He shared his opinions with Espreso TV.
"After the liquidation of Prigozhin, Putin's entire entourage realizes that the only term for their survival is to fulfill any orders of the Russian president. That is, if tomorrow Putin orders a nuclear strike, there should not be a single person who would hesitate to press the button. This is what such things lead to. Now the entire Russian elite will live in indescribable terror. However, it will not be afraid of the tribunal, the Ukrainian army, or the economic collapse of Russia, but it will be afraid of Putin. Just as the Soviet elite was afraid of Stalin. Even when Stalin imprisoned the wives of his associates, they continued to be close to him, because the only motive leading their lives was fear," Portnikov explained.
The journalist explained that Putin resorts to eliminating those who oppose him in order to strengthen his authority.
"Putin does not have much room for maneuver. Either he ensures he lives by installing fear, or he will simply be eliminated. However, in any totalitarian system, a revolt is possible. Even against Hitler there was a revolt. However, Putin's inner circle may now believe that he is simply unstoppable. Actions such as the elimination of Prigozhin strengthen his authority. This is not a political group, but the mafia. The mafia respects those who can kill without emotion," he added.
Journalist Vitaliy Portnikov also believes that the liquidation of Prigozhin is Putin's revenge for the aircraft and helicopters of the Russian Armed Forces destroyed in Prigozhin’s mutiny.
"We cannot have any doubts about the deaths of Yevgeny Prigozhin and Dmitry Utkin. After all, this information has already been officially confirmed by Russian aviation. The bodies have even been identified. And this is the main news of the last few hours. They were killed. It's obvious," Portnikov explained.
"I believe that Prigozhin's death is a demonstrative execution. There is no need to invent conspiracy theories. Because an execution is an execution. In this way, Putin took revenge on Prigozhin for the destruction of Russian Armed Forces aircraft and helicopters during their mutiny. There were also 10 people in the plane that was shot down by the Wagner mercenaries. That was the number of people on the plane with Prigozhin. And Putin certainly knew about Prigozhin's liquidation. Such events do not happen in Russia without Putin's knowledge," he added.
On August 23, an Embraer business jet belonging to Yevgeny Prigozhin crashed in the Tver region, Russia, killing 10 people. Among the passengers was the Wagner PMC financier himself.