On Wednesday, when the plane carrying Yevgeny Prigozhin, the leader of Wagner Group, crashed, there was no doubt that Russian President Vladimir Putin was responsible. CIA director Bill Burns had already predicted this, stating at the Aspen Security Forum on July 20, “Putin is the ultimate apostle of payback, so I would be surprised if Prigozhin escapes further retribution for this.” Burns knew that it was only a matter of time after Prigozhin led a short-lived mutiny against the Russian military and got away as a free man. He understood that Putin is someone who believes revenge should be served cold.
Putin governs Russia like the godfather of a criminal organization, leaving behind a trail of violent deaths, mysterious illnesses, and suspicious suicides – more than two dozen according to the US. One notable case is that of Alexander Litvinenko, a former Russian spy who defected to England and died in 2006 after consuming tea poisoned with polonium, a radioactive substance. It took investigators ten years to link it to Russian intelligence agents.
In 2018, Sergei Skripal, another defector, and his daughter were almost killed by a nerve agent while sitting on a park bench. Once again, the trail led back to Moscow. Then-British home secretary Theresa May stated, “It is now clear that Mr. Skirpal and his daughter were poisoned with a military-grade nerve agent of a type developed by Russia.” Prime Minister May, who was in office during the incident, had previously expressed her deep concern about Russia’s likely involvement in the murder of Litvinenko in 2006.
David Martin asked Leon Panetta, former director of the CIA and secretary of defense in the Obama administration, about what it takes to be on Putin’s hit list. Panetta replied, “He’s got a very low tolerance level. If you cross Putin, the likelihood is you’re going to die. One way or another, he ultimately takes care of the problem, whether it’s an open window or poisonings, or a gunshot in the middle of the night.”
Alexei Navalny, one of Putin’s most vocal critics, is currently imprisoned. However, before his imprisonment, he narrowly survived poisoning with the same nerve agent used by Putin’s spies in England. Martin asked Panetta if Putin cares whether suspicion falls on him. Panetta responded, “In some ways, I think deep down he takes pride in the fact that people know that he’s going to get back at them.”
“So, his idea of the perfect crime is one where you know who did it, but you can’t do anything about it?” asked Martin. “That’s exactly right,” Panetta said. “In his mind, it makes clear to Russia and the world that he is in total control of what happens in Russia.”
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Story produced by Mary Walsh. Editor: Chad Cardin.
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