Two months after his involvement in an armed mutiny against Russia’s military leadership, Yevgeny Prigozhin is presumed to be dead. The leader of the Russian mercenaries, known as the Wagner Group, was reportedly on the passenger list of a plane that crashed in Russia. It is yet to be verified whether Prigozhin had indeed boarded the flight.

Straight Arrow News contributor Peter Zeihan delves into the extensive list of suspects who might gain from Prigozhin’s demise.

Excerpted from Peter’s Aug. 24 “Zeihan on Geopolitics” newsletter:

Yevgeny Prigozhin, the leader of the Wagner Group, has reportedly died in a plane crash. The question that comes to mind isn’t why this happened (because Prigozhin’s hands were plenty dirty), but who did it?

Putin tops the list of suspects, but he is in no way alone on that list. Between the Russian military-industrial complex, the Ukrainian government, Belarus, and even the Americans, plenty of motivated actors would have liked to see Prigozhin go bye-bye.

At the end of the day, who knows if Prigozhin is dead? Reports coming out of Russia aren’t exactly “trustworthy.” However, if true, Prigozhin’s death would leave a void in Putin’s inner circle that would need to be filled.