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Conspiracy theories that Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin may still be alive have started to gain traction after a second private jet linked to the mercenary leader was spotted flying to Moscow.
Prigozhin, who led a failed coup against the Kremlin’s top brass less than two months ago, was listed as one of 10 passengers aboard the Embraer aircraft that crashed on Wednesday with no survivors.
While a Telegram channel linked to Wagner shared news of the fatal crash, the Kremlin and the Russian Defense Ministry have not commented, prompting rumors that Prigozhin faked his death.
Speculation has grown that Prigozhin may have evaded the fiery fate after news spread that a second private jet linked to the Wagner group landed safely in St. Petersburg around the same time as the crash.
Footage showed the second jet — an Embraer ERJ-135BJ Legacy 650 aircraft — landing safely at Ostafyevo airport, the Sun reported.
It’s not the first time Prigozhin, 62, was mistakenly thought to be dead. Last month, a former senior US military leader speculated that Prigozhin was either dead or jailed, following a much-publicized meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin after his botched rebellion, a meeting that was likely faked.
Prigozhin also previously faked his own death in Africa in 2019 before showing his face again three days later.
Who was Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin?
Russian President Vladimir Putin praised mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin as a talented businessman following the plane crash that apparently killed him.
Prigozhin was the owner of the private military contractor Wagner Group.
Prigozhin planned to capture the Russian military’s top officials during his attempted coup.
Prigozhin and his mercenary fighting force did not face charges and were instead exiled despite leading an armed insurrection against the Kremlin.
Prigozhin began his career as a petty criminal — he was convicted of robbery and assault in 1981 and served 12 years in prison.
He criticized the Russian Ministry of Defense as incompetent and accused it of withholding arms and ammunition from his troops, who were fighting on behalf of Russia in Ukraine.
Prigozhin was indicted in the United States for interfering in the 2016 presidential election through his infamous internet “troll factory.”
A Russia expert from the UK-based think tank Chatham House, Keir Giles, speculated that the Wagner boss may pop up again soon.
“Multiple individuals have changed their name to Yevgeny Prigozhin, as part of his efforts to obfuscate his travels,” he told the Sun. “Let’s not be surprised if he pops up shortly in a new video from Africa.”
In a separate interview with Sky News, Giles noted, “This is a man who took his security very seriously, even before he made himself a marked man by marching on Moscow.”
The bodies of the 10 passengers have been taken in for forensic examination in an effort to identify them.
President Biden said he wasn’t surprised by the fatal crash of a plane that appeared to have a Putin enemy on board.
“I don’t know for a fact what happened. But I’m not surprised,” Biden told reporters. “There is not much that happens in Russia that Putin is not behind, but I don’t know enough to know the answer.”
The aircraft burst into flames on impact, according to the state-run agency, which has been accused of spreading Russian propaganda during the Ukraine war.
The investigation into the crash is under the “personal control” of the governor of the Tver region, Igor Rudenya, according to TASS.
The crash comes just two days after Prigozhin shared his first video address since leading his military group in a mutiny against Putin on June 24, marching toward Moscow before the effort was called off around 100 miles before he reached the capital and troops agreed to turn around and head back to the front lines in Ukraine.
The unverified footage of the mercenary in camouflage toting an assault weapon appeared on Wagner Group-affiliated Telegram channels Tuesday.
“The Wagner PMC (private military company) makes Russia even greater on all continents, and Africa – even more free,” the oligarch said in the video, which included a phone number for recruits.
Prior to the video, Prigozhin had kept a low profile since the June 24 mutiny.
Wagner has suffered heavy losses in the conflict, where they are leading the assault on Bakhmut. Since Prigozhin’s forces marched on Moscow, Putin has denounced him as a “traitor.”
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko brokered a peace deal between Putin and Prigozhin, who agreed to call off the march in exchange for pardons for himself and his troops.
Prigozhin also accepted going into exile in Belarus, though he was still in Russia as of July 6, the BBC reported.
With Post wires
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