August 26th 2023.
Following the reported death of Yevgeny Prigozhin, leader of the Wagner Group, Russian President Vladimir Putin issued a decree ordering those carrying out work on behalf of the military or supporting what Moscow calls its ‘special military operation’ in Ukraine to swear a formal oath of allegiance to Russia. Described as a way to ‘forge the spiritual and moral foundations of the defence of Russia’, the oath includes a line where those making it promise to strictly follow the orders of commanders and senior leaders.
In response to speculation about Prigozhin's death, a Russian plane crash on Wednesday, August 23, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said there was a ‘great deal of speculation surrounding this plane crash and the tragic deaths of the plane’s passengers, including Yevgeny Prigozhin’, and that it was ‘an absolute lie’. To this end, Russian authorities have opened an investigation into the incident.
In addition, British military intelligence said on Friday there was not yet definitive proof that Prigozhin had been on board the plane, but that it was ‘highly likely’ that he was dead. Putin has not yet said whether he will attend Prigozhin’s funeral, but Peskov said the president has a ‘rather busy schedule at the moment’.
Since Prigozhin’s death, hundreds of Wagner Group graves have been completely bulldozed to the ground without much explanation. Photos and video clips show crosses and wreaths piled up ‘like rubbish’ and newly levelled graves at a cemetery in the Russian village of Nikolayevka, in the Samara Oblast.
Local media reports that the section of the cemetery where Wagner fighters were buried will be paved with concrete, which could strengthen the ‘hostility of a core of Wagner loyalists towards the Kremlin’.
The deaths of Prigozhin and other members of the Wagner Group have certainly shaken Russia, and the investigation into the plane crash continues. It is yet to be seen what the lasting impact of these events will be, but it is clear that the Russian government is determined to maintain the spiritual and moral foundations of its defence.
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