Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin, Putin ally-turned-rival, presumed dead in plane crash
Yevgeny Prigozhin, the Russian former convict and restaurateur who founded the Wagner mercenary army, is presumed dead after a plane he was reportedly traveling in crashed Wednesday in a field between Moscow and St. Petersburg, his hometown.
Russia's civil aviation agency said Prigozhin's name was on the flight manifest of the Embraer private jet, along with three crew members and six other passengers, and Russia's Russia's Emergency Services said 10 bodies were recovered from the crash. Telegram channels linked to Wagner also said Prigozhin died in the crash.
Video of the plane spiraling down appears to show a wing missing and other signs of an explosion, and there is widespread speculation the jet was downed in retaliation for Wagner's brief mutiny, which began two months to the day before the crash. The mutiny humiliated Russian President Vladimir Putin, Prigozhin's former patron, and posed the biggest threat to his power in decades.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Among the others presumed dead is Prigozhin's top lieutenant, Wagner commander Dmitri Utkin. Utkin's nom de guerre, Wagner — a reference of Richard Wagner, Adolf Hitler's favorite composer — inspired the name for the mercenary army, The New York Times reported.
"Prigozhin's death sends an unnerving signal to the country's elite which, according to insiders and Western intelligence assessments, has grown increasingly unhappy with Putin, his handling of the mutiny earlier this summer and his overall handling of the war" in Ukraine, The Wall Street Journal added.
Wagner forces handed Putin his only military victory this year, the capture of Bakhmut, but that was quickly followed by Wagner's withdrawal from Ukraine and march on Moscow. After the mutiny, which ended in a deal that sent Wagner forces into exile in Belarus, Prigozhin largely disappeared from view. Earlier this week, he posted his first recruitment video in months, purportedly from Africa, where Wagner was active.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
Trump orders release of JFK, RFK, MLK Jr. files
Speed Read The president signed an executive order to release classified documents related to the assassinations of John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr.
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Study finds possible alternative abortion pill
Speed Read An emergency contraception (morning-after) pill called Ella could be an alternative to mifepristone for abortions
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Judge pauses Trump's birthright citizenship ban
Speed Read A federal judge in Seattle temporarily blocked President Donald Trump's 'unconstitutional' executive order to overturn birthright citizenship
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Trump orders release of JFK, RFK, MLK Jr. files
Speed Read The president signed an executive order to release classified documents related to the assassinations of John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr.
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Judge pauses Trump's birthright citizenship ban
Speed Read A federal judge in Seattle temporarily blocked President Donald Trump's 'unconstitutional' executive order to overturn birthright citizenship
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
DOJ threatens local officials on migrant crackdown
Speed Read Federal prosecutors have been told to investigate any official who obstructs Trump's deportation efforts
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Senate learns new Hegseth abuse, drinking allegations
speed read The former sister-in-law of Donald Trump's defense secretary nominee, Pete Hegseth, claims he was abusive
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Trump pardons Silk Road founder, defends Jan. 6 acts
Speed Read President Donald Trump made good with libertarians and crypto enthusiasts in pardoning Ross Ulbricht
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Trump starts term with spate of executive orders
Speed Read The president is rolling back many of Joe Biden's climate and immigration policies
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Trump pardons or commutes all charged Jan. 6 rioters
Speed Read The new president pardoned roughly 1,500 criminal defendants charged with crimes related to the Capitol riot
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
DeSantis appoints Florida's top lawyer to US Senate
Speed Read The state's attorney general, Ashley Moody, will replace Sen. Marco Rubio in the Senate
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published