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Vladimir Putin<\/span> worked for two months to undermine the Wagner Group<\/span> before taking out its leader, an international affairs editor has claimed.<\/p>\n Russian warlord Yevgeny Prigozhin<\/span> and some of his top lieutenants are presumed dead after a plane crash which has been widely reported as an assassination to avenge a mutiny which challenged Putin\u2019s authority, but there has been no official confirmation.<\/p>\n The founder of the Wagner military company and six other passengers were on the private jet which went down on Wednesday (August 23), soon after taking off from Moscow with a crew of three, according to Russia’s civil aviation authority.<\/p>\n Rescuers found 10 bodies with Russian media citing anonymous sources in Wagner as saying Prigozhin was dead. So far there has been no official confirmation.<\/p>\n Sky News’s international affairs editor Dominic Waghorn claimed Putin was behind the crash, but bided his time for two months after Wagner’s failed mutiny.<\/p>\n READ MORE… <\/strong> Row erupts as nuclear sub ‘crashes’ near disputed waters<\/strong><\/p>\n He said: “The reason he has waited two months is probably best explained by the fact that he could not have struck two months ago. He had to undermine, dismantle and weaken the Wagner Group. He’s managed to do that not just back home, but also in Africa using Russian military intelligence.<\/p>\n “Now at the point where he was able to strike and he did this in a very theatrical way, which sends an unequivocal message to the elites in Moscow and Russia, which is, treason is not tolerated and traitors will be punished.”<\/p>\n Other analysts have disputed the idea Putin was involved in some way in the crash, citing a promise the Russian president made not to go after Prigozhin after the failed mutiny.<\/p>\n Former Kremlin policy adviser Andrey Kortunov agreed it was not surprising people assumed the Russian government assassinated Prigozhin.<\/p>\n He told the BBC: “On the other hand, we should not forget that Putin made a very clear promise not to go after Prigozhin. Defenders of Mr Putin would say he usually stands by the personal promises he makes.”<\/p>\n Mr Kortunov suggested human error, a terror attack or technical malfunction may also explain what happened, but “loose cannon” Prigozhin had many enemies.<\/p>\n Asked if the crash was an elaborate plan to make Prigozhin disappear, he said: “We cannot rule out any version of what has happened.<\/p>\n “I am sceptical of conspiracy theories. I think that usually they do not hold water, but definitely I don’t want to rule out any version by definition.”<\/p>\n We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you’ve consented to and to improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. You can unsubscribe at any time. More info<\/p>\n Don’t miss… <\/strong> Putin has remained tight-lipped over what happened even as speculation has swirled. He addressed a summit of the BRICS countries in Johannesburg via video link without even mentioning it. He finally broke his silence on Thursday evening, offering his condolences to the family of Prigozhin who he simply called a ‘talented businessman he has known since the 1990s’.<\/p>\n Russian state media has also not covered the crash extensively, instead focusing on the summit and Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, police cordoned off the field where the plane went down in Kuzhenkino, about 185 miles northwest of Moscow, with investigators examining the wreckage.<\/p>\n Several Russian social media channels reported the bodies were burned or disfigured beyond recognition and would need to be identified through DNA.<\/p>\n Prigozhin supporters claimed on pro-Wagner messaging app channels that the plane was deliberately downed, with some suggesting it could have been hit by an air defence missile or targeted by a bomb on board. The claims could not be independently verified. Russian authorities have said the cause of the crash is under investigation.<\/p>\n Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky also pointed the finger, saying: “We have nothing to do with this. Everyone understands who does.”<\/p>\n Further fueling speculation the plane crash was a strike at the heart of Wagner, among those aboard was a top Prigozhin associate, Dmitry Utkin, according to the civil aviation authority. Utkin’s call sign was Wagner, which became the company\u2019s name.<\/p>\n The crash also came the same week that Russian media reported that General Sergei Surovikin, a former top commander in Ukraine who was reportedly linked to Prigozhin, was dismissed from his post as commander of Russia\u2019s air force.<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/cdn.images.express.co.uk\/img\/dynamic\/78\/590x\/secondary\/Wagner-Group-4925914.jpg?r=1692894159135\")
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