‘If I were He, I’d Be Careful What I Ate, And Also Keep An Eye On My Menu’, Says Biden On Prigozhin’s Death
The Oasis Reporters
August 24, 2023
Deadly Crash
By FP
Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of the Russian paramilitary Wagner Group who launched a mutiny against the Kremlin two months ago, is believed to have died along with nine other people in a plane crash in Russia on Wednesday.
All 10 people aboard the Embraer flight, which was traveling from Moscow to St.Petersburg and crashed in the Tver region, were killed, according to Russia’s emergency ministry. Prigozhin was listed as one of its passengers. A Russia-imposed official in Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia province said he spoke with Wagner forces who confirmed the death of Prigozhin as well as that of another passenger, Lt. Col. Dmitry Utkin, Prigozhin’s second in command and one of Wagner Group’s founders.
The Wagner-linked Telegram channel Gray Zone alleged that the plane, which was owned by Prigozhin, was shot down by Russian defense forces via surface-to-air missiles, though that has not been confirmed. Russian President Vladimir Putin has not issued a statement regarding the allegations; at the time of the crash, Putin was attending a ceremony marking the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Kursk, where the Soviet Red Army defeated Nazi forces in 1943.
However, the timing of the crash—two months to the day after Prigozhin’s failed rebellion—as well as Putin’s well-known penchant for assassinating his political foes are certainly suggestive.
“If I were he, I’d be careful what I ate,” said U.S. President Joe Biden regarding Prigozhin last month. “I would keep an eye on my menu.”
Prigozhin was last seen in an undated video, released on Monday, that appeared to be filmed in Africa. Wagner Group maintains a strong foothold on the continent, backing numerous coups across the Sahel and applauding the recent ousting of Nigerien President Mohamed Bazoum. If Prigozhin is out of the picture, then it’s unclear what Wagner’s future.
Prigozhin had once been a close advisor to Putin and was famously known as “Putin’s chef.” But Wagner’s attempted coup changed all that, signaling the first major threat to Putin’s reign in years—especially coming at a time when Moscow was struggling to push back against Ukraine’s counteroffensive.
If the Russian leader was indeed behind the plane crash, then, as a White House National Security Council spokesperson said in a Wednesday statement, “no one should be surprised.” Or, as CIA Director William Burns put it last month: “Putin is someone who generally thinks that revenge is a dish best served cold.”
Foreign Policy
