Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi said on Friday afternoon that Vladimir Putin was behind the murder of former mercenary leader Wagner, Reuters reported.

Zelensky briefly commented on this while answering a question about the head of the Kremlin at a press conference.

“The fact that he killed Prigozhin – at least we have this information, we have no other – also speaks of his intelligence, that he is weak,” said the President of Ukraine.

His new comments came after he denied any possible Ukrainian involvement in the plane crash that killed Prigozhin, a day after it emerged that the plane that crashed in Russia’s Tver region on August 23 , belonged to him and that he was on board the plane together with the other commanders of Wagner’s group.

Then Zelensky hinted that Putin was behind the accident, without naming him.

“We have nothing to do with it. That’s true. But I think that everyone understands who has it,” Zelenskyy said on August 24.

Just a day later, the Kremlin dismissed any suggestion that Putin had ordered the removal of his former ally as “absolute lies.”

Russian officials concerned by suggestions that Putin may have ordered the beheading of Wagner’s group

Kremlin spokesman Dmytro Peskov called it an “absolute lie” after several Western officials, including US President Joe Biden, warned that Prigozhin’s death was an accident.

“I am not surprised. There’s not much going on in Russia that Putin isn’t behind, but I don’t know enough to know the answer,” the White House leader said after being asked by reporters shortly after Prigozhin’s death.

His comments were also condemned by the Russian Foreign Ministry, not just the Kremlin.

Sergei Ryabkov, Russia’s deputy foreign minister, said the comments illustrated Washington’s lack of respect for diplomatic tact. “It is not the business of the US president, in my opinion, to discuss such tragic events,” said the Russian diplomat.

On August 27, Russia officially confirmed that Prigozhin was on board the plane after authorities received the results of DNA analysis of remains found at the crash site.

Prigozhin was buried in his hometown of St. Petersburg in a private ceremony two days later.

Several analysts said the military mutiny launched by Prigozhin on the night of June 23-24 represented the biggest threat to Vladimir Putin’s power in the more than two decades he has ruled Russia.

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