Putin's wrath or 'tragic' accident? Wagner chief's purported death in ‘suspicious’ plane crash sparks theories
Reuters. Putin is famously known as the leader who does not, would not forgive. In a report AFP recollected that when in 2018 Putin was asked if he was able to forgive people's mistakes, Vladimir Putin thought for a split second.
"Yes," the Russian president replied. "But not everything." "What is impossible for you to forgive?" journalist Andrei Kondrashov continued during one of the interviews for his two-hour film on the Russian leader. "Betrayal," the former KGB officer answered.
The march of the Wagners showed Kremlin in a weaker light when it has suffered contention and attack from quarters within and without for the war with Ukraine. Putin had termed Prigozhin's rebellion as "treachery" and a "stab in the back" of Russia. He had promised that the perpetrators would be punished.
Notably, Prigozhin and Putin had a deal. A deal that ensured that all the charges against the Wagner founder and his fighters were dropped when the mutiny ends. This despite the fact that Russian servicemen died in the murky insurrection brought upon by Wagner group.
Did this show Putin as weak? The biggest and most humiliating challenge to Putin's 24 years in power ended with a deal under which Prigozhin and his mercenaries were allowed to travel to exile in neighbouring Belarus. On Wednesday, exactly two months after his mutiny, 62-year-old Prigozhin is believed to have died in a plane crash 300 kilometres (200 miles) from Moscow, raising suspicions that Putin merely waited to demonstrate his wrath in a way that would serve as a warning to others, says a report by AFP. The challenge to Putin and his ever tightening administration was served when Putin admitted that they had been paying the Wagner group.
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