A pool photograph distributed by Sputnik agency shows Russia’s President Vladimir Putin addressing the audience during a ceremony to mark the 80th anniversary of the victory in the Battle of Kursk, a major World War II Eastern Front battle between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union, in Kursk, on August 23, 2023.
Gavriil Grigorov | Afp | Getty Images
Prominent Kremlin critic Bill Browder believes the presumed death of Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin will shore up President Vladimir Putin’s shaken authority, saying the Russian leader “never forgives and never forgets.”
His comments come shortly after Russian aviation officials said Wednesday that Prigozhin was believed to have been killed in a plane crash.
The mercenary boss, who exactly two months ago led his notoriously brutal fighters on a short-lived march on Moscow, was listed as a passenger on the downed private aircraft along with nine others, including senior Wagner commander Dmitry Utkin.
Russian authorities said the business jet crashed in the Tver region northwest of Moscow, leading to the deaths of all 10 people onboard. NBC news has not confirmed that Prigozhin was on the plane.
A Telegram channel associated with the Wagner Group, which has fought on the frontlines of the Kremlin’s war in Ukraine and has been linked to violence in Syria, Libya and elsewhere in Africa, said Wednesday that Prigozhin and Utkin had died.
“The head of the Wagner Group, Hero of Russia, a true patriot of his Motherland, Yevgeny Viktorovich Prigozhin, died as a result of the actions of traitors to Russia,” a post on the Grey Zone channel said.
A view of site after a private jet, allegedly carrying Wagner head Yevgeny Prigozhin and other passengers crashed in Russia’s northwestern Tver region, Russia on August 23, 2023.
Wagner Telegram Account | Handout | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images
Russia’s Federal Agency for Air Transport said an investigation is underway into the cause of the crash, amid intense speculation that Prigozhin was…
Read the full article here
Leave a Reply