Prigozhin | Russia Mercenary leader Prigozhin declared dead after plane crash
Prigozhin | Declared dead
Russian mercenary leader Prigozhin has been pronounced dead after a plane crash in Russia. The Rozaviazia aviation authority published a passenger list that included Prigozhin and the official Wagner commander Utkin. All ten occupants died, said the Russian civil defense.
The Telegram channel Gray Zone, which Prigozhin used to distribute his videos, also reported the death of the head of the private army Wagner. So far, there has been no official confirmation or clear evidence of the death of Kremlin chief Putin’s longtime confidante.
Prigozhin and his mercenaries had played a major role in the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine,
especially in the costly capture and destruction of the city of Bakhmut. Two months ago, the Wagner troops mutinied and marched towards Moscow at Prigozhin’s behest until the latter stopped the action after negotiations. Putin then called Prigozhin a traitor.
Gray Zone and some military bloggers are spreading the thesis that the crash was not an accident but an act of revenge by the Russian leadership against the Wagner Group. The Russian television station Tsargrad, which is loyal to the Kremlin, also raised suspicions of a plot to assassinate him. However, he blamed the Ukrainian military intelligence service for the crash of the plane.
Federal Foreign Minister Baerbock warned against speculation on Deutschlandfunk.
The crash was only a few hours ago, so no quick conclusions can be drawn. However, the incident underscores the fact that a dictatorship built on violence only knows violence internally. You have “seen it in a sad, dramatic way in previous years, where members of the opposition, where journalists, where ordinary people fell out of windows or were poisoned”.
