Vladimir Putin’s meticulous investigation into the completely unexpected and utterly mysterious death of Yevgeny Prigozhin has taken a new turn.
Vladimir Putin’s meticulous investigation into the completely unexpected and utterly mysterious death of Yevgeny Prigozhin, the warlord-mutineer who fell to Earth, has taken a new turn. The initial talk was that the private jet carrying Prigozhin and other senior Wagner associates had been shot out of the sky by a missile. That story was replaced by allegations that a bomb had been placed aboard the doomed plane.
Now, via the New York Times, here is some startling news:
President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia claimed on Thursday that the warlord Yevgeny V. Prigozhin and his associates may have brought down their private jet with hand grenades while possibly under the influence of cocaine — a new narrative from the Kremlin about the August plane crash widely seen as an assassination carried out by the Russian government.
Mr. Putin made the assertion at the end of an hourslong, televised question-and-answer session with international foreign policy experts in the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi. Mr. Putin said that investigators had concluded there had been no “external impact” that caused the crash that killed Mr. Prigozhin, the founder of the Wagner private military company, and nine others.
But, he added, there was evidence that hand grenades had been detonated on board.
“The head of the Investigative Committee reported to me just the other day that fragments of hand grenades were found in the bodies of those killed in the plane crash,” Mr. Putin said.
Mr. Putin went on to suggest that Mr. Prigozhin and his associates may have been using alcohol or drugs, painting a picture of an intoxicated group of men who may have killed themselves with their own weapons.
It is, of course, entirely credible that a group of men, including some with extensive military experience, would have been fooling around with hand grenades in a small plane.
Stories that Prigozhin was known for not even allowing alcohol on the plane when he flew can safely be ignored.
Ever the professional, Putin, a former (?) KGB officer criticized some sloppiness in the original investigation:
“Unfortunately, no examination was carried out for the presence of alcohol or drugs in the blood of the victims,” Mr. Putin said, adding that Russian security forces had found five kilograms of cocaine in Mr. Prigozhin’s offices. “From my point of view, such an examination should have been done”.
Indeed, indeed. Careless.
I think we can assume that the posthumous rehabilitation of Prigozhin as a flawed Russian hero (something that had been suggested recently) has been canceled.
Meanwhile Prigozhin’s 25-year-old son, Pavel, is now said to have assumed control of the Wagner Group, possibly as a figurehead for someone who is not Andrei Troshev, the Kremlin’s supposed pick for the top job. He’s reportedly negotiating to take Wagner back into Ukraine, a dangerous destination. Stray bullets flying all over the place.