Was Prigozhin Killed within the Plane Crash? It Will Take Time to Confirm, Milley Says.

It could also be a while earlier than Western intelligence companies can say with certainty whether or not Yevgeny V. Prigozhin, the founding father of the Wagner mercenary group, was aboard the airplane that crashed in Russia, Gen. Mark A. Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, mentioned on Thursday.

It remained unclear what induced the airplane to drop out of the sky on Wednesday, though preliminary U.S. intelligence stories pointed to an inner explosion. Mr. Prigozhin was listed on the airplane’s manifest and is presumed useless, however the Wagner Group has not confirmed his dying, nor has the Russian authorities.

Even if the Russian authorities weren’t forthcoming about what occurred to the airplane, General Milley mentioned he anticipated the reality to return out.

“Even on things like this, eventually you figure it out,” he informed reporters, including, “I can assure you that, to my knowledge, the United States had nothing to do with any of this whatsoever.”

If the paramilitary chief is certainly useless, there will probably be repercussions around the globe in locations the place the Wagner Group has troops, mentioned General Milley, President Biden’s most senior navy commander.

“If the leadership of Wagner is suddenly killed, there is going to be an effect,” he mentioned. “What that impact is, I don’t know yet.”

Mr. Prigozhin’s potential dying places the United States in an odd place. The mercenary chief has bedeviled U.S. efforts in Ukraine, Syria and West Africa and operated “in an adversarial manner toward U.S. interests,” General Milley mentioned.

But on the similar time, U.S. officers had taken some delight within the thorn that Mr. Prigozhin had develop into within the facet of President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia in latest months. Some questioned whether or not the forceful removing of the Wagner boss might additional embolden the Russian chief.

Like Mr. Biden, General Milley mentioned he was not shocked by the news {that a} airplane tied to the person who led a mutiny towards Mr. Putin’s navy management had immediately plunged from the sky.

“Prigozhin was probably at some degree of risk because of the mutiny that occurred two months ago,” General Milley mentioned.