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Amid reports of Prigozhin’s death, old video of ‘unforgiving’ Putin in spotlight
Mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin, who led a brief armed rebellion against the Russian military earlier this year, was presumed dead after a plane crash.
Wagner mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin's name on the list of passengers on board a plane that crashed on Wednesday has triggered wild speculations, with many sharing an old clip of Russian President Vladimir Putin in which he commented on “betrayal”. Described as a one-time confidante of Putin, Prigozhin launched an armed rebellion in June against the Russian military leadership, only to call a truce within 24 hours following an intervention from the Belarus president.
Putin denounced the mutiny as “treason” but quickly agreed to a deal that saw the mercenary boss exiled to neighbouring Belarus. Many Kremlin observers questioned whether the truce would ever last long given Putin’s track record as the Kremlin has repeatedly been accused of targeting its opponents for death, an allegation officials there deny.
In a 2018 interview, now viral after the plane crash, Putin was asked if he's a forgiving person. The Russian president replied in the affirmative but said "not everything". When the interviewer asked him what was impossible for him to forgive, Putin quickly replied, "Betrayal".
Uncertainty surrounded the fate of Wagner and its controversial chief since the short-lived rebellion that was seen as the biggest challenge to Russian President Vladimir Putin's authority since he came to power. Putin, in a televised address, had vowed to punish those behind the rebellion, calling the mutiny by Prigozhin, who was once his chef, “betrayal” and “treason.”
Washington reacted swiftly to initial reports of the crash.
"I don't know for a fact what happened, but I'm not surprised," US President Joe Biden said.
“There's not much that happens in Russia that (President) Putin's not behind. But I don't know enough to know the answer.”
Reacting to the reports of Prigozhin's death, billionaire investor and 'X' owner Elon Musk said, “Longer than I expected.”
“Slight chance this is a psy op,” he added.
Musk was replying social media user who said, “That didn't take too long.”
