'Condolences': Vladimir Putin Breaks Silence on Yevgeny Priogozhin's Suspected Death After Wagner Chief’s Body ‘Identified by Missing Finger'
Vladimir Putin broke his silence on Yevgeny Priogozhin's suspected death this week.
Aug. 24 2023, Published 4:07 p.m. ET
Vladimir Putin broke his silence on Yevgeny Priogozhin's suspected death this week after the Wagner boss was allegedly identified by a “missing finger in the morgue,” RadarOnline.com has learned.
In the latest development to come after Priogozhin, 62, was reported dead on Wednesday following a plane crash outside Moscow, Putin sent his “condolences” to the mercenary chief’s family.
Priogozhin, 62, was reported dead on Wednesday following a plane crash outside Moscow.
"What concerns this air crash, first of all, I want to express sincere condolences to the families of all those who died,” Putin said on Thursday during a televised address. “It is always a tragedy.”
"Indeed, if they were there and, according to the initial information, Wagner Company employees were on board, I want to note that those people made a significant contribution to our common cause of fighting the Nazi regime in Ukraine,” the Russian leader continued.
"We remember this, we know this and we will not forget this."
Meanwhile, the Sun reported that Priogozhin’s deceased body was identified on Wednesday night using a part of his finger that the Wagner chief lost while serving time in a Russian penal colony in the 1980s.
'I want to express sincere condolences to the families of all those who died,' Putin said on Thursday. 'It is always a tragedy.'
The Investigative Committee of Russia also confirmed that “ten people on board died” and that an investigation into the mysterious plane crash is ongoing.
"According to preliminary data, ten people on board died,” the Russian committee said in a preliminary report.
"An investigation team has left for the scene, all necessary forensic examinations will be appointed, and a set of investigative actions will be carried out to determine the causes of the plane crash,” the report added.
As RadarOnline.com previously reported, Priogozhin was first suspected dead on Wednesday afternoon after his name was included in the passenger list of a jet that crashed outside Moscow while on its way to St. Petersburg.
Putin also denied having any involvement in the Wagner chief's plane crash.
Prigozhin was believed to be one of the seven passengers and three crew members pronounced dead after the Embraer aircraft crashed in the Tver region of Russia.
The Wagner chief’s suspected death came exactly two months after he and his Wagner mercenaries mutinied against Putin and Russia’s leadership on June 24.
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Although Prigozhin accepted amnesty in Belarus after the botched coup and reportedly moved his Wagner operation to the country in July, a video published on Monday suggested the mercenary chief was in Africa leading up to the plane crash on Wednesday.
Sources familiar with the matter also asserted that Prigozhin was on “borrowed time” following the rebellion against Putin in June and that – if the reports of Prigozhin’s death are true – “Wagner as an organization” is “done.”
“I’m not surprised,” President Joe Biden said on Wednesday regarding the reports of Prigozhin’s death. “There’s not much that happens in Russia that Putin’s not behind.”
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"If it is indeed true, as reports suggest that it was not just Prigozhin who was on that flight, but the entire Wagner command leadership, that means that Wagner as an organization, as a fighting force is done,” Dmitri Alperovitch, the chairman of a U.S. bipartisan non-profit policy institute, said.
“It is gone," he added.
Even President Joe Biden said he was “not surprised” regarding the reports of Prigozhin’s suspected death.
“I’m not surprised,” President Biden said on Wednesday. “There’s not much that happens in Russia that Putin’s not behind.”
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