‘He made serious mistakes’ – Putin finally speaks on Prigozhin’s death

Following the death of Yevgeny Prigozhin, the chairman of the Wagner Group, in a plane crash on Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday paid respect to him, referring to him as “a person with a complicated fate,” according to several media reports.

In a speech that was broadcast, Putin acknowledged that he had known Prigozhin since the 1990s. The Russian Leader stated that Prigozhin “made serious mistakes in life” while perhaps alluding to his abortive insurrection.

He said, “This was a person with a complicated fate, and he made serious mistakes in life but also sought to achieve the necessary results – both for himself and at a time when I asked him to, for the common cause, such as in these recent months.

Putin sends his condolences to the families of the fallen Wagner servicemen and acknowledged the part they played in the conflict in Ukraine.

“I would like to note that these are people who have made a significant contribution to our common cause of fighting the neo-Nazi regime in Ukraine

“We remember and know it, and we will not forget it,” he continued.

Officials quoted by Russia’s state news outlet Tass said that the disaster claimed the lives of all 10 people aboard the aircraft, including three members of the crew and seven passengers.

Putin acknowledged that a preliminary examination into the incidents had been initiated.

“But what is absolutely clear – the head of the Investigative Committee reported to me this morning, they have already launched a preliminary investigation into this incident. And it will be carried out in full and to the end. There is no doubt about that here. Let’s see what the investigators say in the near future. Tests — technical and genetic tests — are being carried out now. This takes some time,” he said.

Yevgeny Prigozhin, who had led the uprising in June, had pulled his men out of Ukraine, taken control of Rostov on Don in southern Russia, and threatened to march on Moscow.

Following months of conflict over the crisis in Ukraine, the action was taken.

A compromise that allowed Wagner troops to transfer to Belarus or enlist in the Russian army ended the standoff.

Prigozhin has only been seen a few times since the mutiny, where he was labeled a “traitor” by Putin at the time.

He was last spotted in a video that looked to have been shot in Africa on Tuesday.