MOSCOW: President Vladimir Putin has ordered Wagner fighters to sign an oath of allegiance to the Russian state after a deadly plane crash believed to have killed Yevgeny Prigozhin, the volatile chief of the mercenary group.
Putin signed the decree bringing in the change with immediate effect on Friday after the Kremlin said that Western suggestions that Prigozhin had been killed on its orders were an 鈥渁bsolute lie.鈥� The Kremlin declined to definitively confirm his death, citing the need to wait for test results.
Russia鈥檚 aviation authority has said that Prigozhin was on board a private jet which crashed on Wednesday evening northwest of Moscow with no survivors exactly two months after he led a failed mutiny against army chiefs.
President Vladimir Putin sent his condolences to the families of those killed in the crash on Thursday and spoke of Prigozhin in the past tense.
He cited 鈥減reliminary information鈥� as indicating that Prigozhin and his top Wagner associates had all been killed and, while praising Prigozhin, said he had also made some 鈥渟erious mistakes.鈥�
Putin鈥檚 introduction of a mandatory oath for employees of Wagner and other private military contractors was a clear move to bring such groups under tighter state control.
The decree, published on the Kremlin website, obliges anyone carrying out work on behalf of the military or supporting what Moscow calls its 鈥渟pecial military operation鈥� in Ukraine to swear a formal oath of allegiance to Russia.
Described in the decree as a step to forge the spiritual and moral foundations of the defense of Russia, the wording of the oath includes a line in which those who take it promise to strictly follow the orders of commanders and senior leaders.
Western politicians and commentators have suggested, without presenting evidence, that Putin ordered Prigozhin to be killed to punish him for launching the June 23-34 mutiny against the army鈥檚 leadership which also represented the biggest challenge to Putin鈥檚 own rule since he came to power in 1999.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday that the accusation and many others like it were false.
鈥淭here is now a great deal of speculation surrounding this plane crash and the tragic deaths of the plane鈥檚 passengers, including Yevgeny Prigozhin. Of course, in the West, all this speculation is presented from a well-known angle,鈥� Peskov told reporters.
鈥淎ll of this is an absolute lie, and here, when covering this issue, it is necessary to base yourself on facts. There are not many facts yet. They need to be established in the course of investigative actions,鈥� he said.
鈥榃ait for test results鈥�
Russian investigators have opened a probe into what happened, but have not yet said what they suspect caused the plane to suddenly fall from the sky.
Nor have they officially confirmed the identities of the 10 bodies recovered from the wreckage.
Asked if the Kremlin had received official confirmation of Prigozhin鈥檚 death, Peskov said on Friday: 鈥淚f you listened carefully to the Russian president鈥檚 statement, he said that all the necessary tests, including genetic tests, will now be carried out. The official results 鈥� as soon as they are ready to be published, will be published.鈥�
Peskov, who said Putin had not met Prigozhin recently, also said it was unclear how long the tests and investigative work would take.
It was therefore impossible to start talking about whether Putin would attend Prigozhin鈥檚 funeral, Peskov said in answer to a question on the subject.
鈥淭here are no dates for the funeral yet, it is impossible to talk about it at all. The only thing I can say is that the president has a rather busy schedule at the moment.鈥�
Nigel Gould-Davies, a former British ambassador to Belarus who is now a senior fellow at the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), said the funeral would be significant.
鈥淚f Putin wishes to emphasize that Prigozhin died as a traitor, he will ignore it,鈥� said Gould-Davies.
鈥�(While) Prigozhin鈥檚 supporters may use it as an opportunity to eulogize him and his critique of the Kremlin鈥檚 conduct of the war 鈥� and could strengthen the hostility of a core of Wagner loyalists toward the Kremlin,鈥� he said.
British military intelligence said on Friday there was not yet definitive proof that Prigozhin had been onboard but that it was 鈥渉ighly likely鈥� he was dead.
The Pentagon has said its own initial assessment is that Prigozhin was killed.
Russia鈥檚 Baza news outlet, which has good sources among law enforcement agencies, has reported that investigators are focusing on a theory that one or two bombs may have been planted on board the plane.
Asked about the future of the Wagner Group, which has a series of lucrative contracts across Africa and a contingent in Belarus training the army there but now appears leaderless, Kremlin spokesman Peskov was concise.
鈥淚 can鈥檛 tell you anything now, I don鈥檛 know,鈥� he said.