Russian investigators announced on Friday that they had recovered the bodies of the ten people who died in the crash of the plane carrying Wagner’s boss, Yevgeny Prigojine, as well as the flight recorders of the aircraft which crashed in Russia on Wednesday.
“The bodies of 10 victims have been recovered from the plane crash site. Molecular genetic testing is underway to establish their identities. Flight recorders have been seized by investigators and a detailed examination of the scene is in progress. course,” the Russian Investigative Committee said on Telegram. The leader of the Wagner paramilitary group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, was on the passenger list and his death was later confirmed by Moscow as well as the militia he led.
For its part, the Kremlin denied having ordered the assassination of the billionaire, once close to Vladimir Putin and summoned the paramilitaries to take an oath of “loyalty” to Russia, two months after their abortive coup. Dmitry Peskov, the Russian president’s spokesman, called an “absolute lie” the insinuations of Western leaders that the Kremlin had orchestrated the crash of the plane carrying the billionaire.
Lukashenko supports the Kremlin
Many of the Russian regime’s critics or disgraced ex-supporters have been killed or targeted in assassination attempts. The Kremlin has always denied any involvement. Investigators, for their part, said that the investigations are ongoing. They announced at the start of the evening that they had recovered the ten bodies of the victims from the scene of the crash as well as the flight recorders and indicated that “molecular genetic analyzes” were in progress to establish their identity.
“The investigation will thoroughly check all possible versions of what happened,” the Russian Investigative Committee insisted on Telegram. The Kremlin’s closest ally, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, backed the Kremlin by saying he “cannot imagine” Vladimir Putin giving the order to assassinate Wagner’s boss.