We expected that Yevgeny Prigozhin would not live long after his March to Moscow in June that rattled Putin. We saw photos of him at various events. He was dead man walking.
The Washington Post just reported that he was on a private plane that crashed. Is that better than being pushed out of a window or getting a bullet in the head while taking a stroll?
At least 10 people died in the crash of a Wagner-linked private plane outside Moscow, according to Russia’s emergency services. Prighozin, who led a failed mutiny in June, was on the plane’s manifest, according to state-run outlet RIA, citing the country’s aviation authority.
Prigozhin had largely disappeared from the public eye after leading the short-lived rebellion, which saw his mercenary fighters briefly occupy a military headquarters in southern Russia and march on the capital, shocking President Vladimir Putin and the country’s military leadership. Under a deal brokered with Putin by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, Prigozhin agreed to call off the mutiny in exchange for pardons and the ability to relocate his fighters to Belarus.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
So now we just have a bunch of mercenaries wandering around the world? I’m guessing any in Belarus either have signed up with the Russian military or are dead or soon will be.
LikeLike
BBC have just reported this too.
Putin will have a hard job convincing the world this was just an accident. Even if there is what would normally be considered incontrovertible proof.
If Yevgeny Prigozhin is not a survivor. The questions are? Who will Wagner now belong to? What will some of the loyal veterans feel about this?
And if he has survived the crash, will he ‘survive’ his injuries?
LikeLike
He is listed on the manifest but his death is not yet confirmed.
LikeLiked by 1 person
We wait and see.
Though I suspect whatever the outcome the general comment around the world will be ‘Accident? .Hmmm. You don’t say,’
LikeLike
Prigozhin got Putinized, Putinated and/or he acquired severe acute Hyper-putinitis. I don’t think too many people will be shedding tears for this butcher.
LikeLike
I would not be surprised if this was self-staged….
Yevgeny gets to retire, fat and rich, anywhere in the world (mostly)
Put-on no longer has to worry about (or suffer speculations) about him by agreement
The world closes the case and doesn’t look back.
Win-win-(sorta)-win.
LikeLike
Rob, why bother to stage his death when it’s so much easier to kill him?
LikeLike
Well, if you are at a stalemate in a game, change the game.
Until we get forensic proof, I would tend to think Prigozhian is probably smart enough not to fly in/near Russia, given Putin’s “promise” to leave him be. (If not, then this is just Darwinism at work).
Prig’s got a sizable war chest, he’s got contacts useful to (and against) Putin. He knows he’s not going to get more work out of Putin after his heat-of-the-moment stunt, and he doesn’t strike me as the type to go quietly nor shy away from a fight. He didn’t get where he is without being one crafty dude.
So, change the game.
Why not strike a deal where he gets to retire, perhaps paying Putin a bit of cash (or in continued services at an arms-distance), in return for getting to go live somewhere tropical and enjoy his riches and let the organization’s youngsters take over the day to day of Wagner.
I’m no international spy/mastermind, but Preg. has some serious assets, loyal and likely better trained than a lot of Putin’s (and not nearly as tied up in Ukraine). . He’s had two months to strategize and communicate with Vlad. So I would not put it past him to strike a mob-boss deal.
Not saying Putin won’t still pursue, but there is likely enough upside for both that a faked death would make sense.
But then, maybe I have watched too many Mission Impossible movies. 🙂
LikeLike
I thought the same, Rob.
LikeLike
We will never know whether there was a bomb on board or the plane was hit by a missile. The investigation will say whatever Putin wants it to say.
LikeLike
I second that.
I never bought the original “coup” claim either. It just seemed too contrived.
LikeLike
Exactly
LikeLike
We will never know the reality because even the so called “forensic evidence” can be faked by the one in charge of the investigation.
And guess who that is.
LikeLike
LikeLike
Trump truthed yesterday,
“The failed District Attorney of Fulton County (Atlanta), Fani Willis, insisted on a $200,000 Bond from me. I assume, therefore, that she thought I was a ‘flight’ risk – I’d fly far away, maybe to Russia, Russia, Russia, share a gold domed suite with Vladimir, never to be seen or heard from again.”
Bad news for you, Donnie. Putin doesn’t keep the trash around after he’s had a meal.
LikeLike
Trump’s unconscious speaking.
LikeLike
IKR?
