The downed Russian jet carried Wagner's hierarchy, from Prigozhin's No. 2 to his bodyguards

[Eugene]

Source: Associated Press

The downed Russian jet carried Wagner’s hierarchy, from Prigozhin’s No. 2 to his bodyguards

BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Updated 10:42 AM EDT, August 24, 2023

The passenger manifest of the plane that went down in Russia is essentially a who’s who of Wagner mercenaries, including its second-in-command, who baptized the group with his nom de guerre, as well as the logistics chief, a fighter wounded by U.S. airstrikes in Syria and at least one possible bodyguard.

And, of course, Yevgeny Prigozhin himself, Wagner’s leader and mutineer, who many believed was a marked man after his short-lived uprising in June against the Russian military.

In all, the other passengers included six of Prigozhin’s lieutenants, along with the three-member flight crew. For company leaders who were called out by the Kremlin as traitors to travel together on a single flight appeared to be an extraordinary breach of security. The purpose of the trip was unknown.

“The decision to put so many senior-level people on one plane was a poor decision, as key figures should always fly separately,” said Lou Osborn, author of a forthcoming book on the mercenaries. “Prigozhin was feeling overconfident. He might have genuinely been made to feel like he was pardoned.”

-snip-

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-wagner-prigozhin-jet-crash-f6cf109ccf19fea4cb87993c8f2d6aaa

[underpants]

1. Putin got a lot of bang for his buck

Too soon?

[Hermit-The-Prog]

2. Putini must stretch his pennies, er, rubles due to sanctions.

Might not have enough left to help the Gangsters Of Putini.

Tiny little Mussolini-wannabe is so mistreated by the world.

[rubbersole]

3. ☄️⚰️🪦 🤭

[NotASurfer]

4. How many boarded under their own power?

This is Putin's Russia we're looking at, and he might have wanted to guarantee the bang for his buck