"Didn't want to overthrow Putin": Prigozhin suspected, according to his mother, that he would soon die

In 2023, mercenary leader Prigozhin instigates a short-lived rebellion in Russia—he later dies under mysterious circumstances in a plane crash. He had already seen this fate coming, his mother now says in an interview.

According to the mother of the late Russian mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin, her son already suspected that he would soon die after his failed mutiny. He had already expected his death in the days before his private plane crashed, Violetta Prigozhin said in an interview with the Russian online news site Fontanka.

In June 2023, Prigozhin and his mercenary group Wagner seized control of the Russian city of Rostov-on-Don for a few hours and then advanced toward Moscow in a short-lived rebellion. During the advance, Wagner fighters destroyed an Ilyushin-18 military aircraft and shot down a Russian Ka-52 attack helicopter, killing its crew.

However, the mercenary leader called off his coup attempt. Three months later, he and several loyalists died in a plane crash, presumably an assassination attempt. "The last time I saw him, he looked lost," said the 85-year-old. Asked if he had foreseen his death, she replied: "Of course."

"Only people on the internet will support you"

His mother said in the interview that she tried to dissuade her son from marching to Moscow. She also warned him that he was overestimating the support he would receive. "When we met before the march, I said to him, 'Zhenya, only people on the internet will support you. No one will go with you. People aren't like that now. No one will come to the square.'" Prigozhina said her son replied, "Yes, they will support me."

Prigozhin's mother believes that his march on Moscow had no intention of overthrowing Russian President Putin. "He simply wanted to reach the military leadership." Her son only stopped the march to avoid further bloodshed among regular Russian troops. "He told me he couldn't shoot young men during his march," Prigozhin explained.