EU Doubts Reports of Wagner Group Leader's Death

The European Union has said that reports that Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin was killed in a plane crash on Wednesday night are "difficult to verify."

EU spokesperson Peter Stano said at a press conference that the bloc has seen the report, but that it is "very difficult for us to verify" due to the limited information available.

Stano also said that the EU is aware of Prigozhin and the Wagner Group's "negative actions," which have included human rights violations and international humanitarian law violations.

He added that the group's future operations will not be affected only by Prigozhin's alleged death, but also by the "events of June," when the group tried to march on Moscow in a short-lived revolt.

Stano noted that the EU hopes that the "negative impact" of the Wagner Group's operations will end, but that the bloc is aware that the mercenary group is "not linked only to the name of its leader."

He said that the group's affiliation with the Kremlin is one of many "complex issues," and that it is not the EU's competence to "speculate whether the alleged killing or death of Prigozhin in a plane crash will have specific consequences for Wagner's activities."

The Wagner Group is a Russian private military company that has been accused of human rights abuses and war crimes in countries such as Ukraine, Syria, and Libya. The group is believed to be closely linked to the Kremlin, and its activities have been a source of tension between Russia and the West.

The plane crash that allegedly killed Prigozhin has not been independently confirmed, and the circumstances surrounding the incident are unclear. However, the report has raised questions about the future of the Wagner Group and its operations.