Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that current “circumstances” prevent Russia from making the investigation into the crash of Wagner Group chief Yevgeny Prigozhin’s jet an international one.
Asked why Russia rejected the participation of Brazilian aviation authorities, Peskov explained that the investigation cannot be international because it was being led by the Russian Investigative Committee.
“Of course, different versions are being considered, including the version, which you obviously know, that this was an intentional act of evil,” the newspaper Vedomosti quoted Peskov as saying on Wednesday.
Moscow had earlier informed the Brazilian aircraft investigation centre CENIPA that it did not currently intend to probe the crash of the Brazilian-made Embraer Legacy under international rules.
According to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the flight from Moscow with a destination of St. Petersburg was domestic, so it is not subject to international rules of investigation.
An Embraer Legacy jet carrying Wagner Group chief Prigozhin, his deputy, and security service chief as well as four bodyguards and three crew members crashed in Russia’s Tver region last week.
