Wagner mercenary group boss Yevgeny Prigozhin who led a botched rebellion is likely dead or in jail, a former senior US military leader has said.
Moscow previously claimed Vladimir Putin met Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin five days after the mercenary chief led a rebellion in Russia, but retired General Robert Abrams said this was likely staged.
Mr Abrams, previously served as the commander of US Forces Korea, told ABC News: “My personal assessment is that I doubt we’ll see Prigozhin ever again publicly.
“I think he’ll either be put in hiding, or sent to prison, or dealt with some other way, but I doubt we’ll ever see him again.”
Asked if he thought Prigozhin was still alive, General Abrams said: “I personally don’t think he is, and if he is, he’s in a prison somewhere.”
Regarding the alleged meeting in Moscow, the General said: “I’d be surprised if we actually see proof of life that Putin met with Prigozhin, and I think it’s highly staged.”
During the meeting Putin offered an “assessment” of Wagner’s actions on the battlefield in Ukraine and “of the events of June 24”. He also “listened to the explanations of the commanders and offered them options for further employment”, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov claimed.
Prigozhin had marched his men towards Moscow following long-simmering conflict with the Russian military’s top brass. But he ended the uprising after a deal was brokered for the ex-jailbird to be exiled in Belarus as the Kremlin thrashed out plans for Wagner’s future.
Following the botched rebellion, Putin slammed Prigozhin as a traitor but the Kremlin later announced charges against him and his Wagner forces will be dropped by Russian authorities to avoid "bloodshed".
Russia’s defence ministry published a video featuring military chief General Valery Gerasimov – the first time he has been shown since the rebellion aimed to oust him.
Dmitry Peskov, President Putin's press secretary, said Wagner mercenaries who wish to sign a Ministry of Defence contract can do so.
We left on June 23 for the march of justice," Prigozhin said in an audio message following the coup.
"In a day we travelled, not reaching 200 km, to Moscow.
"During this time, we have not shed a single drop of the blood of our fighters.
"Now the moment has come when blood could be shed, therefore, realising all the responsibility for the fact that Russian blood will be shed on one of the sides, we turn our columns around and return in the opposite direction to the field camps, according to the plan."
