Pentagon says 'Wagner Group is essentially over'

By Muhammed Enes Calli

ISTANBUL (AA) - The Pentagon said on Thursday that Russia's paramilitary “Wagner Group is essentially over" after its head, Yevgeny Prigozhin, was killed in a plane crash last week.

"I think the bigger issue is Wagner Group is essentially over," Pentagon spokesperson Brig-Gen. Patrick Ryder said during a press briefing when asked if he believes the arms deal between Wagner and North Korea is over.

"I think it's pretty safe to say there's not a lot of negotiating going on there," he told reporters.

"But again, the broader issue here is the Russian government, which Wagner was working for, in - in support of operations in Ukraine."

At one point, he said, the Wagner Group was the most powerful fighting force that Russia had in Ukraine, but they have now all but disappeared from the field of war “as anything even remotely being significant, in terms of combat capability.”

"So the broader issue here is Russia seeking out rogue regimes, to include Iran, attempting to try to obtain additional ammunition or weapons."

Last week, an Embraer-135 plane crashed near the village of Kuzhenkino in Russia's Tver region while flying from Moscow to St. Petersburg, killing all 10 people on board, including Prigozhin.

The Russian Federal Air Transport Agency (Rosaviatsiya) later released a list of the names, which included Wagner co-founder Dmitry Utkin and other Wagner employees.

The Investigative Committee of Russia said on Sunday that it had completed the genetic identification of those who died in the private jet crash, confirming that the list published by Rosaviatsiya was correct.​​​​​​​