The Kremlin said on Friday that Western claims that Wagner mercenary commander Yevgeny Prigozhin was assassinated on its instructions were an ‘absolute lie’ and denied to confirm his death unequivocally, citing the need to wait for test results.
President Vladimir Putin offered his condolences to Yevgeny Prigozhin’s family on Thursday, breaking his silence two months after the mercenary leader’s plane crashed on Wednesday evening with no survivors.
According to Vladimir Putin, preliminary information indicates that Yevgeny Prigozhin and his top accomplices in the Wagner mercenary group were slain.
Russian officials have launched an investigation into what happened, but have yet to reveal what they believe led the plane to crash-land northwest of Moscow.
They have also not publically authenticated the identity of the ten bodies discovered from the wreckage.
Western politicians and commentators have speculated that President Putin ordered Prigozhin’s death to punish him for leading a failed mutiny against the top brass which represented the most serious challenge to Vladimir Putin’s power to date.
Dmitry Peskov, a Kremlin spokesperson said the accusation and many others like it were baseless.
Mr. Peskov further stated, “There is now a great deal of speculation surrounding this plane crash and the tragic deaths of the plane’s passengers, including Yevgeny Prigozhin. Of course, in the West, all this speculation is presented from a well-known angle”.
“All of this is an absolute lie, and here, when covering this issue, it is necessary to base yourself on facts. There are not many facts yet. They need to be established in the course of investigative actions”, Mr. Peskov continued.
Dmitry Peskov added that it was critical to await the results of numerous tests as well as the outcome of the investigation. He went on to say that Vladimir Putin had not lately met with Yevgeny Prigozhin.
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