Myhailo Podoljak, adviser to the Ukrainian president, considers Prigozhin’s death a message from Putin to the Russian elite.
Founder of the Russian mercenary company Wagner Yevgeny Prigozhin died yesterday in a plane crash in Russia. Wagner confirmed Prigozhin’s death on his Telegram channel. The Russian aviation authorities also confirmed that Prigozhin was on the crashed plane.
President of the United States Joe Biden already said after hearing about Prigozh’s possible death that he is “not surprised”.
Biden said CNN’s White House Correspondent To Kevin Liptak, that “you may remember, but I was asked about this”. Biden referred to comments he made in July in which he said Prigozhin should be concerned about his safety after the failed coup.
At a press conference held in connection with Biden’s visit to Helsinki in July, the US president joked that if he were Prigozhin, he would be very careful about what he eats and would keep a close eye on his menu.
– Not much happens in Russia without (President) Putin behind it, but I don’t know enough to know the answer, Biden added.
According to Ukraine, the crash of the plane is a signal from the Russian president From Vladimir Putin for the Russian elite.
– The spectacular elimination of Prigozhin and Wagner’s commander two months after the coup attempt is a signal from Putin to the Russian elite before the 2024 elections: Beware! Disloyalty is equal to death, wrote the adviser to the President of Ukraine Myhailo Podoljak message service in X.
Former head of the Russian branch of MI6, the British foreign intelligence service Christopher Steele said for the BBCthat Prigozhin’s end was “inevitable”.
He believes that the plane crash was probably organized or ordered by someone in a high-ranking position in the security apparatus, “perhaps with Putin’s tacit approval.”
– So Prigozhin had a lot of enemies and very few allies within the administration, and in a way it was inevitable that this would be the end of him.
Sources: AFP, STT