Russian Civil War

[lpm]

Hilarious. How could he have been so stupid?

[Gfamily]

Hilarious. How could he have been so stupid?

Did the plane fly into an upstairs window?
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-66599733

[Grumble]

Hilarious. How could he have been so stupid?

Did the plane fly into an upstairs window?
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-66599733

We appear to have shot this plane down. Oh dear, how sad.

[lpm]

Lol, some journalist actually typed the words "the cause of the crash is not clear". How much clearer can Putin make it?

[Woodchopper]

Lol, some journalist actually typed the words "the cause of the crash is not clear". How much clearer can Putin make it?

Well there’s a bomb, missile ….

[Grumble]

How much does the existence of Wagner depend on Prigohzin? I know it’s not the only game in town.

[Grumble]

Lol, some journalist actually typed the words "the cause of the crash is not clear". How much clearer can Putin make it?

Well there’s a bomb, missile ….

Taking a thermometer on board…

[lpm]

From twitter:

not a plane crash - it's a special landing operation

[lpm]

Lol, some journalist actually typed the words "the cause of the crash is not clear". How much clearer can Putin make it?

Well there’s a bomb, missile ….

Taking a thermometer on board…

Not putting his phone on Airplane mode.

[Woodchopper]

Anyway, I’m not going to believe Prigozhin is dead until we’ve waited a few months. Possible he’ll turn up somewhere wearing a false beard and his double was on the plane.

[EACLucifer]

Anyway, I’m not going to believe Prigozhin is dead until we’ve waited a few months. Possible he’ll turn up somewhere wearing a false beard and his double was on the plane.

Ah, so that's what air defence doing. Hope reports that Utkin was on board were true, world could do without the likes of him.

[EACLucifer]

Anyway, by far the funniest version of events would be that it was an unauthorised act of revenge by a Russian pilot who remembered that intel plane and the helicopters Wagner downed during their march on Moscow.

[TimW]

MOSCOW, August 23. /TASS/. A private jet crashed in the Tver Region north of Moscow on Wednesday. All 10 people onboard were killed, according to preliminary data. Businessman Yevgeny Prigozhin was listed as a passenger, the Russian aviation agency said.

TASS has put together some key facts about the crash.
What happened

- An Embraer jet crashed near the Kuzhenkino settlement in the Tver Region north of Moscow.

- The jet was carrying three crew and seven passengers. They were all killed, the Russian Emergency Situations Ministry said.
The plane’s destination

- The aircraft was heading from Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport to St. Petersburg.

- The list of passengers includes Yevgeny Prigozhin, the Russian aviation agency said.
Official reaction

- The Russian aviation agency has launched an investigation into the crash.

- Law enforcement officers and first responders are working at the scene.

- Tver Region Governor Igor Rudenya has taken the investigation under his personal supervision.

No doubt they'll get to the bottom of it, and a sketchy explanation will be provided.

[Grumble]

Anyway, by far the funniest version of events would be that it was an unauthorised act of revenge by a Russian pilot who remembered that intel plane and the helicopters Wagner downed during their march on Moscow.

Definitely a terrorist attack.

[headshot]

Perhaps he had a 101ml bottle of liquids in his bag.

[EACLucifer]

Russian TV confirms Prigozhin is dead

In such situations it's often been noted that a few rounds at point blank are an effective confirmation.

[Grumble]

RIP Prigohzin mate

[TimW]

Footage shows a plane plummeting. So... a bomb took the tail off? Or what?

[EACLucifer]

Footage shows a plane plummeting. So... a bomb took the tail off? Or what?

Shot down. Some sources are claiming a Pantsir did it - that's a mobile SAM system which gained a poor reputation after footage of them being picked off by slow flying Bayraktar TB-2s in the first month of the war - but I suppose an air-to-air shootdown can't be conclusively ruled out.

The second funniest scenario, I suppose, is that some Pantsir operator mistook the jet for one of the Bobers that have visited Moscow repeatedly in recent days, and the whole thing was actually one big misunderstanding.

[TimW]

The Spectator is saying a wing was missing. I suppose that would do it.

[EACLucifer]

I note Surovikin, one of Russia's best generals in terms of actual performance this war, was formally relieved of his role in the last few days. He's been missing presumed detained since Prigozhin's march on Moscow, presumably for not intervening against it, though he did denounce it. If I had to guess, I'd say VVP waited until he'd purged the armed forces of those who would side with Wagner group before schwacking Prigozhin.

[dyqik]

Anyway, by far the funniest version of events would be that it was an unauthorised act of revenge by a Russian pilot who remembered that intel plane and the helicopters Wagner downed during their march on Moscow.

And the funniest outcome is that Wagner turns on Russian regular air defence forces in retribution.

[lpm]

Spoilered for being ghoulish:

Spoiler:

A video (I won't link) shows it took the fairly intact plane over 40 seconds from missile to hitting the ground.

Hopefully the flight attendant wasn't wearing a seat belt and was unconscious immediately. Hopefully the war criminals were conscious all the way down.

[EACLucifer]

Anyway, by far the funniest version of events would be that it was an unauthorised act of revenge by a Russian pilot who remembered that intel plane and the helicopters Wagner downed during their march on Moscow.

And the funniest outcome is that Wagner turns on Russian regular air defence forces in retribution.

Hopefully we'll get an outcome that keeps this thread busy and relevant for a while.

[TimW]

The Main Investigative Department of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation started a criminal investigation into potential violations of air transportation safety and operation rules.