Is Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin’s death an act of revenge by Vladimir Putin?

Was it an accidental plane crash or was it revenge extracted by Vladimir Putin? That’s the question many are asking after Russia confirmed that Wagner mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin died when a private jet crashed north of the Russian capital, Moscow. The crash comes just two months after Prigozhin had launched a short-lived rebellion – seen as the biggest challenge to Russian president Vladimir Putin’s authority since he came to power. Since then many Russian watchers had called the mercenary chief a ‘dead man walking’. Speculation over Putin’s one-time closest ally-turned-foe’s death was further fuelled when US president Joe Biden reacting to the airplane crash said, “I don’t know for a fact what happened, but I’m not surprised. “There’s not much that happens in Russia that (President) Putin’s not behind. But I don’t know enough to know the answer.” Ukraine also fuelled the rumours as presidential aide Mykhaylo Podolyak said on social media that the plane crash was “a signal from Putin to Russia’s elites ahead of the 2024 elections. ‘Beware! Disloyalty equals death’.” We take a closer look at what happened to the plane which was carrying Prigozhin and why many believe that Putin has a hand to play in the crash. What happened to the plane? On Wednesday night, reports came in that an Embraer Legacy flying from Moscow to St. Petersburg crashed in the Tver region, north of Moscow. According to the roster of the plane, it was carrying seven passengers and three crew members. According to preliminary information, all 10 people on board have died in the crash, with Interfax news agency reporting all the bodies have been recovered. Another news agency, Tass, reported that the plane – registered to one of Prigozhin’s companies – had caught fire on hitting the ground. Video footage has verified that an aircraft fell from the sky in Kuzhenkino, Russia. [caption id=“attachment_13033362” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Police stand guard at a checkpoint on a road near the accident scene following the crash of a private jet linked to Wagner mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin in the Tver region, Russia. Reuters[/caption] Russia’s aviation agency later said the Wagner chief was on board the plane that crashed. “According to the airline, the following passengers were on board the Embraer-135 (EBM-135BJ) aircraft:… Prigozhin, Yevgeny,” said the agency, Rosaviatsia. Rosaviatsia further stated that a special commission has been set up to investigate the crash of the aircraft belonging to MNT-Aero. Russia’s Investigative Committee, which probes serious crimes, said it opened an investigation into the crash. Why the speculation over Prigozhin’s death? Shortly after the Wagner chief’s death was announced, many questioned if the crash was accidental or planned. It’s important to note here that Prigozhin – who was once also called Vladimir Putin’s chef , highlighting how close he was to the Russian leader – had fallen from grace after he had led a mutinous march on Moscow in late June. Under a deal to end the rebellion, charges against him were dropped and he relocated to neighbouring Belarus . However, in July, there were images of him in St Petersburg during the Africa-Russia summit. Just last week, he had also released a video suggesting he was in Africa. However, his whereabouts couldn’t be confirmed or verified. But Prigozhin’s mutiny against Putin had led many to note that the Wagner chief’s days were numbered. In fact, Central Intelligence Agency director William Burns had even commented then, “Putin is the ultimate apostle of payback.” And he even added, “If I were Prigozhin I wouldn’t fire my food taster.” **Also read: The unanswered questions surrounding Wagner's mutiny in Russia** Following the plane crash, US president Joe Biden also said that he was unsurprised by the untimely demise of Prigozhin, pointing the finger at Putin. [caption id=“attachment_13033392” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Until June, Yevgeny Prigozhin shared very close ties with Vladimir Putin. However, that changed when the Wagner Group chief took out a march towards the Kremlin. Putin had then termed the move as ’treason’. File image/AP[/caption] Daniel Hoffman, a former senior CIA operations officer who served as the agency’s Moscow station chief, told Reuters he was sure Wednesday’s incident occurred on Putin’s orders. “You want your own guys to know that you’re brutal and ruthless and anyone who betrays Putin is going to pay the ultimate price,” he said, adding, “Putin is cauterising his wounds.” A former British intelligence official, Christopher Steele, went one step ahead and told Sky News that there had been information circulating that a contract had been put out on Prigozhin in Russia by senior members of the business community. “Certainly it looks as though it may well be a revenge attack by somebody in the elite, possibly somebody very senior,” he told Sky News. British lawmaker Alicia Kearns, chair of the UK Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee, said Putin was sending a loud message. “The speed at which the Russian government has confirmed Yevgeny Prigozhin was on a plane that crashed on a flight from Moscow to St. Petersburg should tell us everything we need to know. Reports Russian Air Defence shot down the plane suggests Putin is sending a very loud message.”

Grey Zone, a Telegram channel linked to Wagner, also fanned the flames of an ‘assassination’ as they blamed Prigozhin’s reported death on “Russian traitors”. However, it’s not clear who the traitors are. Many in Russia are also not too shocked by the news of Prigozhin’s death. Ever since the Wagner chief took out what he had described as “March of Justice”, Russia’s watchers had said that his days were numbered. In fact, many had been shocked when a deal was cut between Prigozhin and the Kremlin to end the mutiny. [caption id=“attachment_13033412” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] This was the last time that Yevgeny Prigozhin, the Wagner Group chief, was seen on camera. This was taken on 21 August, and believed to be taken from Africa. AP[/caption] How have other Putin foes ‘disappeared’? If Putin has played a role in Prigozhin’s demise, it wouldn’t be the first time that a foe of the Russian leader has died under unclear circumstances or come close to death. Who can forget the Alexei Navalny incident? Perhaps, the most vocal critic of the Putin, Navalny had to be flown to Germany in August 2020 for medical treatment after being poisoned in Siberia with what Western experts had concluded was the military nerve agent Novichok. It had been believed by many that it was Putin’s attempt of silencing Navalny. A Russian opposition activist, Vladimir Kara-Murza has said that he was a victim of poisoning in 2015 and 2017. A German laboratory later found elevated levels of mercury, copper, manganese and zinc in him. All fingers pointed to the Kremlin, but they denied any involvement. Another instance of a Putin foe dying was that of Alexander Litvinenko, a former KGB agent and outspoken critic of the Russian leader. He died in 2006 after drinking green tea laced with polonium-210, a rare and potent radioactive isotope, at London’s Millennium Hotel. Years later, in 2016, a British inquiry stated that Putin probably approved the killing. Whether or not, Putin actually had a hand in Prigozhin’s demise may remain unconfirmed, but it does send a message to anyone who thinks of rebelling against Putin – don’t do it and see what happens to those who do. With inputs from agencies