Russian President Vladimir Putin delivered his first public comments on the death of Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin, giving him measured praise as a “successful businessman.”
Putin was attending a commemoration ceremony for the 80th anniversary of the titanic World War II Battle of Kursk when Prigozhin was killed after his plane crashed, with nine others on board. Speaking with reporters Thursday at the Kremlin alongside Denis Pushilin, the head of the government of the pro-Russia Donetsk People’s Republic, Putin gave his first address regarding the mercenary leader’s death, amid widespread speculation it was Putin who engineered the downing of the aircraft.
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Putin decided to take a mostly conciliatory tone, praising his tact as a businessman and Russian, while heaping praise on Wagner, despite its June mutiny.
“I offer my condolences to the families of all who perished,” Putin said. “Something like this is always a tragedy, and the preliminary data suggests that Wagner fighters were also on board.”
He went on to praise Wagner’s accomplishments during the war in Ukraine, noting that the group’s fighters “made a real contribution to our mutual fight against the neo-Nazi regime in Ukraine. We know, remember, and will never forget.”
The Russian government has repeatedly claimed that the Ukrainian government is neo-Nazi in nature and used it as an excuse for its invasion last year, under the guise of “denazification.”
“Prigozhin I’ve known for a long time … he was a person with a difficult fate, he had made some serious mistakes in his life but he also achieved the necessary results.
“He was a talented person, a talented businessman, he worked not only in our country with results but also abroad,” he continued, going on to allude to his business ventures in Africa. He said that Prigozhin had only returned from meeting with officials in Africa on the day of his death.
Despite the widely held belief both within and outside of Russia that it was Putin who assassinated Prigozhin, the Russian president offered no hints of involvement, saying only that an investigation of the incident has already begun.
“It will be investigated fully and until the end. I have no doubt about that,” he said. “We will see what the investigation reveals in the near future.”
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Prigozhin was one of Putin’s closest allies for years, loyally serving as head of the Wagner mercenary group, which gained renewed fame during the war in Ukraine due to its conquest of the city of Bakhmut. Near the end of the battle, Prigozhin became increasingly openly critical of the general staff, culminating in an armed mutiny by the group in June. After seizing several cities unopposed, the mutiny was abruptly aborted just hours from Moscow.
Prigozhin was denounced as a traitor by Putin during the mutiny, but the two had reportedly met since, while Wagner continued to operate across Africa and in Belarus. Its future amid its commander’s death is uncertain.
