Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the Russian mercenary force Wagner, was listed among 10 passengers reported killed when a private jet crashed north of Moscow.

Authorities are investigating the cause of the crash, which occurred exactly two months after Prigozhin led his fighters in a short-lived mutiny against Russia’s military leadership.

“There’s not much that happens in Russia that [Russian President] Putin’s not behind. But I don’t know enough to know the answer,” US President Joe Biden said in reaction to the news.

Ukraine presidential aide Mykhailo Podolyak said the plane crash was “a signal from Putin to Russia’s elites ahead of the 2024 elections. ‘Beware! Disloyalty equals death.'”

Questions are now being raised about the future of thousands of Wagner fighters deployed in Africa, Belarus and elsewhere.

Source: Al Jazeera

BDST: 0937 HRS, AUG 24, 2023
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