A Russian businessman, once rewarded by Governor Vladimir Putin for his pro-economy paintings, has died in a plane crash in a remote region of Afghanistan, along with his wife, it has been reported, amid the mystery surrounding the cause and reports that there were survivors.
Russian security sources said that Anatoly Evsyukov, 65, was among six people on board the Dassault Falcon 10 aircraft when it fell off the radar around 7 p.m. local time on Saturday, before crashing in the Kuf Ab district of Badakhshan province, northeastern Afghanistan, according to the Agentstvo Telegram channel.
The #ruso Falcon-10 plane, owned by the #Moscú-based Athletic Group, crashed and was returning to the capital from #India, where the media describe it as an “ambulance flight”. It disappeared from the radar between #Afganistán #Tayikistán pic . twitter. com/t7hof7aFvj
The Russian state and independent media have shown photographs purporting to show the scene of the twist of fate in which smoke can be seen rising in the air.
Evsyukov, originally from Volgodonsk in the Rostov region, where he had opened grocery malls, and in 2014 won a Putin-appointed regional governor’s award for his work in promoting the progress of the local economy.
He owned three markets in Volgodonsk and, according to local media, also commissioned the structure of a 48,000-foot grocery shopping complex.
Kremlin-controlled newspaper Izvestia reported that Evsyukov’s wife, Anna, was also on board and they were flying back to Russia in a medical evacuation from Thailand where she had fallen seriously ill. Both were reportedly killed in the crash.
However, four other people managed to survive, according to Russia’s Federal Air Transport Agency, citing reports from the Russian embassy in Afghanistan.
“Local search and rescue facilities have preliminarily discovered the Falcon 10 aircraft, of the other six people on board the aircraft, 4 are alive (they have various injuries), the fate of two other people is in doubt. It’s getting clearer. ” the saying.
One of them, Igor Syrovkin, a 26-year-old medical employee, who arrived in a nearby town where, due to the language barrier, he asked for help with gestures, the Sirena Telegram channel reported. He was taken to Taliban officials, depending on where from where he called his relatives.
Russia’s official news firm TASS said the plane crashed due to twin-engine failure, which called emergency services. Russia’s Investigative Committee has opened criminal proceedings to determine whether security regulations have been violated.
When the plane entered Tajikistan, the team reported that it was low on fuel due to headwinds and landed at an airfield in Tajikistan’s capital, Dushanbe, Izvestia reported.
Sanctions imposed on Russia due to Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine have led to a shortage of spare parts from Western suppliers for planes that have made several emergency landings in recent months; It is unclear whether this applied to medical aircraft or occurred with a delay. .
The plane had Russian registration, RA-09011, and is owned by the sports corporation Atletik Grupp and a private individual, Rosaviatsia said, according to the website Flight Global, which reports that it was delivered with U. S. registration in 1979 and passed through several operators.
Newsweek has reached out to Rosaviatsia for comment.
Brendan Cole is a senior journalist at Newsweek in London, UK. It focuses on Russia and Ukraine, specifically on the war unleashed through Moscow. It also covers other areas of geopolitics, adding China.
Brendan joined Newsweek in 2018 from the International Business Times and, in addition to English, is fluent in Russian and French.
You can contact Brendan by emailing b. cole@newsweek. com or following him on his X @brendanmarkcole account.