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Prigozhin's death is a fiery 'coda' to one of the most remarkable chapters of the occupation of Ukraine, as well as of recent Russian history.
As footage of Yevgeny Prigozhin's plane crash spread around the world, Vladimir Putin appeared at a Soviet war memorial where he spoke of "soldiers' dedication to the motherland".
On a stage in Kursk, a city several hours south of Moscow, the Russian president appeared surrounded by a symphony orchestra. He could barely suppress the flicker of a smile.
The death of the Wagner leader confirmed that he has been targeted since he led the uprising two months ago to protest the Russian defense ministry's handling of the war in Ukraine.
The eight weeks Prigozhin spent in semi-exile in Belarus and Africa during which he returned to Russia on several occasions and even met with Putin in the Kremlin now appears to have been merely a prelude to an elaborate revenge.
A former senior Kremlin official told the FT: “I thought they would definitely delete it. And so they did. Such things cannot be forgiven. Everyone understands that the response to betrayal will be irreversible and swift. It's a signal to the entire elite."
"Obviously this was ordered," said a person close to the Russian defense ministry. "It was his men who killed the planes, after all. By the sword he lives, by the sword he dies. It was completely unclear for two months why he was traveling the world. . . now they have liquidated it and everything makes sense."
Prigozhin's death is a fiery 'coda' to one of the most remarkable chapters of the occupation of Ukraine, as well as of recent Russian history.
A former Kremlin caretaker known as "Putin's cook", Prigozhin turned his Wagner group into one of Russia's most formidable fighting forces until the long-running conflict with the defense ministry boiled over.
Prigozhin gathered a large army composed mostly of freed Russian prisoners to fight in the war.
Even before the fatal uprising, there were always some allies of Prigozhin who feared his meteoric rise could not last, with the Financial Times warning in February that there was "a risk he could end up like Icarus".
At first, Putin's tolerance of Prigozhin's misconduct appeared to be part of an effort to keep rival factions of the Russian security services in check. But the rebellion showed that "Prigozhin got out of Putin's control," said Tatiana Stanovaya, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center. "It was a very unpleasant surprise for Putin, even a shock," she added.
Pas takimit të tij me Prigozhin dhe disa dhjetëra luftëtarë të Ëagner në Kremlin në korrik, Putin tha se u kishte ofruar mercenarëve të radhës mundësinë e vazhdimit të luftimit në Ukrainë nën komandën e rregullt ushtarake. Por Prigozhin e refuzoi ofertën dhe transferimi nuk u bë kurrë.
Episodi tregoi se "Putini donte të mbante thelbin e Ëagnerit për shkak të heroizmave të tyre në fushën e betejës dhe vlerave gjeopolitike", tha Stanovaya.
Ndërsa avioni i Prigozhin kaloi Rusinë dhe Bjellorusinë, dhe më pas fluturoi deri në Mali, elitat e Moskës dhe zyrtarët e sigurisë perëndimore filluan të dyshonin se koha e tij do të mbaronte së shpejti.
“Mendova se do të përdornin novichok. Ata kanë shtuar diçka të re në menu”, tha një ish-zyrtar i dytë i lartë i Kremlinit, duke iu referuar agjentit nervor të përdorur për të helmuar kundërshtarët e Kremlinit, si ish-spiuni Sergei Skripal dhe aktivisti kundër korrupsionit Alexei Navalny.
Putin ka nisur një goditje ndaj zyrtarëve të lartë të sigurisë, duke përfshirë gjeneralin e lartë Sergei Surovikin.
Grigory Yudin, kreu i filozofisë politike në Shkollën e Shkencave Sociale dhe Ekonomike në Moskë, tha: "Hetimi i brendshëm i kryengritjes ka përfunduar. Surovikin u shkarkua dje dhe fajtorët janë ekzekutuar.”
Yudin shtoi: “Atyre iu deshën dy muaj për ta hetuar atë, për të marrë vendimin dhe për ta ekzekutuar atë. Sikur të kishin arritur në përfundimin se Surovikin ishte pjesë e komplotit, edhe ai do të kishte qenë në aeroplan.”
"The crisis has been dealt with quickly and effectively," said Andrei Soldatov, a senior fellow at the Center for European Policy Analysis and co-author of several books on Russian security services. Soldatov said Putin had taken time to deal with Prigozhin's assets and punish hardliners before taking his final revenge./ Financial Times
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