Kremlin denies role in crash that killed Wagner leader

A woman pays tribute to Yevgeny Prigozhin and Dmitry Utkin at the makeshift memorial in Moscow. Pic/AP

The Kremlin on Friday rejected allegations it was behind a plane crash that is presumed to have killed mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin, whose brutal fighters were feared in Ukraine, Africa and Syria and conducted a brief but shocking mutiny in Russia two months ago.

Prigozhin, who was listed among those on board the plane, was eulogized Thursday by President Vladimir Putin, even as suspicions grew that the Russian leader was behind a crash that many saw as an assassination.

A preliminary US intelligence assessment concluded the plane was downed Wednesday by an intentional explosion. One of the US and Western officials who described the initial US assessment said it determined that Prigozhin was "very likely" targeted and that the explosion falls in line with Putin's "long history of trying to silence his critics".

The officials did not offer any details on what caused the explosion, widely believed to be vengeance for the mutiny in June that posed the biggest challenge to Putin's 23-year rule.

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