Thibault Spirlet
Updated Thu, August 24, 2023
Wagner fighters in the Russian city of Rostov-on-Don during the June 2023 uprising led by Yevgeny Prigozhin.Arkady Budnitsky/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
Wagner forces threatened to retaliate against Russian authorities on Wednesday.
It came after the apparent death of their leader Yevgeny Prigozhin in a plane crash.
The fighters were said to be furious and "cursing" President Vladimir Putin.
Wagner forces were raging against "traitors to Russia" and plotting revenge after the apparent death of their leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin, in a plane crash on Wednesday.
A statement posted last night by Grey Zone, a Telegram account close to the Wagner leadership, expressed fury.
"The head of the Wagner Group, Hero of Russia, a true patriot of his Motherland, Yevgeny Viktorovich Prigozhin, died as a result of the actions of traitors to Russia," it said.
It is not clear exactly what led to the crash, but it is almost universally being understood as an assassination by Russian authorities, an assessment with which Grey Zone appears to agree.
Similar chatter was taking place further from view, and spoke of taking action. The independent Russian news service Mozhem Obysanit reported on chatrooms used by former Wagner members, whom they did not name.
"[Prigozhin's] former Wagner subordinates and their supporters," it said, "are cursing" Russian President Vladimir Putin and Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and "threatening to take revenge" on them.
An unverified video shared widely on Wednesday showed three men claiming to be Wagner soldiers making an ominous but vague prediction.
One said: "There's a lot of talk right now about what the Wagner Group will do in this situation. We can tell you one thing. We are getting started, get ready for us."
It wasn't clear who the men were or if they were indeed Wagner members.
Prigozhin appears to have been killed when his plane crashed on its way to St. Petersburg on Wednesday, exactly two months after a short-lived mutiny against the Russian defense ministry.
The respected Institute for the Study of War think tank in Washington, DC, described the crash as an "assassination," and the culmination of broader Russian effort to "destroy" the Wagner group.
An unnamed former senior Kremlin official told The Financial Times that the plane was shot down by Russian air defense batteries.
"Obviously this was an order," another unnamed source close to the Russian defense ministry told the outlet.
"It was totally unclear for two months why he was travelling the world … Now they've liquidated him and it all makes sense," the source added.
Before Wednesday's plane crash, Prigozhin was last seen in a clip in an unspecified African country, where he said the Wagner group was conducting reconnaissance and search operations.
Wagner's future without its leader remains unclear. His presumed death will "undeniably" have a "dramatic" impact on Wagner's command structure and reputation, the ISW said.
Another theory besides Wagner taking revenge is that it will simply be absorbed into the formal Russian military — two experts told Insider they expect this to happen now.
Alex Kokcharov, a risk analyst with S&P Global Market Intelligence, was one. He also said the Kremlin is likely to do the same with other "private armies" fighting in Ukraine, "to eliminate the risk of further mutinies."
Dr Matthew Ford, an ex-West Point fellow and Associate Professor at the Swedish Defence University, made the same point.
Some fighters may seek revenge, he said, but it was more likely they would integrate. "After all it is not as if Belarus is a safe haven for what is left of the group," he said, referring to the deal struck after the mutiny for Wagner forces to relocate to Russia's close ally.
Wagner's soldiers would likely be subject to stricter government control in Africa and the Middle East, making it more difficult for the Kremlin to deny responsibility for Wagner's actions, Kokcharov added.
Kremlin insiders are baffled over why Prigozhin was flying around Russia after his failed uprising: 'He's not a fool'
Sophia Ankel
Updated Thu, August 24, 2023
Head of the Wagner Group Yevgeny Prigozhin left the Southern Military District headquarters on June 24 in Rostov-on-Don, Russia.
Stringer/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
The Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin is presumed dead after his business jet crashed on Wednesday.
Prigozhin, who was ousted after a failed mutiny, was en route from Moscow to St. Petersburg.
Kremlin insiders told Meduza they were baffled over why he was still doing business in Russia.
Kremlin insiders are baffled over why the Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin was flying around Russia just two months after being ousted by Vladimir Putin for trying to initiate an uprising.
"He is not a fool, he understood everything, it seems," an insider, who was not named, told the Russian independent news outlet Meduza.
Prigozhin is presumed dead after a private jet he was traveling on crashed in the Tver region outside of Moscow on Wednesday, the Russian state media outlet TASS reported.
