The manufacturer of the jet that went down carrying mercenary warlord Yevgeny Prigozhin and 10 others on Wednesday has revealed it had not provided standard support services on the plane since 2019.
Representatives of the Brazilian plane maker, Embraer SA, noted that due to American-led sanctions, they could not provide standard maintenance on the plane.
“Embraer has complied with international sanctions imposed on Russia,” a spokesperson for the company said, according to Reuters.
“We are committed to complying with all laws and regulations in the countries where we operate, and as such, we are not providing any services or support related to the aircraft,” the company representative added.
America led in imposing sanctions on Russia after reports the nation interfered in the 2016 and 2018 elections. The U.S. Treasury Department issued the following statement at the time:
“The U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control took action against Russian actors that attempted to influence the 2018 U.S. midterm elections, though there was no indication that foreign actors were able to compromise election infrastructure that would have prevented voting, changed vote counts, or disrupted the tallying of votes.”
Prigozhin was known as a ruthless warlord who slaughtered tens of thousands in Ukraine. He fell out of favor with Putin after expressing dissatisfaction with the level of support his mercenary troops were receiving from Moscow.
In June, Prigozhin pulled 25,000 troops from Ukraine and began a march toward Moscow. An alarmed Putin averted a crisis via a behind-closed-doors conversation with Prigozhin.
Many were surprised that Prigozhin was allowed to return to his home country of Belarus — few were surprised he died unexpectedly this week — the latest to suffer the same fate as many of Putin’s enemies.
Reuters reported that “amid fevered speculation and an absence of verifiable facts, some of his supporters have pointed the finger of blame at the Russian state, others at Ukraine.”
Fox News reported the Legacy 600 planes have a stellar flight and safety record — recording only one accident in “more than 20 years of service.”
The TASS news agency noted: “An investigation into the crash of the Embraer aircraft has been launched.”
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