Putin signed his own death warrant by killing Prigozhin – 5,000 Wagner guns could come for him, warns Brit colonel

VLADIMIR Putin has “signed his own death warrant” if he is behind the presumed death of the Wagner Group boss, an ex-Brit colonel has warned.

The rebel warlord, Yevgeny Prigozhin, is believed to be dead after his private plane was blasted 28,000ft out the sky exactly two months after he was branded a “traitor” for staging a failed coup.

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Putin ‘might rue the day’ he got rid of Prigozhin, says the ex-colonelCredit: AFP

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The fiery crash site of a plane believed to be carrying Wagner warlord Yevgeny Prigozhin

The 62-year-old mercenary leader, formerly dubbed “Putin’s favourite chef”, has been at the eye of a growing storm engulfing the Kremlin after his brief insurrection on June 2023.

Putin had blasted his moves as “treason” and a “knife in the back” of Russian people and vowed revenge on his former lapdog.

It appeared that reprisal was finally and brutally carried out on Wednesday as Prigozhin’s plane hit the ground in a fiery, mangled mess just north of Moscow.

Russia’s civil aviation authority confirmed that the mercenary leader was onboard alongside other Wagner commanders, including its co-founder Dmitry Utkin. There were no survivors.

Colonel Hamish de Bretton-Gordon, a former British Army officer, told The Sun that “absolutely nobody is surprised”.

“This has the [Russian spy agency] FSB written all over it, it’s an internal security assassination job. Lots of people are surprised Prigozhin lasted so long.

Putin might rue the day he got rid of Prigozhin

Colonel Hamish de Bretton-Gordon

“The war is going badly and the only thing that Putin seems to be able to do is get rid of its leaders… Surovokin, Pavlov and now Prigozhin.”

However, the colonel stated that this may have been a fatal misstep made by the increasingly “deluded” tyrant.

“Putin has signed his death warrant here.

“He has upset the two most powerful groups in Russia – the oligarchs who keep him in power and the most effective fighting force Putin has ever put in the field, the Wagner Group.”

In terms of Wagner, “these people are used to being paid a lot of money to carry out the will of Prigozhin”, he said.

“Now, there will be a vacuum.”

It comes as Antony Yelizarov – known as “Lotus” – was identified as a potential successor to Prigozhin.

The mercenary is a close loyalist of his former boss.

And he led Wagner troops at one of the bloodiest battle of the war in Ukraine – the fight for Soledar, being hailed by Prigozhin as “conquerer”.

His name has been mentioned in numerous Telegram channels linked to the mercenary group as a potential new leader.

But, Colonel de Bretton-Gordon believes these now leaderless, bloody-thirsty troops pose a “real danger” to Putin.

“There are now 5,000 guns to hire. And in a funny sort of irony, somebody else could hire them to go create mayhem in Russia.

“Prigozhin was a figurehead, but the real leaders within Wagner will be looking for a new cash cow and if that means killing Russians, then I’m sure they would have no qualms about doing that at all.”

The colonel added the alleged assassination exemplifies that “Putin is deluded and living in his own little world.”

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Anton Yelizarov has been identified as the potential next leader of the Wagner Group

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Yelizarov is a loyalist to Prigozhin who dubbed the mercenaries as ‘knights’

Removing his most effective army leaders, threatening the oligarchy, and heading for defeat in Ukraine signals “it is all going to implode”.

The former army commander said: “The head of the snake is Russia’s military leaders and the snake has lost its head.

“Putin might rue the day he got rid of Prigozhin.”

Dr Kristian Gustafson, a security expert from Brunel University was also “utterly unsurprised” this kind of fate befell Prigozhin.

“This was a reactionary move and a statement to show his power,” he told The Sun.

“Churchill said ‘dictators ride to and fro on tigers which they dare not dismount’- Prigozhin’s mutiny was a bite from that tiger and Putin had to cut the head off.”

“Elites in Russia know that you can steal and rob but you don’t get in the way of Putin,” Gustafson added.

The most important question now, he said, is what to do with the Wagner empire that is “arms-deep” across central Africa and Syria.

“How does Putin manage them? Who is paying their wages?

“In Ukraine, their success was a threat to the Russian Federation army but in Africa and Syria they carry out an arms-length foreign policy function.

“If Putin doesn’t have the power to hold those places – that is a real sign of Russia struggling.

“Putin will take great pains to reinforce Wagner as it’s too valuable to the Russian state to destabilise those nations.”

Meanwhile, The Institute for the Study of War said their findings show Putin “almost certainly” ordered the Russian military to bring down the jet. 

What we know so far…

Both Wagner and Moscow sources claim Prigozhin is dead – but there has been no official confirmation amid the cloak and dagger of the Kremin regime.

Rumours on Russian social media claim a bomb-laden wine case was loaded onto the plane before it took off.

Investigators are probing the possibility an explosive was put into the jet’s landing gear apartment.

The bodies of all ten people who died in the fiery crash have been taken to a morgue for forensic examination, but none have been identified yet.

It is understood DNA testing is taking place as the corpses are so badly burnt.

But there is speculation Prigozhin may have dodged Putin’s wrath as a second plane linked to the Wagner leader was spotted just half an hour after the jet crashed.

Prigozhin previously faked his own death and was declared dead in Africa in 2019 before re-emerging three days later.

Soldiers, who claimed to be part of the Wagner garrison in Belarus, made a chilling revenge threat only hours after the news of their chief’s downed plane.

The fearsome private army released a haunting video threatening to again march on Moscow if their leader was confirmed dead.

In the unverified video posted on Telegram, they said: “Many discussions of what Wagner will do in this situation.

“We’ll say one thing – we’re starting off. Expect us.”

A further post stated: “If the information about Prigozhin’s death is confirmed, we will organize a second “March of Justice” on Moscow! He’d better be alive, it’s in your own interests….”

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The moment the private plane is blasted out of the sky before hitting the ground and exploding into an infernoCredit: AFP

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The Wagner warlord is presumed dead following the plane crashCredit: Rex

Categories: Optical Illusion
Source: newstars.edu.vn

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