Vladimir Putin says he has sent his condolences to the family of Yevgeny Prigozhin after the Wagner Group leader was presumed killed in a plane crash.
The Russian president said Prigozhin was a talented businessman who he had known since the 1990s.
It is Mr Putin’s first remarks about Prigozhin’s reported death since the aircraft he was on smashed into the ground yesterday.
His death has left Mr Putin stronger in the short term, removing a powerful figure who had defied his authority and
threatened to make him look weak.
Prigozhin led a brief rebellion in June, demanding the ousting of the defence minister Sergei Shoigu as he marched his fighters towards Moscow before calling off their advance.
