Russia has confirmed the death of Yevgeny Prigozhin, the infamous leader of the Russian mercenary group, the Wagner. Prigozhin was suspected to be among the passengers on a plane that tragically crashed on Wednesday.
The crash claimed the lives of all 10 people on board, and the confirmation of Prigozhin’s death came after a rigorous genetic testing process. Russian authorities initially refrained from identifying him as one of the casualties until they had irrefutable proof.
Russia’s Investigative Committee stated on Sunday that they had found the remains of all the passengers listed on the flight manifest at the crash site. This announcement finally puts an end to the lingering uncertainty over Prigozhin’s fate.
What’s remarkable about this incident is its timing. The crash happened exactly two months after Prigozhin led a short-lived rebellion against the Russian military establishment, challeng Putin’s authority in the grandest fashion in over two decades. But now, the man seen as a major threat to Putin is gone.
Despite the circumstances, there’s no denying the impact that Prigozhin had. His passing will surely send shock waves of uncertainty and change through the Russian military landscape.
Joshua Berlinger, Thom Poole, and Aditi Sangal from CNN reported that Prigozhin’s rebellion was swiftly quelled within just a few hours thanks to a critical negotiation by Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko, a confidant of Putin. Lukashenko alleged that he managed to dissuade his Russian ally from wrecking the Wagner group, and convinced him to permit Prigozhin to exit Russia for Belarus in order to defuse the tense situation.
This rebellion led some key figures in the West, prominently US President Joe Biden, to insinuate that the Kremlin could have potentially orchestrated the crash. This assumption was fiercely rebuffed by Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov, who labeled it as an “absolute falsehood”.
However, it is vital to note that no credible evidence has surfaced to this day which implicates either the Kremlin or the Russian security forces in the crash. The true cause of the disaster is still shrouded in mystery. Nonetheless, the Russian authorities have initiated a criminal investigation to uncover the truth and bring justice to the fore.
[sourcelink link=”https://abcnews.go.com/International/dna-confirms-wagner-group-leader-crash-victims-russian/story?id=102598897″]
