Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin aboard plane involved in fatal crash, Russian Civil Aviation

[Cadfael]

This discussion thread was locked as off-topic by JudyM (a host of the Latest Breaking News forum).

Source: The Guardian

Yevgeny Prigozhin reportedly in plane crash
According to the Tass news agency, reported by Reuters, the Russian Civil Aviation Authority have said that Yevgeny Prigozhin, the leader of the Wagner mercenary group, was on the list of passengers on the plane.

More details soon …

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2023/aug/23/russia-ukraine-war-live-updates-drones-downed-moscow

[herding cats]

1. He's being reported as dead now.

Wagner boss Prigozhin killed in plane crash in Russia

Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin killed in plane crash in Russia, with nine other people on board also dead
This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly. Please refresh the page for the fullest version.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-66599733

[Ray Bruns]

48. He's not dead. He's just resting, lovely plumage Proghozin

[SomewhereInTheMiddle]

50. Pining for the fjords?

Lots of fjords in Russia.

[Grins]

59. Now saying it was shot down.

About 30-minutes after take-off.

[muriel_volestrangler]

62. Who's saying "shot down"?

It's blatant if it was; but the Russian government controls the airspace and the radar. Are you saying an eyewitness saw a missile and has dared to report it?

[Torchlight]

80. A Wagner-associated Telegram channel

"A Wagner-associated Telegram channel claimed the jet that Prigozhin was in was shot down by Russian air defenses over Tver Oblast. (Wagner boss Prigozhin killed in plane crash in Russia". BBC News. 23 August 2023. Archived from the original on 23 August 2023. Retrieved 23 August 2023.)

[FakeNoose]

83. I had to look this up, but it's close to Moscow

Tver Oblast is the state or province that's just to the northwest of Moscow.
I'm not sure where the crash exactly occurred.

[Torchlight]

84. TASS (for what it's worth) reported the plane was traveling between Moscow & St. Petersburg

(But at this point, anything from TASS or any Russian media gets placed in the same file that I toss UFO reports and 'Democrats in Disarray' stories into.)

[3Hotdogs]

102. PILOT ERROR ! It was pilot error, I tell 'ya.

The pilot made the error of being in the same plane with him.

[muriel_volestrangler]

108. Yeah! What I mean is, it could have been a bomb

which wouldn't be as obvious to anyone watching. Using your air defenses, as the Telegram channel claimed, is pretty much a "we're above the law, and we don't care how many you see us kill as collateral damage" move. A bomb would be easier to blame on Ukrainians, dissidents etc.

[Grins]

121. BBC

[Takket]

65. He's just tired and shagged out after a long squawk

Squak

[Cha]

95. What a coincidence & 9 other

people.. including the pilot and copilot. Wonder what caused it?

Mahalo, Cat

[sinkingfeeling]

2. Well, well, well. No one can trust Putin.

[ouija]

5. Plutonium tea anyone?

[liberalla]

85. Putin showed remarkable restraint for waiting this long... IMO

[inwiththenew]

3. He was a dead man walking the second he launched that coup

He had to know that.

[GregariousGroundhog]

55. "If you come for the king, you best not miss"

[gohuskies]

4. Putin's chef is no more

That is the ultimate fall from grace for this murderous thug. The world is a better place without him in it.

[Kennah]

11. He's toast, cause there was likely a fire

[prodigitalson]

92. fall from grace, fall from sky

[hlthe2b]

6. So Putin gets revenge, but he still has no one competent leading his military and now, no Wagner?

[Simeon Salus]

12. He has sort of painted himself outside the corner, hasn't he?

Few allies, no market power, virtually no leverage.

Just threats and nukes to back them.

He's not going quietly.

[Simeon Salus]

7. Shocked! Shocked I tell you!

Who would have ever thought?

[Merlot]

57. Well, on my bingo card I didn't have "plane crash"

So slightly shocked at the method.

[Simeon Salus]

88. I'm no foreign policy expert

but "plane crash" is one of the few causes of death in which Putin's direct involvement might be reasonably disavowed.

Putin's still got Wagner and Wagner-adjacent personnel under arms out there. He needs them NOT to take another coup-style action. He can't actually kill them all because it's not a yes/no issue, it's more of a 1 to 10 continuum.

He's losing them now.

[Simeon Salus]

98. Perhaps too far down the rabbit hole, but if Prigozhin wanted to be seen as dead...

He could do worse than provide video footage of his airplane plunging straight down after a fire in midair.

Prigozhin may have been vulnerable but he wasn't a complete idiot.

[Cadfael]

8. I guess they couldn't talk him into visiting any tall buildings

[ouija]

9. This is what happens in some countries when you attempt a coup

[MOMFUDSKI]

33. Well

Said!!!

