Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin made serious mistakes, Russian President Vladimir Putin, said in a condolence message to the deceased family yesterday.
The Wagner chief and nine others died when a plane conveying them crashed near Moscow on Wednesday.
Vladimir Putin broke his silence over the horrific plane crash believed to have killed Prigozhin and Wagner’s co-founder Dmirty Utkin, as western forces debate the possible causes of the incident.
It remained unclear exactly what happened to the jet that fell from the sky.
Earlier yesterday, anonymous United States (U.S.) officials said they believed it had been caused by a surface-to-air missile.
But a statement evening from the Pentagon ruled that possibility out.
The U.S. Department of Defence said there was currently no information to suggest that a surface-to-air missile took down the plane presumed to be carrying the Russian mercenary leader (Prigozhin).
Brig.-Gen. Patrick Ryder, a Pentagon spokesman, offered no further details or evidence as he made his remarks at a Pentagon news conference.
Reuters reported earlier yesterday that the U.S. was looking at a number of theories over what caused Prigozhin’s plane to crash.
A preliminary Washington intelligence assessment found that the plane crash was initially caused by an explosion.
While officials did not give any further details about what set off the detonation, one highlighted the explosion fell in line with Putin’s ‘long history of trying to silence his critics’.
In an eerie television address, Putin said
Prigozhin had ‘made serious mistakes’ as he offered supposed ‘condolences’ to the families of the ten victims who died in the Tver region, around 60 miles North of the capital.
Throughout the chilling tribute, he alluded to Wagner’s failed military coup in June – ominously stating that Prigozhin ‘was a person with a difficult fate’.
The despot went on to add that his former-chef-turned-number-one-enemy was a ‘talented businessman’ and that the Kremlin would be launching a ‘preliminary investigation’ into the tragedy.
While he spoke in the past tense, and paid tribute to the 62-year-old warlord, he fell short of officially confirming Prigozhin’s death.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was quick to point out his country was no way involved in the crash before cryptically adding, ‘everyone understands who is involved’.
Putin allegedly ordered a probe by the country’s Investigative Committee, that has been reporting to him following the smash.
He said that the team had begun a ‘preliminary investigation of this incident, and it will be conducted fully and completed’ shortly.
Putin said: ”This afternoon: ‘What concerns this air crash, first of all, I want to express sincere condolences to the families of all those who died.
”It is always a tragedy. Indeed, if they were there and, according to the initial information, Wagner Company employees were on board, I want to note that those people made a significant contribution to our common cause of fighting the Nazi regime in Ukraine.
“I had known Prigozhin for a very long time, since the start of the ’90s. He was a man with a difficult fate, and he made serious mistakes in life. And he strove for the results he needed for himself, and when I asked him about it, for the common cause, as in these last months.”
