Smiling Putin enjoys a kiss from female admirer after his former friend Prigozhin’s plane explodes – as the Russian leader shows no sign of misery

A smiling Vladimir Putin enjoyed a kiss from a fan and soaked in the adulation of a crowd at an event in Russia, shortly after the plane of his former friend and Wagner warlord Yevgeny Prigozhin exploded.

Prigozhin, once a close ally of Putin before he launched a mutiny against him in June, has been listed by Russian authorities as one of 10 passengers aboard a doomed plane that crashed into a ball of flames. killing everyone on board.

But as reports circulated that Wagner’s feared boss had been assassinated, Putin showed no signs of misery last night at a concert celebrating the 80th anniversary of the Soviet victory at the Battle of Kursk in World War II.

The video shows the dictator, surrounded by bodyguards, walking into a cheering crowd shouting “we are with you, we love you” before a woman in a pink jacket shouts: “Vladimir Vladimirovich.” [Putin]my favorite.’

Putin, enjoying the attention, let the woman walk past his bodyguards to plant an enthusiastic kiss on her face.

‘One kiss and I love you. Thank you, stay healthy, “he told Putin, to which the smiling dictator replied:” Same thing.

Putin, enjoying the attention, let the woman walk past his bodyguards to plant an enthusiastic kiss on her face.

Prigozhin has been listed by Russian authorities as one of 10 passengers aboard a doomed plane that crashed into a ball of flames, killing all on board, two months to the day he led a brief community rally against Moscow.

And during a speech at a summit of the BRICS group of nations this morning, Putin again made no mention of Prigozhin and the collapse.

Since the pandemic and the start of the war, Putin has rarely allowed people to spontaneously approach him for health and safety reasons.

The footage shows him unusually relaxed after a speech about the key battle at an event in Kursk, Russia, despite knowing that his former friend had likely been killed in the horrific plane crash some three hours earlier.

And during a speech at a summit of the BRICS group of nations this morning, Putin again made no mention of Prigozhin and the collapse.

For years, Prigozhin was a staunch ally of Putin, hosting banquets in the Kremlin, providing catering services for the Russian government, running farms of propaganda trolls, and creating a ruthless private army, Wagner.

However, his attempt at a brief mutiny against Moscow in June was seen as a betrayal by the dictator.

While it has been mentioned that Prigozhin was aboard the doomed plane that crashed, there has still been no confirmation that the warlord, who has been a thorn in Putin’s side since the Ukraine war began, has dead.

The Investigative Committee of Russia, which is investigating the accident, confirmed this morning that 10 people died in the accident without mentioning Prigozhin.

But while there has been no official confirmation of Prigozhin’s death, supporters of the warlord claimed he is dead and hailed him as a hero and patriot who they said had died at the hands of unidentified people they called ” traitors to Russia”.

On Thursday morning at the crash site, Russian officials carried black body bags out of a wooded area on a stretcher. Parts of the plane’s tail and other fragments lay on the ground near where forensic investigators had pitched a tent.

Emergency specialists carry a body bag near the wreckage of the private plane linked to Wagner’s mercenary boss Yevgeny Prigozhin at the crash site in Tver region, Russia, on Thursday.

A view of the site after a private jet carrying 10 people, including Prigozhin.

Prigozhin has long-standing ties to the Kremlin and until recently led the Wagner mercenary unit.

Whoever was behind the crash, Prigozhin’s death would rid Putin of someone who had posed the most serious challenge to the Russian leader’s authority since he came to power in 1999.

Others who have opposed Putin or his interests have also been killed in unclear circumstances or near death, including political leaders and outspoken journalists. The Kremlin has always denied any state involvement in such incidents.

Prigozhin’s death would also leave the Wagner Group, which angered Putin in June by staging a failed armed mutiny against army top brass, without a leader, and raise questions about its future operations in Africa and elsewhere.

The Brazilian Embraer Legacy 600 business jet model that crashed had only one accident in more than 20 years of service, according to the International Aviation HQ website, and it was not due to mechanical failure.

Embraer said it complied with international sanctions imposed on Russia and had not provided maintenance to the plane since 2019.

A specialist works at the crash site of the private plane linked to Wagner’s mercenary boss Yevgeny Prigozhin on Thursday in the Tver region.

Plumes of smoke from the fire, said to come from the plane, could be seen for miles around, video on social media shows.

The plane showed no signs of trouble until it went down precipitously in its last 30 seconds, according to flight tracking data.

Video footage purportedly shows the plane falling from the sky in the Bologovsky district in the Tver region, 60 miles north of Moscow, on Wednesday. The burning wreckage, which appears to be that of a plane, was later seen in a field, and unconfirmed images show it completely ablaze.

Prigozhin, 62, has been increasingly cautious since he led a coup against the Putin regime exactly two months ago.

After his failure, he was warned that his life was in danger. He was known to take great care of his safety and it is rumored that he was not on board the fateful plane, despite claims by state television to the contrary.

Sources close to him said that while the plane belonged to him, he normally flew another plane.

Another plane, also allegedly linked to Prigozhin, was detected “zigzagging” over Moscow after the crash, fueling speculation that Wagner’s boss might not have been on board after all.

Available tracking data for the crashed plane appears to show that it rose to about 29,000 feet, before suddenly disappearing and dropping to 0 feet.