The crash of a plane registered in the name of the mercenary group Wagner refers to a long list of attacks against disaffected Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The Legacy, manufactured by Embraer, fell vertically, releasing thick smoke. The images released by Russian TV indicate that one of the wings was torn off.
VIDEO – Who is Prigozhin, who was on the plane that crashed?
Inside the aircraft was the leader of the group, Yevgeny Prigozhin. According to regime-controlled Russian media, there were three crew members and seven passengers on board, including Dmitry Utkin, one of the founders of the mercenary group.
The group’s name is due to Utkin, nicknamed Wagner, Adolf Hitler’s favorite composer, because of his tattoos and Nazi convictions.
Two months ago, Prigozhin led a mutiny against the Ministry of Defense and the Russian Armed Forces. A Wagner convoy with heavy weapons advanced from a base in the south of Russia until 200 kilometers from Moscow, when it stopped and retreated – supposedly after an agreement with Putin, mediated by the dictator of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko.
In a speech to the nation, Putin accused Prigozhin of “treason” and promised he would be severely punished. However, the two later met in the Kremlin.
Wagner was removed to Belarus and continued to perform in Africa. The group is hired by African dictatorships to keep them in power and fight jihadist groups. In exchange, it exploits the riches of these countries.
Two months later, if the attack against Prigozhin is confirmed, Putin would seem to confirm his reputation for following the popular saying that “revenge is a dish best served cold”.
Below is a short summary of the most notorious cases of violent deaths of Putin’s enemies, who made a career in the KGB, the former Soviet secret service, and commanded its successor, the FSB.
VIDEO – Russia says Prigozhin, head of the Wagner Group, was on plane that crashed
disfigured face
In 2004, Ukrainian Viktor Yushchenko, who was contesting the presidential election with Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych, an ally of Putin, was poisoned with dioxin, a type of Agent Orange, which left him with a disfigured face. The official count gave victory to Yanukovich. Ukrainians took to the streets, protesting fraud, in the movement called the Orange Revolution. The Ukrainian court annulled the election and called a new one, in which Yushchenko was elected president.
Cup of tea
Also in 2004, investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya felt sick and suddenly lost consciousness after drinking a cup of tea on a flight to the city of Beslan, where she was going to cover the siege of a school by Chechen terrorists. The siege ended with the invasion of FSB agents and the death of 333 people, 186 of them children. The journalist survived and was shot dead two years later, on Putin’s birthday.
Polonium
In 2006, former FSB agent Alexander Litvinenko died in London after being poisoned with polonium 210, a radioactive element. Litvinenko was investigating abuses committed by FSB agents in Syria.
VIDEO – Putin opponent Alexei Navalny is sentenced to more than 19 years
Novichok
In 2018, another former Russian spy, Sergey Skripal, was poisoned by a nerve gas in Salisbury, also in the UK. Skripal survived. The agent was identified by British investigators as Novichok, developed by the Soviets.
Novichok was used again two years later against opposition leader Alexey Navalny. Like the journalist, he also felt sick after having tea at the airport in Tomsk, Siberia. Navalny fell into a coma, and was transported to a hospital in Berlin specializing in poisoning.
Recovered, the opposition leader returned to Moscow, and was arrested upon disembarking, accused of inciting extremism, among other crimes. He was initially sentenced to nine years in prison and then to a cumulative 19 years.
Navalny is confined to solitary confinement in a maximum security prison in Melekhovo, 250 kilometers east of Moscow.
Source: CNN Brasil
Bruce Belcher is a seasoned author with over 5 years of experience in world news. He writes for online news websites and provides in-depth analysis on the world stock market. Bruce is known for his insightful perspectives and commitment to keeping the public informed.
