Brussels, Belgium: Peter Stano, the spokesman for the European Foreign Service, said at a briefing in Brussels that the European Union does not have reliable information on the incident with Prigozhin’s plane and Russia’s sources couldn’t be trusted.
Following the Plane crash during his flight from Moscow to St. Petersburg, Prigozhin was thought to be among ten people killed in a plane crash in Russia on Wednesday evening.
According to the Russian authorities, the bodies of dead passengers, including Wagner’s chief Prigozhin, have been recovered and sent for DNA verification.
During a briefing in Brussels, Belgium, Spokesperson Peter Stano clarified that EU doesn’t have any reliable information or evidence which claims that Wagner’s boss is dead.
“We have seen reports of a plane crash in which, allegedly, Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of the Wagner group, members of his entourage, the crew died … However, like many other things in Russia, it is challenging for us to verify this,” he said.
The European Union does not have reliable information on the incident with Prigozhin's plane
Therefore, the EU will not comment on it and its possible consequences, Peter Stano, spokesman for the European Foreign Service, said at a briefing in Brussels.
“We have seen reports… pic.twitter.com/aomNC45i6Y
— Sprinter (@Sprinter99800) August 24, 2023
The EU spokesperson Stano gave the statement mentioned above due to Russia’s unreliable sources and history of spreading false claims. Confirming Prigozhin’s death is challenging for West due to another plane conspiracy theory and staged death incident in 2019.
A journalist from Kyiv named John Sweeney pointed out that Prigozhin was believed to have died in 2019 when his plane crashed in Congo. However, it was later discovered that Prigozhin was not on the plane, and he reappeared three days later.
Another private plane belonging to Prigozhin was believed to be airborne during the crash. After the disaster, the other plane made zigzags in the sky above Moscow and then flew to St. Petersburg. Later, the business jet returned to Ostafievo airport near Moscow.
No one knows who was inside the second plane, and no visual evidence of Prigozhin’s death has been shared by Russian authorities yet. Russian authorities also seized the crash site, only letting limited investigators enter.
It was anticipated that Wagner’s boss might be in the second plane. The conspiracy made the entire world doubt whether he was dead or faked his death again.
Russian President Vladimir Putin also mourns Prigozhin’s death and sends condolences to his family, saying that Prigozhin and Wagner helped Russia a lot in their fight against Ukraine.
President Putin calls Prigozhin a very talented businessman with a complicated fate. He mentioned that Prigozhin made some mistakes and got the results.
However, even though Russian authorities and President Putin confirmed the demise of Wagner’s chief, Yevgeny Prigozhin, the West is still in doubt.
