ST. PETERSBURG, Russia
All 10 bodies found in the crash of a private jet, allegedly carrying Wagner Group founder Yevgeny Prigozhin, have been taken for examination, Russian media reported on August 24.
According to the Russian
outlet Fontanka, the bodies were driven to a morgue of a forensic medical
examination bureau in the city of Tver.
The Moscow Times reported that
Prigozhin's phone was found at the crash site, although his body has not yet
been identified.
The private Embraer Legacy
aircraft crashed near the village of Kuzhenkino in Tver
Oblast while flying from Moscow to St. Petersburg on the evening of Aug. 23.
The founder of the Wagner Group, who had launched a short-lived rebellion against the Kremlin in late June, is
presumed dead in the crash.
According to the Institute for the Study of War, Putin "almost certainly ordered the Russian military command to shoot down Prigozhin's plane." The warlord's death is yet to be confirmed by official sources, however.
While the cause of the crash
is currently unknown, flight-tracking data indicates that in the last minutes of its
flight, the plane made erratic climbs and descents, before dramatically
dropping almost 2,500 meters per minute, after which the transmission of
altitude data stopped.Prigozhin supporters seen laying flowers outside of the former Wagner HQ.
The Russian Investigative
Committee has initiated a "criminal case" following the plane crash
due to the alleged violation of traffic safety rules and air transport
operations.
Videos of the crash appear to
indicate that the plane is registered to Prigozhin, as the plane's registration
number matched his.
In the meantime, supporters of
Wagner Group leader, who is believed to have been killed in a dramatic plane
crash, have started laying flowers outside the former headquarters of the
mercenary outfit in St. Petersburg.
Makeshift memorials appeared outside the
private military group's former headquarters around midnight Thursday, with
footage showing mourners
bringing flowers, candles and patches featuring Wagner’s skull logo.
Similar memorials were spotted in the Siberian
city of Novosibirsk, according to the news website Sota. At least one supporter staged a one-man
picket in the city of Yaroslavl, the news website 7x7 reported.
"Guys, we just have no
words right now," said one
masked man, who claimed to be a member of Wagner, according to AFP journalists.
"Let's support Yevgeny
Viktorovich [Prigozhin] and all our commanders. We need your support now."
While law enforcement in St.
Petersburg did not interfere with the gathering, they did check the personal
documents of mourners and journalists, according to
Sota.
“I won’t be afraid to say that
Yevgeny Prigozhin is a Russian hero,” a supporter who introduced himself as
Arsen told the local
Fontanka news website.
“He’s a man of his word. He’s
done a lot not only in the course of the special military operation, [but] in
defending Russia’s interests in the world, the Syrian campaign [and] in
Africa,” he said.
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