'Not surprised': Joe Biden hints at Vladimir Putin's involvement in Wagner chief's apparent death
Plane wreckage in Tver region
US President Joe Biden has pointed a finger at his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin after reports emerged on Wednesday (August 24) of a private plane crash in Moscow's Tver region and it was mentioned that Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin was on the list of passengers.
The Russian Federal Air Transport Agency has saidthat the Wagner boss was on board the plane, but still, there have been claims and counterclaims over his apparent death. Flowers were laid for the late Wagner chief outside the organisation's headquarters in St. Petersburg.
According to local media reports, the aviation agency also said that the carrier that operated the plane released the names of those who were on board. In addition to Prigozhin, othersnamed are Sergey Propustin, Evgeniy Makaryan, Aleksandr Totmin, Valeriy Chekalov, Dmitriy Utkin, and Nikolay Matuseev.
Biden said, "I don't know for a fact what happened, but I'm not surprised. There's not much that happens in Russia that Putin's not behind. But I don't know enough to know the answer."
Last month in Helsinki, Biden jokingly warned that Prigozhin should watch his step after his abortive rebellion. "If I were he, I'd be careful what I ate. I'd keep my eye on my menu," Biden said.
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Not just Biden, White House National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson also said Wednesday that no one should be surprised about Prigozhin's sudden death, if confirmed.
Watson said, "The disastrous war in Ukraine led to a private army marching on Moscow, and now -- it would seem -- to this."
Meanwhile, a senior aide to the Ukrainian presidency said that the plane crash can be seen as a signal from the Kremlin. Ukrainian presidential aide Mykhaylo Podolyak wrote on social media: "The demonstrative elimination of Prigozhin and the Wagner command two months after the coup attempt is a signal from Putin to Russia's elites ahead of the 2024 elections. 'Beware! Disloyalty equals death'."
Watch:Ukraine's drone attacks challenge Russian air defences
Wagner mutiny
Notably, the crash came two months after he sent Wagner mercenaries on a short-lived rebellious march on Moscow. As per reports, the aim was to force the removal of the country's military leadership.
He had also launched scathing attacks on the Russian defense minister Sergei Shoigu and the chief of the general staff Valery Gerasimov.
(With inputs from agencies)
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