or the west did this, or nato did this. they want people to know, they are sending a message. or mr prigozhin. they are sending the message that if you challenge the state, it doesn t end well for you, happiness for some so don t do it. but gcse exam pass rates fall for a second year running i think that is something they have in england, wales and northern ireland. wanted to do ever since before prigozhin launched his action. indeed, he launched it because of this trend. and briefly, justin, obviously wagner still exists to some degree, senior doctors in england go on with regards to its fighters being present in strike again over a dispute on pay. africa, for example. to what degree do you think they will still be utilised by the kremlin? i think the overseas operations of wagner will come under a form you are watching bbc news. of different leadership. there are plenty of other pmcs. more now from russia where prigozhin himself really made as we ve been hearing this the prem
time when i asked him, he went on to, for the common cause in these recent months for the putin added prigozhin was a talented person, businessman and not only in this country but also achieved results in africa, delton oil, precious stones and metals there and he added as far as i m aware the only yesterday returned from africa will stop the met certain official persons there. that is what putin said a little earlier. that s the first time he made any comment on the plane crash or prigozhin s death. because he had made no mention of it a few hours ago when he was speaking in a summit. those in the past few minutes have come through now. his first comments from president putin on that plane crash. staying with pat. prigozhin rose from obscurity to a position of significant power in russia commending thousands of troops as head of the wagner finance
in the tver region. in st petersburg, a public memorial has been set up outside the wagner headquarters to pay tribute to mr prigozhin as well as his right hand man dimitry utkin. mr prigozhin rose from obscurity to a position of significant power in russia commanding thousands of troops financed and supported by some of the country s most powerful politicians. our analysis editor ros atkins has been taking a look at his rise and fall. well, we know that prigozhin took an unorthodox route to a powerful position in russia. in 1981, he was sent to prison for robbery and theft, and when released in 1990, he became a hotdog salesman in st petersburg. but by 1997, he was running a top restaurant and winning lucrative catering contracts. those brought connections to the top. prigozhin even served food to world leaders and to putin himself. and prigozhin s role was becoming about much more than food.
among them. that he will follow through and actually go into exile. he is completely unpredictable, he is also a creature and a creation of vladimir putin. it has been useful for putin to have a separate military force that he can use, against crimea in 2014, that he could use to set up control farms that interfered in our 2016 elections, prigozhin rose from being a corner are dark cellar, to a, chef to putin s chef, to someone who was doing all sorts of useful but very bad things for putin, over decades, now and what he is known for is his boldness, is aggression, and his unpredictability, so i do not have confidence that he will keep this deal, and i do not think anyone has clarity about what happens next. senator, let s talk more about vladimir putin former
and utter chaos and a man at the top who s clearly not in control. a historic turn of events and what this means for putin. nick paton walsh, thanks so much. let s go to seen your correspondent fred pleitgen. talk about this. prigozhin rose as a close ally for putin for many, many year. he was once a wealthy oligarch and effective leader of a private military group and now he s challenging putin s grip on power p. yeah, the leader of a whole empire if you will, am rachl it really is a rise that s also unprecedented inside russia, but certainly one that also speaks to how vladimir putin controls the country. we have to keep in mind yevgeny prigozhin is still known to many people as being putin s caterer or putin s chef because he ran a catering service that apparently