Did Putin kill Prigozhin? It's one of 3 possible explanations Russia watchers came up with for the deadly plane crash

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Vladimir Putin (left) and Yevgeny Prigozhin (right).
Yevgeny Prigozhin was a longtime ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin before staging a failed mutiny against the Russian defense ministry in June 2023.

Getty Images

Putin's old spy agency is a prime suspect for taking out Prigozhin's plane

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Eyewitness footage of the crash site of a plane linked to Wagner Chief Yevgeny Prigozhin, near Kuzhenkino, Tver region, Russia, in this screen grab taken from a video.
Footage of the crash site of a plane linked to Wagner Chief Yevgeny Prigozhin, near Kuzhenkino, Tver region, Russia, August 23, 2023.

Ostorozhno Novosti/via REUTERS

Who is Dmitry Utkin, the Nazi-obsessed Wagner commander presumed dead in the same crash as Prigozhin?

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People hang out portraits of Yevgeny Prigozhin and Dmitry Utkin, a shadowy figure who managed Wagner's operations, as they pay tribute to them at the makeshift memorial in front of the PMC Wagner office in Novosibirsk, on August 24, 2023
Portraits of Yevgeny Prigozhin (L) and Dmitry Utkin (R), in front of the PMC Wagner office in Novosibirsk, on August 24, 2023

Vladimir Nikolayev/AFP via Getty Images

There is little doubt that Putin had Prigozhin killed — which is almost certainly the point

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Prigozhin and Putin in a composite image
Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, and Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin, right, in a composite image.

Wagner/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images, Contributor/Getty Images

The CIA's director predicted last month that Putin would seek revenge on Yevgeny Prigozhin after his failed coup

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Russia's President Vladimir Putin and Wagner Group boss Yevgeny Prigozhin.
Russia's President Vladimir Putin and Wagner Group boss Yevgeny Prigozhin.

GAVRIIL GRIGOROV/SPUTNIK/AFP via Getty Images; Mikhail Svetlov/Getty Images

White House says 'no one should be surprised' if Prigozhin actually died in a plane crash in Russia

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FILE PHOTO: Wagner mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin leaves the headquarters of the Southern Military District amid the group's pullout from the city of Rostov-on-Don, Russia, June 24, 2023.
Wagner mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin leaves the headquarters of the Southern Military District amid the group's pullout from the city of Rostov-on-Don, Russia, June 24, 2023.

REUTERS/Alexander Ermochenko/File Photo

Wagner boss and failed coup leader Yevgeny Prigozhin was listed as a passenger on a plane that crashed in Russia, killing everyone on board, state media reports

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Yevgeny Prigozhin, chief of Russian private mercenary group Wagner, gives an address in camouflage and with a weapon in his hands in a desert area at an unknown location, in this still image taken from video possibly shot in Africa and published August 21, 2023.
Yevgeny Prigozhin, chief of Russian private mercenary group Wagner, gives an address in camouflage and with a weapon in his hands in a desert area at an unknown location, in this still image
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