Caption: Wagner warlord Yevgeny Prigozhin ?now hiding on Caribbean island in Venezuela? after ?cheating death in plane crash? (Picture: east2west news)
A Russian analyst has claimed that Wagner warlord Yevgeny Prigozhin did not die in a plane crash last month after all – and he’s instead living a life of luxury on a Caribbean island.
Dr Valery Solovey believes Prigozhin was warned of the impending plane crash, which happened on August 23, and escaped death.
Russia claims all 10 people on board were killed, and they say genetic testing confirmed he was among the dead.
But Ukrainian military intelligence raised the possibility that Prigozhin is still alive earlier this week, adding they could not confirm his death.
Dr Solovey – considered to be a conspiracy theorist by some – believes he is holed up on the island of Margarita, off Venezuela.
He’s also previously claimed Vladimir Putin is terminally ill and all of his recent appearances are by doppelgängers.
Both Putin and Prigozhin are believed to use doppelgängers and disguises.
Dr Solovey – without offering proof of his claims – also claimed Prigozhin hatched a deal with Nikolai Patrushev, secretary of the Russian Security Council, to get away with his ‘trick’.
Vladimir Putin (left) and Yevgeny Prigozhin (right) worked closely together until the Wagner group attempted a coup earlier this year (Picture: Concord/e2w)
Prigozhin is supposedly living the high life on Margarita Island (Picture: opm01/east2west news)
Professor Valery Solovey has made some bold claims (Picture: Valery Solovey/east2west news)
A funeral has already been held for Prigozhin (Picture: EPA)
He said: ‘I promised to tell where [Yevgeny Prigozhin] is.
‘He is in Venezuela. As far as I know, he is on an island called Margarita.
‘Yevgeny Prigozhin was warned about his assassination…that his plane would be destroyed.
‘They developed the ‘trick’ that we observed.
‘When Wagner’s key commanders died [in the plane crash], Yevgeny Prigozhin remained alive and well.’
Dr Solovey reckons Prigozhin could have up to 5,000 mercenaries under his control – and when Putin dies, he could use these troops to fight for power in Russia.
Dr Solovey – a former professor at Moscow’s prestigious Institute of International Relations [MGIMO], a training academy for spies and diplomats – said Prigozhin ‘is enjoying life at a very good resort’.
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Ukraine’s GUR military intelligence agency said it could confirm the deaths of Wagner military commander Dmitry Utkin, 53, and other mercenary army figures in the Tver region Embraer Legacy 600 jet crash, but declined to do so over Prigozhin.
A spokesman said: ‘We must operate with confirmed facts, we still need to wait.
‘I will simply focus on the fact that we can confirm the death of Utkin and several other associates of Prigozhin.’
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‘When Wagner’s key commanders died [in the plane crash], Yevgeny Prigozhin remained alive and well.’