Kremlin denies giving orders to kill Wagner boss Yevgeny Prighozin

The Kremlin on Friday denied claims that it gave orders to kill Wagner Chief Yevgeny Prighozin. Russian President Vladimir Putin’s official spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told BBC that the allegations that the Kremlin ordered Prighozin’s death is “a complete lie.” The Wagner chief, who led a rebellion against the Russian military a few months ago, was reportedly on the list of passengers who died in a plane crash near Moscow. “In the West of course this speculation comes from a certain angle. It’s all a complete lie. Of course when we talk about this issue we should be guided only by facts,” Peskov said. He added, “We don’t have many facts at the moment, the facts need to be clarified during the official investigation which is being carried out now.” The spokesperson also refused to comment that Moscow has a confirmation that Prighozin was definitely on board the downed plane. He also added that it was “impossible to say” whether Putin would attend the Wagner boss’ funeral as he has “a very full schedule.” Meanwhile, earlier today, Putin broke his silence on the plane crash a day earlier that reportedly killed mercenary boss Prigozhin and other senior members of the Wagner paramilitary group. In televised comments, Putin offered his “sincere condolences to the families of all the victims”, describing the crash as a “tragedy”. Although Moscow opened a probe into violations of air traffic rules, investigators have been silent since, as speculation of a possible assassination has grown. Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky insisted Kyiv had nothing to do with the incident.