, the plane crashed near the village of Kujenkino in the Tver region. Early Thursday morning, AFP reported that police were sealing off the entrance to the crash zone.
The causes of the accident are still unknown: if an investigation has been opened for “violation of air transport safety rules”, a team of investigators sent to the scene is however responsible for establishing the causes of the accident, according to a statement from the Russian Investigative Committee. According to Reuters, this private jet has recorded only one accident in more than twenty years of service, without it being linked to a mechanical breakdown.
Several videos, the authenticity of which could not yet be confirmed, have been broadcast on several Telegram channels claiming to be linked to Wagner, specifies the French press agency: they show a device falling from the sky or debris in fire in a field. The daily The world notes however that the last characters of its registration would reveal “that it is indeed the same jet”.
Plane crash in Russia. Wagner’s boss on the passenger list.
© / AFP
Who were the passengers on the plane?
All ten passengers on this flight are presumed dead. “According to initial information, all the people on board have died,” the Russian Emergency Situations Ministry said on Telegram.
Among the passengers, we would thus find the boss of the private Russian paramilitary group Wagner, Evgueni Prigojine. Similarly, his deputy Dmitri Outkin, a former Russian military intelligence officer converted into a militia leader, would also be among the victims. Eight other passengers are also believed to have died, including three crew members.
According to an emergency services official quoted by the Ria Novosti agency, the bodies of eight people have so far been found at the crash site. The Russian agency TASS has meanwhile mentioned seven bodies recovered.
The main question therefore relates to the death or not of the leader of the private militia: the Rossaviatsia agency has confirmed that Yevgueni Prigojine was to be on board the plane, but no body has yet been identified.
What are the reactions?
If AFP reports that people were already gathering this Thursday morning in Saint Petersburg in front of Wagner’s headquarters, the most anticipated reaction is above all that of the Kremlin. At the end of June, Yevgueni Prigojine launched an armed rebellion against the Russian General Staff, challenging the authority of autocratic President Vladimir Putin. A crisis situation which was finally resolved peacefully by an agreement between the two men. But the death of the leader of the paramilitary group raises doubt about the responsibility of Russian power, following this unprecedented act of forgiveness for Vladimir Putin, rather known for harshly punishing those who oppose him.
If Vladimir Putin did not refer to Wagner’s man in his last speech on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the battle of Kursk during the Second World War, other voices considered his death suspicious. An adviser to the Ukrainian presidency, Mykhaïlo Podoliak, implied that Yevgueni Prigojine could have been eliminated by the Kremlin, believing that “Putin does not forgive anyone”.
Same story for Svetlana Tikhanovskaïa, the leader of the Belarusian opposition in exile. She also felt on the social network X (ex-Twitter) that Prigojine was a “murderer” who “no one will miss”. US President Joe Biden said he was “not surprised” by the possible death of Wagner’s boss, judging that “little things happen in Russia without Putin having something to do with it”.