"US Government Judges Prigozhin's 'Assassination'... Putin Mentions Death for the First Time"

Putin says about Prigozhin, "He was competent but also made mistakes"

The U.S. government is reportedly concluding that the death of Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of the Russian mercenary company Wagner Group, was the result of an assassination plot. Russian President Vladimir Putin made his first public remarks, saying, "He was a capable businessman but also made mistakes," and expressed his condolences to Prigozhin's family.

[Image source=AP Yonhap News]

The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on the 24th (local time), citing U.S. officials, that based on initial information gathered so far, the crash of the private plane carrying Prigozhin is being considered an assassination conspiracy. Earlier, Prigozhin, who had led an armed rebellion, and his close associate Dmitry Utkin died when the Wagner Group's private plane crashed while traveling from Moscow to Saint Petersburg the previous evening.

U.S. officials are analyzing that a bomb installed inside the plane exploded or some other form of sabotage occurred, leading to the crash. It is understood that the plane was not brought down by a surface-to-air missile. However, the official added that this initial assessment that the crash was due to an assassination plot is not a final conclusion.

Prigozhin, the head of the mercenary company Wagner Group, which attempted an armed rebellion at the end of June, halted the rebellion under the condition of exile to Belarus without punishment. Since then, he was seen traveling back and forth between Belarus and Russia several times.

Western countries, including the United States, have focused on the fact that President Putin has eliminated political opponents, such as opposition leaders who challenged him in the past, by various means, and have weighed the possibility of Prigozhin's assassination from immediately after the incident. When asked by White House reporters whether Putin was behind the incident, U.S. President Joe Biden responded, "It is rare for Putin not to be behind something in Russia. But I do not know enough to answer definitively."

[Image source=AP Yonhap News]

The Russian Federal Investigative Committee has launched an investigation into the incident. All 10 people on board the private plane died. The Telegram channel Grayzone, operated by the Wagner Group, claimed that the Embraer Legacy jet registered under their ownership was shot down by the Russian air defense system. Some Russian media also reported eyewitness accounts of explosions heard in the air after the plane began to crash and the possibility of a surface-to-air missile shootdown.

On the day following the accident, President Putin broke his silence and expressed his position on Prigozhin's death. During a meeting with Denis Pushilin, acting head of the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR), a Ukrainian-occupied territory, Putin said, "I have known him since the 1990s. He was a capable businessman but was born with a difficult fate and made mistakes," and "I extend my condolences to his bereaved family." He also added, "I have been informed that the Russian Federal Investigative Committee has launched an investigation into this incident," and "The investigation will take time. We will see what the investigators say."