U.S. Intelligence Assessment Finds Plane Crash that Killed Wagner Leader Yevgeny Prigozhin was Intentionally Caused by Explosion

A preliminary U.S. intelligence assessment has found that the plane crash presumed to have killed Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin was intentionally caused by an explosion, according to U.S. and Western officials. One of the officials, who were not authorized to comment and spoke on the condition of anonymity, said that the explosion falls in line with Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “long history of trying to silence his critics.”

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock told a news conference Thursday that the incident followed a “pattern in Putin’s Russia: deaths, dubious suicides, falls from windows,” which “underlines a dictatorial power system that is built on violence.” The officials did not offer any details on what caused the explosion that was believed to have killed Prigozhin and several of his lieutenants to avenge a mutiny that challenged the Russian leader’s authority.

After the news of the jet’s crash, President Joe Biden had said in July that if he were Prigozhin, “I’d be careful what I ate.” Biden echoed the thoughts of many, saying “I’m not surprised,” adding “There is not much that happens in Russia that Putin is not behind.”

Indeed, Prigozhin would not be the first person to fall — or plunge — out of Kremlin favor and die in suspicious circumstances. The incident has raised questions about the safety of those who oppose the Russian leader and his policies. It remains to be seen if there will be any further investigation into the crash and its cause.