[yardwork]

38. Trump and his co-conspirators are fortunate to be standing trial.

[KPN]

71. Yup. If you're going to attempt and fail at a coup, this

is among the best countries to do that in as far as your chances of having a fairly okay future after failing.

[Lucky Luciano]

116. *if you're white

[KPN]

126. True.

[orangecrush]

76. +1

[Kennah]

10. Wow, plane fell out a window. That doesn't happen often.

[erronis]

14. After taking a sip of tea and feeling a dart in its fuselage. Stranger things have happened....

[BlueWavePsych]

15. Beat me to it.

[Kennah]

13. BBC reporting he's dead

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-66599733

[cloudbase]

68. Presumed dead.

[Major Nikon]

87. I can't imagine he'd actually fly on any plane he'd be listed on

Seems to be a bit smarter than that. Still if he’s dead, good riddance as far as I’m concerned.

[liberalla]

94. I know... rather careless or stupid... I do wonder if he's travelling in a different manner,

and this plane and passenger manifest was meant to disguise his true travel plans.

[Mr. Sparkle]

16. That didnt take long

around 2 months after his failed coup

[BumRushDaShow]

17. AP just blasted this out as a breaking - with it's own alert chime

Jet crash in Russia kills 10, officials say. Wagner chief was on passenger list

Updated 1:28 PM EDT, August 23, 2023

MOSCOW (AP) — A business jet en route from Moscow to St. Petersburg crashed Wednesday, killing all 10 people on board, Russian emergency officials said. Mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin was on the passenger list, officials said, but it wasn’t immediately clear if he was on board.

Unconfirmed media reports said the jet belonged to Prigozhin, founder of the Wagner private military company.

Russia’s civilian aviation regulator, Rosaviatsia, said Prigozhin was on the passenger list. However, it was not immediately clear if he had boarded the flight.

Russia’s state news agency Tass cited emergency officials as saying that the plane carried three pilots and seven passengers. The authorities said they were investigating the crash, which occurred in the Tver region more than 100 kilometers (60 miles) north of Moscow.

(snip)

https://apnews.com/article/russia-wagner-prigozhin-jet-crash-a7859e4e57f2efa2547dfbe5bdbaa1b2

[kimbutgar]

18. Why am I not surprised Putin is behind this assassin of his newest enemy?

It will be interesting who takes over his Wagner soldiers. I wonder if Putin will confiscate his money? Funny this will take the news off of the repuke debate tonight! Who benefits? I smell an rancid orange maggot benefitting.

[LiberalFighter]

19. Ambassador Michael McFaul is suggesting that even someone from inside Wagner

might have been upset with the standdown against Putin might be involved.

[riversedge]

20. Look at this pic--that plane fell straight down...............

Link to tweet

?s=20

Link to tweet

?s=20

[melm00se]

21. Investigation

I am fully expecting that an in-depth, unbiased and well run investigation of the crash will get the bottom of the cause of the crash.









: :

[sarisataka]

58. Pilot error

-the pilot let the passengers come on board

[Torchlight]

22. I'll be surprised if Prigozhin turns out to have been aboard.

I won't be surprised when we find out Putin's finger was on the wheel. If true, posts across the web by the trolls from Olgino (Prigozhin's baby) will be interesting (and insightful) to watch over the next week or so.

[BamaRefugee]

26. My thoughts exactly. Watch him be spotted in Argentina in a few years

[yardwork]

40. I think he's dead. This is Putin's MO.

[Torchlight]

41. I'll call it a coin toss for now.

[getagrip_already]

23. He should have stayed in africa......

At least there he could be a rat among mice.

But in ruzza.... not so much.

[3auld6phart]

24. I reckon

There were 10 story buildings available

[riversedge]

25. "Dmytriy Utkin, .. "right hand" of Prigozhin, was also on board [photo[...

"Dmytriy Utkin, founder of Wagner and "right hand" of Prigozhin, was also on board the plane that crashed", - rosZMI

Link to tweet

?s=20

[Kennah]

28. Wow. Cut off his hand THEN shot down the plane.

[niyad]

90. Is he related to rick scott?

[lanlady]

110. Prigozhin reminds me of Uncle Fester

and this guy Utkin must be Lurch.

[riversedge]

27. picture of crash--lots of FIRE

Link to tweet

?s=20

[Kennah]

31. Just a scratch

[yardwork]

39. That'll buff right out.

[Ray Bruns]

49. I've had worse.

[SouthernDem4ever]

93. You liar!

[iemanja]

29. Who could have predicted that?

Besides everyone. He should have taken the Kremlin when he had the chance.

