When President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia let the mercenary tycoon Yevgeny V. Prigozhin escape seemingly unscathed after launching a mutiny in June, critics around the world seized on the Russian leader’s apparent show of wartime weakness. Some even said the brief rebellion presaged the start of the post-Putin era.
Two months later, Mr. Prigozhin is presumed dead in the mysterious crash of a private jet in a field between Moscow and St. Petersburg. Mr. Putin is securely in the Kremlin, publicly eulogizing Mr. Prigozhin as a talented person with a “complicated fate,” who made many mistakes in life. And the remaining Wagner group leadership is either dead or silent.
U.S. and other Western officials said their leading theory is that the plane was brought down by an explosion, and several, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said they believed Mr. Putin ordered it destroyed. » | Paul Sonne | Thursday, August 24, 2023
