Russia has taken the decision of not probing the plane crash of the Brazilian-made Embraer jet that killed Wagner group chief Yevgeny Prigozhin under international rules “at the moment”, Brazil’s aircraft investigation authority exclusively told Reuters.
The crash, which occurred last week, killed Prigozhin, two top lieutenants of Wagner Group and four bodyguards. A total of 10 people died when the Embraer Legacy 600 crashed north of Moscow.
Prigozhin’s death came two months after he led a mutiny against the Russian defence establishment that posed the biggest challenge to President Vladimir Putin’s rule since he rose to power in 1999.
Brazil’s Center for Research and Prevention of Aeronautical Accidents (CENIPA) had said it would join a Russia-led probe in case it is invited and the probe was held under international rules.
CENIPA said Russia is not obliged to open such a probe after it sent an email last week asking Russia if it wanted to look into the matter. “They are not obliged, only recommended to do that,” CENIPA head Air Brigadier Marcelo Moreno told Reuters.
He added that if Russia agrees to open such an investigation and invite them, they will “participate from afar”.
Russia’s investigation authority is not obligated to agree with CENIPA, however, some former investigators said it should.
Russia suspected of killing Prigozhin
While Russia denies any involvement in Prigozhin’s death, the US and other Western governments suspect the Kremlin of being behind the August 23 crash.
The US aviation safety consultant and former investigator John Cox said an internal probe by Russia would be questioned if Brazil is not involved in it.
“I think it’s very sad,” Cox said after being told of the Russian response. “I think it hurts the transparency of the Russian investigation.”
CENIPA said in an emailed statement it got the response from the Interstate Aviation Committee – Commission on Accident Investigation (IAC) on Tuesday, with the Russian authority saying it would not open for now a probe under Annex 13.
In air crash investigations, experts work to improve aviation safety without assigning blame, but probes are often tainted by political interests.
CENIPA and manufacturer Embraer want to prevent future accidents but face challenges in getting information from the investigation due to sanctions on Russia and Moscow’s reluctance to allow outside scrutiny.
(With Reuters inputs)