By Entorno and AFP | 2023-08-24

KUZHENKINO, Russia -- Russian authorities are investigating the Wednesday (August 23) plane crash that took the lives of all seven passengers and three crew members.

Aboard the plane, according to authorities, were Wagner Group chief Yevgeny Prigozhin and the mercenary force's co-founder, Dmitry "Wagner" Utkin.

The plane was traveling between Moscow and St. Petersburg.

Foreign observers, accustomed to the Kremlin's many deception and disinformation operations, were awaiting further confirmation of the dead passengers' identities and of the cause of the crash.

Wagner's toehold in Latin America

The Wagner Group is notorious for looting natural resources, murdering civilians and backing dictators in Africa and the Middle East, as well as for brutally participating in the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Moreover, it had sought to expand its footprint to include Latin America in recent years.

In February, the Wagner Group "was planning on discreetly sending emissaries to Haiti to meet with the government about a private contract to help fight gangs," the Miami Herald reported in April, citing leaked US intelligence documents.

"A top Haitian government official told the Herald that there has been no discussion between any representative of Wagner and Prime Minister Ariel Henry," the Herald added.

In January 2019, Wagner mercenaries flew to Venezuela to protect President Nicolas Maduro during a period of opposition protests, Reuters reported at the time.

Fateful anniversary

The crash occurred exactly two months after the Wagner Group attempted to topple Russia's military leadership, shedding light on political discord in Russia.

Prigozhin's short-lived rebellion was seen as the biggest challenge to Russian President Vladimir Putin's authority since he came to power.

The mutiny ended with a deal under which Prigozhin was expected to move to neighboring Belarus with some of his men, where they began training the ex-Soviet country's special forces.

But the fate of Prigozhin remained unclear: he seemed to enjoy a certain amount of freedom and in July took part in a meeting at the Kremlin where he refused to cede command of Wagner.

Still, he mostly remained out of the public eye.

Russian aerospace force Gen. Sergei Surovikin also disappeared from public view following the failed mutiny in June.

A source told RIA Novosti on Wednesday that Surovikin "has been relieved of his post".

Surovikin -- nicknamed "General Armageddon" for his ruthless methods -- was a leading commander in Moscow's invasion of Ukraine and had long been seen as a Wagner ally in the Defense Ministry.

Anger, grief in Russia

Telegram channels linked to Wagner on Wednesday posted footage -- that independent journalists could not independently verify -- showing the wreckage of the plane burning in a field.

Some photos appeared to show damage from a surface-to-air-missile in parts of the downed aircraft.

In St. Petersburg, mourners laid flowers and patches bearing the Wagner skull logo at a makeshift memorial outside the mercenary force's headquarters.

Wagner followers posted messages offering condolences, blaming Russia's air defenses for downing the plane, and vowing revenge against Putin and Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu.

"The assassination of Prigozhin will have catastrophic consequences," Roman Saponkov, a Russian military journalist, wrote on Telegram. "The people who gave the order do not understand the mood in the army and the level of morale [in the army]."

No surprise in Washington

Washington reacted swiftly to initial reports of the crash.

"I don't know for a fact what happened, but I'm not surprised," US President Joe Biden said Wednesday.

"There's not much that happens in Russia that Putin's not behind," he said.

White House National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson also said Wednesday that no one should be surprised about Prigozhin's sudden death, if confirmed.

"The disastrous war in Ukraine led to a private army marching on Moscow, and now -- it would seem -- to this," she said.