Prigozhin's Plane Crash: Putin's Vengeance or a Mere Mishap

It was just two months ago when Yevgeny Prigozhin launched his audacious "March of Justice" mutiny. A bold defiance, first of its kind, aimed squarely at Russia's military hierarchy. It was orchestrated by Prigozhin to exert pressure for the removal of the Russian Defense Minister, Chief of the General Staff, and other powerful oligarchs.

Though his intention was directed at the military, the narrative took a different twist as Prigozhin's actions, involving armed insurgency, seemed like a direct affront to the authority of none other than Vladimir Putin himself.

In a display of verbal vitriol, the Russian president branded the mutineers as "traitors," accusing them of delivering a backstab to the very heart of Russia.

While a pact was hastily brokered between Prigozhin and the Kremlin to quell the uprising, the future remained muddled with uncertainty; several questions permeated the global media space. "Could both factions truly adhere to the peace accord?" "Would it be possible for the Kremlin to pardon what it viewed as an act of betrayal from the founder of the notorious Wagner group?"

Fast forward two months later: a plane crash! Yevgeny Prigozhin's name emerges within the lists of passengers. If this proves true and his demise is confirmed, a whirlwind of conjecture will inevitably swarm around the circumstances surrounding the plane crash. Is this the handiwork of the Kremlin? Is this a vengeful strike? Would the Wagner group retaliate the death of its leader?

Let me hear your thoughts.

(c) Mike Olu Akinlabi, PhD

Photo Credit - Mikhail Metsel / TASS