Alleged death of Prigozhin's double stirs controversy amid war

Russian soldier Ruslan Yunusow changed his surname to Yevgeny Prigozhin a few years ago. Prigozhin, well-known as one of the founders of the Wagner Group fighting in Ukraine, reportedly used doubles to obscure his whereabouts. Russian media confirmed this, mentioning that Yunusow was one of the three oligarch doubles. The "New York Times" also confirmed reports about Prigozhin's use of body doubles.

Yevgeny Prigozhin's "deputies" were reportedly set to travel to and enter Europe shortly after sanctions were imposed on Russia.

Now, "Ukrainska Pravda," citing "Agentstvo.Novosti," reported that Yunusov-Prigozhin's data appears on the list of paratroopers from the 76th Air Assault Division, who died on the outskirts of Robotyne, a village in the Zaporizhzhia region. A relative also confirmed his death.

Not everyone believes in the death of the Wagner Group leader. Recall that at the end of August 2023, there was supposed to have been a plane crash near the village of Kuzhenkino in Russia involving ten people. Prigozhin and Dmitry Utkin, who is also considered a co-founder of the Wagner Group, were among those reported dead.

Speaking with the British "Daily Mail," political analyst and Kremlin critic Valery Solovey suggested that Prigozhin is still alive and plotting revenge against President Vladimir Putin. Solovey believes that one of the Russian oligarch's body doubles might have been the one aboard the crashed plane.