![](\"https:\/\/cdn.images.express.co.uk\/img\/dynamic\/78\/590x\/secondary\/putin-condolences-Prigozhin-4926092.jpg?r=1692894335473\")
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This latest development is said to have sent a serious warning message to others in Russia: If you go against the Kremlin, you might not survive.<\/p>\n
While authorities are unlikely to announce the cause of the crash anytime soon, Prigozhin\u2019s plane was seen plummeting from a large cloud of smoke, twisting wildly and missing a wing in videos posted to Telegram channels and social media.<\/p>\n
One witness said the jet “exploded in the sky\u201d and \u201csomething sort of was torn from it in the air”.<\/p>\n
Don’t miss… <\/strong> We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you’ve consented to and to improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. You can unsubscribe at any time. More info<\/p>\n Some Russian media speculated it was brought down by a bomb. Prigozhin\u2019s supporters claimed on their messaging app channels that it was shot down by an air defense system, bluntly accusing authorities of assassinating him. None of the allegations cited any evidence.<\/p>\n In previous years, other Kremlin critics have died from poisoning in what the Russian opposition and the West described as targeted killings that had Putin’s blessing, but none has been known to have perished in an air accident.<\/p>\n Former Putin speechwriter Abbas Gallyamov said the failure to punish Prigozhin initially had eroded Putin\u2019s authority, sending “an open invitation to any potential rebels and mutineers”.<\/p>\n
The moment Wagner Group fighters break down sobbing over Prigozhin’s death[VIDEO] <\/strong>
Prigozhin plane crash shares chilling similarity to identical 1986 disaster[INSIGHT] <\/strong>
‘I’m a Russia expert \u2014 this is why Prigozhin may have staged his death'[COMMENT] <\/strong><\/p>\n