MOSCOW: A newly released video of Russian mercenary boss Yevgeny Prigozhin purports to show him in Africa only days before his death, addressing speculation about his wellbeing and possible threats to his security.
“For those who are discussing whether I’m alive or not, how I’m doing — right now it’s the weekend, second half of August 2023, I’m in Africa,” Prigozhin says in the short video published by the Grey Zone Telegram channel which is linked to his Wagner Group.
“So for people who like to discuss wiping me out, or my private life, how much I earn or whatever else — everything’s ok,” he adds with a wave of his hand.
Reuters was not able to verify the location or the date of the video, which was filmed in a moving vehicle. Prigozhin’s camouflage clothing and hat, as well as the watch on his right hand, matched his appearance in a video released on Aug. 21, which he also claimed was filmed in Africa.
His “weekend” reference implied the latest clip must have been made on Aug. 19 or 20, only three or four days before he and other top Wagner figures and bodyguards were killed in a plane crash north of Moscow on Aug. 23.
His comments in the video reflected Prigozhin’s awareness of risks to his life.
His Wagner force fought for Russia in the Ukraine war but he was fiercely critical of the defense establishment and led a brief mutiny in late June.
The Kremlin has rejected as an “absolute lie” the suggestion that President Vladimir Putin had Prigozhin killed in revenge, but has said the investigation into the crash is examining the possibility of foul play.
Prigozhin was buried at the Porokhovskoye cemetery in his home town of St. Petersburg on Tuesday.
Late Russian mercenary Prigozhin spoke about his security in newly surfaced video
https://arab.news/brgre
Late Russian mercenary Prigozhin spoke about his security in newly surfaced video
- Comments in the video reflected Prigozhin’s awareness of risks to his life
Four killed in Ukraine as Moscow and Kyiv exchange drone strikes
- Kyiv said Russian drone strikes had killed two people and wounded seven more in Kharkiv
- Synegubov said two people had been killed in the attack on the Shevchenkivsky district
KHARKIV, Ukraine: Russian and Ukrainian drone strikes killed at least four people Wednesday, officials said, as the war between the neighbors dragged on for more than four years with no diplomatic breakthrough in sight.
The latest attacks came with a third round of three-party talks derailed by the war in the Middle East, despite pressure from Washington on both sides to agree to an elusive peace deal.
Kyiv said Russian drone strikes had killed two people and wounded seven more in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv.
Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, which lies close to the Russian border, was encircled at the beginning of Russia’s invasion four years ago.
It has been attacked almost daily since Moscow’s forces were pushed back later in 2022.
The governor of the wider region, Oleg Synegubov, said two people had been killed in the attack on the Shevchenkivsky district.
“A civilian enterprise caught fire as a result of the enemy strike,” he said, adding that three women and four men had been hospitalized.
Another Russian drone wounded 20 people in the afternoon, after hitting a civilian minibus in the southeastern city of Kherson, Ukrainian prosecutors said.
In the Russian-occupied part of the southern Zaporizhzhia region, Moscow-installed authorities said two civilians had been killed in their car by a Ukrainian drone strike on the frontline town of Vasylivka.
“The danger of repeated strikes remains,” Kremlin-appointed governor Yevgeny Balitsky said.
