Tests of Remains From Plane Confirm Death of Prigozhin

Russia's Investigative Committee said Sunday that it confirmed that Yevgeny Prigozhin, founder of the mercenary Wagner Group who led a short-lived rebellion against Russia's military, was killed in a plane crash. Committee spokeswoman Svetlana Petrenko said forensic and genetic testing identified all 10 bodies recovered at the site of Wednesday's crash and the findings "conform to the manifest" of the plane. The statement didn't offer any details about what might have caused the crash, per the AP. The US is pretty sure the regime of Vladimir Putin is behind the crash, an allegation the Kremlin calls a "complete lie." Meanwhile, stories continue to piece together the final weeks of Prigozhin's life.

In a separate story, the AP recounts how on June 24, Prigozhin smiled as a crowd of adoring fans surrounded his black SUV in Russia's southern city of Rostov-on-Don and cheered him on. "You rock!" fans shouted while taking selfies with the chief of the Wagner mercenary group, who was sitting in the vehicle after nightfall. "You're a lion! Hang in there!" Prigozhin and his masked, camouflage-clad fighters were leaving the city after the daylong mutiny against the country's military leadership. Putin decried it as "treason" and vowed punishment, but then cut a deal not to prosecute Prigozhin. Beyond that, his fate looked uncertain at the time.

Two months later, Prigozhin's business jet plummeted from the sky. The two scenes, which unfolded just two months apart, provide bookends to the mystery-shrouded final days of the outspoken, brutal mercenary leader who initially appeared to have escaped any retribution for the rebellion that posed the greatest challenge to Putin's authority in his 23-year rule. The last weeks of Prigozhin's life were overshadowed by questions about what the Kremlin really had in store for him. Had he already dodged a bullet? Or was his comeuppance just further down the road? Prigozhin himself remained relatively quiet, raising speculation his reticence to speak was part of a deal cut with the Kremlin. (Read the full story, which attempts to suss out the details.)