The plane, which had seven passengers and three crew members on board, was traveling from Moscow to St. Petersburg, TASS added.
A person close to Putin, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Meduza that Prigozhin was in the capital on Wednesday to meet with Moscow officials about his longtime catering business, Concord Catering, which had previously received lucrative government contracts.
Insider was unable to independently verify this information.
Two sources close to the Kremlin said they were surprised that Prigozhin continued to have business in Russia even after the failed mutiny, with one insider telling Meduza: "Why would he need catering contracts here, and with such risks?"
Prigozhin and his Wagner mercenaries initiated a short-lived mutiny against the Russian defense ministry exactly two months ago, in an effort to oust top-level military officials.
But the mutiny failed, and Prigozhin, who had spent months publicly criticizing Moscow's military strategy in Ukraine, was apparently exiled to Belarus.
Prigozhin seemed to spend much of the last two months traveling between St. Petersburg and Moscow and — according to a video message he released earlier this week — even appeared to take a trip to Africa, where Wagner troops have had a presence in several countries.
It's unclear how exactly the plane carrying Prigozhin and nine others crashed on Wednesday, though security officials and Soviet experts have said they believe Putin most likely ordered the assassination out of revenge for the mutiny.
Ian Petchenik of Flightradar24, a site that tracks flight data, told Reuters that everything looked normal with the plane until it made a "sudden downward vertical" motion, plummeting more than 8,000 feet from its cruising altitude of 28,000 within about 30 seconds.
"Whatever happened, happened quickly," Petchenik told Reuters.
The former MI6 leader Sir John Sawers told BBC Radio 4's Today program on Thursday that a device could have also been on board that "brought the plane down suddenly."
Putin Stooge Loses It When Confronted About Prigozhin’s Death
Julia Davis
Thu, August 24, 2023
Photo Illustration by Luis G. Rendon/Getty
The Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin is presumed dead after his business jet crashed on Wednesday.
Prigozhin, who was ousted after a failed mutiny, was en route from Moscow to St. Petersburg.
Kremlin insiders told Meduza they were baffled over why he was still doing business in Russia.
Kremlin insiders are baffled over why the Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin was flying around Russia just two months after being ousted by Vladimir Putin for trying to initiate an uprising.
"He is not a fool, he understood everything, it seems," an insider, who was not named, told the Russian independent news outlet Meduza.
Prigozhin is presumed dead after a private jet he was traveling on crashed in the Tver region outside of Moscow on Wednesday, the Russian state media outlet TASS reported.
The plane, which had seven passengers and three crew members on board, was traveling from Moscow to St. Petersburg, TASS added.
A person close to Putin, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Meduza that Prigozhin was in the capital on Wednesday to meet with Moscow officials about his longtime catering business, Concord Catering, which had previously received lucrative government contracts.
Insider was unable to independently verify this information.
Two sources close to the Kremlin said they were surprised that Prigozhin continued to have business in Russia even after the failed mutiny, with one insider telling Meduza: "Why would he need catering contracts here, and with such risks?"
Prigozhin and his Wagner mercenaries initiated a short-lived mutiny against the Russian defense ministry exactly two months ago, in an effort to oust top-level military officials.
But the mutiny failed, and Prigozhin, who had spent months publicly criticizing Moscow's military strategy in Ukraine, was apparently exiled to Belarus.
Prigozhin seemed to spend much of the last two months traveling between St. Petersburg and Moscow and — according to a video message he released earlier this week — even appeared to take a trip to Africa, where Wagner troops have had a presence in several countries.
It's unclear how exactly the plane carrying Prigozhin and nine others crashed on Wednesday, though security officials and Soviet experts have said they believe Putin most likely ordered the assassination out of revenge for the mutiny.
Ian Petchenik of Flightradar24, a site that tracks flight data, told Reuters that everything looked normal with the plane until it made a "sudden downward vertical" motion, plummeting more than 8,000 feet from its cruising altitude of 28,000 within about 30 seconds.
"Whatever happened, happened quickly," Petchenik told Reuters.
The former MI6 leader Sir John Sawers told BBC Radio 4's Today program on Thursday that a device could have also been on board that "brought the plane down suddenly."
Putin Stooge Loses It When Confronted About Prigozhin’s Death
Julia Davis
Thu, August 24, 2023
Photo Illustration by Luis G. Rendon/Getty
Russian state media appears to have one goal in the aftermath of the plane crash that reportedly killed the head of Wagner Group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, the group’s founder Dmitry Utkin, and their associates on Wednesday: to deflect any blame away from Russian President Vladimir Putin.