[Pluvious]

30. I wonder if he left anything to happen in the event of his demise (nt)

[Pachamama]

105. +1000000

Been wondering the same….hope he did

If he was smart - he has instructions for info to be released in the event of his unplanned demise

[Warpy]

32. Prigozhin's private jet

I suppose the Kremlin assumed the crew were all staunch loyalists and perhaps they were, but this seems a bit excessive. Polonium tea or novichok after shave would have been Putin's style. This could have been an accident. It could also have been staged to get Prigozhin off the world's radar by faking his death.

Still, the likeliest explanation is that he's dead, Jim.

[Ocelot II]

34. What a surprise

that he lasted this long.

[riversedge]

35. 28,000 ft altitude. Does that seem more likely a bomb vs "shot down"? idk

Rez 🇺🇸
@RezToRealLife
·
6m
28,000 ft altitude. Does that seem more likely a bomb vs "shot down"? idk

Link to tweet

?s=20

[Backseat Driver]

36. Not surprised - small private planes and dead men flying...

Suppose we should wait for credible confirmation, though MSNBC is all over it right now as possible Putin assasination.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

37. Airframe Status: Written Off.

https://www.planespotters.net/airframe/embraer-erj-135-ra-02795-wagner-group/r11z52

RA-02795 Embraer ERJ-135 Wagner Group Sep 2020 VIP 2x RR
140AEB
Crashed 23 Aug 2023

Flightaware shows a flight by a plane with this tail number from Moscow to Belarus back on July 11, 2023.

https://www.flightaware.com/live/flight/RA02795

[Karma13612]

42. DNA or it's not

For sure that he was on board and therefore dead.

I wasn’t born yesterday!



(I am not questioning the OP or the article. I am just reserving belief until I get proof positive. This Prigozhin fella wouldn't be the first person who faked his own death to stay alive and out of Putin’s reach).

[Aristus]

43. Can't believe he didn't have the Russian Tough Guy Survival Guide memorized.

1. Stay away from small aircraft.
2. Stay below the fourth floor.
3. Don't drink any tea you haven't prepared yourself.

Pretty simple. But I guess if you possess more tattoo ink than brain power, the salient details may escape you.

[LisaL]

47. And if you get out of Russia, don't go back.

NT

[sakabatou]

60. Even if you don't go back, be wary of people with umbrellas.

[Bucky]

44. What a terrible coincidence... right after he cut a deal with Putin. What're the odds?

[nycbos]

45. Yes I am quite sure the plane "crashed"

Serious subject. I am not sure how to feel when one monster is murdered by another monster.

[LiberalLovinLug]

46. This is why he was elimated. When he spoke out about the war itself and was honest....

He was evil enough to and greedy enough to carry out Putin's orders, but if he felt he was being shafted by the military leadership he had a bad habit of blurting out the truth as a kind of spite to them:

https://thehill.com/policy/defense/4064431-wagner-chief-says-russias-war-in-ukraine-intended-to-benefit-elites-accuses-moscow-of-lying/

“The war was not needed to return our Russian citizens and not to demilitarize and denazify Ukraine,” Prigozhin said in the video, claiming it was instead launched to benefit Russian leaders. “The war was needed by oligarchs. It was needed by the clan that is today practically ruling in Russia.”

Prigozhin claimed the goal of the “special military operation,” the official name for the war in Russia, was to install pro-Russian and Putin ally Viktor Medvedchuk, who is living in exile in Russia, as president of Ukraine and to divide up the assets of the country.

“They were stealing loads in Donbas, they wanted more,” Prigozhin said, likely referring to the Russian-backed resistance launched in eastern Ukraine in 2014. He also said there was never any plan for Ukraine or the Western security alliance NATO to attack Russia.

[generalbetrayus]

51. On the plus side, maybe this will cause Orange Julius Caesar to rethink

the possibility of fleeing to Russia on a private jet.

[ananda]

52. I wish Putin had joined him.

That's all.

They're both evil shits.

[patphil]

53. It's not necessarily Puitin who had him killed. It could have been the Russian military.

Prigozhin was good at making enemies, and he was a powerful military force that the mainstream military didn't have control of.
we'll probably never know.

[kairos12]

54. Did the plane fall from a window?

[Sogo]

73. Or maybe he fell from the plane's window....

nt.

[Marcuse]

114. Feet first.

[onetexan]

118. 😅

LOL that is funny. Much as i've air travelled i've yet to see that, though i've seen people reaching over to close the shade.

[RussBLib]

56. Wow. Too bad for the other "innocent" passengers

....presuming they were truly "innocent." Maybe they were all on Putin's Death List.

[Sogo]

75. Likely just considered collateral damage....

nt.

[IbogaProject]

86. It was his own private jet

So everyone there was associated with him.

[Talitha]

61. Pootin is manipulative and ruthless.

Maybe this 'incident' will make Dump afraid to get on his plane and flee.

