Russia rejects US claims Putin approved Wagner chief killing as ‘an absolute lie’
- ‘All of this is an absolute lie’, Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said about allegations Yevgeny Prigozhin was assassinated on the Russian president’s orders
- US assessments indicated the plane may have been destroyed by a bomb on board, the UK also is working on the assumption the plane was brought down deliberately
The Kremlin denounced US allegations that Wagner mercenary group founder Yevgeny Prigozhin was the victim of an assassination that was probably approved by President Vladimir Putin.
“All of this is an absolute lie,” Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters Friday. While there’s a lot of speculation about the cause of the plane crash that killed Prigozhin, the president is waiting for the investigation results that “will be completed in the foreseeable future,” Peskov said.
He spoke after American officials said early US assessments indicated the plane carrying Prigozhin and other Wagner officials may have been destroyed by a bomb on board while en route from Moscow to St Petersburg on Wednesday.
The assassination was likely approved by Putin, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
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Yevgeny Prigozhin, Wagner group founder and ex Putin ally, reportedly dies in plane crash in Russia
The UK also is working on the assumption the plane was brought down deliberately, although the exact cause of the crash is still not clear, an official there said. Russia’s investigation appears to be examining the theory of a bomb on the plane, they said.
In his first comments on the crash, Putin said on state TV late Thursday that Prigozhin was a “talented businessman” but “a man with a complicated fate” who “made serious mistakes in life”.
