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| Salisbury poisoning commander under suspicion over death of Yevgeny Prigozhin, intelligence sources say |
| 2023-08-29 |
| [iNews UK] ExclusiveIntelligence sources in the UK and Ukraine have told i that Major General Andrey Averyanov was being discussed in connection with the downing of Prigozhin’s jet A Russian intelligence chief responsible for the unit that is believed to have carried out the 2018 Salisbury poisonings is under suspicion after the death of Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin, intelligence sources have said. Intelligence sources in the UK and Ukraine have told i that Major General Andrey Averyanov is being discussed in connection with the downing of Prigozhin’s jet. The Kremlin on Friday issued a firm denial to suggestions the warlord was killed on the orders of Vladimir Putin. But Western officials believe the Russian President was most likely to have been responsible, with US President Joe Biden saying "there’s not much that happens in Russia that Putin’s not behind." UK intelligence agencies investigating the wreckage are still open minded about the events and individuals behind them and believe it’s too early to confirm anything for certain, i has been told. Mr Averyanov heads Unit 29155 of the GRU — Russian military intelligence — which carries out operations on foreign soil at the orders of Putin. The unit has been linked to multiple assassinations and interference campaigns abroad, including the poisoning of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in Salisbury in 2018, according to the New York Times and Bellingcat. One former and one current UK intelligence sources with vast experience of Russian espionage efforts told i Mr Averyanov was being named in connection with the crash, adding that Russian General, who is tipped to take over the Africa operation of the Wagner group, had been in a "long grudge" with Prigozhin. A Russian former intelligence source added: "Averyanov oversaw the operation which was carried out. Averyanov has also been in charge of replacing Wagner in Africa with 20,000 Russian military." Mr Averyanov was seen introducing himself to African leaders in St Petersburg during last month’s Russia-Africa summit — leading to the view that the Russian intelligence chief has been groomed by Vladimir Putin to take over Wagner’s activity on the continent following the death of Prigozhin. Since the crash of the private jet, speculation has grown about the GRU commander’s ascendance into this role., which is crucial to the Russian economy. Channels on social media site Telegram linked to Wagner claimed the introduction was part of a Kremlin-planned "displacement operation" to oust Prigozhin’s entities in Africa and replace them with a private company controlled by General Averyanov’s GRU. |
| Posted by:Enver Slager8035 |
| #4 Scott Ritter? The kompromat kid?? (Or kid kompromat...) Bwahahaha. |
| Posted by: Nero 2023-08-29 10:07 |
| #3 GRU assassination squad assassinates oligarch who turned against the mafia boss. That's never happened before. Then the head of assassins given the prized carcass of Wagner Africa operations. That also has never happened in Mafia Russia. Scott Ritter? You can do better. Snark O'The Day |
| Posted by: Enver Slager8035 2023-08-29 08:53 |
| #2 /\ Got up to altitude and just decided to kabooom did it ? |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2023-08-29 08:40 |
| #1 Scott Ritter says it was improperly stored ammunition that went off, that caused the crash. Much more believable. |
| Posted by: badanov 2023-08-29 08:13 |