It’s official: Prigozhin died in the plane crash, along with his right-hand man Utkin, like him at the head of the Wagner militia.
Russian TV confirms the news that many had already announced: Prigozhin died in a plane crash. According to what was reported by the Russian broadcaster Tsargrad, among the 10 passengers’ bodies that of Yevgeny Prigozhin and his right-hand man, Dmitry Utkin, another Wagner group commander, were identified. In the last few hours, conflicting versions have emerged, though now silenced by the identification of the bodies. However, many doubts still remain, especially regarding the causes of the crash and the presumed assassination of the general.
The Wagner group, like the Ukrainian leaders and President Biden, fears that it is a matter of Putin’s counter-attack against the march on Moscow. However, this is not the first suspicious death among the enemies of the Kremlin. Moreover, never had Putin to face such a serious threat as two months ago, in what has been defined as almost a coup d’état.
Prigozhin is dead, what happened
From the news of the plane crash until a few minutes ago, Prigozhin’s death remained in doubt, also considering the different interests in the field and some suspicions about the origin of the crash. At around 21:30, however, doubts were dispelled by Russian television, which announced Prigozhin’s death and the identification of his body.
Even the British broadcaster BBC has already reported the news, first announced a little while ago by the president Biden, who said "Prigozhin’s death would not be a surprise", referring to Putin’s possible intervention and the march of the Wagner group on Moscow. In fact, the private jet belonging to the general, a former "private chef" of the Kremlin, caught fire in the Tver region, then crashed between Moscow and St. Petersburg for unclear causes.
While the Russian Telegram channels called for caution to the last minute, the Grey Zone channel (notoriously close to the pro-Russian militia) quickly reported the news, based on the private jet’s ownership ("the Embraer Legacy 600 business jet with registration number RA-02795") to the Wagner Chief. Also according to the channel’s statement, residents reportedly heard two rounds of flak shortly before the plane caught fire. Supported versions from a video of the crash, in which you can clearly see the typical contrails in the sky, as also confirmed by eyewitnesses.
Who killed Prigozhin?
Perhaps there are not yet the elements to speak of murder regarding Prigozhin’s death, but this is the hypothesis shared by most even before his death was confirmed. US president Joe Biden, shortly before the general’s death was made official, recalled the strong control exercised by Putin over Russia and the strong improbability that an attack of this type would have gone without consequences.
In fact, the circumstances appear suspicious at the very least, two months after the march on Moscow which openly challenged the Kremlin. The Ukrainian leaders also share the same opinion, according to which Putin ordered the execution of Prigozhin to command obedience and loyalty to the Russian elites. It goes without saying that there is no certain information in this regard, also because apart from the confirmation of the discovery of the body, the official news from Russia has been quite confusing.
There was even talk of a second jet in which the general was transported, alive and well, shortly before the announcement of his death. In the meantime, Putin has continued to award military honors with the title of "Hero of Russia", a position in which Prigozhin had also been invested some time ago.
Original article published on Money.it Italy 2023-08-23 22:38:51. Original title: Prigozhin è morto, ecco cosa è successo (e chi lo ha ucciso)
