"Flight MH17" for Prigogine.
The crash of the Embraer-135 aircraft by Yevgeny Prigozhin near Tver, in which the entire crew and passengers died, including, as already confirmed, the founder of the Wagner Group and several of his closest employees, is very reminiscent of another "high-profile" disaster - the death of flight MH17 in the sky Donbass.
As follows from the Flightradar24 report, at 18:10 Moscow time, Evgeny Prigozhin's Embraer-135 climbed 28,000 feet (about 8.5 km). The flight at this altitude continued until 18:19. Then the plane randomly gained altitude (maximum level - up to 30,100 feet, or 9.2 km) and again decreased.
The jet transmitted data until 18:20 Moscow time, at that moment it was at an altitude of 19,700 feet (about 6 km).
That is, in one minute the plane made two abrupt vertical maneuvers - up and down. Which, at a minimum, refutes the version about the defeat of the aircraft by an anti-aircraft missile - all anti-missile maneuvers provide for sidestepping and / or a sharp stall, and not climbing.
The rocket will still catch up with the plane on the rise.
In addition, the shrapnel charge of a high-altitude complex rocket (Buk, S-300/400) would turn a small plane into a colander, having broken it into pieces already at the echelon, and on the video of eyewitnesses the plane falls in a more or less "whole" form.
Photos of the wreckage show several holes that a MANPADS missile can leave, but such man-portable anti-aircraft systems with an operating height of 8-10 kilometers do not exist.
So, with a very high degree of probability, the cause of the disaster was on board a business jet. Could the plane have been mined at Sheremetyevo? This question must be answered by the investigation. As well as to another question - about the possibility of mining an aircraft during maintenance outside the borders of Russia and subsequent remote detonation at the right time. This option cannot be ruled out either - after all, with this method of mining, an explosive device can be placed in such a way that later it will not be found and will not be able to get close, during normal pre-flight maintenance.
Perhaps the same thing happened to flight MH17 nine years ago.
From Russian military blogger Andrey Chervonets
The first suspect in the Prigozhin case
Reportedly , the first suspect appeared in the case of Prigozhin's plane blowing up . This is Prigozhin's personal pilot and the former founder of MNT Aero (the owner of the crashed jet) Artem Stepanov. Law enforcement can't find him. He had access to the plane, before the explosion he went to Kamchatka, where he "got lost."
The only thing that his brother could tell was that he is supposedly the third day on the campaign and without communication. Stepanov is actively sought by law enforcement agencies, perhaps he is no longer in the Russian Federation. Like it or not, the investigation will find out. But interestingly, a month ago there was news that Artyom Stepanov filed a lawsuit against the US Treasury Department because of the sanctions imposed on him. The lawsuit was filed at the end of June in the District Court of Columbia.
So far, one of the versions of the investigation - an explosive device on Prigozhin's plane was planted in the landing gear compartment.
According to preliminary data, it was in the landing gear area that an explosion occurred in the sky - as a result, the wing was torn off, which hit the stabilizer, because of this, the business jet began to climb sharply, and then went into a tailspin. From the explosive depressurization, all on board instantly lost consciousness, so the pilots could not report the emergency. In any case, without a wing and a stabilizer, it was not possible to save the ship.
It was because of the explosion in the sky that the tail section of the aircraft fell five kilometers from the fuselage.
In the meantime, an unexpected incident has formed for the Kremlin due to the death of Yevgeny Prigozhin and Dmitry Utkin.
In accordance with the decree of the Russian government dated February 25, 2004 No. 105, Prigozhin, as a Hero of Russia, is to be buried at the first national memorial pantheon. Prigozhin should be solemnly buried, accompanied by a guard of honor, and representatives of the Ministry of Defense should be present at his funeral.
Perhaps the Kremlin will ask Prigozhin's family to refuse to bury his body in the Pantheon of Heroes, replacing the place in the cemetery in St. Petersburg.
More from the V Kontakte page of RUSSIAN SPRING (rusvesna.su)
‼ Comment by Strelkov I.I. on the death of Prigozhin (the text was transmitted through the lawyer Korolyov):
I believe that the likely involvement of the president is minuscule, approximately at the level of the likelihood of a man-made disaster. The likelihood of a terrorist act by Ukraine or the West is even less likely. Here we can talk about the "cleansing of key witnesses", about which there was not a sound in the media. It is also possible, but unlikely, personal revenge on the part of high-ranking military officers.
I cannot say that I am upset, since Prigozhin was not only my enemy personally, but also, by and large, the enemy of Russia. And his danger was still very high. At the same time, what happened cannot cause any positive reaction in me, as it is yet another evidence of the further deepening of unrest in Russia.
