President Joe Biden said on Aug. 23 that he wasn’t shocked to learn that the Wagner Group chief, who revolted against Russian President Vladimir Putin in June, was on a plane that crashed near Moscow.
The president, who had just finished a Pilates class in Nevada while on vacation, reacted to the news with a mix of skepticism and humor.
When speaking to reporters, he recalled his previous remark.
“You may recall, when I was asked about this by you, I said, ‘I’d be careful what I drink and what I rode in,’” President Biden said as he held his banana-blueberry smoothie.
“I don’t know for a fact what happened, but I’m not surprised.”
A private plane carrying Yevgeny Prigozhin, chief of the Wagner Group, a prominent Russian private military company, crashed northwest of Moscow on Aug. 23. Russian state media confirmed that all 10 passengers on board died in the crash, which occurred in the Tver Oblast region. Some speculate that Russian air defense systems were responsible for shooting down the plane.
When asked if Mr. Putin could be involved, President Biden responded: “There’s not much that happens in Russia that Putin’s not behind. But I don’t know enough to know the answer. I’ve been working out for the last hour and a half.”
He made these remarks while on vacation with several family members at Lake Tahoe, Nevada. According to the White House, the president took a “Pilates class followed by a spin class.”
Mr. Prigozhin launched what some experts called a failed coup attempt against the Russian president in June, before the Kremlin announced his departure for Belarus.
Mr. Putin called Mr. Prigozhin a traitor during the insurrection and threatened to punish him and the group. Later, however, a criminal case against Mr. Prigozhin was dropped.
