Yevgeny Prigozhin, who led a failed mutiny against Russian President Vladimir Putin, was not the only Wagner mercenary chieftain on a plane that crashed in western Russia yesterday, Wednesday, August 23, 2023.
Authorities say all 10 people on board were killed after the private aircraft came down near the village of Kuzhenkino.
Besides Prigozhin and his right-hand man Dimitry Utkin, there were five other Wagner chiefs on the plane, according to Russia’s aviation authority. A BBC report has this to say about them:
VALERIY CHEKALOV
One of Prigozhin’s closest friends, Chekalov had been with the Wagner leader since the 2000s, according to Russia observer Giorgi Revishvili.
Not only was he in charge of Wagner’s logistics, he also oversaw Prigozhin’s contracts supplying food to the military, as well as overseas projects involving geological exploration, oil production, or agriculture.
He was linked to Evropolis, a company which struck a lucrative oil deal with Syria and was paying Wagner fighters and procuring arms, according to investigative group All Eyes on Wagner.
Chekalov had been targeted by US sanctions for acting on behalf of Prigozhin and supplying arms to Russia.
YEVGENY MAKARYAN
A former district police officer, Makaryan joined Wagner in March 2016, according to investigative site Dossier Center.
He had fought for the mercenary group in Syria, and his callsign was “Makar”.
SERGEY PROPUSTIN
A Wagner fighter since 2015, Propustin used the callsign “Kedr” and had fought in the second Chechen war, according to Revishvili.
Dossier Center said he came from a unit which supplied Prigozhin with many of his personal bodyguards.
ALEXANDER TOTMIN
Known by his callsign “Tot”, Totmin often posted pictures on Instagram of his flashy lifestyle, according to journalist Michael D Weiss.
NIKOLAY MATUSEEV
While Dossier Center was unable to find a person with that name on Russian lists, they found a ‘Nikolai Matusevich’ who has fought with Wagner since 2017.
