Yevgeny Prigozhin: Wagner boss was a dead man since June 13 (opinion)

Opinion

Yevgeny Prigozhin is dead, at least that’s what Wagner-related Telegram groups say. There is no official confirmation. On Wednesday, however, a plane crashed in the Tver region between Moscow and St. Petersburg. And Prigozhin was on the passenger list. The man who led the Wagner troupe for many years and shed copious amounts of blood now apparently paid the highest price himself. But not for his cruel crimes, but – to all appearances – for the betrayal he committed against his master.

It was clear by June 13 at the latest that Prigozhin was a dead man – even before he was supposed to march on Moscow. On that day, Vladimir Putin gave the order to the Wagner troops to report to the Ministry of Defense and thus publicly sided with the Russian military, who had always despised Prigozhin and had been trying to get rid of their unwelcome competitor since the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Putin’s order was tantamount to a death sentence for Prigozhin. Who would Prigozhin have been without his fighters? A nobody. He would soon have met the same end as the numerous separatist leaders and warlords in Donbass, for whom Putin no longer had any use. They died in weird car accidents, were shot in the head, or accidentally fell out of a window, as they say in Russia.

Yevgeny Prigozhin chose the exit with fanfares

Prigozhin knew only too well what was in store for him. And so he preferred to leave with a big bang. He marched on Moscow with his Wagner fighters and was probably only a few hours before his arrest. (Read more about this here.)

The leader of the Wagner mercenaries put everything on one card – in a desperate attempt to save his life. De facto, Prigozhin had the choice of either waiting for his death or, in a final act of rebellion, making a blatant exit. He chose the latter – and took revenge on his old man.

Everything that Prigozhin was and had he owed to one man: Vladimir Putin. Its billions, its power, its so-called private army – which has never been one. The orders have always come from the Kremlin, as Putin recently admitted. And Prigoschin served his master faithfully for many years, doing his dirty work all over the world – until the servant was no longer content to live in the shadows.

Prigozhin wanted more, much more: recognition, fame, prestige and power. And when all this was within reach, Prigozhin turned away. He never got to Moscow. Though little stood in his way other than the diggers desperately trying to dig up the streets.

Prigozhin should know Vladimir Putin better

Prigozhin withdrew – and with him his fighters. Since then, the Western world has been puzzling over what deal he might have negotiated with Putin. Would he be exiled to Africa and help out the warlords there? Training the soldiers of dictator Alexander Lukashenko in Belarus? What he negotiated with Putin remained a secret. Russian observers suspected that Prigozhin might have personally had incriminating information about the Kremlin boss that protected the Wagner boss. Finally, the man whom Putin had publicly branded as a traitor and demanded his head, seemingly unconcerned, strolled through St. Petersburg and collected guns from the Wagner headquarters.

But Prigozhin should have known better. Because Putin doesn’t forgive betrayal and prefers to serve his revenge cold – true to the guiding principles of mafia bosses, which Putin follows as an example.

Demonstrative revenge and loud message

Has Putin now taken this revenge? In any case, the reports about the crash are: loud, visually stunning and demonstrative. If you want to read a message, you will recognize it clearly. It is primarily aimed at the so-called Russian elites. The Kremlin will likely soon claim that suspected Ukrainian terrorists carried out an attack on Prigozhin – a flimsy cover that will fool no one. And it shouldn’t. Especially not all those who might toy with the idea of ​​completing what Prigozhin was unable to do.

As news of the crash flickered across smartphones around the world, Vladimir Putin presented medals to soldiers who are now entitled to call themselves “Heroes of Russia.” The celebrations for the 80th anniversary of the Soviet victory in the Battle of Kursk provided the martial setting for this. “I congratulate all citizens of Russia on this event,” Putin said on live TV.

Putin once awarded Prigozhin the title of “Hero of Russia”. But what the Lord has given, He can also take.

The Wagner troupe also died

With Prigozhin, the man who once founded the Wagner troupe and to whom the secret soldiers of the Kremlin owe their name is also believed to have died: Dmitri Utkin. His name is also on the passenger list published by Russian authorities. With the plane crash, the Wagner troupe should also have died.