Zelensky: Putin ‘killed Prigozhin’

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky did not mince words in accusing Russian President Vladimir Putin as the mastermind of Wagner mercenary group chief's death.

"He (Putin) killed Prigozhin, at least we all have this information and not any other," Zelensky said in a speech on Friday.

He said the incident showed that the Russian leader was now "politically weak."

Prigozhin and nine other people died in a plane crash on 23 August. They were en route from Moscow to Saint Petersburg when the plane crashed.

The Kremlin has dismissed suggestions that it orchestrated the crash in revenge for Wagner's march on Moscow in June.

Russian investigators have said they are probing all possible scenarios surrounding the crash, including premeditated murder.

The crash happened two months after he led a shortlived mutiny against Russia's military.

Prigozhin ordered his mercenaries to move to Moscow but called it off hours later after apparently striking a deal with the Kremlin through the mediation of Belarus.

He was spared from criminal prosecution for the rebellion.

WITH AFP