Putin orders Wagner troopers to take oath of allegiance after Prigozhin airplane crash
V
ladimir Putin has ordered Wagner fighters to signal an oath of allegiance to the Russian state after a airplane crash killed its chief, Yevgeny Prigozhin.
Putin signed the decree bringing within the change with instant impact on Friday which requires Wagner fighters to pledge allegiance to Russia, and promise to strictly observe the orders of Russian commanders.
Russia’s aviation authority mentioned Prigozhin was on board a non-public jet which crashed on Wednesday night northwest of Moscow with no survivors.
Portrait of Yevgeny Prigozhin at a road memorial close to the Kremlin
/ APIt got here precisely two months after he led a failed mutiny towards the Russian military within the greatest menace to Putin’s rule since he got here into energy in 1999.
MI6 boss Sir John Sawers immediately mentioned it appeared that the Russian chief had ordered the strike, including: “All the indications point to the fact that Putin has taken him out… he is making clear to everyone both inside Russia and outside that he’s not going to brook any challenge.”
US President Joe Biden mentioned on Wednesday that he was not shocked by stories Prigozhin had died within the crash, saying that not a lot occurs in Russia that President Vladimir Putin was not behind.
US officers don’t imagine it’s probably {that a} missile strike precipitated the airplane to crash however are exploring whether or not a bomb aboard the plane or another sabotage precipitated the downing of the airplane.
Russian air authorities have mentioned Prigozhin, his right-hand man Dmitry Utkin, and eight different individuals have been on the non-public airplane that crashed with no survivors northwest of Moscow.
The British Ministry of Defence mentioned whereas there was no definitive proof Prigozhin was on the airplane, it was “highly likely” he was killed within the crash, and that this could have “a deeply destabilising effect on the Wagner Group”.
The Kremlin has denied being behind the plane’s crash, despite the fact it came just two months after Prigozhin led an abortive mutiny, which Putin condemned as “treason”.
The site of the plane crash
/ AP“There is now a great deal of speculation surrounding this plane crash and the tragic deaths of the plane’s passengers, including Yevgeny Prigozhin,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
“Of course, in the West, all this speculation is presented from a well-known angle. All of this is an absolute lie, and here, when covering this issue, it is necessary to base yourself on facts.”
Nigel Gould-Davies, a former British ambassador to Belarus, said Prigozhin’s funeral would be significant.
“If Putin wishes to emphasise that Prigozhin died as a traitor, he will ignore it,” he mentioned.
“(While) Prigozhin’s supporters might use it as a possibility to eulogise him and his critique of the Kremlin’s conduct of the battle, and will strengthen the hostility of a core of Wagner loyalists in the direction of the Kremlin.”