The Kremlin on Friday dismissed rumors that it orchestrated or ordered the death of Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin, who was reportedly killed in a plane crash two months after his failed rebellion attempt against his former ally, Russian President Vladimir Putin. He signed the decree requiring members of paramilitary organizations to swear “allegiance” and “loyalty” to Russia.

“Of course, in the West, this speculation [que que Putin é responsável] is presented from a certain angle. All this is an absolute lie,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. Prigozhin said Friday that the bodies of ten passengers and crew, as well as black boxes, had been recovered.

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, who helped broker the deal that ended the uprising, said he did not believe Putin was responsible. – despite warning Prigozhin (and his right-hand man Dmitry Utkin, who was also on board) at least twice about the potential threats to their lives. “I know Putin. He is calculating, very calm, even slow. I can’t imagine that Putin did it, that Putin is to blame. It’s rude and unprofessional work,” he said.

Lukashenko also said the Wagner group, whose future many believe is in jeopardy, would remain in Belarus — where the mercenaries went after the failed uprising, under an amnesty deal negotiated with Putin. The Wagner group lived, lives and will live in Belarus,” Lukashenko said, quoted by the official Belta news agency. “In a few days everyone will be here, up to 10,000 people,” he claimed.

But according to Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov, “Today the Wagner group does not exist as it did a year ago, as a serious fighting force.” In an interview with the German newspaper Welt am SonntagIn summary: “They Are Undone”. When asked about the group’s future, Peskov limited himself to telling journalists: ‘I can’t tell you anything right now. Don’t know.’

Analysts admit that Prigozhin’s death could be a blow to the mercenaries, but believe that the model, which is indirectly linked to the Russian state, should survive. “As Russia tries to stick to the model of private military groups for its foreign policy and security assistance, the market is likely to diversify” to prevent the emergence of a new Prigozhin, Catrina Doxsee of the US think tank told AFP. .

Neither the first nor the last

However, Ukrainian authorities said on Friday that the special operation carried out in Crimea the day before yesterday is not the first and will not be the last. “Not all operations can be counted,” Oleksi Danilov, secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, told Radio Liberty. “All I can say is that [as operações] will end only when the entire territory of our country, including Crimea, is free from terrorists,” he said, emphasizing that the option of military intervention on that peninsula is not excluded as long as the Russians do not understand that “they are leaving”.

with agencies