The Wall Street Journal reported on August 30 that Mr. Prigozhin used a number of “tricks” while traveling on the $10 million Embraer Legacy 600 plane, including turning off the transponder and abruptly changing flight plans and checking passenger lists at the last minute. Reviewed.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Mr Prigozhin’s Embraer Legacy 600 has changed registration and ownership several times since it was acquired by a Seychelles-based company – affiliated with the tycoon Wagner – in 2018.
For one-way trips to African countries where Wagner has contracts, Mr. Prigozhin sometimes “has to travel by two or three different planes.” The crew of the Embraer Legacy 600 often used fake passports, checked passenger lists before take-off, and abruptly changed destinations while the plane was in the air.
Mr. Prigozhin once worried about his own assassination while traveling on an Embraer Legacy 600. Photo: UPI, JetPhoto
In addition, the Wall Street Journal noted that Mr. Prigozhin carefully disguised himself when traveling: wearing a beard, wearing fake military uniforms, pretending to be an Arab warlord… He also often held meetings on private planes in one of the few Used to have airports that allow me to land, ready to take off immediately if anything happens.
However, Russian officials confirmed that Mr. Prigozhin died along with nine others in the crash of an Embraer Legacy 600 on August 23. The plane was flying from Moscow to St. Petersburg – Russia.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov hinted on August 30 that Mr. Prigozhin might have been assassinated. He said Russian investigators were looking into several possibilities for the plane crash, including “deliberate misconduct.”
Scene of the plane crash carrying Mr. Prigozhin. Photo: UPI, AP
After Mr. Prigozhin’s death, Western officials and analysts predicted that Wagner would continue to work, particularly in Africa’s Sahel region, where Russian mercenaries help ensure security against extremist organizations. Extremists such as al-Qaeda and the self-proclaimed Islamic State (IS).
Meanwhile, European Union (EU) foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said after chairing talks between EU defense ministers on August 30: “I am confident that he will be replaced by Mr. Prigozhin.”
