Joe Biden Reacts to Yevgeni Prigozhin’s Plane Crash: Not Surprised

US President Joe Biden refrained from confirming the death of Yevgeni Prigozhin, the head of the Wagner Group, after a plane crash in central Russia. However, he expressed his lack of surprise regarding the incident and made indirect comments about Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Biden stated, “I have no concrete information about what has happened, but I’m not surprised.” He also remarked, “There’s not much that happens in Russia that Putin isn’t behind, but I don’t have enough information to know the answer. I’ve been working out for the last hour and a half.”

Prior to addressing the press, President Biden, along with First Lady Jill Biden and their family members, engaged in a Pilates class followed by a spinning class while enjoying a Lake Tahoe vacation in the Nevada-California region.

The White House had already informed the President about the incident before his public statements. White House National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson echoed a similar sentiment on social media, stating, “If confirmed, no one should be surprised.” She referenced a CNN publication mentioning Prigozhin’s presence on the passenger list of the crashed Embraer private plane in central Russia.

Russian emergency services had recovered eight bodies from the crash site, but their identities had not been confirmed at that point, according to RIA Novosti, the official Russian news agency.

Yevgeni Prigozhin, aged 62, had led a failed military rebellion against the Kremlin two months prior, during which he briefly controlled one of southern Russia’s major cities, Rostov-on-Don. After mediation by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, Prigozhin withdrew his mercenaries and relocated his operations to Belarus. Following accusations of treason, Putin received Prigozhin in the Kremlin, after which Prigozhin announced the resumption of Wagner Group’s operations in Africa.

Notably, Prigozhin had made a public appearance in a video on Monday, suggesting his return to Africa with the aim of expanding Russia’s influence across all continents.