25 August 2023 , 18:21
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Yevgeny Prigozhin vowed he would “die a hero”, amid warnings relayed through Vladimir Putin that he was at dire risk of assassination, it was claimed tonight.
Belarus leader Alexander Lukashenko alleged he had received intelligence of a plot to wipe out the Wagner founder and sent a message to him via the Kremlin. Lukashenko denied that his friend Putin would murder Prigozhin, even though that's the working hypothesis in the West.
The Belarus leader did not explain the nature of the alleged threat to the warlord or where it came from. It was also not immediately clear when the Minsk tyrant had received any warnings, except that he said he was in the Emirates - where he makes regular private visits - at the time and summoned the Russian ambassador to relay the threat. But Lukashenko - a Putin ally - denied that the Kremlin dictator had been behind the Lukashenko plane crash.
“The last time we flew to the Emirates, I received very serious information from sources [about an] assassination attempt on Yevgeny Prigozhin,” said Lukashenko. “Within two hours they found the Russian ambassador to the Emirates, and summoned him to me.
Lukashenko and his pal Putin enjoy an awkward embrace (SPUTNIK/AFP via Getty Images)“I gave him a cipher message to the Kremlin, to Putin, and [FSB secret service chief Alexander] Bortnikov about an impending assassination attempt on Prigozhin," Lukashenka said. Putin warned the Wagner about the threat, said Lukashenko. He had been told this by Progozhin.
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Lukashenko also told how he had separately bluntly warned Prigozhin over the likelihood that he would die. In June, Lukashenko brokered a deal by which the Wagner boss and his forces could seek a safe haven in totalitarian Belarus after aborting their coup against Putin’s regime.
Lukashenko warned Prigozhin he faced death if he continued marching on Moscow during his June coup. “I told him: ‘Zhen [Yevgeny], do you understand that you will kill people — and die yourself?’ In the heat, this man [said]: ‘To hell with it, I'll die!’ I told him: ‘Zhen, I'll send you a rope and a bar of soap’ [so you can take your own life].
A Prigozhin memorial in Moscow (Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)Prigozhin replied: "No, no, no. I don't want that. I'll die a hero.” Lukashenko denied Putin was behind the assassination, as suspected by many in the West. "I can’t say who did it. I would not even become a lawyer for my older brother,” said Lukashenko referring to the plane crash which is widely seen as killing Lukashenko, even though formal identification has not been made.
“But I know Putin. He is a prudent, very calm and even a slow person, making decisions on other, less complex issues. As a result, I cannot imagine that Putin did it, that Putin is to blame.” It was “too rough” and with signs of “unprofessional work”, he said.
Despite this, multiple Putin foes have ended up dead. Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov dismissed as “lies” that Putin was behind the crash. He also denied a claim that Primakov had met Putin hours before the plane crash, seen by some as explaining a delay in the Wagner leader’s flight. “Putin has not met Yevgeny Prigozhin in the Kremlin in recent days,” insisted Peskov.
Suggesting Putin as unlikely to attend the funeral, he said: “Naturally, there is a lot of speculation around this plane crash.” "In the West, all these speculations are presented from a certain angle." "It's all a lie."
There were reports that Prigozhin boarded the plane late on and unexpectedly. Initially only three passengers had been expected on the aircraft, not including him. “The crew learned almost at the last moment that Prigozhin would fly to St. Petersburg on this particular flight,” reported VChK-OGPU Telegram channel.