2023-09-08 18:05:04
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of being behind the death of Wagner Group mercenary boss Yevgeny Prigozhin. Photo/REUTERS
KYIV – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday (8/9/2023) said Russian President Vladimir Putin was behind the death of the mercenary boss Wagner Group Yevgeny Prigozhin.
Prigozhin died along with nine other people in a private plane crash in Tver, Russia, on August 23. Several of Wagner’s top commanders were among those killed in the crash.
Zelensky, who provided no evidence to support his claims, made the comments in passing at a conference in Kyiv. He was asked about the Russian president’s connection to Prigozhin’s death.
“The fact that he is [Putin] killing Prigozhin—at least that’s the information we all have, not any other information—which also shows his rationality, and the fact that he is weak,” Zelensky was quoted as saying Reuters.
The Kremlin from the start denied speculation that Putin was behind the crash of Prigozhin’s private plane. This denial was conveyed when many parties viewed the accident as a revenge killing for Wagner’s failed uprising last June.
“Now, of course, there is a lot of speculation around this disaster and the tragic death of the plane’s passengers, including Yevgeny Prigozhin. Of course, in the West, all this speculation is presented from a certain point of view. “All this is an absolute lie,” said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov at the time.
The Kremlin later said that investigators were considering the possibility that Prigozhin’s private plane was brought down deliberately.
“It is clear that various versions are being considered, including the version—you know what we are talking about—say, a deliberate atrocity,” Peskov said on August 30.
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