Kremlin denies role in plane crash believed to have killed Prigozhin

Moscow: President Vladimir Putin’s spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, on Friday rejected allegations that the Kremlin was behind a plane crash that is presumed to have killed mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin, whose brutal fighters were feared in Ukraine, Africa and Syria and conducted a brief but shocking mutiny in Russia two months ago.

Prigozhin, who was listed among those on board the plane, was eulogised by Putin, even as suspicions grew that the Russian leader was behind a Wednesday crash that many saw as an assassination.

A preliminary US intelligence assessment concluded that the plane was downed by an intentional explosion.

One of the US and Western officials who described the initial US assessment said it determined that Prigozhin was “very likely” targeted and that the explosion falls in line with Putin’s “long history of trying to silence his critics.”

The officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to comment, did not offer any details about what caused the explosion, which was widely believed to be vengeance for the mutiny in June that posed the biggest challenge to the Russian leader’s 23-year rule.

“Right now, of course, there are lots of speculations around this plane crash and the tragic deaths of the passengers of the plane, including Yevgeny Prigozhin,” Peskov told reporters during a conference call.