Russia’s most powerful mercenary Yevgeny Prigozhin was on board a plane which crashed on Wednesday evening north of Moscow with no survivors, the Russian authorities said, two months to the day after he led an abortive mutiny against the army top brass.
There has been no official statement from the Kremlin or the Defense Ministry regarding the fate of Prigozhin, who led the Wagner mercenary group and openly clashed with the military leadership over what he viewed as its inept handling of Russia’s involvement in the war in Ukraine.
Nevertheless, a Telegram channel affiliated with Wagner, Grey Zone, announced his demise, portraying him as a hero and patriot who, it claimed, met his end at the hands of unidentified individuals it labeled as “traitors to Russia.”
A Reuters correspondent, arriving at the crash site at dawn on Thursday, observed individuals carrying black body bags on stretchers. Fragments of the aircraft’s tail and other debris were strewn across the ground near a wooded area where forensic investigators had set up a tent. In St. Petersburg, mourners left flowers and candles outside Wagner’s offices early on Thursday.
Amid intense speculation and a lack of verifiable information, some of Prigozhin’s supporters have pointed fingers at the Russian government, while others have implicated Ukraine, which was preparing to mark its Independence Day on Thursday.
Regardless of the circumstances surrounding the crash, Prigozhin’s death would remove from the scene someone who had presented the most significant challenge to President Vladimir Putin’s authority since his ascent to power in 1999.
Numerous individuals who have opposed President Putin or his interests have encountered uncertain fates or found themselves on the brink of peril, including outspoken political figures and journalists. The Kremlin has consistently denied any state involvement in such incidents.
