Biden's Reaction to the Wagner Group Leader's Plane Crash: I Wasn't Surprised by His Death

U.S. President Joe Biden stated that he does not have enough information regarding the crash of Yevgeny Prigozhin's plane, the founder of the Wagner mercenary group in Russia, but emphasized that few events occur in Russia without Vladimir Putin's involvement. Biden, who attended a Pilates class in California on Wednesday afternoon, told reporters about Prigozhin's death: 'I really don’t know what happened, but I wasn’t surprised or shocked. Typically, Putin is behind most events that happen in Russia, but I don’t have enough information to know the answer.' On Wednesday evening, August 23, media reported that the plane carrying Yevgeny Prigozhin, the founder of the Wagner mercenary group in Russia, crashed, and all passengers, including him, were killed. The Wagner group has not yet confirmed this news, but one of its officials stated that Prigozhin's body has not yet been found at the crash site, although his phone was discovered near one of the corpses. The Russian aviation authority confirmed that Prigozhin's name was among the passengers of the plane. Concurrently, The Hill reported that at the exact time when reports about Prigozhin's plane crash were published and topped global news, Vladimir Putin was seen at a concert. The news of Putin's presence 'at the concert' has raised speculations about the timing and his possible response to the news regarding the Wagner group and the death of his 'long-time ally' Prigozhin. Yevgeny Prigozhin, the founder of the Wagner group, was a former close associate of Vladimir Putin who assisted him in the Ukraine war. Two months ago, after a dispute arose between him and Russian military officials, Prigozhin opposed Putin and even moved his forces to besiege Moscow. After two days, they reached an agreement, and Prigozhin went to Belarus.