24 August 2023 , 21:44
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Russian tyrant Vladimir Putin has sealed his own fate by assassinating his former pal Yevgeny Prigozhin - if suspicions about him causing the plane crash that killed him yesterday are true - according to a former British colonel.
Mercenary warlord-in-chief Yevgeny Prigozhin, 62, is presumed dead after his Wagner private jet tumbled out of the sky in Russia's Tver region last night, killing six other passengers and three flight staff. It is being widely assumed that the explosions reportedly detected moments before the crash were part of an assassination plot.
Prigozhin was branded a traitor for his brief insurrection in June 2023, which saw 25,000 war-hardened Wagner mercenaries gather in the southern city of Rostov-on-Don with plans to topple Putin's commanders in chief.
Former British Army officer Colonel Hamish de Bretton-Gordon said that "absolutely nobody is surprised" after the plane came down, adding that the incident had all the markings of an FSB "assassination job". One thing he and others in the armed forces are surprised about is how long Prigozhin survived after his botched coup.
Prigozhin just days before he died, in a video thought to have been shot somewhere in Africa (Razgruzka_Vagnera/UPI/REX/Shutterstock)The colonel added that Putin may come to regret the day he offed his former "Chef". "Putin has signed his death warrant here", he told The Sun. "He has upset the two most powerful groups in Russia - the oligarchs who keep him in power and the most effective fighting force Putin has ever put in the field, the Wagner Group."
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Wagner fighters vowed to take revenge after his killingHe says that now that Prigozhin has been removed, it will leave a vacuum, which will likely be filled by Antony "Lotus" Yelizarov, who led Wagner troops into one Ukraine's bloodiest battles at Soledar, a number of Telegram channels have claimed. His former boss dubbed him a "conqueror" for his murderous efforts.
Anton Yelizarov is thought to be Prigozhin's successor (TWITTER)But though a new leader has been suggested, at the moment the war-hardened mercenaries are at a loose end, which is very dangerous for Putin. As the soldiers are effectively guns for hire, they could be paid to go on a rampage in Russia, Col de Bretton-Gordon believes.
A Wagner fighter at a makeshift memorial in St Petersburg (AP)Col de Bretton-Gordon added that the assassination shows how Putin is "deluded" and has shot himself in the foot by removing his most effective battlefield commanders, signalling that a defeat in Ukraine is imminent. The former army commander said: "The head of the snake is Russia's military leaders and the snake has lost its head. Putin might rue the day he got rid of Prigozhin."