Putin breaks silence to confirm Prigozhin’s death

Russian President Vladimir Putin today confirmed that the Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin died in a plane crash on Wednesday. Breaking the Kremlin’s silence since the event, Putin said that Prigozhin had “made a significant contribution to the fight against Nazism in Ukraine”. 

In the televised address, Putin sent his condolences to the 10 aboard who died and said that a criminal investigation was underway but would take time. 

Putin said: “We remember this and won’t forget it. I knew Prigozhin from a long time, from the early 1990s. He had a difficult path and made serious mistakes in his life. But he got results — for himself, and for the common cause when I asked him, like in the last few months.”

According to the FT, the Wagner HQ in St Petersburg was lit up in the shape of a cross in mourning with some supporters kneeling in reverence of “Number One”. 

Prior to Putin’s address, there was speculation that Prigozhin was still alive. In 2019, it was reported that Prigozhin had died in a plane crash over the Democratic Republic of Congo but three days later it was confirmed that he was still alive.  

With this in mind, Keir Giles, of the Chatham House think tank said earlier today he would “not be surprised if he [Prigozhin] pops up shortly.”

Putin’s address ends this rumour. Yet questions remain. 

It is still not known how the plane crashed. According to Reuters,  the plane was not showing any problems on the radar system until 30 seconds before its crash. Ian Petchenik of Flightradar24 said: “Whatever happened, happened quickly.” 

But many believe that Putin ordered Prigozhin’s plane to be shot down as revenge for June’s failed coup. Georgy Alburov, an ally of the imprisoned Putin critic Alexei Navalny, said: “The terrorist Putin shot down the plane of the terrorist Prigozhin. That’s one terrorist less. I hope the other doesn’t have long left.”

In July at the Aspen Security Forum, the head of the CIA William Burns predicted Putin’s revenge: “What we are seeing is a very complicated dance. Putin is the ultimate apostle of payback.”

Roger Boyes, diplomatic editor of The Times, said that if Putin had ordered this, it “ was a very performative assassination.” The political scientist and Putin supporter Sergei Markov said that “Ukrainian authorities killed Prigozhin as a gift to President Zelensky for their independence day” and said it couldn’t have been Putin as no rational leader would do such a thing. Ukraine has denied any involvement. 

But in response, Boyes floated the idea that maybe Putin isn’t acting rationally anymore. If the plane was really shot down by the Russians, it was a “literally crazy” thing to do. “Even in desperate times you don’t shoot down planes over your own country and expect to get away with it.”

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