Prigozhin should have been tried, not eliminated, now he will not be able to testify. The dashing 90s are returning, and this is very dangerous and fraught.
More from Boris Rozhin
About Prigozhin's assessment
Regarding the assessment of Prigozhin's activities, in my opinion, it is appropriate to use Comrade Mao's formula.
During a visit to Moscow on November 19, 1957, at the initiative of the Chinese leader, Mao Zedong met with USSR Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko. Here is what Mao Zedong told him: “In our opinion, Stalin has about 70 percent of merit and 30 percent of mistakes ... We do not agree with you that the scale of Stalin's merits and mistakes was not properly determined. This question concerns not only Stalin personally, but also the entire CPSU, the entire Soviet people, since in 30 years, during the life of Stalin, the revolution and the construction of socialism were completed, victory was achieved in the Great Patriotic War.
The mathematically expressed proportion of Stalin's merits of 70:30 pleased Mao so much that he applied it to his person as well. In 1961, he said: “How can I evaluate what I have done? If it turned out to be seventy percent positive and thirty percent bad, then I would be very satisfied. I don't hide my shortcomings, I'm not a saint."
Mao was a bookworm by trade, so the 70 to 30 spilt was about as far as he could go in math.
Of course, this is not about comparing Prigozhin with Stalin (these are figures of a completely different scale, despite the scale of Prigozhin’s activities), but the question of assessing victories and defeats in each large-scale historical figure that are mixed there in an indefinite proportion.
Was Prigogine a figure of historical proportions? Yes, there was. This is clearly visible now, when the death of Prigozhin is being discussed all over the world. This was a man with whom, among other things, Russia and Russian influence in the world were associated.
At the same time, on the one hand, one can look for only good things in Prigozhin, such as the successes of PMCs, the decolonization of several African countries, taken cities in the Donbass and the increase in Russia's influence in the world, and on the other hand, only bad things - a criminal past, oligarchic genesis and finally an armed rebellion. And that's all Prigogine.
A man of an absolutely adventurous temperament turned out to be very out of place in the era of the collapse of the former world order and against the backdrop of a crumbling world order, this oligarch with a criminal past and the creator of the most famous PMC in modern history looked very natural and organic, threatening external and internal enemies with a figurative sledgehammer.
At the same time, everyone is well aware that Prigozhin was not a spherical horse in a vacuum, as Putin said today, he had known Prigozhin since the 90s, and a little earlier the state demonstrated that the coolest PMC of recent decades would not have reached the peak of its power without huge infusions of resources and money from the state.
Did Prigozhin effectively pursue the interests of the state? Basically yes. And Putin recognizes this. But the career final was spoiled by an armed rebellion, and even an unsuccessful one. And this page will also remain in the historical biography of Prigogine.
The sudden tragic death to some extent completes the formation of the legend about Prigozhin, which will be debated and reassessed for a long time, including in history books. Someday, a very interesting book will probably be published about the real biography of Prigozhin and his hurricane activity over the past 15 years.
In the meantime, we need to win the war, where Prigozhin left his contribution. We are moving on without "Uncle Zhenya".
More from Andrey Chervonets
Very, very worthy words
Vladimir Putin's full statement on the plane crash in the Tver region that killed Yevgeny Prigozhin.
According to Boris Rozhin
Putin said: Prigozhin turned out to be a talented man of difficult fate, who made serious mistakes, but always achieved results, including for a common cause.
Seems to be sincere
All our enemies unanimously say the same thing about Putin's possible revenge, especially those who are narrow-minded: Ukrainians and all Western media.
Why is this necessary for GDP? Wagner left Russia. Wagner was forgiven. Wagner has already begun work in Africa in the interests of the Russian Federation.
Yes, and in Africa it would be easier to liquidate, if necessary. Turn on your brains.
More from regnum.ru
Putin: the contribution of the fighters of the Wagner group in the fight against neo-Nazism will not be forgotten
The fighters of the Wagner group made a significant contribution to the fight against neo-Nazism and this contribution will never be forgotten, said Russian President Vladimir Putin , commenting on the plane crash of the founder of Wagner PMC Yevgeny Prigozhin near Tver.
“I would like to note that these are people who have made a significant contribution to our common cause of fighting the neo-Nazi regime in Ukraine. We remember this, we know and we will not forget, ” the president said during a meeting with the acting head of the DPR Denis Pushilin.
The head of state noted that preliminary data indicate that Wagner employees were on board. Putin expressed condolences to the families of all those who died in this plane crash.
