A former MI6 spy has said that he had previously received information that a “contract” was placed on Wagner Group chief, Yevgeny Prigozhin in Russia.
The former British intelligence spy, Christopher Steele said that senior business members in Russia placed a contract on Prigozhin.
Steele told Sky News, “We had heard some weeks ago from a source that a contract had been put out on Prigozhin in Russia by senior members of the business community.”
He said it would be a “mistake” to think an assassination was actually done by Vladimir Putin.
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“But certainly it looks as though it may well be a revenge attack by somebody in the elite, possibly somebody very senior.”
Steele added, “It’s very curious what he’s been up to since 24 June when this revolt happened, and I think he had crossed the line.
“I think this was almost inevitable, I’m hastened to say.”
Over the past few months Prigozhin has become an “embarrassment” to the Russian leader and the Kremlin.
Dr Yuri Felshtinsky, author of Blowing Up Russia said, “It confirms that Prigozhin was not powerful in his own right.
“It is still unclear, however, whether Putin’s position has improved. Weakness is not what Russians like in their leaders.”
Former Russian diplomat Boris Bondarev said that if the Wagner chief is really dead then this will “benefit Putin,” as the armed rebellion that almost took place in Moscow made the Russian dictator “look weak.”
Bondarev told Sky News, “Putin has to respond aggressively to that in order to maintain his grip on power.
“He behaved in the mutiny and after as a weak leader, weaker than he should have, and so I think if Prigozhin is dead by now, it will benefit President Putin.
“It will show he is still strong and he still commands a higher authority and any attempts against him will be punished one way or another.
“It doesn’t matter if Putin is directly behind this air crash, but he will interpret it this way.”
