Russian President Vladimir Putin Said This On Death Of Wagner Mercenary Group Chief Yevgeny Prigozhin

Russian President Vladimir Putin has reacted for the first time to the death of Russian private army chief Yevgeny Prigozhin in a plane crash.

Yevgeny Prigozhin, who rebelled against Russian President Vladimir Putin in June, died in a plane crash late on Wednesday. He was the chief of the private army Wagner Mercenary Group.  Ten more people are reported to have died in the crash.

His short-lived revolt against Russia's leadership was the biggest domestic threat to Putin since he took power. 

Prigozhi's companies continued to win multimillion-dollar catering contracts

It was Prigozhin who launched the June mutiny, rejecting an ultimatum from the Russian defence ministry to subjugate his mercenaries to the military. In so doing, he mounted a big challenge to the Russian leadership.

But he was never served with criminal charges after the mutiny. His companies continued to win multimillion-dollar catering contracts, and he continued to travel between Africa, Belarus and Russia on his Embraer jet until it crashed on Wednesday.

'A talented businessman'

Putin has paid tribute to the families of all the passengers killed in the accident.

At the same time, he described the founder of Wagner Group Yevgeny Prigozhin as a talented businessman.

In his televised address, Putin said, "This incident is being investigated. Investigators will look into what happened but it will take time."

Putin told that he got information about the accident on Thursday morning.

Putin said, “As far as I know, Prigozhin returned from Africa only yesterday. He met some official persons there."

"I knew Prigozhin for a long time, since the early 1990s. He was a man who had made serious mistakes in his life and was fighting his destiny. But he also tried to get the essentials - for himself and for the common people, as in these recent months," the Russian President said further.

Putin continued, "The preliminary investigation shows that employees of the Wagner company were on board the plane. I would like to note that these are people who have made a significant contribution to our common objective of fighting the new Nazi regime in Ukraine. We remember and know this, and we will not forget it."