On August 23, local time, a private jet flying from Moscow, the capital of Russia, to St. Petersburg crashed in Tver Oblast, western Russia, killing all people on board. The Russian Federal Air Transport Agency confirmed that Prigozhin, founder of the Wagner Group, a Russian private military contractor, was on the passenger list of the crashed plane.
Some foreign media and social media accounts noted that the list included almost all the senior leaders of the Wagner Group, but did not include Andrei Troshev, codenamed "Gray Hair". He is Wagner's "new speaker" proposed by Russian President Putin after the Wagner "rebellion" incident.
According to the Daily Express, a former MI6 intelligence officer also said in an interview with the BBC that he believed Troshev could replace Wagner after Prigozhin's death in the crash.
Interfax quoted Russia's emergency department as saying that the remains of all 10 victims on board have been found and the search operation has ended. "Moscow Komsomolskaya" reported on the 24th that the bodies of the victims have been transported by funeral van to the forensic medical department for examination.
According to the list of personnel of the crashed aircraft published by the Russian Federal Air Transport Agency, it was confirmed that Prigozhin, founder of the Russian private military contractor Wagner Group, and Commander Utkin, one of the founders of Wagner, were on the crashed plane.
Qatar's Al Jazeera earlier quoted Deutsche Presse as reporting that Prigozhin's body had been preliminarily identified, but DNA analysis was still ongoing.
The list shows that in addition to the 3 crew members, among the 7 passengers were almost all the top leaders of the Wagner Group: Prigozhin, Utkin, as well as Prigozhin's senior assistant Valery Chekalov, Sergei Propstein, who participated in the Second Chechen War and worked in Prigozhin's personal guard unit, Yevgeny Makaryan, Alexander Totmin and Nikolai Matuev, who fought in Syria.
"[Utkin's death] was obviously a major blow to Wagner, but that doesn't mean Wagner doesn't have other reputable senior commanders." Chris Steele said in an interview with the BBC on the 23rd, that he served as an intelligence officer for MI6 from 1987 to 2009.
Referring to Andrei Troshev, who did not appear in the list of victims, he said he was capable of taking over as leader of Wagner, "He played a very important role in the Wagner group, especially in Ukraine, and in some of Wagner's past operations in Africa and Syria." ”
Former MI6 intelligence officer Chris Steele Pictured from the BBC
According to an interview published in the Russian newspaper Kommersant in early July, Russian President Vladimir Putin met with Prigozhin and other members of the group on June 29 after the "Wagner One-Day Mutiny." Putin said he offered several options for the future of Wagner's personnel, including that a man codenamed "Gray Hair" who had served as de facto commander for the past 16 months continued to lead the group.
"Everything will remain the same. They will accept the leadership of the person who has always been their actual commander. Putin said that after he said this, "the majority nodded" in agreement, but Prigozhin objected, saying that he "did not agree with that decision."
At the time, Putin did not specify who "white hair" specifically referred to. However, many media including Reuters and CNN have quoted European sanctions documents as saying that the "gray hair" is retired Russian colonel Andrei Troshev.
Screenshot of the video of Andrei Troshev, codenamed "Gray Hair" on the TV station "Russia 1"
According to the local St. Petersburg newspaper "Fontanka Zeitung", "gray hair" was also a member of the Special Rapid Response Detachment (SOBR) of the Northwestern Federal District of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs. Reuters said that Troshev fought for a long time in Chechnya and Afghanistan, and after the collapse of the Soviet Union, he was transferred to serve in the Russian North Caucasus Military District, and later joined the SOBR and served as a commander.
For his performance in the Soviet-Afghan war, Troshev was awarded two orders of the Red Star of the USSR. According to Russian media reports, Troshev was later awarded two Medals of Courage and one Medal of Merit to the Motherland of the Second Class for his performance in Chechnya. In 2016, he was awarded Russia's highest medal "Hero of Russia" in recognition of his performance in Syria. In December of the same year, he was invited to a reception in the Kremlin.
Since the establishment of the Wagner Group in 2014, Troshev is considered one of the executive directors and founders of the Wagner Group, through which the Wagner organization communicates and coordinates with the Russian Ministry of Defense.
After being "handpicked" by Putin, many foreign media speculated that Troshev may become the new leader of some Wagner members who remain in Russia. Russian media said earlier that Wagner personnel who did not participate in the rebellion will sign a service contract with the Russian Ministry of Defense, and the rest of Wagner personnel will not be held accountable.
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