On Thursday, state media network Rossiya-24 referenced a criminal investigation that was opened by the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation, citing “potential violations of air transportation safety and operation rules” that may have caused the crash.
The most popular star of Russian state television, Vladimir Solovyov, likewise did his best to divert the focus from the most likely beneficiary of the incident—even going so far as to claim that Putin had nothing to gain from Prigozhin’s demise. During his show Full Contact Thursday morning, Solovyov complained about the Western media’s coverage that described the incident as “Putin’s revenge.”
“Prigozhin and Wagner did not present any threat to the Kremlin! None at all... They presented a colossal threat for the European countries! I’m trying to figure out who might have benefited from it. The very last person it would benefit is Putin!” he said. “Putin gave a word, he forgave all of them... Putin was never known not to keep his word! He is a man of his reputation… all about the laws,” he insisted.
Although he conceded that Prigozhin’s “march on Moscow” was indeed a “stab in the back” of the Russian president, the host brushed off any possibility of a revenge killing, asserting, “We’re not a gang! We are not the mafia! This is not Mario Puzo’s book The Godfather. We are a nation of laws!”
The Demise of Prigozhin, Putin’s Dear Friend Turned Biggest Problem
Solovyov ticked off other “suspects” he claimed could be behind the incident. He alleged that NATO countries benefit from Prigozhin’s demise “to a colossal degree,” because they want to undermine Russia’s military capabilities in Africa.
The next alleged beneficiary named by Solovyov was, of course, Ukraine: “For Ukraine, this is a major celebration! Yesterday, the Ukrainian segment of the internet exploded in total happiness!” The host pointed out that if any remnants of an explosive device on board the plane are found in the future, Ukraine would likely acknowledge its involvement. “For them, Prigozhin is target number one!” he said, suggesting that Ukrainians blew up Prigozhin to mark their Independence Day on Thursday.
When a female audience member challenged his conspiracy theory by stating that an operation of this magnitude was too complex to have been organized by the Ukrainians, Solovyov exploded in rage, spewing insults and vulgarities at her. Describing the commentator as a “fantastic fool,” Solovyov asked, “How hard is it to sneak a bomb on board? It is the simplest thing there is… I’m so sick of fools writing to me! I hate cretins! I just hate them!” He referred to multiple other viewers writing into the show as “degenerates” and refused to address their commentary.
Solovyov then accused Western media outlets of attempting to shift the blame from the real perpetrators responsible for the crash, just to screw over Putin. “The Anglo-Saxons are undoubtedly behind this crime!” he fumed. Solovyov went on to name France, Poland, the Baltic states, and NATO countries in general as other likely beneficiaries of the incident. “This does not benefit Russia at all!” he reiterated.
Just one day before the fatal crash, Solovyov had been complaining that Russia’s main weakness is its failure to retaliate against those who cause it harm: “We aren't retaliating for anything!” One of the grievances he brought up specifically pertained to Prigozhin: “Fifteen pilots have perished during a mutiny! So? Who answered for them? No one!” he said.
In the aftermath of the short-lived mutiny back in June, Solovyov and his guests on The Evening With Vladimir Solovyov were aghast that the Wagner chief was allowed to live after his march on Moscow. State Duma member Andrey Gurulyov, retired deputy Commander of the 58th Combined Arms Army of the Southern Military District, said that “traitors have to be destroyed” and urged Prigozhin and Utkin to commit suicide before a bullet finds them. “There are no other options for traitors,” he stressed.
Wagner Mercenaries Break Down and Sob at Shrine to Their Dead Boss
In July, Eduard Petrov, who heads the Legal Programs Production Service, insisted that criminal investigations against Prigozhin were far from over, while various state media outlets portrayed Prigozhin and the Wagnerites as a bunch of unsavory characters, convicted of a plethora of shameful crimes.
Despite that earlier stance, Solovyov claimed there was no coordinated media campaign to besmirch Prigozhin, referring to him as “Hero of Russia.” He called on Wagner fighters to take Kyiv “in honor of Prigozhin,” and urged viewers to consider who benefits from Prigozhin’s death, naming the French, Americans, and Ukrainians as the most likely culprits.
The weatherman, Evgeny Tishkovets, then chimed in with his own theory about the plane crash. He blamed the weather.
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