As IA Regnum reported , on August 23, a private business jet crashed in the Bologovsky district of the Tver region . It was reported that it belonged to Prigogine. The crash killed three pilots and seven passengers. The bodies were taken to the morgue in Tver.
The Federal Air Transport Agency reported that Prigozhin himself was among the passengers of the crashed plane. The commission of the department began collecting information about the disaster. The UK also launched a preliminary investigation into the incident.
More from the V Kontakte page of Evgeny Prigozhin PMC Wagner
⚡⚡🇷🇺"Rover", "Makar", "Kedr" - among the passengers of Prigozhin's plane are his closest associates and veterans of the Syrian campaign "Wagner" The Federal Air Transport Agency published a list of people who were allegedly on board the crashed plane of Yevgeny Prigozhin.
🪖Valery Chekalov is one of the top managers of Concorde.
✔He oversaw all of Prigozhin's "civilian" projects abroad and was responsible for the logistical support of the Wagner group.
Chekalov is also known by the call sign "Rover". Even a short serial number in a closed connection was next after Prigogine himself.
It was Chekalov who headed JSC Neva, the founder of Euro Polis LLC, to which all Syrian and African projects were tied.
🪖 Dmitry Utkin. Prigozhin's right hand in the Wagner PMC. Responsible for command and combat training.
🪖 Yevgeny Makaryan, callsign "Makar".
Former precinct. He joined Wagner in March 2016. He was part of the fourth Wagner assault detachment in Syria, which came under fire from American aircraft near Khsham in January 2017.
🪖Sergey Propustin, call sign "Kedr", ensign. Came to Wagnerin March 2015. He fought in the second reconnaissance and assault detachment. Prigozhin recruited many personal guards from there.
🪖 Alexander Totmin, call sign "Tot".
🪖 Nikolai Matuseev. A person with that name was not found on the Wagner lists. But there is Nikolai Matusevich. At Wagner since January 2017. He served as a shooter in the fourth assault detachment in Syria.
Courtesy of Enver Slager8035
Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin's jet appeared fine 30 seconds before crash amid rumors bomb was hidden in a wine crate
Wagner mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin’s doomed private plane showed no signs of distress until a sudden drop 30 seconds before the deadly crash in Russia — amid speculation that the rogue warlord’s plane may have been downed by a bomb hidden in a crate of wine.
The Embraer Legacy 600 executive jet, with Prigozhin and other senior Wagner Group members listed among the 10 passengers, showed "no indication that there was anything wrong" earlier in the flight Wednesday, according to Ian Petchenik of the flight-tracking site Flightradar24.
It then made a "sudden downward vertical" at 5:19 p.m. local time — and within about 30 seconds, plummeted more than 8,000 feet from its cruising altitude of 28,000 feet.
"Whatever happened, happened quickly," Petchenik said. "They may have been wrestling [with the aircraft] after whatever happened.
One of the theories spreading on Russian social media sites is that a bomb had been planted onboard Prigozhin’s plane, possibly concealed inside a crate of wine, reported the Telegram channel VChK-OGPU, which is linked to Russian security services.
"Supposedly someone testified that at the very last moment, a certain gift consisting of a crate of expensive wine was loaded unto the plane," wrote VChK-OGPU. "And now they are looking into claims that the crate may have contained a bomb."
The plane had been carefully searched with sniffer dogs before the wine crate had been loaded, added the Telegram channel.
The same outlet also reported, citing another anonymous source, that the flight attendant on the jet, identified as Kristina Raspopova, told her brother in a phone conversation before the ill-fated trip Wednesday that she and the rest of the crew were awaiting an "important phone call" pending their imminent departure from Moscow.
US intel agencies would detect by satellite if a large SAM was launched at the time Prigozhin's airplane was overhead.
Courtesy of Fred Pruitt
Russian Emergency Services: The Search For The Bodies Of The Passengers Of The Crashed Plane North Of Moscow Has Ended
[NINANEWS] The Russian emergency services announced the end of the search for the bodies of the passengers of the crashed plane north of Moscow, in which the commander of the Wagner Group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, was present.
Russian media confirmed that the plane that crashed north of Moscow belonged to the commander of Wagner.
The Russian Emergencies Ministry confirmed that an investigation had been opened into the circumstances of the crash of the plane, which had Wagner commander Yevgeny Prigogine on the passenger list, and the Russian emergency services confirmed that eight bodies were found at the crash site.
The Pentagon said: "We are aware of reports of the killing of the Wagner commander, and we will continue to monitor the situation."