LikeLike
Exactly
LikeLike
I wonder if Trump has a GOPfundme for his legal bills and bails.
LikeLike
It’s called a political action committee.
Also: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/30/us/politics/trump-legal-defense-fund.html?unlocked_article_code=VTAvwrWwBQiWc9GUCfXSXWjiJa8I60KQI2FjGXoHgTqkSlJp2wx55uciIdqUIxXBwpqtgcFDI_ZKHABr8SmDiaHjIbFr9PCDfEfWgQW-xQhkanuS_cQnmoZdLu783ZS-qogSS_uYFcyBiRP_o3BuVnVckwHRVorv0-brb_wF8ajZVsXLFdUdCAQlAk8_AxngfFBn8icQz13jwg3bXDu7tHsOJG9Fl7Y4rR6SubEA8SL2yP71fPffJ4sx2K5OaOGWr9jHQhL08OuHXhXwn7ic-KLJ-wi112DuiNtbXpgXcQT42P8yk2Tp6CJzozsb7iwKBBOpzbfQDdXBpPL7Ah69tkQRoKos&smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare
LikeLike
i have read reports that Russian air defense brought it down.
LikeLike
I’m shocked…..shocked!
LikeLike
“ Videos shared by the pro-Wagner Telegram channel Grey Zone showed a plane dropping like a stone from a large cloud of smoke, twisting wildly as it fell. Such freefalls can occur when an aircraft sustains severe damage, and a frame-by-frame AP analysis of two videos was consistent with some sort of explosion mid-flight. The images appeared to show the plane was missing a wing.”
——
“ Tatiana Stanovaya, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center, said on Telegram that “no matter what caused the plane crash, everyone will see it as an act of vengeance and retribution” by the Kremlin, and “the Kremlin wouldn’t really stand in the way of that.”
“ “From Putin’s point of view, as well as the security forces and the military — Prigozhin’s death must be a lesson to any potential followers,” Stanovaya said in a Telegram post. According to her, after the mutiny, Prigozhin “stopped being the authorities’ partner and could not, under any circumstances, get that status back.”
“ “He also wasn’t forgiven,” Stanovaya wrote. “Prigozhin was needed for some time after the mutiny to painlessly complete the dismantling of Wagner in Russia.” But overall, “alive, happy, full-of-strength and full-of-ideas Prigozhin was, definitely, a walking source of threats for the authorities, the embodiment of Putin’s political humiliation.”
“Stanovaya doesn’t expect much public outcry over Prigozhin’s death. She said those who supported him will be “more scared than inspired to protest,” while others would see it as a “deserved outcome.” “
From:
https://apnews.com/article/russia-wagner-prigozhin-jet-crash-a7859e4e57f2efa2547dfbe5bdbaa1b2?user_email=e05d50fde39eb03f83a122bafff8936ffe2b4f2a79f26dd3d93aa5e2a57c2506&utm_medium=Afternoon_Wire&utm_source=Sailthru&utm_campaign=AfternoonWire_Aug23_2023&utm_term=Afternoon%20Wire
LikeLike
Ouch. I felt he was dead when he didn’t continue to Moscow. Bound to fall from a balcony, die on an operating table, or be poisoned with Novachuk, or be sprinkled with plutonium, or be shot walking near the Kremlin.
LikeLike
It seems odd that this guy, who royally pissed off Putin, would go back on Putin’s home ground….. “outside Moscow”. I mean, how dumb can you get?
It reminds me of the high level defector from Saddam’s Iraq who crossed the border and went back home…..’all will be forgiven’.
Not! He was eliminated, too.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1996/02/24/iraqi-defectors-killed-on-return-to-baghdad/d49fc14b-e415-42f7-8c61-dc64f548d7f5/
Not as dramatically as the official in North Korea who got shot by anti-aircraft cannon.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/may/13/north-korean-defence-minister-executed-by-anti-aircaft-gun-report
Like a villain would do in the old Batman TV show.
Lessons:
Of course, 1. Stupid people can become very powerful.
And, 2, some of these dangerous idiots can’t breathe outside the bubble they’ve come to live in. To wit: the weirdo symbiosis here in the U.S. between Trump and his cult.
Reality be damned.
And/or why not make life resemble a cartoon, complete with real-life, diabolical endings?
LikeLike
I think this about sums it up: https://twitter.com/blackintheempir/status/1694413834549698941
LikeLike