Russian authorities confirmed on Sunday that the 10 people who died in a private plane crash north of Moscow on Aug. 23 were those on the plane’s list.
The most prominent of them was Yevgeny Prigozhin, 62, a businessman and leader of the Russian Wagner Group of mercenaries, who two months earlier led a brief revolt against the Russian military leadership. He was buried in St. Petersburg, Russia, on Tuesday.
Another was Dmitry Utkin, 53, Prigozhin’s longtime lieutenant. Wagner’s mercenary group takes its name from his call sign, which he chose to honor composer Richard Wagner, a favorite of Adolf Hitler. It was Mr. Otkin Buried outside Moscow on ThursdayAccording to Russian media reports.
The others on board were Wagner’s associates, and three were the flight crew: two pilots and a flight attendant. Here’s what The Times learned about them.
Valerie chkalov
Wagner’s head of logistics, Mr. Chekalov, 47, has overseen many of Mr. Prigozhin’s projects abroad, including in Syria and Africa, according to the Dossier Center, a London-based Russian opposition news outlet.
Last month, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs penalties imposed Mr. Chekalov for acting on behalf of Mr. Prigozhin and facilitating shipments of munitions to Russia.
He was buried on Tuesday at the Northern Cemetery in St. Petersburg, Russia.
Yevgeny Makaryan
Mr. McCarian joined Wagner in March 2016 and fought with Wagner offensive forces in Syria in 2018, according to the Dossier Center.
He was wounded that year, according to the center, when American planes responded to an attack. The New York Times reported in a recounting of the battle that pro-Syrian fighters, including Wagner mercenaries, attacked American, Kurdish and Arab forces in western Syria in one of the bloodiest battles involving American forces fighting the Islamic State.
Sergey Propostin
Mr. Propostin, aged 44, was one of Mr. Prigozhin’s bodyguards.
Local media reported that he was from Novocherkassk in Russia’s Rostov region.
He had participated in the second Chechen war, which ended in 2009, according to the “Dossier” center. Russian media reported that he was injured.
Media reports said he joined Wagner in March 2015, and moved to Saint Petersburg shortly after meeting Prigozhin, although it was not clear when that happened.
Nikolai Mateusev
The Dossier Center said it was unable to find a person with that name in Wagner’s employee lists, but it did find Nikolai Matosevic, who had served with Wagner since January 2017 and fought in Syria.
Alexander Totmin
According to his social media accounts, Mr. Totmin, 28, was also one of Mr. Prigozhin’s bodyguards. Biographical information and publications in the accounts indicate that he was a native of the Altai Territory in Western Siberia.
Alexey Levshin
Mr. Levchin was the pilot of the plane. He was from Russia’s Tambov region, which is south of Moscow and a few hundred miles east of the Ukrainian border, and had always wanted to be a pilot, according to interviews with his family members given to Russian media.
It was reported that he attended the Sasovsky Civil Aviation Aviation School in the Ryazan region, which is located between Tambov and Moscow, as well as the St. Petersburg Civil Aviation Academy.
His wife, Svetlana, told Russian media that he had worked in the aviation industry for seven years and was at home briefly before leaving to catch the crashed flight.
His daughter, Anastasia, told Russian television station RBK that he had worked with Mr Prigozhin for several years. “My dad was a very good person,” she said. “He was outgoing, had a kind heart, helped everyone, loved life, was a hardworking and wonderful husband and father. He loved us so much, always felt that way, caring, generous and a real family man.
Rustam Karimov
Karimov, 29, was the plane’s co-pilot. According to Russian media, he was born in Perm, an industrial center near the Ural Mountains, and has lived in Saint Petersburg.
His father, Shukur Karimov, told Russian media that Karimov served in the army before working for S7 Airlines, one of Russia’s largest passenger carriers. He moved to St. Petersburg for a new job a couple of months ago.
Before his last trip, Mr. Karimov called his mother to inform her that he was going to fly.
It is not clear whether Mr. Karimov is known to have worked with Mr. Prigozhin in the past. His father said his son did not know Mr. Prigozhin would be on the plane, adding that he was “just a pilot”.
Christina Raspopova
Ms. Raspopova, 39, was the flight attendant and the only woman on board.
She was born in Kazakhstan, studied at the Moscow University of Law and Finance, and was divorced, according to her Facebook page. According to her social media profiles, Ms. Raspopova was a “VIP hostess” living in Moscow, her hometown.
Her last Facebook post, a picture of her suitcase and meal, came the day before the plane crash.
“Travel specialist. Typical social media scholar. Friend of animals everywhere. Freelance zombie ninja. Twitter buff.”
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