putin got him, 100%. both wagner and ru mod have reported that priggo is dead, and you don’t just randomly fire a SAM at a civilian jet
look at what happened to any other nationalist critic of kremlin: tatarsky is dead, girkin is in prison, surovikin is under “house arrest”, now prigozhin and utkin are also dead, and some others, like rybar, were told to toe the line or else and they complied
this one was 100% intentional. these two other were also intentional, just misguided, it takes several steps to fire a SAM, it does not happen through an accident (bar missile defence, but there are few civilian planes with size of missile, travelling at the speed of missile)
I’m in the option 2 camp. While it is entirely possible that he really did die I’m skeptical and think this is some sort of plan of his. I don’t mean to sound conspiratorial but it’s so hard to believe anything reported by Russia
kremlin and wagner are on opposite sides there, and they say the same thing
putin wanted to show very publicly what happens to traitors, and he did. this is the simplest explanation here; maybe it’s delayed response for mutiny, in which case the only unusual thing is why it happened so late. or maybe it’s gerasimov’s decision, or someone else’s in high command, in which case it’s more of an happy accident for putin
if it’s what you say, wagner and kremlin or army cooperated for what reason exactly? so that prigozhin can command what is effectively russian colonies in africa, while not allowed ever to get into limelight? putin wanted control over this and over pmc, he tried to get there before, and now it’ll be much easier
I have two hypothesis to what might have happened:
putin got him, 100%. both wagner and ru mod have reported that priggo is dead, and you don’t just randomly fire a SAM at a civilian jet
look at what happened to any other nationalist critic of kremlin: tatarsky is dead, girkin is in prison, surovikin is under “house arrest”, now prigozhin and utkin are also dead, and some others, like rybar, were told to toe the line or else and they complied
Unless you’re Russia
or the US
There’s a whole list of them:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_airliner_shootdown_incidents
this one was 100% intentional. these two other were also intentional, just misguided, it takes several steps to fire a SAM, it does not happen through an accident (bar missile defence, but there are few civilian planes with size of missile, travelling at the speed of missile)
Source for it being a SAM?
early claim by wagner telegram channel, and also what makes the most sense since entire wing was blown off
could be something else, but options are limited
I’m in the option 2 camp. While it is entirely possible that he really did die I’m skeptical and think this is some sort of plan of his. I don’t mean to sound conspiratorial but it’s so hard to believe anything reported by Russia
they already found his body, both ru authorities and wagner says that prigozhin and utkin are dead
They say they found his body. Can’t trust the Kremlin or Wagner.
kremlin and wagner are on opposite sides there, and they say the same thing
putin wanted to show very publicly what happens to traitors, and he did. this is the simplest explanation here; maybe it’s delayed response for mutiny, in which case the only unusual thing is why it happened so late. or maybe it’s gerasimov’s decision, or someone else’s in high command, in which case it’s more of an happy accident for putin
if it’s what you say, wagner and kremlin or army cooperated for what reason exactly? so that prigozhin can command what is effectively russian colonies in africa, while not allowed ever to get into limelight? putin wanted control over this and over pmc, he tried to get there before, and now it’ll be much easier
#3 Prigozhin was not on board, Wagner command knows, so no uprising, and Putin looks like he had him assassinated. Optics preserved
…
I might need some sleep