[turbinetree]

63. Good fucking riddance.....

[Wonder Why]

64. Rumor has it that when the plane exploded, a rifle belonging to him accidently

went off and a bullet was lodged in a hole the back of his head while 10 more bullets from the same single shot rifle entered his stomach, legs and chest.

[BamaRefugee]

67. BULLSEYE. (pun intended)

[Sky Jewels]

66. ...

[Blue Streak Science]

69. Appreciate the small things

"Plane crash" is much easier to pronounce and write than "defenestration".

[sybylla]

70. There was a photo on Xitter the other day of Prigozhin supposedly in Africa.

That was obviously an old photo. No white dude that freaking white has grub-white hands in Africa in August. He probably doesn't have grub-white hands in Russia in August.

I absolutely suspected something was up.

But I'm a cold-war baby and I suspect everything Russians do and say.

[StClone]

72. Hey Pootey do you think you will end any differently?

[orangecrush]

74. Well ..

[underpants]

82. 😆

v

[SKKY]

77. I mean, is anyone surprised?

I'm honestly surprised he lasted this long.

[Sanity Claws]

78. What took Putin so long?

We all knew he was either going to end up dead or overthrowing Putin.

[surfered]

79. This is different...

He didn’t fall out a window.

[roamer65]

81. Smells like an S300.

[LudwigPastorius]

89. Oh no!

Anyway…

[AllyCat]

91. So a fifth floor window wasn't good enough?

Putin had to take out a bunch of other innocent people?

[peggysue2]

96. Just heard there were two planes that took off at the same time

Think it's safe to assume the passengers on the plane that took a nosedive have all perished. But if Prigozhin had an early heads up and boarded the second plane, who knows? Or this could be a huge disinformation campaign which I certainly wouldn't put past Putin and his gangsters.

Interesting though, this is two months to the day that Prigozhin and his band of disgruntled warriors marched towards Moscow. I expected Putin's Chef would end up poisoned, reportedly Vlad's favorite choice of dismissal. But diving through the air from windows and rooftops has been featured many times. This is just a tad more dramatic.

There were 10 people on board that flight. If Prigozhin was the mark, no sacrifice is too high to assuage Putin's thirst for revenge.

[James48]

97. Well, of course!

He had a window seat.

[Think. Again.]

99. I'm shocked,

shocked I tell you.

[Tetrachloride]

100. sternly worded letter

Senator Collins concerned

[Wicked Blue]

101. Surprise, surprise

I'd been expecting this.

[keithbvadu2]

103. Planes have windows too.

[harumph]

104. He's just pining for the fjords.

[Hassler]

106. Gotta give Vlad his props, he's good at crashing things -- Russian ships

Russian economy, lunar spacecraft and, once again, airplanes.

[oldsoftie]

107. THIS is why trump loves Putin so much

He wishes HE could get rid of his opponents in a similar manner

[RussBLib]

113. Trump is green....

....instead of his usual orange

https://russblib.blogspot.com/

[marble falls]

109. I guess he shouldn't have had a window seat.

[beaglelover]

111. A wing was missing apparently. Sounds to me it was shot down.

[LisaL]

115. Could have been expolosives on board too.

It sounds like it blew up in the air.

[Mysterian]

112. I'm kind of baffled

Did Prig think he was still in Putin's good graces? Or did he believe he was too important to be taken out? His actions seem almost suicidal, i.e., returning to Russia and flying in a small plane near Moscow. Maybe he was just really stupid.

[BigmanPigman]

117. Even Biden thinks Putin was involved in this.

[COREY.BAKER]

123. Obviously, President Biden is not stupid the whole world knows Putin did it!

[JustAnotherGen]

127. Yep

Saw that clip on WaPo after he left his workout.

Nothing happens in Russia that Putin doesn't know about.

[Deminpenn]

119. Not very surprising

Everyone pretty much expected this outcome, just didn't know the how.

[moniss]

120. What?

No balconies were available?

[3catwoman3]

122. t body besides me find it interesting that someon...

…was in jus the right place at the right time to get that fairly extensive footage of the plane coming down?

There was a very weathered fence with lichen growing on it that flashed by, suggesting, perhaps, a rural location for the person recording this.

[Polybius]

124. Ehh, there's even video of TWA Flight 800 coming down from July 18, 1996

And that was years before video or cameras on cell phones. Alleged confiscated video too.

[XorXor]

125. It is fascinating to watch pro-Russian social media grapple with this

They are still all over the place trying to figure out how best to spin this. Some are just outright delusional and others dance around it by avoiding addressing any of the difficult questions about it.

[JudyM]

128. Locking

There is no story at the link.

Discussion continues in the thread here: https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143119666