SO SORRY I KILLED HIM Twisted Putin offers ‘condolences’ to Prigozhin’s family and sneers that Wagner boss ‘made mistakes’
Nick Parker
Aug 24 202
MURDERED Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin “made serious mistakes in his life”, tyrant Vladimir Putin sneered last night.
The Russian despot is believed to have ordered the revenge hit on the warlord’s private jet two months after he led a rebellion.
Vladimir Putin sneered that murdered Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin 'made serious mistakes in his life'Credit: Reuters
Tyrant Putin is believed to have ordered the revenge hit on warlord Prigozhin’s private jet two months after he led a rebellionCredit: AFP
A body bag is carried away from the wreckage of a crashed private jet, near Kuzhenkino in RussiaCredit: AP
Putin tellingly mentioned the traitor’s failings in a fake tribute, saying: “I had known Prigozhin for a very long time, since the start of the ’90s.
"He was a talented person, a talented businessman, he worked not only in our country but also abroad, in Africa in particular.
“He was involved there with oil, gas, precious metals and stones.
“He was a man with a difficult fate — and he made serious mistakes in life.”
Sabotage emerged as the prime theory for Wednesday’s crash which killed Prigozhin, 62, deputy Dmitry Utkin and eight others.
Their Embraer Legacy 600 is said to have exploded at 28,000ft midway between Moscow and St Petersburg before crashing.
Billionaire Prigozhin is believed to have sealed his own doom by allowing a case of vintage wine on board.
One theory is the cargo contained a hidden device placed to cause catastrophic damage — with the FSB security service suspected.
Paying false respects, Putin said: “I want to express my most sincere condolences to the families of all the victims.
“It is always a tragedy. Indeed, if employees of the Wagner company were there and the preliminary data indicates they were.
“These people made a significant contribution to our common cause of combating the neo-Nazi regime in Ukraine. We shall not forget.”
In late June Prigozhin led his troops to within 120 miles of Moscow in the biggest threat to Putin’s 20-year rule.
At the time Putin branded him a traitor. Yesterday he claimed he knew nothing of the cause of his old friend’s death and pledged a thorough investigation.
But the sham probe will almost certainly clear him of blame and point the finger at his “terrorist” enemies from Ukraine.
Putin said: “As far as I know, he just returned yesterday from Africa.
“He met some officials here. The head of the Investigative Committee reported to me this morning.
“They have already begun a preliminary investigation. It will be carried out in full, and taken right to the end. There are no doubts about this. Let’s see what the investigators say.”
Witnesses in Kuzhenkino, a town near the crash site, said they saw no sign of smoke trails from missiles.
Anastasia Bukharova, 27, was walking with her children when she saw the jet.
She said: “Boom! It exploded and began to fall. Something sort of was torn from it in the air, and it began to go down.”
Experts said examination of video footage also showed no missile trails.
Handlers of Prigozhin’s plane at Sheremetyevo airport in Moscow were interrogated yesterday.
Investigators vowed to quiz all personnel with access to its hangar, and will also probe a mystery delay for “repairs” before take-off.
Crash experts sifting through the debris were also investigating a theory that a bomb was attached to the landing gear — possibly during the delay.
A Moscow source said: “According to preliminary data, an explosive device was placed in the landing gear area which caused the explosion in the sky.
“This is one of the versions of the investigation.
“As a result the wing was torn off and it hit the stabiliser.
“The business jet began to gain altitude sharply, and then went into a tailspin. All people on board instantly lost consciousness due to explosive depressurisation.
Branded a traitor
“That’s why the pilots could not report the emergency situation. It was impossible to save the plane without a wing and a stabiliser.”
The tail section was reported to have landed almost three miles from the fuselage because the plane exploded in the air, the report said.
Another source with law enforcement links said the main theory was that a bomb was planted in the service section of the plane, close to the washroom.
The source said: “Investigators were especially interested in whether there were new employees who had just recently joined the workforce.”
Focus was also aimed at Prigozhin’s usual pilot Artem Stepanov.
He had access to the jet but went on holiday before the doomed flight, to one of Russia’s most remote regions, Kamchatka. Moscow sources said he was being “actively sought”.
His co-pilot Kirill Shcherbakov was also reported to have gone missing after dodging duty.
The owner of the jet and head of MNT Aero, Olga Gubareva, was also reported to be on holiday and out of contact with authorities.
Russia’s fake news factory went into overdrive last night as theories swirled.
A Kremlin source told a news outlet that Russian authorities “will most likely shift the blame on to Ukraine’s intelligence services — as the Kremlin has done repeatedly”.
And military expert Yuri Knutov said the investigation was likely to conclude terrorism was to blame amid reports the black box flight recorders had not been recovered.
But Ukraine’s president Volodymr Zelensky said: “We have nothing to do with this. Everyone understands who is involved.”
Shameless Putin sends condolences to murdered Prigozhin's familyCredit: Reuters
Crash experts were investigating a theory that a bomb was attached to the landing gear
In June Prigozhin led his troops to within 120 miles of Moscow in the biggest threat to Putin’s 20-year rule
Who was on board
YEVGENY PRIGOZHIN: Former hot dog seller, 62, who won a contract to suppy the Kremlin with food.
Founded the Wagner group in 2014 — and led failed coup two months ago.
Neo-Nazi Dmitry Utkin served in Russia’s military intelligence, the GRU
DMITRY UTKIN: The 53-year-old neo-Nazi served in Russia’s military intelligence, the GRU.
He was a veteran of Russia's two wars in Chechnya and Prigozhin’s right-hand man.
Believed to be a co-founder of the Wagner group and was responsible for overall command and combat training.
VALERIY CHEKALOV: One of the business brains behind Wagner, the 47-year-old is thought to have been in charge of the group’s non- military activities in Africa.
YEVGENY MAKARYAN, SERGEY PROPUSTIN, ALEXANDER TOTMIN and NIKOLAY MATUSEEV: Thought to be Wagner fighters acting as bodyguards for bosses on the plane.
ALEXEI LEVSHIN: Married dad of two, 51, was the pilot.
His work for Prigozhin was a taboo subject in the family, according to relatives.
https://www.the-sun.com/news/8923743/vl ... -mistakes/
