ISW: Putin likely ordered Russian military to down Prigozhin's plane

The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) reported the information.

"Putin’s almost certain order for the Russian MoD to shoot down Prigozhin’s plane is likely a public attempt to reassert his dominance and exact vengeance for the humiliation that the Wagner Group’s armed rebellion on June 24 caused Putin and the Russian MoD," the statement said.

ISW noted that at the time when Prigozhin's plane was downed, Putin attended a public television concert in honor of the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Kursk. According to analysts, Putin's presence at the television concert was reminiscent of Soviet state television showing Swan Lake in August 1991, when the Soviet Union collapsed.

The decision to use Russian air defense as a method of assassinating Prigozhin allowed the Russian Defense Ministry to directly avenge what was one of the deadliest days for Russian aviation since the start of the full-scale invasion, the report added.

According to ISW, Putin suffered considerable humiliation for failing to stop the Wagner PMC mutiny and relied on Lukashenko to stop Prigozhin's march.

"Putin needed to exact ostentatious revenge against Prigozhin not only to prove that he is not a weak leader, but also to support his military – which in the eyes of many Russians did not see justice carried out for the events of June 24," the analysts added.

• On August 23, an Embraer business jet carrying the leader of the Wagner PMC, Yevgeny Prigozhin, crashed in the Tver region, Russia.