Russian Wagner Group threatens Putin over the killing of Yevgeny Prigozhin
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Wagner Group threatens President Putin with a march to Moscow over the killing of their leader Yevgeny Prigozhin
Wagner Group threatens President Putin with a march to Moscow over the killing of their leader Yevgeny Prigozhin.
Wagner Group mercenaries have warned they will march on Moscow after it was claimed leader Yevgeny Prigozhin had been killed in a plane crash near the Russian capital.
Fighters loyal to the warlord have posted videos on social media vowing retribution if Prigozhin and his deputy Dmitry Utkin are confirmed dead.
Telegram channels with links to Prigozhin blamed his death shortly after news of the crash emerged on “traitors” within Russia.
A Russian outlet closely linked with Prigozhin, Readovka, has reported that the private military company had a “long-established approved mechanism of action in the event of the death of Yevgeny Prigozhin or Dmitry Utkin”.
A source was quoted as saying that in the event of Prigozhin’s death, there is a mechanism for “full mobilization”, regardless of who was at fault for his death.
At a Wagner address reported on last night, it was stated: “We directly say that we suspect the Kremlin officials led by Putin of an attempt to kill him.
“If the information about Prigozhin’s death is confirmed, we will organize a second March of Justice in Moscow.”
Masked men, claiming to be Wagner fighters also warned Putin in a video shared online: “There’s a lot of talk right now about what the Wagner Group will do. We can tell you one thing. We are getting started, get ready for us.”
Russian officials claimed Prigozhin was on the plane, which crashed in a field, killing all ten on board.
The Federal Air Transport Agency has also published a list of those it believed were on the flight, including Prigozhin and his deputy Dmitry Utkin.
The crash occurred just two months after his failed coup attempt against Putin’s regime.
Prigozhin, formerly known as Putin’s chef and with longstanding links to the Kremlin dictator, is believed to have been on a “kill list” after the uprising failed and he was exiled to Belarus.
The former head of MI6 Sir John Sawyers told BBC Radio: “All the indications point to the fact that Putin has taken him out, he is reasserting his control.
“He is making clear to everyone both inside Russia and outside he is not going to brook any challenge.”
However, Keir Giles, from the London-based think tank Chatham House, said that while a passenger by the name of Yevgeny Prigozhin was on board, it is also known that multiple individuals have changed their name to Yevgeny Prigozhin, as part of his efforts to cover his tracks.
“Let’s not be surprised if he pops up shortly in a new video from Africa,” Giles said.
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This would not be the first time he had succeeded in disappearing after he was officially declared dead in Africa in 2019, before re-emerging before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Prigozhin (62) had been keeping a low profile after he had been warned that his life was in danger in the wake of the failed coup. He was known to take huge care over his security and is rumoured to have not been on board the fateful plane, despite state TV asserting otherwise.
Putin has yet to comment on the incident and attended a concert last night, as supporters laid tributes outside the former Wagner Centre in St Petersburg.
There has been widespread speculation as to the cause of the crash among Russian social media channels with one suggestion that a fine wine on board may in fact have been a bomb in disguise.
Local emergency services have said ten bodies have been retrieved from the wreckage, but it has not been confirmed that Prigozhin was among them.
A Telegram channel thought to be linked to Prigozhin said their leader had died, saying he had been “killed as a result of actions by traitors of Russia”.
A post described him as a ‘hero of Russia, a true patriot of his Motherland’.
Wagner deputy and co-founder Dmitry Utkin is also claimed to have been killed in the crash.
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