Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin long feared he’d be assassinated on his $10M private jet before it was ‘blown up’ – and used elaborate ruses and disguises to travel incognito

Long before his private jet crashed into the ground last week, Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin feared the plane could be the means to kill him, a new report has found.

The Wagner mercenary exploited a web of deception as he traveled in the $10 million Embraer Legacy 600, frequently disabling the transponder and making last-minute changes to flight plans and passenger lists. Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday.

The business jet was carrying Prigozhin and his top lieutenants when it crashed midway between Moscow and Saint Petersburg on August 23, killing all seven passengers and three crew members.

The crash came just two months after Prigozhin began a short-lived armed uprising against Russia’s military leadership, which posed the greatest challenge to President Vladimir Putin’s authority during his 23-year rule.

The Kremlin has denied involvement in the crash, but initial US intelligence assessments suggest Prigozhin was killed, possibly by a bomb aboard the plane.

Prigozhin used a web of deception as he traveled on the $10 million Embraer Legacy 600 (see above), frequently turning off the transponder and making last-minute changes to the flight plan

Prigozhin had been living under US sanctions for years, with a US $10 million bounty on his head, and had mastered the art of incognito travel.

According to the Journal, the plane on which Prigozhin died had changed registration and jurisdiction several times since a Seychelles-based company associated with Prigozhin took it over in 2018 from a company registered in the British tax haven of the Isle of Man.

For a one-way trip to the African countries where Wagner has contracts, Prigozhin sometimes shuffled between two or three different planes, the outlet reported.

The jet’s crew often traveled with fake passports and reviewed passenger lists just before takeoff, then radioed air traffic control mid-flight to announce a sudden change of destination.

Prigozhin was known to travel around in elaborate disguises, including beards and fake military uniforms, posing as an Arab warlord.

He also held regular meetings on his plane at one of the few airports where he could land, ready for a quick escape if something went wrong.

Meanwhile, the Kremlin spokesman said Wednesday that “intentional misconduct” is one of the possible causes of the plane crash that killed Prigozhin.

Rescue workers work at the site of Prigozhin’s plane crash near the village of Kuzhenkino, Tver region, Russia on August 23, 2023

Flames are seen after Yevgeny Prigozhin’s plane crashed in Russia’s Tver region

In his daily conference call, Presidential Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov told reporters that “several versions” of what happened exist and are “being considered” by Russian investigators, including, “Let’s put it this way: willful misconduct.”

The Interstate Aviation Committee, the Moscow-based body that oversees civil aviation in most of the former Soviet republics, said in an online statement Wednesday that it is not currently investigating the crash, although the agency has an accident investigation department.

Peskov said there could be no international investigation into why the plane crashed and urged reporters to wait for the Russian Commission of Inquiry to complete its investigation.

The commission said last week it has opened a criminal case to investigate potential flight safety violations, a standard procedure in Russia when there is no immediate reason to suspect foul play.

Prigozhin, 62, was buried in St Petersburg, his hometown, in a private ceremony shrouded in secrecy until Tuesday evening when his spokesmen revealed the location of his grave.

Russian investigators inspect part of a crashed private jet near the village of Kuzhenkino, Tver region, Russia, on August 24

A portrait of Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of the Wagner Group, lies on flowers on the grave at the Porokhovskoye cemetery in St Petersburg, Russia, on Wednesday.

Western officials and analysts expect the private Wagner army to continue to operate, especially in Africa’s Sahel region, where Russian mercenaries have provided security against extremist organizations such as Al-Qaeda and Islamic State.

“I am sure they will find a replacement” for Prigozhin, European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said Wednesday after chairing talks between EU defense ministers.

“Wagner will continue to operate in the service of Putin in Africa, and do what they do, which does not contribute to peace in the Sahel or the defense of the rights of Saharawi Africans,” Borrell said.

Africa is of crucial importance to Russia – economically and politically.

This summer, Wagner helped secure a national referendum in the Central African Republic, strengthening presidential power; it is an important partner for the Malian army in the fight against armed rebels; and it contacted the military junta in Niger that wants its services after a coup.

Expanding ties and undermining Western influence in Africa is a top priority as the Kremlin seeks new allies during its war in Ukraine, where Wagner fighters helped Russia win a long and bloody battle for the city of Bakhmut.

Africa’s 54 countries form the largest voting bloc at the UN, and Moscow has been actively working to muster their support for its invasion.