UNSPECIFIED LOCATION IN AFRICA - AUGUST 21: (----EDITORIAL USE ONLY - MANDATORY CREDIT - 'WAGNER TELEGRAM ACCOUNT / HANDOUT' - NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS----) A screen grab captured from a video shared online shows Yevgeny Prigozhin, the founder of the Russian private security company Wagner, holding a rifle in a desert area while wearing camouflage in a video for the first time after his rebellion against the Russian administration in an unspecified location in Africa on August 21, 2023. In the footage shared on the Telegram channel 'Wagner's evacuation', Prigozhin stated that they have made Russia 'even greater' on all continents, including Africa. (Photo by Wagner Account/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
PRIGOZHIN MADE ‘MISTAKES ’ BUT ‘ACHIEVED RESULTS SAYS PUTIN
Russian President Vladimir Putin recently expressed his “condolences” over a plane crash that killed Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin, describing him as a man who made mistakes but “achieved results”.
An investigation is currently underway into what caused Wednesday’s crash, which came exactly two months after Wagner’s short-lived rebellion against Moscow’s military leadership.
“First of all I want to express words of sincere condolences to the families of all the victims,” Putin said in a televised meeting, calling the incident a “tragedy”.
“I knew Prigozhin for a very long time, since the early 90s. He was a man of complicated fate, and he made serious mistakes in his life, but he achieved the right results,” Putin added.
He said that an investigation had been launched into the crash, and that “it will take some time”.
“It will be conducted in full and brought to a conclusion. There is no doubt about that,” Putin said, in footage showing a meeting with the Russian-installed head of the Donetsk region Denis Pushilin.
The circumstances of the crash, which claimed the lives of some of Prigozhin’s close entourage, have prompted furious speculation about a possible assassination.
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