Top Wagner Officials Killed Along With Prigozhin

Yesterday's likely death -- which Russian authorities have not confirmed -- of Russian war criminal and the head of its mercenary Wagner Group Yevgeniy Prigozhin in a plane crash also appears to have killed a number of his top lieutenants. From the Washington Post:

"Not just Wagner leader Yevgeniy Prigozhin was believed to have been killed in the crash, but also his operations commander Dmitry Utkin and other senior members of the group when the jet went down mysteriously in the Tver region of Russia — effectively decapitating the outfit.

The Kremlin was silent about the crash with Prigozhin’s death unconfirmed by Russian authorities or his Concord group press service, however Russia’s federal aviation service reported that Prigozhin and Utkin were on the passenger list and that all 10 people onboard were killed.

The bodies of those killed, including the three crew members, were transported to a local forensic unit in Tver for analysis, as police blocked access to the crash site near the village of Kuzhenkino."  (our emphasis)

There were makeshift memorials for Prigozhin at Wagner offices around Russia, indicating a level of popular support for the former convict and caterer for Putin who led the vicious and lawless mercenary group. After his aborted mutiny against Russian thug and war criminal Vladimir Putin failed in June, he strangely managed to escape punishment and traveled around Russia, Belarus and Africa for a while. The WaPo story continues:

"An official investigation into the crash was underway Thursday, amid widespread speculation in Russia that the crash was an assassination, but Western analysts said that the true cause of the crash may never be known, given the lack of transparency and politicized nature of Russian criminal investigations.

Paris-based Russia analyst Tatyana Stanovaya said it was unlikely that the Kremlin would tamp down the swirling rumors that the crash was an assassination ordered by Putin, although she said it was not clear what happened.

Without speculating on the cause, she said that 'Putin had a strong reason to desire Prigozhin’s death.'

'Putin now looks like a person who eradicated his enemy,' she said, adding that many saw it as the logical step. 'I think the Kremlin is not going to make any efforts to try to dissuade the public of this.'”  (our emphasis)

Putin is a murderer who believes that revenge is a dish best served cold, and he seems to have served it yesterday to his former caterer Prigozhin.

(photo: Prigozhin serving a dyspeptic Putin a meal. AP file photo)

 

Russia's Thuggish Wagner Group Sanctioned

The Biden Administration's decision to categorize Russia's mercenary Wagner Group a "transnational criminal organization" is timely and should send a signal to the Kremlin about their use of this thug army, which has been involved in war crimes in Ukraine. The Group is known for recruiting violent criminals from prisons to fill out its ranks, as it sends its mercenary forces around the globe in service to despots:

"The designation will come alongside additional U.S. sanctions against Wagner and its support network, spanning multiple continents, said John Kirby, coordinator for strategic communications at the White House National Security Council. The Treasury Department intends to formalize the penalties next week.

Speaking at a White House news briefing, Kirby said the designation would open up 'additional avenues' for the United States to go after Wagner’s business activities around the world, and give other nations and institutions the firepower to follow suit.

'These actions recognize the transcontinental threat that Wagner poses, including through its ongoing pattern of serious criminal activity,' Kirby said. He noted the Russian mercenary group had carried out 'atrocities and human rights abuses in Ukraine, and of course elsewhere around the world.'" (our emphasis)

Wagner Group leader Yevgeniy Prigozhin, himself an ex-convict, is known as "Putin's chef" having secured large catering contracts with the Kremlin under Putin. Prigozhin has been at odds with the Russian military over tactics and equipment as they jockey for power and Putin's approval.

(photo: Wagner Group headquarters in St. Petersburg, Russia. Olga Maltseva / AFP / Getty)