When the jet finally left, it climbed for about 30 minutes to 28,000 feet, before the wing blew apart, sending the aircraft spiraling to the ground. All 10 people were killed, including Prigozhin, the owner of the Wagner paramilitary group.
The assassination of the warlord was two months in the making and approved by Russian President Vladimir Putin’s oldest ally and confidant, an ex-spy named Nikolai Patrushev, according to Western intelligence officials and a former Russian intelligence officer. The role of Patrushev as the driver of the plan to kill Prigozhin hasn’t been previously reported.
The Kremlin has denied involvement in Prigozhin’s death, and Putin offered the closest thing to an official explanation for the plane’s fiery crash, suggesting a hand grenade had detonated onboard.
None of that was true.
Related:
Yevgeny Prigozhin: 2023-12-22 Putin's right-hand man was behind assassination of mutinous Wagner boss Prigozhin with bomb fixed to wing of his aircraft causing fireball crash because he 'had to be removed', [WSJ]report claims
Yevgeny Prigozhin: 2023-12-21 In St. Petersburg they are asking to perpetuate the memory of Prigozhin
Yevgeny Prigozhin: 2023-10-06 Prigozhin's plane was blown up by a hand grenade
Yevgeny Prigozhin: 2023-12-22 Putin's right-hand man was behind assassination of mutinous Wagner boss Prigozhin with bomb fixed to wing of his aircraft causing fireball crash because he 'had to be removed', [WSJ]report claims
Yevgeny Prigozhin: 2023-12-21 In St. Petersburg they are asking to perpetuate the memory of Prigozhin
Yevgeny Prigozhin: 2023-10-06 Prigozhin's plane was blown up by a hand grenade