There is no information that Prigozhin's plane was hit by a missile.

US Air Force Brigadier General Patrick Ryder, a Pentagon spokesman, did not provide further comments or details on the US official's view on the cause of the plane crash during a news conference at the Pentagon.

Reuters reported on Thursday that the US government was investigating several theories about the cause of the crash of the plane carrying Mr. Prigozhin and quoted two US officials as saying that a surface-to-air missile could have hit the plane.

The two officials requested to remain anonymous and also affirmed that the information they mentioned was only preliminary, being verified and it was entirely possible that those assessments could change.

“At this time, we have no information to support the theory that the press is putting forward that a surface-to-air missile may have shot down this aircraft,” Mr. Ryders said.

Russian aviation authorities said Mr Prigozhin, close adviser Dmitry Utkin and eight others were on board the plane when it crashed northwest of Moscow on Wednesday.

This satellite image shows the site of a plane crash near Kuzhenkino, Tver region, Russia, on August 24, 2023. Photo: PLANET LABS PBC/Via REUTERS.

On Thursday, the Wall Street Journal also reported another theory, citing unnamed US officials: A bomb planted on the plane or some other method of sabotage caused the crash.

It is not unusual for conflicting intelligence views to coexist within the US government in the immediate aftermath of a major international event.

The plane crash came two months after Mr Prigozhin and the Wagner group staged a coup in which they seized the southern Russian city of Rostov and moved troops towards Moscow.

US President Joe Biden said on Wednesday that he was not surprised to hear that Mr Prigozhin had died in a plane crash, adding that there was not much going on in Russia and that Mr Putin was unlikely to be behind the incident.

On Thursday, Mr. Putin sent his sincere condolences to the families of those killed and said it was necessary to wait for the conclusions of the official investigation.

Mr Prigozhin, 62, director of the private military group Wagner, has frequently criticised the top echelons of the Russian military, accusing it of poor performance in the war in Ukraine.

The Embraer private jet involved in the crash had been involved in only one accident in its 20 years of operation, and that accident was not related to mechanical failure.

Nguyen Quang Minh (according to Reuters)

Source: https://www.nguoiduatin.vn/khong-co-thong-tin-cho-thay-may-bay-cua-prigozhin-bi-ten-lua-tan-cong-a623381.html