WASHINGTON – The US Department of Defense on Thursday stated there was at present no data to recommend {that a} surface-to-air missile took down the aircraft presumed to be carrying Russian mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin.
Air Force Brigadier General Patrick Ryder, a Pentagon spokesperson, supplied no proof or additional particulars on what U.S. officers consider brought on the crash as he made his remarks at a Pentagon news convention.
Reuters had reported earlier on Thursday that the United States was quite a few theories over what brought on Prigozhin’s aircraft to crash, and cited two U.S. officers saying a surface-to-air missile possible hit it.
The officers, who spoke on situation of anonymity, careworn that the data was nonetheless preliminary and underneath evaluate, and didn’t rule out a change to the evaluation.
“We don’t have any information to indicate right now the press reporting stating that there was some type of surface-to-air missile that took down the plane,” Ryder informed reporters.
Russian air authorities have stated Prigozhin, his right-hand man Dmitry Utkin, and eight different folks have been on the personal aircraft that crashed with no survivors northwest of Moscow on Wednesday.
The Wall Street Journal on Thursday reported a unique idea, citing unnamed U.S. officers: {that a} bomb aboard the plane or another sabotage brought on the crash.
It is just not unusual for there to be competing, even contradictory, intelligence views within the U.S. authorities within the hours and days after main worldwide occasions.
The crash got here two months to the day after Prigozhin and his Wagner mercenaries staged a mutiny by which they took management of a southern metropolis, Rostov, and superior in the direction of Moscow.
U.S. President Joe Biden stated on Wednesday that he was not shocked by studies Prigozhin had died in a aircraft crash, including not a lot occurs in Russia that President Vladimir Putin was not behind.
Putin on Thursday stated he wished to specific honest condolences to the households of those that died, and stated it was essential to await the result of the official investigation. Prigozhin, 62, head of the Wagner mercenary group, incessantly criticized the Russian military prime brass over what he stated was its incompetent prosecution of the battle in Ukraine.
The Embraer govt jet mannequin that crashed in Russia had solely recorded one accident in additional than 20 years of service, and that was not associated to mechanical failure. — Reuters
Source: www.gmanetwork.com
