Kremlin rejects allegations that it played role in crash
The Kremlin on Friday rejected allegations it was behind a plane crash that is presumed to have killed mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin, who conducted a brief but shocking mutiny in Russia two months ago.
Mr. Prigozhin, whose brutal fighters were feared in Ukraine, Africa and Syria, was eulogized Thursday by President Vladimir Putin, even as suspicions grew that the Russian leader was behind the crash that many saw as an assassination.
A preliminary U.S. intelligence assessment concluded the plane was downed by an intentional explosion. One of the U. S. and Western officials who described the assessment said it determined that Mr. Prigozhin was “very likely” targeted and that the explosion falls in line with Mr. Putin’s “long history of trying to silence his critics.”
The officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment, did not offer any details on what caused the explosion, which was widely believed to be vengeance for the mutiny in June that posed the biggest challenge to Mr. Putin’s 23-year rule.
But Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov flatly rejected the allegations.
“Right now, of course, there are lots of speculations around this plane crash and the tragic deaths of the passengers of the plane, including Yevgeny Prigozhin,” Mr. Peskov told reporters during a conference call. “Of course, in the West those speculations are put out under a certain angle, and all of it is a complete lie.”
Asked by The Associated Press whether the Kremlin has received an official confirmation of Mr. Prigozhin’s death, Mr. Peskov referenced Mr. Putin’s remarks from a day earlier: “He said that right now all the necessary forensic analyses, including genetic testing, will be carried out. Once some kind of official conclusions are ready to be released, they will be released.”
Britain’s Defense Ministry said the presumed death of Mr. Prigozhin could destabilize his Wagner Group of private military contractors.
His “exceptional audacity” and “extreme brutality” permeated the organization “and are unlikely to be matched by any successor,” the ministry said in a statement.
Wagner mercenaries were key elements of Russia’s forces in its war in Ukraine, particularly in the long fight to take the city of Bakhmut, the conflict’s most grueling battle. Wagner fighters also have played a central role projecting Russian influence in global trouble spots, first in Africa and then in Syria.
The jet crashed Wednesday soon after taking off from Moscow for St. Petersburg, carrying Mr. Prigozhin, six other Wagner members and a crew of three, according to Russia’s civil aviation authority. Rescuers found 10 bodies, and Russian media cited anonymous sources in Wagner who said Mr. Prigozhin was dead. But there has been no official confirmation.
President Joe Biden, speaking to reporters Wednesday, said he believed Mr. Putin was likely behind the crash.
“I don’t know for a fact what happened, but I’m not surprised,” Mr. Biden said. “There’s not much that happens in Russia that Putin’s not behind.”
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov took offense at that. “It is not for the U.S. president, in my opinion, to talk about certain tragic events of this nature,” he said Friday.
The passenger manifest also included Mr. Prigozhin’s second-incommand, as well as Wagner’s logistics chief and at least one possible bodyguard.