Convey Condolences And Promise Investigations, President Putin: I Have Known Prigozhin For A Long Time, He Made Mistakes

Russian President Vladimir Putin with Yevgeny Prigozhin. (Wikimedia (Commons/Government of the Russian Federation)

JAKARTA - Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed his condolences for the death of Yevgeny Prigozhin to the family, promising an investigation into the incident that left his close ally dead, although also calling him a mistake.

The plane carrying the leader of the Wagner Group along with a number of other passengers reportedly crashed and no one survived two months after a half-hearted uprising against the military leadership.

President Putin vowed to carry out a thorough investigation which he said would take time, saying "early data" showed Prigozhin and other Wagner officials were on the plane that crashed. The passenger list shows that Wagner's core leadership team was also killed in the crash.

Giving great respect, President Putin called Prigozhin a talented businessman who knows how to safeguard his own interests and who, when asked, can do what he can for a common purpose.

However, President Putin also described Prigozhin as a flawed character who had made several bad mistakes.

"I would like to express my most sincere condolences to the families of all the victims. This has always been a tragedy," President Putin said in a televised statement.

"I have known Prigozhin for a long time, since the early 90s. He is a man with a difficult fate, and he makes serious mistakes in life."

President Putin's comments show he harbors mixed feelings towards the former Wagner mercenaries boss.

Russian investigators have opened an investigation into the cause of the crash, but have not said what they suspected was the cause of the plane's sudden crash in northwest Moscow on Wednesday night.

The authorities have also not officially confirmed the identities of the 10 bodies found from the rubble.

Separately, US officials said Washington was considering a number of theories regarding the cause of the crash, including surface-to-air missile attacks.

Yesterday, the US Department of Defense said there was currently no information to suggest a surface-to-air missile crashed the plane.

It said the death of Prigozhin made President Putin lose a strong and clever figure, who has proven its usefulness for the Kremlin by sending its fighters to some of Ukraine's bloodiest fighting, to advancing Russia's interests in Africa, which is now likely to be reorganized.