Britain’s defense ministry said Friday that the presumed death of Russian mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin in a plane crash could destabilize the Wagner Group, whose brutal fighters were feared in Ukraine, Africa and Syria and conducted a brief but shocking mutiny in Russia.
“The demise of Prigozhin almost certainly would have a deeply destabilizing effect on the Wagner Group. His personal attributes of hyperactivity, exceptional audacity, a drive for results and extreme brutality permeated Wagner and are unlikely to be matched by any successor,” the ministry wrote in a statement., particularly in the monthslong fight to take the city of Bakhmut, the conflict’s most grueling battle.
Pentagon spokesman Gen. Pat Ryder said there was “no information to suggest” that a surface-to-air missile took down the plane. He declined to say whether the U.S. suspected a bomb or believed the crash was an assassination. President Joe Biden, speaking to reporters Wednesday, said he believed Putin was likely behind the crash.
The passenger manifest also included Prigozhin’s second-in-command, whose nom de guerre became the group’s name, as well as Wagner’s logistics chief and at least one possible bodyguard.who are normally exceedingly careful about their security, would have been on the same flight. The purpose of their trip to St. Petersburg was unknown.In this first comments on the crash, Putin said the passengers had “made a significant contribution” to the fighting in Ukraine.
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