Prigozhin body identified by missing finger, confirmed by Wagner
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The morgue, which houses both bodies of Prigozhin and his deputy after the plane crash, killed all 10 on board has been cordoned off by police.
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In this Sept. 20, 2010 photo, late Wagner PMC chief and businessman Yevgeny Prigozhin shows Vladimir Putin around his facility that produces school meals outside St. Petersburg, Russia (AP)
A new report confirms that the body of Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin has been identified in a Russian morgue by a commander of the PMC group.
According to the VChK-OGPU Telegram channel, a missing part of Prigozhin's finger on his left hand, an injury he suffered during his time at a penal colony decades ago, helped identify him.
As for Dmitry Utkin, the co-founder whom the Wagner Group is named after, was identified by his tattoos, according to the channel.
The morgue, which houses both bodies after the plane crash killed all 10 on board in the Tver region, has been cordoned off by police.
Rumors initially pointed to Prigozhin potentially dodging death by using a body double or registering for a flight he didn't intend to be on to divert possible assassinations. However, on Thursday, reports surfaced of evidence that he was on board the doomed plane, and Wagner confirmed that Prigozhin's phone was found next to one of the bodies.
Read more: Zelensky says Ukraine has nothing to do with Prigozhin's death
Fake deaths
The Baza Telegram channel stated that the bodies were severely burned and "many body parts were torn off" due to the impact, citing sources who said DNA has been transferred for testing.
An investigator who has previous experience working with high-profile plane crashes, Ivan Sibula, is said by RBC to be in charge of handling the Prigozhin case. So far, Artyom Stepanov is being pursued by police as a result of having access to the plane and skipping town before it went down, per several Russian media organizations.
Meanwhile, family members of several Wagner members are refusing to accept that the men are dead, claiming that the deaths have been faked to either stop paying the men under their command or the family members of those killed.
In a private chat per MSK1.ru, one relative said: "It’s not a fact that [Prigozhin] is dead. This is just an excuse not to take responsibility before the relatives of the dead. He will continue living under a different name".
Another family member was quoted saying: "I also think they deliberately started this rumor so they could worm out," adding, "If there’s no ringleader, that means there’s no one to ask."
In response to the death, Russian President Vladimir Putin said during a meeting with Donetsk People's Republic chief Denis Pushilin that he "would like to note that these are people who have made a significant contribution to our common cause of fighting the neo-Nazi regime in Ukraine," something he stated Russia "will not forget" about the group's members.
Russia’s Ministry of Emergency Situations confirmed that a private plane on its way from Moscow to St. Petersburg crashed in the Tver Region on Wednesday, announcing that the incident killed all 10 people aboard.
Putin extended his condolences to the families of those deceased and described Prigozhin as someone talented who made "serious mistakes in life."
