Russia Confirms Wagner Leader Yevgeny Prigozhin’s Death In Plane Crash After Genetic Testing

Eko Hot Blog reports that Russian authorities have confirmed Yevgeny Prigozhin, the notorious Russian mercenary leader, dead. He was believed to be on board a plane that crashed Wednesday.

Though Prigozhin, the head of the Wagner private military company, was one of 10 people listed on the plane’s flight manifest, Russian officials refrained from verifying his death until genetic testing was completed.

Russia’s investigative committee confirmed Sunday that the remains of all 10 passengers listed on board were found amongst the wreckage.

The remains of all 10 passengers on Yevgeny Prigozhin’s plane that crashed on Wednesday have been identified, confirming the death of the Wagner chief, Russia’s Investigative Committee said Sunday.

The Russian Federal Air Transport Agency has reported that in addition to the three crew members, the following individuals were on board the plane that crashed in the Tver region north of Moscow: Yevgeny Prigozhin, Dmitry Utkin, a trusted lieutenant of Prigozhin’s since the beginning of the Wagner Group, Valeriy Chekalov, a senior aide to Prigozhin sanctioned by the US for acting “for or on behalf of Prigozhin” and facilitating weapons shipments to Russia, Sergey Propustin, Evgeniy Makaryan, Aleksandr Totmin, and Nikolay Matuseev.

A report from a Russian investigative group run by exiled Russian billionaire Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the Dossier Center, revealed more details about the other passengers on board:

Valeriy Chekalov: Chekalov was one of the Wagner boss’ deputies who had worked with him since the early 2000s, the Dossier Center says. He oversaw all of Prigozhin’s “civilian” projects abroad, including geological exploration, oil production and agriculture, as well as the company’s logistics.

In July, the US State Department imposed sanctions on Chekalov for acting on Prigozhin’s behalf, noting that he had “facilitated shipments of munitions to the Russian Federation.”

Evgeniy Makaryan: Makaryan joined Wagner in March 2016, the Dossier Center reported. He was part of the fourth Wagner assault detachment in Syria, which came under fire from American aircraft near Khasham in February 2018.

Nikolai Matusevich: While the Dossier Center said it could not find a Wagner official with a perfect match for the spelling listed by Russian officials — Nikolay Matuseev — they did find Matusevich, who has been with Wagner since January 2017 and also served in the fourth assault detachment in Syria.

Sergey Propustin: Propustin joined Wagner in March 2015 and fought in a company dubbed Kirill Tikhonovich, which was one of the Wagner group’s combat units, according to the Dossier Center.

The crash came two months to the day after Prigozhin’s short-lived mutiny against the Russian military establishment. The insurrection was the greatest challenge to Russian leader Vladimir Putin’s authority in more than two decades of power.

Prigozhin’s uprising ended up lasting just hours thanks to a deal negotiated by Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko, a Putin ally.

Lukashenko said he talked his Russian counterpart out of destroying Wagner and convinced him to allow Prigozhin to leave Russia for Belarus to end the standoff.

The mutiny prompted some in the West, including US President Joe Biden, to suggest the Kremlin might be behind the crash, speculation Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov called an “absolute lie.”

To date, no evidence has been presented that points to the involvement of the Kremlin or Russian security services in the crash. The cause of the incident remains unknown and Russian authorities have launched a criminal investigation.

CNN