On Wednesday, the 30th of August, the Kremlin said that investigators were considering the possibility that the plane carrying mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin was shot down deliberately, marking it as the first confirmation that it may have been an assassination, reports Reuters.
According to Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov, various possibilities are under consideration regarding the plane crash, including the consideration of it
being a “deliberate atrocity”.
He mentioned that due to the circumstances, investigating the crash is challenging, and no official conclusions have been reached yet. He said that the Russian investigation’s results will be awaited.
Russia has reportedly informed the Brazilian Aircraft Investigation Authority that it won’t currently investigate the crash of the Brazilian-manufactured Embraer aircraft in accordance with international regulations, the agency told Reuters.
In response to reports that Russia won’t investigate the crash under international rules, Peskov stated that
the investigation is under way, that the Russian Investigative Committee is working on it and international aspects aren’t applicable.
The Interstate Aviation Committee (IAC), responsible for investigating aviation accidents in former Soviet republics, including Russia, has stated that it won’t investigate the crash and declined to comment on the incident’s circumstances.
The cause of the crash remains uncertain, yet nearby residents reported hearing an explosion followed by the plane’s crash.
As BNN reported, on the 23rd of August, a plane carrying Yevgeny Prigozhin, leader of the mercenary group Wagner, and nine other people crashed. All ten people on board died. On Tuesday, the 29th of August, Prigozhin was buried. The Kremlin has denied all rumours of its involvement in the crash.
Read also: Wagner chief Prigozhin buried in a private funeral