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File image of Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelenskyy Alamy Stock Photo
wagner

Ukraine president says Vladimir Putin killed Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin

Prigozhin, the head of the Wagner mercenary group, died with nine other people when a plane flying from Moscow to Saint Petersburg crashed on 23 August.

UKRAINE’S LEADER TODAY accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of being behind the death of Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin in a plane crash last month.

“He killed Prigozhin, at least we all have this information and not any other,” Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a speech.

He said the incident showed that the Russian leader was now “politically weak”.

Prigozhin, the head of the Wagner mercenary group, died with nine other people when a plane flying from Moscow to Saint Petersburg crashed on 23 August.

Exactly two months earlier, Prigozhin had openly challenged Russia’s military high command by leading a short-lived mutiny with his fighters that threatened to spiral into civil conflict.

bakhmut-ukraine-25th-may-2023-wagner-group-founder-yevgeny-prigozhin-addresses-his-units-withdrawing-from-bakhmut-the-city-captured-from-the-ukrainian-armed-forces-may-25-2023-wagner-forces-ha Image from May of Wagner Group founder Yevgeny Prigozhin addressing units withdrawing from Bakhmut. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

Observers have said this was the most significant challenge to Putin’s rule.

Prigozhin called off the rebellion after apparently striking a deal with the Kremlin through the mediation of Belarus but he faced no criminal prosecution.

The Kremlin has dismissed suggestions that it orchestrated the crash in revenge for Wagner’s march on Moscow in June.

Russian investigators have said they are probing all possible scenarios surrounding the crash, including premeditated murder.

© AFP 2023