Russian state media specifically said, "his name was on the passenger list of a plane that crashed". They did not say he was aboard. It is noteworthy that if he fell from a window or drank poison, there'd be an easily identifiable corpse. This is not the case for a fiery plane crash. 1) It could mean the plane crashed because Pirgoz was aboard 2) It could mean Pirgoz was killed by other means and his name was added to the list to hide the means of his death. 3) It could mean Pirgoz faked his death (I doubt he's that smart). I also don't think Russian media would fake Pirgoz's death either unless Putin is getting couped next week.
I honestly think it's either an assassination attempt (clearly more obvious) or Putin made sure he was switched last-minute onto the supposed other, identical plane that arrived safely, to fake his death in order to send a message to potential dissidents without sacrificing his favourite lap/attack dog (and wait for a point where Ukraine's back is turned before unleashing him again).
Looking at previous women leaders of the past (Isabella of Castille, Queen Victoria, Catherine the Great, and so on), we can easily see the fallacy in pretending that a woman leader would be more sensitive and compassionate than her male counterparts.