“Premeditated villainous act” among lines of inquiry in Prigozhin’s plane crash: Kremlin

MOSCOW: Even as conclusions are yet to be drawn from the official investigation into the plane crash that resulted in the death of Wagner Private Military Company (PMC) chief Yevgeny Prigozhin, Kremlin has said a “premeditated villainous act” is one line of inquiry that investigators are currently pursuing, Russia's state media TASS reported.

Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov's remarks came in response to a media query on Wednesday about whether the investigation could feature an international dimension.

"The circumstances are different now. In this case, there is a completely different situation involving this airplane crash. Since there are no conclusions from the investigators yet, I cannot word it with precision, but it is obvious that there are different lines of inquiry, with - you know what we are talking about - let's say, a premeditated villainous act being among them," the Kremlin spokesman said.

He urged the media to wait for the official findings of the current investigation being carried out by the Investigative Committee of Russia, TASS reported.

"The investigation is underway. The Investigative Committee is in charge. This is an entirely Russian investigation. No international aspect is on the agenda," Peskov emphasized.

The funeral of Wagner Group chief Yevgeny Prigozhin — who was killed in a plane crash last week — was held privately "in a closed format,” CNN reported on Wednesday.

However, Concord Management, the company Prigozhin owned didn’t specify when the funeral took place. Video and images showed that Prigozhin had been buried next to his father. Images analyzed by CNN show a headstone next to Prigozhin's burial site that reads: "Viktor Evgenievich Prigozhin 1935-1970."

Notably, Prigozhin was confirmed dead by Russian investigators on August 27. He was among the 10 people killed when their plane crashed on August 23.

The crash came exactly two months after Prigozhin — who was once called President Vladimir Putin's "personal chef" — led an armed insurrection against the Russian leader. Prigozhin, whose fighters secured “rare victories” for the Kremlin on the battlefield, had railed against the country’s military brass over their handling of the Ukraine war, according to CNN.