Salisbury poison link to Prigozhin murder

A RUSSIAN general suspected of being behind the Salisbury Novichok poisonings may have been involved in the death of warlord Yevgeny Prigozhin, the US has claimed.

- Michael Knowles

Intelligence officials are examining whether Major General Andrey Averyanov, the head of Unit 29155 of the Moscow's military intelligence service GRU, was behind the assassination allegedly ordered by Vladimir Putin.

The unit of Russian spies has been linked to previous killings abroad, including the nerve agent attack on double agent Sergei Skripal, 72, and his daughter Yulia, 38, in the Wiltshire city in 2018.

Trusted

Prigozhin, the founder of the Wagner Group, died in a plane crash near Moscow last Wednesday along with some of his private army's other top commanders.

A Pentagon source said: "We believe it is most likely that Putin ordered the assassination of Prigozhin and other members of the Wagner Group.

"The prospect of him ordering Averyanov to run the operation is an option the US, along with other nations, is considering."