KYIV, Ukraine
Russia's Investigative Committee officially confirmed the death of Wagner Group's leaders Yevgeny Prigozhin and Dmitry Utkin following a DNA test of their bodies, Russian state-owned news agency RIA Novosti reported on August 27.
Prigozhin and Utkin were among
the passengers of a private jet that crashed over Tver Oblast on Aug. 23. All
10 people aboard the plane perished.
The cause of the crash remains
unclear. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told reporters
on Aug. 24 that Ukraine did
not orchestrate the crash, but added that "everyone understands" who
is behind it.
The likely cause was
a bomb onboard or "some other form of sabotage," according to unnamed
U.S. officials cited by the Wall Street Journal on Aug. 24.
Moscow did not acknowledge
shooting down the plane.
On Aug. 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin confirmed Prigoshin’s death, saying that "he made mistakes."
Prigozhin, the founder of the
Wagner Group mercenary company, took the lead in Russia's assault on Bakhmut.
But after a prolonged spat
with Russia's Defense Ministry, Prigozhin ordered his troops to seize
government buildings in Russia's Rostov and race towards Moscow before
eventually calling off the mutiny.
Following an undisclosed deal allegedly
brokered by Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko, the warlord was allowed
to walk free and has recently released a
video claiming to be in Africa.
The Institute for the Study of
War reported that Putin is trying to dissolve the unit while Prigozhin was
fighting to keep it alive.
This is scary!
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