The mystery of human existence lies not in just staying alive, but in finding something to live for – Fyodor Dostoevsky

The inexplicable murder of Yevgeny Prigozhin, whose private jet crashed northwest of Moscow, killing everyone on board, including two other senior Wagner lieutenants, further rocked the faith of the Wagner group and its hundreds of members, many of whom were seasoned as incompetent soldiers.

Two months after Prigozhin staged an abortive mutiny against Russian military authorities, in which his Wagner mercenary men temporarily took control of the southern city of Rostov and moved towards Moscow, Prigozhin died on August 23 when his business jet crashed. Prigozhin’s four bodyguards, a crew of three, and two other senior Wagner commanders were also slain.

Putin called Prigozhin “a talented businessman” in remarks made upon the Wagner leader’s passing. The President felt unworthy to bring up the fact that Prigozhin had already been named a Hero of Russia, Russia’s highest honor.

Putin did not show up for Prigozhin’s subdued funeral or honor Wagner’s significant contribution to the conflict in Ukraine.

“Hand grenade remnants were discovered in the corpses of the victims of the collision,” Putin stated at a Valdai Discussion Club conference in the Black Sea resort city of Sochi.

Putin stated, “There was no external impact on the plane – this is already an established fact”, refuting claims made by western intelligence agencies that suggested the accident was most likely caused by a bomb.
Putin hinted that drugs and alcohol might have contributed to the catastrophe but did not explain how the grenades could go off on board.

Vladimir Putin has been walking a tightrope ever since Prigozhin’s attempted insurrection, which posed the greatest challenge to his 23-year rule.

The brief uprising led by Prigozhin was viewed as the largest threat to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s authority since his election. Ever since, there has been concern regarding Wagner’s future and that of its Chief. Putin has called the head of Wagner a “traitor”, but he has spoken to normal Wagner soldiers much more softly, asking them to affix their signatures to military contracts and take an oath of loyalty to Russia.

Who Killed the Wagner Rebel Leader? Nikolai Patrushev?

The recent report of the Washington Post unveils the mysterious death, the reason, and the man behind the alleged assassination of the Chief. The report says that according to western intelligence officials, the assassination took two months of planning and was put to action by Putin’s top Ally and ex-KGB agent, Nikolai Patrushev, who is currently serving as the Secretary of the Security Council of India and is in office since 2008.

Referred to as “Putin’s oldest ally and confidant,” Nikolai Patrushev has been devoted to Putin since the mates’ KGB days and is being connected to the killing of not only Wagner Chief but of other people too who posed a danger to his Boss Putin’s authority. He had already informed Putin that Prigozhin posed a threat as the Wagner Group was being grnated excessive political and military authority since the summer of 2022, and coukld have severe repercussions for Putin’s authority, and his words definitely came out to be true on Aug 2008.

Who is Nikolai Patrushev known as Putin’s right hand?

Similar to Putin, Patrushev worked as an agent for the KGB secret service. Later on, he was appointed Chief of the FSB, its replacement. His current position as secretary of Russia’s Security Council has led some to regard him as Putin’s backup should the president be incapacitated.

Five Prominent Russian Rebels/Leaders to have died in conundrum stances:

The case of Wagner Chief’s assassination is not an unprecedented case and only example of reflectioon of excessive authority which the Kremlin holds. These are a few precedents of five prominent Russian rebels/leaders who were allegedly assassinated for “different reasons”:

1.  Sergei Skripal:  

   In March 2018, Novichok, a military-grade nerve poison initially created by the former Soviet Union, killed British citizen and former Russian intelligence officer Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia. Former Russian military intelligence colonel Skripal was sentenced to 13 years in prison in 2006 after being found guilty of giving state secrets to the United Kingdom. In 2010, he was freed and pardoned as part of a spy swap with the West. “He is just a spy, a traitor to the homeland,” Putin said in his toughest remarks about Skripal even till date.

   

2.  Pavel Antov:  

   Pavel Antov, 65, the founder of a profitable meat processing factory and a “critic” of the Ukrainian war, was discovered dead on the terrace of a building next to the Hotel Sai International in the Rayagada district on December 24. Based on an initial inquiry, law enforcement officials speculate that he might have died after falling from the third story of the hotel he was staying. The autopsy reported sever internal injuries, with many crtics smelling foul play in the incident.

3. Leonid Schulman:

   On January 30’ 2022, Leonid Schulman, the Head of Transport for Gazprom Invest, was said to have been found dead in the toilet of a cottage in the Vyborgsky district of Moscow, with his wrists cut and a suicide note next to his body.

   

4. Alexander Tulyakov:

   Alexander Tulyakov, another executive from Gazprom, was discovered dead on February 25th, appearing to have committed suicide. Meanwhile, two more high-ranking officials from Gazprom-owned businesses were charged with killing their families before taking their own lives in April.
   The Warsaw Institute, a Polish research tank, expressed suspicions that these incidents were connected to a larger case of corruption or financial misappropriation. They cited Gazprom’s security staff directly participating in the investigation, collaborating closely with Russian authorities.

5. Yuri Voronov

   A businessman who ran a logistics company “that held lucrative contracts with Gazprom”, was discovered dead in his mansion’s swimming pool in an affluent district of Saint Petersburg in July’ 2022. He had been shot in the head.

Another assassination in making?

There are western apprehensions on life and fate of Kremlin’s most prominent critic, Alexie Navalny.Navalny was detained in a prison settlement around 150 miles east of Moscow until his attorneys said on December 11 that they had lost communication with him. After a protracted search, officials in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Region reported on Monday that they had found Navalny at the IK-3 prison colony in the village of Kharp, some 40 miles north of the Arctic Circle.

His abduction, which occurred only a few days after Russian President Vladimir Putin said he would seek reelection in March of next year, immediately raised fears for his wellbeing.

Since 2000, Putin has essentially controlled Russia, growing more tyrannical with every passing year. Opposition leaders such as Navalny have frequently been silenced, imprisoned, or forced into exile.

The most well-known opposition politician in Russia is Navalny. Throughout Putin’s reign, Navalny has coordinated anti-government street protests and exposed purported corruption in the Russian business community and Kremlin via his blog and social media accounts.

After being found guilty of funding extremist activities, founding an extremist community, and a number of other offenses, Navalny was sentenced to 19 years in jail in August. He was already serving an 11-and-a-half-year sentence in a high security jail for accusations that he doesn’t admit to, including fraud.

Navalny’s defenders assert that his detention and arrest are a politically driven effort to silence his criticism of Putin, casting shadown on his life while reflecting “Bossy” nature of Putin.