William Molinié and Inès Zeghloul / Photo credits: VLADIMIR NIKOLAYEV / AFP
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1:30 p.m., August 24, 2023
The death of Yevgueni Prigojine, announced this Wednesday, raises many questions. While his plane crashed only two months after the Wagner group’s attempted rebellion, some point to a “strange coincidence”. Accident or elimination? We take stock of what we know.
Was militia leader Wagner murdered? In the aftermath of his death following the crash of his plane as he was about to reach Saint Petersburg, many are asking themselves the question. Government spokesman Olivier Véran said there were “reasonable doubts” about “the conditions” of the air crash. It is also the feeling of a number of Western observers, starting with US President Joe Biden, who said he was “not surprised” by this disappearance.
What really happened? For the moment, it must be said that the amateur videos broadcast on Russian social networks also go in this direction. The thesis of an anti-aircraft missile which tore off the wing of the business aircraft is probable. The whole question is why the air defense was triggered. Was the plane Wagner’s boss was in deliberately targeted or flew over a no-go area? The General Prosecutor’s Office in Moscow has announced the opening of an investigation for violation of security rules.
Who to replace him at the head of Wagner?
For their part, the ultranationalist Russian media close to the Wagner militia are formal: for them, it is indeed a deliberate act ordered from the top of the Kremlin, in other words Vladimir Putin. A key figure in the Wagner group, another question now also arises: who can replace him? “It all depends on Putin,” says militia specialist Peer de Jong. “Either he is a former soldier, a former Wagner. It is not unthinkable. There were two of the very important Wagner generals who seceded in quotation marks. So it is possible that he will be put back in the running .”
“I honestly think that we are going to see a big takeover of the system and it is in the Kremlin that it will happen. Wagner is an essential tool of politics and it is great because this tool was almost invisible” , adds the specialist.