There is currently “a lot of speculation,” said Peskow. Investigations into the alleged death of the head of the Wagner mercenary group are ongoing and Putin himself said that he was “waiting for the results”. The Russian president, who viewed Prigozhin as a traitor over an armed rebellion two months ago, spoke about the mercenary leader in the past tense on Thursday evening. This was a “capable” man who made “serious mistakes”.
Putin also said that if Wagner members were on board the crashed plane, “I would like to note that they are people who made a significant contribution to our common effort to fight the neo-Nazi regime in Ukraine.” .
On Friday, Putin signed a decree requiring members of Russian paramilitary organizations to take an oath of allegiance to the Russian state and to “strictly follow the orders of commanders and superiors.”
So far, the alleged death of Prigozhin has not been formally confirmed by the Russian authorities, but the authorities refer to the passenger list on which his name was found. Genetic analysis to identify the bodies is ongoing.
The private plane of the Brazilian manufacturer Embraer crashed in the Tver region near Kuschenkino on Wednesday. According to the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations, none of the ten occupants survived.
The Russian investigative committee responsible for serious crimes initiated investigations into the “violation of safety regulations in air traffic”. Since then, however, investigators have not commented; there is speculation about a possible assassination.
In Washington, Pentagon spokesman Pat Ryder said the US military had “no information to suggest a surface-to-air missile caused the crash.” “In our estimation (…) he (Prigozhin) was probably killed,” Ryder explained.
In Berlin, Deputy Government Spokesman Wolfgang Büchner pointed out that the federal government had no knowledge of its own about Prigozhin’s fate. “But a violent end to Prigozhin would not be particularly surprising,” he added.
A spokesman for the Federal Foreign Office referred to “violence and repression” in the “Putin system”. “We have members of the opposition who have been poisoned, killed and (under) the most mysterious circumstances have fallen out of windows” – in this respect “a pattern can be discerned”. It remains to be seen whether conclusions can now be drawn about the Prigozhin case.
Until a brief rebellion against the Russian army leadership at the end of June, the Wagner group had played a major role in the Russian military offensive in Ukraine – especially in the battle for Bakhmut. At the same time, Prigozhin’s conflict with the Russian military leaders became more and more obvious.
On June 23, Wagner mercenaries then occupied military installations in southern Russia and then marched towards Moscow. Prigozhin called off the uprising after just one day – but with the brief rebellion he questioned Putin’s authority. The crash of the private plane on Wednesday occurred exactly two months to the day after the rebellion.
