'Mobster' Putin committed 'most ostentatious' act of savagery in our lives, says Boris

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Boris Johnson says "Vladimir Putin's mask is now completely off" as world leaders and commentators continue to question his role in death of Russian mercenary leader Eugene Prigozhin.

The former prime minister called the destruction of leader Wagner's plane a “violent liquidation” and claimed that Putin “was transformed before our eyes into a despot Asian.”

“I can't think of another example of such ostentatious, uninhibited savagery from a world leader – not in our lifetime,” he said.

Putin and Yevgeny Prigozhin (left) were former allies until their relationship soured in June

< p>Describing the Russian President as a “gangster” in his latest column for the Daily Mail, Mr Johnson added: “The whole world knows very well – and is supposed to know – that the man behind the assassination of Prigozhin and the leaders of the Wagner Group, not to mention the death of the crew, is the same man who authorized, for example, the poisonings in the UK of Alexander Litvinenko and Sergei Skripal.

Prigozhin is believed to have been killed when his Embraer plane crashed northwest of Moscow on Wednesday evening.

Dramatic footage showed the plane falling on the ground, with Russian investigators confirming they had recovered 10 bodies from the plane crash with DNA identification currently underway.

Although Prigozhin's death has not been confirmed by authorities, he was listed as a passenger on a flight manifest released by the Russian Aviation Agency.

A former key ally of Putin, their relationship soured after Prigozhin ordered his troops to march on Moscow during a day-long rebellion against Kremlin military leaders in June.

Russian investigation. ..