Wagner Leader Prigozhin Dies in Plane Crash, Bringing Dramatic End to Mutiny Crisis

In August 2023, the private jet carrying Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin, en route from Moscow to St. Petersburg, crashed in the Tver region, killing all aboard, including Prigozhin. Russian officials swiftly confirmed Prigozhin's death but did not release the cause of the accident. The crash occurred just two months after Prigozhin led the June mutiny, leading Western intelligence and many observers to widely suspect the incident was a state-sponsored assassination, aimed at eliminating a potential threat to President Vladimir Putin's power.

For conservatives, Prigozhin's death brought a dramatic conclusion to the domestic political crisis sparked by the mutiny but also further exposed the brutal power struggles within the Kremlin and the lawless, authoritarian nature of the Putin regime, which favors extrajudicial means to resolve political conflict.