In televised comments, Putin described the plane crash as a ‘tragedy’ while paying a qualified tribute to the mercenary boss and his paramilitary group, according to a report published by the news agency AFP. 

“I knew Prigozhin for a very long time, since the early 90s. He was a man of complicated fate, and he made serious mistakes in his life, but he achieved the right results,” Putin said. 

He said that the Wagner members who died in the plane crash had made a significant contribution to Moscow’s offensive in war-hit Ukraine. “We remember that we know that, and we will not forget that.”

“The investigation into the crash will be conducted in full and brought to a conclusion. Recently he either did not see or did not want to see the full picture of what is happening in the country,” the Russian President said as quoted by AFP. 

The suspicious plane crash and Yevgeny Prigozhin’s death came two months after the Wagner group took out a rebellion march toward Moscow to overthrow Vladimir Putin’s military leadership. At that time, Putin had termed Prigozhin’s rebellion as “treachery” and a “stab in the back” of Russia. He had promised that the perpetrators would be punished.

Notably, Prigozhin and Putin had a deal. A deal that ensured that all the charges against the Wagner founder and his fighters were dropped when the mutiny ended. This is despite the fact that Russian servicemen died in the murky insurrection brought upon by the Wagner group.

The biggest and most humiliating challenge to Putin’s 24 years in power ended with a deal under which Prigozhin and his mercenaries were allowed to travel to exile in neighboring Belarus.

On Wednesday, exactly two months after his mutiny, 62-year-old Prigozhin is believed to have died in a plane crash 300 kilometers (200 miles) from Moscow, raising suspicions that Putin merely waited to demonstrate his wrath in a way that would serve as a warning to others. 

(With AFP inputs)

Updated: 25 Aug 2023, 06:58 AM IST