Russian mercenary leader Yevgeny V. Prigozhin, the founder of the Wagner Group, reportedly died when a private jet he was said to be on crashed on Aug. 23, 2023, killing all 10 people on board.
The Russian Federal Air Transport
Agency confirmed that Prigozhin, who Afghanistan WhatsApp Number List had led a brief rebellion again the Russian military two months earlier, was among the dead.
The Conversation U.S. asked national security scholar Gregory F. Treverton, a former chairman of the National Intelligence Council in the Obama administration, to explain what Prigozhin’s death would signify.
Who was – or is – Prigozhin?
Prigozhin came from humble beginnings.
Side in Ukraine, but Prigozhin went public in the spring. of 2023 with criticism of the conflict’s cost in terms of Wagne.r troops and complaints about the way. the war was being fought by the Russian government. Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu was a particular target of Prigozhin’s complaints regarding military strategy.
In June, Prigozhin orchestrated what was effectively a revolt against Russia’s government. He dispatched Wagner troops on a march unimpeded toward Moscow.
Prigozhin was 62 years old at the time of the crash
What was his relationship with President Vladimir Putin?
It was complicated, to say the least.
An oligarch, Prigozhin was thought to be close to the Russian leader. He was called “Putin’s chef” due to the services he provided the cphonenumber Kremlin and the personal touches he employed when Putin dined in his restaurants.
In June, when he launched his mutiny against Moscow, Prigozhin must have realized he had gone too far with his public rebukes. The only general he admired, Sergey Surovikin, released a video message telling him to stand down and to “obey” Putin. Prigozhin soon disbanded the march, saying he wanted to spare “Russian blood.” Afterward, the mercenary leader said he met with Putin before leaving for what was expected to be his exile in Belarus.
At the time, I was looking for cracks in Russia’s will to fight, particularly in its military.
In that sense, I saw Prigozhin’s criticisms of Russia’s military strategy in. Yet when it looked like Prigozhin might prevail, American officials were worried. As the saying goes: When the gods wish to punish us, they grant us our wishes.
Why do you think Putin’s opponents, many of whom are dead or imprisoned, have met so much misfortune?
It was painfully plain that after his failed rebellion, Prigozhin was a dead man flying.
Indeed, the surprise was that Putin dropped charges and let him go, albeit to Russia’s vassal ally, Belarus.
Would Prigozhin’s death change anything for US policy toward Putin and Russia?
However, it’s likely to take Wagner troops, which had been among Russia’s most effective, out of the conflict in Ukraine. And it may wind up diminishing Wagner’s operations in Africa, which until now have furthered Russian interests.