Former Wagner head Yevgeny Prigozhin was killed under the oversight of former FSB Director and current Secretary of the Russian Security Council Nikolai Patrushev, according to The Wall Street Journal (WSJ). The WSJ notes that, throughout Putin's rule, Patrushev has expanded Russia's intelligence services and terrorized its enemies with assassinations at home and abroad. Patrushev then reportedly called officers sympathetic to Prigozhin and asked them to convince the Wagner head to end the mutiny. Prigozhin did not answer the calls so Patrushev sought mediators, including Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko and President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev. A few days later, the Russian media reported that DNA testing had confirmed that Prigozhin had died in the plane crash.

Source: Wall Street Journal December 23, 2023 14:07 UTC