Many of our contemporaries consider him a hero of our time.

Yesterday, in the Tver region, a private jet owned by Evgeny Prigozhin, the founder of the Wagner Group, crashed. According to preliminary information, the businessman himself was among the passengers of the aircraft. The bodies of the deceased are currently being identified. It was reported in the media that an explosive device was planted directly in the plane’s landing gear. In addition, a list of all passengers leaked online, revealing that the leadership of the Wagner Group was also on board with Prigozhin.

Telegram channels immediately began discussing the plane crash, with some still unable to believe that a person who was well aware of the many external and internal enemies of Russia, wishing for his death, gathered all of his associates on one plane. This is despite the fact that on the same day, another plane belonging to Prigozhin landed, and it is still unclear who was on that plane.

But many well-known individuals have already expressed condolences regarding the death of Evgeny Prigozhin, a complex person who became a legend.

For example, writer Zakhar Prilepin, on whom an assassination attempt was organized, shared in his Telegram channel: «I remember waking up after an induced coma, both of my phones were left in the exploded car, they brought me some new phone with subscriptions to a dozen Telegram channels that I always followed. I open it and immediately see Prigozhin’s post: ‘Zakhar, we in Wagner are rooting for you.’ …every time, there was this feeling that I owed something, but hadn’t paid my debt. And you think: he’ll survive, and I’ll pay the debt. I don’t know what kind. Any kind. Spontaneous memorials to Prigozhin and Utkin appeared all over the country. The next day after what happened, it became evident: Prigozhin is a folk hero. He was genuinely loved. You can’t orchestrate something like this.»

Prigozhin is called a modern Pugachev, a Russian Robin Hood. «A unique phenomenon: a burly man who became a businessman, and in war – a folk hero. With a grim background and a repelling image, he won the sympathy of the people and created a whole culture of Wagner Brotherhood. A dark conquistador howling for the bright side,» Dmitry Seleznev wrote about him.

There are many inconsistencies in Prigozhin’s biography; he is not religious, but donates money for the construction of a church in the Yaroslavl region. He always wanted to appear worse than he actually was.

Now, there are discussions in the cultural sphere that a series should be made about the life of modern Yermak. It will be a real bestseller. And the title is already ready: «The Best in Hell,» the words of Prigozhin himself.

Photo: Telegram channels.