State media is so desperate to convince people that Putin didn’t have Yevgeny Prigozhin killed that they’re insulting their own viewers.
Russian state media pundits are doing their best to convince viewers that the explosion responsible for downing a private jet carrying Wagner Group founder Dmitry Utkin and its chief Yevgeny Prigozhin, was not the work of President Vladimir Putin. And by “doing their best,” we mean tossing up ridiculous conspiracies blaming NATO, Ukraine, and even the weather.
The Wagner Group is a state-funded military organization — labeled by the United States as a “transnational criminal organization” — comprised of mercenaries with previous training in Russia’s special forces. Prigozhin was a long-time pal of Putin who was often thought to do his dirty work at home and abroad. Putin’s attack on Ukraine strained the pair’s relationship which ended with Prigozhin attempting a coup, marching his troops on Moscow just two months ago, only to abort the whole thing at the last minute.
