24 August 2023 , 21:50
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A map has been released showing the flight path of the Wagner aircraft that came crashing down in Russia yesterday in a suspected assassination straight from the Kremlin's playbook.
Yevgeny Prigozhin's Brazilian-made Embraer Legacy 600 was knocked out of the sky yesterday, tumbling to the ground before erupting in a fiery inferno in Russia's Tver region. All seven passengers and three flight crew have been confirmed dead, with some of the victims said to be so badly mauled in the crash they can't be identified.
The plane, with the registration RA-02795, is understood to be the same model that took Prigozhin to Belarus after he and his mob of murderous mercenaries started and abruptly stopped a mutiny against Russia's top military brass, angering Vladimir Putin, two months ago.
A map from Flightradar24 shows the doomed flight path of Yevgeny Prigozhin's final jou (flightradar24)According to Russia's state-run TASS news agency, the jet took off from Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport, which is the country's busiest, and was on its way to St Petersburg. It took off at around 6pm local time (4pm GMT) before heading north-west, according to Flightradar24 tracking data.
However, shortly after 4.11pm, the site was unable to maintain its tracking on the craft, which was likely caused by interference in the immediate vicinity of the plane. Around 10 minutes later, data transmission came to an abrupt halt. It didn't come back online until the final 30 seconds before it came crashing down, as the flight data showed the plane's altitude plummeting and rising a number of times before its final descent.
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Investigators scour through the wreckage last night (AP)Retired pilot Ross Aimer, CEO of Aero Consulting Experts, told The Washington Post: "That zigzagging in the air basically tells me that somehow the pilot may have lost control of his airplane — for whatever reason. Let’s say a missile strike or a piece of the aircraft coming apart."
Flightradar24's Ian Petchenik said it plunged over 8,000ft from where it had been cruising at 28,000ft in a 30-second period. He added: "Whatever happened, happened quickly." Mr Petchenik said there had been "no indication that there was anything wrong with this aircraft" before the descent.
Prigozhin was branded a traitor by the Kremlin after trying to oust Russia's military leadership in a botched armed rebellion (AP)If the deaths are confirmed, the crash would be the most serious blow the group has ever suffered to its leadership. The passenger manifest included Prigozhin and his second-in-command, who baptised the group with his nom de guerre, as well as Wagner's logistics chief, a fighter wounded by US airstrikes in Syria, and at least one possible bodyguard.
It was not clear why several high-ranking members of Wagner, including top leaders who are normally exceedingly careful about their security, were on the same flight. The purpose of their joint trip to St. Petersburg was unknown. In all, the other passengers included six of Prigozhin's lieutenants, along with the three-member flight crew.
At Wagner's headquarters in St. Petersburg, lights were turned on in the shape of a large cross, and Prigozhin supporters built a makeshift memorial, piling red and white flowers outside the building Thursday, along with company flags and candles.