Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday that Wagner Group founder Yevgeny Prigozhin’s fatal plane crash might have been caused on purpose, but Russia will not allow an investigation measuring up to international standards to discover the truth.
“It is obvious that different versions are being considered, including the version – you know what we are talking about – let’s say, a deliberate atrocity,” Peskov told reporters, winking at the suspicions of most international observers that the order to deliberately commit that atrocity came from the building he was standing in.
Peskov said the International Civil Aviation Organization would not be allowed to investigate the crash. On Tuesday, the Kremlin denied the Brazilian government’s request to examine the crash, which involved a Brazilian-made Embraer private jet.
Brazil’s Center for Research and Prevention of Aeronautical Accidents (CENIPA) said it would be happy to join the Russian investigation, provided it is conducted under international rules. Moscow was not willing to make that commitment.
“First of all, the investigation is underway, the Investigative Committee is engaged in this. In this case there can be no talk of any international aspect, Peskov insisted.
A man sits near the grave of Yevgeny Prigozhin, who died in a plane crash, as people visit the grave to pay tribute in Saint Petersburg, Russia on August 30, 2023. (Stringer/Anadolu Agency via Getty)
“Let’s wait for the results of our Russian investigation,” he said.
CENIPA chief Marcelo Moreno said the Russians are not “obliged” to invite his agency into the investigation since Prigozhin’s doomed flight from Moscow to St. Petersburg was classified as domestic travel, but he strongly “recommended” Russia seek international assistance.
“If they say they’ll open the investigation and invite Brazil, we will participate from afar,” Moreno said wistfully.
Other observers more candidly stated that Russia would be accused of whitewashing the incident and covering up Kremlin culpability if it did not invite international investigators.
“I think it’s very sad. I think it hurts the transparency of the Russian investigation,” American aviation safety consultant John Cox said after Russia refused to invite CENIPA into the probe.
Another American safety expert, former air crash investigator Jeff Guzzetti, said Russia’s refusal to accept assistance from CENIPA was “a sure sign that it’s not going to be a transparent investigation.”
FILE/Businessman Yevgeny Prigozhin, left, shows Russian President Vladimir Putin, around his factory which produces school meals, outside St. Petersburg, Russia on Sept. 20, 2010. (Alexei Druzhinin, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP, File)
Prigozhin’s plane crashed on August 23, killing all ten people aboard, including Wagner Group co-founder Dmitry Utkin and most of Wagner’s top leadership. Three of the victims were crewmembers on the aircraft.
Residents in the crash area reported hearing an explosion before the plane came down. One eyewitness from a nearby village described the plane coming apart in midair and catching fire.
After Prigozhin’s death was confirmed, Russian leader Vladimir Putin required all Wagner mercenaries to sign an oath of allegiance to the Russian state, a demand he had long resisted. On Tuesday, Russian military intelligence commander Gen. Andrey Averyanov was appointed to be the new director of Wagner’s very lucrative operations in Africa.
These moves bolstered suspicions that Putin ordered Prigozhin killed for launching a mutiny against the Russian military in June. Prigozhin insisted his quarrel was with certain inept Russian commanders, not Putin, and Prigozhin appeared to be working for Putin again during the final weeks of his life.