I warned Wagner group chief Yevgeny Prigozhin about threats to his life: Belarusian President Lukashenko

“I warned Wagner group chiefs Yevgeny Prigozhin and Dmitry Utkin about the possible threat to their lives,” Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said on Friday (August 25) as speculations gain pace whether the plane crash was engineered or not.

Speaking a day after Russian PresidentVladimir Putin condoled the death of Prigozhin, the Belarusian president said that he had informed the Wagner chief of possible threats to his life twice, but the latter did not pay heed to his warnings.

The first time he warned was during the mutinyled by Prigozhin’s Wagner troops. Lukashenko said he had then told Prigozhinthat he would "die" if he continued to march on Moscow, to which he said Prigozhin had answered: "To hell with it. I will die."

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Warned Prigozhin twice: Lukashenko

The second time Lukashenko warned theWagner chief was when Prigozhin and Utkin, who helped found Wagner and was also listed as a passenger on the plane which crashed, had come to Belarus to see the president. At that time, he warned them both: "Lads, you watch out", state agency BELTA reported.

Lukashenko, one of the staunchest allies of Russia — also denied Putin’s link with the plane crash.

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“I know Putin: he is calculating, very calm, even tardy,” Lukashenko said. “I cannot imagine that Putin did it, that Putin is to blame. It’s just too rough and unprofessional a job.”

Lukashenko had played a crucial role in de-escalating the armed rebellion led by Prigozhin.

Kremlin denies killing Wagner chief

The Kremlin had even credited Lukashenko with helping during the mutiny crisis, although his account of events was not corroborated by Putin or Prigozhin.

Earlier in the day, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov denied the Russian government’s involvement in the plane crash that presumably killed Prigozhin.

“There is a lot of speculation around this disaster, around the tragic death of the passengers on the plane, including Yevgeny Prigozhin. Of course, in the West all these speculations are presented from a certain angle. This is all an absolute lie,” he said.

Nevertheless, there have been speculations about whether Prigozhin had boarded theprivate plane that eventually crashed.

The fact that the Russian government took a long time to confirm, has led many to believe that Prigozhin might have used a body double to fake his death.

Peskov said Putin was waiting for the results of a full investigation into the crash, and indicated efforts to identify Prigozhin’s remains using DNA testing were continuing.

The UK Ministry of Defence said in a daily intelligence update on Friday, said, “There is not yet definitive proof that Prigozhin was onboard and he is known to exercise exceptional security measures. However, it is highly likely that he is indeed dead.”

(With inputs from agencies)

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