The man who led a failed mutiny against the Russian Army in June, Yevgeny Prigozhin, has been reportedly killed alongside nine others in a plane that crashed in Russia on Wednesday.
BBC reports that Prigozhin, who is also the leader of the mercenary group, Wagner, was believed to be on board the plane.
The jet crashed in the Tver region, about 190 miles from Moscow, according to authorities, who say they are investigating the crash.
Videos circulating on social media appear to show the jet said to belong to Prigozhin crashing.
Prigozhin, 62, mercenary boss had headed the mutiny in June, moving his troops from Ukraine, seizing the southern Russian city of Rostov on Don, and threatening to march on Moscow.
The move came after months of tension with Russian military commanders over the Ukraine conflict.
Since the mutiny, where he was described at the time by Vladimir Putin as a “traitor”, Prigozhin has been seen a handful of times.
Prigozhin was last seen in a video on Tuesday that appeared to have been taken in Africa.
As news of the crash was breaking, Putin spoke at an event commemorating the Battle of Kursk, hailing the heroes of Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Tatiana Stanovaya, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center, said on Telegram that “no matter what caused the plane crash, everyone will see it as an act of vengeance and retribution” by the Kremlin, and “the Kremlin wouldn’t really stand in the way of that.”
“From Putin’s point of view, as well as the security forces and the military — Prigozhin’s death must be a lesson to any potential followers,” Stanovaya said in a Telegram post.
“According to her, after the mutiny, Prigozhin “stopped being the authorities’ partner and could not, under any circumstances, get that status back.”
“He also wasn’t forgiven,” Stanovaya wrote. “Prigozhin was needed for some time after the mutiny to painlessly complete the dismantling of Wagner in Russia.”
“But overall, “alive, happy, full-of-strength and full-of-ideas Prigozhin was, definitely, a walking source of threats for the authorities, the embodiment of Putin’s political humiliation.”
Photo: LIB