Dr Valery Solovey insists it was one of the mercenary chief’s doppelgangers on board when his plane was blown out of the sky (Pictures: AP/Reuters)

Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin is ‘alive, well, and free’ – and plotting his revenge, a Russian political analyst has sensationally claimed.

Dr Valery Solovey insists it was one of the mercenary chief’s doppelgangers on board when his plane was blown out of the sky by a defence missile in a hit sanctioned by Vladimir Putin.

It comes as the president looked set to snub the funeral of his former close confidant, who he once decorated with the country’s highest honour, the Hero of Russia medal.

The political analyst, a former professor at Moscow’s prestigious Institute of International Relations – a training school for spies and diplomats, says Prigozhin is now holed up and ‘preparing for revenge’.

Solovey said ‘the plane in which Yevgeny Prigozhin was supposed to fly was downed by a Russian air defence system’.

He dismissed reports a bomb may have been smuggled onto the plane at the last minute, adding: ‘There was no explosion on board. It was downed from the outside.’

The secret plot to assassinate the Wagner Group boss – who led a mutiny against the Kremlin two months ago – and his top lieutenants ‘was developed in [Russia’s] Security Council, and was sanctioned personally’ by Putin.

But ‘Prigozhin himself was not on board’, the conspiracy theorist insisted, adding: ‘His double was flying instead of him.’

A portrait of late head Yevgeny Prigozhin displayed at a makeshist memorial in Moscow (Picture: AFP via Getty)

He is now in an unnamed country with access to £1.6 billion, according to Solovey, who said ‘that is more than enough for revenge’.

‘How did he end up alive while his close people died?’ he went on. ‘He intends to take revenge for having been faced with such a choice.

‘He intends to take revenge on people who were intending to destroy him, and destroyed people close to him.’

Solovey claims to have Insider knowledge on the Kremlin and frequently claims Putin is seriously ill and similarly uses body doubles to mask his ailments, but he offers no proof to back them up.

In the wake of his ultimately aborted coup, pictures emerged of Prigozhin’s purported doppelgangers.

Prigozhin was reported to use body doubles (Picture: Fontanka.ru/East2west news)

One was pictured in a Russian passport with his name. He was also pictured in another passport with a fake name. 

Reports also came out claiming he used wigs and fake beards for disguises while furthering Putin’s interests in Africa and the Middle East. 

One showed him as an Employee of the Ministry of Defence in  Sudan, another as an assistant diplomat from Abu Dhabi.

In a third he was mocked up as a Senior Lieutenant from Benghazi in Libya.

Unverified photos also showed him in an array of bizarre disguises (Picture: social media/e2w)

The versatile Prigozhin – whose Wagner forces have been used in many countries – also posed as a colonel from Tripoli, a ‘merchant from Syria’, and a field commander named Mohammed.

But the Russian Investigative Committee insisted he was dead as proven by his DNA being found on a corpse at the air crash site. 

Others have speculated on Prigozhin being still alive.

Political scientist Ekaterina Shulman said: ‘In order to hide forever, taking one of the many spare passports, a burned-out plane is also a good reason.’

And former Russian presidential candidate Ksenia Sobchak – known as Putin’s goddaughter – said: ‘My feeling is we are burying [Prigozhin] too early.’

A survey by Brief Telegram channel found 38% believe Prigozhin is still alive. 

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‘He intends to take revenge on people who were intending to destroy him, and destroyed people close to him.’