‘Highly likely’ Wagner chief Prigozhin is lifeless, says MoD
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t is “highly likely” that the chief of the Wagner mercenary group who challenged the Kremlin in a failed mutiny is lifeless, the UK Government has stated.
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) cautioned that there’s “not yet definitive proof” that Yevgeny Prigozhin was onboard a aircraft that crashed between Moscow and St Petersburg on Wednesday, however concluded his presumed demise is credible.
Russian authorities stated the non-public jet was carrying the Wagner chief and a few of his prime lieutenants and everybody on board was killed when it went down.
There is just not but definitive proof that Prigozhin was onboard and he’s identified to train distinctive safety measures. However, it’s extremely doubtless that he’s certainly lifeless
In its every day intelligence replace on Friday, the MoD stated: “On 23 August 2023, exactly two months after the Wagner Group’s mutiny, a Wagner-associated Embraer business jet crashed near Tver, between Moscow and St Petersburg.
“The Russian authorities claim 10 people on board died, including Wagner owner Yevgeny Prigozhin.
“There is not yet definitive proof that Prigozhin was onboard and he is known to exercise exceptional security measures.
“However, it is highly likely that he is indeed dead.”
His loss of life “would almost certainly have a deeply destabilising effect” on his non-public army, with the reported deaths of Wagner’s second-in-command and logistics chief compounding a “leadership vacuum”, the MoD stated on Twitter, now generally known as X.