The British Ministry of Defense on Friday recognized the death of the head of the Wagner group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, as “highly probable”, despite the lack of definitive evidence that he was on the plane that crashed in Russia.
“Russian authorities claim that 10 people died on board, including Wagner’s owner Yevgeny Prigozhin. There is still no definitive evidence that Prigozhin was on board and he is known to be using exceptional security measures.”said the ministry.
“However, it is very likely that he is actually dead”he said in the British Ministry of Defense’s initial response to the crash of the Wagner Group plane that crashed northwest of Moscow on Wednesday.
In a report based on military intelligence released on social media, the British Ministry believed that “Prigozhin’s death would almost certainly have a profoundly destabilizing effect on the Wagner group”.
“His personal traits of hyperactivity, exceptional audacity, drive for results and extreme brutality permeated Wagner and it is unlikely that any successor will match him”he said, according to the Spanish agency EFE.
The leadership gap of the Wagner Group “would be exacerbated by the news that founder and operations commander Dimitry Utkin and chief of logistics Valery Chekalov also died” in the plane crash, he added.
Analysts from the London Ministry of Defense also noted that the accident occurred “exactly two months after the Wagner group’s mutiny” against the Russian military leadership.
The mutiny took place on June 23 and 24, when Prigozhin occupied the Russian military command in the southwestern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don and ordered a column of mercenaries to advance on Moscow.
The column turned back when it was 200 kilometers from the Russian capital, following an agreement allegedly brokered by Belarus.
On the way, the mercenaries got involved in clashes with the security forces, shooting down half a dozen helicopters, which resulted in the death of about two dozen elements of the Moscow Armed Forces.
At the time, Prigozhin demanded the resignation of Defense Minister Serguei Shoigu and Chief of Staff Valery Gerasimov, whom he accused of ordering an attack on the Wagner group army and of incompetence in the war against Ukraine.
Russian authorities said Prigozhin, Utkin and Chekalov were on the passenger list of the plane that crashed for unknown reasons during a flight between Moscow and St Petersburg, where the headquarters of the Wagner Group is located.
All ten people on board the private jet were killed in the crash, authorities said. They announced an investigation into the circumstances under which the plane crashed.
Russian President Vladimir Putin sent a message of condolence to Prigozhin’s family on Thursday, saying the former ally was “a talented man who made some mistakes”.
Founded in 2014 and present in African countries and the Middle East, the Wagner Group stood out in Russia’s war against Ukraine, starring in some of the bloodiest battles since the February 24, 2022 invasion.
Source: DN
