Putin comments on Prigozhin plane crash
The Russian president described the Wagner chief as “a talented man” | Evgeny Prigozhin was a man of many talents who made a “significant contribution” to the struggle against neo-Nazis in Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday, commenting on the plane crash that reportedly killed the Wagner Group head. Speaking with journalists at the Kremlin, Putin said that he had known Prigozhin since the early 1990s, and described him as “a man of complicated destiny. ” Prigozhin was on the passenger manifest of the Embraer private jet that crashed on Wednesday in the Tver Region, en route from Moscow to St. Petersburg. All seven passengers and three crew members perished. Authorities are still working to identify the bodies, but Prigozhin is presumed to be among them, along with six other Wagner leaders. Putin expressed his sincere condolences to their families and vowed that the investigation into the crash would be thorough.
■ IN BRIEF: Prigozhin listed as passenger on private jet that crashed north of Moscow (08/24/23)