Kremlin Rejects Prigozhin Assassination Rumours

The Kremlin has rejected rumours that itmay have had a hand in the assassination of Wagner mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin.

“There is a lot of speculation around the plane crash and the tragic death of the passengers, including Yevgeny Prigozhin… All this is an absolute lie,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters during a briefing.

Asked whether the Kremlin had confirmation of Prigozhin’s death, Peskov referred to Putin’s message of condolences Thursday where he said an investigation “will take some time” and “will be conducted in full and brought to a conclusion.”

“As soon as any official conclusions are ready for publication, they will be published,” Peskov said.

He declined to confirm or deny whether Putin planned to attend Prigozhin’s funeral, citing the president’s “tight schedule.” Questions surrounded the funeral’s format following claims that Prigozhin was a recipient of the Hero of Russia title, which grants hero’s burial rites.

Peskov also declined to comment on Wagner’s future without its high-profile leader and distanced the Kremlin from the private military company despite Putin’s own admission that the Russian state had funded the private military company.

“Let’s not forget that there’s no such structure as PMC Wagner. There’s the Wagner Group,” he said.

In comments made just days after Wagner’s botched mutiny, Putin said that Prigozhin’s main company Concord had earned 80 billion rubles ($888.1 million) from catering contracts with the Defense Ministry over the past year.

Peskov previously confirmed that Putin had met with Prigozhin and 34 Wagner commanders at the Kremlin on June 29 where he had reportedly offered them “employment and combat options.”

On Friday, he denied that Putin and Prigozhin had met afterward.