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Last Updated: August 24, 2023, 06:54 IST
Yevgeny Prigozhin was on the plane, according to Russia’s civil aviation agency, which cited the airline. The crash immediately raised suspicions since the fate of the founder of the Wagner private military company. (AP File Photo)
Wagner Chief Yevgeny Prigozhin, once involved in a rebellion against Russian military, presumed dead in plane crash near Moscow
Wagner Chief Yevgeny Prigozhin, who led a brief mutiny against the top Russian army brass, is presumed dead after appearing on the passenger list of a private jet that crashed north of Moscow, killing all 10 people on board. A Wagner-linked Telegram channel claimed that the Russian military shot down the jet in the Tver Region.
“The head of the Wagner Group, a hero of Russia and a true patriot, died as a result of the actions of traitors to Russia,” Grey Zone was quoted by the agencies. However, there was no official comment from the Kremlin or the Defence Ministry on Prigozhin. Russian state media said the aircraft caught fire upon hitting the ground, less than half an hour into the flight.
Failed Mutiny
Prigozhin was a key ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, but their relationship soured after the Wagner chief, heading the country’s most powerful mercenary group, staged a failed mutiny against military leaders in June.
The Wagner Group led by Prigozhin seized the Southern Military District Headquarters in Rostov-on-Don. In a rebellion that lasted merely a day, the group advanced north towards Moscow, capturing several towns and villages en route.
The Russian government responded by deploying military forces to stop the mutineers but the situation was eventually resolved on June 24 in a deal brokered by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.
The mutiny was ended by a deal that saw 62-year-old Prigozhin agree to relocate to Belarus. However, he had appeared to move freely inside Russia after the agreement which had reportedly guaranteed his personal safety.
Although the issue was resolved amicably, experts believed that the episode remained a significant event that seemingly undermined Putin’s power amid the Russia-Ukraine war.
Biden’s Not Suprised
During his trip to California, US President Joe Biden told reporters he did not know for a fact what had happened. “But I’m not surprised,” Biden said. “There is not much that happens in Russia that Putin is not behind.”
A former British intelligence officer told BBC said it was “inevitable” that this would be Prigozhin’s ending. He said the plane crash was likely to have been organised or ordered by somebody high up in the security apparatus, “maybe with Putin’s tacit approval”.
“We were told some weeks ago, in fact, that there had been a contract taken out on Prigozhin inside Russia by senior people in the business community. “So he had a lot of enemies, very few allies actually inside the regime and in a way it was inevitable that this would be his ending.”
No Effect on the Ukraine War
Even if confirmed, the death of Yevgeny Prigozhin is unlikely to significantly impact the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. His forces were engaged in some of the most intense battles over the last 18 months.
Prigozhin’s troops withdrew from frontline engagements after taking control of Bakhmut, a city in the eastern Donetsk region, in late May. Bakhmut saw some of the most brutal clashes in the entire conflict, with Russian forces struggling for months to gain control.
Following the rebellion, Russian authorities stated that Prigozhin’s fighters could only reenter Ukraine as part of the regular army. Prigozhin recently released his first recruitment video after the mutiny, where he mentioned Wagner’s involvement in reconnaissance and search operations to enhance Russia’s global influence.
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