Putin Ally 'Humiliated' By Prigozhin Reported Death in Plane Crash: General

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, a key ally to Russian President Vladimir Putin, was "humiliated" by the reported death of Wagner Group chief Yevgeny Prigozhin, said retired U.S. Army General Ben Hodges.

Prigozhin, who founded the paramilitary Wagner Group that fought alongside Russian troops in the Ukraine invasion, was reported to be one of 10 passengers killed after a private business jet crashed in Russia's Tver region while traveling from Moscow to St. Petersburg on Wednesday. Prigozhin was believed to have been killed in the crash, though his death has not been confirmed by authorities.

Reports of Prigozhin's potential death originated from Russian media sources such as Tass and have sparked speculation about the potential that Russian authorities may have been involved in the downing of the plane, though this speculation has not been confirmed.

The crash comes less than two months after Prigozhin's Wagner Group led an attempted mutiny against Moscow's military leadership amid frustration that the invasion had not made substantial advances. Following the rebellion, Lukashenko helped broker a deal to end the mutiny in exchange for allowing the transfer of Prigozhin and the Wagner Group to Belarus, rather than facing prosecution in Russia.

Hodges, who served as commanding general of U.S. Army Europe, said reports of Prigozhin's death make Lukashenko look "weak" over the deal.

"Lukashenko looks humiliated, weak...he brokered the Prigozhin deal...now what? US EMB told Americans to leave BLR two days ago. Ukraine will benefit from this continued fraying of the RUS leadership structure and will figure out how to exploit this," Hodges wrote in a post to social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.

Lukashenko has been a close ally to Putin amid the Russian invasion, which has prompted most of Europe to issue sanctions against Moscow's economy or provide Ukraine with support. Lukashenko has backed Russia, even allowing Russian forces to use his country's territory to enter Ukraine early on in the war.

He has not issued a public comment on the plane crash.

Hodges told Newsweek that he does not "believe in accidents in Russia in cases like this."

"Russia is a Mafia organization and none of these people trust each other. I think a lot of people will be anxious tonight and worried about their own safety. This is good news for Ukraine of course. Further evidence of the fraying of the Kremlin power structure," he said in a written statement.

He said any Russian officials who did not strongly defend Putin should be "quite concerned" about their well-being.

"Where is [Russian General Sergey] Surovikin? Heard he was under house arrest...I'd be quite concerned if I was him. Ditto for other Generals or officials who didn't publicly leap to Putin's defense during Prigozhin's Mutiny two months ago," Hodges said.

Newsweek reached out to Lukashenko's office for comment via email.