Wagner Group Boss Warned to 'Stay Away From Windows' Following Failed Military Coup
Wagner Mercenary Group boss Yevgeny Prigozhin was warned to "stay away from windows" after his attempted coup against Kremlin military leadership failed, RadarOnline.com has learned.
The grim warning ironically followed a claim from Vladimir Putin that all charges against the Wagner chief had been dropped, despite Prigozhin's actions nearly causing a civil war.
Putin vowed to bring "justice" to the Wagner Group "organizers" in a state TV address Monday night. Prigozhin was warned that his former best friend Putin "wants him dead."
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Former CIA Director David Petraeus saw Putin's scathing TV address as a clear message that Prigozhin's life was in danger.
"Prigozhin kept his life, but lost his Wagner Group. And he should be very careful around open windows in his new surroundings," Petraeus said of the mercenary boss.
Petraeus wasn't the only Western official who read between the lines of Putin's address.
Tobias Ellwood, a member of parliament of the United Kingdom, echoed the former CIA director's remarks and suggested that Prigozhin take extreme caution.
"If I was him, I would be very careful what I ate and where I went," Ellwood said.
Ellwood and Petraeus' comments suggested that Prigozhin was in danger of meeting the same fate as other outspoken Kremlin critics who have died mysterious deaths following public statements against Putin's leadership.
Since Prigozhin called off his men when they were about 120 miles from Moscow, the Wagner boss' whereabouts were unknown. It was believed he was exiled to Belarus, the same country Putin graciously thanked during his televised address.
While Putin praised Russian citizens for their "support, patriotism and solidarity" over the weekend, he warned that "any kind of blackmail is doomed to failure."
Putin gave Prigozhin's troops a surprising choice, too. The Kremlin leader told Wagner soldiers they were welcome to join the Russian army on the Ukrainian front lines or they could return home to Belarus.